Wednesday 12 August 2009

Holland v England


A 2-2 draw and a very enjoyable game to watch, with plenty of performances that could give fantasy managers something to think about with just 3 days to go until the first deadline of the season.

England were the better side, especially in the 2nd half. Jermain Defoe, Carlton Cole & James Milner were all extremely impressive as England substitutes, with Defoe looking very sharp & bagging 2 goals, Cole giving a masterclass in hold-up play & Milner doing more in his first 5 minutes than Ashley Young did in his 65.

Frank Lampard was anonymous for much of the game, but still managed 2 shots on target & an assist, emphasising why he is fantasy gold even when he doesn’t play well. Wayne Rooney looked busy in the 1st half, but Gareth Barry & Rio Ferdinand looked very rusty and were culpable for terrible mistakes that led to both Dutch goals. Glen Johnson still doesn’t convince me, tending to panic defensively, get caught out positionally & make rash tackles. Saying that, he always looks dangerous when flying forwards - and that's what gets defenders those extra points.

On the Dutch side of things, Dirk Kuyt scored and also looked decent, but Van Persie did nothing, being removed at half time & Babel gave glimpses but nothing more as a 2nd half substitute.

It leaves me with something to think about. I had Defoe in my team for the majority of July but swapped him out to squeeze in more Chelsea & United players. To get him back in now would take some serious rearranging, but then he was seriously impressive.

Who/what impressed you tonight? I imagine it wasn't Rob Green's kicking...

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Cheers,
AM
Yahoo Fantasy Football Blog

2 comments:

Dave said...

Funny you mention this AM, as I also had Defoe in one of my original line-up drafts. But then Harry bought Crouch, so I got cold feet about keeping him, fearing getting burned by a striker rotation. And a little leary about the match-ups, but maybe worth reconsidering; we all know Jerm loves to shoot shoot shoot...And maybe taking him can differentiate me from the Drog/Roon/Torres picks I expect many people to make.

Assistant Manager said...

Agreed Dave - I'm annoyed I dropped him. He was my first hunch pick of the season, but I abandoned him to jump on the Man U & Chelsea bandwagon. As I mentioned above, I would need to make big changes to get him in now.

If I don't pick him & he scores a couple, I'll be annoyed from a fantasy point of view, but delighted from a Spurs point of view, so it's ALMOST a no lose situation!

Almost...

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