Week 3 - Sunday

Sorry for the delay in posting but I was away yesterday.

Sunday was another good day of football. Aston Villa look back in top form since switching back to their 4-5-1 formation which worked so well for them in the first half of last season. Ashley Young is finding his feet again & if he keeps this going he can get close to Gerrard & Lampard as a real premium midfield pick. Fulham have't looked the same team as yet but I'm sure Hodgson will get them back on track.

Everton have hit back, Saha was a great value pick, and Baines is becoming a top fantasy performer with the amount of set pieces he's taking...shame he costs too much now. Wigan's good start really is developing in to a mini crisis although Gomez is still returning good points.

I know many of you picked up Robinho for Man City's game vs Pompey & were understandably furious that he was left on the bench. Some rumours suggest Robinho has been the subject of a bid from Barcelona and has possibly told Hughes that he wants to leave, whilst Radio Manchester suggested he had taken a knock in training and was sitting on the bench with an ice pack on his ankle. I believe the latter to be the more likely. If you had Richards as well then i'm sure that adds insult to injury with his withdrawl before the 75 minute costing you the 6 points for his clean sheet. However, Adebayor & Given would have earnt many managers great points and this was shown as I dropped for 2000th to 4900th after Sunday's fixtures were complete.

So, I've ended the weekend in the Top 5000 with 91.5 points for the week...not bad, but frustrating we now have 2 weeks until the next round of fixtures.

I'm currently holding Gordon in goal (not trusting Paul Robinson to perform well 2 weeks in a row) with Wilkinson, Givet & Glen Johnson in defence. My midfield is currently weak, Gerrard, Milijas, Gomez & Jamie O'Hara. As I type this I see that really is not strong enough, so Johnson will probably have to go to free up cash. Up front I'm sticking with Drogba, Torres & then placing some faith in Darren Bent to get back to scoring goals at home to Hull.

With a 2 week gap there will be plenty of changes before the deadline. My more indepth Week 4 analysis will occur after the international fixtures in case of injuries. Until then, how is yout team looking for Week 4?

Cheers,
AM

Modric Breaks A Leg

Huge blow for Tottenham - it's been confirmed Luka Modric has sustained a fracture to his right fibular & is out for at least 2 months. I'm gutted.

Modric has started the season in great form and is one of the biggest factors in Spurs' great start. It'll be interesting to see what Redknapp now does...will he recall O'Hara from his Portsmouth loan? Could David Bentley or Giovanni Dos Santos be given a chance, or will Robbie Keane play the Modric role coming in from the left to allow Crouch to partner Defoe as happened yesterday? We have 2 weeks to wait and see before Spurs host Manchester United on 12th September.

What a game that could be...

Week 3 - Saturday

An extraordinary day of Premiership football. Arsenal unlucky to lose to United (not impressed), Spurs lucky to win (but unlucky to lose Modric, King & Defoe to injury), Chelsea on fire, Liverpool still can't defend & Lucas is a bit of a cheat.

I've had a fairly good day, 91.5 points (from 8000th to 2000th position) but the problem is I have no players left and others still have lots of Man City players to go. I'm fully prepared to fall down the league again but I've scored well almost everywhere with the exception of Modric & Defoe this week so can't complain too much. I feel some of the risks I took paid off but unfortunately I may still end the weekend outside the Top 5000.

I must admit the comment of the weekend so far must go to ToffeeDave for his "I told you so" regarding Defoe; slightly improving on his dreadful "Get all Everton players in!" tip last weekend ;) ...Saying that, I still think they could hammer Wigan tomorrow.

Anyway, I'll be cheering on Pompey vs City...after seeing Burnley today i've loaded up on Liverpool players for Week 4/5. Who have you got in?

Cheers,
AM

P.s. Happy Birthday Kellz!!!

Week 3 - My Team

Robinson

Bassong Wilkinson Mancienne

Lampard Milijas Modric Deco

Drogba Defoe Torres

I'm pleased with my team, with one exception....so why have I gone with Paul Robinson?

Well, as everyone who reads this blog will know I made the mistake of selling Given, but there's not time to dwell on that. I left myself only a few points to buy a keeper which meant Myhill or Robinson. I know 99% of people picking a budget goalkeeper this weekend will go with Myhill, so seeing as I find myself quite a bit off the pace in the blogger leagues I thought I'd try something different & go with Robbo.

Blackburn have't been playing that badly & have a chance of getting something at home, while I expect Wolves to beat Hull. Of course, if it backfires I could find myself even further behind but it's a risk I'm willing to take in order to get myself back in to contention.

The rest of my team is pretty straightforward...I fancy Chelsea & Tottenhams win, hence 6 players from those 2 teams, plus Torres to fire vs Bolton & Wolves to do well. I have been unable to squeeze in any Man City players which is a bit of a worry, so I'll need to hope Pompey can pull off a shock (unlikely).

So that's my Week 3 team - who have you gone for? Good luck to everyone!

Cheers,
AM

Week 3 Match Previews

As always I have scoured the various websites/Sky Sports News to come up with these predicted starting XI's.

Please remember that nothing is certain, so only use these as a guide.

If you have any team news you have may contridict these starting XIs then please post them up in the comments section below:-

Week 3 Predicted Line-Ups
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Blackburn: Robinson, Jacobsen, Givet, Samba, Chimbonda, Pedersen, N’Zonzi, Andrews, Diouf, Roberts, McCarthy
West Ham: Green, Faubert, Upson, Tomkins, Spector, Collison, Parker, Noble, Dyer, Jimenez, Cole

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Ricketts, Knight, Cahill, Robinson, Davis, Muamba, M Davies, Taylor, K Davies, Elmander.
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Carragher, Insua, Mascherano, Gerrard, Riera, Kuyt, Benayoun, Torres

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole, Essien, Ballack, Deco, Lampard, Drogba, Anelka
Burnley: Jensen, Mears, Carlisle, Bikey, Jordan, Alexander, McCann, Elliott, Blake, Paterson, Fletcher

Man Utd: Foster, O’Shea, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Valencia, Nani, Berbatov, Rooney
Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy, Song, Denilson, Diaby, Arshavin, Bendtner, Van Persie

Stoke: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Faye, Higginbotham, Whitehead, Delap, Lawrence, Etherington, Fuller, Kitson
Sunderland: Gordon, Bardsley, Collins, Ferdinand, McCartney, Cattermole, Cana, Malbranque, Richardson, Jones, Bent

Tottenham: Cudicini, Corluka, King, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Palacios, Huddlestone, Lennon, Modric, Defoe, Keane
Birmingham: Hart, Carr, Johnson, Quedrue, Vignal, Larsson, Ferguson, Fahey, Bowyer, McFadden, Benitez

Wolves: Hennessey, Stearman, Mancienne, Craddock, S Ward, Edwards, Henry, Halford, Milijas, Keogh, Doyle
Hull: Myhill, Zayatte, Turner, Gardner, Dawson, Olofinjana, Kilbane, Ghilas, Hunt, Geovanni, Altidore

Aston Villa: Friedel, Beye, Davies, Cuellar, Warnock, Petrov, Sidwell, Milner, A Young, Carew, Agbonlahor
Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Etuhu, Murphy, Greening, Duff, Dempsey, Zamora

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Yobo, Distin, Baines, Neville, Cahill, Fellaini, Pienaar, Osman, Saha
Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Scharner, Bramble, Figueroa, Thomas, Diame, Gomez, Koumas, N’Zogbia, Rodallega

Portsmouth: James, Vanden Borre, Kaboul, Wilson, Belhadj, Mokoena, Brown, Kranjcar, Utaka, Smith, Piquionne
Man City: Given, Richards, Toure, Lescott, Bridge, Barry, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Robinho, Tevez, Adebayor

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Right, thats it. Sorry for the briefness of the posts & lack of comments over the past couple of days - I've been hectic with work. Good luck to everyone, I'll post my final Week 3 team up tomorrow morning just after the deadline.

