Week 16 - Sunday
Have you stopped laughing yet?
Week 16 has turned in to the worst week I've ever had in my 6 years playing Yahoo Fantasy Football. I remember scoring 49 a couple of years ago but that was the only time I've failed to pass 50 (as far as I can remember).
I have Kirkland to go, so a clean sheet for Wigan with Kirkland saving 2 penalties & going up for a 94th minute corner to score a last minute winner would probably be the only way I'd get a respectable score. Hey, it's Christmas, it could happen! (UPDATE: It actually can't happen now as the match has been POSTPONED)
My team wasn't even that bad - so what went wrong? Well, it was generally a low scoring week as many of the big guns failed to fire but the fact I had zero goals was my biggest problem. Let's start with my strike force of Rooney, Drogba & Defoe...The 3 highest scoring strikers in the Premier League gaining 3.5 points between them. You can't predict something like that happening.
My midfield? Forget Belletti, he was a filler, but I expected points from Arshavin, Milner & O'Hara. 12 points between them. I'd moved heaven & earth to get Arshavin in which proved a huge errors as a midfield of Milner, O'Hara, Milijas, Billy (which was what I had upto Thursday) would've been 20 points more productive.
My defence picked me up 15 points which is okay, but the damage had already been done. As I've mentioned above, Kirkland is my remaining player tonight (not anymore)
I have to forget about Week 16 now - I'm out of The Blog Cup (results to be posted tomorrow after tonight's points are in) but we have a big double week coming up this weekend & the possibility that Arsenal, Stoke, Fulham & Bolton have a triple game week.
While these "triple" fixtures aren't listed, the games fall within the stated deadline...
Week 17 (deadline: Sat 26 Dec 12:00 GMT, for games Dec 26 to Jan 8)
...so we have to assume they will be included. Hopefully Yahoo will update the fixture list later in the week so we can be certain.
On the barndoor I grabbed Santa Cruz for under £5m (as I expect him to lead the line while Adebayor heads of the ACN) which I had to wave bye bye to Defoe. Lampard, Kranjcar & Bily also came in, along with Fulop in goal though I'm uncertain whether he'll stay. The only triple gamers I have so far are Stoke's Wilkinson & Vermaelen but if it's confirmed by Yahoo then I'd need to get an additional Arsenal player with possibly a Fulham or Bolton player to join them.
That's it for now - feel free to point & laugh at me & let me know how you got on. Who did you grab on the barndoor?
Cheers,
AM
46 comments:
AM - do you know when the players head of to the ACN? Basically, will Drogs play in both of his Christmas matches?
RS
It says here Drogba will be available for both Xmas games
http://www.londoninformer.co.uk/london-sport/allsport/2009/12/16/fulham-warned-about-drogba-113489-25405721/
Perfect - Cheers AM. That's solved about 5% of my worries. Now just the other players to stress about...
On 51.5 points myself for the week, but with Kirks left, I can easily see that dropping to below 50.
Have a good Christmas
RS
Last week one of the posters here mentioned that we should help AM out and pick his team for him since he spends all his time doing a great job widdling down the field of players to a managable list of 25 to choose from. Well, I reviewed all "final" teams posted from Thursday-Saturday morning on this website (and jeremy and neils) and the consensus opinion would have earned 57.5 pts w/ Captain Kirk still to go.
kirk(plays monday)...verm(9)/ivanovic(6)/bassong(6.5)...arshavin(7)/downing(6)/milner(1)/ohara(3)...drogba(3.5)/rooney(1)/ebanks-blake(14.5).
just thought I'd through another problem into the double/triple? game week (17), yff list the manu/wigan game to be played on 28th DEC, i cant find any reference to this game on either the yahoo fixture list or the guardian fixture list, anybody through any light on this one?
I beat you by a single point AM. Down from 2nd to 8th, total disaster. Sometimes it happens though, and the next week is bumper. Maybe...
AM, you and I have simliar teams--same keeper & strike force, plus O'hara & Alexander in common. I even have a Mikel for yr Belletti. So I'm in similar shape, ahead of you by a massive 4.5 thanks to R Johnson (8.5) and Ivanovic (6), my massive scoring leaders.
so I sit at 34.5. I am hoping Cap'n Kirk won't add to the humiliation by pulling me back down. Cheap goalies are like a drug. You get spoiled by having larger spending power in yr outfield.
