Week 4 - Early Team
GordonGivet Wilkinson R.Johnson
Gomez Gerrard Lampard [HUNCH]
Torres Drogba Tuncay
Gordon - I don't trust Robbo to perform well 2 games in a row but really fancy a clean sheet for Sunderland. If Gordon is set to start ahead of Fulop he'll probably stay.
Givet - Cheap & performing well
Wilkinson - Ditto
Roger Johnson - Not as cheap but putting up good points
Gomez - Home fixture & still taking shots & set pieces so should return at least 6 points
Gerrard - Perfect fixture, I expect him to put up huge points
Hunch - Secret ;)
Lampard - Not a certainty in my team yet
Torres - See Gerrard
Drogba - Staying at £10 million
Tuncay - No explanation needed
The real dilemma I have is Lampard. Is he worth almost £20million with a tricky away fixture at Stoke? Possibly not. It's either Roger Johnson + Lampard or Glen Johnson + Pederson/another midfielder between £11million & £14 million. I'm probably gonna have 2 or 3 units left over no matter what I choose, but I'm okay with that.
Lots of time left to decide...
Cheers,
AM
Givet - Cheap & performing well
Wilkinson - Ditto
Roger Johnson - Not as cheap but putting up good points
Gomez - Home fixture & still taking shots & set pieces so should return at least 6 points
Gerrard - Perfect fixture, I expect him to put up huge points
Hunch - Secret ;)
Lampard - Not a certainty in my team yet
Torres - See Gerrard
Drogba - Staying at £10 million
Tuncay - No explanation needed
The real dilemma I have is Lampard. Is he worth almost £20million with a tricky away fixture at Stoke? Possibly not. It's either Roger Johnson + Lampard or Glen Johnson + Pederson/another midfielder between £11million & £14 million. I'm probably gonna have 2 or 3 units left over no matter what I choose, but I'm okay with that.
Lots of time left to decide...
Cheers,
AM
42 comments:
spending "tuncay money" is tricky. it opens up too many options. instead of trying to squeeze an extra million out of your team to upgrade somewhere, we end up with 3-4 or more..
if i go with Tuncay, I'm leaning towards upgrading Bass to Samba/Bos/Dunne or putting Givet back there and upgrading Milijas or Jordi.
I'm thinking of dumping Milijas. A lot of people have called him a season keeper, but I'm not so sure. He's definitely pulled his weight by averaging a bit more than his cost, but I was kind of hoping he would be one of the break out bargain stars who comes into the system cheap and increases in value. Seems that's not the case, yet.
Looked at upgrading MyHill, but couldn't squeeze out enough cash to get beyond PRob/Gordon/C.Kirk. I'm happy with MyHill, he's served me well.
There's going to be a great deal of information to process between now and Week4. Between the new foreign transfers in, other transfers between EPL teams, players coming back from injury, players getting injured on international duties, and of course trying to guess who will survive all of this and be a starter in week4... that will be a lot to think about, but that's why we play the game right?
So, no concern on your end - I take it - that Wilkinson will lose his starting role in the Potters' backline given their newly signed defenders? I have him for short money as well but am concerned that he is going to relegated to a substitute's role.
Interesting to see that you are dropping Milijas.
Has anyone heard how severe Micah Richards's injury is supposed to be?
Can a toffee fan weigh in on the playing prospects for Bilyaletdinov? Hard to believe that he want star given the money they shelled out for him...great valuation.
@Doctor Teeth - couldn't find anything on Richards injury, only from match report: "Richards suffered an injury just before the hour mark, with his left leg locking, and needed to be replaced by Pablo Zabaleta." I'm guessing a left leg locking is something that would clear up in the span of two weeks, but who knows. I'd be more afraid of Arsenal winning the match 3-0 and Micah picking up some fouls and a yellow card (if he plays)
Bean I completely agree, I have already dropped Milijas directly after last weeks matches. Milijas for his role in Wolves has performed well under what he should, without a goal to show for it. My new pick is michael Kightly. I was going to pick him from the off but unfortunately he was injured in preseason so now that he is healthy, it's an easy pick for me. My only dilemna this week is how to fit Johnson, Rard and Torres in my lineup. I currently have Johnson and Torres but getting Gerrard would mean dropping one of them to fit him in...
