Tuesday 15 September 2009

Week 5 - Early Player Picks

Rarely has there been a week when there are SO many good options. Usually by the time I whittle my list of players down there are around 25, so I go through each recommended player 1 by 1 in detail. This week I've just finished writing my list up and there are FIFTY (50) which is unbelievable...especially as I still feel I've missed a few players off!

Therefore, this week is slightly different. I'm listing all the players who should be in consideration with a one line description for you to have a scan through. As we get closer to Saturday (after European games/injury news) I'll go into more detail for the top picks in each position.

For now, here are the players on the list...

KEEPERS
Friedel - The best possible fixture, but expensive. I rarely spend over 10.00 on a keeper
Almunia - Great fixture & price has dropped significantly
Howard - Nice fixture but a touch price so possibly better option
Gordon - Cheap & decent fixture so a real possibility
Foster - The Champions' goalkeeper at home at under 9.00 can never be ignored no matter the fixture
Jensen - BillTheGrunt's mate just keeps putting the points up no matter how many Burnley concede
Myhill - Dirt cheap & at home to a team struggling to score any goals

DEFENDERS
Vermaelen - Great fixture, dangerous at set pieces, clean sheet chance
Warnock - Best fixture, will get forward, great clean sheet chance, my top defensive pick of the week
Dunne - Best fixture, great clean sheet chance
Heitinga - Good fixture, should start & bargain price
Distin - Good fixture, still very reasonable but if you pick 1 Everton defender, pick Heitinga
Baines - Too expensive for me but if you have the guts, the spare cash or have him at discount then he's a great option
G Johnson - See Baines (only tougher fixture)
Queudrue - Consistently scoring points with or without Birmingham cleans sheets
R Johnson - See Queudrue
Cueller - If he continues to play at right back for Villa he's fantastic value
Wilkinson - Under 5.00, picks up points & not the worst fixture
Givet - If you have him really cheap then keep him, he keeps scoring well
Sonko - Bargain filler who should definitely start in a winnable fixture at home

MIDFIELDERS
Fabregas - Pricey but great fixture and after a couple of quiet weeks could be ready to turn it on
Young - Not performed amazingly but I have a hunch he could break out vs Pompey
Milner - If you can't afford Young, get Milner
Gerrard - I can't let him go, he's on Fantasy Fire & always performs well against the Hammers
Lampard - Good fixture at home, improving each week & has to score soon...sadly it could be against Spurs
Rosicky - If it looks like he could feature from the start he's the best value midfielder pick of the week in my opinion
Hunt - Performing fantastically & still under 10.00, good fixture at home, you could do ALOT worse
M Taylor - At home, always puts up points, takes penalties - expensive
Denilson - Good alternative to Fab/Rosicky at under 10.00
Reid - In top form, taking set pieces & no longer fat, if you barndoored him then keep him this week. I'm annoyed I didn't get him
Duff - See Reid (without the fat bit)
Benayoun - Amazing performance & value on the barndoor but I can't help feeling that getting him in is "points-chasing"...with Mascherano back how likely is it he'll definitely start in the same position AND perform again?
Jarvis - Home fixture & scoring better than Milijas...
Milijas - ...but Milijas is cheaper & still an option if you want to hang on to him for 1 more week.
Cahill - Good fixture, scored last weekend & tends to go on runs
Rodwell - Good fixture & cheap but watch starting status
O'Hara - Bargain & will take all set pieces
Gomez - He has a tough fixture, but if you have him around £6million then keeping him isn't a bad choice

STRIKERS
Van Persie - Pricey. I'm hoping he's rested at some point on Wednesday so he's ready to explode vs Wigan, otherwise I may have to reconsider.
Drogba - Unplayable & undroppable until the African Cup of Nations
Agbonlahor - Perfect fixture & his could give Pompey nightmares
Yakubu/Saha - Depends who is set to start. With Everton in trouble it could well be the Yak & he'd be a great pick...both are good value
Rooney - Why did I drop him in Week 2? Really don't know, but don't make the same mistake if you have him at discount
Torres - I've dropped him for RvP but he could still do well at Upton Park
Carew - Under 10.00, made a big impact at Birmingham so could feature & I doubt Pompey will be able to handle him
Eduardo - Like RvP, it depends if he gets game time on Wednesday
Bent - In form & nice fixture if you picked him up on the barndoor
Benitez - Surely must start this time? Again nice fixture.
Tuncay - Only at 1.00

That was exhausting! As I said I'll go in to more detail on Top Picks after we know all the injury fall-out from the Champions League & Europa League games.

