Although the domestic action may be over until early August, there are still a handful of tournaments for Fantasy managers to dabble in over the summer period.
Both the Copa America and European Under-21 Championship kick off in mid-July, with the likes of Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero and Alexis Sanchez fronting their nations’ pursuit of glory. As ever, we’ll we keeping you updated as any official games emerge for either tournament.
Copa America
- Dates: June 11-July 4.
- Group stages:June 11—21
- Quarter finals:June 24—27
- Semi-finals: June 29—30
- Third place playoff: July 3
- Final: July 4
The Copa America finds South America’s most prestigious nations – and two guests (Mexico and Jamaica) – duking it for bragging rights. With the likes of Brazil and Argentina among the 12 countries in attendance, there are plenty of Premier League stars for us to cast an analytical eye over. Chile are playing host this year, with their hopes of clinching the title resting largely on the shoulders of talismanic forward Alexis Sanchez.
Arsene Wenger revealed in early May that Sanchez would sit out the start of the next league season if La Roja were to progress to the latter stages of the tournament. More recently, the Frenchman expressed concerns that Arsenal’s top scorer is in danger of succumbing to fatigue in light of his heavy workload over the previous 12 months:
“I will watch but with a little bit of fear because Sanchez has played 50 games for us and goes there again, having already played in the World Cup last summer. You are a little bit concerned and I feel this competition is a bit too much. I am really surprised that Fifa authorised that. It’s disappointing that they speak a lot about the health of the players but when you look at the competition that is organised, this Copa America, and look at the date of the start of the Premier League, it is not reasonable. Moving the fixture calendar forward deeply affects pre-season and I believe it is the wrong decision of the Premier League to start on August 8. The players have played the World Cup, then you have no winter break, you come out and when you reach the FA Cup Final, you play on May 30 and the European players called up by their international teams play until June 14. Then you start on August 8. If you count six weeks’ preparation, where is the time for recovery?”
This isn’t an issue confined solely to Arsenal and Sanchez; the full complement of Premier League players on display are liable to miss Gameweek 1 if their side puts a run together. Manchester City are more at risk than any other outfit, given that Argentina called up three of their starters (Sergio Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta and Martin Demichelis) for international duty.
Manuel Pellegrini insisted he’ll afford these players 30 days rest upon their return if La Albiceleste make it to the finals stage, effectively ruling them out of the Sky Blues’ opening fixture. Elsewhere in the Argentina camp, United pair Marcos Rojo and Angel di Maria, along with Tottenham’s Erik Lamela have also earned call-ups.
Unsurprisingly, there’s strong Premier League representation within the Brazil squad too, with Filipe Luis, Fernandinho, Philippe Coutinho and Willian all hoping to secure Selecao’s fifth title in seven years. Fernandinho marks the fourth potential starter that could be missing from Manchester City’s opener, which – particularly if allied with a tough match-up – could discourage early investment in their squad.
Elsewhere, Arsenal’s David Ospina, Chelsea’s Juan Cuadrado and Aston Villa’s Carlos Sanchez are in contention for Colombia, while Enner Valencia and Antonio Valencia line up for Ecuador. Finally, Sebastian Coates and Abel Hernandez were selected in Uruguay’s final 23-man squad.
European Under-21 Championship
- Dates: June 17–30.
- Group stages: June 17–24
- Semi-finals: June 27
- Final: June 30
Over the last couple of days, Uefa have rolled out their Under 21 tournament. You can register here but the official player names have yet to be added, meaning we are unable to start constructing our squads just yet. We’ll be publishing a Guide to the Rule Set and Player Price List articles in due course.
Gareth Southgate will commandeer England’s latest batch of promising youngsters in their quest for silverware in Czech Republic. PFA Young Player of the Year Harry Kane spearheads the Three Lions’ attack, while there are a plethora of other budding talents present from England’s top tier.
As with the Copa America, those players involved in the U21 Euros could be sidelined for Gameweek 1 if their nation negotiates the group stages. On that note, Lilywhites boss Mauricio Pochettino recently vocalised concerns that Kane’s energy levels could suffer in the wake of an enervating nine months. When asked if the striker could miss the start of 2015/16, the Argentine went on to say:
“Yes, maybe. But I am very sure that the FA will take the right decision for Harry Kane and all England players. The problem is that there are different interests. We are a club and the FA are interested in England. He [Kane] is not tired but the problem is if you play a lot of games in the Premier League and the Europa League over a season you expend a lot of energy. It is not easy but it is not about tiredness, it is about next season”.
In terms of the participants, Kane is joined by Spurs trio Tom Carroll, Eric Dier and Alex Pritchard, while Arsenal’s Calum Chambers, Serge Gnabry and Carl Jenkinson complete a sizeable showing from North London.
John Stones, Nathan Redmond, James Ward-Prowse, Filip Duricic, Emre Can, Saido Berahino and Danny Ings were also named in their respective preliminary 27-man rosters, with the latter heavily mooted for a move to Liverpool this off-season.
Beyond the known quantities, spotting differentials remains on ongoing pursuit. Among the fringe players pushing for a start next campaign, Pritchard (named in the Championship Team of the Season) and Redmond (13 goals and four assists for newly promoted Norwich City last term) deserve special mentions.
Women’s World Cup
Scouting for next season aside, Mondogoal are running a Fantasy game for the Womens’ World Cup, with cash prizes on offer. The tournament runs from June 6 to July 5 and BBC will be broadcasting every match from this upcoming Saturday onwards.
Daily Fantasy Cricket
Finally, PlayON has branched out to new sports and is running the Official Caribbean Premier League Fantasy Game.
There will be games for each individual cricket match in the Caribbean Premier League, with Free Entry $500 Guaranteed Pot for every fixture.
In addition there will be Daily Games with $1,000 Guaranteed Pots, as well as a Leaderboard (Top 3 match scores added together) with a $1,000 Prize for first place.
The game, along with PlayON’s new and improved site, is now live at www.playon.co
