Friday 6 November 2009

Week 11 Round-Up & Week 12 Preview


Firstly i'll round up where I am for Week 11. The majority of you will have seen my Week 11 Player Picks post with 50 players in, but i've narrowed that down to 24 possibilities (with a few new entries). You'll notice that I've avoided Chelsea & Man Utd players (apart from Drogs), but that's only because it's going to be heated & is too tough to call...I'm sure it's going to be a cracking game!

Given
Kirkland


It's going to be Given in goal unless I decide to go with both Fabregas & RvP, in which case i'll need the £3m received for downgrading to Kirkland. Robinson is out of my thoughts as I reckon Pompey can win at Blackburn.

Vermaelen
Gibbs
Alexander
Nelsen
Cueller
Spector

Verm & Gibbs will almost certainly be in my team, so then it's just a case of choosing if Alexander stays or if I go with another option with a chance of a clean sheet. Spector & Cueller are 2 options not on my original player picks list, but I think they both represent great value & they're in consideration.

Fabregas
Benayoun
O'Hara
Petrov
Hunt
Etherington
Larsson
Dunn
Kranjcar
Babel

These are the 10 midfielder vying for 4 spots (possibly 5 if I go 3-5-2). I think even at £19m that Fabregas is great value - he's hitting the form of his life with 2 more goals in midweek & I shudder to think what he could do to Wolves. O'Hara is probably in, so then it comes down to trying to get set pieces takers in & Babel could come in as a handy filler to allow further purchases.

Van Persie
Drogba
Adebayor
Defoe
Tevez
Rodallega
Benitez

After missing Van Persie on the barndoor I probably can't afford him. As I've written previously I don't think having both in vs Wolves in necessary, especially at a cost of £35-£40m+. So if I don't stretch for him then it's Drogba (obviously) and then 1 of Adebayor, Defoe or Rodallega. I may also go for Benitez as I think he'll cause Liverpool's defence (which could be without Johnson & Skrtel as well as the suspended Carragher) all sorts of problems.

So those are the decision left to make, with plenty of injury & team news to come this afternoon which is only likely to add confusion.

Now, a brief look at Week 12 which will be Round 2 of The Blog Cup, in which 200 people remain. There is an international break first, so you have plenty of time to think about your team, but it's interesting to note that it's a double week for 4 team so keep that in mind for the barndoor.

Saturday, 21 November 2009
Birmingham v Fulham, 15:00
Burnley v Aston Villa, 15:00
Chelsea v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Hull v West Ham, 15:00
Liverpool v Man City, 12:45
Man Utd v Everton, 17:30
Sunderland v Arsenal, 15:00

Sunday, 22 November 2009
Bolton v Blackburn, 13:30
Stoke v Portsmouth, 16:00
Tottenham v Wigan, 15:00

Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Fulham v Blackburn, 20:00
Hull v Everton, 19:45

Double teams: Hull (2 decent home games), Fulham (1 away, 1 home), Blackburn (2 away), Everton (2 away).

Other decent fixtures - Chelsea home to Wolves, Man United home to Everton, Spurs home to Wigan, Stoke home to Portsmouth, Arsenal at Sunderland.

I'll be looking at Fulham players (Schwarzer, Zamora, Duff, Paintsil), Hull (Myhill, Hunt, Bullard, Geovanni), Blackburn (Dunn, Nelsen, Givet), Everton (Saha, Heitinga)  & then look to get 1 or 2 of Rooney, Giggs, Lampard, J Cole, Defoe, Lennon, Kranjcar, Etherington, Rosicky, Nasri, Fabs, RvP. I think striking the right balance is going to be extremely tough.

That's it for now. Week 11 team/injury news will be up later this afternoon.

Cheers,
AM

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post AM.

WHy did you decide to drop Kyrgiakos from your shortlist?

Drake

Assistant Manager said...

Hi Drake - Liverpool can't defend at the moment & he had a shocker vs Lyon so I'm looking elsewhere. He's not a bad choice though, provided you can find some sort of confirmation that he'll start.

chris m said...

I second AM's comments. Krygiakos looked horrible against Lyon, he allowed the winning goal and almost another. Liverpool is a total clusterf*#k at the moment.

@AM it looks like we will run out almost the same team this week. You saw mine I'm guessing yours.

The one big difference is I am keeping Rooney. I am just stuck on him which will probably be my downfall this season. How about Chelsea 4-2 over ManU with ManU's donut defense getting torn up by Drogba and Rooney trying to bring them back by himself and scoring 2 with 10 shots on target. No, its 7 in the morning I am not at the Pub yet.

