Tag Archives: Fantasy Primer

2016 Review After a promising start – including scoring 11 goals in their first three matches – the Dynamo struggled under Owen Coyle, failing time and again to close out games or pick up any results on the road. Coyle was replaced by former Dynamo Wade Barrett, who almost instantly solidified the defense, but didn’t do enough to keep Houston …

2016 Review Despite having a solid roster, the New England missed the playoffs in 2016 for the first time since 2012. The Revolution were the second worst in the Eastern Conference in both goals forced and goals allowed. Transaction Watch The abysmal defense has gotten an upgrade in 2017. Jose Goncalves and Darrius Barnes will not be returning this season. …

2016 Review Portland disappointed their fans in 2016. They failed to reach the playoffs after winning MLS Cup the year before. They were the fourth best team in the league at home. However, they couldn’t manage a win away, earning just 6 points out of a possible 51. There were a couple quality options for fantasy from Portland and they’ll …

2016 Review As a team coming off a third place finish in 2015, Vancouver was expected to compete for the top of the Western Conference in 2016 but instead finished third from bottom. Their Expected Goal differential was worst in the league, indicating that the year could’ve been even more miserable. The team lacked a reliable forward and went long …

2016 Review D.C. United’s 2015 campaign came to an end with a playoff defeat to their bitter rival Red Bulls. This season it was a round earlier, and at home to a Montreal team that was not heavily favored. This similar result brought out the question of whether the team has “peaked out”? I say no, despite the frustrations of …

2016 Review Los Angeles came into the season expecting to be MLS Cup contenders. However, something was off for the normal powerhouse. The Galaxy finished 3rd in the Western Conference despite the late addition of Landon Donovan.  LA was eliminated by the Colorado Rapids in the conference semifinals. Transaction Watch The biggest transaction was not a player, but the coach. …

2016 Review The Colorado Rapids finished their 2016 campaign with a 15-6-13 record and finishing 2nd in the west with a 3-1 loss on aggregate to Seattle. Going from last in the west in 2015 to 2nd in 2016, Colorado improved in every facet of the game. The two noticeable transactions the Rapids made in 2016 were the acquisition of …

2016 Review The Montreal Impact were a mixed bag in 2016.  They showed promise all season, but struggled to put it all together until the very end. A fifth place Eastern Conference finish was not promising, but a road win against DC sparked the playoffs.  A series win against conference leader New York Red Bulls, set up a derby showdown …

2016 Review Missed chances was the theme for San Jose in 2016. With an Expected Goals total of an acceptable 43.51, they managed to put away only 32 tallies. That was worst in the league by six. With a defense-first approach, they were able to tie for second-fewest goals conceded with 38. The insistence on conservative, blue-collar soccer leads to …

2016 Review Orlando came into the season with playoff expectations, only to see it fall apart. They fired long-time head coach, Adrian Heath, and hired Jason Kreis. The change didn’t help significantly as Kaka continued to struggle with injuries while the defense gave up 60 goals. Orlando finished 7th in the East, and looked a solid step behind the playoff …