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Sure, the first rule of fantasy sports is: nobody wants to hear about your fantasy team. But if you are reading this, you are way past that point so let’s nerd out.
Atlanta United is about to embark on its inaugural season and while they are no doubt fated for glory, fans can join in on the fun by playing Fantasy MLS. I really encourage people to join, it’s fun, it’s free, it’s a great way to learn about the league and the players in it for new fans of MLS and I’ll be here Rekrapping every week.
A few changes have been made this season including clean sheets being worth 5 points for keepers and defenders, unlimited transfers each round, and more. Fear not, an in-depth strategy and picks post filled with loads of amazing jokes and expert questionable advice is forthcoming, but for now let’s find out if the game makers were singing ‘I wanna pick you for my fantasy team, in the Mercedes Benz Stadium, on the half way line, while Atlanta United kick for t’ree-nil’ (I didn’t say they’d be good jokes).
Goalkeepers:
Alec Kann - $4.5
Alex Tambakis - $4.0
Really no surprises here, Kann has limited MLS experience and Tambakis has none. Not to say that the Greek goalie doesn’t have potential, if Tambakis gets the starting gig in the training camp showdown of the Ale-prefixed keepers, he could be a good pick up.
Defenders:
Leandro Gonzalez Pirez - $6.0
Michael Parkhurst - $5.5
Tyrone Mears - $5.5
Zach Loyd - $5.5
Greg Garza - $5.5
Mark Bloom - $5.0
Miles Robinson - $5.0
Mikey Ambrose - $4.5
Anton Walkes - $4.0
The highest paid defenders in the game are at $6.5 so the game makers obviously think Leandro Gonzalez Pirez at $6.0 is going to make his mark in MLS. First he has to nail down his starting center-back slot in pre-season.
Midfielders:
Miguel Almiron - $9.0
Yamil Asad - $8.5
Jacob Peterson - $7.5
Chris McCann - $7.0
Kevin Kratz - $6.0
Jeff Larentowicz - $5.5
Andrew Carleton - $5.0
Harrison Heath - $4.5
Julian Gressel - $4.5
Chris Goslin - $4.0
Miguel Almiron as our #10 tops the list here. There is a lot of value in a player like him who completes lots of passes and contributes assists and goals, if he ends up playing that role in Martino’s system he could be a valuable player this year. Also, don’t sleep on Chris McCann, defensive midfielders rack up a lot of pass completion points and Atlanta will look to build through possession so McCann should see plenty of those this season.
Forwards:
Hector Villalba - $9.5
Kenwyne Jones - $9.0
Jeffrey Otoo - $5.0
Romario Williams - $4.5
Brandon Vazquez - $4.0
If Jones and Villalba combine for 35 goals and chip in the odd assist here and there they’ll be the most undervalued players in the game. Villalba is priced in the same tier as Jozy Altidore and Kei Kamara while Kenwyne is valued the same as Gyasi Zardes and Dom Dwyer, but they are way better than any of those guys so I don’t know why they aren’t priced at $12 along with Giovinco. OK, in all seriousness, I think $9.5 is fair for Tito but Jones hasn’t played at a high level, or even an MLS level, in quite a while so pay attention to him in pre-season before putting him on your squad.
Atlanta has more players than the game has listed on its roster, which might tell you something about the likelihood of those players being moved to Charleston or elsewhere, but the game will add any players Atlanta signs before the season begins.
Sadly, you can only pick up to 4 players from one team, so fielding a full team from Atlanta United will not be allowed, that would be like one team having 13 international players with only 9 international slots. Dirty South Soccer has a league, join by clicking here. So, get your team picked so that when the league kicks off on March 3rd you can be in the running to finish second behind me this season.