MLS Fantasy Tips: Week 19
Cooper, Razov on a roll; Donovan, Blanco cooling off
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Our first-half winner, Chad Kutscher, and his brother Scott, had a blast. He got to go to the practices and meet the players, go to the special event parties at night, and take in a great game (Blanco was unbelievable -- those moves were sick). And the best news is that you still have a chance to win the overall prize, a trip to LA for MLS Cup 2008, and do the same things! So follow along like Chad did and, hopefully, we can help get you there.
This week's Fire and Ice:
On Fire:
Kenny Cooper (DAL, $562,000): 4 goals and 2 assists in his last 4 games
Jon Busch (CHI, $257,000): 3 clean sheets in his last 5 games, only 3 total goals allowed in those games
Nick Rimando (RSL, $513,000): 6 clean sheets in last 8 games
Ante Razov (CHV, $434,000): 3 goals last 3 games
Cold as Ice:
Cuauhtemoc Blanco (CHI, $228,000): 0 goals and 0 assists last 8 games
Laurent Robert (TOR, $278,000): 0 goals and 0 assists last 7 games
Landon Donovan (LA $277,000): 1 goal last 4 games
Things to keep an eye out for this week:
Injuries. Guillermo Barros Schelotto (CLB)
Lineup changes. Now starting: Darren Huckerby and Francisco Lima (SJ), Juan Pietravallo (NY), Eduardo Dominquez (LA), Eric Avila (DAL), Tomasz Frankowski (CHI), Roger Espinoza and Josh Wolff (KC), Steve Lenhart (CLB), Herculez Gomez (COL).
Discipline. Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Diego Gutierrez (CHI); Frankie Hejduk (CLB); Dwayne De Rosario (HOU; yellow card accumulation); Gonzalo Martinez (DC) and Steve Lenhart (CLB; both red cards).
Tip(s) of the week: Real Salt Lake, Colorado, New York, and New England are all idle this week.
This week's Top XI for points:
Goalkeeper: Pat Onstad (HOU). Coming off his All-Star performance in his homeland, Onstad should be pumped to be playing at home this week against the Columbus Crew. Look for shutout No. 5 in this game, which will help his league second-best GAA to go down even more.
Defender: Jimmy Conrad (KC). The 10-year vet is looking to win the Golden Helmet award this year, given to the player who scores the most goals with his head (OK, we made that up, and the one he scored for West Ham doesn't count). With Peralta and Martinez both out for DC this week, look for Jimmy to add to his Golden Helmet total of four goals.
Defender: Bobby Boswell (HOU). The 2006 MLS Defender of The Year is back to his form of that year. Look for him to help Onstad add to his four shutouts in this game.
Defender: Wilman Conde (CHI). The 25-year-old Conde has contributed to Jon Busch's league leading seven clean sheets. Having only allowed seven goals in eight home games, look for them to get the eighth clean sheet in the next game.
Midfielder: Fred (DC). The 28-year-old Brazilian has not lived up to his form of last year, when he had seven goals and eight assists. With a home game (where D.C. has scored a league-leading 23 goals) against Kansas City this week, look for Fred to add to his one goal and three assists on the season in this game.
Midfielder: Justin Mapp (CHI). The seventh-year vet has been playing well of late. With a home game against a Chivas team that has allowed 13 goals in seven away games, and missing their starting 'keeper Brad Guzan, look for Mapp to light it up in this game.
Midfielder:David Beckham (LA). Playing on the No. 1 scoring team in MLS (with 36 goals) gives Beckham many opportunities to put points on your team. With six championships at Manchester United and one at Real Madrid, can Beckham bring one to the Galaxy?
Midfielder: Amado Guevara (TOR). The 32-year-old Honduran started off well this season, but has dwindled off as of late. With a home game against FC Dallas, which has allowed 11 goals in eight away games, look for the 2006 MLS MVP to get back on track in this week.
Forward: Kenny Cooper (DAL). This guy is ON FIRE! The numbers say to take him off your team this week, but the Dallas native is just playing too well to take him out now.
Forward: Edson Buddle (LA). Whether they are playing home or away, the LA Galaxy are a scoring machine, leading the league with 36 total goals. With Buddle back to his 2002-2004 form, look for him to continue that this week against an expansion San Jose team that has allowed 10 goals in seven home games.
Forward: Luciano Emilio (DC). The 2007 MLS MVP has been ON FIRE. With a home game against Kansas City, look for him to add to his 10 goals and two assists he has on the season.
Here are our official teams for Week 19:
Dave:
GK Jon Busch; DF Ryan Johnson; DF Marco Velez; DF Jimmy Conrad; MF David Beckham; MF Guillermo Barros Schelotto; MF Fred; MF Juan Toja; FW Edson Buddle; FW Kenny Cooper; FW Landon Donovan. Coach Dominic Kinnear. Bench: Dwayne DeRosario, Bobby Boswell, Nick Rimando.
Traded: FW Alejandro Moreno for MF Fred, Coach Fernando Clavijo for Coach Dominic Kinnear, and MF Cuauhtemoc Blanco for MF Juan Toja.
Moved: Jon Busch to GK, Dwayne DeRosario and Nick Rimando to bench.
Jimmy:
GK Jon Busch; DF Brandon Prideaux; DF Marco Velez; DF Ryan Johnson; MF David Beckham; MF Amado Guevara; MF Fred; MF Guillermo Barros Schelotto; FW Kenny Cooper; FW Luciano Emilio; FW Landon Donovan. Coach: Denis Hamlett. Bench: GK Jon Busch, MF Christian Gomez, FW Edson Buddle.
Traded : GK Nick Rimando for FW Ante Razov; MF Cuauhtemoc Blanco for MF Amado Guevara.
Moved: GK Jon Busch to Starting Lineup.
Questions? Comments? Contact us at mlsfantasygurus@comcast.net.
