MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 24 line-up

So there are two basic approaches to this week, you can try to load up on guys who play twice this week (Chivas USA, Real Salt Lake), or you can try and prepare for next week, when only six out of the 15 teams play (Colorado, D.C., FC Dallas, Kansas City, New England, and Toronto). I chose the latter strategy, since I am not too fond of the player options from Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake. Right now I have nine out of the 12 (11 starters and the coach) filled. The only issue is that Amado Guevara will probably miss that game due to World Cup Qualifiers. Inevitably some other guys will get suspended and injured, but I'll be more prepared than ninety percent of people. Last note about this week is that FC Dallas is off.

Changes:
In: Matt Reis, Steve Nicol, Rodney Wallace
Out: Jon Busch, Denis Hamlett, Cuauhtemoc Blanco

I trade Jon Busch for Matt Reis because the Revolution play at home against San Jose this week and then are one of the active teams next week with a home game against Kansas City. Two really weak opponents at home, nice. I traded Denis Hamlett for Steve Nicol for the same reasons as the goalkeeper swap. I had to get rid of Blanco because both Reis and Nicol are ridiculously expensive at 590K and 397K respectively. In fact Reis is the most expensive player in the game. I picked up Wallace because he is cheap and will play next week. I'll use the cap space and unload a mid-priced player to get an elite player next week.

Goalkeeper:
Matt Reis- The Revolution are at home against one of the worst teams in the league. New England has allowed very few goals at home and San Jose has a hard time scoring on the road. That combination leads to a good chance at a shut-out. Oh, and did I mention he plays next week at home against Kansas City, another team towards the bottom of the table.

Defenders:
Eddie Lewis - At "home" against Chivas USA. These games are usually intense, but L.A. has shown that it is in better form recently, despite Chivas USA only trailing by two points in the standings with three games in hand. I'm not counting on a shut-out, to the contrary, I think it could be a goal-fest, and I hope Lewis takes part in it.

Omar Gonzalez - Earlier in the year I would have put him behind Chris Pontius, Rodney Wallace and Sam Cronin in the race for Rookie of the Year, but I'm not so sure anymore. He might very well pass them all.

Kevin Alston - The injury report says he is out with illness. That's hard too interpret, hopefully he will be feeling better by this weekend so that he can take part in the game against San Jose. I hoping for a shut-out.

Midfielders:
Amado Guevara - Away against Seattle, that is a tough match. He'll also probably miss next weeks game with World Cup Qualifiers. Too bad.

Dwayne De Rosario - Like Guevara, tough game on the road in Seattle. Maybe he can start a new streak after not scoring or assisting last week. Big plus that he plays next week, even if it is an away game in Colorado.

Brad Davis - Away at Colorado. He got an assist last game, I'm hoping for some more production.

Marco Pappa - Pappa only has one assist over the past eight games. Chicago is at home against D.C. United this weekend. Chicago hasn't played particularly well at home and looked vulnerable last week, but D.C. has only won once on the road. It will be interesting to see how this one turns out.

Steve Ralston - He has produced consistently and this week he is playing at home against San Jose. I'm looking for him to get some more points. He is my choice for captain (Captain).

Forwards:
Landon Donovan - "Home" game vs. Chivas USA. He should be motivated and Chivas USA might be a little weary after their mid-week game. I always feel nervous when I choose someone besides Donovan to be my captain.

Fredy Montero - Needs to redeem himself after missing a penalty kick last week and getting a yellow card that forced him to sit out the following game. I think he should be able to manage something at home against Toronto FC.

Coach:
Steve Nicol - New England has only lost twice at home, and San Jose has not won on the road this year. This looks like a definite win for the Revolution.

Bench: Rodney Wallace, Conor Casey, Chris Pontius

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- Matt Reis (NE)
He's way too expensive, but I think he'll be worth it. Rimando would be my second choice with two games, but I'm not sure he'll get a shut-out in either, although Neither Kansas City nor Chivas USA are prolific scoring teams.

