Monday 22 February 2010

Week 23 - Sunday

I know we're still waiting for the majority of Wigan/Tottenham player points to be updated, but knowing Yahoo we may have to wait until the midweek game for this to happen so I thought I'd proceed with my Sunday review anyway.

I'll start by saying that considering I only had 2 players, it was a very good day for me thanks to the man pictured above (& Spurs' result...)

We'll begin at Villa Park, where the home side ran out 5-2 winners vs Burnley, despite not playing particularly well bar a crazy 15 minutes in the 2nd half.

Goals & great points for Ashley Young, Gabby & Heskey plus 3 assists for Milner meant it was a good day to own Villa players, in particular Stewart Downing, who I recommended in my Week 23 Player Picks & wrote this in My Team post
Stewart Downing. He has to score eventually & won't get many better chances than Burnley at home, so I hope having someone slightly different could pay off.
Boy did it pay off! 2 goals at a cost of £9m, returning triple his value with 27.5 points, the week's top scoring single gamer. In reply for Burnley were Fletcher & Paterson, with good points for Eagles too.

I refuse to analyse Man City v Liverpool; it was one of the poorest matches I've ever seen, so we'll move on to Ewood Park where Blackburn picked up a surprisingly simple 3-0 win over Bolton. Fantastic points for Paul Robinson, Kalinic (returning over 5 times his value) & Givet; nothing of note from Bolton.

Fulham continued their mini revival despite falling behind to a Chris Baird OG (he still returned 6.5 points without a clean sheet!) as Birmingham unsurprisingly start to falter. Zamora continued his good form & Duff weighed in again. Disappointment for Shorey owners, with only a point to his name. Not a lot for Birmingham, although McFadden almost broke 10 points.

In the final game of the afternoon Spurs travelled to Wigan to attempt to play a game of football on a pitch that would barely pass as farm land. How the Premier League can allow Wigan to ground share with a rugby team is beyond me, but Premier League football should not be played on a surface like that.

Anyway, Spurs had to dig deep, got lucky with a clearly offside goal from Defoe before half-time, but in the end fully deserved their victory. Forgotten man Roman Pavlyuchenko scored a brace off the bench & even though Wigan will argue about the first goal I can't see how they can argue with the result - Spurs had 58% possession and 13 attempts to Wigan's 6.

So the race for the 4th Champions League spot hots up, with 4 teams now within 1 point of each other!

Like many of you, I had Gareth Bale, so was delighted with his assist for the Defoe goal, his clean sheet, his successful crosses, corners won & passes intercepted...as we know the points aren't in, but I'll guess he'll be in for between 12-14 points.

I currently sit on 84 points (1164th), but with Bale's estimated points to come that would leave me on 96 points for the week with Evra, Upson, Fletcher, Parker, Valencia, Cole & Rooney still to play on Wednesday. It could be a very good week & I have fingers crossed that I'll end it in the Top 1000.

My current barndoor team is still a complete work in progress: Jaaskalainen (could move to Jensen to free up more cash), Bale (staying), Hutton (staying), Skrtel (probably staying), Zhirkov (possibly going), Walcott (going), Eagles (probably staying), Fabregas (could move to Gerrard), Bendtner (probably staying), Fletcher (probably going), Drogba (@ £22m).

With the team above I still have £7m in the bank & I'm still considering Jensen, O'Hara, Torres, Gerrard, Larsson, Kuyt & Defoe to name but a few. I'm also seriously considering going without Drogba @ £22m - this week has shown me that even if he scores 2 goals, at that price I can spend the cash elsewhere & have a more balanced & productive team.

If he went, I could have Fabregas & Gerrard, or Fabregas & Torres, or Fabregas, Gerrard & Defoe...there are plenty of options. These aren't decision I need to rush into however, as prices of Week 24 players are unlikely to fluctuate much before deadline, even after the midweek game between Man U & West Ham.

That rounds up Sunday - please let me know how you're getting on, who you have left midweek & how your Week 24 Team is shaping up.

Cheers,
AM

101 comments:

Anonymous said...

My team atm. Thinking of picking Torres. Is Torres gonna play this saturday ? Torres or Fabregas ?

E. Van der Sar

G. Bale S. Mouyokolo A. Hutton

D. Bentley Adam Johnson J. O'Hara F. Fabregas


D. Drogba Bendtler D. Bent



Keano

Anonymous said...

70 pts with Bale still to be counted and Rooney, Park, Valencia, Vidic (hopefully) and Diamanti still to play. 100 points doesn't seem out of reach and would be a welcome relief from my current poor run of form. Very happy Kalinic came through and my hunch about Walcott paid off although he could have done so much better.

For next week I'm thinking about building my side with proven scorers who are coming off injuries (Vidic, Arteta). I think I got away from my winning formula of buying and holding quality players -- dismantling my side each week simply hasn't paid off. Would like to hang on to Walcott too if there's a chance he'll get his game together and play regularly. Diamanti and Drogba are also keepers for the rest of the season, barring injury. Still stuck with James at GK though, and desperately seeking to trade up somehow.

Caleb said...

I am happy with this week with 113 points with 4 DG still to play midweek, thanks for the Villa trio.

My current BD team:

Reina (probably going to Jensen)
Vermaelen (Season keeper)
Hutton (Staying)
Skrtel (Staying)

Gerrard (Staying)
O'Hara (Might change)
Eagles (Staying)
Benayoun (Should go.....)

