MLS GW17 – Tips Fantasy Major League Soccer
This weeks deadline is Sat 9th July at 1am GMT. (So Friday night going into Saturday morning basically for our UK users)
As of the writing of this article, the New England v. NYC game has yet to go off to close out the previous round. But does it really matter at this point? Chances are that somebody you need from the last game of Round 16 may get benched or play limited minutes anyway, so I won’t get my hopes up (or put off writing the article any longer than I have to). And, while we’re on the subject of chances, it’s highly doubtful that you took a chance on several of the players currently on the Dream Team. In all of our preparations for the DGW and for the byes, the MLS slapped us once more in the face with players scoring big points that simply shouldn’t be.
In short, we got Alberg’d again this week.
Currently on the Dream Team (again, before the final match of the round) we have Ola Kamara for the Crew. Did you pick him up? Probably not, he’s only owned by 2.6% of the league. But 2.6% of the league are pretty pleased with his 14 points. How about Jack Harrison from NYC? Harrison is owned by 1.9% of the league and is on 12 points. You know who else made the Dream Team? Try Michael Salazar and John Goosens, with 12 and 10 points respectively. If you combined their ownership percentages together you would get 0.7% owned by all players in the game.
I’m still a bit confused why anybody would read this article when a dart board and a few dice rolls could probably pick a better Dream Team than I could. But I’ve been told that if I don’t write the article I’ll get Jozy Altidore highlight gifs sent to my Twitter stream until it’s done. So here we go.
#1) Enjoy the break in DGW’s
This week we have a full roster of games going off – and each team will just play the one time. Imagine that. Granted, it won’t be fully calmed down yet because teams are still going to enter GW18 next week after just 2-4 days rest… but it’s a start. We’ll probably still see some roster rotation during this period, but we can now pick players based on their own merit and on the strength of schedule. We no longer have any DGW’s to plan for during these next five rounds.
This is kind of a weak and obvious bullet point, but I wanted to float this out there because the game is going to drastically change now. Maybe more of us would’ve had Ola Kamara on our squads if we didn’t have a pair of DGW’s to skew our choices in the rounds leading up to this. And conversely, maybe more of us wouldn’t have had BWP in the middle of three straight road fixtures just because he was on a double.
[divider_1px]
#2) Prepping for the GW18 bye weeks
In GW18 we’ll have 8 teams on a bye. The game will try to trick you and inform you that you have a brand new wildcard ready to use in this round – but you’ll have to resist the temptation to do something stupid. We’re already going to get a universal wildcard in GW19, so there really is no reason to burn your second-half wildcard in GW18. If nothing else, just take zeroes instead of burning a ton of -4’s or using the wildcard.
The only excuse for using the wildcard in GW18 would be to win a bet. And even then, it better be a big bet.
Just so that you start to plan appropriately this week in your buying and selling, the teams that are on a bye next round are: Colorado, DC, Houston, LA, New England, NYC, Philly and San Jose. Obviously the worst of these are New England and NYC because you’ve no doubt bought a player or two that you’ll be forced to sell. But having LA on a bye isn’t great either because they’re finally rounding into form on both sides of the ball. But no worries, you’ll be able to buy them all at your to your heart’s content starting in GW19.
[divider_1px]
#3) Who to buy/hold this round
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]
The first thing to point out is that if you’ve already invested your money into NYRB players, you’d do well to just hang onto them for the next couple of weeks at this point. The Red Bulls have no bye to worry about in GW19, and they’ll be returning home this week to play Portland. NYRB are 6-2-0 at home this year and the Timbers are 0-4-5 on the road. The records pretty much speak for themselves in this spot, keep the Red Bulls players in your side.
Vancouver come into this round starting a 3-game home stand – so they’ll definitely be worth a look. Like most MLS teams, the Caps play best at home, and three dates with no travel will probably net you some points. Now that Octavio Rivero has been sold, the situation up front for Vancouver has changed considerably. In their last match, Hurtado and Mezquida started up front for Vancouver – and both of these players are actually listed as midfielders for cheap prices. Could be some value there.
Even though I poked fun at a few people for picking up Giovinco last week, I think this is the time to buy him. Chicago travelling to Toronto is best case scenario for Giovinco to get back into form. In this post-DGW era of the game, many final rankings will probably be decided more by who bought Giovinco and who didn’t than anything else. He’s the best player in the league, and this is a matchup that deserves his inclusion into your squad.
[divider_1px]
#4) Who to sell
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]
If you haven’t already, start to queue up your bye week players. That sounds obvious, I know. But before you start selling a player you’re simply mad at for underperforming, start to get rid of the players that actually have zero chance to score for you. And if you’ve already done that…
Start by selling your Chicago players (ie, David Accam). The Chicago Fire don’t have a bye week next round, but they’re starting a run of schedule that will see them play 4 of their next 6 matches on the road. They look like a great value team on paper, but the worst team in the East needs a bit better schedule for me to take a chance on them for anything long term.