Defense-
Jonathan Bornstein (CHV)
Two games and he is a threat to get forward.
Jamison Olave (RSL)
Two games. Possible (though unlikely) chance of a shut-out in both.
Nat Borchers (LA)
See above. Clearly any NE choice in the defensive would be good too, but I wanted to use the three slots elsewhere.

Midfield-
Sacha Kljestan (CHV)
Got his first two goal last week after only an assist in all of his previous games. I wouldn't pay the 579K, but since this is a cap-less team I'll take a chance on him. He is playing twice this week.
Clint Mathis (RSL)
Would have gone with Morales, but he is listed as questionable, Will Johnson is another pretty good choice.
Steve Ralston (NE)
Home against SJ. (Capt)
Shalrie Joseph (NE)
I might have gone with Dube as my third guy from NE, but he is listed as questionable. Regardless I think you should have three guys from NE this week.

Forward-
Fredy Montero (SEA)
Home vs. TOR. Maybe consider Findley here instead because he plays twice
Landon Donovan (LA)
Things should be intersting against in-town(stadium) rivals.
Guillermo Barros Schelotto (CLB)
Away against NY. Hopefully he will be ready to play after coming off an injury with the game off last week.

Coach- Steve Nicol (NE)
This is to me as close to a guaranteed win as it will get.

Comments, questions, suggestions? I have $242K in cap space still. Thoughts, ideas anyone? I'm not completely sold on playing Marco Pappa and Amado Guevara, should I play my D.C. guys instead? Maybe Casey instead of one of them? Can you think of anyone else to get besides Wallace that is going to play next week? I'd have a budget of $417K, between the unused $242K and the $175K that Wallace costs.

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 23 results

This week was okay, but a little bit of a disappointment. I got 137 points for a total of 3451 points, which puts me ranked 26th over-all. 24th is the highest I have ever been ranked, and I'd really like to break into the top 20.

It was disappointing that neither Eddie Lewis nor Fredy Montero played twice this weekend. I was also really disappointed with the points from Denis Hamlett and Jon Busch. I guess I should have been banking on L.A. instead of Chicago this weekend. I thought the rest of the team performed according to expectations three out of five midfielders got good points and Landon was constisent as usual. Both Alston and Gonzalez grabbed points in the defense. It's too bad that Lewis didn't play the full 90 minutes, or he would have got shut-out points as well.

While my regular team was slightly disappointing, the cap-less team did quite well. It earned 293 points. It's big stars were Joseph, who got 67 points, and Dube, who got 99 points.

It was also nice to see Sacha Kljestan finally get some goals after being so quite so far this year.

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 23 line-up

So obviously the strategy for this week was to fill your roster with as many guys who are playing two games as possible. The teams playing twice are Chicago, Los Angeles, New England, and Seattle. I've managed to fill my starting 11 (and coach) with ten guys from those teams. Unfortunately Eddie Lewis won't be playing twice due to a red card. I got rid of Tyrone Marshall because he was red carded too.

Other scheduling notes are that Columbus is off this week and Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake are off while FC Dallas is off. The week after that, only Colorado, D.C., FC Dallas, Kansas City, New England and Toronto play and all of the other teams are off (I had a mistake there is previous posts and said that L.A. was playing instead of New England). My secondary goal this week was to prepare for week 25 when only these six teams play. So far six of the guys on my current roster will play that week.

Changes:
In: Kevin Alston, Denis Hamlett, Conor Casey
Out: Tyrone Marshall , Dominic Kinnear, Maykel Galindo

I replaced Tyrone Marshall with Alston because Alston will play twice this week, unlike Marshall who got red carded last week and Alston will also play in week 25. I added Hamlett because I think he has the team with the best chance to win two games this week. I replace Maykel Galindo with Conor Casey because I needed money to get Hamlett and Casey plays in week 25. It would have been nice to hold onto Galindo because he plays twice next week, but I didn't have that luxury.