Cheers,
AM

Week 4 Preview

It's a fair distance away, but we all know it's never too early to start planning your team & of course there will still be a barndoor to get involved in this weekend.

So firstly, the fixtures...

Saturday, 12 September 2009
Blackburn v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Liverpool v Burnley, 15:00
Man City v Arsenal, 15:00
Portsmouth v Bolton, 15:00
Stoke v Chelsea, 15:00
Sunderland v Hull, 15:00
Tottenham v Man Utd, 17:30
Wigan v West Ham, 15:00

Sunday, 13 September 2009
Birmingham v Aston Villa, 12:00
Fulham v Everton, 16:15

As always, we look at the stand-out fixtures. In Week 1 & 2 we had quite an easy time as there were 4 or 5 stand out fixtures where the Big 4 had nice games. This week is different...

Liverpool home to Burnley, Chelsea at Stoke & Sunderland at home to Hull are the only fixtures that look ok, but I don't expect any of these to be really easy. We have some of the form teams clashing in Tottenham v Man Utd & Man City v Arsenal & lots of games that are tough to get too excited about. Fulham are perhaps favourites over Everton, Birmingham v Villa is a tough derby and the remaining three fixtures (Blackburn v Wolves, Wigan v West Ham & Pompey v Bolton) are all very difficult to call.

I'll be looking to load up on Liverpool, Chelsea & Sunderland, maybe a few Fulham/Everton players & I have a hunch Villa could do well. We'll probably get some more hints at other teams hitting form from this weekend's fixtures.

Now, I'll probably avoid getting in Spurs, Man Utd, Man City or Arsenal players unless I have them on big discounts, although I must say I fancy Arsenal to go to City and beat them. City haven't fully impressed me yet. 2-0 at Blackburn flattered them, 1-0 home to Wolves wasn't convincing & their full strength team hardly battered Crystal Palace last night. (Now that I've written this they'll go & thrash Pompey on Sunday! :)

With not too many cheap defenders & not many obvious clean sheets in Week 4, if you already have defenders you're reasonably happy with then keeping them at discount is advised.

So, below are the players I may be looking to get in... As you've probably guessed from the photo, my top pick this week (based on value & match up) is Darren Bent.

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Liverpool - Torres, Gerrard, Insua, Johnson, Reina

Chelsea - Drogba, Lampard, Deco, Bosingwa

Sunderland - Bent, Jones, McCartney, Fulop

Fulham - Dempsey, Zamora, Paintsil, Duff, Murphy

Everton - Jo, Yakubu, Pienaar, Bilyaletdinov (just for ToffeeeDave), Distin

Villa - Carew, Young, Milner, Sidwell

Obvious Standard Picks - Defoe, Modric, Rooney, Berbatov (better not score), Nani, Evra, Foster, Van Persie, Arshavin, Fabregas, Vermaelen, Adebayor, Tevez, Robinho, Given

Best Of The Rest - Gomez, Rodallega, Carlton Cole, Jimenez, K Davies, M Taylor, Ricketts, Pederson, Givet, Piquienne, Belhadj, Kranjcar, Ebanks Blake, Milijas.

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Wow, that was quite tough to write as I reckon it's a really difficult week to predict, but hope it's given you some ideas.

Who will you be looking to get in on the barndoor?

Cheers,
AM

p.s. Week 3 Injury News/Predicted Line-Ups will be posted up late this afternoon once we have some further team news from the afternoon press conferences.

Week 3 - Transfers

Firstly, thanks for keeping the great chat/comments whilst I've been away for the past 24 hours. I had planned to sit down tonight and reply to them, only to find that all our regular contributors had answered everything for me and done an excellent job. Thanks to Kellz, Fidan, ToffeeDave, Bean, Donegal, Naning, Dan, Ace, Bill, John, Eric, Douchebag, SP, Ash, Jeremy, Dare To Devil, G, Rick, stlram01, Bojan, Bradley (and everyone else) for all your comments & replies.

I'll have Predicted Line-Ups & a Week 4 Preview (which will actually really be a Week 5 Preview as there is an international break next week, so no Premiership games) posted tomorrow at some point but I reckon that everyone has most the information they need for Week 3 with my Preview, Midfielder/Striker analysis & the hundreds of comments already posted. Personally, my last 2 decisions are my final midfield spot and whether I go with Myhill or Robbo...I'll make my mind up tomorrow at some point.

The fact that everyone posting their teams up seem to have at least 7 similar players, yet are still fretting over the last few positions is exactly what I want. The blog has helped you build a core but I never wanted to pick your whole teams for you, just give you ideas and let you act on your own hunches to make the BIG decisions for your team each week. I think it's working well, especially as many of you are ahead of me in the Blog Leagues! :)

Special thanks to the Anonymous poster at 6:25pm tonight who posted today's transfer news. I thought I'd comment on some of the transfers/rumours.

Tommy Smith to Pompey - I used to buy this guy on Championship Manager about 10 years ago! Creative forward who could be quite useful although Pompey will struggle. Likes to shoot, good penalty taker...be interesting to see how he'll step up.

Robert Huth to Stoke - Could be decent if he enters the game at a reasonable price. He's often injured & loves a tackle (and a yellow card), but he & Shawcross will win everything in the air for Stoke.

Tuncay to Stoke - Really exciting! I love Tuncay, great attacking player and can really wrack up the points in fantasy terms. Could be a good move by Stoke and certainly a player to keep an eye on.

Sylvain Distin to Everton - Great move by Everton and only £7 million in fantasy terms. Could be a real option if Everton sort out their bad start.

Richard Dunne to Villa - Good signing for Villa but a bit expensive at the moment at alomst £9 million.

Steve Warnock to Villa - I'm a big fan of Warnock, he could be good at Villa if he's given the left back slot, but again a touch expensive at the moment.

Pascal Chimbonda to Blackburn - Can score decent points as an attacking fullback but won't get many clean sheets at blackburn. There may be better options at £8 million.

I'm sure they'll be plenty more signings to comment on before midnight next Tuesday!

Cheers,
AM

Week 3 - Midfielders

After yesterday's post on strikers we move on to midfielders for Week 3. Again, plenty to think about with lots of reasonably priced options:

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Lampard - Frank has not had the start to the fantasy season that most of us expected. At the tip of the diamond I think we all believed he'd already be averaging 15-18 points per match but that's not been the case. He's averaging over 11 but he's lost a few set pieces (Drogba freekicks & Deco/Malouda corners) which may well be affecting his return...plus only 1 goal so far. However, he has a chance to improve on that vs Burnely. I personally think this is the game where he'll break out with a goal & a few SOT, so he's my top tip for the week.

