Sunday 28 March 2010

Week 28 - Saturday

Saturday saw another twist in the title race as Chelsea & Man Utd improved their goal differences dramatically while Arsenal were held at Birmingham. Arsenal are now 4 points (technically 5 with goal difference) behind the leaders & face an uphill battle once again.

Perhaps the most surprising thing was the victories for the top 2 came without Drogba & Rooney respectively - great news for the clubs that they got some rest but terrible news for fantasy managers, especially those with both players.

Chelsea absolutely thrashed Aston Villa 7-1 as Villa's threadbare squad finally buckled under the strain of a long season. An incredible 4 goals / 47.5 points from Frank Lampard, 2 for Malouda & 1 from Kalou got the Blues back on track, Carew with the only reply.

United ran out 4-0 winners at the Reebok after a comical own goal from J'Lloyd Samuel set the visitors on their way. 2 from Berbatov & one from Gibson wrapped it up - Nani was outstanding throughout.

Arsenal took the lead at Birmingham with a late Sami Nasri goal, but an even later equaliser from Kevin Philips took a share of the spoils after an error from Manuel Almunia. Fabregas picked up a knee injury which could threaten his chances of facing Barcelona in the week.

Hull gave their relegation fight some hope with a vital 2-0 victory over Fulham, As I suggested in the blog in the week, Fulham looked tired & rested key players, as Jimmy Bullard ran the show with a goal / 21 points & Fagan secured the victory in the 2nd half. Great points for the bargain keeper Myhill & the Hull defence.

West Ham dropped in to deeper trouble with a home defeat to Stoke - Ricardo Fuller with an outstanding winner that could see the end of Gianfranco Zola at Upton Park. It's a shame because he's a nice bloke - maybe too nice for a relegation fight.

Spurs beat Portsmouth 2-0 in a game that completely fizzled out in the 2nd half. Goals from Crouch & Kranjcar had it sealed within 40 minutes, Huddlestone & Crouch also hit the woodwork, Bale was outstanding again but Modric was dissapointing. Porstmouth had 2 chance in the match, Gomes saving well on both occasions.

Finally, Wolves & an Arteta-less Everton played out a 0-0 with little of note other than some great clean sheet points. I had a bet on the treble: Hull, Stoke & Everton to win, £5 at 22/1, so was willing Everton on towards the end, but to no avail!

I ended the day on 89.5 points, upto 362nd with Torres & Tevez to go today & tomorrow. Bendtner, Ferreira, Arteta & Modric combined for a total of just 3 points, so I was lucky my other 5 players Myhill, Bale, Berra, Bullard & Malouda saved me from very poor week.

Arsenal (Wolves at home), Everton (West Ham at home), Man City (Burnley away), Fulham (Wigan at home) & Stoke (Hull at home) have the best fixtures for Week 29, but there wasn't too much to get excited about on the barndoor.

I only brought in Nasri, Campbell & Jagielka for Modric, Ferreira & Berra, and I haven't decided on my keeper pick yet (still holding Myhill, but he'll go). Tevez, Arteta, Bendtner & Bale will stay, not sure about Malouda (away to Man U) or Torres (away to Birmingham). Etherington may come in for Bullard.

That's it for today - please let me know how you got on & who you're picking up for Week 29. Burnley host Blackburn later, & I'm a Sunderland fan for the day as they travel to Anfield as the battle for 4th place continues.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Cheers,
AM

60 comments:

Anonymous said...

**Malouda(Away to ManU)

-Tekn0-

L'Orange Noir said...

What a horrible week. My strikeforce of Drogba, Rooney and Bendtner combined to get me 0 points!
I also had Arteta.
So I have 53.5 points thus far with Hutton, AJ and Given to come. Not looking good.

I'm now wondering whether to ditch Rooney and Drogba (both at massive discounts) and play it purely by the best fixtures each week from here on in.
Any advice?

Assistant Manager said...

Thanks Tekno, correction made.

L'Orange - Depends on the discount. If you have Drogba at 10 & Rooney at 16 then I'd keep them both as they'll both score plenty more goals in the remaining 6 games. However, if you have them at closer to 20 then one of them might have to go for Week 29.

alper said...