FC Dallas overtook first place in the West over the weekend, but they may not be the best buy for the next several weeks. Dallas are just 3-5-1 on the road this year, and 3 of their next 4 matches will be road fixtures. Mauro Diaz is probably the only man on their roster that is undroppable, but he’ll probably not put up numbers like he had at home this week while travelling away.
Lastly, maybe ‘sell’ isn’t the right word for Seattle since not many people own their players yet, but it should be said that they wouldn’t be a good buy for a few rounds. Maybe Seattle is riding high after beating West Ham in a friendly this week – but they played against reserve players in that match. The truth is that Seattle will play twice at home in the next couple of rounds against LA and Dallas, two of the best teams in the West. After that, Seattle will be on the road for a pair of rounds. They’re best left untouched by your squad until the conditions become more favorable.
[divider_1px]
#5) Captain picks
I think Giovinco has to come first again. Now that the DGW nonsense is over with, it becomes much easier to captain the best player in the best fixture. Giovinco v. Chicago is that matchup.
Sacha Kljestan is my second pick here. NY at home against a Portland side that doesn’t travel well is a pretty easy pick. If Valeri remains out for Portland this becomes an even easier pick if you couldn’t afford Giovinco before the next unlimited transfer window.
Kaka probably isn’t a bad pick at home against Houston. Orlando had a rough go against Dallas in their last match, and it was never close. But use that to your advantage. Kaka was pulled out after 45 minutes in a losing effort and should be good to go this round for an even better score.
[divider_1px]
Don’t forget to stop by mlsfantasyboss.com to catch up on their great weekly articles that lead into the deadline.
Or if you are after listening to more of Guy himself then be sure to drop in and give his Married Man’s Guide to Sports Addiction a listen!
To play the MLS game itself it’s fantasy.mlssoccer.com that you need.
[divider_1px]
And last but not least, don’t forget to join the FF247 MLS League, Code is: 123-361
[divider_1px]
MLS GW17 – Tips Fantasy Major League Soccer This article was written by Guy Sanchez (FootyFantastic)
MLS is LIVE!
Hats off to Guy, as ever. Last round hasn’t even finished yet but given the short turnaround involved he’s gone and done his piece to get us all prepped already. Great work mate, thank you. By the way I’d just shave it off and be done with or else you’re going to have a serious problem on your hands (and face) in 10 years 😉
Nah man. The rally beard is in full effect. We’ll get there.
This is a great read Guy, I still have a good few players set to play in this match later so hopefully it’s a good one. I still have my wildcard so I’m going to play it and set my team up for the next 2 rounds with 11 players that play GW18 and some that should do the business next round, so need some advice on this lot:
Rowe, Melia
Campbell, Sjoberg, Abdul-Salaam, Glad, Guillen
Valeri, Piatti, Grella, Alberg, Castillo
BWP, Giovinco, Movsisyan, Badji
After speaking with NIN earlier I’m thinking of doing this to that lineup but I’m not sure if it leaves me a bit too light up top incase I get screwed with rotation:
Rowe, Melia,
Campbell, Sjoberg, Abdul-Salaam, Glad, Guillen,
Valeri, Piatti, Kljestan, Feilhaber, Castillo
Giovinco, Movsisyan, Badji, Mansaray(and leave 0.3 itb)
Thoughts?
Also just a query because I’m new to the FMLS set up but with the English clubs all starting to come over and play MLS clubs for preseason games how does that usually effect the MLS season? Will we have to steer clear of any teams who have friendlies against English clubs or do the teams just send a bunch of reserves?
I’d drop Castillo altogether and upgrade Badji to Kamara.
On the second team? And I’m guessing you mean Kamara of Revs or is it Kamara from Crew?
Kamara from the Crew won’t have the bye week to worry about, but the rest looks pretty good. Really, at the stage you’re at, you can’t go too wrong.
And as far as friendlies go, teams will usually play some mix of reserves with very limited time for stars. It’s all schedule-dependent, but it’s usually not a huge worry.
Yeah I can bring in Kamara from Revs but it means I need to rely on Kovar from Seattle in GW18 and I don’t really like that so Crew Kamara it is. Do I use the remaining 7.5 mil to bring in a fifth mid or bring in some cheap player and save the rest, maybe upgrade Abdul-Salaam? I don’t really know if he’s any good.
Ok cheers for that Guy, I’ve never really thought about it before even though I knew the MLS teams had friendlies during the season I never cared too much because I wasn’t being effected but since doing FMLS it made me wonder does it have a big impact haha
Just had another read through your article Guy and noticed that you said if Valeri remains out? Is he injured or something?