I grabbed Diaby & Denilson. Still hold Defoe, Rooney, Drogs. Not sure yet that I'll sell any of them.
It's crazy, on paper those strikers are 3/10 of the ten most expensvie players in the game. They are #1, 3 & 4 on the top pt scorers for the year. And yet they end up at 3.5 between them this week. No way anyone could see that coming. And likewise, I plan to keep playing the odds and not trade any of them away. But is very tempting, just to get some cashflow!
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good Wigan vicory (with a Kirkland CS and 20 saves) and good night. If they even get to play it.
mikl.
DownSouth - Cheers for the analysis. it really was an average week for scoring!!
Marhawk - See my "Week 16 Summary & Week 17 Preview" Post for the full fixture lists. Man Utd Wigan has been moved to 30th December.
I love - Hey dude...so even people at the top can have weeks like this! Glad i'm in good company, we'll fight back next week :)
Just read on BBC that tonight's Wigan v Bolton game might be postponed due to ice & snowy conditions.
Cheers,
AM
Marhawk - this game is actually scheduled for the 30th Dec
Dave
I did ok actually. 79.5 points with Rodallega still to play. Feel a bit uneasy though that I sold Rodallega, Rooney (@16) and Larsson (@9.5) to get Fulham, Bolton and Arsenal players. I will be annoyed if they don't have three-gamers.
41 points with klasnic facing off against my goalie kirkland, as my only 2 players left. i am hoping klasnic gets 5 shots on target and wigan win 3-0. kirkland needs the cleansheet, the win, the saves to get me back in it. a couple of penalty saves would be nice
my teams just are killing me. i was full of confidence for this one. i got vermaelen (9), ryan nelsen (.5), roger johnson (8.5), bowyer (3.5), mbrown (7), arshavin (7), milner (1), drogba (3.5) and rooney (1) points. none of those are bad or even average players. mbrown might be the only exception, but he got 7 points for a cost of 2.99. none of those players had bad matchups. it is just bitter that every other week my team underperforms
http://www.wiganlatics.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10429~1911180,00.html
Not looking good!
These sort of weeks are going to keep coming , Epl's getting more competitive. No more CR7(off to la liga)/Lamps(off the boil)/Drogba(ANC) effects, lovely, as it is called "Play-on" says the ref! Gear Up, we're off to an open season!
I feel your pain AM. i'm on 35 points with kirk and HRod to go, but looking at the post above ^^^ it looks like the game might not happen!
Not sure what to make of next week as I'm struggling to get premium players from the potential 3 gamers into my team.
I've so far got diaby (cos he's cheap and takes pot shots at goal), dempsey, verm, eduardo (not happy with him but he has to have his confidence back now he's scored), and zamora, oh and almunia in goal. but no cesc, arsh, duff, denilson etc!
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=716395&sec=england&cc=4716
'The Latics plan to make a decision my midday GMT, but with weather forecasters predicting that temperatures will remain around zero degrees all day it seems unlikely the snow and ice which is causing all the problems will thaw.'
http://www.skysports.com/football/match_preview/0,19764,11065_3205397,00.html
Wigan-Bolton's game is OFF! it's been postponed due safety reason.
Was in luck to get rid of HRod... no players from this fixture.
Lucky I got rid of Rodallega and Kirkland.
Brum vs Chelski will be next week's first game.
is anyone factoring weather/fixture for next week's mega-fixtures-pile-up ?
wigan v bolton postponed....err i was waiting on Rod.. I guess the points for that game wont count when it is eventually played..
nooo... after a decent week, i was hoping rod would push me over 100 pts! Sold Drogba!!! With all the confusion over when he will leave, i thought id just go for it and stop being in limbo. bringing in defoe, santa cruz and ricketts, sticking with almunia, vermaelen, alexander arshavin, nasri , o'hara, billy and anelka. tricky. even if drogba gets a couple more games theres no guarentee he will be scoring well off them, chelsea are a little tired at the moment.. oh well, you have to take risks to get points..