Fletcher (Staying)
Kalinic (Should go)
Torres (Staying)

As I said before, I am not able to BD Daniel Fox of Burnely since Yahoo have not put him into the system yet. That's why Skrtel is in.

I am thinking if I change Reina to Jensen, O'Hara to Larsson, which Forward/Midfield should I get with the $8.12 cash in the bank?

Comments are welcome!

Caleb said...

Sorry I mean changing from Benayoun to Larsson.

Ian Sanderson said...

I've given myself a bit of a dilemma. I BD'd Downing forgetting Villa don't have a game next week. However his price has gone from 8.88 to 13.46 and I'm thinking of keeping him as Villa have some good match ups to come including two double game weeks in the next month or so.
Anyone holding on to him?

Anonymous said...

Ian, all depends if you are in a catch up mode or if you are comfortably in front in your private league. If you can take a zero, then keep. Otherwise, drop.

Ian Sanderson said...

LOL I'm leading my private group by 250+, I think this aays more about my opponents than me though.
Cheers.

gman26 said...

117 points with Bale points still to go and 6 DGer's left.

BDed Bendtner, Walcott, Shorey and Donovan. Not sure that all of them will stay.

Anonymous said...

sitting on 110.5 with 7 DG still to go...

chuggington w24:
kirk
givet/hutton/jordan
fabs/mikel/AJ/eagles/(gerrard)
drogs/bendtner/(nando)

decision.. decision.. should i get gerrard (3-5-2) or nando (3-4-3)? hmmm..

any thots welcomed..!!

~kraken~

Merv said...

My BD team so far

Jaaskelainen
Shorey (7-ish) Hutton Bale(cheap)
Zhirkov AJohnson Fab4(18-ish) Walcott
Drogs Rooney(17-ish) Bendtner(5-ish)

Walcott/Drogs(20-ish)
OR
Torres/Eagles
OR
Gerrard/Eagles

Caleb said...

@Kraken:

I would have taken off Fab but put both Gerrard and Torres in. I really cannot see Arsenal getting lots of points @ Stoke. Remember the FA Cup match?

In contrast, I am thinking should I field Fuller/Sidibe in.......

Unknown said...

Staying with Kalinic for the rest of the year as well as Drogba...this may or may not be an intelligent decision.

Mike B said...

Rubbish for me so far with only 64 plus Bale, thankfully i got the players i wanted on the barn door, and the Liverpool players i wanted dropped a bit.

This is the second week this month i have cocked up big time with Friday/Saturday trades. Rooney should have taught me a lesson, he didn't, but Downing certainly has this week. My late trades have cost me 30 points grrrrr.

Anyway, i'm taking it like a man.

Current team for next week will not change much, just want a bit more news on Torres before i take the plunge. And Guedioura will probably go if Mancienne looks like he'll reclaim his spot.

Jensen
Hutton, Skrtel, Bale
AJ, Gerrard, Guedioura, Eagles
Bendtner, Torres, Drogba

Bradley said...

I have 128 points plus Bale, with Rooney, Valencia, and CCole tomorrow. Consider me pleased.

My BD team thus far:

Jensen
Vermaelen/Bale/Hutton
AJohnson/Zhirkov/Gerrard/Eagles
Rooney/Drogba/Bendtner

Johnson and Zhirkov are the most liable to change.

I was away most of yesterday, so I'm sad I missed Eagles before his price rise. I'm especially sad given I had him at 6.24 for weeks; I reluctantly dropped him because Laws wasn't using him.

I'm afraid I'll have to eat the 0 for Rooney (@16.10) -- unfortunate in a Blog Cup week. I'm currently 495th (how'd *that* happen?), so I'll probably be compelled to do what's best for the season overall.

Unknown said...

by the way I have 70 points, pretty much rubbish too with just Rooney, Valencia, and Bale points coming.

Unknown said...

@ Merv;

the Gerrard/Eagles combo seems like a no-brainer to me...but I would try to have Drogba in there too if possible, he's the Drogbeast.

Anonymous said...

Am sitting on 100 points with Bale to be added (at least 12 pts I think), plus 5 DGs tomorrow. Robinson has done really well for me over the past month (have had him at 2.5) but time to let go with Pool away and then no game, am switching to Jensen. Also inclined to hold on to Rooney even if his price does not drop.

Phil, Durban

Gooner said...

Chelsea, Blackburn and Fulham have no fixture during week 25, whereas three teams (Sunderland, Bolton and Burnley) have a double. This makes Drogba less tempting this week, knowing that I would probably drop him after one week anyway. Agree?

Anonymous said...

96 with bale and also another 5 man utd player playing tomorrow..

considering whether to pick liverpool player or not next week.. looking at torres/gerrard/skrtel/cara/benayoun

L'Orange Noir said...

Well I'm chuffed to be sitting on 121 points with Bale and Bentley still to go, plus Rooney, Valencia, Cole and Faubert in the midweek game.

My BD team is currently
Given
Bale, Hutton, Hreidarsson
Bentley, Larsson, Lee, Walcott, O'Hara
Rooney Drogba

I'm going to take the 0 for Rooney because I have him at 16. I have Drogs at 18.
Be nice to get Eagles in there but not sure who I would drop.
Suggestions?

