UEFA U21’s Fantasy Football
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[/three_fourth]Just when you thought you were having a fantasy free summer we are here to reel you back in! If the odd fantasy cricket game or the madness that are MLS DGW’s aren’t quite quenching your fantasy thirst then we have good news for you. Starting on June 17th and climaxing on the 30th we give you UEFA U21’s Fantasy Football. This will be short and sweet but intense never the less. The rising stars of European football and some Englishmen will gather in the Czech Republic to do battle and we invite you to join us and them on the road to fantasy glory. We shall go over the basics here such as the rules, the point scoring, the teams themselves and the fixtures. And of course the all important fantasy league details.
The site itself is – UEFA U21’s Fantasy Football
FF247 League
The Official FF247 league is called ‘FF247 potty Party’ and the code for it is 1510540-686120 More on this later!
The Rules
The good news starts here as it’s all pretty much as you were for FPL as regards to point scoring. The rules are slightly different in relation to deadlines and substitutions but it’ll all be familiar to those that have played any previous World Cup or Euro’s competitions of this sort and we have noted the differences below…
Deadlines
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Transfers
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Substitutions
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Maximum number of players from any team
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The Teams
Group A
Czech Rep (4-2-3-1? No confirmed stats can be found)
Vaclav Kadlec will be the main man that the host’s will be pinning their hopes on to fire them through the group stages, he’s found the going tough so far in his Bundesliga career but a recent loan move back to Sparta Prague has seen the striker bag seven goals in five appearances so he should be brimming with confidence ahead of the big kick off on the 17th. Another loanee who has flourished away from his parent club is Chelsea’s Thomas Kalas, Boro should be kicking themselves that they didn’t extend the right back’s contract to cover the end of the season as he was part of a mean defensive unit alongside England representative Ben Gibson.
Don’t shoot the messenger but I think the Czechs might struggle in this group as they’ve failed to beat both Germany and Denmark at home in recent friendlies and although they were able to beat Portugal in their last outing they really do need to thank the crossbar for that result.
(I’ve read a report that Kadlec is suspended for the Czech’s opening game against Denmark but I can’t find a source which confirms it).
Penalties – ???
Free kicks – ???
Corners – ???
(No confirmed text commentary can be found).
Denmark(4-4-2)
In what looks like being a tight group, set pieces could be all important and at 6ft 6 centre half Jannik Vestergaard could prove to be the ace in the hole for the Danes, he’s the highest scoring defender I’ve come across so far with three goals to his name and the big guy seems to get amongst the free kick action. Another Dane that I’m looking forward to seeing (not that I couldn’t spot Vestergaard from a mile away) is midfielder Hojbjerg, he’s currently Bayern Munich’s youngest ever player and if you can break into that midfield I’d fancy my chances in putting you into my fantasy squad.
The Danes are one of the few teams who will be taking part in a pre tournament friendly and I’m hoping that both them and the Swedes will be taking this one seriously when they meet in Lyngby.
Penalties – Hojbjerg
Free kicks – Knudsen, Vestergaard, Thomsen, Hojbjerg
Corners – Thomsen, Knudsen, Bech, Hojbjerg, Norgaard
Germany (4-2-3-1)
Marc Andre Ter Stegen is the name that immediately jumps out at you from the German squad, the Barcelona keeper arrives fresh from a Champions League victory and would have to be favourite to be the man between the sticks but he won’t be joining the team until four days before the tournament kicks off as a result so prudence dictates that if you select Stegen in your initial squad your other keeper must be a nailed on starter. Just in case. The Germans have suffered a slight setback defensively with big Willi Orban pulling out (behave Andy! – ed.) of the squad and as they won’t be bringing in any replacements this could limit the CB picks to Ginter, Heintz and Knoche. That’s Ginter not Gunter, be careful with that one.
I’d loved to have seen this team play in the opening game as I fancy them to do well but there are a lot of 50 / 50 calls that will have to be made as to which mids are selected (and what role they are given) and the main striker role could go either way between Volland and Hofmann. (Serge Gnarby? Ha ha ha ha ha ha, no)
Penalties – Leitner, Hofmann
Free kicks – Geis, Leitner
Corners – Geis, Bittencourt, Leitner
Serbia (4-5-1)
The Serbian squad has been hampered by the main national teams poor start to the 2016 Euro’s qualification, the likes of Mitrovic (Anderlecht, forward) and Nastasic (Schalke, defender) will be sorely missed, particularly Mitrovic’s goal threat as all of the other forwards in the squad have a combined strike rate of one in four at this level and the Serbian under-21 wiki seems to have most of them listed as midfielder’s, really I’d be careful what you wished for if selecting a Serbian forward.