Anyone you think i've missed?

Cheers,
AM

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where's the love for Jordi Gomez?

Assistant Manager said...

I'd forgotten about him as I've dropped him & he has a tough fixture, but you're right, if you have him around £6million then keeping him isn't a bad choice. I've added him above.

Anonymous said...

HI AM..

really need your advise.

Hunt and a warnock/dunne

or

Rosicky and G. johnson??

thanks very much and have a nice day !! :]

Anonymous said...

Tamir Cohen

chris m said...

AM-Great Post. Thanks for all the hard work. This is turning into to the best EPL blog/discussion group on the web.

chris m
velvet underground allstars

Anonymous said...

Aint there no love for Tamir Cohen... ??
He's a cheaper option compared to MTay..!!

Anonymous said...

@ Chris M -

whatd'ya think about Cohen??

Afrikan said...

i see K2 is not in ur list. does this mean he won't be playing cause of the ban?

greginho said...

ssshhhh! he is my secret pick

Anonymous said...

---

@ Anon-5:24 & 6:26 -

Good to see someone else pick Cohen..
Still,his place in my team is not assured..

It depends on how Arsene plays the guys..
I hope he makes sure that RvP is fit and
I hope Cesc plays for a full 90 .. =D

That way my discount on RvP will be really effective...

---

If the fore mentioned doesnt occur ..
I MIGHT bring in Rosicky (If he does not play today) for RvP and stick wit my two hunches up front..

And the rest would be utilized to upgrade my team

---

This is what my line-up currently looks like...
AND it's been like this for the past 4 days!!..

---

Myhill
Verm - Warnock - Heiti (?)
StevieG - Hunt - O'Hara (?) - Cohen (?)
Tuncay - *HuncH* - RvP (?)

---

So basically i have got three doubtfuls in my team...

All rests upon Arsene..

And PLUS! I still have 5$$ to play around with even with my current team..

But I'm not sure as to what to do..
as OHara is quite cheap and as AM mentioned he's takin' all the set-pieces..

---

Im cosidering the following players..

HEITI For -

SONKO/SHOREY/COLLINS/DUNNE/MR Q

COHEN+O'HARA For -

CESC/MTAY/BFAY + SONKO/O'HARA

RVP For -

ROONEY/CESC/MTAY/BFAY

---

What do you think guys??
Would appreciate all suggestions and advice!
Thanks!

---

Cheers,
~ Keith

Mike D said...

Would anyone like to make an argument for BFAY?

Assistant Manager said...

Everyone mentioning Cohen - I just reckon he's got lucky to have scored a couple of goals and that the £9million can be spent elsewhere in my opinion. The game is all about opinions, so good luck if you go for him!

Mike - Just have a feeling about Young. He'll take corners and free kicks and has an easy fixture, I know he hasn't been scoring well but it's a hunch!

Afrikan - Yes Adebayor will be suspended for at least 3 games, probably more.

Cheers for the kind words Chris M :)

Keith - current team looks good, but wait until after the Champions League to start making decisions on changes.

Cheers,
AM

Anonymous said...

Cohen is also prone to the odd yellow, if my memory serves me still! I second Chris - this is the best blog around. (Donegal08)

Anonymous said...

" Modric is God "

U know whom i'm talkin about..

Dear Mr XX..
Dont you think you team name is a bit outdated??? =P

Assistant Manager said...

Thanks Donegal!

@8.52pm - Not at all, he'll be back in a month and he'll continue where he left off :)

Kellz said...