Bryce said...

I'd drop either Walcott or Lee, and in that order too.

Unknown said...

@ Gooner; that is horrible news. I like my 20.74 Drogba and I dont want to lose him :(

Anonymous said...

Next week we expect Burnley(19th) to shine against Pompey(20th)at home. Kinda weird, eh? I have four(4(!)) of their players - one at every zone and I'm pretty sure that money, ok, points will be in the "manager" bag. I was just wondering about the forwards - Fletcher(a liiittle more expensive), Nugent or Blake. Advice?

Oh, and isn't anyone going to try Klasnic at Reebok's against Wolves . . . C'mon . . . :)

Current team:
Jensen
Carragher Skrtel Bikey(listed as a DF;saw him as a MF)
Eagles Gerrard Larsson Babel/Maxi
Klasnic Torres Blake(?)

-SLASH

Anonymous said...

And Babel/Maxi/Aquillani was my other hesitant position. They are so far the three best fillers for my 5.48.

-SLASH

Cescy said...

have changed my team a few times already but am now looking at...

jussi
ridgewell skrtel shorey
delap fab maxi zhirkov
drogba bendtner fletcher

and have changed this for now to:
jussi
hutton skrtel shorey
larsson gerrard eagles zhirkov
torres bendtner fletcher

which team is better? help! i feel the second one is more balanced...and with chelsea apparently not playing soon maybe is worth getting rid of drogba now, plus i have him at 22.xx which is only a couple of mill discount...the second team also has a better midfield...and i also think that although fab has some good fixtures coming up, stoke away is not going to be his highest scoring or best game...which would you chose?

another question-which would be better sticking with jussi at home to wolves or picking up a cheaper captain kirk at birmingham for less and use that extra cash to upgrade zhirkov or hutton-as i am leaning towards the second team?

Cescy

Gooner said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gooner said...

Yeah, I know what you mean. But for the price of Drogba and his guaranteed zero, I could get get 4 games from the likes of Bent and Eagles.

Cescy said...

i think drogba has to go...i cant see hi tearing man city apart they way he did wolves anyway, he will probs score 1 at most...

after checking with the second team i could have either jussi and zhirkov OR captain kirk and gera? which though...decisions...!!!

Cescy

Anonymous said...

I also bought him when he scored two to Wolves, but today I sold him and M.Taylor and bought Gerrard and Torres. I just don't know what's the deal with Zhirkov. Or is he just a filler?

-SLASH

Cescy said...

brought in zhirkov cos he was cheap and with ashley cole out atm he is starting and getting a run games...scored 7.5 this week and that included an assist, slightly annoying that he is a defender who is listed as a middie, but worth it overall for now i reckon...

Cescy

Saul said...

Hey guys what's the deal with Shorey's price going up to 11.82 when he only brought back 1.00 points on the weekend? Can anyone try to make sense of this? Or is it just because his point average has been higher than his price???

Cescy said...

i guess so Saul...its 11.84 now lol...i bd'ed hi at 7.47 though which is all good.

Cescy

Ian Sanderson said...

@Saul
It's the 7 game rule. Once a player has played 7 his price is re-assessed, usually jumping quite a bit if he's hit form.

Bradley said...

Spurs-Wigan points are up. I wasn't expecting them until after ManUtd-WHU. I'm pleasantly surprised, so Yahoo's successfully lowered expectations.

14 points for Bale BTW.

Anonymous said...

Couldn't BD as my wife was painting the office for the effing umpteenth time. Guess I should be grateful she's doing the painting. My potential team for next week

James
Shorey Skittles Mears
Adam Johnson, Bily Duff Walcott
Torres Kalinic Drogs

A Blackburn defender and striker aswell as a Liverpool defender and striker will need to be addressed.

Adam Johnson of Citeh needs a nickname "TNRG" The New Ryan Giggs or "BE" Billy Elliot

Kellz said...

Hi guys, writting all of you from "not so sunny" Florida on Vacation as a present for graduating college, even though I am on vacation I can't wait for tomorrow's Utd v West Ham match!

Heres some of my thoughts:

@Admiral: Really tough call, as I don't think Citeh will have the ability to defeat Chelsea, and Drogba will likely score, but you cannot hold him if Chelsea don't play week 25. As for Kalinic, I think you got what you needed out of him, and with BBurn's away form, not a good idea to keep him even at discount to Liverpool.

@Caleb: I like the look fo your BD team and I think you have enough forethought to put in a great team for next week. Torres at 15mil! I say keep O'Hara, and really your more likely to get more saves out of Jensen. I'd drop Kalinic and Yossi to upgrade your strike force, maybe Bendtner?

@L'Orange Noir: Drop Lee, Walcott should play and looked dangerous. If that lets you get Eagles then all the better.

@Slash: If you have Gerrard and Torres, then don't go for Maxi or Bable, maybe try and fit in Adam Johnson? He got great points even in the drab 0-0 draw. I'd also stick to Fletcher as he seems the most dangerous for Burnley. Klasnic has never worked for me both times i got him, so hes off my radar especially with Torres, Rooney, and Bendtner in my strike force.

Good luck tomorrow guys

Caleb said...

