MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 11 line-up

Ok, there is a lot to think about this week. Columbus, Chicago and San Jose all play twice this week, so I tried to add guys from those teams (minus San Jose). Make sure you have your team ready for the Wednesday night game. Also think about New York, who have two games next week.

There are World Cup qualifiers coming up, so some guys are probably going to miss time this week, US guys include: Brian Ching , Landon Donovan (was on my team), Frankie Hejduk, Sacha Kljestan, Jonathan Bornstein (on my team), Marvell Wynne, and Pablo Mastroeni. Other notable guys are Amado Guevara (on my team) for Honduras and Gonzalo Segares for Costa Rica. I'm sure I'm missing some people, but those are the big names that come to mind.

Changes:
In: Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Chad Marshall, Denis Hamlett
Out: Landon Donovan, Fredy Montero, Sigi Schmid

Goalkeeper:
Pat Onstad - Houston is at home against Toronto, who will probably be without Amado Guevara who has been their go to goal scorer this year. This pick is ok, but I'd probably prefer Jon Busch if I had room for another Chicago guy.

Defenders:
Chad Marshall - Two games this week, one at home against San Jose, who are struggling. That looks like a pretty good oppurtunity for a shut-out. He also has one goal this year and is always a threat on set pieces.

Omar Gonzalez - I'm not usually really enthusiastic about L.A.'s shut-out chances, but they should have a much better shot at home this week with KC missing Josh Wolff, their top scorer and midfielder Santiago Hirsig due to suspension.

Kosuke Kimura - Away at New York, who knows, maybe he'll surprise me with another goal. One the plus side, New York will be without Jorge Rojas for the match.

Midfielders:
Chris Pontius - DC is away at New England, who haven't looked great this year. I get worried playing midfield/forward D.C. guys because of the depth, seems like a lot of these guys only get 45-60 minutes. I was thinking about adding a Columbus player here instead of adding Chad Marshall (Rogers, Gaven and Ekpo are all in the mid-high 300's).

Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Two games this week, one against Dallas at home, who haven't been impressive this year. I'm feeling good about his chances.

Marco Pappa - Two games this week to add to his three goals and two assist so far this year. Let's hope he adds to his total.

Mac Kandji - At home against a decent Colorado team, they will be missing Mastroeni though, so that should help the Red Bulls offense.

Forwards:
Guillermo Barros Schelotto - He is coming off a bye week, so he should be fresh for his two games this week. He has been impressive this year with five goals and an assist this year. It is interesting that he has been scoring more this year and assisting less compared to last year. (Captain)

Robbie Findley - Away at San Jose this week. I put him in because I wanted some cap space and got rid of Montero as a result. I guess I could drop Guevara instead and put Montero back in the line-up.

Brian McBride - Six goals in 10 games so far, so if statistics hold true, then one would expect that he will get at least a goal out of two games this week.

Coach:
Denis Hamlett - They have two games this week, a tough away one against Chivas and a easier home game against Dallas. I'm expecting at least a win. I would have considered keeping Sigi, but they have an away game against Chivas next week and I think that the Columbus team they're playing this week might be ready to rebound.

Bench: Jonathan Bornstein, Stefan Frei, Amado Guevara.

Make sure you check out the injury list: http://web.mlsnet.com/stats/injuries (on Friday too), and the discipline list: http://web.mlsnet.com/stats/discipline.jsp

Now here is, in my opinion, the best line-up this week starting from scratch and with no salary limits:

GK- Andy Gruenbaum/Will Hesmer
Based on updated injury report. Two games. I like Jon Busch better, but I want to use my three Chicago slots elsewhere. I also think Nick Rimando would be an ok choice.

Defense-
Eddie Lewis (LA)
Goal and an assist over the past two weeks. He has been playing in the midfield and LA is at home this week, although without Donovan.
Bobby Boswell (HOU)
Home v. TOR who will pobably be without leading scorer Amado Guevara.
Jamison Olave (RSL)
Away v. SJ. Maybe a shut-out and already has two goals this season.