With so many players seemingly on their way back from injury we'll be spoiled for choice!
I have Lampard and Gerard in at the moment but i might drop Lamps, bring in a new boy, and upgrade my defence or keeper (i have Robbo right now lol).
I'll be keeping a close eye on Kightly, Rosicky, Arteta and maybe Zhirkov, although it's hard to predict when the latter will be used.
Just been watching vids of Bilyaletdinov, not sure what to make of him really, he's nice and cheap though!
I'm not sure what to do with the Tuncay money...
At the moment I am just playing it safe with Lampard and Gerrard. However I would like to get Torres, but can't bare to drop Drogba or Ady (got him quite cheap and he is playing his old club).
Shame you can't stick 4 up front.
Anyone though about G. Jonson? May be over priced now, but can see him getting a clean sheet and some SOT at least.
Right Lamps has gone, and i'm not changing my mind again..... i think :-S
Right now I'm not sure even on Gerrard...Got the same problem as ToffeDave. Can't squeeze Glen,Gerr and Torr in a same team...
At my best version I can drop Gerrard to get Glen and even upgrade another defender...
Which one of the below option you fancy more...???
Gerrard/Givet/McCartney or
Pedersen/GJohnson/Insua
Thoughts???
Doctor Teeth,
I'm also interested in Bilyaletdinov. He didn't do much the first game but Everton is not a team that throws around 10 mil for a Russian league captain just to sub him in. Bilya is cheaper than Rodwell and appears to have more upside for this season... the question is when. I plan on riding him as filler once he gets real playing time.
For this upcoming week I like the idea of running 4 backs, specifically Vermaelen / Givet / Heitinga / Turner. I've ran with Lamps all season and have found it to be a waste of points when I could have at least ran with Torres (and I'm a scouser to boot!). I thought the diamond would help him but instead he has lost corners to the other midfielders and lost scoring opportunities due to Drogba / Anelka actually playing together. Now they're facing Stoke at home? I would rather spend that 19 on Turner and Nani (with the additional change I have) or Ashley Young and Rodwell / Bilya at this rate. Anyone else with me?
I've been on the G.Johnson train since week1 and he has served me very well. Hopefully, he can keep the production going.
@Fidan - I would think Gerard would be hard to NOT have in your team for week4. But I feel that when the premium players have that perfect, easy matchup, sometimes it doesn't always add up to great production. Also taking into account the fact that Gerrard has been doing well up to now, there's that greater chance of an off week.
MGP is a good pick, but I would worry about Insua with Aurelio potentially healthy again. Dunne(8.83) has a good matchup @B'ham or Skrtel(7.26) or Distin(7.10).
I am hoping that I have got this right and all you guys have got it wrong. Everyone is mad with Tuncay money. It seems that 99% of you guys are going with Tuncay for week 5.
I just don't see any sure things in midfield or defense to splash the cash.
My front 3 are" Torres/Drogba/Rooney.
I dropped Lampard to take Torres. I just can't see dropping any of the front 3 for Tuncay. The way things look now I am with them for the season, barring injury or red card supsensions (i.e. Rooney)
Lampard, again, looks way off his game. He is deferring his shots to Drogba/ Aneklka. He is even letting Drogba take free kicks. I am tempted with Gerrard, but considering money in, dropping Torres for Gerrard/Tuncay, just doesn't make sense to me.
Remember too Tuncay zealots, he is playing for Stoke, and there is no guarantee he is even going to start.
The dilemma here is that with Lampard imho, falling off, and aside from Gerrard, there are no sure fire high scoring bets in the midfield anywhere. Correct me please if I am wrong. So midfield is a crap shoot. There are surer things on defense, Vidic, Johnson, even Baines, but they have become very costly. And I don't think investing big $$$ in defense is a sound long term strategy.