@Kellz:
I am still thinking of my strike force now, after Torres price drop, which made more money in my bank. However, I will NOT consider Bendtner due to a possible return of Educardo. Also, I do fancy Stoke winning that match in stead of Arsenal. Remember the FA Cup match?

I would thinking should I get Chucho in?

The best from Yahoo is that after the Wigan-Spurs match update, the price for Torres dropped down to 15.90! Probably the best buy for this week, if he is fit. We will see if he plays in Thursday in the Europa League.....

Caleb said...

OK, Daniel Fox is in the system now @ $6.81! I am thinking should I get him and get rid of Skrtel.

However, stupid Yahoo did not listed Leon Cort in the system yet (again, not to be confused with Jack Cork, which is also Burnely defender).

Kellz said...

@Caleb: Regarding the FA Cup match, Arsenal fielded Fabinaski, Silvestre, Traore, Denilson, Eastmond, Vela, and Emmanuel Thomas. So you have atleast 7 second squad members for that loss to a full strength Stoke. Therefore I'd doubt Stoke will win to a full strength Arsenal Squad. Bendtner will start that game. Just something to think about.

Caleb said...

@Kellz:

Oppppppppppps, my bad.....you are ABSOLUTELY right! Then I won't consider Fuller or Sidibe now. Thank you very much for your advise....

However, the fact is that I sold Bendtner in the BD........ so it seems stupid (at least in my point of view) that if I buy him again! So I would think I might take Chucho instead for the similar price.

Or I might use 433 and field Kuyt up front, although I already have Torres in my team.

Kellz said...

@Caleb: If Torres is a doubt to start go for Kuyt, if not don't waste the money there. I know its hard sometimes to drop a BD pick only to re-pick them at a higher price, I have done it a couple of times this season (its hit and miss), but I feel Bendtner could still come good even at 8mil. Chucho seems unable to get goals even with his work rate, but then again we are talking about Bendtner here. In the end both could be risky picks, but less risky if you still had Bendt for 5mil.

Cheers

Anonymous said...

A pretty fair 101 points so far this week with Rooney, Valencia, Carrick and Evra left to play tonight.

My BD team was initially:
Jensen
Bale Verm Skrtel
AJ Walcott Zhirkov Aqua
Rooney* Drogba Torres

But now with terrible news of Drogba having an empty week next match week, things are starting to get more complicated. Good job Yahoo for now updating the fixture list as it still listed Pompy vs Chelsea in week 25! I hold Drogba at 20.74 and was salivating at the prospect of him running riot at Fratton Park. This will need to be addressed.

And I'm willing to take the fat 0 for Rooney next week as I hold him at 17

So right now, my BD team is looking like so:
Jensen
Bale Verm Skrtel
AJ Walcott Gerrard Zhirkov
Rooney Torres Bendtner (@5.80 but may go, but for who?)

2.16 in the bank and ever more confused. Suggestions?

Golova

Anonymous said...

Caleb, do you think Daniel Fox is a confirm starter? If you I am kinda interested in him for this week.

Cheers,
DarkZero

Anonymous said...

Oh, and Gooner rightly noticed that Chelsea have an empty week 25, so i thought i'd see who would be having DGs in the coming weeks.

Week 25 DG:
Burnley (@Arsenal, Stoke)
Stoke (@Fulham, @Burnley)
Sunderland (@Villa, Bolton)
Bolton (@West Ham, @ Bolton)

Week 26 DG:
Wigan vs Villa @ DW Stadium

Week 27 DG:
West Ham (@Arsenal, Wolves)
Wolves (@Villa, @West Ham)
Pompy (Hull, Chelsea)
Chelsea (@Blackburn, @ Pompy)
Blackburn (Chelsea, Birmingham)
Birmingham (@Sunderland, @Blackburn)

Golova

Anonymous said...

Oh, and Gooner rightly noticed that Chelsea have an empty week 25, so i thought i'd see who would be having DGs in the coming weeks to possibly help with player selections.

Week 25 DG:
Burnley (@Arsenal, Stoke)
Stoke (@Fulham, @Burnley)
Sunderland (@Villa, Bolton)
Bolton (@West Ham, @ Bolton)

Week 26 DG:
Wigan vs Villa @ DW Stadium

Week 27 DG:
West Ham (@Arsenal, Wolves)
Wolves (@Villa, @West Ham)
Pompy (Hull, Chelsea)
Chelsea (@Blackburn, @ Pompy)
Blackburn (Chelsea, Birmingham)
Birmingham (@Sunderland, @Blackburn)

Golova

mags said...

Bendtner/MTay or Torres/Adam Johnson
Current BD team is
James
Verm/Bale/Hutton
Cesc/Arteta/Lee Chung-Yong/?
Drogs/Klasnic/?

Part of me wants to jump on Torres cause he is so cheap but I think the first combo gets me more points

Anonymous said...

Anybody noticed that Michel Salgado's (Blackburn) points (13.5 to 9.5)drop after the update!!! Why?

Jen

Anonymous said...

Jussi
Bale Skrtel RJohnson
Fab4 Bentley Eagles Lee Larsson
Kalinic Torres

How does this look, guys?
Somehow I have a hunch that Joe Hart would score big next week. Could swap him for Jussi and downgrade Roger Johnson to Hutton.

Anyone has any ideas?

bengoh91

STM said...