Gerrard - He's still looked good for a struggling Liverpool team, taking every set piece and constantly shooting from distance (very often hitting the target). I'd love to get him in vs a poor Bolton side, but I don't think you can afford to have both Gerrard & Lampard in your team unless you sacrifice 2 or even 3 other positions with cheaper players. I'd say that if you have him at £18million then hang on to him due to Liverpool's next few matches, but otherwise I'd go for Lampard this week & use the spare £2million elsewhere. Whichever you pick you'll get a good return from them - if you can find a way to fit them both in without destroying your team too much then it's up to you to take the risk!

Lennon - If you'd grabbed Lennon pre-update then he's a great option this week. When flying at full pace he cannot be stopped, he has a surprising strong shot and he is actually capable of delivering a decent cross on occasions. He has a nice fixture at home to Birmingham but at over £12 million he's probably a touch expensive. If you do want to grab a Spurs midfielder this week then it should probably be...

Modric - He's one of my favourite players, a rare breed like Ineista who appears to have so much time on the ball - he's in for a big season. Same fixture as Lennon, but Modric has the added bonus of being almost 3 million cheaper & taking corners & side free kicks. If you are looking for a midfielder for under £10million I think he's probably the best choice this week.

Nani - Nani has often ruined weeks for me. Whenever I've picked him over the past 2 seasons he has done zero. So this season I've avoided him, and of course he's had a very decent start. I managed to barndoor him for £8 million & even though he has a tough fixture I think he can get me some points vs Arsenal. he's shooting from distance & taking the majority of freekick & corners...after his performance vs Wigan he'd be very unlucky to be dropped. I expect him to start & do well.

Milijas - A let down for the past 2 weeks (subbed both times) - I expected him to be less effective away from home as Wolves look to get some harder workers on the pitch. However, it's going to be games like this (home to Hull) where I expect him to shine in his free role behind the striker. He'll take the majority of set pieces & at just over £6 million he's a great option to fill a gap this week.

Deco - Has a good chance of starting after his great performance at Sunderland followed by a place on the bench vs Fulham. He's looked vastly improved so far (although he started well last year) and he should steal some corners from Lampard. Bargain option at under £8million.

Pederson - Outside bet here, but one that I'd think about if I had the money. Those of you playing the game around 3 seasons ago will remember MGP was a fantastic fantasy player, taking corners, free kicks, getting crosses in & chipping in with goals. He's gone quiet for a while but he looked good last weekend & at around £10million he could be quietly effective this weekend at home to West Ham.

Pienaar - See Pederson above, has begun in a similar way despite Everton's poor start. Will get crosses in & not afraid to shoot. Another outside bet around the £10 million mark.

Palacios - Good fixture and he's peformed well so far this season. His goal was his first ever in English football so he's not going to score too often & he's always likely to get booked, but he's in top form, getting tackles in and charging forward so he's a good mid/low range option at under £7 million.

Hunt - Seems to be involved in everything good that Hull do so far & whilst away from home, Wolves isn't the toughest fixture. He'll take set pieces and he'll get at least one chance, so if you fancy a bit of a gamble on a player not many will have then he could be a decent risk taker at under £9 million.

Fellaini - Cheap, impossible to mark from corners and capable of scoring this weekend. I currently have him in my team although not certain whether he'll stay. Good value if you do go with him - Everton have to pick up soon & Wigan's good start has stalled.

Rodwell - Bargain filler.

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Hope this helps a bit.

Quick overview of the others...

Keepers: Given, Foster, Hennessey, Howard. If you're desperate like I am Robbo or Myhill, though this is not really recommended, I just screwed myself by dropping Given.

Defenders: Wilkinson, Givet, Bassong, Vermaelen, Richards, Craddock & Mancienne.

I might not be around for the next couple of days so it's unlikely i'll be able to respond to comments, but there will be Predicted Line-ups & a Week 4 Preview on Friday.

In the meantime, I'm sure Kellz, Fidan & the other regulars will be able to help you out if you have any questions!

Cheers,
AM

Week 3 - Strikers

With plenty of strikers having great fixtures this week it's really tough to call, especially with so many in form & at reasonable prices. I've written a short analysis on a selection below that I hope will help you (and me) make some decisions.

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Drogba - The guy has started the season in unplayable form. He's quick, he's shooting from distance, he's linking up the play & he's scoring goals. As the highest point scorer so far & at under £13.5 million he should be in everyone's teams for the game vs Burnley. Top pick for this week.

Defoe - Readers will know what I think of Defoe. When he gets on a hot streak he scores for goals for fun. He's looking as sharp as I've ever seen and again represents fantastic value considering his points return so far & a home fixture vs Birmingham. Spurs have 4 strikers so I expect him to be rested in the Carling Cup tomorrow night, but he'll be back this weekend. Great pick.

Torres - He's not playing well for a team that have started badly, yet he's scored 2 in 2 and is the 5th highest points scorer. I believe he's the best striker in world football and he has a nice fixture at Bolton. However, I would not recommend him at his £18.25 million as there are better options. I have him at £15 million so he's easier to keep, but that doesn't mean I definitely will.

Rooney - Dropping Rooney after the Burnely game could prove to big one of my biggest mistakes. He has a tough fixture vs Arsneal and I fully expect him to pick up a booking due to the nature of the rivalry between the 2 sides, but I wouldn't put it past him to score a couple in his current form. Again, not someone I'd go for at £18.99 million but if you've had him since the beginning at around £16 million then i'd probably be keeping him.

Adebayor - The classic 1 shot, 1 goal striker. He'll probably score vs Portsmouth but he doesn't get involved as much as other top forwards. He's still a great pick but I've decided that Defoe was more likely for a higher points return.

Robinho - Now here is a pick I really like for Week3. Despite the fact he's playing left wing I have a feeling he could explode vs Portsmouth. Unlike Adebayor he picks up points for crosses, multiple shots from distance, corners won & he'll take free kicks & penalties. I regret not grabbing him at £13 million but even at his current price he still represents fantasic value. If I drop Torres for anyone then it'll be Robinho.

Tevez - The least exciting of the City strikers for me, but because of his price at under £10 million it makes him an interesting option if you want to invest more in your midfielder or a premium striker.

Anelka - Never a bad pick but I never pick 2 strikers from the same team. Seeing as Drogba is cheaper & in better form, Anelka isn't on my radar. Remember the people who picked Arshavin AND Fabregas last weekend? All your eggs in one basket almost always backfires.

Bent - Not for me this week. Almost went for him last week and glad I didn't after his 0.5 points return. At £10million he's not the worst option but there are better & an away game at Stoke is always tough.

Jo - An interesting outside bet for Week 3. Everton will win a league game soon and it'll probably be at Goodison. Wigan go there on the back of a hiding & I just have a feeling that Jo could get a couple this weekend. I don't think I can fit him in but if you're looking for a sub 10 striker and don't fancy Tevez then he's a decent gamble pick.

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I hope that's given you something to think about & maybe helped a bit. From the comments on this week's posts it seems a lot of people are picking very similar teams with only 3 or 4 different players.

For that reason I'm not going to go in too much detail on Defenders as pretty much everyone has a combination of Givet, Vermaelen, Wikinson, Bassong & Richards...but I will be writing a similar post looking at Midfielders tomorrow.