So guys (generic). I am keeping my big $$$ up front. No Tuncay. I am 4th in group two, 185 overall, a few 1000 places ahead of our AM. We'll see how far I fall. All I know is week 4 or 5 is going to be interesting as hell.
chris m
velvet underground allstars
My early Week 5 lineup:
Given
G. Johnson, Verm, Givet
Jordi, Hunt, Gerrard, Milijas, MTay
Drogba, Tuncay
I dumped Rooney, Rodwell, and Wilko for Tuncay, MTay, and Johnson. I feel weird having effectively 1 forward(wish Tuncay was listed as a midfielder instead) but I like the matchups for the next week and all of those midfielders take kicks. Also nervous about dropping Wilk, but Johnson was the obvious upgrade to take with Tuncay coming in, and Wilk has tough matchups and an uncertain future as a starter. Also, Sonko is always there at 3-something and he'll presumably get to play for Hull.
Well for my Tuncay money, I have dropped Altidore, Deco, and Richards. And went with MTAY and Sonko alongside with Tuncay. I plan on upgrading sonko as soon as prices fall, such as MTAY, Gerrard, or Torres. I bought Torres last week and traded Lamps for Gerrard as well.
I am also not too sure on Zhirkov given the diamond.
I am happy with my team, with 2 good strikers, Drogs and Torres and two good middies: Gerrard and MTAY.
Though I could get rid of MTAY and upgrade Sonko and have a decent middie, but there are no good middies I want except for Lawrence on Stoke, since he takes there kicks.
Decisions, decisions...
Thoughts anyone?
Cheers
Cheers
Ok so just because i wanted to find out how many teams there are in total in the main league i just set up another account and team quickly, i'll also use it to test different tactics haha, lets hope i don't score a shed load on that one and not on my "good" team!
I've been wondering how a 4-3-3 with top quality defenders and mid range midfield and forwards would be, so that's what i've gone for.
Maybe i can satisfy my curiosity without ballsing up the proper team i have.
If anyone's interested in knowing the total teams entered i'll post it up when i know, as i'll be at the bottom of list. i think it was Kellz that suggested it so thanks for that :)
A propos of nothing:
(1) Echoing ToffeeDave, I had mentioned Michael Kightly in a previous post...total stud, probably player of hte year in the Championship last season. Should be returning for Wolves after the international break. Really interested to see if he can excel with the big boys in the Prem. If, as the day draw nearer, the reports are that he will play againt Blackburn, I will seriously consider adding him to my side (or, at the very least, barndooring him).
(2) Chris M - don't necessarily disgaree with you on Tuncay...if his value stays at or near 1 million, a play could be to sign him up immediatley after the transfer deadline to see how much he plays for Stoke. This approach especially makes sense if you are intrigued by other striker match ups for week five (i.e. DBent).
(3) Really like MTay to blow up at Fratton Park.
(4) How deep in the doghouse is David Bentley? I mean, here I was thinking that he had been handed a golden opportunity to reclaim his '07-08 form with Modric going down and lo and behold Harry is immediately on the phone trying to ship him to Man City and he brings in Kranjcar (great move, incidentally).
