Euro2012 Player Picks: The Semi-Finals

We're down to the point where there really aren't that many players to choose from so rather than give you player picks in the traditional sense, I'm going to give you my analysis of the situation and how I'm approaching it.

Fact 1: With the favorites moving on to the semi-finals, there aren't many inexpensive players left who are a) starters; b) productive for fantasy; and c) likely to win.

Fact 2: While you are now allowed a lot of players from any given team, the fact is you can't afford that many.

Fact 3: There are 2 pretty clear favorites to win in the semi-finals in Germany and Spain.

Fact 4: Spain complicates things because there isn't an obvious focal point for their attack like Ronaldo for Portugal, Gomez for Germany (assuming he was just being rested in the last match), and Cassano/Balotelli for Italy.

Fact 5: You have 8 free transfers (and likely a lot of guys from the quarter final losers to replace at inexpensive prices).

Given all of the above, the way I've approached my roster is picking a core players I think have a real shot at producing (in my case Ronaldo, Gomez, Casillas, Alba, Boateng, Pirlo, and Cassano). From there, I'm trying to fill in as inexpensively as possible. The next tier of options are guys who are likely to start at (relatively) inexpensive prices but I'll have to get lucky on them producing more than minimal points (Montolivo, Khedira, João Moutinho, and João Pereira). That gets me to 11 guys who should start and could potentially do better than 2 to 3 fantasy points. After that, I filled out my roster with guys who have a small chance of playing (Abate) or just fill in the roster with (theoretically) warm bodies for low prices.

I hope that helps you with your final preparations. I could certainly see options where you get scared off by Gomez and spend more money on a couple of midfielders or defenders. The bummer of it all is that there just aren't many ways that you can make the roster fit under the salary cap which limits creativity.

Good luck and we'll see you back here for The Barn Door Live while the match is on.