Cheers,
AM

Blog Leagues Full!

I'm delighted to announce that Blog Leagues 1 & 2 are now both full to capacity with 100 managers in each.

It's been just 2 months since the blog started but we already have 200 managers in the leagues, we're getting close to 1,000 hits per day & we've had over 8,000 unique visitors from around the globe. The comments sections are really taking off too so thank you so much for joining up - it really gives the blog a sense of community.

If you're on Facebook, please add yourself to the YFF Assistant Manager group by clicking on the Facebook box to the left of this post. It will help me to put some faces to names & also allow me to alert you when I post something I feel is really important.

The season is really is in full swing now - best of luck to everyone!

Cheers,
AM

Week 2 - Monday

Well, only 1 game tonight but another shock result. Villa have beaten Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield with goals from Davies, Young & a Lucas OG. Torres replied for Liverpool & Gerrard had plenty of SOTs but also conceded a penalty.

I'm expecting around 18 points for Torres as he scored and had 2 additional shots on target, but he was also booked for dissent (again). That should mean I grab around 100 points for Week 2 & that's not bad seeing as I made plenty of mistakes.

So now all the games are in, how is my early team looking for Week 3...?

Myhill

Bassong Wilkinson Givet

Milijas Lampard Nani Fellaini

Drogba Defoe Torres

Yes, I dropped Given & Vermaelen. Yes it could be a mistake. But at the moment I'm trying to change things up a bit as I need to gain back some ground.

Defoe, Drogba, Milijas, Lampard, Bassong & Wilkinson will all stay provided they are set to play for their sides. I feel they all have great match-ups this week and provide a nice balance. Defoe & Drogba are both bang in form with great fixtures, Milijas should play 90 mins at home to Hull, while Bassong & Wilkinson have great chances of clean sheets.

Torres & Givet will probably stay too. I know Liverpool have started badly but Bolton could represent a great chance to bounce back, plus Givet is dirt cheap.

Myhill, Nani & Fellaini could well be swapped out nearer the deadline. SWP, Modric & Palacios are options, but I left myself short on options in goal unless I go with the terrible Paul Robinsion - which I really don't want to do.

I'm obviously missing Man City players as I dropped Adebayor for Defoe & as I write this I realise more than ever that I should've kept Given. Robinho & Tevez are both great options too, but where to fit them in? Having none of these guys could be a mistake with a lovely fixture vs Portsmouth so I may look to re-adjust somehow. Not sure how at the moment & but it would probably need to be Torres dropping out.

What's your team looking like? Remember, you can check out my Week 3 Preview here...and they'll be another post up later this week with more detailed player analysis.

Cheers,
AM

Week 2 - Sunday

Firstly, I know this picture is irrelevant to the game of football & the blog...but I don't care! Cricket is my 2nd love after football & I feel very proud this evening :)

Now for the relevant news. A pretty good day for me all round. England win, Tottenham win for 3 out of 3 (proud again!), plus Drogba gets a goal & an assist. I had slipped out of the top 7000, but with Drogba's points I hope to rise up a bit & get a few more points with Torres tomorrow night (hoping Gerrard doesn't do too much).

The feeling of dropping Rooney is now a bit less tragic. I dropped him so I could get Adebayor, Torres & keep Drogba (I very nearly dropped him for Bent!). Overall it's not worked out that badly at all. I'm on 80 points with Torres still to play, so considering a lot of my picks (Fabregas, Milijas, Gomez etc) backfired, that isn't a bad result. If you can pick up anything between 70 & 80 points in your bad weeks you've actually probably done pretty well considering. 75 is a "par" score each week in my opinion.

BY THE WAY...I expect Yahoo to make up for the Bosingwa clean sheet mistake, just give them 24 hours or so.

Now for Week 3. The barndoor is still open & I seriously recommend everyone has DEFOE...I'll post my full team once I've finalised it, probably just after the barndoor closes. I'm looking at loading up on Chelsea (Lamps, Drogba), really want Liverpool (Torres, Gerrard) & City (Adebayor, Tevez, Robinho) players too, but it's tough to afford AND impossible to fit them all in!

I hope you're all enjoying the blog, I genuinely appreciate the comments. I know at 7,500th I'm having my worst ever start & I'm actually behind a lot of you in the blog leagues, but I really hope you're finding the advice useful. A lot of the time I don't take my own advice & it costs me (I'm probably "over-thinking" things), but I've always been able to break things down in an analytical way. Fully hoping you're getting some benefits from reading...thank you guys!

Let me know your successes/failures in Week 2! Who are you grabbing on the barndoor?

Cheers,
AM

Week 2 - Saturday

Well, really not a great weekend so far...but very very glad I didn't swap Adebayor for Arshavin at the last minute.

I only have a match winning goal from Adebayor & 2 clean sheets for Wilkinson & Given as anything of note. Fabregas & Milijas were both subbed at half time, nothing from Ireland or Gomez, while Vermaelen didn't keep the expected clean sheet. I reckon I'll be on around 40-50 points so far, which to be honest is pretty rubbish.

Of course I'm annoyed I dropped Rooney, but it was for Torres & he could still get me a good return vs Villa. Also, the spare money from dropping Rooney paid the extra for Adebayor, so it's not the end of the world.

I've only got Torres, Drogba & Bassong to go - i'll need them to do something a bit special to get me up to a par score of 80 points for the week.

How have you all got on?

Cheers,
AM

Week 2 - My Team

Given

Vermaelen Wilkinson Bassong

Ireland Milijas Gomez Fabregas

Drogba Adebayor Torres

So as you can see, my team is exactly as it was on Wednesday night. It is very rare I don't make changes on a Thursday or Friday, but this week I've been fairly happy with what I've had. Last minute changes were tempting (I very nearly swapped Adebayor to Tevez & Ireland to Arshavin), and of course I am scared that picking Fabregas over Arshavin could come back to haunt me, but if that happens I'll just have to deal with it.

Who did you decide on? Remember, the barndoor is now open, so read my Week 3 Preview here to make sure you can jump on players before their values shoot up.

Best of luck everyone!

Cheers,
AM

Week 2 Injury News

Some breaking news on a couple of websites which proves predicted starting XIs can rarely be trusted...Adebayor & Robinho are doubtful for Manchester City's games vs Wolves.

This is not good news. I thought I'd settled on a final team but now some last minute alterations may be required. But maybe I should keep Adebayor if he's only a doubt? I'll have to decide whether it's a risk I'm willing to take & it's likely to be a last minute decision incase we get some late team news.

Does this open the door for Carlos Tevez?

UPDATE - Thanks to Remedial Spastics for the link in the comments below. I've now also seen a press conference with Mark Hughes & he expects everyone to be fit despite a few niggles. I'll stick with Adebayor. Man City's owners will be there & will want to see all the big guns on display for the first home game of the season. "The Project" has cost them a fortune & they'll be expecting the team to make a statement to the rest of the Premier League.

Some additional team news from Jeremy & Neal over on Fantasy EPL

Not much new news this morning, the latest being the casualties from yesterday's Europa League matches. Those claimed Andy Johnson and will force Jack Rodwell and Steven Pienaar into the dreaded "late fitness test".

