OK, so for the second week in a row, Dave has Jon Busch sitting on his bench! The probabilities say that he will not have a shutout against a D.C. United team that is playing at home. But, as he has all season long, Busch played out of his mind, putting up his league-leading fourth shutout.
The question now is: How long does this continue? Busch is known to be a good 'keeper, but this good? Chicago has played strong team defense in front of him, with the biggest improvement coming in moving Bakary Soumare from the midfield to become an anchor at central defense.
So, guess who we'll be playing in goal for Dave's team this week? Busch, of course! At this point, don't bet against him.
This week's focus: Top new international players in MLS:
Franco Caraccio (HOU, $283,000). The 21-year-old Argentinean striker has had a good start for the Dynamo, as evidenced by his two goals and one assist for a Dynamo team that is having a hard time finding the back of the net this season.
Marcelo Gallardo (DC, $440,000). The jury is still out on United's first designated player. With two goals to start the season, the 32-year-old Argentinean is on track to mirror Christian Gomez's output of last season. Now if only his teammates could finish his precision passes that he has given them, his assist output would look the same, too.
Duilio Davino (FCD, $412,000). After having captained Club America last season when Cuauhtemoc Blanco left for MLS, Davino has brought that same leadership to FCD, leading them into a first-place tie in the West. He started slowly, but has steadily improved from week to week.
Amado Guevara (TOR, $355,000). Coming back to MLS after a one-year absence, the Honduran captain has helped to bring his club out of the cellar to be a very competitive team.
Laurent Robert (TOR, $390,000). Robert, who last played for (now relegated) EPL side Derby County and has played nine games for the French national team, is a dead ball specialist who has provided one goal and two assists so far this season.
Tip of the week: Start setting yourself up to have more D.C. and Toronto players on next week's team. They play a home-and-home series against each other next week.
This week's Top XI for points:
Goalkeeper: Matt Reis (NE). Voted the top practical joker in MLS, Reis's play has been anything but a joke. The 2007 All-Star Game starter against Celtic has two shutouts this season. Against a San Jose team that has scored only two goals away from home, Reis should get his third in this game.
Defender: Jay Heaps (NE). In addition to the chance for a shutout with Reis behind him, the former Duke point guard has mad hops, with most of his 16 career goals coming off set pieces.
Defender: Gonzalo Segares (CHI). The 25-year-old Costa Rican international will be playing at home in Toyota Park this week against a Houston team that has had difficulty scoring away from home.
Defender: Claudio Suarez (CHV). Coming back from a one-game suspension for a red card, the 39-year-old Suarez should have motivation to play well at home against a struggling D.C. United side.
Midfielder: Christian Gomez (COL). The 33-year-old has proven to be a catalyst for the Rapids offense, with four assists in his last three games. With a home game against RSL, watch these totals grow.
Midfielder: Amado Guevara (TOR). In four games, the Honduras national team captain has two goals and one assist. Since his arrival, Toronto's fortunes have changed, going 3-0-1 in those games.
Midfielder: Sacha Kljestan (CHV). The Seton Hall alumnus is off to a great start this season, with three goals and two assists so far. The California native will be playing in his home state this week against a D.C. United team that has been allowing an alarming number of goals.
Midfielder: Arturo Alvarez (DAL). Teaming up top with Kenny Cooper has led to two goals and two assists so far on the season for the 13th overall pick in the 2003 MLS SuperDraft. This week he has a chance to expand on those numbers as he goes against an LA Galaxy team that is the worst defensively in the league.
Forward: Juan Pablo Angel (NY). The 33-year-old Colombian showed that he has recovered from his earlier injury in the season with the game-winning goal against LA this past weekend. He should get more opportunities this week playing at home against an inconsistent K.C. side.
Forward: Landon Donovan (LA). Although he was shut down this past week by New York, we're still going to stay with Donovan. Against a Dallas team that has played well, we still believe Landon can pull out a goal here.
Forward: Kenny Cooper (DAL). The former Manchester United striker plays against LA at home, which should lead to Cooper increasing his five-goal output to start the season.
Our official teams for Week 8:
Dave:
GK Jon Busch; DF Marco Velez; DF Frankie Hejduk; DF Marc Burch; MF Sacha Kljestan; MF Amado Guevara; MF Christian Gomez; MF David Beckham; MF Robbie Rogers; FW Landon Donovan; FW Kenny Cooper. Coach Steve Nicol. Bench: Greg Sutton, Marcelo Gallardo, Luciano Emilio.
Traded: GK Dario Sala for GK Greg Sutton, DF Stephen Keel for DF Marco Velez, Coach Tom Soehn for Coach Steve Nicol Moved: Greg Sutton and Luciano Emilio to bench, Amado Guevara to MF, Jon Busch to Goalkeeper
Jimmy:
GK Jon Busch; DF Marc Burch; DF Chance Myers; DF Marco Velez; MF Cuauhtemoc Blanco; MF David Beckham; MF Sacha Kljestan; MF Christian Gomez ; FW Kenny Cooper; FW Maykel Galindo; FW Landon Donovan. Coach: Ruud Gullit. Bench: MF Robbie Rogers, MF Amado Guevara, FW Luciano Emilio.
Traded : MF Dave van den Bergh for MF Robbie Rogers; DF Jim Curtin for DF Marco Velez; DF Ezra Hendrickson for FW Kenny Cooper. Moved: DF Chance Myers, DF Marco Velez and FW Kenny Cooper to starting lineup. Moved FW Luciano Emilio to bench.
Next week's focus: We take a look at the top top forwards in MLS FC.
Questions? Comments? Contact us at mlsfantasygurus@comcast.net.