First, to start off I am #59 overall and #1 in the first group. at the moment I am sitting on
given
verm wilkinson g. johnson
lampard milijas gomez pedreson
torres drogba tuncay
my reasoning:
given - normally picks up a nice amount of save points, even against hard opposition
verm - got @6.02, hard to disagree with a goalscoring arsenal defender at that price, especially with how they are playing
wilkinson - has been returning good value since week 1
g. johnson - picked him up week 2, was slightly dissapointed (9 points) but watched last game and was very impressed. producing better than almost all midfielders and forwards at that price
milijas + gomez - have at 5.54. I'm not convinced on milijas but when you look at it they are both returning above their value, which is exactly what you want
lamps - While it is possible to drop him for gerrard, i'd have to make a sacrifice, and since I already have torres and johnson I think I'm covered on the liverpool front. I think that lampard is really going to pick up soon (just a hunch)
pederson - great a few seasons ago, could well be back to his best with the points he has been returning. good matchup
drogba - @10. you can't go wrong
torres - have him @ 15 :)) and has been producing very good points for me since week 1
tuncay - duh
matt c
The Replacements
This is weird. I almost think the whole season is going to be decided on a couple of decisions made as early as now in week 5. The pivotal decisions are whether you stay with, dump, or pick up with Tuncay money Lampard in week 5. Whether you dump whoever however for big $$-Rooney, Torres, Adeybayor, for Tuncay. And who you use the big $$$ for in midfield=the only viable option for me being Gerrard. I almost think we will know who wins this whole thing this week.
chris m (who is taking the time off the EPL break by watching the US open on very big screen hi-def. And hoping the Sharapova, Clisters and Wozniki, get through to the semis, god I wish I was 25 again)
currently ranked 600th
im thinking that i will wait until after the chelsea stoke game for tuncay - if he starts hes straight in - i doubt his price will rise until after the fixture
ive currenty got
foster (6)
wilkinson(4) quedrue (7) belhadj (8)
gomez(5) milijas (5) a. young (15) nani (8)
drogba (10) rooney (16) tevez (9)
i would like to drop tevez for tuncay & upgrade nani to fabregas - however with the fitness cloud over his head he may be only good for 70 mins...
Why everyone is so hype up about tuncay, gerard and Lamp? what about Ashley young? Is he wasn't as good (in fantasy term) as last year?
I think Tuncay is worth a shot but putting Gerrard and Lampard would be imho, a bad move because the 20m can be spent upgrading 2-3 players rather than putting 1/5 of your team value on one player. if u ask me, go for gomez and pedersen coz they're bound for a goal one of the next 2 games with the amount of shots on goal they've been having. My team looks really cheap with Myhill at 1.33m and Tuncay at 1m. Other than that, looks good :D
Jeremy
AM
you really should go for m taylor with bolton playing portsmouth and g. johnson.
everyone, who is wanting to spread the money out amongst the midfield, should have taylor for this game. the nani fans are never gonna get their money's worth, until man u get an easier schedule.
i still may not go with tuncay, i am happy with rooney, drogba and adebayor as my strikeforce!
My post missing..
Here is a repeat:
My take on Tuncay.
Tuncay is priced at 1.0 and that is a real bargain for a player that worth 9 in the last season. But is he worth the valuable striker position? That's something yet to be seen.
On the other hand, most people will use the 'Tuncay Million' to join the S.Gerard bandwagon at full price. While Tuncay cost 1, Gerard will cost everyone 21.39 at the moment totaling to a reasonable amount of 22.39 for a striker and a midfielder.
That is about the same amount for the combination of a discount Roon (at 16) and a discount milijas (at 5).
Both T&G (full priced) combination and R&M (discount) can net you 20++ points a week. I think both is good enough.
The better option in my opinion is opting for a cheaper midfielder in place of StevieG (BFAY)might be a better option since the leftover money could be use to strengthen up the defense. But making that decision might cost you in the long run since SteveG is a supperior and more consistent player.
That just what my thought. Forgive my grammar, lol.
my early week5..
robbo
verma, wilko, sonko
lamp, gerrard, gomez, rodwell
drog, torres, tuncay
*money is tight, robbo's in.. but can be upgraded to myhill..
*wilk might not stay, but i'm open to suggestion..
*sonko.. my 'hunch' player for week5.. not a secret cos i still need advice on him..
*love my MF.. but still can change rodwell to someone else..
*drog @10 since week1.. season keeper..
*torres due to easy matchup..
*tuncay.. @1.. reason i can fit in gerrard..
any advice? (especially on wilko & rodwell)..
