Serie A Fantasy Sports: Update

By: roberto | October 14th, 2009

Alright my Serie A fantasy calcio heads, it’s time to recap the first seven weeks of our fantasy sports experience in the inaugural Juventus Offside Fantasy group et all. Considering the slight pause in league action for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, now seems like a better time then any to go over a few strategies, injuries, player valuations, and other related topics concerning the sixty of us participating in this site’s group and or the billions who enjoy spending their free time similarly worldwide. Plus, your Top 30 after the jump.
topthirty Strategies:

Well here’s the deal… At the moment I’m definitely not the one best suited for giving advice in this field seeing as I’m far below the pack scraping the bottom of the board. In fact I could use some ideas. However my girlfriend, who is in fact close to the top, wasn’t available for comment so unfortunately you’re stuck with me for now, like it or not. If I were you I’d check the comments below for some more suggestions.

Technically speaking, Yahoo!’s system of awarding points per stat i.e. goal scored, shot on target, foul committed etc., seem to emphasize greater value on the attacking end of things as opposed to the defensive side. As a result, I think you’re far better off choosing an attacking-minded formation filled especially with attacking-minded midfielders.

In terms of weekly fixtures, I tend to stick with my stallions as often as possible no matter their opponent– I’m a firm believer in cream always rising to the top. However, you would definitely be doing yourself a disservice by not keeping an eye out for desirable mis-matches when it comes to selecting the rest of your line-up.

In the end though, no matter how much attention you pay to certain indexes, i.e. price per point, a significant portion of one’s success in any fantasy sports league is luck. Cue my excuse. In any case whether your decision making analysis is a bit more qualitative, quantitative, or astrological, don’t shoot yourself in the foot. Check Gazzetta’s Probabili Formazioni to be certain your player isn’t injured or suspended.

Yahoo! Sports Player Valuations:

Player values can increase and decrease based on performance but managers can only ever sell them at their purchase price. The good news is that when you find that diamond in the rough you can ride that increasing value all the way to the top at your reluctant colleague’s expense. The great news is that you never lose any dough if your boy shits the bed. Plus, if you’ve been salivating for a cheaper price before you pick him up, those negative moving days are exactly what you’re looking for.

My most obvious diamond in the rough is Wesley Sneijder whom I picked up at 6.70 two weeks or so ago. At close to 10.00 nowadays, he’s still a solid deal considering how much Inter depend on him for their offensive creativity. Another player to keep an eye out for is Fiorentina’s Juan Vargas (16.49). Although Prandelli officially uses him as a midfielder this year, Yahoo! still has him listed as a defender. So if your looking to add some punch to your line-up and his price tickles your fancy, keep that name in mind. By the way, don’t you guys feel a little like mercenaries sometimes?

Leading Total Point Performers with Market price: (as of 10/14/09)

Goalkeepers
Sebastien Frey (Fiorentina) 89.5 – $19.55
Luca Castellazzi (Sampdoria) 83.5 – 12.94
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) 70 – 15.03
Jean-Francois Gillet (Bari) 67 – 11.67
Antonio Mirante (Palermo) 54 – 12.58

Defenders
Juan Vargas (Fiorentina) 66 – $16.49
Lucio (Inter) 52.5 – 10.17
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus) 42.5 – 11.15
Maicon (Inter) 42 – 16.29
Nicolas Frey (Chievo) 41 – 9.75

Midfielders
Michele Marcolini (Chievo) 77 – $16.24
Marek Hamsik (Napoli) 70.5 – 15.17
Daniele Mannini (Sampdoria) 66 – 10.15
Antonio Candreva (Livorno) 48 – 7.66
Daniele Galloppa (Parma) 46.5 – 10.59

Forwards
Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 131.5 – $25.51
Francesco Totti (Roma) 112.5 – 29.59
Fabrizio Miccoli (Palermo) 89.5 – 27.47
Diego Milito (Inter) 82.5 – 25.19
Giuseppe Mascara (Catania) 76.5 – 16.26

Di Natale was instrumental in Italy’s 3-2 win against Cyprus today

I for one didn’t think Toto would’ve bounced-back from his knee injury earlier this year the way he has that’s for sure. Nine goals in seven games is quite simply retarded. The only question that remains, and will continue to remain I’m sure, is whether or not his hot streak will turn cold. No one here though would mind any price tag that much if one continues to produce +20 point performances a week, right? Perhaps then we should adopt a ‘path of least resistance’ attitude when it comes to selecting our teams from now on. Lord knows how many times Amauri has let some of us down.

Hopefully this piece will help someone out there and in turn, good karma will come my way. Also, for those of you who wish to join our fantasy sports group, but have missed by accident or ignored the deadline for entries I set mid August, there’s always next year. However all is not lost, you can still sign up a team and play with others on Yahoo!’s default group. It’s not nearly as fashionable, intimate, or reputable, nor do you have the chance at winning a free lifetime subscription to alessio’s bi-annual trance CD compilations, but I guarantee it’ll scratch the itch if you eat, sleep, and breathe calcio Italiano. Stay tuned for more Serie A fantasy sports updates every now and then, plus a Viola preview should be up sometime before Saturday’s match.

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!