Week 10 Fantasy Review

MLS Fantasy Week 10 Recap

Every week I bring my own take on each game and the notable fantasy standouts you should be keeping an eye going into the next week.

• Elite: Those who did better than their peers
• Value: Those who punched above their weight class in terms of price and who I expect to have potential moving forward
• Fluke: There’s not always a fluke, but if you see a $4.8 defender with 12 points, that’s a good sign they’re a fluke. I’ll make sense of those types of performances and let you know if you should expect more from them or if they’re a one-hit wonder.
• Dud: This is obvious. Someone you expected a lot from and got little. If you spend $11.0 on Josef Martinez and he scores 3 points, you’re going to be upset. I’ll tell you if you should’ve seen this coming and whether or not it’s a trend.

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Did you play Jack Elliott? Maybe. Did you captain Jack Elliott? Probably not… Only the truly bold did (looking at you @mlsfantasystats). If there is one thing to take away from this DGW, it’s that you should stack your team with DGW players that have high floors and probably attach the captain’s armband to one of them. My best DGW plays were Monteiro and Auston Trusty and I biffed with Carlos Vela as my captain… I know the likes of self-acclaimed fantasy experts Ben Baer and Matt Doyle fell into the same trap as well.

 

Still, I finished with 99 on the week thanks to a late 15 points from Barco and now sit at Rank 218 Overall. More importantly, I downed my opponent Chick-Phil-A in the MLSFI Hosts Invitational H2H league to hang on to 4th place for an overall decent week of MLS Fantasy.

 

Let’s look at last week and make sense of the games so we can go in to this upcoming DGW as prepared as possible. I’m going to start by doing you the favor of only reviewing the teams that have an upcoming DGW. The one thing I want you to take away from this is stack your team with only DGW players. I’ll go into more depth and give you my picks of each DGW team. If you think there are better options outside of the 8 DGW teams then find me on twitter (@tbartels12) and I’ll give you my personal write-up of the games I didn’t cover, straight to your twitter DMs because I’m a nice guy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New York Red Bulls 3 – 2 LA Galaxy

One Sentence:

• New York Red Bulls: New York Red Bulls avoid a 3rd consecutive defeat at home, but that’s about all to be happy about.
• LA Galaxy: The Galaxy should’ve won this one, and although Zlatan’s impact is undeniable, I don’t see him starting both games in the upcoming DGW.

Proceed with Caution:

• Zlatan Ibrahimovic ($13.2) – 13 points: In his last 7 games, he’s scored 10+ points in 5 games for an average of about 10 points. Do you know when he failed to score more than 10 points? It was during a DGW, specifically the DGW last week. That’s a lot of games for a 37 year-old so check the lineups…

My Picks:

• LA Galaxy:
  • Jona Dos Santos ($10.9) – 5 points: He hasn’t scored less than 4 points all season and averages over 7 points without the help of goals or assists (He only has 1 goal and 1 assist all season). He’s my captain this week.
  • Uriel Antuna ($6.5) – 9 points: Value, value, value. Antuna got his second goal of the season after notching his first last week. He’s got the biggest bust potential, but is cheap and can come off the bench if you’re swimming in cash.
  • Diego Polenta ($7.7) – 9 points: In the last 5 games he’s averaging 9 points. 1 goal, 3 assists, 2 clean sheets and over 2 defensive bonus points a game. Assuming he’s healthy, he’s a lock on my team.
• New York Red Bulls
  • Connor Lade ($5.2) – 5 points: He’s been a crucial part of New York Red Bulls success when not asked to do too much. He has a goal and an assist in his last 3 games and is averaging 9 points. Not to mention Montreal and a depleted FC Dallas aren’t the most frightening opponents.
  • Rzatkowski ($8.2) – 9 points: His last 3 games he’s gone 90 min and scored 5, 5, and 9 points with the help of only 1 goal. Cheap and a high floor.

Orlando City 0 – 2 Toronto FC

One Sentence:

• Orlando City: Outplayed by Toronto as they continue down a path of chronic inconsistency.
• Toronto FC: Should’ve had more, but are definitely establishing themselves as a dominant force once again.

 

Proceed with Caution:

• Toronto Defense: I’m certainly tempted, but even against a sub-par Orlando team, the defense still looked shaky at times. They’ll be away at a talented, albeit underperforming Atlanta team and then home to a composed Philadelphia team. Morrow ($6.9) is the only defender I’m considering currently.

My Picks:

• Alejandro Pozuelo ($13.0) – 9 points: Had 1 assist, should’ve had 2. He hasn’t scored less than 6 points in his 6 games as a Toronto FC player. Averaging 12 points a game, he’s a must own, you just hope now isn’t the time the fatigue of MLS settles in.
• Michael Bradley ($10.1) – 11 points: I’m picking (and maybe captaining?) Michael Bradley the same reason I’m picking Jona Dos Santos. He hasn’t scored less than 4 points and is averaging over 7 so far. In his last game alone he had 5 bonus points. He will score double digits. (Jonathan Osorio ($10.5) isn’t a bad shout either)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Montreal 0 – 2 NYCFC

One Sentence:

• Montreal: The offense was non-existent and will stay that way without Piatti as they managed to put all of 0 shots on goal…
• NYCFC: With Heber up top, NYCFC are starting to look like a cohesive unit and that’s without their shiny new DP (also, what a banger from Tajouri-Shradi, my goodness).

