Welcome to the weekly Economy Corner where I suggest the Best Bang for the Buck options at each position (Points Earned/Price $ Paid). Most of us probably won’t crack the top 100 in the Global Overall league. In fact, I’d be happy to just hit the top 1,000. However, we all have the capability to achieve #1 in our private leagues against our friends, coworkers, and fellow club supporters. I am here to help you achieve that.

Montreal and Toronto have Leg 2 of Canadian Championship; DAL, COL, HOU, SKC, NE, DC, ATL, PHI, CHI, SJ and LA have US Open Cup games; Confederations Cup continues; USA, Ghana, Paraguay & Mexico have friendlies July 1st; New York and Seattle do NOT play. Rosters are due Thursday.

Value Play Examples (Points/Cost $) from Week 17 (Week 17 prices)

Goalkeeper: Getting 9 pts from Kann ATL DGW for only $4.4 compared to paying $6.1 for Frei SEA DGW who scored 6 pts too.

Defender: Getting 13 pts from Gaddis PHI SGW for only $4.5 compared to paying $6.2 for Meira CHI SGW who scored 10 pts;

Midfielder: Getting 15 pts from Almiron ATL DGW for only $9.7 compared to paying $10 for Kaka ORL DGW who scored 7 pts.

Forward: Getting 27 pts from Accam CHI SGW for only $10 compared to paying $10.5 for Nikolic CHI SGW who scored 7 pts.

Side Bar – True story: two weeks ago I considered doing a comparison of Accam and Nikolic, because I was confused about why Nikolic was owned by so many more teams than Accam, but Chicago was on the road, so I figure I would wait for this last week when they’re at home. Then I got wrapped up with DGW picks that I forgot about the whole idea. With Accam called up for Ghana’s friendly, I’ll save my insight/tirade for next week.

Recap of Week 17 Suggestions



Big Win: Goalkeepers did Economy Corner proud. Both Lampson and Hamid scored 8 pts, with Atlanta as the only DGW team to earn a CS, 8 pts is enough for both goalkeepers to tie for 5th for position this week.

Swing and a Miss: Lima… I thought he was back to his early season form, except he went and earned himself a red card and total of -1 pts for the week. I am sorry for suggesting him.

The Push: The rest of last weeks suggestions are here. No one was overly disappointing, but none of them were fantastic. While Ramirez only scored 9 pts during a DGW, he could be considered a win as that was good enough to tie for 6th for the position for the week. Defenders Jones and Theisson scored 8 and 9 points, midfielders Roldan and Trap scored 5 and 4 points. Keep an eye on Dzemaili, he earned his third assist in the 4 games he has played.

Biggest Regret: Starting Meram for my team.

*Weekly disclaimer: I’m not saying these choices will perform better than high priced Blake, Besler, Alessandrini or Villa; these are simply value plays so that you can still squeeze Blake, Besler, Alessandrini and Villa all into you starting XI.

Week 18 Value Suggestions

Montreal and Toronto have Leg 2 of Canadian Championship; DAL, COL, HOU, SKC, NE, DC, ATL, PHI, CHI, SJ and LA have US Open Cup games; Confederations Cup continues; USA, Ghana, Paraguay & Mexico have friendlies July 1st; New York and Seattle do NOT play. Rosters are due Thursday.

Goalkeepers: Cropper is continues to be owned by more teams than Melia. Cropper begins the week at 22.6% and Melia is at 20.2%. With most goalkeepers converging on $6 it is getting harder to find cheap value plays, and it is hard to argue against Blake playing at home, but consider these two players still under $5. see Opara for reasons you shouldn’t pick Melia.

Steffen CLB $4.8 – I know Columbus is playing Atlanta, but they’re playing in Columbus. In the Crew’s last 4 home games Steffen scored 8, 10, 6 and 10 points allowing only 2 goals. Of their 9 home games this season, Steffen scored 6 or more points in 6 of them.

Lampson CHI $4.8 – Lampson is still only picked by 3% of teams. Is it because he has 60 points less than Melia? New Flash: in the 8 games Fire has played since he started in week 10, they have 5 CS. In fact he is already tied for 4th for the GK with the most clean sheets. Chicago is at home against Vancouver.

Defenders: Medranda is at 23% and Opara is at 19%, but I don’t know why Medranda is still owned by so many, he didnt start and only played 22 and 30 minutes the last two games.

Onyewu PHI $4.8 – While the cost for goalkeeper Blake has climbed up to $6, Fabinho is still the highest priced defender for Philadelphia at $5. Onyewu, Elliot and Gaddis are all $4.8 or less. They’re at home again playing against New England, the Revs have been held scoreless in 4 of their 9 away games.

Callens NYC $5 – New York City plays Minnesota this week at home. NYC only has 4 CS this season, the good news is that the Loons have been held scoreless in 4 of their last 6 away games. Not only is Callens cheap, he is the 13th highest scoring defender this season.

Opara SKC $6.4 – FYI Opara’s fellow defenders Zusi & Besler are with Team USA this week, and Medranda hasn’t started the last two games. So I suggest caution if you’re considering SKC’s defense, I mean Opara. The good news is that Portland has lost their previous 5 road games.

Midfield: Valeri leads the week at 36.3%; Almiron and Alessandrini above 20%, Gressel at 19%, Godoy is at 17%. I’m doing a four player special at midfield this week because I’m shorting you a forward for the week.

Dzemaili MTL $8.8 – Did you actually read last weeks article? Only 1% of teams have him selected. He now has 2 goals and 3 assists in four games for 35 points. Montreal has DC United at home. It won’t be long before Dzemaili hits $10.

Techera CHI $5.6 – Techera has been good for the Whitecaps recently getting 41 points in Vancouver’s last five games. That includes 10 points earned in week 12 against Kansas City. They are against Chicago this week.

Higuain CLB $10.6 – Higuain is here because he has hit 10+ points in three of Columbus’s last four games, with a total of 5 goals. He’s hot!

Harrison NYC $7.9 – Harrison has been hot last few weeks as well tallying 3 goals in the last 5 games. Updated Harrison’s price

Forwards: This week Villa is at 32%. Adi is at 28%, Giovinco is at 17%.

Plata RSL $9.1 – Real is home against Orlando and Orlando hasn’t won a game since May 31st. Plata has 35 points in the last 5 games.

Those are my XI value plays for you to consider for Week 18.

Constructive feedback is appreciated.