MLS Fantasy Manager: Week 2

I knew this week would be tough after seeing how my lineup faired during week 1. I hoped that switching my team's captaincy from Landon Donovan to Chris Wondolowski would be a smart move, and I hoped that transferring Michael Boxall for Tyler Polak would bring in an extra point.

Starting 11:
I started Josh Saunders in goal over Bill Hamid because I felt that LA would win versus DC, and did not want to risk losing points by starting Hamid. Hunter Jumper, Chris Wingert, A.J. DeLaGarza, and Tyler Polak started on defense, with Luis Silva, Lamar Neagle Graham Zusi, and Landon Donovan starting in the midfield. Chris Pontius and Chris Wondolowski started up top.

MLS Fantasy Manager: Week 1

Running a blog and going to school full time don't always work out perfectly, as evident by the recent decline in articles. I have finals this week and then a week of relaxation and hopefully catching up on soccer! Although I was unable to write about MLS First Kick or any of my prematch predictions, I was able to find the time to pick an MLS Fantasy Team, and I will be doing a weekly recap of that team if time permits.

Week 1 Roster:

I wanted to draft some of my favorite players, while still diversifying my roster and remaining under the salary cap limit. I picked up Chris Pontius, Chris Wondolowski, and Sam Garza to fill the 3 forward spots. I felt Wondolowski and Pontius will put up consistent numbers, and wanted Garza because of his low Salary and Big West affiliation.

San Jose Continue Undefeated Record at Cal Poly

(credit Gopoly.com)

Although originally forecasted to be a sunny seventy degree day, the Central Coast Showcase ended up having a more, "European" feel, due to a light mist and fog that were present for the entirety of the game. The match was played on Friday, February 10th, at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. The San Jose Earthquakes took on the Colorado Rapids for the second consecutive year at Cal Poly, with 2,422 fans in attendance.

Colorado opened the scoreline in the 13th minute after Omar Cummings was played a high long ball to a streaking Castrillón. Castrillón controlled the ball out of the air, positioned himself with two touches, and easily slotted home a goal in a 1-on-1 situation with the keeper. San Jose maintained a majority of control during the first half, and capitalized off of a corner kick from Marvin Chavez. Khari Stephenson got his head onto the end of it and redirected the cross into the goal. The first half ended with both teams level at 1.

Edson Buddle Rejoins Galaxy

Last night this post was titled Rumor: Edson Buddle to rejoin the Galaxy, but in less than 12 hours it is no longer a rumor. MLS and LA have come out this morning and announced that he has returned home. Buddle was the Galaxy's leading scorer in 2010, but went to Germany after he was offered triple his salary. He did well in the Bundesliga's second devision, and was the leading scorer on his team FC Ingolstadt, scoring 6 goals. However, his club faced some financial issues and was not inclined to resign Buddle. 


Many assumed that Buddle would be picked up by another European club, but the transfer window closed yesterday, and Buddle was left without a contract. There quickly became two options for Buddle, the Italian side Lazio, and the LA Galaxy. LA still had Buddle's rights for the MLS, so if he did decide to return, LA would be the destination without question. Whether or not Lazio was a realistic option quickly became irrelevant, when LA rolled out this statement on twitter:

Dust off your #14 Buddle jerseys #LAGalaxy fans! pic.twitter.com/lPZRdKIL

With Buddle back, the absence of Juninho for the coming season is almost completely forgotten. Donovan can play a similar role to Juninho, and he has proven, in his short time at Everton, that he is deadly when he has forwards who can finish. Keane and Buddle will be up to this task. Beckham is also back, so his vision and precision won't need replacement, and the only question left is if the defense will be able to maintain their success with Omar Gonzales out with an injury. If the answer to that question is yes, Galaxy are definitely favorites to win MLS Cup, and I think they have a great shot at winning CONCACAF Champions League.