Boss’ Breakdown – Round 8

Round 8 has finished and much like the previous DGW’s, it was one with many goals and much rotation. For the talking points from each match, read below!

New York City FC (1) – (1) Montreal Impact

MOTM – David Villa ($11.4) 6pts
At least we know its not for lack of effort, as Villa registered 10 shots against Montreal. Look for him to bag a goal in his next match.

WATCHLIST – Didier Drogba ($11.6) 7pts
A late assist to Oduro capped off his night but the amount of set pieces he’s taking is what has me interested!

New England Revolution (1) – (1) Portland Timbers

MOTM – Jermain Taylor ($6.3) 4pts
Taylor was nice enough to take away Portland’s clean sheet for all of us! 🙂

WATCHLIST – Lee Nguyen ($11.2) 7pts
Nguyen put up one of the games you expect from a premium midfielder. Lots of possession on the ball with attacking bonus. That yellow at the end didn’t help though!

Vancouver Whitecaps (1) – (1) Sporting Kansas City

MOTM – Christian Bolanos ($7.9) 7pts
Bolanos’ upper 90 effort was the sole bright spot for Vancouver offensively. Pedro Morales has recently returned from injury so if Bolanos can keep amongst the scoring, he’s definitely worth a look.

WATCHLIST – Tim Melia ($5.6) 0pts
Midweek rotation has once again cost many fantasy managers. Alec Kann started between the posts but even with that alarming mustache, I expect Melia will start on the weekend.

New York Red Bulls (4) – (0) FC Dallas

MOTM – Sacha Kljestan (11.5) 14pts
Kljestan once again reminded me of my transferring him out for DGW midfielders! Crolla said NYRB would bounce back, but I fell for the 2 fixtures once again.

WATCHLIST – Lloyd Sam ($9.2) 13pts
Sam’s second straight week in double digits has me wondering if he’s back to the form of last year? He’s a mid-tier midfielder that might be worth a shout in the coming rounds.

Montreal Impact (2) – (2) Colorado Rapids

MOTM – Didier Drogba ($11.6) 9pts
Drogba continued to hog the set pieces which may be beneficial, see free-kick, but I think the greater impact is on Piatti’s potential points.

WATCHLIST – Jermaine Jones ($8.2) 6pts
Beyond Jones’ performance, his price is a huge enabler to afford higher priced mids/fwds and with a DGW in Round 10, he’s essential.

New York City FC (3) – (2) Vancouver Whitecaps

MOTM – David Villa ($11.4) 15pts
(Highly Captained) Villa finally broke though the defense and scored a few wonderful goals much to the delight of his many fantasy owners! He also received the foul bonus again, his second game in a row doing so.

WATCHLIST – Christian Bolanos ($7.9) 7pts
Bolanos was once again amongst the scoring en route to another 7pts. However, that included a missed penalty which probably won’t have any effect as he’s probably already used up the once chance he had at wrangling up PK duty.

Philadelphia Union (1) – (1) San Jose Earthquakes

MOTM – Chris Pontius ($7.2) 9pts
Although he’s not a flashy pick, Pontius has been pretty steady scoring 4 goals and adding an assist in his 8 matches. His price is another factor which has me injecting him into my future plans.

WATCHLIST –  CJ Sapong ($8.2) 2pts
Beyond the bye week in Round 9, his price is a huge enabler to afford higher priced mids/fwds and with a DGW in Round 10, he’s (near) essential.

Seattle Sounders FC (1) – (0) Columbus Crew SC

MOTM – Jordan Morris ($8.2) 7pts
That makes three straight matches with a goal. Is this the reincarnation of McInerney from a few seasons ago, a lock for 7 points a match?

WATCHLIST – Cristian Roldan ($5.5) 4pts
With all of the rotation a suitable bench candidate might be needed. Roldan only puts you back $5.5 and has been getting consistent starts. With the stars around him, attacking points are surely in his future.

Chicago Fire (1) – (1) D.C. United

MOTM – Jonathan Campbell ($5.3) 10pts
A consistent starter since Round 2, Campbell looks a rock in the defense and with two straight DGW’S (10 AND 11) he should be in every team.

WATCH LIST – David Accam (9.2) 0pts
Accam has been out since Round 2 but there are rumblings of his return for the DGW 10. However, I recommend seeing his performance and bringing in for Round 11 instead.

New England Revolution (2) – (2) Orlando City SC

MOTM – Lee Nguyen ($11.2) 10pts
A pair of assists and another solid performance from Nguyen rewarded his owners. Especially for the brave few who captained him! (ME!) Also, especially nice to get a captian to start both games in a DGW!

WATCHLIST – Kaka (10.9) 0pts
Although he once again missed out through injury(two weeks running), word has it he’ll be back for the deadline match on Friday.

Real Salt Lake (2) – (1) Houston Dynamo

MOTM – Jordan Allen ($5.5) 10pts
Joao Plata who? Allen slotted in very nicely with Plata out injured once again. A goal and assist has to have him playing more in the future. At just  $5.5, he could be another option for a safe bench pick when others get rotated.

WATCHLIST – Giles Barnes ($8.4) 5pts
Barnes has normally been deployed just behind the striker but was the lone striker in the last match. With a match at arch-rival SKC in round 9, he’s an option before his DGW in Round 10.

Portland Timbers (2) – (1) Toronto FC

MOTM – Diego Valeri ($10.5) 13pts
Many ditched Valeri (ME!) for other DGW options since he was only playing in the second match, and boy did he burn us! Valeri tied his highest point tally and looks to continue that in Round 9 and Portland’s DGW in Round 10.

WATCHLIST – Sebastian Giovinco ($12.4) 12pts
Giovinco once again reminded me of my transferring him out for DGW forwards! His price is continuing to rise so I might have to get him back and just ride his shedule.

Sporting Kansas City (1) – (1) Los Angeles Galaxy

MOTM – Gio Dos Santos ($11.2) 7pts
Although its a letdown compared to his last few weeks, GDS was once again on the scoresheet. One has to wonder if theres a correlation between his form and Keane’s absence?

WATCHLIST – Brad Davis ($7.8) 7pts
Davis continues to be rotated but if he can lock down a starting role, his price and his performance history from years past make him hard to overlook. Justin Mapp’s return from injury and Peter Vermes’ penchant for wholesale rotation make Davis’ role far from certain though.