While many Fantasy managers have stuck to the McDonald’s Uefa game for this summer’s Euro 2012 tournament, the Fantasy League Pro game has also proved a temptation for those looking to break from the familiar template. We’ve set up three official Fantasy Football Scout leagues for the auction-based game and plan to roll out regular updates on each division’s progress. Last night saw auctions in all three divisions, here’s how the bidding panned out and where the big money went…
Fantasy Football Scout Division One
Mark’s undying faith in Robin Van Persie continued with a £20m bid enough to seal his services, despite two counter bids from rival suitors. Andres Iniesta was his other star purchase, and with Maarten Stekelenburg in goal, Mark’s squad has a decent spine from the round one bids. Six players were captured – a humble performance, as Boomslang and TheRedDevil MUFC both grabbed 14 of their 15 players in round one in this Division, with Gummo88 capturing 12.
TheRedDevil MUFC’s lineup looks particularly strong, with Mesut Ozil and Wesley Sneijder captured for £20m and £15m respectively. With Robert Lewandowski, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thomas Muller and Ashley Young up front, this squad already looks to be packed with attacking muscle. If Michal Kadlec contributes a spot-kick or two from the back, then Zunker could well be the one to beat in FFS Division one.
Boomslang will have other ideas – his double-pronged German strike force of Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose (snapped up for a combined fee of £34m) could hold the key to his success. Elsewhere, he tempted Andrea Pirlo and Franck Ribery into midfield, whilst his defence look set to rely heavily on the raids of Gregory van der Wiel from the Dutch right, with Spain’s Iker Casillas and France’s Hugo Lloris combining to provide clean sheets from between the sticks.
Gummo88 comes away with a decent spread of players but will be concerned over his front line. After failing with big money bids for both Van Persie and Gomez, he’s currently left with just the dubious talents of Roman Pavlyuchenko to fetch the goals. Roman Shirokov, Kim Kallstrom and Ibrahim Afellay provide some attacking potential from the middle of the park as he goes on the hunt for a striker in round two.
Elsewhere in Division One, Eoindamann is left to find six more players, having snatched Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema up front for a combined £28.5m. Four of his five bids failed in midfield, as the likes of Jakub Blaszczykowski, Iniesta, Sneijder and Ozil all went elsewhere for big money.
Gigging Order, like Mark’s squad, claimed a modest six signings. The capture of Jan Klaas Huntelaar up front will give him some crumb of comfort, whilst Gianluigi Buffon in goal and John Terry at the back provide some stability alongside budget signings Gebre Selassie and Maniatis. He has a whopping £86.5 million to shop with in round two.
He’ll rival Bozovac for the big names then – he has £75m left to spend after claiming just five players in the round one auction. Premier League stars David Silva and Tomas Rosicky take their place in a squad that also boasts Mathieu Debuchy, Jordi Alba and Yuri Zhirkov in a solid back four. More attacking talent is required if Bozovac is going to threaten in this Division.
Fantasy Football Scout Division Two
Sir Paulos grabbed his first-choice backline of Philipp Lahm, Ashley Cole, Sergio Ramos and Yuri Zhirkov for a combined total of just £2m, though failed with all his big-money bids on forwards. At present, he has just one midfielder (Wesley Sneijder at £12m) and one forward – David Silva for free – and goes into tonight’s second round of bidding with £86m still to spend on as many as nine players to complete his squad.
Ginkapo was successful with bids for four of his five preferred forwards. Robin Van Persie was picked up for £21m, while Karim Benzema joined the Dutchman for just a million less. Antonio Cassano and Aleksandr Kerzhakov were both captured for £7.5m apiece, leaving Cristiano Ronaldo as his only failure in what looks a strong frontline ahead of tonight’s second round of bidding.
Mch’s three big-money buys all came in at £12.5m. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Andres Iniesta arrived in midfield, while Ronaldo proved to be his only successful bid for a forward. At the back, Joe Hart was picked up for just £4.0m, though Gerard Pique cost double that price, with Jerome Boateng and Philippe Mexes also boosting a strong defensive line-up.
SuperDunny grabbed the number ones for both Spain and Germany, with Iker Casillas and Manuel Neuer costing £5m each. Giorgio Chiellini was snapped up for free at the back, as was Ibrahim Afellay and Seb Larsson in midfield – a canny piece of business. Andrea Pirlo cost just £1m, though Franck Ribery took up £19.5m of his budget – with Ashley Young his only forward, he’ll be on the hunt for attacking options ahead of tonight’s deadline.