Spurs have lost Gomes for a while and so Cudicini will sit behind their make-shift back line. Presumably King will be back to partner Bassong with Corluka moving to right back and Hutton dropping to the bench.

Rio will be out for a month, but Manchester United have Vidic back. That should solidify the back-line though presumably Brown and O'Shea will be the candidates for center and right back.

Ilunga is a doubt for West Ham meaning a likely start for Spector. N'Zogbia is a doubt for Wigan. Sunderland have questions over Lee Cattermole, Steed Malbranque and Martin Fulop. The latter is interesting if it gives Gordon a chance to claim the number one jersey. Doesn't sound likely, however.

Manchester City have some mixed fitness news after their 1-0 win over Barca midweek. Adebayor, Robinho, and Bridge are slight doubts but Tevez looks good to start against Wolves. Wolves themselves are missing Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, but could have Berra and Doyle back if only from the bench.

Finally, Birmingham's Cameron Jerome turned his ankle. This may give Christian Benitez his first start, but I'm not sold on that as his play has been so limited in games and warm-ups. That being said, he's an interesting pick at home to Stoke for 6.04.

Good luck everyone, i'll be posting my team just after the deadline.

Cheers
AM

Week 2 Match Previews

Last week I listed up Sky Sports' predicted line-ups and a large proportion of them were incorrect, including some pretty basic errors. This week I've taken information from a variety of sources & produced what I believe to be fairly accurate predictions for Week 2.

However, please remember that nothing is certain, so only use these as a guide.

Predicted Starting XI's
-----------------------
Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy, Song, Denilson, Fabregas, Arshavin, Bendtner, Van Persie
Portsmouth: James, Kaboul, Wilson, Distin, Vanden Borre, Mokoena, Mullins, Basinas, Belhadj, Kranjcar, Piquionne

Birmingham: Hart, Carr, Johnson, Quedrue, Parnaby, Carsley, Larsson, Ferguson, Fahey, McFadden, Jerome
Stoke: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Faye, Higginbotham, Whitehead, Delap, Lawrence, Etherington, Beattie, Fuller

Hull: Myhill, Mouyokolo, Turner, Gardner, Dawson, Mendy, Olofinjana, Boateng, Hunt, Geovanni, Folan
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Ricketts, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Davis, Muamba, McCann, Taylor, Davies, Elmander

Man City: Given, Richards, Toure, Dunne, Bridge, Barry, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Robinho, Bellamy, Adebayor
Wolverhampton: Hennessey, Elokobi, Mancienne, Craddock, Ward, Henry, Halford, Jarvis, Milijas, Vokes, Keogh

Sunderland: Fulop, Bardsley, Collins, Ferdinand, McCartney, Cattermole, Cana, Henderson, Richardson, Jones, Bent
Blackburn: Robinson, Jacobsen, Givet, Samba, Warnock, Gamst-Pedersen, N’Zonzi, Andrews, Diouf, Roberts, McCarthy

Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Scharner, Bramble, Figueroa, Thomas, Brown, Gomez, Koumas, Sinclair, Rodallega
Man Utd: Foster, O’Shea, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher, Valencia, Berbatov, Rooney

Burnley: Jensen, Mears, Carlisle, Bikey, Jordan, Alexander, Blake, Elliott, McCann, Paterson, Fletcher
Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Yobo, Neville, Baines, Rodwell, Cahill, Fellaini, Pienaar, Osman, Jo

Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Etuhu, Murphy, Greening, Duff, Dempsey, Zamora
Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole, Essien, Ballack, Deco, Lampard, Drogba, Anelka

West Ham: Green, Faubert, Upson, Collins, Ilunga, Collison, Parker, Noble, Dyer, Jimenez, Cole
Tottenham: Cudicini, Corluka, King, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Palacios, Huddlestone, Lennon, Modric, Defoe, Keane

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Ayala, Carragher, Insua, Mascherano, Lucas, Benayoun, Kuyt, Gerrard, Torres
Aston Villa: Friedel, Beye, Davies, Cuellar, Shorey, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Milner, A Young, Agbonlahor, Heskey

Cheers,
AM

Week 3 Preview

I know many people are still looking at their Week 2 teams (including me!) and there will be another post later today with predicted Week 2 line-ups. However, this post is a preview looking at the barndoor for Week 3.

Firstly, the fixtures...

Saturday, 29 August 2009

Blackburn v West Ham, 15:00

Bolton v Liverpool, 15:00

Chelsea v Burnley, 12:45

Man Utd v Arsenal, 17:15

Stoke v Sunderland, 15:00

Tottenham v Birmingham, 15:00

Wolverhampton v Hull, 15:00

Sunday, 30 August 2009

Aston Villa v Fulham, 16:00

Everton v Wigan, 15:00

Portsmouth v Man City, 13:30

As we discussed last week, you first want to look at the stand out fixtures. Chelsea at home to Burnley, Liverpool at Bolton, Tottenham at home to Birmingham, Man City at Portsmouth immediately stand-out.

Wolves at home to Hull could be a good fixture to look at, plus Everton vs Wigan (depending on how they bounce back this weekend) but Villa v Fulham, Blackburn v West Ham & Stoke v Sunderland are all tough to call.

It's difficult to really recommend new players for Man Utd vs Arsenal, but if you have players at big discounts you shouldn't just drop them. I'll never forget dropping Ronaldo 2 seasons ago as Man Utd were at Arsenal. Ronaldo scored 2 that day and I had to buy him back at almost 5.00 extra. That 5.00 is the difference between Milijas & Mokoena, so please don't make the same mistake I did.

So here are my players to look at. Please bare in mind that not all these players will definitely start, some are to keep an eye on and consider depending on injuries/team news etc. Of course, a lot also depends on who performs this weekend...

Chelsea - Drogba, Lampard, Deco, Malouda, Bosingwa, Terry, Ivanovic, Cech

Liverpool - Gerrard, Torres, Kuyt, Benayoun, Johnson, Ayala, Skrtel, Insua, Reina

Tottenham - Defoe, Modric, Keane, Lennon, Palacios, Bassong, Cudicini/Gomes

Man City - Adebayor, Robinho, Tevez, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Bridge, Richards, Given

Wolves - Milijas, Ebanks Blake (if fit), Mancienne, Craddock, Hennersey

There are of course other options from other teams. You have Rooney, Berbatov, Valencia, Nani, Van Persie, Arshavin, Fabregas, Vermaelen, Bent, Richardson, Cahill, Jo, Fellaini, Baines, Carlton Cole, Young, Milner etc are all options, but my main focus will be the 5 teams detailed above.

My top tips at the moment...

Keepers - Given, Hennersey

Defenders - Bassong, Ayala

Midfielders - Lampard, Milijas

Strikers - Defoe, Drogba

Who will you be keeping an eye out for?

Cheers,
AM

Everton For Week 2?

Jack Rodwell scored twice for a vastly improved Everton victory in the Europa Cup tonight, with Louis Saha also weighing in with a brace.

The result will boost the Toffee's confidence before an away game at Burnley this weekend, and Rodwell costs just 3.55; a possible filler bargain? It also raises some other players with improved confidence as options - Saha, Jo, Baines, Fellaini, Cahill, Howard etc - many of them reasonably priced.

Something to think about...