Midfield-
Robbie Rogers (CLB)
Two games, one at home v. SJ
Emmanuel Ekpo (CLB)
Two games, one at home v. SJ
Macro Pappa (CHI)
Two games, one at home v. FCD
Cuauhtemoc Blanco (CHI)
Two games, one at home v. FCD

Forward-
Juan Pablo Angel (NY)
Home game, two games next week.
Brian McBride (CHI)
Two games, one at home v. FCD
Guillermo Barros Schelotto (CLB)
Two games, one at home v. SJ

Coach- Denis Hamlett (CHI)
Two games this week, even if one is against Chivas USA. Warzycha would be a good pick too, but like Chicago, they have a tough game against Seattle. I like Chicago slightly better because they have been a better team so far this year.

Comments, questions, suggestions? I have $45K in cap space still. I don't know if I should use a spot on Marshall. Maybe pick up Rogers or Ekpo instead, but then I have Bornstein in who will be out this week. Also should I keep Montero and let Guevara go instead? Thoughts, ideas anyone?

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 10 results

Pretty solid 149 points this week, for a grand total of 1124. All my forwards got points, so that was good. The midfield was a little less than impressive, but Amado Guevara came up big with his two goals for 62 points. I thought for sure that Onstad would get a shut-out, but it didn't work out.

The no salary cap team did really well, with 222 points. They were lead by fabulous midfielders Brad Davis, Dwayne DeRosario and Amado Guevara. The forwards were a little disappointing with only Landon getting points.

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 10 line-up

Hopefully this week's line-up will help me rebound from last week's debacle. Columbus is off this week, but they Chicago and San Jose play two next week. As usual, I am trying to load up on some players that will be playing twice next week. I'd focus on Chicago since they are the best team out of the three and play this week. I'd essentially ignore San Jose because I don't really like their chances of getting points. Columbus is tricky, they don't play this week, but if you have cap and bench space, you might consider adding guys like Barros Schelotto, Rogers, and Ekpo. So this week I focused on adding Chicago player.

Changes:
In: Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Brian McBride, Pat Onstad
Out: Javier Morales, Clint Mathis, Kasey Keller

Goalkeeper:
Pat Onstad - At home against a San Jose team that hasn't been doing well, they have only scored eight goals so far this season and they have failed to score in four games. So I think this should be a shut-out for Onstad, even with a make-shift back line in front of him. (Still like Frei as a cheap pick though, he is at home against a New England team that still isn't its usual self)

Defenders:
Jonathan Bornstein - Away at Kansas City, I think Chivas will be able to pull out a result, but I wouldn't count on a clean sheet. Who knows though, because I had KC losing last week away and that didn't happen.

Omar Gonzalez - Away against FC Dallas. Could be a shut-out, but FCD scored at home against Seattle last week, a better defensive team than the Galaxy.

Kosuke Kimura - At home against a Seattle team that hasn't looked as strong since their 3-0 start at home.

Midfielders:
Chris Pontius - DC is at home this week against Real Salt Lake, who struggled at home last week against Kansas City. Meanwhile, DC United had a come from behind draw away against league-leading Chivas USA. I'd say momentum is in DC's favor. Hopefully Pontius will continue with his fabulous rookie season. Only worry that he might get relegated to the bench if both Fred and Gomez return to the starting line-up.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco - He is really an addition for next week, but he had a memorable performance at Giants stadium last year logging a goal and three assist in Chicago's 5-1 dismantling of the Red Bulls. Maybe he'll have a repeat performance.

Amado Guevara - No goal or assist last week, but he's at home against New England, who haven't looked spectacular this year.

Mac Kandji - At home, but it will be a tough game against Chicago. The Red Bulls will also be without Rojas due to suspension. It will be interesting to see how this game turns out, I'm hoping high scoring on both sides.

