English Premier League Fantasy Recap Part II

Check the post below for part I.



Now is the time where I get to praise and rib people for their picks. I'm pretty good at the ribbing part.



Good picks:

Martin Skrtel - 6th Round - A nice pick up here in the 6th. He is one of the most consistent defenders in the league and always gets the start for Liverpool.

Gabbi Agbonlahor - 8th Round - Not a top level striker, but this guy was a probably a 3rd round striker just a couple years ago, should continue to work well with Bent.

Dimitar Berbatov - 7th Round - Last years joint leading scorer in the 7th round. I don't expect another 20 goal season, but good value this late.

Seamus Coleman - 7th - Coleman would be a top class defender if not for his injury, still good value in the 7th round for an Everton that will start slow anyways.

Carlos Tevez - 8th - Similar to Berbatov, but much more uncertainty about his future. Still high reward pick for the 8th round even if he only stays until January

Mark Schwarzer - 10th - Last quality 'keeper on the board. A steal considering Given went in the 7th and Howard in the 4th.

Roman Pavlyuchenko - 10th - Tottenham's best striker right now, strong end to last season, finally in good graces at Spurs.

Stephane Sessegnon - 12th - Strong attacking midfield option at Sunderland

Ramires - 12th - Seems to be settling in the starting XI at Chelsea, especially with Essien injured.

Leon Osman - 13th - Great run at the end of last season, should get lots of starts as Everton are lacking wingers.

Alan Hutton - 13th - Should be the starter at right back for Spurs

Romelu Lukaku - 16th - Not sure how much PT he'll get, but a good shot with your final pick



Not so Clever Picks:

Malouda 1st Round, Kalou 4th Round - Good players, but drafted too high especially on a Chelsea team with loads of attacking options.

Bobby Zamora - 4th - He'll get lots of games, but too high at the 4th round

Scott Sinclair - 5th - This pick got a number of laughs, but no, it wasn't a joke. Maybe he thought it was the 15th round.

Alex - 5th Round - Didn't you learn from taking Alex too high before Junkie? He is not first choice at Chelsea and has been heavily linked to a move to Italy.

Gareth Barry - 9th - Gareth Barry used to be good. Then he moved to Man City.

Phil Neville - 15th - Listed as a midfielder, not a defender. Ouch.

Morten Gamst Pedersen - 8th - A bit high at the 8th round.

Grant Holt - 9th - Obviously early for a Norwich striker. Mort, did you know he is fat? Here are some of his facebook groups - "Grant Holt is a Fat Prick", "Get off the ground you fat cunt! Nan please, that's Grant Holt", "Grant Holt is a diving scum". Despite what it appears, I have nothing against Grant Holt. I hope he does well.





Teams

Carlo - 1. Rooney 2. Vidic 3. Cech

A strong start for Carlo. His first half of the draft was great, but then he started picking a slew of defensive midfielders - Gareth Barry, Lucas, Alex Song, Whitehead - spelling fantasy disaster.

Prediction - Strong foundation and good picks with Coleman and Taarabt in the 7th and 8th, but the second half of the draft will see Carlo languish in the mid table.



Andy - "TheWengerBoysAreComing" - 1. Van Persie 2. Baines 3. Yaya

Took Samba (4th) and Henderson (6th) too early. With defenders from Everton, Wigan, Newcastle, and Fulham, I'm not sure if his defense will be strong enough. Lots will depend on Van Persie's health.

Prediction - Should be a marked improvement from last year, but won't challenge for the top spots.



BJ - "There's something about Gabi's smelly cunt" - 1. Bent 2. Walcott 3. Dempsey

BJ sticks to his morals and does not select players from Chelsea, Man U, Man City, Liverpool, or Tottenham. Despite this hindrance, he finished second in the league last year. He got Dempsey and T. Cahill 3rd and 4th and Gibbs and Koscielny 6th and 7th.