Be careful about looking way too early into Wk 25 fixtures! (ref: Golova's 4.38 AM comment)
http://yahoofantasyfootballuk.blogspot.com/2010/02/week-23-sunday.html#comment-1504164224750618832

TAKE NOTE that Wk 25 include matches between Mar 6 to 12. The FA Cup quarterfinal ties are to be played the same weekend on Mar 6 & 7.

Therefore, there will be further rescheduling pending the FA Cup Round 5 Replay results this midweek Feb 24.

FA Cup R5 Replay
A - Aston Villa v Crystal Palace - Feb 24
B - Stoke v Man City - Feb 24
C - Tottenham v Bolton - Feb 24
West Brom v Reading - Feb 24 (no influence on Wk 25 fixtures)

FA Cup Quarterfinals
D - Fulham v Bolton/Tottenham - Mar 6
Portsmouth v Birmingham - Mar 6 (no influence on Wk 25 fixtures)
E - Chelsea v Man City/Stoke City - Mar 7
F - Reading/West Brom v Crystal Palace/Aston Villa - Mar 7

Therefore, in an attempt (somewhat futile) to simplify the Wk 25 EPL fixtures...

Confirmed matches not influenced by FA Cup fixtures
Arsenal v Burnley - Mar 6
Wolves v Man Utd - Mar 6
Everton v Hull - Mar 7
Wigan v Liverpool - Mar 8
Sunderland v Bolton - Mar 9
Portsmouth v Birmingham - Mar 9

Confirmed postponements (don't remember seeing any official rescheduled dates)
Fulham v Stoke - Mar 6 (due to D)
Portsmouth v Chelsea - Mar 6 (due to F)

Subject to changes:
Man City v Spurs - Mar 6 (If Spurs wins match C, this will be rescheduled due to D. If Man City wins match B, this will be rescheduled due to E)

Villa v Sunderland - Mar 6 (If Villa wins match A, this will be rescheduled due to F)

West Ham v Bolton - Mar 6 (If Bolton wins match C, this will be rescheduled due to D)

Burnley v Stoke - Mar 9 (If Stoke wins match B, this may be rescheduled due to E. 3 days seem to be the minimum recovery time? Maybe to Mar 10?)

I am not sure when the above matches will be rescheduled. I can't tell if they may be moved to Mar 10 midweek or even more teams may not have games for Wk 25.

I would wait for the completion of FA Cup R5 replays and the official rescheduling before thinking about Wk 25. Otherwise, it would give you some potent headaches!

Hope the post makes sense, it is really kind of convoluted...

Anonymous said...

James
Vermaelen Bale RJohnson
Gerrard Rodriguez Duff Elliot
Drogba KDavies Bendter


How's this team look?

Anonymous said...

@STM: i didn't even consider the FA cup games in between... well done. potent headaches indeed. looks as though its a waiting game for another few days.

Golova

bean said...

@Golova & STM - thanks for compiling those fixtures, helps to do so, even if far in advance. maybe you already visit the site, but fantasy football scout uk has a good graphic calendar that helps anticipate upcoming blank, double, fa cup weeks. color coded really helps.
http://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/premiership-ticker-tape/

Caleb said...

@DarkZero:

Only Law will know if Fox is starting, LOL. But the fact is that he starts all three matches since his Burnley debut on Feb 6 against West Ham, which he provided 1 goal and 1 assist......

@STM:

Fantastic post! Since the fixture is soooooooooo confused due to FA Cap matches (with possible replay in Quarter finals as well), the only thing that I am thinking of this week is to avoid Drogba, since he will be having a blank week next week anyway.

bean said...

still thinkin' of holding Drogba through the blank week. i have him at 18.xx, if he does well again this week and stays 24.xx, i have to keep him.

kind of an odd one, but i like it:

Jussi
Hutton RoJo Bale
Walcott Arteta Benayoun AdamJohn
Torres Drogba Bent

Torres is too irresistable at 15.xx, i had to grab him just in case of a weird price jump after ManU WHam. I'm hoping Bent can cover Drogbas blank week with his double week.

I really like Arteta and Benayoun in the middle, especially at their prices.. assuming they are set to start.

bean said...

@STM - you were right, i have a pretty potent headache already..

Alex said...

BREAKING NEWS

I went single gamera with a couple of exceptions and wake this morning to see Sky Sports News warning of heavy snow in Manchester and that it will snow throughout the match and slightly before.

In my Kevin Keegan voice "I would love it, love it" if that match was called off ;-)

Nothing to do with my team going up 500 spaces to just outside the top 500 of course.

Mr D said...

@Alex

Were you reading news meant for North Pole?

According to BBC weather reports, it will be white clouds with light snow forecast.

In my Keegan Voice "We would love it, love it" if Rooney and Co. do well. Considering you have zero double gamers.

Assistant Manager said...

@Golova & STM - Some great analysis from you both, thanks very much. It's certainly given me a bit of a headache, so I think for now I'll concentrate on Week 24 & worry about Week 25 when it comes around!!

Alex - With 7 Dgers I'm with Mr D, I hope for blue skies & and a high scoring 4-3 win for United, with all 7 of my players getting a goal ;p

:)

Anonymous said...

@ STM - - I am pretty sure your post was AWESOME... but sure made me dizzy.

THIS week is just too delicious after suffering though double weeks. So many of the matches are wide open with decent priced players in all positions. I imagine that many, many teams will be quite different from each other.