The Serbs did however manage to knock out championship holders Spain on route to this summers tournament so it’s not all doom and gloom and I’d expect them to be solid defensively behind the 4-5-1 formation.
Penalties – Kostic? (He takes every other set play.)
Free kicks – Kostic
Corners – Kostic
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Group B
England (4-3-3)
Gareth Southgate’s team are heading into this tournament as the in form side as Portugal, Czech Rep and Germany have all been swept away recently in friendly matches. Continuity has never been England’s strongest suit however as many of the current crop of ‘Yoof’ have been toing and froing between the under-21 and full England set up.
The English attack will be the main worry for all the other contenders in the group with Berahino being the top scorer through the qualifiers and Kane’s none too shabby record of eight goals in ten U21 appearance. A sneaky move could be Norwich City’s Nathan Redmond who normally starts as part of the attacking three but could be listed as a mid. (His goalscoring record is a far cry from the other two though.)
Penalties – Berahino, Kane
Free kicks – Kane
Corners – Carroll, Hughes, Garbutt, Ward Prowse
Italy (4-4-2)
Finally a team with what looks a settled side and surprise surprise it’s the Italians. Bardi will be the goalkeeper, Bianchetti will start at centre half and Andrea Belotti should start up front. There are seven players within the squad with fifteen plus caps at this level and it comes as no shock to find that Italy are the most successful team at UEFA U21 tournaments with five wins to date. Panucci, Cannavaro, Inzaghi, Totti and a certain mister Pirlo (who top scored) have all been privy to an Azzuri winning party.
They haven’t been in the best of form of late and since qualifying for the tournament they’ve only actually managed to beat themselves! Yes that’s right. The Italian Under-21 team beat… another Italian Under-21 team (match fixing rumours abound that the Italians threw this game to the Italians, Italy denies this profusely). They also lost to both the Danish and Serbian teams respectively.
Penalties – Bellotti
Free kicks – Viviani, Crisetig, Baselli
Corners – Viviani, Berardi, Bernadeschi, Crisetig
Portugal (4-3-3)
With the Under-20 world cup taking place in New Zealand it was feared that leading talents like Bernardo Silva would be unavailable to play in the Czech Republic but to the Portuguese credit it looks like the Monaco man will be lacing his boots at the Under-21 tournament instead and with six goals in the final month of the French Ligue 1 he looks like a man in seriously good form.
Portugal however have been struggling as of late and they’ve only managed to find the back of the net once in the last three games. They did manage to blast seven past the Dutch over the two legs of the qualifying play off and before their 0-0 draw with Denmark you’d have to go back to 2013 for the last time they drew a blank. (Nineteen games).
Penalties – Sergio Oliviera, Esgaio
Free kicks – Sergio Oliviera, Lopes, Neves, Silva
Corners – Sergio Oliviera, Silva
Sweden (4-4-2)
I like this team. Why? because they beat France and whenever the French meet their Waterloo I’m always a happy chappy. Vice captain Aleksander Milosevic will look to form the bedrock of the Swedish defence, he has rarely featured for new club Besiktas since joining in January but since he’s made only the two appearances he should be fresh and raring to go. He has been a nigh on ever present in the Under-21 squad only ever losing his place when called into the full national team.
Bypassing the midfield quicker than a Sam Allarydce team – Celtics John Guidetti will look to provide the creative spark upfront, the superhoop has a decent record of one in two at this level and if Sweden want to advance any further than the group stages he’ll have to keep this record up. Kiese Thelin will likely start alongside Guidetti and he seems to have the Midas touch when it comes to the under 21’s as he managed to bag six goals from six appearances, for no other team can Thelin boast of a goal scoring record like this as he’s even managed to pick up more yellow cards then goals for new club Bordeaux.
Penalties – Guidetti?
Free kicks – Guidetti
Corners – Hiljemark, Augustinsson, Guidetti, Khalili
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NB – disclaimer! All stats regarding formations, penalty takers etc are taken from the teams final five competitive games. Finding reliable text commentary from the friendlies is proving to be a bit of a nightmare (The BBC in its infinite wisdom can tell you who concedes a corner but not who takes it) and as there is a high turnover of players at this level it may not all be 100% accurate. We did our best!
