EURO 2012 Fantasy Tips: Knockout Rounds (Quarter Finals)

Yes, we’re finally out of the exciting group stages, and we’re into the knockout stages of EURO 2012. So here are my tips on who you guys should have in your team.

Time To Pick Smart

Now is the time to pick smart, to adjust your team so that the players in your team will be able to make it all the way to the final (so you don’t waste those transfers) and quite simply, I would recommend that you guys go with players from Germany and Spain from now on till the end.

My Finals Match-up: Spain vs Germany

Goal-keepers

There are a few goalkeepers who I reckon will do well in the knockout stages of the competition, and the list starts with none other than Iker Casillas. He did brilliantly in the final group game and made vital saves to deny Croatia that elusive place in the quarter-finals.

Another one of my picks would be France’s Hugo Lloris. Why? I simply think that he will rack up those points. He only needed to make two saves in the first two games of France’s EURO 2012 campaign, and was the standout player when France went down to Sweden.

My Picks: Lloris/Casillas

Defenders

Here’s where I’ll start recommending the German players. They were the standout team of the Group stages, being the only team to get out of it with a 100% win record. Hummels and Badstuber form a very sturdy back-line. Phillip Lahm and Boateng are both good and relatively safe picks in this category.

I reckon that England’s Lescott would be a good pick as well. England do have a defensive approach, meaning they concede less goals. Furthermore, Lescott does go up for the set pieces, and is pretty good in the air, so he would be another player I would recommend in terms of defenders.

My Picks: Lescott, Hummels, Badstuber, Lahm

Midfielders

Here’s where I’ll talk about more household names, reason being that they will be the ones that will give you the points. First player I would recommend is Italy’s Pirlo. He scored a fantastic free kick in the Group Stages and weaved magic to produce some fantastic assists which split opposition defenses.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored two in the final group game, and is most certainly fired up to do well in the rest of the tournament from now on. Steven Gerrard has provided 2 assists in the tournament so far, so he will be a good pick as well.

The last three I would recommend are all from Spain, and they are David Silva, Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta. All 3 have had impressive showings thus far, with Fabregas even having 2 goals to his name in the tournament. Expect there to be points from these 3.

My Picks: Ronaldo, Pirlo, Iniesta, Silva, Fabregas and Gerrard

Strikers

First of all, I recommend that you stay away from Balotelli. A very dangerous pick because whilst he can score goals, he can really f*ck things up. One who always has that red card potential in him, and is quite simply a dangerous choice.

I recommend that you pick Fernando Torres at own risk because he has had an indifferent tournament so far. Furthermore, he might not start for the rest of the knockout stages.

My 2 picks would be Germany’s Mario Gomez and England’s Wayne Rooney. Rooney looks absolutely fired up to lead England to their first major trophy in ages now, whilst Gomez managed 3 goals in the Group Stages, and is a firm favourite for the golden boot accolade.

My Picks: Gomez, Rooney

As seen on Neutrals’ Football Blog