Passing up on Torre$$$$$$$$ at his price is my biggest dilema. A team with Gerrard, Fabs, Drogba, & Torres is quite enticing.

Any comments appreciated:
Staying for sure: Bale, O'Hara, Fabs, Gerrard, AJoh, Drogba, (Donovan or Bendtner - both on barndoor discounts)

OPTION Torres:
Jaask / Hutton, Hreidarsson / Torres and (Bendtner or Donovan)
or
OPTION Hart:
Hart / Carr, Skrtel / Bendtner & Donovan

Ole'
Tigers

Anonymous said...

@STM: great work!

POR-CHE and BLA-BIR are resceduled for wednesday march 24 (IF pompey is still alive by then, that is!):

http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10303~1967235,00.html

http://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/LatestNews/news/New-Chelsea-Date-644.aspx

bigwest

Anonymous said...

I can safely predict that half the league will jump on the Torres bandwagon at 15, similar to the Drogba one at 10.92.

Since I sold Drogba for the ANC after having him at 10.92, will not make that mistake, Buy torres and keep him for the season.

All the matches Pool have are cake-walk ones from here (hopefully, for sure, we need that fourth place).

E said...

I just can't bring myself to buy Torres even at that price. It's a dilemma for me too! I'm going to stick to what seems to be working so far, proven point scorers throughout, no really big spending, and as few risky players as possible. Bendtner is a massive risk! My team is very much up for change at the mo.

Jensen
Verm / Skrtel / Baird
D.Duff / AJ / Eagles / S.Davies
S.Fletch / Zamora / Klasnic

I'm not at all comfortable with Jensen, Zamora or Klasnic, and I can see at one of them scoring 1 point for their game, but I'm just going to go with my head rather than my gut for now. I feel a lot better dropping Fabregas away at Stoke.

You're right Tigers there will be a lot of different teams out there.

Alex said...

It was the fair Lucy Verasamy on Sky Sports News Weather that said it, it said blue sky for the north east of england on sunday and we got two days of snow, and more due around 6ish tonight

Mike B said...

Regarding planning ahead for double weeks etc, after looking through my weekly points for the year thus far, i noticed that as soon as i started to think ahead too far, i started making silly decisions regarding who to keep and not to keep.

My weekly totals crept down as a result, and when inevitably the players i was holding for that extra couple of games either got injured or didn't perform well, it left me doubly short of points.

I'm starting to think now that i should ONLY plan for the week ahead, unless i have a consistent player on a big enough discount to warrant keeping.

Haha so many lessons learned the hard way in my first year of fantasy football.

1 - Don't drop the best player in the league with a massive discount, based on a ridiculous hunch that he will have a few off weeks.

2 - Play for the week ahead, not for the following week.

3 - Never make stupid Friday/Saturday decisions (that have cost me around 80 points in the last month or so haha).

One thing is for sure, i'm probably gonna break my new rules a few more times before the season is out hehe. It's just so hard to resist the gut sometimes, even when it's as bad as mine :-P

Assistant Manager said...

Mike - I've been playing the game for 6 seasons & I still make many of the same mistakes!

It is very difficult to resist last minute changes, especially when in the chatroom on a Friday night/Saturday morning with 50+ people all discussing different options with differing opinions.

One thing is key, as you've mentioned & as you'll see in almost all the teams in the Top 20...unless they have a real standout bargain (e.g. Bale @ 2.6) they don't care about discounts; they picks players purely based on the match ups that week.

I still think dropping Drogba was the right decision at the time & I don't feel it's cost me much at all - in fact, I've actually moved up from around 2000th in early January to just outside the Top 1000 now, since I made that decision.

Also interesting to note that only TWO of the Overall Top 20 have Drogba, and both (in 1st & 20th) only bought him in for this week vs Wolves. So the very top players made the same decision as us, which tells you a lot I think.

Cheers,
AM

Anonymous said...

Early week "buy-and-hold" lineup for grins and giggles:

Jensen (or James or Kirkland)

Vidic / Bale / A. Faye (or a Burnley back TBD)
Walcott / Arteta / Ad. Johnson / Grella (or other filler)

Diamanti / Drogba / Torres

5, maybe six keepers til end of season.

Anonymous said...

Great week so far, but I don't want to jinx it. 120.5 points with Rooney, Valencia, Evra and CCole to go. I can't still believe that the Downing pick payed off this much. Cole, Bendtner, Milner, Valencia, Vermaelen and Almunia all helped for the cause.
I'm keeping Almunia and Bendtner in spite of the hard trip to Stoke because of the easy schedual Arsenal have. Bale and Vermaelen stay because they are brilliant, and I think Adam Johnson can turn out to be the new O'Hara, so I'm keeping him at just above 5mil.
I got in Drogba after the BD in the price of 24.5mil. After I discovered that he doesn't have any games next week I thought about dropping him, but I just couldn't use the money. Torres is not safe because he might not start and just got back from an injury; Bent and Defoe are unstable, get no phantom points and face not the easiest defnces of all; Fabregas gets almost no points and it's bound to continue away at Stoke. I already got Gerrard in, and frankly Drogba seems to me like the safest bet, and ManC have a poor defence right now. I just can't put so much money on Bent and Defoe when they can both get me in toal 5 points.

