Fantasy Soccer Bootroom - Gold Cup Survival Guide

Fantasy Soccer Bootroom will be back in full force next week. In the meantime, here's a guide to help you maneuver through the month of June, a month filled will international call ups:

CONCACAF's Gold Cup will be the first major drain on your fantasy roster. Players are already in their respective camps. Right off the bat, if you have any players from Toronto, check the Canadian roster because they have a bunch of them. The US roster has been well talked about, but there are a handful of other MLS players on other teams:

New England: Taylor Twellman, Micheal Parkhurst, Steve Ralston
Chicago: Ivan Guerrero, Justin Mapp
Toronto: Greg Sutton,Chris Pozniak,Marco Reda, Adam Braz
Kansas City: Eddie Johnson
Chivas USA: Brad Guzan, Jonathan Bornstein
Columbus: Frankie Hejduk
Colorado: Roberto Brown, Pablo Mastroeni
LA Galaxy: Landon Donovan, Ante Jazic, Kevin Harmse
Houston: Brian Ching, Ricardo Clark, Dwayne DeRosario
FC Dallas: Carlos Ruiz

CONCACAF GOLD CUP SITE

Although the Gold Cup doesn't end until June 24, some of the US players may have an opportunity to play in their MLS games. The Revs may catch a break on June 16, when they host the Columbus Crew as part of a triple header. If the US wins their group, they will be a part of that triple header and there is a good chance at least one of their players will be available. The same could be said for the Crew's Frankie Hejduk. The other quarterfinal date is the following day in Houston. Unless I missed something, the only other matchday which is shared with MLS is on June 9, when LA and Dallas play at the Home Depot Center.

The other big drain on your fantasy team will be Copa America. The US roster was once thought to be a B team, consisting entirely of MLS players who weren't called up for the Gold Cup. However, it appears that many European-based players have asked to be a part of that team and Bob Bradley is keen to have his captain Landon Donovan there. That is something to keep an eye on as the rosters are due to be submitted shortly.

The U-20 World Cup will also be in the month of June and a few MLS regulars, most notably Freddie Adu and Josie Altidore, will be participating.

So which teams will benefit from this competition? Well, for starters, Red Bull New York will only be losing Josie Altidore to international duty (World Youth Cup) unless Juan Pablo Angel plays for Columbia during Copa America. They also have a lot of games in June and if they continue with their current form, they will surpass New England and Kansas City and be top of the table by month's end. DC United should also be relatively unscathed and could make a run. Look to add players fro those teams during this stretch to survive this tough period.

Fantasy rosters are due in today, because NY is playing in Toronto tonight. So be sure to get your rosters fixed before then.

Fantasy Soccer Bootroom - Week 6

The results in Major League Soccer this week were a dream from a New England Revolution standpoint. However, that didn't prevent my fantasy side from looking foolish. Chowda United may have produced an OK 18 points and held respectively in the top ten of the RevsMFLS division, but some of my logic turned out to be incorrect and could have cost me much more than it did. (click title to enter the bootroom) (click title to enter the bootroom)



As you can see, losses by Chicago, New York, and (to a lesser extent) Kansas City squelched any hope of a big week. In fact, it took a big night from Taylor Twellman in LA from making it my first single digit tally. The biggest hit I took was with Chicago's loss to Toronto. I banked heavily on that game, and lost out big time. The Fire weren't ready for the game, and it showed. New York appeared to be nothing without Claudio Reyna. His fantasy stats leave a lot to be desired, but he distributes the ball as well as anyone who has ever player in MLS. I'll need to keep an eye on his injury status.

Looking ahead to this week, I'm definitely sticking with Perkins in goal. Chicago will make the necessary adjustments. The real question is whether or not those adjustments will keep Kenny Cooper off the scoring sheet. Chad Barrett will be dropped from my starting XI, but I have Emilio and Brian Ching waiting in the wings.

In fact, forward may be my biggest dilemma. I'm actually seriously pondering sitting Taylor Twellman, whose been the top point getter the last two weeks. Success breads attention, after all. Brian Ching is a lock up top with two matches, one against Toronto. No, I haven't abandoned the "beat on the canucks" philosophy. They won't have the rested legs on Wednesday to repeat their effort last Saturday. The caveat to this is Brian Ching did not start in New York because of the fieldturf. I have to wonder if the same will be repeated in Toronto? That's something I'll need to know in two day's time. Emilio may not even be a first choice starter anymore. He came on in the 66th minute of their only win of the season a week ago. Granted, he played the full 90 against the Revs on Thursday. If Twellman does get the start, it will most likely be in favor of Kenny Cooper, who will be on the road in Chicago.