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The Fixtures
Pre Tournament Friendly Games
9th of June
Czech Rep v Ukraine
11th of June
England v Belarus
Denmark v Sweden
12th of June
Italy v ?? (probably a youth team)
Obviously these games aren’t relevant to our fantasy scores however we may gleam some insights into possible starting line ups.
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Tournament Fixtures
All matches are staggered to kick-off times unless stated.
Match day 1 (Unlimited transfers until 16.45 GMT 17th)
17th of June
Czech Rep v Denmark
Germany v Serbia
18th of June
Italy v Sweden
England v Portugal
Match day 2 (2 Transfers available, deadline 16.45 GMT 20th)
20th of June
Czech Rep v Serbia
Denmark v Germany
21st of June
England v Sweden
Italy v Portugal
Match day 3 (2 Transfers available, deadline 16.45 GMT 23rd, no team sheets, gits – I would have WC’d!)
All matches kick off at the same time
23rd of June
Czech Rep v Germany
Denmark v Serbia
24th of July
England v Italy
Portugal v Sweden
Match day 4 (6 Transfers available, deadline 16.15 GMT 27th)
27th of June
Winner B v Runner up A
Winner A v Runner up B
Match day 5 (6 Transfers available, deadline 19.30 GMT 30th)
30th of June – The Final
Semi 1 v Semi 2
NB If England qualify for the Semi final stage an extra fixture will be added to the calendar, both teams that finished in 3rd place of the groups will play on the 28th of June in an Olympic qualifier, I can’t see this being added into the fantasy game but we mention it just in case. You’ll also notice the lack of colour for this summer’s competition, predicting this? No dice.
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FF247 League
We have left the league itself down to Potty to run and so our Official FF247 league is called ‘FF247 potty Party’ and the code for it is 1510540-686120
Potty will no doubt update us all regularly on here with progress and deadlines and he usually throws in some curve-balls with new comps along the way so it promises to be a roller-coaster as ever! Just hopefully not of the Alton Towers variety…
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It’s official… Petr ?ech has agreed to join Arsenal!
https://www.facebook.com/Arsenal/photos/a.10150246028422713.313072.20669912712/10153213904827713/?type=1&theater
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11667/9898495/manchester-united-bid-163286m-for-sergio-ramos-according-to-sky-sources
Graham Hunter is usually on the ball with this stuff :hippo:
Hi NIN, for what it’s worth I think he’s yours. I expect this to happen. And it’s a fantastic signing too. As the piece says ‘spine of the team’. He’ll certainly add that. He’ll only play about 5 games because of suspensions but you’ll win those 5 games
Howdy. Yeah it does seem like it’s just a matter of time. Schneiderlin, Depay and Ramos is a super start to this windows dealings. Next, it’s swiping Seamus on your lot. Sorry about that 😉
If he wants to go then I hope it gets done for him. Would be another perfect fit for you. Figured it’d be Clyne but looks like he’s happy with the Championship season after next so fine. Seamus is an upgrade in all honesty. Can’t deny the lad the chance to play CL football. Will be good to see and he’ll be on everyone’s radars if he moves for FPL purposes.
Spot on, i’d much rather have Seamus than Clyne. Class RB. You reckon he’ll be 7m again like last season if he moves?
They’ll probably nudge him to 7.5m if he moves prior to it opening. If not he’ll sit at 7 I’d think. Trouble is I’ve just kidnapped him and hidden him in my cellar so you’ll have to find him first if you want him
Heh heh, that’s just mean! Trying to fit him and Ivanovic in should be fun.
Into our teams that is, not your cellar
Lot to be said for tucking Ivan away again and releasing him come 10/12 games in. Definite pattern developing there.
Most definitely. He’s a bloody disaster early season!
Morning all looking fwd to nights final although all the teams will look the same might just throw a dart in the air for Cap pick
Morning Silvers
Yep that final tonight is one I can’t wait to see.
I have my team set and my captain is 90% there. Can’t show my hand obviously as these walls have Init-shaped ears :winktongue:
Morning GP throw him some bait I have a sneaky feeling the Swedes are going to win how mad is that they where 8th favourites Bring on the FPL some interesting signing being made B)
Silvers
Yeah but that happens in tournament football some times. Look at Greece in 2004!
