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), average = 4-5 points, good = 6-8 points, great = 9+ points.
- Ranko Veselinovic – Good (1, 7 points)
- Eric Miller (2) or Jack Maher (5) – Bust
- Junior Urso – Bust? Good? (3, 3 points)
- Ben Bender – Bust (3 points)
- Kacper Przybylko – Good (6 points)
- Patryk Klimala – Not available for selection (not counting for or against due to not being available)
Week 14 Final Results: 2.5 Goods, 2.5 Busts (2 goods, 3 busts)
Full Season Results: 10 Great, 16 Goods, 8 Average, 45 Busts
Claudio Bravo , $7.1m (Portland Defender)
He’s back and came out swinging! Claudio Bravo has been a bonus point producing defender since last season when he went on a big run of form. Without a clean sheet, Bravo will likely put up between 4-6 points. With a clean sheet, that number goes up to 9-11 points. Very good returns for only $7.1m. None of this even mentions the fact that the Colorado Rapids are a very weak team on the road (0-5-2).
Alan Franco, $8.2m (Atlanta Defender)
Franco is another bonus point producing defender with a big upside this week as Atlanta travels to Miami. The difference between Bravo and Franco is that Bravo has a home game while Franco has an away game. Typically, center backs produce more bonus points on the road but cant hold a clean sheet. I actually think that Franco has a better chance at holding a clean sheet than Bravo does this week, though!
Felipe Hernandez, $4.8m (SKC Mid)
From what I understand, the chalk this week is Frei, Alex Roldan, and Lodeiro. That is a great assumption to make and the Seattle homer in me would love for a result that benefits all of those players. The reality, however, is that Kansas City knows how to win when they travel to Seattle. In fact, SKC has won their last 3 games in Seattle – 3-2, 3-1, and 2-1. What I observe from those statistics is that there will be goals from both sides, resulting in a SKC win at the end of the day. With Felipe Hernandez being on most corner kicks, I expect him to play a big part of the goal contributions from SKC this weekend. Plus Felipe is a cheap play for the bench at $4.8m!
Alvaro Barreal, $6.7m (Cincinnati Mid)
Want a bench flier for the Friday game? Throw Barreal on the pine and watch his points rise as you enjoy watching the game of Cincinnati hosting Orlando. Lucho Acosta is going to be a chalky pick for this week, which makes Barreal a great differential choice. He is actually on more corner kicks in the last 5 games than Lucho has been on. With Orlando missing Robin Jansson due to yellow card accumulation, they will be leaky defensively. Barreal should be an amazing candidate at generating assists against this Orlando team.
Andres Shinyashiki, $5.8m (Charlotte Forward)
Shinyashiki playing against “…the side that just conceded four goals midweek with half the regular backline, and who conceded one while on the man advantage against Austin?” – Brandon in the MLSFB Discord. Not to mention that Montreal also is missing their best player of the season, Mihailovic. If I could include multiple players in my article, I’d have a Charlotte player in each position this week.
CJ Sapong, $8.2m (Nashville Forward)
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. He has been playing well against weak defenses. Though DC United have gotten Andy Najar back, they are missing their starting goalkeeper in the form of Bill Hamid. Sapong thrives on scoring goals against weak defenses!
Honorable Mentions:
- John Tolkin (NYRB Defender)
- Luqinhas (NYRB Mid)
- Johnny Russell (SKC Mid)
- Robin Lod (Minnesota Mid)