Max..
keeping Lamps and StevieG for the season is essential if you want to keep up with the leaders.. just like last season.. No CRON.. no good season.. i feel they are long term investments.. i don't like to change my core very often..
myhill
wilko, verma, richards (just picked up)
Lamps wk1, Stevie wk2, Milijas (1st wk) Hunt.
Drogs wk1, RooNaldo wk2.. + Tuncay.. i sold moko, cost me 2 cents..
if i make a change.. it will be richards due to injury.. maybe pick up birmingham defender Q or a new guy.. possible sell Hunt and upgrade for a higher defender..
i am 4386.. i am very pleased with team!!
i am sticking with my 4 horsemen!! barring multi week injury.. : ))) in Texas.. we have a saying.. "You Dance with who Brung ya"..
With the Tuncay millions, I am able to field this line-up:
Robbo
Verm, Jacobsen (or other 6-unit DF), Sonko
Gerrard, MTay, Pedersen, Milijas
Drog, Torres, Tuncay
I just LOVE the look of that front 7, and aside from Sonko, there is no filler there. Any thoughts?
What is the story with everyone jumping on the Pedersen bandwagon? He was consistently terrible as a fantasy performer last season...I can't tell you how many times I added him and Stewart Downing to my side last year only to be disappointed. Granted, this is a new campaign and maybe he has found his touch from a few years ago but I don't see the logic behind the rush to put Pedersen in your midfields.
Aside from the astronomically priced MFs (Gerrard, Lamps, Fabregas, Arshavin, MTay and AYoung), I submit that there isn't a MF that will consistently return the points of Glen Johnson. I'll put him at 11.5 million against any of those guys who are anywhere from 5-10 million more expensive and take the left over cash to upgrade another position.
I would not have both Torres and Gerrard on my side for Week 5 (unless you really have Torres at 15 million, an incredible discount which would be tough to give up). #1 - too many eggs in one basket. #3 - remember, Burnley has beaten Man United and Aston Villa and may not be the push over team we all expected them to be. #3 - I hear no one talking about him but I think Dirk Kuyt could have a big day...he misses a lot of sitters but gets his fair share of goals and SOTs.
right now my earlier line up;
r.green
wilkinson, givet, vermaelen
milijas, gomez, nani, lennon
drogba, torres, tuncay
any comment guys??
Torres, Kyriagkos, Nani OR MTAY, G. Johnson, Knightly? Thanks!
I am really really stuck.
I keep changing my team with the tuncay money and dont know what to land on. This is my early team.
Robinson
Givet McCarney A.Cole
Gerrard Mokoena Lennon Cattermole
Drogba Torres Tuncay
AM, do you think it is clever to put Cole in the team. He has a good matchup and has been doing well, but he is a very pricey defender. I was set on having Mascherano and Petrov instead of Lennon and Mokoena but decided I had enough Liverpool players and wanted a strong midfeilder. Any advice on what I should use the tuncay money for?
@jamie..
team looks good.. cole seems to be too pricey.. downgrade him to bosingwa if u fancy chelsea df.. if not go with everone else- vermaelen..
everyone said lamp will perform better than stevieG.. but that's your choice..
i consider cattermole as filler too.. means that u got 2 filler in mf.. drop moko and get rodwell in there.. or if u don't have enough funds, drop cattermole over moko..
imo..
Max..
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink to Hull
Hull was able to sign him after the transfer window closed because Celtic had let him go in the summer.
This one seems interesting (beyond the ungainly name), although I've been able to watch Celtic play only twice. I'm sure there are plenty of people who could give a good assessment.
-Bradley
Wow, apparently I should've read the whole Sky Sports page more carefully before posting. I've "buried the lead." FIFA has banned Chelsea from new signings for the next two transfer windows because of the way they acquired Gael Kakuta from Lens in 2007. Ouch. No impact here though apart from less new talent coming in next year. :)
-Bradley
I've watched JVoH several times, he can score goals in bunches but was also benched for ineffectiveness while at Celtic. Apparently Phil Brown wants more experience up front, and Jozy Altidore will keep coming off the bench.
just asking some stuff about barndooring.
