By CASEY CANNON

Hello and Welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner – now with fewer shenanigans! Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only a guy thrown out of the Las Vegas Hallmark for counting cards can provide.

Last week I went all in on the Colorado Rapids. Instead the Rapids gave up one point crushing goal in each of two games. Sadly it was the New England Revolution that earned a shutout but only after juggling their lineup due to injury issues. Even after that cluster most players should be OK coming into this week.

With only FC Dallas on a bye most players can get by with the two free transfers. Remember most of us have one wildcard to use in the next couple of weeks. I plan to use mine after week 24 (before the Aug 17 6:45PM EDT cut off) to pick up three Los Angeles players. Landon looks great in the Gold Cup, Keane should recover back to health and Arena will have his team ready for the final playoff push.

The fantasy team RSL4LIFE scored 94 to earn second in the SBI league after winning last week. Two points ahead is the team “.” with 96 points. Meanwhile Flannel Jackson maintains his hold on the top SBI spot for the SBI league and is at 4rd overall. My reliance on Colorado cost me as I dropped down to 45th in the SBI league.

Let’s take a closer look at what picks will improve the fantasy standings this week:

TEAM PICKS

Take Three – Vancouver Whitecaps – Camilo. This is all about Camilo. There are a couple other Vancouver players to take. Heck, they even have (Daigo) Kobayashi! Remember him? He was awesome for a little bit there. Whitecaps fans should be pleased to know there is only a 22% chance of a Philly win. Expect a 2-1 Vancouver victory.

Take three – New England Revolution – After breaking the hearts of Columbus fans the Revolution goes south to add to the woes of D.C. United. I don’t like picking road teams but this game is the best bet available this week.

Avoid – D.C. United – Perhaps news of the possibility of plans of a new stadium sometime in the future will inspire the D.C. boys. More likely they will just lose yet another game. Personally I won’t believe D.C. United is getting a new stadium until some Section 8 hooligan vandalizes it.

INDIVIDUAL PICKS

Captain – Jose Goncalves, New England Revolution This feels like THE safe pick. 19% of the league has Goncalves and with an average of 6 PPG it’s easy to see why. Last week I wish I had him on my squad, I probably will this week.

Value – Bobby Shuttleworth, New England Revolution (This is really the Value player not named Rodney Wallace). I feel like I’m a week late to the party. Still the best value Goalkeeper available right now is going into a game against DC United followed by a visit from Toronto. He is owned by 8.4% of the league and is worth picking up.

Overpriced – Juninho, LA Galaxy It’s possible that Juninho is owned by the 8% of the league who have given up on the game. 8M for 3.7 PPG just isn’t adequate. I loved having him on my team last year, this year it just isn’t working out. Those 8% with this Galaxy player should move on.

THREE-PLAYER MONTE
The three player Monte game has two elements selecting: three players to score goals and creating a streak of picking a captain who scores every week. The players can be awful, tossed out of the game for reprehensible fouls, and single handedly responsible for costing his team the game but like Rudy all that matters is that singular moment of brilliance.

Captain: Camilo Sanvezzo, Vancouver Whitecaps
2. Diego Fagundez, New England Revolution
3. Dominic Oduro, Columbus Crew

Tiebreak: 22

That’s all for today. I’ll be back next week with more Fantasy advice.