just looking at the teams in the league there, candymoan you gotta pick a starting 11

Ok, after about an hour of wandering aimlessly I believe I have a sufficiently sub-mediocre, if not mediocre, team - that is, assuming high "Apps." are good things...because I'm not completely sure.

Do I need to post my e-mail still or is there an ID#/Password?

Johnny still needs to send you an invite.

I would but I don't think I have to access.

Wait, maybe if you just use the ID/Password that was posted way back on the first page you'll be in.

You made a team withouth any prior knowledge? I bet you win! Thats the way it works.

Oh. Psh, I specifically looked through the first few pages of this thread for that ID and password. It was right there in the first post. I'm a moron. It worked, so I'm in.

I started looking at stats and picking people, and then as I got further into it I found higher and higher stats. And I was too overwhelmed to start over so I just kept a bunch of lower people.

Unless I'm completely missunderstanding the stats. Then I'm more screwed.

But I got to a point where I realized I need to keep the number of teams I'm picking from down, so I can have an easier time keeping track of what teams I need to pay attention to.

Just trying to feel the sport out for now, not looking to do well. Get my bearings a bit, maybe force me to watch some games.

if you do nothing else, please change your keeper! You've got van der saar on your bench, maybe use him. The saudis aren't reknowned for their defensive prowess

The Saudi keeper was actually noted as a player to watch in the tournament. Plus he has a fairly easy grouping. Not saying Saudi Arabia will move on, but its not totally far fetched.

Though, I hope its not the same guy who let 8 past him in 02.

i just figured it was the same one, remember that goal he let in from damien duff? right through his hands.

Gerrard is '50/50' for Saturdays game. Possible mass transfer situation in fantasy games the world over.

The reason I picked the Saudi GK is because the World Cup page said that for the preliminaries, they only let 2 by - so I looked up their best GK and originally had him. But then on BBC I read that his replacement is the one to watch on his team, and looked up his name for any news, so I switched for that guy.

That's basically what I ended up doing for most of my players - a few of them I was too lazy to research, though, and just went by stats.

a world cup blog
http://www.worldcupblog.org/

where do you type the group no and the password?

From your profile thing, go to Groups in the menu above your team name. Then near the top, above the Public Group list there's a tiny link that says Join Group.

hmm i went to groups and standings and theres no link for joining a group

Oh, no at the Fantasy Game site. Go to Fun & Games, then Fantasy Game and create a team. Then from your team's page, click Groups, then Join Group. Sorry, thought you were at the Fantasy Game page.

I do remember that. He is actually quite well known as it turns out, Mohammed Al Deayea But I also remember Miroslav Klose making him look like he'd never been on a pitch before. In fact Saudi Arabia looked like they didn't even want to be there in 02.

i just joined in. my team

GK BUFFON Gianluigi - ITA
GK CECH Petr - CZE
GK SCHWARZER Mark - AUS
D NESTA Alessandro - ITA
D VIDIC Nemanja - SCG
D TRABELSI Hatem - TUN
D MARQUEZ Rafael - MEX
D PUYOL Carlos - ESP
D MIGUEL - POR
D LAHM Philipp - GER
D GALLAS William - FRA
M TOURE Yaya - CIV
M SMOLAREK Ebi - POL
M KAKA - BRA
M RIQUELME Juan - ARG
M GERRARD Steven - ENG
M RONALDINHO - BRA
F TONI Luca - ITA
F ADRIANO - BRA
F LARSSON Henrik - SWE
F VAN PERSIE Robin - NED
F VALDEZ Nelson - PAR
F SHEVCHENKO Andriy - UKR

Another team in our midst now...cool.

I've read the rules & I think the teams get frozen for each round except you can bench or make players active before matches start. When the next round begins, you can then pick players or drop them again.

Am I understanding this correctly?

If not, it seems the best strategy would be just to pick at least three players from the teams actually playing every time there was a match to get the most possible points.

With Nedved & Milan injured on the Czech team according to what I was reading, I reshuffled today.

I read the rules too, but they're pretty vague with that stuff. That's what I was thinking, but that can't be right...Then it would basically just be the same as having everyone on the field at the same time. Your only responsibility after picking your 23 would be to make sure you change them out in time. I guess it makes sense, though; otherwise there would be no point in having subs, if you couldn't use them.

Do we pick a completely new team next round, or do we run the risk of getting stuck with eliminated players?

I'm pretty sure it says that players re-select a squad after the first round, with the remaining players only. Which makes sense - it's also why I threw caution to the wind a bit a picked some 'risky' choices.

I'm out of work early today, so that I can get ready. First game in under an hour...

Sonicl has just joined up!

You'll notice the slight Chelsea bias on the squad, and even more so on the starting line-up:)