Prediction - Despite his limitations, BJ should again challenge for the league. A lot will depend on Arsenal's defense, and how well Villa and Fulham perform this season.



Serg - 1. Malouda 2. A. Cole 3. Gyan

Serg left after round 10 of the draft. His team got better once he left.

Prediction - Relegation



Rory - "My dad wasn't really elected" - 1. Lampard 2. Chichirito 3. Gervinho

Rory had our first ever proxy drafting for him. He had a pretty detailed list, but I think his absence from the draft will hurt him early on.

Prediction - Overall his team is good, but not flashy - mid table



Junkie - " The fantasy team formerly Jobless for Life, formerly Down for Brown" 1. Drogba 2. Nasri 3. Evra

Good start to the draft for Junkie, then a quick decline - Alex, Chamakh, Riise, Gallas, David Dunn. He has a solid midfield, with the potential for more depending how Nasri settles in.

Prediction: Relegation battle



Jerry - 1. Suarez 2. Bale 3. Reina

Good draft for Jerry, but a lot will depend on who gets playing time. Jerry pick a lot of players who are not guaranteed starters - Lescott, Adam Johnson, Phil Jones, Tevez, K. Toure, Fabio, SWP

Prediction - Should challenge for a European spot, but not the title



Bryan - "Pippa Middleton XI" - 1. Van der Vaart, Kuyt, N'Zogbia

I don't see any of Pippa's first three picks performing as well as last season. Bryan does have a strong but not flashy squad, though, with stalwarts like Kenwyne Jones, Kevin Davies, Shay Given, Jamie Carragher and a couple nice later picks like Osman, Moses, and Enrique

Prediction - I see Bryan putting together a side that will see him achieve his best position ever. But that isn't really saying much.



Dustin - "I hate Eric Ellsworth for ruining our fantasy draft by running his restaurant into the ground and forcing us into Raubert's super sweaty living room Wanderers" (FC) - 1. Silva 2. Terry 3. Gerrard

Dustin is strong at all positions, with the exception of striker. Good value picks with Smalling and Brunt 8 and 9.

Prediction: Dustin is a proven EPL fantasy manager and should challenge for the title



Worth - "It takes a Man to Raise a Man" FC - 1. Carroll 2. A. Young 3. Modric

A very solid start for Worth, getting Dzeko in the 4th and Valencia in the 5th. He has a good squad. Some questions with Zabaleta, Richards, and Anelka and basically threw away his last 2 picks.

Prediction - Worth's best ever finish was 2nd two seasons ago. Can he best that? I don't think so, but he should finish near the top



Mort - 1. Aguero 2. Sniejder 3. Vermaelen

Some questionable picks by Mort as I mentioned earlier, but some nice ones too - Dawson, Adam, and Distin 6th-8th rounds. I see a very inconsistent season for the newcomer.

Prediction - It will be a rough first time out. Look for some good weeks and bad weeks. I see a low midtable finish - but not last place.



Raubert - "Cos's Cavernous Condoms" - 1. Nani 2. Hart 3. Ivanovic

Very strong D for Raubert. his mid is a bit lacking other than Nani. His strikers should be just good enough to allow him to challenge for a finish in the money.

Prediction - Near the top of the table



Tony - "Gia's Afterbirth Sack-lunch" - 1. Torres 2. Arshavin 3. Kompany

Prediction - I'm not as confident as last year. A repeat will be tough, but I should still finish in the top 3. I know fantasy soccer.



There you go kids. Feel to add to the fodder in the comments section below.

Everton in DC

As I said for the US/Jamaica game, there are some perks due to living in DC. Ok, this perk -Everton vs. DC United - might not be too big of a perk for some people, but it does the job for me. I was pretty psyched when I found Everton was coming to my city. Here is a quick little review of their time here.