BD team:

Almunia
Vermaelen Bale Hutton RJohnson
Gerrard Eagles AJohnson Lee
Bendtner Drogba

Jerome, Ridgewell, Pienaar, Modric and MTaylor have all got in and out from my team. It's a hard week, and the choice about Drogba is the biggest bet I'll take this season. He can score a brace or do nothing in a 0-0 draw between ManC and Chelsea, and has no chance to fix a mess with an empty week next. I can't find any better replacement in any position, and I'm pretty pleased with other parts of my team. Tough week indeed.

Good luck to all!

SF

Backcountry_Dave said...

It isn't going to be possible to assess whether or not is was the best decision to drop Drogs or not until the season has ended. It stands to reason that a savvy FF player who has Drogs and 89.34 to spend on 10 more players will outperform a savvy player who has Drogs and only 76-82 to spend on the remaining 10.
It also stands to reason that those who bit the bullet and kept Drogs thru the ANC would have experienced a drop in rankings during his absence so looking at the top 20 now instead of at the end of the season could be misleading.

The gamble at the time and the question that remains to be answered is whether or not the players who still hold a cheap Drogs can come roaring back in the remaining weeks.

I realize this is based upon the assumption of all other things being equal but I didn't want to type an exhaustive treatise.

My feeling is that the eventual answer to the Drogs question is going to be so much a result of luck and happenstance (Ivory Coast exiting early, postponed games for snow, etc.) that it will yield no real lesson other than perhaps, go with your gut.

Now that my spiel is over I want to say thank you AM for this terrific blog and thank you to the forum community here. I stand in awe of the generosity of thought that is on display here. Keep up the good work!

Backcountry Dave
Lansing, Michigan
USA

SLASH said...

@ billthegrunt:
Don't even think about Kirkland this week. . . away @Birmingham . . .

@Caleb, Kellz:
Don't forget that last year Stoke defeated a first-team Arsenal at Britannia Stadium. Don't underestimate them, they're really tough.

---

The only reason for me not to pick Torres at his "sweet" price is if he's not playing. He's not just a scorer, he's a goal-machine, a striker with enviable qualities (blush).

I also sold Drogba while he was in Africa, but I don't feel it was SUCH a big mistake. I fully agree with Mike B for the "play for the week ahead" rule unless of course there's someone like Bale(recently) or. . . or even Drogba . . . he was a Definite Must Have at 10.xx in the beggining


--

Accepted Kellz's advice for Johnson and Fletcher, but now with 8.00 in the bank and Klasnic out(kinda miss him) the best Bolton players for me are Kevin "76-Fouls" Davies and Elmo. I definitely want a striker from Bolton.

Advice?

SLASH said...

Currently with

Jensen
Carragher Skrtel Bikey
Eagles Gerrard Larsson Adam J
Torres Fletcher /_ _ _ _ _ /

Cash: 8.00

It is a very tough one for me - Bolton FW or Chucho. I know most of you would say Chucho, but that means I will miss the "cool" home fixture of Bolton against Bolton.

Suggestions?

SLASH said...

Sorry, Bolton against Wolves :S

Anonymous said...

my team has a few fringe picks. Pav was BD'ed and I want to see how Harry feels about his starting lineup if it doesn't look like he going to start I will swap mcfadden for pav and then aj or walcott for larsson.
Mcfadden is a great pick this week, he is in decent form and has been the best attacking player for Brum the last couple of weeks, he also takes corners.

jensen
Alex Skrtel Bale
Bentley(10~)Larsson Arteta Zhirkov(prolly injured)
Pav Drogs Torres
Saitofall

Afrikan said...

After changing my team several times i think now i'll be settling with the follwoing:

Jensen (Howard)
Bale~ Hutton~ Faye (Steinsson/Fox)
Gerrard~ Owusu~ AJohnson~ Fabs
Drogba~ Bendtner~ Donovan (Mc Fadden)

I'm really not sure if Faye will start this weeknd but since Wilko is out he might start. I also like Bolton and Burnley's match ups this weeknd thatz why am thinking of havin Steinsson or Fox. What do you think?

Saul said...

Rooney Goooooolazo-azo-azo!!! Where's that anon that was talking smack about Rooney??? And there's still plenty of game to play...

Mr D said...

Are you watching Anon, Alex? LOL

Anonymous said...

couldn't have gone better ... rooney, valencia, park, vidic, diamanti ... 60 pts?

Kellz said...

@Mike: Diamanti played as we knew, adn come up with the points as we knew!

Cescy said...

was on 83 points for the week, and got 82 points tonight, with rooney, scholes, valencia, vidic, evra and spector! top notch! on 165 for the week now...pa da pa da paa...im lovin' it...and also a message for that anon T-W-A-T who posted rubbish about rooney...where are you now?

with much love

Cescy

Saul said...

Oh man I BD'red Vidic before his price went up and I'm keeping him...even if that means taking a big fat 0!!! I'm also jumping on the Ferdinard Wagon after this weekends fixtures(what happened to him, he wasn't even on the bench). Anyways I'm extrememly happy with my 156.5 points for this week and Rooney's the man...2 headers??? He now has 4 headers in 3 games, WOW!!!

DeviLx said...

148.50 points. Nice ! Anyone fancy Torres next week??

Check out J Cork and D Fox of Burnley.

Afif said...