Current Week 2 Team

Just so you know, this is what I'm sitting on right now. It may well not change from here, but if I did makes changes then Ireland would go, along with either Drogba, Adebayor or Torres (unlikely) to get Gerrard & a cheap midfielder/Mokoena as a filler.

It probably won't happen though as it's a massive risk - Gerrard would need to have an unbelievable week to justify the loss in points elsewhere.

Thoughts? What do you have at the moment?

Cheers,
AM

Week 2 Player Analysis

I can guess that a lot of people are finding it difficult to make a decision on their final team for Week 2. I certainly am, so I've written a short opinion on each of the players I recommended yesterday, to help myself & hopefully help you make your decisions.

Rooney - I'd thought he'd be in my team for the foreseeable future, but last night I saw the frustrated Rooney again in a shocking result at Turf Moor. It reminded me that United were not that impressive against Birmingham either & with a tricky game at Wigan, suddenly the 16.80 I had him at didn't seem all that attractive. He could still crack 2 goals, but Liverpool have a better match up, so he has now been dropped for...

Torres - When Torres is firing he's the best striker in world football. He has his first goal & I expect him to add at least 1 at home to Villa. Sometimes you make a barndoor pick and then regret it the next day. I've woken up this morning & I'm still pleased with my decision to swap Wayne for Fernando.

Van Persie - With so many players capable of goals in the Arsenal team it's tough to justify spending almost 19.00 on him. He's quite capable of getting a hattrick vs Pompey, but he's not someone who'll be in my team this week. Despite the fact whilst writing this I just thought "Well I could try and get him in...". But I'm 99.9% certain I won't.

Drogba - Holding for just 10.60, devestating vs Hull & very good at Sunderland, he should have scored and won the penalty. He was the top points scorer for Week 1 AND he was booked twice. Almost certainly staying.

Adebayor - Very nearly dropped him for Defoe pre-update last night, but stuck with him. When on form he's unplayable & Man City will be so up for their first home game of the season with their new look team. Wolves aren't a bad side but this could be 3 or 4 nil.

Tevez & Robinho - See above, both good picks for City, it's just Adebayor is my hunch out of the 3 of them.

Bent - Not a bad pick at all. He's had a great start to his Sunderland career & there's no reason why he won't continue this vs Blackburn. If you have him then I wouldn't tell you to drop him, there's just no space for him in my team with Torres, Drogba & Adebayor

Benitez - Still on the bench last night & Kevin Philips was brought on before him. Clearly can't be match fit, so he's out of my thoughts.

Fabregas & Arshavin - I know plenty of people have the same dilemma picking between these 2. Cesc is the form players, but we all know what Arshavin is capable of. I'm leaning towards Fabregas because he's in form & because I have him for 1.00 cheaper than I can get Arshavin. Arshavin plays further forward but he has looked fairly quiet so far and with Fabregas pushing on with Denilson/Song behind him I feel he could have another field day vs Portsmouth.

Gerrard - What a start to the season for him, and if I could get him in to my team he'd be my number 1 pick this week. However, getting him in at nearly 22.00 is just not viable at the moment as it would mean dropping 2 other players capable of getting me plenty of points. My heart says "get him" but my head wont let me. If you have him in at 18.00 I'm very jealous.

Lampard - Always a good pick but not someone I'm considering this week. Again, if you had him pre-update then good for you, but I feel the money can be better spent on Arsenal players or Gerrard for Week 2.

Ireland - It's funny, all week I kinda expected to drop Ireland as the deadline loomed, but I'm now tempted to keep him. I have him at 11.00 and he can be so dangerous in games City dominate with his late runs from midfield. Could be a late decision on him, but not too many alternatives unless I replace with a filler to get Gerrard elsewhere. But who esle would I drop!?

Deco - Not for me now, he had a fine game on Tuesday but he's not in my thoughts.

Milijas - Season keeper. Everything goes through him for Wolves, shoots on sight, takes all free kicks & corners, plus his delivery is excellent. He'll get points even when Wolves lose heavily. Amazing bargain at 5.50, so glad I picked him up for Week 1.

Gomez - Still good value, even with a hard game vs Man U. Similar in style to Milijas, he is capable of returning his value, and his price means he enables me to buy stronger players elsewhere. Staying unless I decide to do something drastic.

Vermaelen - Best defensive pick of the week if you have him pre-update. Even if you don't, you should think about it. Has looked superb in both games so far for Arsenal, should be in for a clean sheet & likes to go up for set pieces. Buy Buy Buy!

Richards - Best value Man City defender, again a very good chance of a clean sheet and some attacking points too. I can't quite afford him unfortunately.

Bridge - More expensive, but still a good option for the same reason as Richards.

Bassong - A man-mountain for Spurs so far, although if I had the extra 1.00 I would probably swap for Richards due to the better chance of a clean sheet.

Wilkinson - Good value starter, he'll be staying in my team.

O'Shea - No longer considering him.

Givet - Great cheap starter to allow you to spend elsewhere.

Given - The only 'keeper I'm really considering and I could be hanging on to him for a long time if City show they can defend. The only alternative for me was Myhill to free up £££, but we all saw how bad Hull were last night.

So those are my thoughts, you probably have plenty of your own, so please comment below. I must say I'm delighted with how the comments are going, we've got some really good chat going with lots of managers helping each other out. Unfortunately the extra site traffic (up to around 1,000 hits per day) means I can't reply to all comments, but I'll ensure I keep the blog up to date and do my best to reply whenever I can.

Good luck for Week 2...Week 3 Barndoor Preview coming soon.

Cheers,
AM

Wednesday - Week 1

What an evening of football! I've not had a good fantasy points day at all, but it's been a great evening none the less.

Burnley beat Man Utd 1-0 in the shock result of the season already - there goes my clean sheets for O'Shea & Foster, Alexander subbed 2 minutes before I get my clean sheet, Rooney booked & Valencia on the bench. Bad fantasy night indeed, but a fantastic effort from the "minnows"!

The result that obviously pleased me the most is Tottenham. Unbelievable result & performance, a 5-1 win and a Defoe hattrick. Really tempted to get him in but....

...Torres is off the mark for Liverpool as they kicked in to gear with a 4-0 win vs Stoke - we all know what happens when Torres gets going. Assists for Gerrard & an impressive performance from Glen Johnson. Between Torres & Defoe I think I'm gonna go for Torres before his value increases - Rooney is to be dropped after tonight. He was booked & did little else, so I expect his value to drop down to below 18.00 anyway.

Finally, Birmingham beat Pompey 1-0 with a last minute penalty, Benitez on the bench again, not too much to get excited about.

How did it go for you? Better than for me I'm sure! Who are you getting in? Who's to be dropped?

Cheers,
AM

Week 2 Fixtures & Picks

I wrote an early Week 2 Preview last week...

