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EPL Methadone: Major League Soccer Fantasy Preview Week 5

By Neal Thurman
Love the hair and the performance on Saturday but not so much as a long term investment with Najar coming back. Mandatory Credit: Paul Frederiksen-US PRESSWIRE
Love the hair and the performance on Saturday but not so much as a long term investment with Najar coming back. Mandatory Credit: Paul Frederiksen-US PRESSWIRE

Jeremy got us started with the note that Real Salt Lake and the Montreal Impact are two-gamers this week. With Montreal having a few players doing well in the early going (Davy Arnaud, Justin Mapp, and Sanna Nyassi) despite Montreal's lack of success on the scoreboard there are options aplenty from the two teams.

I won't spend too much time rehashing the other choices from those two teams but if you're thinking ahead beyond this week (and maybe already have some RSL players in your line-up), here are some thoughts on how to be looking at some strategic moves either this week or next:

DC United, Sporting Kansas City, and the Vancouver Whitecaps are all two-gamers the week after next (Match Week 7) and represent some strong potential value that could come in two forms:

  1. Not selling them now - remember you have limited transfers (either by week or by "game segment" depending on which site you use). Be careful selling guys from the above three teams because there is every chance that you'll want them again soon. This is a great time to use your bench. If you need to sell some players then look to Houston (bye week this week followed by @Chicago).
  2. Starting to buy now - This applies more to DC United and Sporting KC since Vancouver is on a bye next week but starting to acquire guys like DeRo (if his first 3 weeks got you nervous enough to sell), Salihi (he was knocking on the door last weekend and looked much better), or just about anyone on Sporting KC (but especially Nielsen, Zusi, Sapong, and Besler).
If you're looking for some guys to avoid over-reacting to then look no further than the DC United wing pairing of Nick DeLeon and Danny Cruz. Both had excellent matches against a solid Dallas team but you have to expect that with Andy Najar coming back from Olympic Qualifying duty and Chris Pontius around and available that neither young winger will be starting regularly over the long term.

Back to this week, if you're looking for a captain then I'd choose Fabien Espindola over Nick Rimando based on RSL's concerning defensive form over the last two matches. Losing to Chivas USA at home and then giving up two goals to Portland doesn't make me feel great about giving the C to Rimando.

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