Want to dominate your fantasy league? The Scout is back with all the inside info to make your team numero uno, top dog, the big cheese, Mr Big, the head honcho…
With the Hyundai A-League season set to kick off it-s time to ask yourself the all-important question: that-s right… How do I stack my Fantasy A-League team to beat my football-mad mates into submission, make them drown their sorrows with beer and gloat about just how good I am at season-s end?
Well, my friends, that-s why your good friend The Scout is back and promising to deliver you all the inside information on how to improve your management skills. While I can-t guarantee you-ll be as successful as Sir Alex Ferguson, we can at least aim to achieve an Ian Ferguson-like level of success.
So, let-s get down to it, what-s important when it comes to selecting your team?
For starters red cards are known as a universal no-no and will cost you six points if your player picks one up, so that likely means players who the red mist and then the red card descends upon aren-t a good choice, as such I recommend giving the flick to the following A-Leaguers: Fabian Barbiero, John Hutchinson, Tiago Calvano, Steve Pantelidis and Manny Muscat, all of whom don-t mind a tasty tackle.
Still on the negatives, think about which teams you think might be on the receiving end of some heavy losses throughout the year.
While everyone except Queenslanders will want to see the Wanderers do well, chances are they might take a while to find their feet, and losses means their players won-t collect the four points you get for being part of a winning side – so you can scratch some of their stars out and quite possibly all of their defence who lose two two points for every goal conceded.
Also Melbourne Heart have looked very scratchy in the pre-season and it might take them a while to warm-up.
While that means some defenders fall by the wayside, let-s not forget a defender with a penchant for scoring goals is a huge weapon. They snare 12 points for every goal scored, which, going on previous efforts, makes Patrick Zwaanswijk a must for your team.
It also means players like Aziz Behich and Adama Traore might be worth a punt given their proclivity for attacking down the wings and feeding the ball in.
Which brings me to another consideration and that is free-kick and corner takers. More often than not, these players provide an assist or two throughout the season and players to watch are Michael McGlinchey, Thomas Broich, Leo Bertos, Brett Emerton, Paul Ifill and Dario Vidosic.
Ultimately, though, you also want players who are getting plenty of wins on the board and an automatic four points, which means look at teams like Brisbane Roar, Central Coast Mariners, Perth Glory and Wellington Phoenix, especially when the latter two are playing at home.
Finally, when picking your team consider who is value and which young guns and rookies are likely to be in winning teams and get plenty of game time, so you can make some money and sell them at a later date.
Some of these players you might want to consider are Mitchell Duke (CCM), Jeronimo Neumann (AU), Theo Markelis (MV), Cameron Watson (AU), Ben Kantarovski (NUJ), Aaron Mooy (WSW), Ben Halloran (BR), Zac Anderson (CCM) and Dominik Ritter (NUJ).
As for who The Scout is picking… well that-s all set to be revealed after round one. I-m not giving away my playing list for free. Fantasy leagues are just as competitive as the real league and arguably more important, so make sure you get your team in and take your mates and myself on in the race to be crowned the best fantasy footballer in the land and win some cool prizes courtesy of Sony.
Got tickets to see your team in action this weekend? Click here for tickets to all the matches.
The official Hyundai A-League 2012/13 fantasy football game and tipping competitions are also open – so sign up now.