WEEK 2 FIXTURES
Saturday, 22 August 2009
Arsenal v Portsmouth, 15:00
Birmingham v Stoke, 15:00
Hull v Bolton, 15:00
Man City v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Sunderland v Blackburn, 15:00
Wigan v Man Utd, 15:00

Sunday, 23 August 2009
Burnley v Everton, 15:00
Fulham v Chelsea, 16:00
West Ham v Tottenham, 13:30

Monday, 24 August 2009
Liverpool v Aston Villa, 20:00

As a general rule you want to prioritise picking players from teams you feel will win and keep clean sheets. Now from those fixtures, 2 stand out immediately: Arsenal at home to Portsmouth & Man City at home to Wolves. Also of interest are Liverpool at home to Villa (they beat them 6-0 last season) & Man U @ Wigan. You may also want to look at Chelsea @ Fulham & Everton @ Burnley, but I feel these could both be tougher games. I'll probably be avoiding the majority of players from Birmingham v Stoke, Hull v Bolton & West Ham v Tottenham. Sunderland are an okay bet at home to Blackburn.

...and not alot has changed, other than Everton are no longer at the forefront of my mind after their capitulation vs Arsenal. I'm still looking mainly at Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool & Man United.

These are the 26 players I'm considering for Week 2. I doubt very much any of my picks will fall outside this group, unless I need additional fillers to load up on the big guns.

Strikers - Rooney, Van Persie, Drogba, Torres, Adebayor, Tevez, Bent, Benitez

Midfielders - Arshavin, Fabregas, Gerrard, Lampard, Ireland, Deco, Milijas, Gomez

Defenders - Vermaelen, Richards, Bridge, Bassong, Wilkinson, O'Shea, Givet

Keepers - Given, Myhill, Foster

If I do need fillers, they will be Sonko for Defence, Mokoena for Midfield & Folan for Striker.

Many of my picks will be based on how tonight's games go - my big decisions at the moment are:-

Rooney vs Gerrard
Fabregas vs Arshavin

Who are you having trouble deciding on?

Cheers,
AM

Tuesday - Week 1

Only 2 leagues games tonight, but lots to think about.

Chelsea do what they always do with frightening efficiency, with Lampard back on the scoresheet from the spot. Apart from the goal from Bent (again - proving a great move pick if you had him for Week 1), Chelsea were camped in Sunderland's half, controlled the game and 3-1 was a fair result. Deco scored and played very well so could present another option, although I won't be barndooring him. Drogba won a penalty and missed a sitter, Ballack scored but looked poor overall. Malouda was on the bench and there was no sign of Anelka.

I'm now really tempted to get Lampard in before the values go up, but not sure I can find a way to get him in. I must admit, Chelsea look good.

Great result for Wolves and I bet that has well and truly knocked the stuffing out of Wigan after their fantastic result vs Villa. Not many points for fantasy managers with Wigan players, & none at all unless you picked up Keogh or Wolves defenders. Not sure yet how Milijas performed & Ebanks Blake didn't play due to injury.

If they can't muster a point vs Wolves, it really puts me off Wigan players for Week 2 with a home game vs Man Utd...and what could Rooney do against them?

Finally, Arsenal in the Champions League. Vermaelen looked outstanding, Fabregas looked fit and was fantastic again, Arshavin was quiet, Van Persie disappointing. I'm still not sure between Cesc & Arshavin but I'm more convinced than ever that Pompey are in for a hiding this weekend.

If you're looking at the barndoor right now, Deco, Lampard & Bent are the 3 players you'd want to get in. I think I'm sticking with what I've got for now. Still lots to think about before the weekend...roll on Wednesday night's games.

UPDATE - I've moved on to 166 points, in to 2,108th place overall & 7 players still to play tomorrow. Things are on the up!

Fabregas Doubtful

Thanks to Jeremy over on FantasyEPL for bringing Fabregas' injury to our attention.

Arsenal could be set for an injury blow ahead of the first leg of their Champions League play-off clash with Celtic at Parkhead on Tuesday night.

The Gunners have injury doubts over Bacary Sagna, Cesc Fabregas and Denilson, with captain Fabregas given only a 50-50 chance of playing.

Sagna took a knock in Saturday's 6-1 win over Everton while Denilson (groin) and Fabregas (hamstring) will also be assessed before the game, although midfielder Abou Diaby has recovered from a groin injury.

I have him barndoored, but a hamstring is something Wenger is unlikely to risk this early in the season. If Fabregas is out tonight & still 50-50 by the weekend I'll be making moves to get Arshavin in his place somehow.

It's one we'll definitely keep an eye on.

Blog League & Facebook Group

Just a reminder - there are now only 32 spaces in the 2nd (and final) Blog League. Once it's full I won't be creating anymore as I'm already in the maximum number of groups, so join fast if you want to get involved...

Blog League 2
----------------
Group ID#: 10006
Password: yahoo

Also, if you're on Facebook, please add yourself to the YFF Assistant Manager group by clicking on the Facebook box to the left of this post. It will help me to put some faces to names & also allow me to alert you when I post something I feel is really important.

Hope you can all join!

Cheers,
AM

Congratulations Chris M

I thought I'd put up a quick post to congratulate Chris M, Manager of Velvet underground allstars, who is not only top of Blog League 2 after the first round of games, but also joint top of the entire Yahoo Fantasy Football Leaderboard!

He had this to say on the message board after Saturday's points were in & he found himself 138th overall:-

I just want to talk some trash. At the end of day one I am top of the table with 135 pts. The trash talk is that I am an American (yea I know) who has never been to a football (soccer) soccer game. The 135 pts gets me 138th place overall, out of what, 900,000 players. If Rooney does anything tomorrow I might be top of the table overall. That would be a trip, even for one day.

Now for the problem. I leave for vacation tomorrow, for two weeks, with no internet access. So my time at the top will be all too short. So for the one day I am there I just want to gloat.

good luck to all the rest of the way.

chris m
velvet underground all stars

Of course, by the end of yesterday he was top overall, but he may well have missed this & he can't change his team for Week 2 or 3 due to his vacation. Hopefully he can look back on this post with some pride, because unfortunately he'll lose top spot by the time he returns.

Update from Chris this evening...

Thanks for the props. Here I sit, #1 in the world, and I am stuck in Chilmark Ma, typing this on a borrowed 15 yearold laptop hooked up to the net by a precarious dial up 28k connection. I feel like I am in the stone age. It takes forever to get a page to appear. So for the next two weeks I really can't do any research. I am reluctant to make any team changes less I screw it up and can't get back up. So my team will stand pat for the next two weeks.

I have to admit, when I got an email saying I was #1 overall it was a big thrill. Alas as I said in my first note, it will be an all too short stay at the top.

good luck to all the rest of the way

Cheers,
AM

My Early Week 2 Team

Things are looking up. I've finished the weekend with 129.5 points, 4,549th place, far better than the 37,000th I was in last night!

This is the team I have currently for Week 2:-

Given - Home game vs Wolves, only cost 6, good value pick.

Vermaelen - Goal on debut, easy fixture, only cost 6.

Wilkinson - Looks to be a secure starter and bargain at under 5. Wish I'd got him in for Week 1.

Bassong - Hero! What a debut, he stays for sure.

Ireland - Will no doubt cause Wolves problems, but may still be swapped out for an alternative to free up points.

Fabregas - Back to his best, but I'll make a decision between him and Arshavin.

Milijas & Gomez - Poor fixtures but great value, so both will probably stay.

Drogba - Season keeper for me.

Rooney - This is his big season.

Adebayor - Good fixture, but could go.

I'm fairly pleased with it. I was so tempted to force Gerrard in before his price jumped, but decided against it as I'd need to put 2 fillers in to free up the cash. Ireland could still go, Torres could still come in for Adebayor...a lot will depend on midweek performances.

