Want to know something? Melbourne Victory are back and their players are worth backing to the hilt in the last month of fantasy football.
What-s that you say mixed bag? I-ll take it. I may have blundered in saying Adelaide United would get the three points last week, but I did say Ante Covic was on for a penalty save.
And cometh the hour, cometh the man. Covic smothered Mat Ryan-s feeble penalty, to make it his fourth straight spot-kick save of the season. Not bad for a man who was shown the door by Melbourne Victory before linking with the Wanderers, and I reckon internally at least Covic is smiling at sitting higher than the Victory, even though he likely won-t say it.
While I-m on the subject, how about those Wanderers? Winners every one of them, they just keep on keeping on and have been staunch in the face of incredible pressure throughout the season. Their structure and the way they keep their shape is truly wonderful to behold.
Anyway, I digress. This column isn-t about handing out plaudits, it-s about giving you the good oil, and given how late it is in the season, it might be tough to make changes, I know I-m right at my limit with transfers and won-t be using them up unless I have to until the last couple of rounds.
So the message is make them savvy. With a month to go I really believe the best bet is to trade in players from Melbourne Victory.
The biggest team in the league signalled their intent last week by romping to an easy win over an insipid Newcastle Jets. The win of course coincided with the return of Archie Thompson to the fold and with his inclusion the Victory looked all the better and with Marcos Flores likely to return next week, they will only get better.
When you add to that, that they will face Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Wellington on their way to the finals, with all bar one of those teams outside the six it could lead to more than a few goals and a lot of victories for the navy blue juggernaut.
Realistically the Premier-s Plate is out of their grasp as it would take monumental form reversals from the Mariners and Wanderers to fall that far, but Victory still want something from this season and will look to head into the finals in the hottest of form.
Buy: Archie Thompson At 245k the Qantas Socceroo is still relatively cheap for a striker and his combinations with Rojas and the Victory-s run home mean he will likely score some big points as we get closer to the end of the season. He-s quality and the only thing that has really stopped him from scoring more in fantasy this season has been injury.
Sell: Dario Vidosic There really isn-t a lot to like about the Reds right now. The players don-t seem to be responding to Michael Valkanis as a coach and they are sliding into the abyss. Despite my claims last week it appears Vidosic isn-t ready to do much of anything right now. Sack him, make some coin and move on.
Team of the Week: The highest-scoring, cheapest team in a valid formation. It may not actually be possible to select this team.
Formation: 4-4-2 | Total points: 288
Ante Covic (WSW 20), Scott Jamieson (PG 16), Adrian Leijer (MV 26), Connor Pain (MV 22), Mark Milligan (C) (MV 80), Marco Rojas (MV 40), Jeremy Brockie (WP 22), Leigh Broxham (MV 14), Ben Halloran (BR 16), Shane Smeltz (PG 18), Chris Harold (PG 14)
The Sikverbacks managed by Ben dominated the round with 242 points, they did it thanks to a strong combination of Roar and Victory players in his squad. Although with the team-s playing each other this week, it might be tough to back it up. Ben gets a $100 VISA Moneycard for his efforts.
