Photo by ISIphotos.com
And down the stretch they come.
The MLS regular season is winding to a close, which means there are fewer weeks to score the points needed to keep moving up the MLS Fantasy standings.
If you were lucky enough to have a Nate Jaqua or Ante Razov, or smart enough to have Guillermo Barros Schelotto, in your lineup last week you are rolling. If you were unlucky enough to have a Fabian Espindola or Matt Reis, you may have stopped thinking about fantasy MLS altogether.
We won’t let that happen. SBI Fantasy MLS correspondent Casey Cannon is here to offer some tips to try and help you turn things around if you’re sliding, and help boost your squad if you are on a roll. Here is this week’s SBI Fantasy MLS Corner:
Hello and Welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner, now with fewer side effects! Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only a William Shatner like Shaman can provide. I write this Monday night before the official injury reports come out, so don’t be grumpy if I tell you to pick a hurt player. For information on MLS Fantasy Football go to http://fantasy.mlsnet.com/.
Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa
After I submitted my weekly article for publication I realized that my Toronto pick was horribly horribly flawed. Saturday I opened my laptop, saw the Maple Leafs leading and had a glimmer of hope. After all it doesn’t matter how bad my logic is if I turn out to be correct.? Sadly Chivas did beat up on the JV Hosers and so I humbly apologize for the pick.
Other that horrible pick I recommended the Columbus Crew and told everyone to avoid the Wizards. The Crew did better than I ever hoped and the Wizards overachieved, but still lost badly. On the individual side Houston gave up a goal in garbage time to rob Craig of the shutout. Value Pick Huckerby was huge in a win against DC United while overpriced Burch was, well, overpriced earning zero points.? For the week I went 1/6 (5 correct with a -4 penalty for the Toronto pick).
Enough of the painful past, let?s look to the bright future of next week.
Team Picks
Take Three- Chicago Fire. Chicago travels to face Colorado. I think everyone agrees that the Rapids can?t string together a pair of wins. Moreover Chicago hosts FC Dallas next week. Pick up three Fire players and use your trades elsewhere next week.
Take Three- New York Red Bulls. On the road missing the midfield engine Rojas the Red Bulls lost to Chicago. At home with Rojas they should be able to beat RSL. I wouldn?t count on a defensive shut out, but Angel and company should hang a couple goals on the Storming Mormons. (Anyone have a good nickname for RSL?)
Avoid
Defenders from the KC v LA game. Remember last year when LA made a great run to almost get into the playoffs? It’s that time again. Mr. Donovan should be paying attention this week and if the gang is back together Saturday expect some goals. Sadly for LA, they still have the same sieve like defense. Remember not to take any defender from LA, their defense leaks like a baby full of apple juice.
Two Up, Two Down
The spreadsheet has a sense of humor this week. Andrew Boyens was conveniently out of the country last week for the Red Bulls 0-1 loss, so for the last four weeks his value increased .838 Fantasy points per game. On the opposite note, Fabian Espindola is up 1.33 points per game over the last three weeks. However, I don’t expect his climb to continue at least until his leg heals.
Two young players have been down. Drew Moor is down 1.03 points per game as his team begins to prepare for next season. While Robbie Rogers has seen his points per game drop .659 over the last three weeks. Rogers is getting the looks, he just needs to put on his finishing shoes.
Individual picks
Keeper Jon Busch. The mighty mite faces inept teams two weeks in a row. It seems silly to take anyone other than the reigning king of the spreadsheet.
Value- Edson Buddle. LA plays against a Wizards team that is done for the year. He still averages 11.5 points per game at $16,400 per point. His closest competition, Huckerby is also a great buy averaging 12.3 points per game.
Overpriced- Jay Heaps. a defender who earns 1.75 points a game is sad. One that costs $350,000 is profoundly depressing. Take a happy pill and pick a different defender.
Stop by next week, when I write a poem in honor of the League MVP.
Any crap I get based on the Toronto pick I will just shut up and take for the week.
I think I will stick with Fake Salt Lake (FSL).
Storming Mormons – awesome!
Casey, thanks for suggesting Toronto. When I saw that I knew I should stay away from the rest of your picks. Ha ha. Just kidding. Keep it up. Good to have some fantasy soccer stuff to read.