I pity those who took Vds. Nothing much you can do because Fergie is the boss, I always tell myself that the GK must have the lowest price of them all.
Where is that Anon who siad not to pick Rooney? Where are you now!!!

Anonymous said...

161 pts for week 23 but titanic from Parker, Fletcher & Mido less than 10 pts.
Currently with:
Almunia
Bale Heitinga Steinsson/Skrtel
Gerrard Bowyer/Arteta M.Taylor A.Johnson/Maxi Rod Eagles
Bendtner Torres

Try to fit in Drogba (24.87) with swapping around Hutton, Richardson, Lee with M.Taylor....

Rgds.
Ajani

Saul said...

My current team looks as follows...
James
Bale/Hutton/Vidic(Try convincing me otherwise)
Fabregas/Eagles/Gerrard/Lee
Donovan/Torres/Bendtner

The only player most likely going is Fabregas to upgrade Hutton to probably R.Johnson and bring in MTay/Duff. Most likely Duff as he's more consistent. Any ideas???

Anonymous said...

70.5 to 154.5 in just two games. I still finish the week in the middle of the pack but considering where I was on Sunday, Wow! Hope this is the start of a great run.

Anonymous said...

Gained almost 50 points tonight and didn't have Evans or Fletcher get a run out. My team right now

James
Shorey Skittles Ridgewell
Adam Johnson Bily Walcott Duff
Kalinic Drogs Torres

Do I kick Duff (Mr. Consistent) out and put in Gerrard and then do some jiggling?

If you're not on AJ get on him, even against Chelsea.

Maxer said...

got 151 points. Seems like a good week with good decisions..

very good decisions..
rooney!!

good decision..
drogba, faubert, valencia, spector, fab & kalinic

not so good decision..
drop diamanti & diao last minute to fill in fab and kalinic..

no Mutd match next week.. should i keep rooney @ $20.00 then buy him $2.00 more next week?.. any thoughts?..

Maxer..

Anonymous said...

Maxer drop Rooney - pick for the week at hand. MAybe go 352 instead of 343. Duff and Gerrard?

Anonymous said...

Gained 80+ points in the ManU vs West Ham match to move to 132 points, at least saving my poor week of 47.50 initially.

James(-4)
Vermaelen(10.5) Bale(14) Vidic(12.5) Evra(15)
Valencia(24.5) Fletcher(2) Carrick(6.5) Parker(2)
Rooney(32.5) Cole(16.5)


My current team for next week:

James
Vermaelen Bale RJohnson
Gerrard Rodriguez Elliot Benayoun
Drogba Torres Bendter

Pretty Liverpool heavy here. Might have to make some changes

Caleb said...

I am about to finalized my team for this week, but need some opinion from you guys:

(1) S Larsson + D Bent
or
(2) O'Hara + Kuyt

I've already had Torres in my team......so the first option seems better, right?

Comments please!

Kellz said...

@Caleb: Already commented on your team to not include Kuyt if you have Torres, BUT if Torres is a doubt go for Kuyt. So option 1 for now.

Anonymous said...

Ended the week on 149 points. I am slightly surprised that Valencia managed to get 24.5 points without scoring. Moved up 700+ places. Now on to week 24.

James/Jaas/Hart
Bale Hutton/RJohnson Skrtel
Fabs Bentley Eagles Lee Gerrard
Kalinic Torres

I must have James and Hutton to get Gerrard. I will have an easier decision(and a better goalkeeper) if Torres is not fit to play. I can then swap McFadden for Torres and bring in Hart at the same time. Also tempting to get Kuyt in there.

bengoh91

AdmiraLord Nelson said...

my team is shite;

Finland's GK
WELSH HOBBIT hutton Nickyboy
Stevie G future of Barca back to Spain soon AJ
DROGBEAST Bojan's neighbor the Danish Strikeforce

Anonymous said...

my team so far:

almunia
varmaelen,bale,shorey
walcott,eagles,gerard,lee
bendtner,klasnic,torres

kellz,

you did a good prediction last week.
what is your opinion for this week?
thanks

Mr D said...

@AdmiraLord Nelson

Perhaps you can list out your team as per normal. It's quite hard to understand the nicknames you came up with.

Anonymous said...

AM, would you consider creating a forum where we can all discuss

Anonymous said...

vds(8ish)/carra/lee

or

jensen/hutton/gerrard

E said...

Does anyone know if Eduardo will be back against Stoke and if so will he replace Bendtner? Even just a speculation would be appreciated, thanks.

Anonymous said...

@AdmiraLord Nelson: You are writing in riddles. Who is Bojan's neighbour, Hobbit and welsh?

@anon8:36 jensen/hutton/gerrard

bengoh91

SLASH said...

158.50 for me, and a friend in my group who had J.Milner(and I did not) made 174.50! Very good week indeed! This is my new favourite blog! :)

Unknown said...

Gareth Bale looks like a hobbit and he is Welsh hence the Welsh Hobbit! Bojan said Kalinic is from the same town as him in Croatia!

Cescy said...

can i have opinions please...

arteta/torres/s.fletcher

OR

quincy/defoe/kuyt??

Cescy...

p.s. my team is...

jussi
hutton skrtel shorey
larrson eagles gerrard arteta/quincy
torres/defoe bentner s.fletcher/kuyt

Post a Comment