The Short List: A Good New Year

In the past when soccer in this country has looked to be on the way up it has crashed unceremoniously back to earth, and a bad year in 2010 would more than erase the joys of '09.

Here's what I'm hoping to see in the coming year to keep the sport moving in the right direction.

Duplication From The Union

There are some big shoes for the Philadelphia Union to fill in their first year. Following up Seattle's expansion year, the newest team in Major League Soccer needs to do a few things to keep the tide flowing in favor of more teams.

First, Philadelphia has to show that the attendance numbers in Seattle weren't a fluke, and that they too can draw a crowd.

Second, they have to put a good product on the field. One of the major drawbacks of expansion is a watering down of the league. With the amount of talent available throughout the world that wouldn't normally be a problem, but with the roster restrictions on MLS it could become a problem.

Third, the fans have to be what American sports lovers have come to expect of Philly fans, even if that means being harsh from time to time.

A New, Better, CBA

The new collective bargaining agreement in Major League Soccer has a chance to either be a major step forward or a major step back.

MLS must avoid a lockout, which seems unlikely, but more importantly the new CBA has to make the league an attractive destination for players. That means upping the salary cap, even if just a little, killing off the turf fields in a reasonable time frame, and reinstating the Reserve League give players a way to stay in form when they aren't getting regular minutes with the first team.

More Success In Europe

This starts with Landon Donovan's loan move to Everton, but it certainly extends well beyond that. Donovan needs to have a good showing in the EPL. He needs to get on the scoresheet and find some regular playing time during his loan, but he's not the only American who needs to find some European success to make 2010 a good year.

Eddie Johnson and Freddy Adu are now on the same team in Greece and it would be excellent to see either or both of them have a good year. Jozy Altidore needs to start producing some goals with Hull City. In the EPL patience with strikers who don't score usually runs out quickly, but Jozy should still get plenty of chances to make his mark before the season is over.

It would also make for a better year if a guy like Stuart Holden could make the jump to EPL and make his mark, and the return of DaMarcus Beasley and Maurice Edu to prominence with Rangers would be a big boost for Americans overseas.

CCL Success

It seems to be put on the back burner by fans and teams, but the CONCACAF Champions League is the best place available for Major League Soccer teams to earn a bit of respect.

Columbus probably isn't going to win it this year, and to be honest, no MLS team is likely to win it in the next two or three years, but it would be nice to see more than one team from Major League Soccer make it out of the group stage.

International competition is hard on MLS teams because of the small rosters and the evenly balanced league which leaves no dominant team to send, but having only one representative in the second leg for two straight years is just not good enough. Even the USL managed to get two teams through in 2008.

Part of this problem ties in with the new CBA, but a large part of it is simply that MLS teams, and the players int he league in large part, don't know how to adapt to different styles of play. Experience in those situations should help, but MLS teams need to start producing internationally soon.

Get Out Of The Group

In the long run, this is what it's all about in 2010.

Some people would have you believe that getting out of the group shouldn't be good enough or that the USA should be looking at the quarterfinals or semifinals of the World Cup as the realistic goal. For me making the knockout would be enough to consider the 2010 World Cup a success. Anything beyond the round of 16 would be icing on the cake.

A failure to get out of the group would be another devastating blow to US soccer. Honestly, the American public only cares about sports that Americans are good at. Don't believe me? Then why did the Tour de France become a big event when Lance Armstrong started winning it?

For those of us who love the sport, which I'll assume is the majority of people who visit this site, the USA winning or losing won't make us stop loving the sport at all. But for those int he American public who are on the verge or thinking about soccer as one of their favorite sports, including the mainstream media, a good run in South Africa could do a lot to boost the profile of soccer in America.

Allen Ramsey in and associate editor of Goal.com. The Short List runs every Wednesday on Goal.com.