"THAT'S A RED CARD!"
If you didn't read that in Simon Borg's voice, then you haven't watched Instant Reply enough, and that means you're missing out.
The MLS Fantasy managers that brought in Javier Morales or Liam Ridgewell for the Week 17 Double Game Week probably saw a bit of red themselves after both were sent off in their first game of the week, Morales just 40 minutes in.
It may seem that there have been an abundance of red cards handed out this season, but surprisingly enough, that's not the case.
* From a fantasy perspective, yellow cards listed do not include games where a player is issued a yellow and a red card in the same match; only the red card point deduction counts in that case.
Cards Given 2014 vs. 2015
The number of cautions has increased by about 17 percent compared to this time last year, but the number of red cards is on par with 2014. It may seem like more from a fantasy standpoint, though – red cards in 2015 come with the additional penalty of a negative price change, so our teams take a bigger hit than in previous years.
| Yellow cards by position | ||||
| Position | 2014 | % | 2015 | % |
| Goalkeepers | 16 | 3% | 15 | 2% |
| Defenders | 189 | 36% | 252 | 42% |
| Midfielders | 223 | 43% | 264 | 44% |
| Forwards | 90 | 17% | 75 | 12% |
| Red cards by position | ||||
| Player | 2014 | % | 2015 | % |
| Goalkeepers | 3 | 6% | 0 | 0% |
| Defenders | 18 | 35% | 28 | 58% |
| Midfielders | 22 | 43% | 15 | 31% |
| Forwards | 8 | 16% | 5 | 10% |
Defenders and midfielders continue to lead the way in cards this season, although defenders have been sent off much more frequently. Shockingly, goalkeepers have managed to avoid seeing red altogether this season.
I've jinxed it, though, so expect at least two goalkeepers to be sent off this round.
| Yellow cards by team | ||||
| Team | 2014 | 2015 | ||
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 27 | 45 | ||
| Real Salt Lake | 27 | 40 | ||
| LA Galaxy | 15 | 37 | ||
| New England Revolution | 28 | 35 | ||
| New York City FC | n/a | 34 | ||
| Red cards by team | ||||
| Team | 2014 | 2015 | ||
| Real Salt Lake | 2 | 6 | ||
| FC Dallas | 9 | 4 | ||
| New England Revolution | 1 | 4 | ||
| New York City FC | n/a | 4 | ||
| Philadelphia Union | 4 | 4 | ||
| San Jose Earthquakes | 2 | 4 | ||
Real Salt Lake are no stranger to officials, currently leading the league with six reds and trailing only Vancouver in yellows.
FC Dallas, who led the league after Round 17 last year with a whopping nine red cards, are tied for second this year. D.C. United are the only team that has not received a red card in 2015.
Did you get hit by a red card land mine this week? Let me know in the comments section below, and good luck avoiding them this week!