If not Rooney I would go for Defoe, who is probably going to go nuts after sitting for 3 weeks.

good luck all

chris m
velvet underground allstars (I keep pushing this because I want all you young guys to listen to the band)

mudwalkerz said...

Was also looking at Spector as one of the options for this week.. but probably going to stick to my back 3 incl gibbs. First I wanted Bellamy up front.. he was my first hunch for this weekend.. but cant really fit him in, even if I drop A. Reid. (which I hope I wont regret it once again). With cattermole and cana out.. they might get a bashing from Tottenham. And the ahead schedule is not so good.. so by tonight A. Reid will most likely be gone. Had bd'ed Dindane last weekend and even though I think he might score again this weekend I'm probably going to drop him as well. So that leaves me with two spots open and 18mil available. Stick with Reid and Dindane at big discounts.. or go with some hunches.. arggh fridays ;)

Anonymous said...

AM - Any reasons you went for Nelson ahead of Givet, apart from price?

Team at the moment is -

Given
Verm Givet(BD) Zabaletta(BD) - thinking of swapping in Gibbs or going 4 at the back

KBoat O'Hara Aqu THudd
Drogs torres Ade

Now the dilemma, drop Torres and go with Fabs!!!!
Think I am going that way but Torres v Birmingham just seems so tempting!!!

Midfield will probably change a little if I make the move to Fabs.

What do you think?

Dave

saitofall said...

@ Chris Velvet Underground are brilliant, sadly I am no longer yound at 21.
@ AM why no kranjcar the sunderland/Tottenham tie is going to be high scoring and I have a hunch that Bentley will not be intruding on his free kicks week.
I have a hunch that Bolton will upset Aston Villa so Lee Chung-wong is my dark horse pick. P. Scharner could be a smart pick in the wigan/fulham tie as he scores goals and I feel there is a chance of a clean sheet
So here is my formation
Given
Verms Gibbs Alexander
Fabs O'hara Kranjcar Lee Chung-WOng
Drogs Dindane Eduardo
any thoughts

Assistant Manager said...

Hi Dave - The Nelsen over Givet thing is purely down to price. If I'm spending almost £6.5m on a defender it won't be a Blackburn one :)

Saitofail - Kranjcar should've be on my list, he's also someone I've been considering. I just missed him off (but he's been added now!)

MH said...

Hi AM-should i stick with Torres at 18.19 for this week?

Anonymous said...

will myhill start?
i want to BD him because 2 home games look very tempting.

MJ

Anonymous said...

defoe or adebayor?

Anonymous said...

Right now the only players in my team that worry me are Tevez and Palacios. I had a big dilemma between Palacios and Rodwell, when the price isn't a factor.
Tevez worries me because if Adebayor is back, I'm not sure he'll play a big role in ManC (or play at all). He had only one game with above 8.5 points, but so did others in his price range - Beattie, Zamora and Crouch, all with match-ups that aren't bad. For now I'm keeping Tevez&Palacios, though I'll be glad to read advices.

SF

Anonymous said...

my team so far:
robinson
verm, sonko, gibbs
fab, fletch, babel, larsson
drogba, defoe, ade

any thoughts...?
just kicked torres out. too scared he might not play. besides i reckon what AM said about defoe having to start worry about owen was a valid point. and hopefully, ade, although i severly dislike him, will retain his form.

as a Ășnited fan i'm REALLY worried over this sunday. biting my nails. not often do i feel like we are such udnerdogs as now with chelsea on FIRE!

van someone please explain to me how the barndoor exactly works. you all talk about it but i don't know exactly what it is. cheers!

and keep up the good work AM.
one last point? shouldn't it say 28 years old on the first page by now? :)

mudwalkerz said...

from the guardian:

Liverpool's Fernando Torres faces three-week lay-off

• Specialist advises conservative treatment to avoid surgery
• Liverpool striker likely to miss four matches for Liverpool


will Benitez listen .. or take the risk.. because he fears for his job?

Fidan said...

@ Anon - Barndooring means buying a player while he is still playing or has just had a productive game and his price is about to go UP...!!! But please, DO NOT forget to save the changes you make after buying the player...!!!
For example...If AReid is having a hell of a game and scores a winning goal from a set-piece his price is ALWAYS gonna rise, so you swap him for someone you won't keep for next week and SAVE THE CHANGES...!!! If KDavies just commited 10 fouls, 1 yellow card and not a single SOT, there is NO NEED to bd him as his price is GOING down...!!!

Good luck on next BarnDoor ;)

Anonymous said...

