Fantasy Focus: Return to Senderos

Round one is in the books, and while parts of the revamped MLS Fantasy website still don’t work, we’re taking a look back at what transpired. Crestwood Villa is the leader after this round after scoring 91 points. Usually I’d link to the team for your clicking pleasure, but that appears not to be a thing anymore, so you can check out the whole team here:

Romain Alessandrini (LA, $11.0) led the team with an armband-aided 18 points on the strength of a goal. Milton Valenzuela (CLB, $5.0) was the surprise, with 13 points on a clean sheet and an assist.

Positional Leaders

Goalkeepers

Zack Steffen (CLB, $5.5) and Joe Bendik (ORL, $5.0) were the co-leaders at goalkeeper with 9 points. Steffen earned a clean sheet, and Bendik saved a penalty. Trailing them were the pair of Sean Johnson (NY, $5.5) and Andre Blake (PHI, $6.0), who each tallied clean sheets on the way to 8 points. D.C.’s David Ousted ($5.0) debuted with 2 points.

Defenders

Houston’s Philippe Senderos ($5.0) led all defenders and all players with 19 points on a goal, an assist, and a clean sheet. Ben Sweat (NY, $4.5) scored 14 points on an assist and a clean sheet, while the aforementioned Valenzuela’s 13 points were good for third. For DCU, Frederic Brillant ($5.0) led with 5 points, followed by Oneil Fisher ($4.5) with 4 points, Nick DeLeon ($5.0) with 3, and Steve Birnbaum ($5.0) with 2.

Midfielders

Vako (SJ, $9.0) posted a goal and two assists for 17 points, leading the midfielders. Behind him was the trio of Andrew Wenger (HOU, $6.5), Kevin Molino (MIN, $9.0), and Alejandro Bedoya (PHI, $8.0), each of whom scored 14 points. Wenger had a goal and an assist, Molino had two goals, and Bedoya had an assist. United’s midfield was led by Yamil Asad ($8.0) with 9 points, followed by Ulises Segura ($7.5) with 5, Junior Moreno ($7.0) with 4, the duo of Paul Arriola ($8.0) and Zoltan Stieber ($8.5) with 3 each, and both Ian Harkes ($5.5) and Chris Durkin ($4.5) with 1.

Forwards

Philadelphia’s CJ Sapong ($9.5) split the lead with Houston’s Alberth Elis ($9.0), with Sapong contributing a goal and an assist, and Elis notching two assists. Elis’s teammate, Mauro Manotas ($8.0) rounded out the top three with 11 points on the strength of a goal. For United, Darren Mattocks ($7.5) scored 2 points, and Patrick Mullins ($7.5) scored 1.

Looking Ahead

I like Chris Seitz (HOU, $5.5) in goal at home against Vancouver, and Lalas Abubakar (CLB, $5.0) in defense at home against Montreal. Justin Meram (ORL, $9.6) is your midfield man at home against Minnesota, and as much as I hate to say it, Josef Martinez (ATL, $10.7) is worth a spot at home against D.C. United.