Friday 2 October 2009

Week 8 Preview


Happy FIFA 10 Day!

Firstly, before we kick off Week 8 chat I'd like to discuss Week 7. I still have some BIG decisions to make, but I've at least managed to cut the list of players I'm considering from 45 to 18

Keepers: Foster, Hennersey, Myhill


It's almost certainly going to be Foster but I've been playing around with the idea of Myhill as I can then strenghthen my midfielder hugely. Hennersey is another option to free up £3m.

Defenders: Vermaelen, O'Shea, Heitinga, Sonko

Not alot going to change here, with the only option to downgrade O'Shea to Sonko to save £2m, again to upgrade a midfielder.

Midfield: Fabregas, Arshavin, O'Hara, Billy, Kightly, Cahill, Hunt

This is where I'm having trouble. I'm seriously thinking of either Cahill or Hunt in place of Kightly or Billy, which is why I may need to downgrade Foster. It'll be something I'll spend today thinking about but I have this real hunch about Cahill. I've watched Everton's past 2 games & he looks close to his best again - like he could score everytime makes his late runs in to the box.

Strikers: Torres, Drogba, Van Persie, Rooney, Berbatov, Crouch

Torres & Drogba are staying. I know people are thinking of dropping Torres but at £16m I think he'll be a long term pick for me, despite his tough upcoming schedule. His Liverpool league record is now 46 goals in 58 starts + 6 substitute appearences, which is phenomenal. The other spot is uncertain. I like all 4 of the options, especially Berbatov but I'm leaning towards Rooney because...well, he's Rooney!

So lots of Friday decisions still to make, I'm sure many of you are in the same situation.

Now after this weekend there's a break for internationals (boooooooo), so the next round of games aren't until October 17th - plenty of opportunities for injuries etc but there will still be a barndoor to utilise this weekend. So we move on to the Week 8 Preview (which could end up as Week 9 depending on what Yahoo decide)...

Week 8 Fixtures
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Arsenal v Birmingham, 15:00
Aston Villa v Chelsea, 12:45
Everton v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Man Utd v Bolton, 15:00
Portsmouth v Tottenham, 15:00
Stoke v West Ham, 15:00
Sunderland v Liverpool, 15:00

Sunday, 18 October 2009

Blackburn v Burnley, 13:00
Wigan v Man City, 16:00

Monday, 19 October 2009

Fulham v Hull, 20:00

The stand out fixtures? Well, almost all of them offer value this week. Arsenal at home to Birmingham, Man Utd home to Bolton, Everton at home to Wolves, Spurs at Portsmouth really stand out. Others to look out for are Fulham at home to Hull, City at Wigan, Liverpool at Sunderland & Blackburn home to Burnley who are terrible away. I'll avoid Stoke v West Ham & Villa v Chelsea with the exception of Drogba.

Players to grab on the barndoor? Blimey...

Man Utd: Rooney, Berbatov, Giggs, Nani, Scholes, Fletcher, O'Shea, Vidic, Evra, Foster

Arsenal: Van Persie, Fabreagas, Walcott, Arshavin, Rosicky, Vermaelen, Mannone/Almunia

Everton: Saha, Yak, Billy, Cahill, Pienaar, Baines, Heitinga, Howard

Spurs: Defoe, Keane, Crouch, Kranjcar, Modric (if back), Lennon, Hudd, Bassong

Fulham: Johnson, Zamora, Murphy, Dempsey, Paintsil, Schwartzer

Man City: Adebayor, Tevez, Petrov, Wright Phillips, Richards, Bridge, Given

Liverpool: Torres, Gerrard, Benayoun, Riera/Babel

Blackburn: Roberts, Dunn, MGP, Givet, Robinson

Others: Drogba, Ballack, Zhirkov, J Cole, C Cole, Diamnti, Noble, Milner, Young, Agbonlahor, TUNCAY ;)

I will be properly loading up on Man U, Arsenal, Spurs & Everton this week.

Top Pick: Rooney at home to Bolton.

Again, a reminder that The Blog Cup starts this Weekend for all members of the 3 Blog Leagues. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please click here. Remember, The Blog Cup is just a bit of fun so don't sacrifice long term strategy for it (unless you really want to!!).

Also, remember we have the Facebook Group which is continuing to grow in numbers & helpes me put faces to names & have some additional chat.

Week 7 Injury News & Match Previews will be up later today, until then post your teams up - I'll try & have a go a giving advice on as many as I can. What are the "make or break" decisions keeping you awake at night?

Cheers,
AM

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

AM - why not give a copy of Fifa 10 to the top 5 finalists??

Assistant Manager said...

@10:29am...and maybe their own weight in gold? ;D

A nice thought, but the shirt I'm offering is costing me £40 out of my own pocket so I'm afraid I can't afford to offer another £150 worth of computers games!

Cheers
AM

mudwalkerz said...

LOL

AM you really need to block those anonymous posts... usually it's just people being silly.. or too lazy.. either way.. more fun when people post their name.
Actually dont think any of us entered this blog/ the league or the yahoo fantasy game to win any prices. There are other fantasy games for that.

Good luck everyone today with keeping their hands off their selection ;)

Ian Sanderson said...

