Euro 2012 Fantasy Football

Euro 2012 Fantasy Football - Page 4

Raff

Germany49 Posts

June 20 2012 09:20 GMT

#61

The round started great with 20(2greece + Cech) points from 3 players at the first match day. But i only made 31 points total

My swedisch and Italien players got benched for no reason, my Irish gets a red card and i could not sub him out. So i go all-in with Shevchenko as captain and he gets benched for the whole game ...

My team for the quarters:
Neuer, Hart
Chiellini, Hummels, Gebre Selassi, Jordi Alba, Debuchy
Katsouranis, Pilař, Khedira, Cabaye, Pirlo
Torres, Cristiano Ronaldo, Balotelli

DragoonTT

3398 Posts

June 20 2012 11:57 GMT

#62

Lost my #1 due to disappointing performance all around - had high hopes about my PD3 lineup, but with France falling apart against Sweden, and Russia crashing and burning vs Greece, any hopes for points in defense were crushed. Malafeev, Zhirkov, Debuchy and Nasri not even scoring 10 points together while, ironically, my three benched players would have scored 18, being defense players on Greece and CR. Forgoing substitutions and benching low-cost players backfired big time. As expected, Pirlo/Cassano and Gerrard/Rooney were good for some points, but Blaszczykowski and Torres failed to deliver, too - so I'll have to congratulate "Rutger Hauer" on stealing my #1 and swear revenge for the next playday.

Quarter Finals seem to be very hard to predict, especially with the scoring system employed by UEFA Fantasy Football. Three of four games promise to be low scoring, focusing on tactic and strategy:
- Portugal vs. Czech Republic is the only match that may be dominated by offensive play. Portugal undoubtedly has the quality, and Ronaldo really seemed to be on fire against the Netherlands, while their defense is not beyond doubt. Czech Republic has looked shaky in their defense during their first two matches, but can field a great keeper and have managed to score every match even when looking outmatched. Decent picks could include CR midfielders and Portugal's acclaimed strikers. Keepers and defenders could be a risk, but with elimination a looming threat, trainers might try to focus on stabilizing their defenses instead of full-out attacking.

- Germany vs. Greece looks to be a repeat of many matches at this EURO with unpredictable result. A technically skilled side operating on possession facing off against a team known for their outstanding defensive work and high team spirit, even though Greece has also shown periods of solid offensive play recently, pulling an upset in Group A. With Karagounis missing, a renewed focus on defensive work may be expected. Germany, 3-0'ing the acclaimed "Group of Death", has nevertheless shown lack of creativity in their offensive department and, situationally, lack of concentration in their defensive work. Expect to see a match teetering on knife's edge, unless an early goal is scored. Keepers and Defenders look to be a good choice, while it may not be advisable to pick offensive players - only Assists and Goals being awarded with Fantasy Points, a good, yet scoreless performance is not going to help your Fantasy team, after all. An exception may be Gomez - though he's not been looking very good against Denmark, he can always be dangerous in a good moment, and still has that Golden Boot to win.

- Spain vs. France matches up two favourites to take the whole tournament in the quarter finals. Both teams had few troubles qualifying for quarters, but could rarely show off the brilliant offensive play names like Iniesta, Fabregas, Ribery and Benzema suggest. Spain's only convincing victory was against the arguably weakest side in the whole tournament, while having lots of problems with organized defensive play coming from Italy and Croatia. France slashed hopes only drawing against England, beat Ukraine pretty handily, then totally fell apart against Swedes that had nothing to win anymore but honor. Before the tournament, I'd have been salivating about this match, hoping for a high-scoring result, but taking the latest matches into account, I'd expect Spain being true to their style and edge out France 1-0, even though it could go either way, if a single player gets a brilliant day. Safe picks include midfielders - game is won here, and goals will probably scored by offensive midfielders - and keepers - both world class. Defenses may hold, or be totally crushed on either side. Picking a striker is a gamble - Spanish defense has looked nigh impregnable for the first two games, and Del Bosque hasn't looked afraid to not field a striker at all - unless you, like UEFA, count Silva as a striker.

- England vs Italy is expected to be the epitome of a defensive game. Both sides have excellent and experienced offensive players, but have focused on shutting down the opposition instead of going all-out. Another match that could go 1-0 either way, with the goal probably coming from a set-piece, either directly or as a cross towards one of the star strikers. Pirlo/Cassano/Balotelli, as well as Gerrard/Rooney could end up with the winning shot. Take your side, stock up on defenders, and hope for a clean sheet.

If anyone is interested, my team for the quarterfinals:
Rui Patricio, (Casillas)
Jordi Alba, Joao Pereira, Hummels, Maniatis, (Lescott)
Khedira, Busquets, Jiracek, Katsouranis, (Gerrard)
Nani, Silva, (Rooney)

Unlike last round, I'll try to use the substitution system, replacing players failing to score high with English players for the last match. Predicted results: Portugal 3:1 CR (with Jiracek scoring), Germany 0:0 Greece (to go to penalties), Spain 1:0 France and England 1:0 Italy. Should my teams be eliminated, I'll be out of competition for good

Acrofales

Spain17961 Posts

June 20 2012 14:28 GMT

#63

Yeah, I've always wondered whether it's better to spread players around or go full for 1 team and pray they win. It's pretty much what I'm doing for Spain (vs. France), but everywhere else I'm sorta balanced.

I found myself in the awkward position yesterday, where I had Lescott facing off against Konoplyanka: Lescott scoring points is good, but if he is scoring points, Konoplyanka isn't. This was not the first time I had this: cheering for a team would be easier if I didn't have players on the opposing team (which is one of the reasons I didn't bet against Spain

Just have Diarra, because I think he'll get some points even if his team loses).

Also, France benching Cabaye yesterday pissed me off, from a purely fantasy football point of view.