At midfield, Andy Dorman is all but assured to reenter the lineup, especially if I sit Twellman. I may not want to rely too heavily on the Revs for another road win, so I'm probably not going with the two players at the same time. Landon Donovan should continue his dominance over Chivas, so he's a lock. I'll also be keeping Justin Mapp, because I have a hunch about Chicago bouncing back on Thursday night. Dane Richards will be going back into mothballs, so that leaves one spot open. Ironically, Kyle Beckerman and Davy Arnaud will be squaring off this week. I haven't decided who I'm going with yet. Right now, it's Beckerman because his team is at home and I already have Michel Harrington on my team. The game will test KC's ability to bounce back and Colorado's capacity to handle success. Right now, it's a toss up.

I'll be swapping Wade Barrett for Alex Yi in the back for similar reasons I'm going with Brian Ching. Harrington's a keeper because he's actually an offensive-minded midfielder. Seth Stammler will also be staying due to him being a midfielder (albeit a defensive one) and Arena's "defense by ball control" system.

One thing's for certain, I do need some big weeks if I'm to close the gap with PSC United at the top of the table. Their reliance on New York players should have cost them huge. However, they racked up 23 points and gained distance from most teams. Seeing that the top overall tally in MFLS was 36 points, that amount was very respectable.

As for RevsMLS Cup, I managed to beat my opponent, Plantsville Saints 18-10. That win assures my place in the next stage, so I won't need to worry about gearing my lineup towards that competition for another few weeks. The win also brought a smile to my face as my opponent didn't field any Revolution players, which is a little worrisome in a division comprising of fans of the team with the most points in the league. My next opponent is Puddlemere United, who seems to be a bit more loyal than the last one.

My team seems to be doing fairly well in my first serious attempt at fantasy soccer. However, I do need a new angle if I am going to get ahead. I'm keeping an eye on how well the new foreign players are doing with their respective clubs. The lesser knowns of that group may become good value pickups in the future. Players I'm specifically looking at are:

Carlos Marinelli: Injured right now, but should rack up assists with KC.
Guillermo Schelotto: A tad expensive, but looks a class above most MLS players.
Maykel Galindo: Not exactly foreign, but new on the scene and could be a good bench forward at his price.
Pascal Bedrossian: When all things are settled after Blanco arrives, he could be a starter and a playmaker.


That's it for this week. I hope the next round of games goes better than the last. No teams are off this week, but get those squads fixed by Wednesday ahead of the game in Toronto. Peace.

Fantasy Soccer Bootroom - Week 5

It was a push for most teams in my fantasy soccer division. Besides the superb week by table toppers Narragansett FC and PSC United, most teams struggled to get over the 20 point mark. The same was true for the rest of MFLS, seeing how Chowda United is still in the top 50 after a modest 21 point tally. (click title to read more)



Of the two Revs in my lineup, only Andy Dorman's goal on Thursday was a boon. In fact, Dorman was sitting on the bench for the two second half goals yesterday. It's good he's not getting overworked, but that doesn't help my fantasy team. 20/20 hindsight dictates Jeff Larentowicz should have been in my lineup. However, staring at a hungry DC team and a rough Chicago team, I would have chosen to sit him 10 times out of 10. I defy anyone to show me any predictions of a goal and an assist going into yesterday's game. Common sense foretold twenty fouls and two cards on the week for Jeff.

DC's Emilio is actually becoming quite the liability. He chalked up another yellow card this week and only came off the bench in time for his team to allow a goal to Chivas USA. Matt Pickens had a rough time in Foxboro yesterday, but his team will give him better support in the future.

Dane Richards made my lineup for the first time this year and didn't disappoint. I also benefited from Houston's route of Colorado.


Looking ahead to this week, both DC United and Houston are off. That puts a few holes in my lineup. In my continuing attempt to gang up on Toronto, I'm thinking about starting Chad Barrett. I'm also thinking about transferring Davy Arnaud and reacquiring Justin Mapp now that he appears to be healthy again. That would be more of a contrarian move than anything else. KC is hot just like Chivas was before week 4. Single entity has a way in working those things out and Dallas could beat KC away this week seeing how they are well rested for a change. Both of those moves will depend on injury information. Barrett appeared to have cramped up yesterday, but it could be something worse.

