Every week, I’m going to go over my suggestions from last week, and determine if they were a good or bad pick based on position and points. To describe in detail the ranking system here is the metric: bust = 3 or fewer points (or not starting/on the bench), average = 4-5 points, good = 6-8 points, great = 9+ points. Players not available for selection I am disregarding and not counting as a positive or negative in the article.
Domenico Criscito – Bust (0, 5 points 2.5 average)
Danny Wilson – Good (3, 13 points 8 average)
Alvaro Barreal – Good (9, 3 points 6 average)
Alejandro Bedoya – Bust (1, 0 points 0.5 average)
Luis Amarilla – Average (2, 9 points 5.5 average)
Jordan Morris – Bust (2, 2 points 2 average)
Week 18 Final Results: 2 Good, 1 Average, 3 Busts
Full Season Results: 14 Great, 20 Goods, 15 Average, 52 Busts
Welcome to week 19 of FMLS. Do you need some help with differentiating your lineups? Are you looking to just have some fun since you already made FCL? Is your budget lower than most other competitive managers? Look no further, as this is the right place for you! With some mostly bargain picks, this is a great week to look for the diamonds in the rough instead of shooting for the stars! Let’s get into it!
George Campbell, $7.5m (Atlanta Defender)
Initially I had thought that Campbell was only going to be playing until Purata was available then be relegated to the bench. What happened instead was that Atlanta switched to a 3 center backs lineup of Franco, Campbell, and Purata. Across the last four games, Campbell has produced 14 total bonus points. That is an average of 3 bonus points per game, and none of these have resulted in a clean sheet. Although 3 out of 4 of these games were at home, I like the matchup that Atlanta has this week traveling to LA Galaxy. This is a team that has been questionable on both sides of the field and is very hard to read. This could be a blowout for one team or the other or a low scoring game. I am predicting a low scoring game.
Tristan Blackmon, $7.5m (Vancouver Defender)
Vancouver’s home defense has been surprisingly good lately. Actually, scratch that. The Vancouver defense in general has been surprisingly good lately. This could be heavily affected by Cody Cropper being out with an injury. Ranko Veselinovic will be the more common pick of the Vancouver defense. However, if you want to buy-in on the defense while spending $2m less, Blackmon is your guy!
Justin Meram, $8.5m (RSL Mid)
If you sort the midfielders by the last 3 average scores, what names would you expect to see? Zelaryan? Reynoso? Mukhtar? Santiago Rodriguez? Luciano Acosta? Well, you’d be right. You know who else is within that list, though? Justin Meram. He has averaged an astounding 8.67 points across his last 3 games! The matchups have been at home versus Colorado, away to Atlanta, and at home versus SKC. Each of these teams struggles defensively. The team that is traveling to Salt Lake this week is FC Dallas. They struggle on the road where they have allowed 14 of their 25 goals against. Meram splits set pieces between Pablo Ruiz and Jefferson Savarino, which makes him even more enticing. The last good thing about Meram? Real Salt Lake has yet to lose at home this year with a record of 7-0-3!
Dylan Borrero, $7.9m (New England Mid)
Dylan Borrero is my fun pick of the week. He has been struggling to adjust to the league as of late, only scoring 2 goals in 8 games. This is a battle between the best team of last season (and all time) against a red hot Columbus team. I can see this as a high scoring affair as Carles Gil gets double-teamed, requiring another player to step up to the plate – Dylan Borrero.
Romell Quioto, $8.7m (Montreal Forward)
Have you heard yet that Djordje Mihailovic is back? Have you also heard that the DC United defense is bad? Both of these are good news for Romell Quioto and the Montreal offense. I absolutely love the idea of Mason Toye as a DiffeRanchal as well, but I am not 100% on him starting this game.
Karol Swiderski, $7.6m (Charlotte Forward)
Swiderski is another player to gamble on. Charlotte has only won one road game all season, but this is a great opportunity to make it two! After the colossal collapse last week of holding a 0-2 lead, Charlotte needs to wake up and show the league how good they really are. If they want any chance at making the playoffs, they will need to win more than just 1 away game. Charlotte played midweek against Chelsea, resulting in a 1-1 regulation, penalty shootout win. This is a great way to build the self-esteem of the team. Now they need to take this momentum into Toronto on Saturday. The man up top that can give Charlotte goals is Karol Swiderski (or Andre Shinyashiki).
Honorable Mentions:
Juan Jose Purata, $8m (Atlanta Defender) – 0.13% Ownership
Diego Luna, $6.6m (RSL Mid) – 0.02% Ownership
Heber, $6.3m (NYCFC Forward) – 0.21% Ownership