Forwards:
Landon Donovan - He let me down last week as captain with zero points, but I'm going to stick with him. He's away this week against FC Dallas, another team that has been struggling this season. (Captain)

Fredy Montero - Turned up a big goose egg last week. He is away against a pretty average Colorado team. He's on probation, no points soon he is gone. In fact I was considering Robbbie Findley instead of him, if you have any ideas I'm open to suggestions, maybe even a 3-5-2.

Brian McBride - Another addition for next week, but you can't feel bad about picking up a guy who is tied for the golden boots so far this season.

Coach:
Sigi Schmid - Seattle against Colorado in Colorado feels like a tie to me. I'd rather have Kinnear this week, but I'm stuck with the guy already on my team.

Bench: Marco Pappa, Stefan Frei, Robbie Findley.

Make sure you check out the injury list: http://web.mlsnet.com/stats/injuries (on Friday too), and the discipline list: http://web.mlsnet.com/stats/discipline.jsp

Now here is, in my opinion, the best line-up this week starting from scratch and with no salary limits:

GK- Pat Onstad (HOU)
Home v. SJ.

Defense-
Eddie Lewis (LA)
He got a goal last week, let's see if he can do it again against a not so hot FCD.
Adrian Serioux (TOR)
Home v. NE, two goals and an assist so far this season.
Bryan Namoff (DC)
At home v. RSL, has three assist so far this season. (I would have gone with Houston defender, but I want to use Houston players elsewhere)

Midfield-
Stuart Holden (HOU)
At home v. SJ
Brad Davis (HOU)
at home v. SJ
Amado Guevara (TOR)
The streak ended, but he can always start a new one
Dwayne DeRosario (TOR)
The scoring load will continue to fall on the midfield since the forwards can't seem to consistently produce.

Forward-
Landon Donovan (LA)
Away v. FCD (captain)
Luciano Emilio (DC)
I seem to pick him when he doesn't score and get rid of him when he does, so don't trust me.
Jaime Moreno (DC)
I really like DC going forward. Especially if we see more of Gomez and Fred. (I might have picked Ching here if I didn't use the Houston picks elsewhere, he is also on the injury list as "probable")

Coach- Dominic Kinnear (HOU)
I think this is the obvious choice this week.

Comments, questions, suggestions? I have $33K in cap space still. I feel like I should have more Houston guys, but I want to make sure I have the Chicago guys for next week. Also not 100% on Montero. Thoughts, ideas anyone?

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 9 results

Brutal week. Just 21 points for a total of 975. Not a whole lot of goals this weekend and I didn't pick any of them. I got zero points from goals or assisits. Games didn't go the way that I expected, KC beat RSL, who were at home, DC tied Chivas USA, who were at home and Seattle tied FC Dallas. The ideal team for the week did marginally better with 51 points.

Week 9 line-up change

jleppig made a good suggestion, I am going to get Keller instead of Ralston and move Frei to the bench. I really already had more midfield depth than I needed and who knows how fit Ralston is yet.

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 9 line-up

Here are my thoughts on week nine in the MLS Fantasy Challenge, I have a really good feeling about Real Salt Lake at home vs. Kansas City this week and a not so good feeling about DC United traveling away to Chivas. Accordingly, I have traded away two DC players and put the third on the bench and added another RSL player.

Now DC has been good lately, but I'm not betting against a team with a 7-1-1 record and three more wins than any other team in the league. I'm not going to add players from Chivas USA either though. They honestly don't really have anyone that jumps out at you as a fantasy player. It more of a case of a good team with good depth and a good coach, not stars putting up big numbers.

Remember that San Jose doesn't have a game this week and Columbus doesn't play next week, plan accordingly.

So here are the changes to my line-up this week.

