“Oh, you can’t scare me; I’m sticking to the Union…till the day I die!”

That tune is still ringing in my ears after all the fun we had on announcement day.  So the “Special One” took some time off?  Can you blame him?  With all the excitement of the formal announcement of MLS 16^th team Philadelphia Union followed by the announcement of the new WPS club Philadelphia Independence a week later, one has to get their partying priorities in order.  The “Special One” always shows up at the end of the season in time to collect his trophy so this season should be no different.

As usual; our “Fantasy Zolo” league code is 694916-134116 to join our private league.  Select “Leagues” under your Fantasy Menu and then enter the code and you are good to go.

Thoughts on the last 2 weeks

Although Liverpool gave it a good run, ManU was the class of the league this year and deserved the title.  They had such an incredibly deep team which enabled them to overcome any and all injury problems that came their way.  Though not my first choice, I want to tip the “Special Scarf” to Meester Alex for a job well done.  Very Nice.

This week (Gameweek 38)

The astronomers will be busy in the stands, focusing on the sidelines, as there will be more stars on the benches again for the final week of the season.  Expect to see United’s reserves in advance of the Champions League final and lesser sides for Chelsea and Everton.

All the other starting selections could be quite a crap shoot with many teams looking at younger players while others are making the final push for summer contracts.  The relegation battle will highlight this last week and instead of the usual opinion on who to start and sit, I would like to go in a different direction.  Let’s focus on that wonderful transfer weapon for managers, the Wildcard. 

The Wildcard is a wonderful feature for this time of year.  Many use it early in the season to try to get them out of any early hole in their league while others use it to try and cover up for some midseason mistakes.  But with all the teams sitting starters for various reasons, the Wildcard is perfect for the last week of the season for managers who are either holding off their rivals or making a last second push up the table. 

I have to admit when I first got into the game 2 years ago I didn’t realize that with the Wildcard you can change your entire team as long as you remain under the salary cap.  Now that I am a little wiser this season, it is time for my squad to undergo a makeover and hopefully yours can as well.

My Moves:

My team is SoBphillyHarchester*. You can search for my team and take a look at it, I don’t mind, and see if you can find some ideas that may help your club.

• Full scale changes for the final week by using the Wildcard.  Cech gets dropped in a salary cap move for ‘Boro’s keeper Jones.  In defense, Everton’s Lescott & Stoke’s Shawcross are dropped for Arsenal’s Djourou & West Ham’s Ilunga.  In midfield Everton’s Pienaar & Osman get dropped for Liverpool’s Benayoun & West Ham’s Kovac.  Also on a hunch, Bolton’s Taylor gets dropped for Chelsea’s Malouda because the Blues have to play somebody.  Finally at striker, Stoke’s Beattie & Bolton’s Davies get replaced by Aston Villa’s Carew & Chelsea’s Anelka.
• With all these changes my squad is really unrecognizable as I try to hold off any and all rivals. 
• As requested, my starting XI is Schwarzer, Djourou Hangeland Ilunga Konchesky, Benayoun Malouda Gerrard(C)  Lampard, Anelka Arshavin.

Next week:

Next week?  It’s all over! 

Thanks to everyone who has enjoyed playing fantasy football, sharing a laugh or two and reading along as the season progressed.  Although I was labeled by others as the “Special One”, I am proof that in these things it is much better to be lucky than good.  I hope you all had as much fun as I did and hope to see you all playing next year.  Thanks for reading…Be good.