Who did you snap up? Any regrets on players you missed?

Cheers,
AM

Sunday - Week 1

That's a bit more like it!

Manchester United have beaten Birmingham 1-0. Rooney popped up with a match winning goal & 5 shots on target, a clean sheet for Foster along with 3 saves & a clean sheet for O'Shea. My only disappointment was Valencia who didn't do too much, but I still expect a good 50-60 points from the game. Much better!

Now onto Spurs v Liverpool...


UPDATE @ 6.00pm

So pleased with how today has gone, plenty of points and a win against Liverpool - I LOVE FOOTBALL!!!! :)

114.5 points so far with Bassong's points to come and then the midweek games, the planned for 200 points for Week 1 is now perfectly possible. I'm 6,700th overall and still not in the Top 50 in the Blogger Leagues so there must be some managers in the league who are really high up the overall leaderboard.

Thanks for all your comments, Torres did nothing so his value will dip & I may well snap him up. Would love Gerrard in too but can't work out how I can afford him.

Hope your teams are all doing well!

Cheers,
AM

Week 1 So Far...

37,000th. Oh dear. So far I have had a TERRIBLE Week 1 in general terms AND the YFF Blog Leagues. I'm 85th out of 100 in League 1 & 51st out of 65 in League 2. The worst start I've ever had!
===============
Team Name = Modric is God (the irony of not picking Modric isn't lost on me).

Good Stuff = Drogba (I love you), Milijas, not swapping Malouda for Valencia.

Bad Stuff = Everyone else having Drogba, Lampard playing poorly, Mokoena & Alexander getting minus points, dropping Rodallega for N'Zogbia for a hunch pick yesterday, telling people to buy Hunt & Bent in the past week but buying neither. Deciding Gomez wouldn't start.
================
The only good news is everyone in my team still has the chance of playing 1 or 2 games. I'm sure a lot of people are in the same situation, but I still aim to end the week in the Top 50 of League 1.

I'm off to White Hart Lane tomorrow & hope for a far better start for Spurs. How have you done so far? What are you thinking for Week 2?

Cheers,
AM

Week 1 - My Team

Foster

O'Shea Bassong Alexander

Valencia Lampard Milijas N'Zogbia Mokoena

Rooney Drogba

So, this is what I settled on. N'Zogbia is my hunch, Valencia was going to be swapped for Malouda but then I had a dream last night (yes, I dream about Fantasy Football) that Valencia scores vs Birmingham, so he now stays. Mokoena is my regrettable filler.

After weeks of chopping & changing I'm not even that pleased with it - but it is what it is! Good luck to everyone, I'm off down the pub for a day off football!

Cheers,
AM

Week 2 Preview

Now to get ahead in Yahoo's Fantasy Football game, you always need to be thinking 1 step ahead of the rest. I am now fairly settled on my team for Week 1, so my attentions are turned to Week 2.

If you're looking for Week 1 information, you'll find it in the post below this one.

Week 2 is a single game week for all teams, with the fixtures below:-

WEEK 2 FIXTURES
Saturday, 22 August 2009
Arsenal v Portsmouth, 15:00
Birmingham v Stoke, 15:00
Hull v Bolton, 15:00
Man City v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Sunderland v Blackburn, 15:00
Wigan v Man Utd, 15:00

Sunday, 23 August 2009
Burnley v Everton, 15:00
Fulham v Chelsea, 16:00
West Ham v Tottenham, 13:30

Monday, 24 August 2009
Liverpool v Aston Villa, 20:00

As a general rule you want to prioritise picking players from teams you feel will win and keep clean sheets. Now from those fixtures, 2 stand out immediately: Arsenal at home to Portsmouth & Man City at home to Wolves. Also of interest are Liverpool at home to Villa (they beat them 6-0 last season) & Man U @ Wigan. You may also want to look at Chelsea @ Fulham & Everton @ Burnley, but I feel these could both be tougher games. I'll probably be avoiding the majority of players from Birmingham v Stoke, Hull v Bolton & West Ham v Tottenham. Sunderland are an okay bet at home to Blackburn.

Why am I already thinking ahead? Well, you can be assured that by the end of this weekend's fixtures, a lot of player's values would've changed as they perform either badly or well. From a Week 2 point of view, you don't need to worry about the players who perform badly as their cost is likely to decrease - it's the players that perform well you need to worry about.

Once the Week 1 deadline passes at midday this Saturday, you are able to start changing your team for Week 2 ***. This means you can snap up players before their values go up as a result of their Week 1 performances. The original bloggers Jeremy & Neal labelled this period "The Barn Door", obviously because it's as if Yahoo leave the door open to allow managers to pick up players before their prices change. Of course, you don't get the points the player earns in Week 1, but you can take advantage of picking up players before their price rises. If you don't do this and wait until midweek to start making your changes, you could find you can't afford "form" players who may have been available to you if you'd snapped them up on the barn door.

For Week 2 I will be looking to get in as many Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool & Man U Players as I can, with a few Chelsea & Everton players in there too & if it's absolutely necessary I will fill a few spaces with cheaper players from the remaining fixtures (Sunderland).

Arshavin, Van Persie, Fabregas, Walcott, Vermeulen, Almunia, Tevez, Adebayor, Robinho, Ireland, Wright Phillips, Toure, Given, Gerrard, Torres, Kuyt, Insua, Johnson, Reina, Rooney, Berbatov, Owen, Valencia, Foster, Lampard, Drogba, Malouda, Bosingwa, Cech, Cahill, Osman, Jo, Saha, Baines, Howard, Bent, Richardson, Jones etc etc. These are all going to be players you'll want to be looking at & deciding on before their prices (possibly) increase around 7pm Saturday/Sunday (depending on how quickly Yahoo will be updating the points this year).

You can either wait until after the results on Saturday before making your changes before the points/values are updated (so you know who's scored/looked in form), or if you know you will not be at a computer at this time, make your changes straight after the deadline - of course this is riskier as you may miss out on a player or drop a Week 1 player who performs unexpectedly well.

PLEASE REMEMBER - YOU MUST SAVE YOUR CHANGES. If you change some players but DO NOT save your changes, and players prices increase after this time, when you do come to save your team you will not be able to as your team's total cost is likely to exceed the £100 million limit.

I imagine a lot of you already use this tactic. I never used to until a few seasons ago when I realised that it's what 99% of players in the Top 500 do to keep ahead of the rest. Fantasy Managers who wait until midweek will never be able to afford all the players that Managers who get things done early can.

I hope this all makes sense and is of some use to you.

*** This entire post is written assuming Yahoo keep "The Barn Door" for the 09/10 season. If they were to close it and not allow players to change their teams until all fixtures are completed then most of what I've just written is completely irrelevant...although you'll still want to be looking at these teams/fixtures for Week 2.

We'll know for sure at 12:01pm on Saturday 15th August.

Cheers,
AM

p.s. If you're on Facebook, please add yourself to the YFF Assistant Manager group by clicking on the Facebook box to the left of this post. It will help me to put some faces to names & also allow me to alert you when I post something I feel is really important!

Due to demand I've opened a 2nd Yahoo Blog League, already half full, so be quick if you want to join...