Form is everything in MLS Fantasy. To be successful you need to identify the hot hand early and act on it. Of course, you also need to know when to cut the cord.
Landon Donovan has been a rockstar as of late, earning Etihad Airways Player of the Month award for August and MLS' Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters for Week 26 – the third Player of the Week honor for Donovan this season and his second in as many weeks. More importantly for the purposes of this column, his latest 22-point performance in MLS Fantasy made him the top scorer for the third consecutive round.
- TRANSFER DEADLINE: Wednesday 7:30pm ET | SET YOUR TEAM NOW!
LD dwarfs the rest of MLS when it comes to form at right now and there's no reason to think he'll slow up anytime soon – although he is on yellow-card accumulation warning.
With that said, Donovan's still just one player. If you want to be among the elite managers in this game, you'll want to own as many "in-form" players as possible. It's the only way to maintain a top spot in the overall rankings.
Donovan was leading the league in form on September 5 at 8.7 points. Sebastien Le Toux was second (8.0) and Lee Nguyen third (7.0). Four days later, those numbers have changed considerably.
*Form = Average score (total score divided by games) over the last 30 days
Player |
Goals |
Assists |
Total Score |
Form (last 30 days) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
<img alt="LA Galaxy" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_9.png" title="LA Galaxy"> |
Landon Donovan |
9 |
14 |
189 |
<strong>13.2</strong> |
<img alt="Portland Timbers" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_13.png" title="Portland Timbers"> |
Diego Valeri |
7 |
12 |
176 |
<strong>9.0</strong> |
<img alt="Columbus Crew" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_4.png" title="Columbus Crew"> |
Justin Meram |
7 |
4 |
90 |
<strong>8.8</strong> |
<img alt="New England Revolution" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_10.png" title="New England Revolution"> |
Lee Nguyen |
12 |
4 |
145 |
<strong>8.4</strong> |
<img alt="New York Red Bulls" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_11.png" title="New York Red Bulls"> |
Thierry Henry |
8 |
11 |
154 |
<strong>8.2</strong> |
<img alt="Philadelphia Union" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_12.png" title="Philadelphia Union"> |
Sebastien Le Toux |
11 |
6 |
134 |
<strong>7.8</strong> |
<img alt="LA Galaxy" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_9.png" title="LA Galaxy"> |
Gyasi Zardes |
14 |
1 |
133 |
<strong>7.5</strong> |
<img alt="LA Galaxy" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_9.png" title="LA Galaxy"> |
Omar Gonzalez |
3 |
2 |
99 |
<strong>7.5</strong> |
<img alt="D.C. United" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_5.png" title="D.C. United"> |
Bill Hamid |
0 |
1 |
130 |
<strong>7.4</strong> |
<img alt="San Jose Earthquakes" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_15.png" title="San Jose Earthquakes"> |
Chris Wondolowski |
12 |
5 |
120 |
<strong>7.4</strong> |
<img alt="D.C. United" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_5.png" title="D.C. United"> |
Luis Silva |
8 |
4 |
98 |
<strong>7.0</strong> |
<img alt="FC Dallas" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_6.png" title="FC Dallas"> |
Fabian Castillo |
9 |
4 |
110 |
<strong>7.0</strong> |
<img alt="FC Dallas" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_6.png" title="FC Dallas"> |
Tesho Akindele |
7 |
2 |
85 |
<strong>7.0</strong> |
<img alt="Philadelphia Union" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_12.png" title="Philadelphia Union"> |
Sheanon Williams |
3 |
3 |
86 |
<strong>7.0</strong> |
<img alt="Portland Timbers" class="ismShirtData" src="http://cdn.ismfg.net/static/mlsf/img/shirts/data_view/shirt_13.png" title="Portland Timbers"> |
Liam Ridgewell |
2 |
0 |
46 |
<strong>7.0</strong> |
Diego Valeri had 12 key passes vs. San Jose, a MLS single-game record since Opta started tracking the stat in 2010. He had eight attacking bonus points and 20 total points in Round 26 – two shy of Donovan. He's the lifeblood of the Timbers and quite possibly the single-most important player to any team in the league right now.
Justin Meram added two more goals against Chivas to help Columbus remain one the top five teams in the East. He now has five goals and two assists in his last five games.
Lee Nguyen added another assist to his tally vs. Chicago and two goals in the game before that against once-dominant Sporting KC. He now has four goals and two assists in his last four games.
These players are must-haves right now, and you should do everything in your power to own as many as possible...within reason of course. More importantly, you should devote yourself to finding the next crop of on-form players before the rest of us jump onboard.
I have five of the top seven players in my starting XI this week. How many do you own? Let us know in the comments below.