Practice - Everton had an open practice Friday morning, and of course, I went. It was 100 degrees and sunny, a bit different than Liverpool. There were only about 100 fans and it was kinda weird. Probably the weather, but most people were pretty subdued. I give a nice "Alright Timmy" as Tim Cahill came out and he sent over a brief salute, maybe more of a wave, or at least some sort of acknowledgment.
The practice was nothing too crazy. Warm-ups, one offense drill with a couple variations and a small sided game. Beckford was probably most impressive, but a small sided scrimmage is where he would thrive. Distin and a few others had trouble with the heat. Props go to Leighton Baines. If you didn't know any better you'd think he was a young kid trying to make an impression on the coaches. He went through every drill at full speed while a lot of the more veteran players took water and stretch breaks and did other stuff. He did not slow down despite the heat.
Oh, and Arteta came out in a walking boot and crutches, not looking good.
The best part about the practice was that all the players and Moyes came over to the fans and signed autographs and took pictures. It was definitely a great way to show thanks for all fans that braved the heat. I know the last thing you want to do after a hot practice is go talk to people you don't know. Much appreciated. Now I'm too mature for that fanboy autograph shit, but I did get some nice pictures. Check them out below with a few player observations.

Game - The game was fun. The upper bowl at RFK was not open. I'd say about 12,000 fans, but that might be generous. Both teams mixed their squads with reserves and starters. Everton scoring twice in the first 15 minutes really made things easy for Everton, but also lacking drama. Everton weren't great, but totally moved the ball better than DC. They had a lot of chances, but DC had some good outside shots too, but it's really hard to glean the big picture from this game. Instead, let's look at a few individual players performances.

Ross Barkley - I didn't know who this guy was at the practice. He is big, like Rodwell, not as strong yet, but tall, more like a defender than midfielder. He got the start on Saturday and looked good - not great, but good. Like most young guys, he worked hard and was trying to do all he could. Best part, only 17 years old. We got to keep this young Liverpool born talent.

Apostolos Vellios - This 19 year old Greek striker might be my new favorite player, mostly because the great picture above, but also due to his strong potential. He was the first player I got a picture with and seemed a nice humble guy, happy to be there. He too got the start Saturday and looked good. He seems to be the strong target man the Everton are lacking. He showed for the ball a lot, showed good control and touches and game IQ. I'd love to see him up top with Saha or Beckford. But will Moyes do that?

Victor Anichebe - Man, this guy is a BEAST in person. Ridiculously strong, maybe too strong for soccer. He scored a nice goal, but still has a few injuries. Pre-season will be big for him. Oh, and he much better at looking at the camera than me.

Conor McAleny - This was another guy I did not know before the weekend. He was probably the most eye-catching at the practice. He worked his ass off and was very crisp. Some are comparing him to Michael Owen. We'll see. Again, though very young and full of promise.

Tim Cahill - Timmy likes the heat. Oh yeah, Timmy's ready! Timmy's got some new moves. He's an Aussie. Tim played much deeper than he usually does, but he said the summer is all about fitness.

Magaye Gueye - Magaye was my new favorite player coming into the weekend, but that spot might be usurped by Vellios due to the pic. Magaye will soon be a stud, though. He has pace and skill. He can play as a second striker, on the left wing or the right wing, all spots we will need people this year. The heat looked a bit much for him, but he did get his 3rd goal in 3 games this summer, which is a huge positive. On the goal in the game, what was most impressive was his great pass to set up Beckford. Excited for more!

Sylvain Distin - A mountain of a man. He was not a fan of the heat, but a beast on the field against DC. Distin!

Jermaine Beckford - Strong in practice, but only got about 20 minutes in the game. I am not sold on this guy. At least twice he took a shot from outside the box when he had open players on his flanks. A nice setup for Magaye, though He is going to have to show better decision making if he is going to become a starter under Moyes.


There you go, just the mostly meaningless preseason, I hope Everton had as good a time in DC as I did. Let's hope it actually contributes to a strong start this season! C'mon you Boys!