I'm sure if anyone wishes to donate any prizes (or cash) AM would appreciate it.

mudwalkerz said...

tss.. being at home on a friday is not a good thing! Too much options... to pick around the points. Yahoo should add 3 substitutes.. for which you would get half the points? Better than double points for a captain..as in some other games..I think.
On 3 unsaved friday changes for now :S

Assistant Manager said...

Indeed Ian ;)

I've added a Paypal "Donate" button in the top right of the blog just incase anyone feels especially generous & wants to donate the odd penny here or there.

I'd also been planning on offering a prize to the overall top scorer in all 3 of the blog leagues at the end of the season & this will again come from my pocket, but anything people give (even pennies) would be a massive help. I'm not expecting anything mind you!

Cheers,
AM

Blanco said...

Hi AM,

First, you're the man. Thanks for the massive effort you're putting in the blog.
What's your thought on:
Jarvis, Alexander -> Cahill, Sonko

Alexander is taking penalties and Jarvis should have a good game against Pompey (especially because I think they will play less motivated because of the pay checks problem).

Also I have Saha and I'm thinking replacing him with Crouch?

Cheers,
Blanco

Assistant Manager said...

Hey Blanco - I'd keep Saha, as for the other 2...I like Cahill but if you already have Saha then go for the first option of Jarvis/Alexander.

Thanks for the kind words!

AM

greginho said...

AM,
i am still torn
gallas, heit. verm.
fabregas, lennon, ohara, bily

or

sonko, heit, verm.
geovanni, lennon, ohara, bily

i never go for high end defenders. i have verm. and heit., like the rest of us, at beginning price. i looked at gallas and i can get 10-12 out of him and geovanni. is that more than what fabregas and sonko would get me? this is coming from an arsenal fan and a fan of fabregas.

Anonymous said...

Hi AM,
Doubt Nani(8.76) or Ballack (9.43)/Deco(7.58) will be play this week.
Any replacement other than Hunt(8.96)?

Rgds.
Ajani

greginho said...

oh sorry,
i forgot to mention i have giggs now with bridge in defense, at +.36. do you think i should keep giggs with lennon? there is a 2 week break after this weekend and giggs might be more inclined to be included in the starting line-up.

i never get around to thanking eveyone who has given me advice over the season, so thank you!

Doctor Teeth said...

Greghino - your options don't make sense...Gallas/Fabregas cost significantly more than Sonko/Geovanni so there must be some corresponding change in your front line/GK as well?

greginho said...

thanks doctor teeth i had it backwards. i was in such a hurry
it would be fabregas and sonko
giggs and bridge
or geovanni and gallas
sorry

Anonymous said...

I'd go for option three, I think.

Still too much uncertainty over whether Giggs will start, I think.
Sonko has been punching above his weight.
Geovanni seems to be hitting his stride and Gallas has a good chance for a clean sheet (and goal).

Anonymous said...

Hi AM, Rate my team please
Jensen
Verma, Hei, Bassong, Alexander
O'hara , Bily , Lennon
Drog, VPersie , Rooney

Still thinking to replace Jensen with Myhill, and use the money to strengthen my midfield, what do u think?

From
Joseph

greginho said...

Ajani,
what about k. boateng or jarvis?
if you can afford geovanni he is another great pickup

Anonymous said...

decisions decisions...

at the moment going with a mid priced midfield of dunn, hunt, cohen, and billy

back is set. drogs and nando cheap and untouchable up top.

that leaves bent at +5.5, but 14 points to spend.

thoughts on replacing him with rooney? other option being an upgraded midfield where not as much value is locked in (dunn an exception at +3).

Conswaila said...

Hi All need help

Team 1
Myhill
Vermalen Hertinga Sonko
Arshavin/Fab Milner Billy O Hara
Drogba Torres RVP

or

Given
Vermalen Hertinga sonko
Fab Milner Arshavin Billy/ohara
Drogs Torres Tuncay

Please help, head melted
Fancy Arsenal big time , could have rooney in team 1 ,but not gone on it

Wat you think

ToffeeDave said...

AM good decision on Cahill if I must say so. I was thinking the exact same thing and Cahill even said it himself, he isn't the same player without Arteta feeding him dangerous balls, etc. and with Billy now taking that spot I see Cahill becoming a steady good producer, and when Arteta comes back, no one will touch him in terms of attacking midfielders. He was going to be my hunch pick (him or Geovanni)

Unknown said...

Just wanted to say thanks to Am for this amazing Blog. It has been a HUGE help this season, and I am so glad I came across it. Excited for the weekend!

Given
Vermaelen, Heitinga @7.27 :( , Bassong
O'Hara, Bily, N'Zogbia, Lennon
Drogna, Torres, Rooney

I've had a bit of a hunch with Cahill as well... and am considering switching Lennon for him. Both have good match-ups though and Lennon at 11 is hard to pass up. If I had Heitinga on the BD, the problem would be solved. Just swap him for N'Zogbia.
Hope to see Bily get the start. If he doesn't will probably swap Kightly in for him.

Anyone think Bassong to Alexander would be the right decision? Or Lennon to Cahill for that matter?

Kayoti FC said...

I knw O'Hara is on loan at Pompey, so will he be available to play against Spurs on Week 8?

Post a Comment