KFC MLS Fantasy Team – Week 4

I saw several posts this week (on various subreddits) where people were talking about how hard they got hit by the International call-ups. We were lucky enough avoid injuries and were able to field a full team this week, but it took a trade last week to ensure that. Planning for future weeks is definitely an important part of fantasy sports that can easily be overlooked. Some of the trades we made this week are directly related to the next couple of weeks. Keep reading to see what our team looks like.

Week 3 summary

We were able to grab 57 points last week. Would have liked it to have been a little higher, but it was above the average. A few key players did not have the kind of performances we would have expected Valeri is one that jumps out and LA dropping the ball in the end of their game against Chivas was another. But these things happen and you just have to try to not overreact to them in the next week.

Week 4 Changes

There were thee things we kept in mind when we made out trades this week. 1) Coverage for the International call-ups, 2) replacing any injured players, and 3) The Bye game in week 4. Call-ups were limited to just 2 plaers (Zusi and Taylor). Our injury list was just 1 (Myers). Due to our Parke trade last week, we only had Valeri going out on a Bye for week 4.

First we needed to replace Myers because out bench was not strong enough to sit 3 players. There were a lot of choices, but we decided on Todd Dunivant (LA). His numbers are OK. Mostly we’re hoping to take advantage of LA’s game against Colorado with the hope that they can keep a clean sheet this time. This change lets us play 4 in the back and we really only have to worry about Kwame Watson because RSL have taken a hit to defense.

Next we needed to address out midfield. Armstrong is not going to play and we have Zusi and Valeri out. Zusi has been gaining a lot of points, so selling him and buying him back was not something that would be kind to our salary cap. Valeri, on the other had, has only gone up a couple of points and still give us a nice amount of money to play with. We replaced him with Davy Arnaud (Mon). Montreal is playing New York this week at home. This should be the hardest of the first 4 games they have played, so it will be a good test for them. But it’s hard to ignore the Montreal form. Arnaud has some good attacking and defensive numbers, which have given him decent bonus points. He is also less expensive than Patrice Bernier and looks to be a player that we can gain some value from.

Out third trade…wait, what? Yes, we did make 3 trades this week and took a -4. Our third trade was a prep for Week 5. Columbus is not playing in week 5 and since forwards are not actually generating great numbers, Wondo was someone we are already planning on trading. Higuaín is the only exception to the forward point problem. He gets good bonus numbers and has been gaining value for us.  He is not a guy I want to trade and Jose Correa is not someone I want to sub in in his place. That means I would have to trade both Wondo and Correa next week. But, that means I would not be able to do anything with our midfield and we definitely want to upgrade Armstrong. So we dicided that taking a -4 hit now would let us make a stronger team in week 5. So we dropped Correa for Deshorn Brown (Col). Colorado may not be doing great this year, but Brown in their attack. He’s 4^th in the league for shots and 3^rd for shots on goal. He’s a beast, and cheap, and gaining value.

Last decision was on the keeper. With Todd Dunivant on our defensive line we were a little worried about putting Cudicini in goal (actually it was me mostly). So we decided to not ignore Hamid’s current form and roll with him this week for DC’s home game. This one is all on me if it backfires 🙂

Captain

Hard choice this week. Seriously looked defenders and then Magee for a couple of days. But in the end, we decided on Higuaín due to his bonus point generating potential.

Week 4 Prep

As I already mentioned, we brought in Brown this week to help free up trades for week 5. We’re honestly considering moving to only 1 forward, so Earnshaw is on the top of our list for Wondo replacements. That should free up enough money for us to upgrade Armstrong to someone with a little more potential, like Brad Davis. As long as they stay healthy from their International games.

So that’s the KFC team for Week 4. What do you think? How did your team do? Want input on your team? Stop by r/FantasyMLS and post. There are many good members who can help out with questions.