Goalkeeper:
Jon Busch - The Fire are the only team this week that play twice at home. I also think they have the best match-ups and are the best team out of the teams that play twice. I'm hoping for at least one shut-out this weekend from Busch and a bunch of saves.

Defenders:
Eddie Lewis - Too bad he was red carded, but he is still a midfielder listed as a defender. He misses the tough game away against Chicago and is back for the game away against D.C. He should be able to get points in D.C. (even though I hope they lose. Go D.C.!)

Omar Gonzalez - Two away games this week. Hopefully two games doesn't just mean more opportunities to get negative points.

Kevin Alston - A brillant pick-up in my mind, plays twice this week and plays in week 25. I should really have three guys from New England, but I think most guys on that roster are over-priced. They have a tough away game against Seattle, then a more managable home game against Real Salt Lake.

Midfielders:
Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Two home games. I just hope he has enough in the tank to get significant minutes in both. I considered him for captain, but his potential for sitting major minutes on the bench disuaded me. He could have a monster week.

Dwayne De Rosario - One of the few players in my line-up who's not playing twice. He has been on such a hot streak that I don't want to take him out anyways. He also plays in week 25, so that is a definite plus.

Brad Davis - He's also not playing twice, but he is reasonably priced at $283K considering his good performance. Houston is home against Seattle, who should be a little fatigued in their second game of the week.

Marco Pappa - Unlike Blanco, Pappa is probably young enough and fit enough to play the majority of minutes in both games this week. Pappa ended his cold streak by getting an assist last week. He was another consideration for captain, but his production is too irregular, so he was too much of a gamble.

Steve Ralston - Six goals and five assists in 13 games. So he seems to get on the scoreboard somehow in almost every game. I'm expecting at least a goal and an assist out of his two games this weekend. I really feel like he is the second best choice for captain...

Forwards:
Landon Donovan - Donovan will be my captain this week. I'm a little worried about the lingering effects of swine flu, but my bet is that he will be fine. L.A. has two tough games on the road, but I think that Donovan will be able to find the back of the net like he so often does. (Captain)

Fredy Montero - Seattle plays twice and Montero has been one of the most prolific goal-scorers this season. Seattle hosts a resurgent New England team and then travels to Houston, a tough place to get points, he should manage to grab some points between the two games.

Coach:
Denis Hamlett - Coach with the best chance to win two games this week.

Bench: Amado Guevara, Conor Casey, Chris Pontius

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- Jon Busch (CHI)
Two games.

Defense-
James Riley (SEA)
Two games.
Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (SEA)
Two games.
Omar Gonzalez (LA)
Two games.

Midfield-
Cuauhtemoc Blanco (CHI)
Two games.
Marco Pappa (CHI)
Two games.
Steve Ralston (NE)
Two games.
Shalrie Joseph (NE)
Two games. I would have gone with Ljungberg, but he is listed as questionable.

Forward-
Fredy Montero (SEA)
Two games.
Landon Donovan (LA)
Two games. (Capt.)
Kheli Dube (NE)
Two games.

Coach- Denis Hamlett (CHI)
You guessed it: Two games.

Comments, questions, suggestions? I have $9K in cap space still. Thoughts, ideas anyone?

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 22 results

I'm going to keep this brief. Pretty good week, I got 200 points for a total of 3314 points, which puts me 28th overall in the standings. Big points from De Rosario as my captain, and a very good pick-up in Maykel Galindo to replace Landon Donovan. Good contributions from Fredy Montero, Amado Guevara, Marco Pappa, and Jon Busch. All the negative points were kind of a drag, including the red cards to Eddie Lewis and Tyrone Marshall. I'm glad I didn't have Beckham on the team as well.

The cap-less team got 254 points, and none of the forwards on that team even earned points.

