MLS Fantasy Boss A Fantasy MLS Community
By: The Fantasy Physician
Round 31 Big Questions
- Where are the Goals?
- What are MLS Teams’ Goals?
- What are your Goals?
The last leg of this marathon season is like no other you have seen. What mentality – to use a word pro soccer players love – will you bring to FMLS as we make the final push? Well, when I think of “mentality” and FMLS, I turn to the FMLS mindstuff guru, The Fantasy Therapist. Of this week and our journey together, kind readers, he said:
You’ve been studying all season; ready for the final exam? It will incorporate everything. It really does look like total chaos. TGW/DGW [I will unpack what he means there], heavy rotation risks, an international break, 7 different lineup drops, additional lineup chaos on Decision Day due to teams being in different situations [but playing at the same time], key players getting red-carded this week… that’s just scratching the surface.
Not to fear. We have been talking about all this stuff all year. This week you will apply all of it!
It Starts with a GI Consult
Yes, another gut check.
Before you read any further, take a break and hit the link to Christian Ward’s final 2025 Positional Rankings Article. The Fantasy Gastroenterologist does a great job of summarizing what makes this an extraordinary gameweek, foremost that THE MEME HAS COME TRUE: The first ever FMLS Triple Game Week (TGW), featuring Los Angeles Football Club, is upon us. Sound easy? Just take their two superstars Bouanga and Son and someone else. Not so fast! Bouanga and Son look to miss the first two of the three games on international duty. It’s just never that easy.
Within the Discord, Christian also designed some beautiful darkfield tables that lay out the core issues this week.
LAFC is on a TGW, and ten other teams are on DGWs. Most if not all of your players will have to come from one of these teams, and I believe every wise manager will take three LAFC players.
Next, subtract out players that are suspended. Thought you would take Rusnak with Seattle playing twice? Think again; he got a red card last week.
Next, check out players on yellow card watch, which to remind you, means that if they get a yellow card in the first game, they sit out the second. Take those players with caution; consider putting them on your bench. As we have learned throughout the season, the bench is a place we put our high risk, high reward players.
Moving down the intestinal highway (is your stomach churning a little)? Take a close look at players who will miss the first game of the DGW (first two of the TGW) because they will be away on international duty:
Note at the time this article is coming out, it appears that Messi might be available for the first game – and so both games -after all. If there were ever a week to check lineups, this is the one. And when lineups drop, you must have developed backup plans for unexpected appearances and disappearances.
Are you feeling it in the kishkes? Is that enough? There’s more!
What are the goals of the teams and players this week?
Lionel Messi (maybe two games), Sam Surridge (one game), and Denis Bouanga (one game) are neck and neck in the Golden Boot Race, and that means they will be goal-greedy. Does that make them more attractive? Yes, because their goals help you meet your goals. Is that enough to take someone who might only play one game when you can fill your squad with DGW players? Maybe not but not “definitely not.”
What really adds to the volvulus of the week is considering the different motivations teams have. Christian Ward touches on this in his article. Philadelphia, having won the Supporter’s Shield, can only responsibly rest as many top players as possible in anticipation of the playoffs. Vancouver (DGW team) and San Diego, by contrast, are locked in a duel for top honors in the Western Conference. Minnesota can still move up or down in the table. Seattle is in a fascinating place; they cannot move up the table, and they are not too likely to move down. They may have very low motivation to stress their top players after a grueling season. LAFC on their TGW is in the opposite place; they can’t really move down, so they really have every incentive to just go for wins and not ties to try to improve their standing and maximize the number of playoff games they play in that boiling cauldron of a stadium of theirs. Does that make their defense less attractive? Six teams are trying to avoid the ignominy of the Wooden Spoon: LA Galaxy (playing 2 at home), Sporting Kansas City, DC United, Montreal, Atlanta, and Toronto (just barely). There are a few teams that are out of the playoffs but safe from the Wooden Spoon: St. Louis, Houston, New England, New York Red Bulls; they only have pride to play for and may favor giving young players minutes.
Early in the season, we stressed studying matchups. For this final match week, you must study the schedule and then put each matchup under a microscope, looking for the usual matters but also filtered through the lens of the current MLS table. Ask yourself, “what are these players playing for?” Sometimes, the lineup betrays the matter. But you must make decisions based on what you see in the first lineup and then think like a sporting director about how the team might play in the second (or yes, third) match given possible outcomes and the table.
Game Week 31 – Your Team and Your Goals
Last week the Fantasy Therapist asked you to look at what your goals have been and where you are in relation to them to guide whether you are taking risks or going with chalk. All that still applies in this final week.
Setting your team:
Configuration: Favor the 5 in the back autoroo configuration with 3 attackers on the bench (probably ones on yellow card watch), 3 playing defenders on the field and 2 scrubs from late games (ie from Western Conference Single Game Week teams)
Goalkeeper: The best choice is Hugo Lloris of LAFC on TGW. However, managers who want to use three field players from LAFC might consider Takaoka, Frei, Stuver, and others. Put your main hopeful on bench and a late scrub on the field. The week affords another opportunity for a type of the Threeperoo. Say you take Lloris on the bench; you could have a plan if he bombs out early (say a red card in game 1) to put a DGW on the field eg Takaoka. If he bombs out with a red card after game 2, you could still put an SGW keeper – say Celentano or Louro from Cincinnati – on the field. And Lloris does well enough in games 1 and 2, you just put a late playing scrub on the field to bring in Lloris’ points.
Defenders: From LAFC, consider Porteous, Tafari, Palencia, or Segura. Hollingshead may figure big in the first games with missing attackers but has rotated with Smolyakov most recently. Jordi Alba is an important choice again. Managers looking for a late SGW Switcheroo (if bench fails because of an early red card or triggering of a yellow card suspension) might consider Luca Orellano, especially if the Denkey suspension puts Orellano on the front line.
Midfielders: Martin Ojeda, Muller, Berhalter, Mihailovic, Fagundez, Delgado (of LAFC), Tillman (also of LAFC), Busquets, Uzuni, Hartel (as a late SGW scrubbable option for benches that hit).
Forwards: Messi if playing two games, Suarez, Musa, Allende, Pec, Bouanga/Son if they change their travel plans, Surridge if you can tolerate a single-weeker eyeing the Golden Boot.
Captain: Messi if playing twice, Muller, Ojeda top the list.
Your Goals in 2025 and 2026:
Between now and when the match day kicks off, think about your goals for 2025 and where you are. Are you making a final push or just trying to hold serve this week? Teased over two weeks but with decisions frontloaded in the first set of games this week, gameweek 31 will give us a calm before the storm of Decision Day. Use that time to think about what you learned and where you want to do better in 2026. What managers made mysteriously prescient picks in 2025 and how can you learn from them in the Discord? Before we fade into FMLS postprandial hibernation of playoffs and the off-season, write down some goals and plans for 2026.
If you have read this far and stuck with this all season, you have given a lot to this game. One of the premises of the Fantasy Strategy Clinic is that FMLS is fun but is more fun the more you know about MLS, FMLS, the other managers, and yourself. Fun heals (as long as it doesn’t hurt too much). Have fun in week 31 and we will see you for your annual after deductibles reset in early 2026!
The “Fantasy Physician” is Ron Birnbaum, @Half Century City on Discord
The “Fantasy Therapist” is Mike Leister, @Kenobi on Discord
The “Fantasy Meteorologist” is Asher Malaschak, @Storminator on Discord
The “Fantasy Gastroenterologist” is Christian Ward, @xward on Discord