Some very interesting signings. I’m for Payet at West ham I think. Initial stats look very appealing.
Keep that quite GP he is a great signing & you know he will start , I also like Firmino 😉
Silvers,
We could fill a team with new signings!
Depay and Payet have stood out for me so far.
Wait until City buy Pogba, De Bruyne, and Ramos (yeah I know he’s mostly linked to United but hoping we could tempt him too) and then we’re talking!
Tekno
KdB would be of huge interest to me if he signed.
De Bruyne is about the only one of those three that you lot have a chance of signing. Not that that’s a disaster or anything, as De Bruyne is shaping up to be a class act. I had hoped United would get him but with Di Maria staying and Depay coming in, there’s no point in us bidding for him really.
Aye, all the rumours indicate that Pogba would rather sign for Barcelona despite them offering much less money. Still hoping though. But if Yaya is staying, we might not need a replacement for a few seasons yet – but when we do, it will have to be a world class player, that’s for sure. But there will hopefully be other options then.
As for Ramos, he’s always been the player I’ve wanted City to sign the most but I obviously don’t expect anything. I’d be rather surprised if he left Real Madrid for anyone, in fact.
What seems certain is that we will do some spending this summer, so it will be interesting to see who comes in and who comes out.
:hear:
:no-mouth:
:see-no:
:shiftyeyes:
:bounce:
:noshake:
http://gifsoup.com/view/1161296/soccer-fight.html
Hey Tekno not sure about Pogba his stats aren’t that good & De Bruyne didn’t do to well last time but he has had an excellent season , assists by the bucket load
Stats are overrated! Pogba would be a fantastic addition to any squad. As for De Bruyne, he didn’t get many opportunities at Chelsea.
Hey Kop how are we , DeB does interest me not overly strung on Pogba he will just get in Kuns way I thk there will be many more attacking option this season.
Not bad mate, you? I’d see Pogba as a box to box midfielder (perhaps I’m wrong), somewhat like Viera. So I wouldn’t see him getting in Kun’s way.
Get in Aguero’s way? How so? He’s a deep playmaker…
He’s not going to sign for City anyway, so it’s irrelevant. He’s a smart kid so Barcelona in January or next summer is what he’ll go for, and rightly so.
Yes I’m good Kop & yes your both right & I thk he would go to Barc
He should do. He did the right thing leaving United and has just gotten on with it since. It’s either a smashing adviser, or he’s just clued in. Barcelona all the way. Busquets, Rakitic, Pogba. Oh dear.
Here’s my lineup for tonight (post WC). I fancy Portugal to win, though this tournament has consistently surprised me. No idea who’ll score, so I just picked all of them! Guidetti in there, and Tibbling, in case Sweden do bring their A game.
Looking forward to FPL now. Cech is certainly an early candidate for my team, and if Ramos comes to Utd I’ll pick him too without question. Sending offs is a problem but he’ll score goals and inspire their defence to keep CS I reckon. Will be an expensive defence though (with Ivan, Coleman as well…).
Pippin, I’ll have a fiver with you that says you wont have Ramos, Ivan & Coleman in your defence for GW1
each at 6.5-7.0m probably… Yeah, will mean having a two man midfield I guess!
Interesting tactics!!
3 great attacking defenders – Ivan and Coleman assisting and scoring from the right wing. And Ramos – imagine that…..on the end of Jonesy’s corners……unstoppable.
Hey Cookster. If United do manage get Ramos and Coleman in, which of the two would you favor? The goals/assists of Seamus, or the goals and potential boat load of BP’s for Ramos?
Don’t forget yellows and occasional reds for Ramos.
Would depend on price NIN I guess……i would lean towards Coleman I guess – constantly attacking and United haven’t really scored many from corners for years.
Reds aren’t as big a concern as a few years ago but, yeah, a smattering of yellers might be guaranteed! That ends the BP thing anyway. Seamus it is so.
That’s a good point Cookie. Maybe that will change if Di Maria can get the finger out and start whipping in some good crosses.
He averages 12 yellows per season in league games since joining Madrid.
He does however average 4 league goals per season over the same period.
I wonder if they will be tougher on him in England? Because he has averaged 12 yellows but he has deserved way more than that.
I’d say the reverse Mito. Many of those yellows wouldn’t happen in english football.
oops, picture here…
Love the look of that Pippin! Too many sweds though!!