Changes:
In: Steve Ralston, Marco Pappa, Javier Morales
Out: Luciano Emilio, Rodney Wallace, Davy Arnaud

I really like Steve Ralston in general and I think he will be the key to getting New England back on track. I'd put him in the starting line-up, but this will be his first game back, so it is unlikely he'll go the full 90.

Marco Pappa is a deal at 289K and he'll be more good depth to have on the bench.

Arnaud is out because it has been too long since he logged points. I like both Emilio and Wallace, but not their match-up this week and honestly I'd be a little surprised if Wallace could keep producing like he has these last few weeks.

Goalkeeper:
Stefan Frei - Let's hope that Frei can keep surprising me with points. TFC has a tough game against Chicago. I'm not counting on a shut-out, but Frei is still good value at 216K. He is the second best points earning GK behind Zach Thorton.

Defenders:
Jonathan Bornstein - At home against a very dangerous DC team. Don't necessarily count on a shut-out, but he could get some offensive points. He his getting pretty costly at 403K. I might consider unloading him, although he has produced good points, the fifth best point getting defender.

Omar Gonzalez - At home against the Crew who finally got their first win. But as I always say, only 175K.

Kosuke Kimura - Away at New England, I'm not really expecting any more goals out of him.

Midfielders:
Clint Mathis - RSL is 0-2-1 in their last three games, but I think this is one of the best teams in the league and one of the most dynamic offensively. Mathis is having quite a resurgence.

Javier Morales - RSL has one of the best midfields in MLS with Mathis, Beckerman, and Johnson, Morales is like the cherry on top of an awesome sunday.

Amado Guevara - And the point getting streak continues. Chicago will be a tough match, but they are at home in the most intense atmosphere in MLS.

Mac Kandji - Amazing last week. He usually plays as a forward and not a midfielder, so that is to our advantage. With Celades running the midfield Rojas has had more opportunity to be creative, and that works to Kandji's advantage. Could be a tough home game against a Dynamo team that is looking more like their usual selves.

Forwards:
Landon Donovan - At home against the Crew who won their first game last week. It will be interesting to see if the win snaps them out of their funk. I still expect LD to score regardless. (Captain)

Fredy Montero - He hasn't really produced since the very beginning of the season. He has a good chance against FC Dallas, one of the worst teams in the league. But they are away from home. I think I'll unload Montero if I don't see something positive this week.

Robbie Findley - Let's just hope Kreis starts Findley this game. He's been their main threat up top, so I'd stick with him.

Coach:
Sigi Schmid - Seattle one of the better teams is away against FC Dallas one of the worst. I think this will be a win and good points unless they get another card happy ref.

Bench: Steve Ralston, Chris Pontius, Marco Pappa.

Make sure you check out the injury list: http://web.mlsnet.com/stats/injuries, and the discipline list: http://web.mlsnet.com/stats/discipline.jsp

Now here is, in my opinion, the best line-up this week starting from scratch and with no salary limits:

GK- Kasey Keller (SEA)
I don't see any really clear options for shut-outs, but FC Dallas has been struggling and Seattle has let in so few goals.

Defense-
Jonathan Bornstein (CHV)
At home against DC. Maybe he'll get something going forward.
Tyrone Marshall (SEA)
Has done well defensively and offensively.
Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (SEA)
I guess I just don't have much faith in FCD.

Midfield-
Javier Morales (RSL)
I like RSL at home.
Clint Mathis (RSL)
KC has been pretty good this year but RSL is a better team, and at home.
Jorge Rojas (NY)
Last week might have been a fluke, but I think that adding Celades might have changed this team for the better. Maybe Rojas can have another fabulous week. (Might have gone with Ljunberg here if I hadn't already used three Seattle players)
Mac Kandji (NY)
Listed as a midfielder but really more of a forward. NY is at home, but Houston should be tougher than SJ.

Forward-
Landon Donovan (LA)
Consistent scorer at home. (captain)
Juan Pablo Angel (NY)
At home with an improved team behind him.
Robbie Findley (RSL)
Another good goal-scorer at home.

