Week 14 Recap

The MLSFB Behind the Numbers Team has returned from a week-long hiatus in Iceland with only an unusual urge to captain Gylfi Sigurdsson and sadly a drop in the rankings. Not having my usual resources and missing lineups due to being the middle of the night definitely took its tool. The team put up a respectable 145 but fell to 155 overall. The main issue was Captaining Rooney, which turned out to be simply the wrong choice. The team value continues to rise to the absurd level of $130.7. The biggest loss was dropping from 5 points off the top 100 to 16 points off. Will be hard to make up that ground on the last week.

Week 15 DGW Team Defense Rankings

Total Budget this Week: $130.7

Goalkeepers/Defenders

With the small player pool this week and large budgets it may be hard to differentiate yourself from the crowd. Its the last week of the spring season so why not go for it? The strategy I think I’ll be employing will be hoping to strike it rich on a backline max out and using keeperoos and switcheroos to do it. This means I’ll be trying to get lucky in the midweek one more time by maxing out my MTL players on the backline.

Bush, Diallo, and Cabrera figure to be in my bench spots heading into Wednesday night. If they hit then the starting lineup will be laden with scrubs, if not I think I have the budget to replace all of them.

NYC, PHI and SJE are the next top DEF options. Chanot, Trusty/Elliot, and Salinas/Cummings are all strong options who will just into my lineup if the MTL boys in blue fail to come through against an absolution ravaged SEA team.

Week 15 DGW Team Offense Rankings

Week 15 Top 50 Player Projections

Note: Player projections extrapolate previous stats and matchup data for the current player and match up assuming that player plays the full 90 (SGW) or 180 (DGW). It does not factor in the probability of a player starting or being rotated during a DGW.

Midfielders/Forwards

I’m a little concerned at first glance that things are going to get a little template just due to byes and international call ups.

In the midfield, I think it’s obvious that stars Pozuelo, Monterio, and Moralez should slot in. You could probably argue Medunjanin needs to be in that list too.

The next level is solid floor guys like Taider, Gregus, and Rzatkowski. Usually, I’m all about these guys to fill out a roster, but this is a week to go for it. I’m just not sure you can go for it in the midfield…maybe Ilsinho if he gets the start, Barrios or Yuiell. They’re the kinda guys who are all or nothing.

Which brings me to the forwards. Here I think there’s a chance to go BOOM and differentiate yourself.

The likely obvious guy is Heber, but there’s another list of solid guys to consider.

Wondo is on fire right now and Espinoza is a BP machine. Shinyashiki may be living up to that Matt Doyle hype and there’s really no reason for the Rapids not to see what he can do. Kamara also offers potential from the suddenly competent Rapids. Quintero has been a letdown and I don’t see a reason to count on him.

2019 Week 15 Behind the Numbers Team

Here’s my first draft of the Behind the Numbers Team based on the discussion above.

If you’d like to follow me on twitter, I’m @MLSFB_BTN. I typically post my updated lineup on Friday nights before the games start to show if my thinking has changed since this column went up.’

Resources for nerding out about MLS Fantasy

• http://www.mlscheatsheet.com/ — Bonus point data, projections and more
• https://www.americansocceranalysis.com/asa-xgoals — Interactive xG and passing data
• https://www.whoscored.com/ — Analytics based player ratings