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 22 update

Ok so after reading more, it doesn't look like Donovan is too likely to play this weekend. If he does he'll probably be feeling pretty poorly anyways, so I'm making some changes. Dominic Kinnear is back to give me a transfer and some money to work with. Landon is on the bench and I am bringing in Maykel Galindo. He hasn't had a great season, but he is really fast and I think he can take advantage of New York's defense. It looks like New York will probably be without Angel and Rojas too, so they may have more trouble than usual holding onto the ball.

Anybody else think they have a better change(s) to make? I currently have $29K in cap space. The guys transferred out from last week's roster are Holden, Onstad, and Casey.

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 22 line-up

I'm switching captains to De Rosario since Donovan has swine flu. I might remove him altogether depending on his status in the injury report.

Here is what's going on in this and the coming weeks: this week Colorado, New England, and San Jose are off; next week Chicago, New England, Los Angeles, and Seattle play twice, while Columbus is off; in week 25 only Colorado, D.C., Dallas, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and Toronto play, all of the rest of the teams are off. That is certainly a lot to think about and plan for.


Changes:
In: Jon Busch, Denis Hamlett, Stuart Holden
Out: Pat Onstad , Dominic Kinnear, Chris Pontius

The rationale for these changes is that I think that Chicago has the best match-ups over the next two weeks. The Fire always perform well on the road and Kansas City has struggled recently and fired their coach. They also will be without two of their main offensive weapons, Claudio Lopez and Davy Arnaud.

Then the Fire play twice the following week, both of which are at home. They also have the best match-ups out of the four teams that play twice next week, with one game against L.A. and another against the Rapids.

I added Pontius looking forward to week 25, when six teams play. So far I have seven guys who will be playing that week. So I'll try to add a few more in the coming weeks. I would have liked to have kept Holden because he has been on fire, but I needed some money to make changes (both Busch and Hamlett are more expensive than Onstad and Kinnear). I didn't want to get rid of my other expense guys (De Rosario, Donovan, Blanco, Montero) because they either play twice in 23 or are on one of the few teams that play during week 25.

I don't like playing a 3-5-2, and I would have liked to have added Guillermo Barros Schelotto, but he is just coming off injury (maybe coming off the bench) and Columbus doesn't play in week 23 or 25.

Goalkeeper:
Jon Busch - The Fire are away against Kansas City, who haven't won a league match in a month and are coming off and 6-0 beat down by FC Dallas (who aren't very good themselves). Busch should have a good chance at a shutout considering that the Wizards will be without Claudio Lopez and Davy Arnaud.

Defenders:
Eddie Lewis - Continues to play in the midfield although he is listed as a defender. L.A. is at home against Seattle, who haven't scored in the last three matches, so Lewis has a chance for shutout points as well.

Omar Gonzalez - Home vs. Seattle. L.A. is undefeated in its last six league matches and shutout their opponents in three of those games.

Tyrone Marshall - Seattle has a pretty good defense, but their offense has struggled recently. I'm not counting on them shuting out L.A. this week, but I'll keep Marshall around because he plays twice in week 23.

Midfielders:
Cuauhtemoc Blanco - As mentioned above, I like this match-up. I also like that Chicago plays twice next week.

Dwayne De Rosario - I regretted leaving him out of my line-up in week 20 and I'm not going to make the same mistake. I hate picking player who are playing against D.C., but Toronto is at home and I think De Rosario can produce.

Brad Davis - He was a big disappointment last week, hopefully he can redeem himself this week when Houston travels to Real Salt Lake. Real Salt Lake has really been unimpressive this year after having a performed pretty well last year.

Marco Pappa - Away against Kansas City. He has been on a five game drought, but this is the perfect game for him to get back on track.

Amado Guevara - It's been seven games since he has scored or assisted, but he is still the fifth highest points earnering midfielder and he is so cheap at only $175K.

Forwards:
Fredy Montero - After scoring in five straight games, he is in the midst of a three game drought. He'll have atough challenge away against L.A. this week, but he'll get two chances to add to his goal total next week.