Do the values of players update at the same time as what score they got?
If not, then how do you decide who to barndoor?
What is the best strategy?
Cheers
@5:19
It does update alongwith the score...you need to decide by ACTUALLY watch the matches which are crucial or the matches in which a player [who's in your mind] is playing...for example.. after i saw the ManU-Arsenal game and the 'Pool-Bolton game... i decided to drop Rooney for Torres...
The best strategy is to take a pen n paper and write down the scores for every player.. Eg... if "Striker" takes a SOT.. put 1 SOT against his name..if he wins a corner put a CW against his name ... if he gets a yellow .. put it against his name.. you get the idea,right?..
and then at the end of the match just go to the YFF rules page and see the scoring and evaluate accordingly....
this is what I do...and imo ..this is not that bad....
you can ask others for better strategies if you want to..
Cheers,
~ Sam
MTay or GJohn?????
i already have StevieG and Torres.. should i stick with MTay or go for GJ??
im not that sure as MTay takes all the kicks for bolton and is just waiting to score a goal...
on the other hand .... Glen is on a rampage!
whom should i go for??
Cheers,
~ Sam
Tough one Sam - if you get Johnson what can you do with the extra £2million you'd have compared to getting MTay?
Regarding Barndooring - there is a time frame (normally around 20 mins) after the points are posted up on the Player Listing before all the points are awarded to teams & player values change. If you happen to be at a PC during this time then you can check who scored well and quickly sort your team out, but it's safer to follow Sam's method and actually watch the games/read reports/check stats soon after the games to see who scored/got clean sheets/shots on target etc and act on this well before the points are updates.
Cheers,
AM
@ Barndoor-ing
Or...you CAN go to soccernet.com and find the game (i.e. player) you're looking for and then find GameCast. In the gamecast page you can see the commentary OR look at the complete stats. I'm 100% sure that the YFF actually gets the stats from there...
Example...
1)soccernet.com
2)Live scores (England:PremierLeague)
3)ex. P'mouth-ManCity (gamecast)
4)overview,COMPLETE STATS,match action (you choose)...
etc, etc....
Good Luck, but hey...don't lose your head barndooring :P:D...!!!
YNWA
i kinda wish their was no barndoor. i have three kids, 6 and under and committing that much time on saturday and sunday is tough. i am down in brasil and i can't watch the games, they tend to show italy and spain, and funnily enough france. some of the bigger games for premier league are on a regular channel.
i have to go to gamecast and go from there. i also follow another blog site on gamedays. if there was no barndoor, it would be more compettive. you would be making guesses on who will perform, which can have repurcussions beyond just one week. now you can barn door in someone to cover a mistake. it is more of a game.
i have been doing the other leagues fantasy, since they have been started and like them better. i tend to do better in premier league, though, but that was when i lived in the US and had a satellite.
it just sucks, when you make a sweet pick then every gets them for the same price!
Re: barndooring - I, like others, tend to watch the matches and/or have the gamecast open on my computer to see players stats as they happen. (@ Fidan - I thought Yahoo used Opta for their stats, as soccernet is not nearly complete enough to provide the YFF ones).
However, in order to avoid going overboard with barndooring, I always like to pre-select a team for the upcoming week, even before anyone plays, mostly based on match-ups. Then I know I am not merely grabbing someone for points-chasing.
My 2c.
Instead of going with Lampard & Gerrard (like a lot of people might be doing with the Tuncay discount)...what about Lamps & Cesc? He should be fit for the next match and his price has dropped to 16-something...that will leave another 5 or so for upgrading..
-B
I already have Rooney on discount. (16m compared to current 18m++), should I be keeping him?
If I do keep him, I have to choose between Tuncay/Gerrard/Milijas or Torres/Mokoena/K.Richardson.
Thanks guys.
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