September, 2016 | Simon Says Soccer

TDA Bulls (Fall I 2016) Game 3 Recap

*Disclaimer: Tonight’s recap is rated PG-13 as the terms “britches” and “chafing” are used, though luckily not in the same sentence, and there is also a suggestive re-enactment. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.*

The TDA Bulls were back on the field looking to continue their unbeaten start against a new opponent to the division in Just For Kicks. TDA were the favorites going in based on the standings but would have to make do without star defenseman Doug, who was out with a case of big babyitis. Regular keeper Tyler got over his own case and returned after a few weeks off. Phil was unable to sub as he was spending the day stuffing his colon with greasy Texas State Fair food, shame, it would have made for an interesting physiological experiment. So Plano-bound 😭 Alex P got the call, not as keeper this time, but due to his brokenness he was probably still going to pick some turf daisies. read more

Manchester Utd – Stoke Game Preview

Coming off of a 1-0 victory in the Europa League over Zorya Luhansk on Thursday, Manchester Utd were looking to extend their 3-game win streak in all competitions in a home matchup with Stoke. Mark Hughes’ team has struggled this season with just two points so far as they have been inept at scoring goals along with having a leaky defense, their -11 goal differential is actually worse than West Ham’s -9, didn’t think that was possible! A visit to Old Trafford is not usually the remedy for such issues. read more

Europa League: Man Utd – Zorya Luhansk Recap

Manchester Utd hosted Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk at Old Trafford needing a victory after dropping their first Europa League game at Feyenoord. Jose Mourinho started a strong team, making only four changes from the side that thrashed Leicester on the weekend. But surprisingly, Wayne Rooney was not one of them as he was still on the bench for Utd. Sergio Romero was in net for David De Gea, Marcos Rojo and Timothy Fosu-Mensah replaced Daley Blind and Antonio Valencia at the full-back positions, and Marouane Fellaini came in for Ander Herrera. read more

Draft Fantasy Football: Gameweek 7 Preview

First off, I would like to thank all my loyal followers as simonsayssoccer.com went over 10,000 visits in its first month recently. I have enjoyed writing and it sure has kept me busy (yeah, yeah, “for once” a bunch of you are saying). After previously writing a Euro 2016 Guide and being the main contributor to their Pre-Season Premier League Guide, I have once again joined forces with the good people at Draft Fantasy Football and will be writing a weekly preview article for their blog. The first one is posted and you can find it here: read more

Crown (Fall I 2016) Game 5 Recap

Crown took to the field against Fugitives FC, looking to bounce back from last week’s disappointing first loss of the season. Phil and Mark were back, thank you soccer gods, but John, Eddie and Rob (shocked, right?) were missing so Lane was called in to “meg” some guys. Crown were the better team on this night and built a healthy lead with Phil, Simon, Mark and Lane all getting in on the act. But there was was something strange going on at the Crown bench, could that be positivity?, peace?, harmony?…hmmm, not sure what the difference could have been… read more

Premier League Matchday 6 Recap

For extended recaps of the weekend’s feature matchups of Manchester Utd-Leicester and Arsenal-Chelsea visit the links below:

And here are the remaining summaries from a Matchday 6 filled with plenty of goals:

Hull 1 @ Liverpool 5:

Liverpool ran riot over 10-man Hull to the tune of five goals led in part by a pair of pks by James Milner. The first half blitz was started by Adam Lallana who scuffed his shot in the corner after being set up by Phillipe Coutinho. Hull were down a man when Ahmed Elmohamady was shown a Red card for a handball in the box. Milner converted the pk and this game was over early. Lallana was the provider for the next goal as he found Saido Mane who fired it in. The second half started with Hull scoring an unlikely goal to trim the lead to 3-1 as David Meyler put it in after Liverpool failed to clear the visitor’s first corner of the game. But Countinho responded almost immediately doing what he does, firing a stunning strike past the keeper. Subsitute Daniel Sturridge then drew a penalty and Milner stepped up and converted again to round out the scoring. Another impressive offensive display from Jurgen Klopp’s side. read more

Fantasy Focus: Matchday 6

Matchday 6 was another interesting one for Draft Fantasy Football managers as Kevin De Bruyne joined Harry Kane on the treatment table, and the high scoring continued bringing various players onto our fantasy radar. I will explore a few situations which will require monitoring and what you should potentially do with your waiver pick. Many of the players mentioned may be owned in larger pools but for those in smaller setups there is lots to think about, so let’s get into it.

Kevin De Bruyne injury: read more

The London Derby: Arsenal – Chelsea Game Recap

Emirates Stadium was the location of the battle of London’s two biggest name teams as Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal hosted Antonio Conte’s Chelsea. Wenger fielded the same team that dispatched of Hull 4-1 last week with Alexis Sanchez continuing to be deployed as a striker. Conte made one change with Cesc Fabregas, being rewarded for his two goal performance in Chelsea’s EFL Cup win over Leiester this past week, coming in for Oscar. Diego Costa had a history of clashes with Arsenal defenders so there was some intrigue as to what could happen in this one. read more

Manchester Utd – Leicester Game Recap

Old Trafford was the site of a matchup of two teams both trying to find some consistency in their Premier League campaigns. Much was made of the potential decision to bench Wayne Rooney in the lead up to this one and Jose Mourinho did just that with Juan Mata playing in behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic with speedy wingers Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard on either side. Ander Herrera came in beside Paul Pogba and on defense Daley Blind covered for the injured Luke Shaw while Chris Smalling was named captain and partnered Eric Bailly in the centre. Claudio Ranieri gave Islam Slimani another start but had to do without his preferred keeper as Kasper Schmeichel was ruled out. read more

TDA Bulls (Fall I 2016) Game 2 Recap

After breezing to victory in their first game of the new season, TDA took on Ball Blazers in their second game. With Tyler and Ryan injured, “Broken” Alex was back again in net. There was also one full-time roster change made as Christina dropped to the sub list and was replaced by Claudia. After complaining last week about her “Julio’s Sister” nickname, I have decided that she deserves a new one. So say let’s welcome back into the fold, Claudia “Little Miss Fabulous” Jacobo: read more