We begin our final round-up of the Euro 2012 tournament by casting an eye over the official Scout Leagues that have taken place over the last month. First up, we take a look at the McDonald’s game, analysing the top five Fantasy managers and taking a peek at how some of the site contributors fared:
Congratulations go to Nenad Todorovic, who finished top of the McDonald’s Scout League with a overall score of 380 points. This was enough to earn him seventh place overall and first place in Serbia, after he scored 66 points in last night’s final. Taking a three point hit, Nenad placed his faith in eight of the Spain contingent, with only Gerard Pique missing from the champions’ backline. Jordi Alba and Xavi harvested 23 points between them, though captain Andres Iniesta brought home just eight points with the armband.
Jerome Stanton ended in second place. He fielded 10 players from Vicente Del Bosque’s side last night, lining up all of the back-four and keeper, with the likes of Cesc Fabregas and David Silva also picking up the points. Similar to Nenad, he handed Andres Iniesta the armband and picked up 68 points for his efforts last night. Jerome finished with 378 points, which was eighth in the overall rankings and earned him third place in England.
Chris Wain is next up on the leaderboard with an overall score of 373 points. Despite picking three players from Cesare Prandelli’s side for the final (and choosing to bench Antonio Cassano), he managed to rack up 73 points last night, with 54 of those coming from the Spain defence alone – the decision to captain Jordi Alba was crucial to Chris’ cause. David Silva also chipped in with five points, lessening the blow of a 12 point return from his midfield four. Chris finished 12th overall in the rankings and fifth in England.
Next up is regular poster Paul Walker, who is better known on the boards as Impressive Tackle. Paul opted for a couple of Italians in his final XI and racked up 76 points last night, though opted to take a six point hit for the occasion. Handing Jordi Alba the captaincy and placing his faith in the likes Cesc Fabregas and David Siva, in addition to the Spanish defence, proved dividend and helped him to a total score of 372 points, enough to earn him 16th place overall and see Paul ranked as the best manager in Northern Ireland.
In fifth place in the Scout League was Isaac Lundell. The decision to field just eight players for last night’s game proved costly and saw him drop down the rankings after accruing 60 points. Jordi Alba was Isaac’s top scorer after picking up 14 points, while both Fernando Torres and Andres Iniesta earned eight points apiece, with the latter handed the armband. Finishing in 25th place overall, Isacc ended as top placed manager in the Russia and South Africa league.
Contributors
Finally, a look at the top three contributors. Paul ie, me, flew the flag for the site’s writers by finishing eighth in the Scout League after racking up 71 points last night. Faith in Spain’s back-four and keeper, with the armband on Jordi Alba, balanced out a nine point return from my four Italian players. Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets grabbed four points apiece and helped me to an overall score of 365 points – this was enough to see me lead the way for Scotland, winning my nation’s league by 12 points and an overall finish in 40th position.
Jonty was next up, finishing in 463rd place in the Scout League with a total of 312 points overall. Opting for five Italians amongst his starting XI, Jonty picked up 64 points last night, though this came at the cost of a six point hit. Captain Jordi Alba picked up 28 points, while Iker Casillas, Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas also produced the goods and helped Jonty to 13, 026th place overall.
Mark was the third best contributor after racking up a total of 307 points. The decision to take a nine point hit and hand Mario Balotelli the armband failed to pay off last night, with his five-strong Italian contingent returning nine points between them. Jordi Alba, Iker Casillas and Cesc Fabregas were his top scorers, helping Mark to a 50 point haul in the final. In truth, it all went wrong when he failed to make the semi-final deadline and left his Germans on the bench. While the damage caused by that oversight was minimal, the support of the Italians for the final proved fatal and, having previously been snuggled in the top 2000, a slide down the rankings followed.