 

Proceed with Caution:

• I won’t be picking any Montreal players in this DGW. They have 2 away games and didn’t look good at all against NYCFC. If you really want somebody, then look at Diallo, Taider or maybe Browne if he starts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Philadelphia Union 6 – 1 New England Revolution

One Sentence:

• Philadelphia Union: It’s fun to be a Union fan again (or so I’ve heard).
• New England Revolution: The Revs played maybe 50 minutes of good soccer, they just need to learn how to play 90.

 

Proceed with Caution:

• New England Revolution: The Revs’ attacked looked good against SKC (albeit a depleted SKC) and should’ve had one or two more goals in the first half against Philadelphia. BUT they can’t finish games and you have to wonder what a 6-1 loss does to a locker room that already seems to be in a bad place.That being said, I still like some Revs players for this DGW. Also, Revs have conceded 25 goals, that’s the most in the Eastern Conference and 8 more than FC Cincinnati. Just saying…

My Picks:

• Carles Gil ($9.7) – 6 points: He is consistently involved in the attack (he leads the team with 3 goals and 2 assists) and seems committed with the amount of work he puts in on the defensive end (12 ball recoveries in the last game). He most likely goes 180 and ends up with 10+ points.
• Juan Fernando Caicedo ($7.3) – 8 points: I’m all in on the older of the two Caicedo. Since getting healthy he has been a huge boost to the attack with 3 goals in his last 2 games. At times he’s provided this team with more of a creative spark than Carles Gil (and he’s cheap).
• Edgar Castillo ($5.2) – 5 points: Castillo has been one of the best left-backs in the league on one of the worst defenses in the league. His 1v1 defending is ok, but where he really shines is his ability to glide through defenses and open up space for the attackers around him. If he doesn’t get a clean sheet against one of these, he gets an assist. I can feel it in my bones.

DC United 3 – 1 Columbus Crew

One Sentence:

• DC United: A win is a win and DC are still at the top, but I’m sure DC fans would want to see more convincing wins.
• Columbus Crew: Say what you want about the questionable VAR call on Trapp, but that call doesn’t excuse the general lack of offense the rest of the game. The Crew are bad right now.

 

Proceed with Caution:

• Columbus Crew: Sure, they’ve got 2 home games. However, they come against the league’s 2 hottest teams in LA Galaxy and LAFC. I’m not touching them.

My Picks:

• Pedro Santos ($8.4) – 6 points: 3 attacking bonus points and probably the most dangerous player on the crew right now. He’ll probably go 180 min and has the highest floor. He won’t be on my team, but if you made me pick a player, I’d vote for Pedro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LAFC 0 – 0 Chicago Fire

One Sentence:

• LAFC: Billed by the Armchair Analyst as a “must-watch”, this game ended as goalless draw, much to the chagrin of LAFC.
• Chicago Fire: Chicago Fire are low-key heating up with the addition of Francisco Calvo from Minnesota and a strong showing against the league’s best team in LAFC.

 

Proceed with Caution:

• Nico Gaitan : In 5 games, he’s scored more than 4 points, just once and that was against the Colorado Rapids A.K.A. the embodiment of free samples in MLS. His only assists this season also came in that game. The flip-side is that it’s 2 games at home after a stretch of 3 games on the road. This may very well be Gaitan’s coming out party.

My Picks:

• Kappelhof ($6.4) – 9 points: I like that Chicago Fire have two games against 2 two teams that haven’t been prolific in the attack. Not to mention Schweinsteiger just got a huge piece to play with in the back by way of Francisco Calvo. Kapplehof goes 180 min and is always in the mix for defensive bonus

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sporting Kansas City 0 – 3 Atlanta United

A Sentence:

• Sporting Kansas City: Injuries are a concern, but I’m not sure injuries help the ailments of this backline (Vermes can only coach so much).
• Atlanta United: Barco has arrived, just in time to head off to the U20 World Cup with Argentina.

 

Proceed with Caution:

• Pity Martinez ($8.0) – 5 points : Maybe the storyline is perfect. Barco steps up, gets hot and becomes the Almiron Atlanta yearns for. Pity sees how a performance like Barco’s gets the crowd going. He’s motivated. He wants it. He’s hungry. He breaks the damn, gets his first goal and the rest come pouring out. OR Atlanta flounder sans Barco and Pity continues his downward spiral.
• Atlanta United Defense: 2 games at home is always a good sign, but Toronto FC is no joke and I expect a fully motivated Orlando City side always hungry to prove they belong next to, not below Atlanta United (if I’m being really honest, I’m scared of a “red wedding” in the Orlando-Atlanta game).

My Picks:

• Josef Martinez ($9.7) – 14 points: 2 goals and the confidence is back. This pick is less about wholehearted belief in Josef, and more about me covering my own arse in case he blows up and the entire world has him on their team but me.