Landon Donovan will be playing again, and I may sit Andy Dorman. That has more to do with the unpredictability of playing a team that had so much time off than a negative evaluation of Dorman's performance.

Red Bull New York has been getting the job done and will play yet another game against a team coming off of markedly less rest. I'm almost certain to keep the two RBNY starters I had this week. That won't prevent me from dropping Beckerman, though. He's sure to grab at least one assist at home to Salt Lake on Thursday or in New York on Sunday.

In the RevMFLS Cup front, I cruised to another victory this week. I have my first challenging opponent this week in Plantsville Saints. I'm almost certain to make the next round, so it's way too early to be gearing my lineup to counter my opponent's tendencies. I'll save that for the knockout rounds. If I did take that approach, I'd play more Revs and hope for a win. I'm far from desperate so I don't need to worry about such things yet.

That's all for this week. See you next Monday.

Fantasy Soccer Bootroom - Week 4

Well, well, well. That's pretty much how I did with my fantasy soccer side this week. Chowda United racked up 44 points and now sits fourth in the division.



One thing that set me apart from most in the division this week was my reluctance to jump on the Chivas USA bandwagon. Several teams in the division have been jocking them heavily. The problem with that is MLS is a single entity league designed for parity. You have to play the ebbs along with the flows. You just had to know LA would be up for that game. Not many players in MLS can take it to the next level like Landy Donovan. Granted, he takes games off with the best of them, but he always plays hard against Chivas.

I also got quite a few points from my Kansas City contingent who won both of their games against Toronto this week. Micheal Harrington bagged two assists and is an instrumental part of their attack. He also gained some shutout points because he counts as a defender. Couple that with his low salary, and he's a keeper.

Chicago's goal keep, Matt Pickens, continues to benefit from his defenders' very physical play. Some may contend the Revs have one or two very physical defenders, but everyone in the Chicago backline match their tactics. They are also much larger, so it's just that much more effective as long as they get away with it.

My big losers of the week were DC's Emilio who had -3 thanks to his Hand of God impression, and Kenny Cooper due to two 1-0 defeats for FC Dallas.

Looking ahead, three teams have the week off: Dallas, LA, and Toronto. Toronto's no big deal because I'm avoiding them like the plague. I have four top forwards on my team with suitable replacements for those who will be playing for the US this summer, so I'm covered there also. The issue I have is in the midfield. Landycakes will have to sit out this week and I really don't have a suitable replacement who will be able to gain points if his team loses.

Speaking of which, I'm not expecting another big week due to a lot of overlap in my lineup. New England and DC have two games, but they play each other tomorrow night. I'm also worried about New England's chances against a better rested Chicago team on Sunday. I sense another low scoring affair at Gillette and a bunch of yellow cards.

The MFLS site is crashing again as I type this. I'm all set, but make sure you get in there before Thursday and make the necessary adjustments.

On another note, I am doing well in RevMFLS Cup, a privately run cup based on MFLS results. I won't have a tough match for another week, so it's a good thing the MFLS site is having troubles this week. Though, it'll get really interesting when the knockout rounds start.

That's all for this week, see you next Monday.

Fantasy Soccer Bootroom - Week 3

Pretty tough week for my MFLS side. The assumptions I made last week were almost all wrong. Two of my players were carded, Houston didn't come to play in NY, and a last minute penalty cost my keeper four points. After all that, I only managed to drop five places in my divisional standings. That's why I'm not too upset about the Revs letting the game slip away late, although a number of sans Revolution teams did leapfrog Chowda United in the standings.

Just to analyze a bit more so we can all learn from my mistakes, I bet heavily that Houston would have a breakout performance in New York. All looked well when Clint Mathis was yellow carded in the 36th minute. Then again, one of my forwards (Brian Ching) wasn't playing and should have been. I guess he's worried about injuring himself on the fieldturf. That's something to remember in the future.

I also thought Amado Guevara would start racking up points like he did in 2004. Much to my chagrin, he plays a holding midfielder in the Jaimie Carrick distributor mold for Chivas USA. I've decided to dump him and his huge salary and spend it on two starters. Amado would have been good for a minimum one goal, one assist in a 4-0 game during seasons past. He had nothing on Saturday.

I also said the Dallas-Colorado match would be a high scoring affair. It was 2-1 and I got two assists out of the game. However, I picked up two Rapids midfielders and one of them was cautioned. It was a week with only five games, so I was was trapped and guessed wrong there.