Landon Donovan - L.A. is home against Seattle, which should be a tough match-up against a good defense and a great 'keeper. Put Donovan has been consistent scoring or assisting in all but four games this season. (He's apparently got swine flu, so beware, I might still remove him from my team)

Coach:
Denis Hamlett - Away at K.C. this week and then two games next week, that could add up to big points (or not if he's like Kinnear was last week).

Bench: Steve Ralston, Conor Casey, Chris Pontius

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.

GK- Will Hesmer (CLB)
Home vs. FC Dallas

Defense-
Eddie Lewis (LA)
Home vs. Seattle
Chad Marshall (CLB)
Home vs. FC Dallas
Bakary Soumare (CHI)
Away vs. Kansas City.

Midfield-
Cuauhtemoc Blanco (CHI)
Away vs. KC
Marco Pappa (CHI)
Away vs. KC
Dwayne De Rosario (TOR)
Home vs. D.C. (Capt.)
Amado Guevara (TOR)
Home vs. D.C.

Forward-
Guillermo Barros Schelotto (CLB)
Home vs. FC Dallas, risky pick with him just coming off injury.
Landon Donovan (LA)
Home vs. Seattle (He's apparently got swine flu, so beware, I might still remove him from my team)
Luciano Emilio (DC)
Away vs. Toronto. I had Angel here but he might miss the game due to a concussion.

Coach- Robert Warzycha (CLB)
Home against FC Dallas. I really like CLB's chance and I would have liked to pick some of their guys for my regular team, but I don't like that they don't play in week 23 or 25.

Comments, questions, suggestions? I have $91K in cap space still. Thoughts, ideas anyone?

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 21 results

So the whole plan to load up on Houston guys almost turned out disastrously. After the first game I had negative 26 points between Brad Davis (red card) and Dominic Kinnear (tons of bookings and a loss). Luckily for me I had Stuart Holden as my captain and he nabbed a game winning goal in their second game. I finished the week with a very good 275 points, especially considering how bad things looked for me on Thursday. I now have a total of 3114 points, which puts me in 27th place overall.

Conor Casey had quite the game, with a hat-trick in the first half of the game. It is amazing how Chivas USA have fallen. It was unfortunate that I cut my good luck charm, Kimura, he got an assist and a shut-out and would have added 30 points to my team.

The rest of the team performed pretty well, Landon was his consistent self with a goal, Steve Ralston put away a penalty kick, Cuauhtemoc got an assist, as did Eddie Lewis.

The cap-less team was much less impressive with only 164 points this week. I had Ching as the captain there and Conor Casey wasn't in that line-up. How'd everybody else do this weekend?

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 21 line-up

So my focus this week is Houston since they have two games this week. I have yet to go with a midfielder as my captain, but since the Dynamo have two games and Stuart Holden played well last week, I'm going with him as my captain. I probably would have chosen Ching as my captain if he were on the team. As you can see, I have three Dynamo players and Dominic Kinnear as my coach. I think that they have a pretty decent chance at winning both games this weekend. I only wish now that I had Ching as my other Dynamo player instead of Onstad, oh well.

The teams that are off this week are D.C. United, Kansas City, New York, and Toronto. For next week I would think about picking up players from Chicago. They play away (Chiacgo tends to play well on the road) at Kansas City next week, who got crushed by Dallas last week (and Dallas isn't even that good!), will be missing Claudio Lopez, Davy Arnaud, and most likely Jimmy Conrad, and have a new coach. Another heads up is that Chicago, Los Angeles, New England, and Seattle will play twice in week 23, so consider loading up on their players.

Changes:
In: Eddie Lewis, Tyrone Marshall, Amado Guevara
Out: Kosuke Kimura , Bryan Namoff, Aaron Hohlbein

I'm not exactly sold on my transactions, I would have liked to have held onto Bryan Namoff, but he was off this week and I feel guilty getting rid of Kimura because he has been my good luck charm. But I am really glad to finally have Eddie Lewis on the team, a guy who is listed as a defender but really plays midfield. I think Marshall is a solid pick, he is on a good defensive team and he plays twice in week 23. I felt like Guevara was a steal at only 175k and I'd rather have him on the team than Hohlbein, since I have very little faith in Kansas City now-a-days.