Make sure you log in for line ups, if you can, Ilori is unlikely to play and there are doubts over Cavaleiro, who may be replaced for Mane, according to today’s Portuguese sports newspaper (the same that in the next page said he has recovered and will kepp his place go figure…)
who are you going to Cap tonight Pippin
Not sure Silver! Maybe a punt on Mario? Or stick to Silva and hope he converts his great play into points…
Pippin don’t give him a way out. 😉
Silver how many days in a row have you been drinking? He has a captain designated already. :hippo:
To many Mito21 I was typing & got distracted before I saw his team honestly :whacky:
Yikes, i like a stacked defence myself at times but, wow. Ivanovic will be 7.5m, no doubt about that. init reckons Coleman would be the same if United get him, he’s probably right there you’d imagine. Ramos, 7m for sure. That’s 22m on three defenders, good luck getting Sergio, Eden, Alexis and co 😉
Hiya NIN, what did Coleman finish at price wise last season? Even if he does join your lot it’s highlu unlikely to be before the launch of this season’s FPL, so that could keep his price a little lower.
Hey Kop, if i remember correctly he finished at 6.8 or 6.9m so he should be at least 7m next season. With United’s schedule, it’ll be very hard to say no to him or Ramos, assuming we get one of them at least.
Everton weren’t great at the back last season, so I can’t see him being anymore than 6.5m!
True. He racked up a ton of points ;ate on though. I think he finished on around 130 or so. Not bad for a woeful season defensively.
Here’s one for you.. ever remember a defender cracking 200 points? Closest i can remember is Baines at around 178 or something like that…
Yep 6.8 NIN but he finished on 130 vs previous seasons’ 180, wouldn’t that get him on 6 / 6.5?
Could do, but potential may mean it stays the same. It’ll be interesting to see anyway. Hopefully United can get him.
Yep would be a great addition. If Ramos also gets in where do you see Rojo? Left wing and bench Shaw or keep is central role but out of position (I think Ramos is the left CB at Real)?
If we do manage to sign both then i’d fancy us to line up with Coleman, Ramos, Jones/Rojo, Shaw/Rojo. If all are fit for big games then i’d fancy Shaw and Jones to get the nod over Rojo. To be fair, it’d be a pretty awesome defensive lineup. Too bad De Gea looks set to leave.
I emailed fantasy football for a start date and they replied….
Hi Anthony
We don’t have a firm date just yet, but hopefully the website will be ready to go next week.
Best regards
Tommy
Supporter Services
@Ant, they launched the site exactly one month before the start of the season last year. If they launch sometime next week that would put them one month out from the start of the season. Tentatively I though it be July 8th give or take a day or two.
Nice. I’m going to try and stay away from tinkering so much this summer. Auto-select a squad and then log out until the few days before the season starts is my plan. We’ll see how that goes
Nin,
Yeah that might work
Haha, no harm in trying! I’ve noticed a pattern with my prep in preseason in FPL and MLS so hopefully i can stop it and actually get past week 3 with an intact WC!
NIN
Week 3?
Wow, such restraint :smiling:
Well, the idea would be to keep it for when it’s needed. I don’t think i’ve ever got past GW5 without using it, with 3 being the “screw this, it’s happening” GW.
How did you do in MLS last GW mate? Jorales (c) + Shiteberry fairly ended my chances :whatever:
Hey, another Jorales capper! We are united in our misery :kissheart:
Yep. He’ll make up for it this week with a monster score against Orlando, hopefully.
Jorales
FUCK OFF MITO :finger:
NIN, you gonna cap him again this week? It’s either him or Keane for me.
Teks – I’m making a heap of transfers this week, so it’ll be either Jorales or Valeri i think.
Mito – What Teks said.
NIN,
135 for me I think it was (-4 hit) so still a healthy turn for me.
Captained your man Keano there. Top lad.
GP – Outstanding mate :thumbup:
Thanks NIN,
It did send me hurtling in to the top 500 which I’ve been moaning about for weeks as I’m sure the MLS regulars can attest to!
I’m happy now. Kind of. :winktongue:
Top 500 you say? Excellent. While you’re there do you fancy dropping a rope for me? I could use a boost..
Next week? Damn, that’s soon. Seems like PL just ended a few weeks ago to me. And Aguero is still playing in Copa America. He’s gonna be burnt out at the start of the season.
Tekno,
The Champions League begins tonight!
How’s that for a summer break?