Coach-
Jason Kreis (RSL)
I gave him the nod over Sigi because he is playing at home.

Comments, questions, suggestions? I have $35K in cap space and I feel like maybe I should have a forward on the bench instead of only midfielders. I was also thinking maybe about going with Angel instead of Montero. I also thought about adding Rojas or Ljunberg too. Any ideas anyone?

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 8 results

Another pretty decent MLS Fantasy Challenge week for me. I earned 145 points for a total of 954. The "ideal" line-up team earned 139.

The picks were pretty good with a few exceptions. The Preki for Sigi Schmid trade ended up being a mistake. I think from now on I'm going to check who is officiating the game as well. This is the second game this season where ref Tim Weyland has handed out a ton of cards.

The other big mistake was picking up Emilio and making him captain. It looked good on paper, but he only logged one point. I missed the United forward with the big week, Jaime Moreno. Keeping Juan Pablo Angel would have worked out well too.

The third "mistake" was keeping Wallace and Kandji on the bench, that is 126 points just sitting on the bench. Maybe that was just unlucky. However, I did get lucky with Stefan Frei and his assist. It is nice to get GK points from a guy who let in three goals.

I am curious to see if New York can continue the stellar offensive production, or if it was just a fluke, or San Jose is just terrible.

Revised Week 8 line-up

Ok, so here is the revised line-up. It is essentially a trade of Donovan and Montero for Angel and Morales. Hopefully it works out. I feel much more relaxed now, leaving Donovan out of a line-up also makes me nervous. Kimura is back in even though he doesn't play this week, and Schmid is my coach instead of Preki.

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 8 line-up

So here it is, my line-up for week eight of the MLS Fantasy Challenge. This week was hard for me, I wasn't sure what changes to make and I almost felt like I had too much flexibility. The main concern was clearly getting guys I my team who were going to play to games. Seven of out of the 12 (coach) active people on my roster have two games this week. What made it challenging was that It wasn't clear to me that any of the teams playing twice would have a really good chance at winning both their games (DC would be my best bet). That is why I didn't choose a coach from one of those teams.

Changes:
In: Luciano Emilio, Clint Mathis, Matt Besler
Out: Landon Donovan, Kosuke Kimura, Fredy Montero

These changes were hard to make, I would have liked to be able to have kept Landon and Fredy at least on the bench, but alas, they are too expensive.

I got burnt last time I left Donovan off the team, but I felt like this was the smart decision. Both of LA's games are away this week, and both games are against teams with formidable defenses. If LA could only generate a PK goal against NY last week, a team with a really shaky defense, then I didn't like there chances away against Real Salt Lake and Seattle.

It would have been nice to keep Montero for next week when they play FC Dallas, but it wasn't in the budget. I'm ok with the sale of Kimura, my guess is that he will never be worth as much as he is this week, and he is off this week (otherwise I probably would have kept him around). In fact, I considered keeping him in the starting line-up to give me more flexibility to make other changes, but I really didn't have other changes to make.

Goalkeeper:
Stefan Frei - I think Frei will let in goals away at DC, but hopefully he can get enough saves so he doesn't end up with negative points. This is not a great pick for this week, but he was already on the roster and he takes up so little salary cap space.

Defenders:
Jonathan Bornstein - At home against a pretty good RSL team, I'm not counting on a shut-out from him.

Omar Gonzalez - He plays two games this week, but honestly that could be a bad thing. I don't think he'll get any shut-outs, and my bet is that LA will get scored on a couple of times. He could earn negative points this week.

Matt Besler - Two games, very inexpensive.

Midfielders:
Clint Mathis - I went to him since Morales is going to miss the first game of the week with suspension. RSL has two games this week and Mathis has looked in form this year.

Chris Pontius - He's got two games and he seems to get lots of chances, plus he's inexpensive. I'm hoping for a big week for him.