@AM

If you think Pompey can win at Blackburn, why are you considering Nelsen at defense? I don't see a clean sheet for either team in that game.

Anonymous said...

thank you fidan! :)
and is this something that yahoo has "missed" or is it actually meant for people to be able to barndoor people?

and im hoping torres wont play since i just got rid of him...

Assistant Manager said...

sltram01 - Because Nelsen is the cheapest defender guarenteed to start. There's hardly been any clean sheets all season so I wouldn't let that put you off anyone. I'll avoid him if I can can but if I need an extra £0.5m to spend on a striker or midfielder then he's my man.

Bethchapmans said...

HELP!
Keep Lamps at 18.3 (21.73) or go with Fabs at 19.39.
I like Lamps because of his form and the discount but he's up against ManU
I like Fabs because of his form and he's up against Wolves but I already have 3 Arsenal players including RVP at 18.57 (22.94). Too many eggs?

Current team is
MyHill (fit?)
Verm Alexander Gibbs
Lamps O'Hara Hunt Fellaini
Drogs RVP Dindane

Bojan said...

Baines, maybe??? 12M but he can get 12 points very easily, and maybe he can end up playing in midfield on Sunday

mudwalkerz said...

Bethchapmans... myhill is out still for this one I think.. listed as doubtful still at least

David said...

AM, how come Dempsey wasn't mentioned in the week 12 preview? He isn't injured is he? No love for him? =)

Anonymous said...

No love for the Arsenal Gamble AM? Eduardo/Nasri/Rosicky...hmmm

I still have Bily, as the double game means its only 2 game weeks hes banned for...and he's fantasy gold. That said Aquilani might well be a valid replacement if I do drop him.

So my decision at the moment runs Bily & eduardo (wasting muchos cash)/defoe/Bent, or eduardo and Benayoun

thinking i might go with the first one and get defoe in.

Anonymous said...

OK!.. I might be foolish but I have 3 Arsenal Defenders! =)

Just wanted to let y'all know! =)

imues said...

my final lineup..

kirkland

verm..heitinga..gibs

KPB..Febregas..Hunt..Cohen

Drogba..Adebayor..Defoe

mikl-em said...

What do you guys think of Boyce from Wigan? Right now he's on my backline on the strength of the home game and what seem decent stats for the price.

Other options from AM's original list would be Nelson or Wilko. But i just dont have a lot of faith in either of those sides. Looking for any other alternatives in an under 7.5 price range.

Pleased to have Drogs, Defoe & Bent as my strikeforece (one of the best & 2 with something to prove). I really need a good week!

Anonymous said...

Anyone know if Matty Taylor was benched last weekend due to the midweek game, or are there other issues? I have him cheap. But if he sits another week.... ? (Donegal08)

Anonymous said...

Also... Eduardo. Any Gunners fans know if he will start? Seems logical, w/all the injuries. (Donegal08)

Anonymous said...

taylor was benched by megson so they could match chelse's diamond last week. he will start this next game

Anonymous said...

Love this blog AM. Thanks very much!

I am relatively new to all this-please excuse the ignorance- but what do you all mean by "barndoor"? From the context it seems like people you feel are undervalued that you pick up immediately for the next week while still relatively cheap?

Anyhow, I spent 100.00 on the nose this week.

Almunia

Vermaelen, Alexander, GIbbs

Cole, Nasri, Etherington, O'Hara

Drogba, Defoe, Rodallega

Good luck everyone.

Anonymous said...

Barndooring means buying a player while he is still playing or has just had a productive game and his price is about to go UP...!!! But please, DO NOT forget to save the changes you make after buying the player...!!!
For example...If AReid is having a hell of a game and scores a winning goal from a set-piece his price is ALWAYS gonna rise, so you swap him for someone you won't keep for next week and SAVE THE CHANGES...!!! If KDavies just commited 10 fouls, 1 yellow card and not a single SOT, there is NO NEED to bd him as his price is GOING down...!!!

Sulldaddy said...

SO I am torn this week between these choices:

beattie WITH drogba and rodallega

OR

Hunt WITH O'hara,etherington, fabregas,and noble

basically it is a lineup question 3-5-2 or 3-4-3....

i like the MF matchups better but lean towards 3 strikers most weeks...

Anonymous said...

Any thoughts on Jummy?

I was going to give Hunt a chance, but the news is suggesting Jummy would play...argh

However, this is my team for the week.

Kirkland

Verm, Gibbs, Zabaleta

Fab, Benayoun, Babel, Etherington

H. Rod, Defoe, EDS

I think Liverpool would bounce back at home.

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