Happy Monday, Gents....wow, what a blinder. This was one of the first weekends in the past year or so where I was unable to watch or even closely monitor the Prem due to a family commitment (aside from furtive glances at gamecast on my handheld in the bathroom)...and the picture was not a pretty one when it was ultimately revealed to me. 46.5 points, far and away my worst weekly YFF performance ever. I echo AM's sentiments that on paper my line-up was not bad at all...to sum up, Kevin Doyle had more points than Drogba, Rooney, Arshavin and Milner combined. COMBINED. 'Nuff said....such selection sorcery shall not soon be seen again. The only saving grace is that the Wigan-Bolton game has been postponed and I will not have to suffer the further indignity of (i) Capt. Kirk returning a red number and (ii) Matty Taylor, who you all know is my YFF crush, blowing up with a brace after I begrudgingly dropped him for Arsh-hole.
What a disaster. I am very curious to see what the Blog Cup points cut-off is given the shocking scores for other managers. I am really annoyed that I dropped juicy discounts on Eagles, Larsson and even Lennon to make way for a cast of underachievers.
Lots to think about for the double/triple (??) week, not the least of which is figuring out which players that would normally play multiple times will be rested due to the close of priximity of fixtures. I didn't have the opportunity to BD players such as RSC althogh I did pick up Billy, KPB and Eagles (again). I currently have a provisional team that includes Cesc, MTay and Dempsey but we'll see if that holds...doubtful.
Guys - what grounds don't have modern pitch-heating technology? Wigan (obviously) and Pompey come to mind but what others...need to take into consideration for next week.
AM. you're fired!
I thought about replacing Defoe and Heitinga with Givet and Saha. Givet usually earn more phantom points than Heitinga, and I believe Everton have good match-ups, so Saha might be a goos pick.
Will it be a good move?
SF
Teeth - Pompey & Fulham are the only grounds without it in the Prem, but lots of the more northernly clubs struggle with general access to their grounds in bad conditions (Wigan tonight being a prime example).
Just another complication to think about over the Xmas period!
AM
@Doctor Teeth, you do also need to take note of the surrounding conditions of the host stadiums as well. =)
refering to the Wigan's postponed match as example,
'Despite widespread gritting of the roads around the stadium, conditions have failed to improve and Wigan have further outlined their concern at the "steep gradients" of some car parks as well as the dangerous condition of the car park for disabled supporters.
The club also stated that they could not guarantee the safe arrival of the safety stewards due to be in attendance at the game.'
http://www.goal.com/en/news/815/african-nations-cup/2009/12/11/1680628/ghana-to-report-fulham-to-fifa-over-paintsil-release
quote'FIFA rules state that all clubs must release their players 14 days before the start of any major international tournament. The Ghana Black Stars have a training camp in South Africa from December 27, two full weeks before the tournament kicks off in Angola on January 10.'
end quote.
certainly it seems to me that the managers are going to defy the laws and keep the players. what's your take on this issue AM?
AM - How much more time for you to work out the Blog Cup cut - off?
I warned people about weather postponements, and here I am one of the ones who gets burned. No Jussi, no Steinsson, so a big fat 0 for 2 players. Then there's Chucho's assist very wrongly being given to Jerome in the stats (I hope that'll be fixed, but I'm not holding my breath). A total of 52.5 points, which surpasses my personal worst of 53 from two weeks ago by 0.5. The YFF gods are mocking me.
Okay, happy thoughts, happy thoughts...
Had forgotten about the Chucho assist...now I'm even more upset. MTay was robbed of an assist in the previous double week as well. Grrrrrrr!!!!
What are the chances that Wigan's home game this x-mas weekend gets postponed as well? Any thoughts?
I would advise managers not to expect a triple game week.
A similar thing happened last season and Yahoo backdated the deadline by a few days.
Hopefully it will be sorted before this weekend.
AM - I hadn't stopped laughing, lol.
...but it wasn't your points situation, just the way you write, well done.
yes , they better sort out the Chucho assist especially with time on their hands since the postponing of wigan's match.
Need that +4!
will aquilani replace the suspended+injured mascherano?or he also part of the injury list?lol
you scored 4 more pts than me...i went from leadin my private league to tryin to scamper in the top 5...and i hav no clue how it happened...i was so depressed i didnt even try grabbing anybody on the barn door...i hav gutted my entire side adn pressed save...so now i have to find the formula cuz i buy everybody at their current value...sigh....6 years of fantasy football and weeks like this makes me feel like an amateur.
Jigga_drs
Does this mean Wigan/Bolton players do not get any points this week ever? They are not pro-rated when the match is finally played?
