Week 22 - Player Picks

Firstly, a quick review of last night's only Premiership game - and it was the man pictured above me who turned out to be the swing pick of the week.

Fulham earned a scrappy 1-0 win over seemingly doomed Portsmouth, with Schwarzer ending the week on a superb 22.5 points after a number of fine saves, a clean sheet & a win. Those of us who went with Cech shake our heads in disbelief, but it's another one of those decisions where you can't be too hard on yourself.

Fulham were in freefall, leaking goals, their best player was injured, they had a tough game vs Villa (which they lost 2-0!) & barely deserved to win last night. Chelsea were on fire, top of the league, Drogba was back & they faced 2 of the weakest teams in the leagues. Cech was the sensible choice in theory, but Fantasy Football doesn't always make sense.

Luckily for me Baird, Duff, O'Hara & Zamora contributed 39 points as I finished the week on 137 & a rise into the top 1500 of the overall rankings.

How much better if it would've been if I HADN'T had the money to afford Cech & had been forced to go with Schwarzer! No doubt some managers picked the Fulham keeper out of choice, but it was clear from reading the chatroom last Friday night that many people were trying desperately to fit Cech in. Alas, they could not afford him in the end & they've got very lucky. No complaints from me - you cannot succeed in this game without a big slice of luck.

Now, Week 22. As we all know, 4 teams are scheduled to have triple weeks. I normally start with an analysis of the schedule, but rather than write out something that's already written, I'm going to quote my friends Jeremy & Neal at fantasyepl.blogspot.com as I completely agree with them

Their take on the schedule from The Week Ahead:

Schedule
As I'm sure most of you have noticed Bolton, Wigan, Citeh, and Stoke have three matches each.  Hard to argue with that.  Of those with only two matches Birmingham, Blackburn, Fulham, and Sunderland have the best match-ups.  Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Everton have particularly difficult match-ups which devalue all but the surest of things on each roster.

So based on that, here are my Week 22 Player Picks. Note that new players (Mido, Johnson, Moses, Okaka etc) are now added to the game...

KEEPERS
Given
Sorenson
Stojkovic
Jaaskalainen
Gordon

As you all know, my record of picking goalkeepers is not good, but this week I really think you should go with Shay Given for the triple week, even if you missed him on the barndoor. City are playing well, fighting for 4th & I'd expect them to win (or at least not lose) all 3 games.

If you have money to burn & want to do something different, Sorenson could be a gamble that pays off as Stoke don't concede many. If you don't want to go with either of these two (or can't afford to) then you should pick one of the other 2 triple game keepers valued at around £5m.

If I was picking a double gamer I'd go with Craig Gordon - Sunderland's defence is finally back to some sort of strength & they have pretty decent fixtures.

DEFENDERS
Vermaelen
Toure
Cahill
Shawcross
Scharner
Steinsson
Figueroa
Zabeleta
Garrido
Bridge
Shorey
Bale
Hutton

It makes me sad to have Vermaelen in this list as I (like many of you) have now dropped him, but if you kept the faith he should not be going anywhere. Before I start crying let's move on.

I'd suggest you'll have 1 cheaper filler in defence this week (e.g. Bale/Hutton etc) and then 2 or 3 triple gamers depending on formation. The big problem is rotation & injuries, particularly for Man City. Will Zabeleta recover from his broken nose? Does the left back spot go to Garrido or Bridge? Who will partner Toure?

Hopefully team news will make things clearer tomorrow, but these doubts are leading me to favour "dead cert" triple gamers . I have the Man City clean sheet angle covered to an extent with Given in goal, so Shawcross, Figueroa & Steinsson really interest me. If I had the money, I'd seriously consider Cahill but unfortunately I can't get close.

Scharner is another interesting option but he's a possible rotation risk with all Wigan's new signings & an outside bet double gamer is Nicky Shorey, under £8m and  getting some set pieces for Fulham last night.

I currently sit with Bale, Garrido, Shawcross, but that could end Bale, Shawcross, Steinsson if we don't get any definitive news on City.

MIDFIELDERS
M Taylor
N'Zogbia
Etherington
Petrov
Wright-Phillips
Lee
Ireland
McCarthy
Whitehead
Barry
Wilshire
O'Hara
Duff
Larsson

And we're back to the same problem as we were having just a few moments ago when picking our defence. Which Man City midfielders are going to get 3 starts?

With Kompany out I'd say Barry is the only certainty, but he doesn't really get the pulse racing, neither does De Jong. Petrov would be a must-have, but he's now competing with Adam Johnson & Bellamy for a place on the left wing, Ireland has been in & out, as has Shaun Wright Phillips & (now Adebayor is back to partner Tevez upfront) all these players are vying for 4 spots. I may still take the gamble on Petrov, but it's possible I avoid City middies altogether.

If I do this, I'll go with a selection of 4 from N'Zogbia, Etherington, Lee, McCarthy, Whitehead. I'm fairly certain I'm going to leave Matt Taylor out - he's been subbed early in recent games so I'm not keen to splash £15m on him, especially Weiss & Wilshire add competition & doubt. I think Lee will be safe from rotation, he's playing well & may even be used as a support striker in Klasnic's absence.

Single gamers who seem to perform no matter what, Duff, Larsson & O'Hara are all players in great form if you don't like the triple gamers on offer.

STRIKERS
Tevez
Rodallega
Adebayor
Drogba
Rooney
Bellamy
Benitez
Tuncay
Defoe
Bent
Sidibie
Kalinic

It must be Tevez + 2 others. Even if you have Rooney or Drogba (of course both great picks) at huge discounts you should still try to find a place for Tevez.

Some people have suggested Adebayor's return will impact the Argentinian's points & it's possible it will (maybe it already did vs Portsmouth), but when a player is in the form of his life and has 3 games, you pick him. Rodallega will be the 2nd player in my team, he's a reliable point scorer with 3 games so he was another no-brainer for me.

The final spot is tricky. I have Adebayor at the moment, but I hate him so much & he lets me down so often I feel annoyed to have him in my team. Would Bellamy be a better choice? Or maybe I keep/get Kalinic/Sidibie/Tuncay/Benitez in there and spend more on my defence & midfield? I'd like your opinions on this as I'm having difficulty making the decision.

That's it for another week! Remember Week 22 is 3rd Round of The AM Challenge, with 250 teams left in it!

As always, let me have your opinions on the lists above. Anyone you feel I've missed? How is your team shaping up? What are you doing about the City uncertainty?

Please join the blog Facebook Group if you haven't already! Any new posts appear on your wall & I can message you about new leagues & cup competitions...

Cheers,
AM