@5:20pm: Well if you already have Hunt at discount certainly don't drop him for Rosicky. However I still like full price Hunt/Warnock since Hunt is a gaurenteed starter for Hull while Rosicky is not. But has many have mentioned wait until after wednesday to make a full decision.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the mention, AM. Not many people are jumping on the Beast bandwagon and I don't blame them. I only saw highlights of Liverpool v. Burnley but the lack of support he got from his back line was shocking. Still he made some great saves and the score would have been 7-0 without him. If he can consistently rack up FF points vs. midtable and poor sides as well as good ones he'll be a keeper.

Kellz said...

Considering going against some basic picks to try and gain up some more ground, last week I climbed 2000 spots into the top 6000.

Currently at:
Given, Verm, Heitinga, Parnabry,
Gerrard, Hunt, Rosicky, BFAY,
Gabby, Drogba, Tuncay

However I still haven't saved and I have RvP at his discount, which means no BFAY but I could get Warnock. Gabby has let me down last season after he puts up big numbers he returns with a 2.5pt performance. Its a gamble but hes my hunch, he had some monster games last season and if he can't do that against Pompey at home then he's lost all faith from me lol. BFAY might also be changed to MTAY which I also have at discount. Thoughts?

Assistant Manager said...

@5:20 - Hunt & Warnock

Bill - It took guts to go with him/stay with him mate, you deserve the rewards

mehicoradio said...

I'm trying to decide if i should go for a high cost option like Rooney or RvP or drop down to a player thats a risk but less people have in their teams.

Any suggestions on what to do? or is it just one of those things you have to figure out for yourself?

bean said...

Looks like Aluminum, RVP, & Denilson are not in the CL squad for Arsenal tomorrow. Aluminum(infection), RVP(knee), & Denilson(back) are out against Liege, but "have a chance of returning" for the Wigan match.

Douchebag United said...

Ashley Young vs. Matty Taylor

I haven't been impressed with either Young or Villa's performance against Pompey.

I understand hunches but do people look at historical play when looking at possible selections for the weekend?

ToffeeDave said...

Douchebag United how can you check historical performances when there is no precedent for what happened to Pompey. They are a gutted team who will be taken advantage of. Every top half table team can and should score 3+ on them. Also Im doubting Fabregas and might just swap for Gerrard, but knowing my luck I'll swap Fab and lose out on 20+ points.

Kellz said...

In any case its always good to pick the home team. Right now Pompey is looking like a broken squad gutted because of financial trouble. They will win some games, but as Dave mentions they will be taken advantage of.

I am skepticle of Gabby/BFAY who are both in my team. Both haven't "wow'ed" anyone and both have the ability to underperform in games that on paper are "easy/winnable by 3+". So I might friday trade and end up making a huge mistake, or saving myself the grief of 2.5pts from both.

Anonymous said...

My team for week 5 looks like this...

Myhill
Vermaelen Sonko Heitenga
Gomez Gerrard BFAY O Hara Milijas
Drogba RVP

Do people think RVP will play? If not im considering downgrading him to Eduardo and changing Milijas for Fabregas.

Great Blog by the way.

Scott

Bull said...

Diaby, Gomez or Jarvis? Which wud be d better option guys?

Dave said...

Looks like RVP is out of Arsenal's Champs League game today, with what is reported as a knee injury.

Anonymous said...

I don´t know how many that have M Richards in thier team but he is still pretty cheap for what he´s been creating these first games. It´s a really tricky fixture this week but in all the games I´ve seen this year he´s been amazing. He didn´t get the goal against Arsenal but I think it´s just a matter of time, he feels dangerous every set piece and gets forward much more then before.

I beleive that when this season is over he will be amongst the top 5 defenders. If he´s free from injuries.
Just a hunch...
//F.

Sulldaddy said...

Does anybody think Kitson at 4.7 is a good value for Stoke V Bolton? Putting him in allows my MF to be:
Lamps, Mtay, BFAY, and S Hunt with drogs and tuncay and kitson up front.

Any comments and thoughts would be great! I think could be good value for this week, I have 2.00 in the bank to upgrade for next week if needed.

Anonymous said...

@ Sullydaddy,

You also have Benitez (6.16) from Birm as an option instead of Kitson.

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