Gurka was the most successful League Two manager in the first round draft, picking up 13 of his chosen 15 players. He splashed out £14m on a pair of keepers (Gianluigi Buffon and Hugo Lloris), while the defensive trio of Damien Perquis, Johnny Heitinga and Adil Rami set him back a combined £24.5m. With Mesut Ozil (£20m) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£12m) also on board, his money-no-object approach leaves Gurka with just £4.5m left of his budget to snap up a couple of players. He’s also picked up Wayne Rooney for £2.0m; a tactic that may well pay off if Roy Hodgson’s side can get out the group stages and hand the United man more than the final group game against Ukraine to play for.
TommyJ is on the lookout for another nine players after six successful bids in the first round. Patrice Evra and Sergei Ignashevich both arrived free of charge at the back, while midfield trio Cesc Fabregas, Kim Kallstrom and Roman Shirokov were snapped up for a combined £25m. Up front, Robert Lewandowski is the only name in the squad thus far, having been picked up for £10m.
Shindona has Wojciech Szczesny amongst his backline, with the Poland keeper costing £5.0m. Samir Nasri and Rafael Van der Vaart are the main men in midfield here, coming in at £8m and £10m respectively, while Nikica Jelavic leads the line, having been acquired for a price of £8m. Unsuccessful attempts for Ronaldo and Van Persie means Shindona is another of the League Two managers with just a single forward so far, suggesting a real bidding war is on the cards for this evening’s 9pm deadline.
Fantasy Football Scout Division Three
After losing out on Robin Van Persie for a staggering £32m, Andy’s main purchase up front was Lukas Podolski for £15.0m – Robert Lewandowski also joined up for £12m, though the Polish centre-forward could have been snapped up for free. At the back, Igor Akinfeev is between the posts, though a bid for Daniel Agger was lost on a tie-break to Reshardo. Spain’s Santi Cazorla and Italy’s Riccardo Montolivo were also picked up for free.
The Giggs Boson paid huge money for Germany pair Thomas Muller and Mesut Ozil, forking out a combined total of £41m. While their acquisition will boost his attacking options, the duo could have been bought for a bare minimum – the next highest bid for Muller was 1.5, while Ozil, incredibly, could’ve been acquired for free. Gael Clichy comes in at the back on a free, while Seb Larsson, Andrei Arshavin and Fernando Torres were all picked up without having to spend a penny.
Reshardo will be the most content of the Division Three managers after claiming 14 of his 15 first round picks. At the back, Philipp Lahm and Gerard Pique were purchased for £10m apiece, though with no other bids tabled for the pair, could have bagged them both for free. Wesley Sneijder came in at £13m, won on a tie-break over Ralphyne. Polish midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski was the only player he failed to grab, losing out to Andy.
Pulma proved to be the Roman Abramovich of the League Three bunch, slapping in massive bids of £32m and £21.5 for Robin Van Persie and Karim Benzema respectively. Unsurprisingly, both were successful; Andy tabled the next highest bid for Van Persie (£26m), while the second best offer for Benzema was just £12m. Elsewhere, he picked up Spain pair Xavi and David Silva for £4.5m each, while Samir Nasri and Andrea Pirlo joined up in midfield for just £3.5m apiece.
Michelin is another who can be pleased with his first round dealings. Only two of his first 15 failed to come in, with bids for Steven Gerrard and Wesley Sneijder proving unsuccessful. His five big players, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Jan Klaas Huntelaar, Miroslav Klose, Gianluigi Buffon and Fernando Llorente all arrived for between £8.5m and £10m, though all five were unopposed and could have been picked up for free. Joe Hart and Philippe Mexes arrive for £0.5m apiece at the back, while Nani was also picked up for a similar price up front.
Ralphyne was successful with 12 of his initial bids, failing only to snap up Benzema, Sneijder and Podolski. His two main purchases were both in the midfied area, where Iniesta and Gerrard arrived for a combined price of £22m, with the latter the cheaper at £9m. At the back, he’ll be more than happy to pick up Jerome Boateng and Fabio Coentrao for just £1m each.
It’s Not Too Late to start bidding…
We hope all your auctions are progressing well. With four days to go before the tournament starts, there’s still time to start up a Fantasy League Pro division if you fancy recruiting some participants from our comment boards. Visit here for details on how to get started. Drop us a line at euro@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk if you need some help recruiting.
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