Looking ahead to this week's matches, Kansas City plays Toronto twice. I'm not sure they can beat them both times, though. They will have a tough time beating them at home on Wednesday and then again on Saturday for Toronto's first ever home match. I think they have a good shot at shutting out the expansion side at least once, so I'm going to keep Harrington at defense. I'm also going to go with a KC midfielder because I believe they will get the better of the two games, hopefully blowing them out once.

FC Dallas also has two games. I'm sticking with Cooper up top because I feel they will have the revenge factor on Thursday night at home to NY. He should be good for at least one goal either in that game or on Sunday against the Revs.

Speaking of the Revs, they will be taking on a team in Dallas that will be playing it's third game of the week. The Revs are coming off ten days of rest. Therefore, I'm definitely keeping Twellman and Dorman. All goals go through one of those two and hopefully the team bounces back from a poor performance.

I'm also hoping Emilio keeps scoring for DC and Donovan gets his act together in the Honda Superclassico, or as I like to call it: "the biggest game known to mankind". I still think the official name sounds more ridiculous.

Fantasy Soccer Bootroom - Week 2

Well, I had a very good week with 30 points. I am now up to 143 out of 2200+ overall. Even though I had the 26th highest overall point tally, Chowda United actually moved down in my division to 11th due to the great performance by the Revolution on Saturday. Although, the gap between my team and the top of the table was cut in two. Here's what I went with for week 2:



As you can see, I had a pretty solid week, but it could have been much better. Last week, I gave you my reason for starting two Red Bull players in the back. That seemed to work out perfectly because, just as I suspected, FC Dallas wouldn't be up for the game after the short break and cross-country trip. The monsoon didn't help, either. The problem is, Marvell Wynne didn't start and I have to find out why. I thought he was lock. If he isn't, I need to transfer him now. I lost 5 points with him sitting on the bench.

Although I wanted them to lose or tie from a sporting perspective, I felt very confident in the Chicago Fire from a fantasy perspective when they went a man up in the sixth minute in Colorado last night. Then they began to sleepwalk their way to two shots on net in the first seventy minutes. I still have faith in Justin Mapp, but he looked very sluggish.

I went with Fred instead of Olsen. I thought DC United would win their home opener. If you have been using Perkins as your keeper, I feel sorry for you. Teams do compensate, and I may be looking to get a DC defender a few weeks down the line and play them against the weaker teams.

Taylor Twellman was my top point-getter. He's a lock in my lineup unless the Revs have a bye or he's off on national team duty. Speaking of which, three teams don't have games this week. This will start separating the people who do this for fun and those who are serious about winning.

I'm definitely dropping Fred for now. There are a few players in his salary range that are guaranteed starters, and DC will probably be using a more defensive setup in the near future. I'll also likely be dropping Wynne. I have spotted a few cheap defenders. I'll let you in on one of them: Jeff Larentowicz. He plays a great holding mid with Shalrie Joseph in the game. He's listed as a defender, may be good for an assist here and there, and has a salary of 80. Just watch out for the yellows. There's a few others, but you will have to wait for next week to find out who.

As for team strategy, I'm going to have to take some chances if I want to move up the ladder in week 3. New England plays in Columbus on Thursday night. I'm going to bet the Revs win with my fantasy lineup. If they lose I may be in some trouble, but I don't think I'll be dropping too much in my Revs division. I'm also hedging that the Chicago-KC game will be low scoring. That may seem odd given KC's four goals this week. However, Chicago went into Colorado expecting to defend all night. They seemed out of place when they went a man up and had to carry the play. They will also be up for the task after that disappointing tie. I predict one team will get shut out, so I'm keeping Pickens and looking at lining up a KC defender to hedge that bet.

The other risk I will be taking is I think Houston will win in New York. New York may have an issue as to who their keeper will be and Houston is due for a breakout. I'm not positive on this one, but the key to taking risks is to not have the rewards cancel out when they pay off.

Chivas host Salt Lake and Colorado is in Dallas to round out the week. I'm keeping Guevara because he's due for some scoring. That Dallas-Colorado game looks to be a shootout by popular consensus, which probably means it will go scoreless. Regardless, I'm looking at those two teams for some possible attacking player acquisitions.

Remember: DC, Toronto, and LA are all off this week. For you fellow Revs fans out there, we have a week off next week, so don't box yourself into a corner.

PSC United had the best overall week with an astounding 55 points. They used three Revolution players and they all paid out big. Halmstad Swedes leads my Revs division after another solid week. That manager takes a more well-rounded approach. He's one of the few teams at the top of that table who didn't have Twellman, the top performing player on the week (12 points).