Just had another read through your article Guy and noticed that you said if Valeri remains out? Is he injured or something? Also reread about selling Chicago players so I don’t think I should have Campbell in my team anymore either
Hi Matt, here you go –
http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2016/07/portland_timbers_diego_valeri_11.html
Cheers Init, I spent about 10 minutes going through the MLS site trying to find any injury news only to realise it’s easier to just google stuff haha
looks like it’ll be easier to just sell him until he’s guaranteed 90 mins. Best 10.3 mil midfielder or would you go less?
I think this is my final WC team. All okay, lineup I’m not too sure of though! Pontius or Mezquida/Hurtado?
Looks more balanced now that you’ve got Kamara in there. I honestly can’t be sure on those Vancouver players as I have payed little attention to them since early season but if they are set for game time as strikers then I’d go that way rather than Pontius.
Yeah looks better now. I haven’t even heard of those Vancouver players but when I see Guy say they are starting as strikers I’m just thinking they will be the better choices, I just don’t know which is better.
Do you think the lineup is right? I’m not sure if I should play Harvey or Movsisyan or not?
If you were to drop Sjoberg and Pontius altogether and field Yura and Harvey, how much bank would you have? If it’s enough to significantly improve the remaining 11 turn it’s an option. Those two miss 18 anyway and after that we have that free wc. Honestly didn’t think of that before. Squad is arguably over stacked for a two gw stretch. Maybe I’m just confusing myself though
I mean drop them to scrubs. Cheapest available nothing players.
If I sell Sjoberg and Pontius and replace them with a 4.0 mil midfielder and 4.3 mil defender (cheapest options) then I have 5.9 left over. What are you thinking I should do with it? I think it’s probably too stacked for only 2 weeks as well but I think Sjoberg will definitely be in my team after GW18.
Matt,i’m getting more and more confused by the minute as to what either of us should aim for this week. Ha!
Haha yeah I’ve just read your post below and I think you could be right SKC haven’t been as impressive lately whereas NYC have just been getting stronger especially Lampard. I’m really unsure what to do with my team now but I’m thinking Feilhaber to Lampard and then Pontius to one of the Vancouver players.
Excellent write up Guy, many thanks as always. I’m gonna bin Lampard and Felipe this week and can just about afford to bring in P. Morales and Molino. Not sure how prolific Vancouver can be this week against Colorado though. Could get Kaka and an 8.3 or less mid. You’ve turned me off Alonso somewhat although i reckon he could still do pretty well in those tough games.
Team as is..
Hey NIN, I’d stick with Molino he’s been more prolific this year and more consistent in my eyes but I wouldn’t be raving over Morales, I could be wrong I just don’t see them scoring against Colorado. With Tim Howard in now he’s going to want to keep clean sheets to prove why he was brought in. How much would you have after the Molino transfer?
Howdy Matt. 10.9 I think, after Molino.
So close to 11.0!! Seems like your best options would be Morales, Pirlo or even Gerrard but I’d choose Morales out of them three so ignore what I said earlier and go with Morales and Molino pairing haha
it seems like Kaka has ruled himself out I’ve just noticed thanks to Griff so Molino is the only option now.
Yeah those are the two I reckon. Pirlo and the Pikey are off in 18 so no can do there. Need players who play that week so Porales and Molino it is :thumbup:
Done deal then haha
Pairing Kaka with a cheap Vancouver mid that will play up top isn’t a bad strategy this round. But in the same way, Morales and Molino will probably bring in good points too. I would be leaning more heavily towards Vancouver with all the home games coming up though, but that’s just me.
Thanks man, I’ll think more on it but Morales and Molino sounds like a good pairing to me. Might be able to afford Kaka and Morales if Valeri is out. Will have to check that one.
Kaka has ruled himself out: https://twitter.com/bymikegramajo/status/751055343342477312
Sorry wrong link but same conclusion: https://twitter.com/bymikegramajo/status/751069490620821504
Nice one Griff. Molino and Porales it is so. Feck it gonna keep Valeri, it’s a bloody bruise that he and. Can’t be that bad surely. Harrison can come in if needs be.
Good read Guy as usual. Was wondering if you (or anybody) had any info on Valeri because if he’s good to play against the Red Bulls I’ll be bringing him in?
http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2016/07/portland_timbers_diego_valeri_11.html
That’s the latest update on him. Still not training fully and is a doubt for the weekend game against NY. Knowing Porter, if he travels without fully training he might get just brief appearance at the end. I’m going to sell him this week until I know he’s a 90 minute player.
Cheers for this looks like I’ll be leaning towards Piatti until I can be sure on Valeri
Can we wc yet?
No.
Can we wc yet?
No.
Can we wc yet?
Etc
Didn’t realize Collin was suspended. Balls. He was a gem when I had him before – absolute catastrophe now. Oh well Steres it is so.