Amado Guevara - Produced good points for the last three weeks straight. He could continue his streak at DC, a team better know for their offensive prowess than their defense.

Davy Arnaud - Last time they had two games he got zero points. I'm hoping things are different this time around. If they are not, he'll probably get dropped from the team next week.

Forwards:
Luciano Emilio - I hope this pick pans out. I essentially traded Donovan for him. I think it makes sense on paper, but who knows what will happen. He has two games against two team that have good but not great defenses. I think he can score. (Captain)

Juan Pablo Angel - He is at home and he is playing a San Jose team that has been letting in goals.

Robbie Findley - Two games this week, one of the top goal scorers in MLS. He is relatively cheap at 351K.

Coach:
Preki - Home game against a tough RSL team, hope this isn't one of the places where I wished I had made a change.

Bench: Javier Morales, Mac Kandji, Rodney Wallace. I think any of these guys would have been good choices to start as well. I would have started Morales if he wasn't suspended for the first game.

Make sure you check out the injury list: http://web.mlsnet.com/stats/injuries, and the discipline list: http://web.mlsnet.com/stats/discipline.jsp

Now here is, in my opinion, the best line-up this week starting from scratch and with no salary limits:

GK-
Jon Busch (CHI)
Home game against a struggling New England team.

Defense-
Jimmy Conrad (KC)
Two games this week. Maybe he can get some goals like he did last year.
Bakary Soumare (CHI)
Game v. NE team that's struggling.
Wilman Conde (CHI)
See above.

Midfield-
Chris Pontius (DC)
Two games, very active in the attack.
Clint Mathis (RSL)
He's my replacement for Morales, I think he'll do a good job, he's looked good lately.
Christian Gomez (DC)
He is off the injury report and Olsen in on it, so you have to figure he'll play serious minutes in the two games this week.
Davy Arnaud (KC)
Two games, hopefully he is fully recovered from injury.

Forward-
Landon Donovan (LA)
I'll go with him here because I have no cap.
Luciano Emilio (DC)
I think he'll be leading goal scorer by the end of this week. (captain)
Robbie Findley (RSL)
If it isn't Emilio it will be Findley (or at least one of the three forwards here)

Coach-
Tom Soehn (DC)
They have two games and the best chance at getting points from both.

I'd love to hear comments, questions, suggestions. I'm not feeling 100% about my current team so any feedback is welcome. I still have $86K in cap space. Any ideas anyone?

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 7 results

Week seven in Major League Soccer was not a particularly high scoring week, lots of one or two goal games. Luckily for me, I got some pretty huge and unexpected points from my defense. This week my fantasy team earned 207 points, my best week so far, and two pretty good weeks in a row. My points total is 809.

So obviously, Kimura's 50 points were huge and completely unexpected. I have been using him more as a place holder, but it is great to get lucky like this. I got shut-outs from all of my defenders and offensive points from two out of three (Bornstein assist). It is awesome to get points from defender especially when your midfield and forward lines don't pan out too well.

Good pick with Donovan as my captain and Guevara continued on his points streak, but everyone else were pretty disappointing. The only game I was really able to watch this weekend was the DC-FCD game, so I can't make too many comments about people's performances, but I was a little surprised not to see RSL get on the scoreboard, especially against Rocky Mountain rivals Colorado.

My no salary limit team actually underperformed my real team with 184 points this week. I hit on Christian Gomez with his assist coming off the bench, but I picked the wrong DC forward. Jaime Moreno was the highest points getter of the week with 58. That being said, Emilio looked really dangerous. He had a header that he should have put away and a one on one with the 'keeper that should have been a goal. I don't know whether to take it as a good sign or bad sign that he is getting these chances but not finishing them.

Zach Thorton has continued to impress after his shaky start. He is one of the overall points leader in fantasy soccer with 160. I'm not sure if it is him or the team in front of him.