Goalkeeper:
Pat Onstad - He has two games this week, both of which are winnable. First off the Dynamo are away at FC Dallas. They had a goal explosion last week, so I'm not sure about a shut-out. Next they are home against the Fire, no doubt a tough challenge.

Defenders:
Eddie Lewis - Tough match away at New England, but I've wanted him on the team for a while. A productive midfielder who will earn points better because he is listed as a defender.

Omar Gonzalez - Not counting on a shut-out for the Galaxy, but he's done a pretty good job, he's relatively cheap and he was already on my roster.

Tyrone Marshall - Seattle is away at Real Salt Lake, which could be a tough match. But in general I like Seattle's defense and I like that they have two games coming up.

Midfielders:
Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Tough away game at Houston. I was considering dropping his huge salary, but they play Kansas City next week, which could mean hug points and they have two games in week 23.

Stuart Holden - Nice performance last week. Hopefully he can do twice as well with two games this week. I could use a big week from him to help me leap-frog up the standings. (Captain)

Brad Davis - Two games this week, he has been a solid performer all year long with four goals and seven assist so far this season.

Steve Ralston - New England is at home against Los Angeles. Looks like Joseph should be playing this week so that should help him out. He had been producing regularly before I put him on my team, hopefully he can get back to that this week.

Forwards:
Conor Casey - The Rapids are home against Chivas USA, who don't seem to be the same team that they were in the beginning of the season. Chivas USA will be without Paulo Nagamura, who does a lot of the dirty work in the midfield, so that should make it easier to the Rapids to get Casey good service. And isn't it great that he only costs 175K!

Fredy Montero - It's been two league games without a goal. Maybe he picked some stuff up in the mid-week game against Barcelona and he can unleash it on Real Salt Lake this weekend.

Landon Donovan - When the Galaxy are playing I feel hesistant to leave him out of my line-up. He's my usual captain, but because of the tough game in New England, Houston's two games, and the fact that midfielders get more points for their goals and assists, I am going with someone else. I hope I don't regret that.

Coach:
Dominic Kinnear - Two games this week, I'm expecting at least a win and a tie. Two wins is definitely a possibility.

Bench: Amado Guevara, Marco Pappa, Dwayne De Rosario

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 (bit of a change since first posting):

GK- Matt Pickens (COL)
Home vs. Chivas USA

Defense-
Eddie Lewis (LA)
Away vs. NE
Chad Marshall (CLB)
Away vs. San Jose. Currently on a two game goal streak.
Jay Heaps (NE)
Home vs. LA. He got points last week. I'm hedging my bets just in case Landon and Becks don't produce.

Midfield-
Brad Davis (HOU)
Two games
Stuart Holden (HOU)
Two games
David Beckham (LA)
Away vs. NE. It pains me to do this, but I think he's been playing well.
Steve Ralston (NE)
Home vs. LA

Forward-
Fredy Montero (SEA)
Away v. SJ (Capt.)
Landon Donovan (LA)
Away v. NE
Brian Ching (HOU)
Two games (Capt)

Coach- Dominic Kinnear (HOU)
Two games

Comments, questions, suggestions? I have $20K in cap space still. Thoughts, ideas anyone?

MLS Fantasy Challenge: Week 20 results

Another average to below average week. I earned 119 points for a total of 2839, which places me 46th overall. If I don't start performing better I am going to be off the leader board. My Houston midfielders served me well in their 4-3 victory over D.C. United, as did Dominic Kinnear. Unfortunately, my other picks didn't pan out as well. Namoff got 16 points and that was about it. Too bad I didn't leave De Rosario in, he was on a streak and I should have stuck with him.

At least I know I haven't completely lost my touch, the cap-less team earned a very respectable 204 points. Too bad I didn't have Ching and Busch on my normal team.