That's it for this week. I tried to join another league last week, but there were technical issues. It's scoring system is even more in depth than MFLS, so I hope to review that next week.

Fantasy Soccer Bootroom - Week 1

Welcome to the first installment of Fantasy Soccer Bootroom, a (hopefully) weekly rundown of analysis of fantasy soccer leagues for MLS. The two main leagues are MFLS and MLS Fantasy Challenge on foxsoccer.com. In both of these leagues, I am participating in divisions for Revolution fans. This is the first year that I am taking the league seriously, and I look forward to sharing my experience throughout the season.

As a primer, MFLS is a deeper system with salaries that don't change, transfer fees which change based on demand, and bench players. The format on foxsoccer.com has a much more restrictive salary cap, no subs, and no transfer fees. I believe they are using a similar system to the EPL challenge I participated in a few years back, but with the addition of assists. If true, player salaries will vary throughout the season, which could get interesting. I'll mostly be focusing on MFLS, but I'll also give a nod to the fantasy challenge each week depending on my interest.

Both of my teams are called "Chowda United". My MFLS team had a very good first week with a respectable 20 points. I sit tied for 5 of 65+ in my division's table, and 295th out of 2000+ overall. I put in a good effort getting my starting lineup for week 1. Here is what it looked like and the results:



You only get points for players who start each week and for the coach. If you look at my team, the number in brackets next to each player is the total they had for the week. The two numbers below that are salary and transfer fee respectively.

Points are obtained for soring goals and assists, as well as just being on the field when your team scores. Deductions occur for things like yellow cards and giving u goals. Defenders and keepers are rewarded for shutting out opponents for halves, etc... As you may gather, individual performance is important, but team performance can be just as important.

For instance, take my defender selection. I have two Red Bull players back there. Both players aren't going to score many goals or rack up assists, but Bruce Arena's team hasn't been bleeding goals after "The Bruce" took the job. They also were playing Columbus last week and play a Dallas team that has to fly cross-country after their Thursday game to make their Sunday afternoon contest. Arena may actually elect to play a 4-5-1 at times this year, so the goal counts will be low. As a bonus, Seth Stammler counts as a defender, while actually lining up as a midfielder in real life. This opens the door for assists and goals. However, I do have to watch out for yellow cards, as he is a hard tackler.

I took Pickens as my GK, because he's the best value. Chicago has a rough defense which will keep his GAA low and his salary allowed me to upgrade my attacking players. I'm actually surprised so few people have him. He's now very popular after the shutout, but I can't afford to let him and his low pay grade go.

At midfield, I have three players who should rack up major points. However, I did struggle with the decision to start Ben Olsen. I originally had Fred. DC will score a lot of goals. They can, but most importantly they will have to with their weak defense. Fred led the A-League in goals, and we'll see how he does in MLS. I didn't go with Fred because he wasn't starting in Colorado. I went with Olsen because I thought DC would win. I was wrong there, and Olsen also was yellow-carded. Ouch! I also took a hard look at Sacha Kljestan who wound up scoring the most individual points this week with nine. I didn't go with him because I felt Toronto would have scored.

My three forwards should do fine. Although only one of them scored, I'm not worried about Ching and Twellman. I also have decent coverage with Barrett and Cristman who should start for their MLS sides when Ching and Twellman are off on USMNT duty this summer.

The thing that worries me is my lack of depth at defense. I have to find out which rookie defenders are going to crack their respective lineups and pick them up. I want to have 5-6 defenders, who start for their teams, to have flexibility based on that week's MLS schedule. I also have to plan on any bye weeks for teams. KC had a bye, but I picked up Arnaud for future coverage.

My bench looks a little different right now. I actually made a few swaps to generate a transfer fee slush fund. I needed the funds to dump Olsen and I wanted the money for future considerations.


Well, that was how I planned out the linup for Chowda United. Looking at the MFLS tables, Alpine Dream topped the charts with 43 points. The team is heavy on Colorado Rapids, so he hit the jackpot. As for the Revs division, Pip United is in first with 32 points. All of his forwards racked up points and his major performers were Chivas USA players Guzan and Kljestan. From what I gather, 20-25 points is a good week and anything over 30 points is money.

Well, that's it for the first installment of Fantasy Soccer Bootroom. I'll get into the other league somewhere down the line. Look for future installments at the start of each week.