What an odd week. If that is the case, I lose Rodallega from that match, and Anelka was a random injury scratch. I was expecting those guys and Arashavin to be my big scorers for the week. Can't complain too much though, managed to post 53.5 points without my 2nd and 3rd most expensive players playing. Getting the extra points from Benitez' assist will help too. Will be very interesting to see where the Blog Results breakoff is considering it was such a down week for most people.
Cech's Mates
@ Cech's Mates - all points are lost I'm afraid. The replay just becomes part of the regular schedule, so Bolton and Wigan will have a double somewhere along the line.
AM - Great News! Blog Cup is POSTPONED due to severe snow and extreme weather conditions! =P
www.en.theamassociation.com/Breaking_News/212/#tab_Blog_Cup_1/2009/12/21/2413846/BlogCup-postponed/#more.html
Quote - "Severe snow and extreme climatic conditons force the YFF Managers representing their teams in the AM Blog Cup Season 1 to take shelter and go back to their respective nations! This was an unanimous decision by The AM Association as many managers had lost their players in the misty fog and icy cold snow and this resulted in them getting a big fat zero which was far from helpful for them to get through.The AM passes his condolences to all who braved the storm and outplayed the other managers using their worldly wisdom and swapped their pawns to good use!
Yours Affectionately
xoxoxo
[Manager-Fixtures/Results-The AMA] "
Whoopee! We all get a second chance!! : ) =P
-Tekno-
This is a great read:
http://www.premierleague.com/page/Headlines/0,,12306~1911835,00.html
Looks like Yahoo owes Week 9 Michael Turner owners some points. Didn't check any of the others.
popcorn
Yahoo also needs to take away the OG from Carlton Cole on week 12 and give it to Jimmy Bullard.
popcorn
Guess it was a great week for me given the circumstances. Finished with 73pts with the biggest haul from Almunia.
On the BD I grabbed Diaby, Eduardo, Denilson just to play around with until its confirmed (or not) that Arsenal have a three gamer.
If it is confirmed then its certain I'll keep EdS and possibly Denilson if Fabs is not yet recovered (although he could displace him on the 2nd or 3rd game)
I was really tempted to get in on RSC for 4mil, what a bargain forward that could turn out to be if he still manages to keep his spot. But I wanted EdS to round out Drogba and Rooney (who has to score against Hull and Wigan right?) So unfortunately I am banking on a tripple game from EdS instead of 2 from RSC, but I could do a straight swap for either.
Team thus far:
Almunia, Verm, Sylvinho, Neil,
Arshavin, Denilson, Diaby (Etherington), Bily,
Rooney, Drogba, EdS (or could straight swap for RSC)
AM - I also grabbed RSC on the barndoor but with Robinho spitting his dummy out and 'leaning' on the board about his lack of match action I think he may well start up front rather than the attacking midfield role he was getting with Sparky in charge. I just can't see Mancini liking RSC's style.
Well i ended up with a reasonable 63 after all of that.
I'm happy that the game tonight was cancelled, means i havent had to watch my 63 turn into 50 with Kirklands points, just need to work out what to do with him this weekend now!
So this weekend i was in France and couldn't barn door, so i was pretty disappointed on Sunday evening seeing RSC etc etc price hikes. That was until Teknokrat shared his technique of barn dooring after the barn door is closed! It worked a treat and i managed to get some good prices.
So far i'm looking at...
Kirk
Verm, Alexander, Hreid
Arsh, Lee, Fabs, Bily
Rooney, Diamanti, RSC
This will no doubt be changing as i don't think i can face another Diamanti week like before. I have the funds to change him to Duff, Dempsey, Zamora or maybe even Taylor at a stretch.
Drogba, oh well, I'm selling regardless..all thethrories make no sense. Sell the only way to go, not to mention injury, drop in from etc.
What is really Pi55sing me off is the 2 or 3 gamer thing. Have next to no interest in any players from those 4 teams, but a 3 gamer changes things.... each gameweek was supposed to be excactly that... 1 WEEK, so why does this one go on for 11 days ????
Will we ever know before saturday morning ???
shakanorbs..
64 points...still not cracked top 2000...2365
whoa!! two bad weeks in a row!! sad!! sad!! really sad!!
But actually this week isn't that bad for me as I went to Singapore. I randomly picked my players and still manage to get 67 point which I climb 1000+ spot. Guess I'm just emotional to see United lost and putting the blame on them.
Haha, lets laugh.
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