I have 75.5 points torres gerrard and AJ still to go...I will stick with Myhill, because Stoke SOT percentage for a game is around 3, and after the next week, hull will host burnley...myhill will have positive points...and have a think for drogba...chelsea will have though fixture for the remaining matches. I will barndoor saha for the coming week...good luck to all. I m waiting for the burnley and liverpool matches...

Anonymous said...

Are Myhill points correct? He only had 2 saves which I think is wrong. According to soccernet, he had 4 saves. This is weird as Gera alone had 3 shots on target.

Assistant Manager said...

Soccernet is wrong, the points are correct...Myhill only made 2 saves but there were also 2 shots cleared off the line by Hull defenders.

Efthymios said...

102.5 for me with Mears, Elliot, Torres and Adebayor to play. move from 339 to 223 overall and hope to be in the top 100. Come one Torres make a hat-trick!!

Anonymous said...

week was great, didn't had lamps, but had such a gold as vidic, couldn't imagine every that he would get me 22,5 points, good staff. 110 points so far, with tevez, torres, aj to go, things are looking good, overall back to top 200 :)
I also think that myhill should be next week a keeper, simply so cheap and hull has something to fight for.

Ban said...

End up with 89points yesterday.
Still have only Tevez to go! GO Tevez!
So happy to see that Boaz Myhill had made a positive points! I so like him!
Just had made a bd on Heitinga and Nasri.
Rooney+Bendtner+Ferreira= -1point!
But is ok for me, just picked wrong Ferreira which is changed Bassong yesterday.

Good Luck to Torres AJ and Tevez (I think many have them to go)!

Anonymous said...

89.5 points so far which is pretty pleasing after last weeks terrible 124! Somehow the serbian mountain that is Vidic popped up with an amazing 22.5. Glad I chose him ahead of Ferdinand. Reina, torres and AJ left so would be pretty annoyed if I didnt get over 100. Looking like Villa's season is imploding sadly and with Chelsea and Man United both winning it sort of puts to bed the idea that they are both one man teams!

Anonymous said...

yeah, chelsea also has the most depth in squad for sure, half our regular startes are missing, still flying. Next week the big one, i think it's gonna a be a low-scoring match, teams will cancel each other out, but still chelsea for the win! :)

Anonymous said...

D.Dunn match winning goal against Burnley!

Anonymous said...

85.5 points so far with Toure, AJ, Tevez and Torres to go. Looking like another good week.

Next week I need to finalise my team by Mon! I will be going overseas so won't have internet access to update my team for week 29. Please help me out guys and give me suggestions when I post my team. My EL opponent (if I'm still in) for next week is likely to get a free run as I will not be able to react to last minute injuries.

bengoh91

Anonymous said...

65.5 points after salgado n brown. Hutton did not even make to the bench another 0! with only AJ left to go.
roo + drog + arteta =0. My gamble with brown paid out well, 12pts from him not bad.
BD nasri for next week, may well consider dropping drogs for next week, usually he does not rack up points against ManUtd

-eswr-

Anonymous said...

Torres scores!

Anonymous said...

What a week-end! 0 pts for Roon, Arteta, Verm (did not want to let him go @ 6), and Hutton :-( On 73 pts with Gerrard, Tevez and AJ to go, so not as bad as I feared thanks to Myhill, Malouda and Crouch.

Phil

Saul said...

Wow 96.5 points with Torres' points to be added(with 2 goals) and Adebayor still to play tomorrow...great week for me and if I don't make the next round of the blog cup then I'd take my hats off to anyone who did and say WTF!!!

Myhill(He's the man), Bale(Kid's a god, Fantasy wise), Jagielka(did good), Bullard(Yeah!), Krankjar, Crouch, Torres(Points from him to be updated, 2 goals!!!)

That brings great delight to my week after last weeks disappointing 134 points, considering it was a double. I don't expect many people had Lampard so I wasn't worried when he scored 4 goal but Malouda is on F.ken fire.

For next week I say United win 2-1 vs. Chelsea...OT baby!

Later guys and hope you did well.

Anonymous said...

i think must have is saha for next weekend, otherwise, if you have discounts, on torres, tevezm etc. then stick with them, everton defenders look rock solid also. :)

Saul said...

120 after Torres' points, still have Adebayor to play tomorrow. Good week for me so far.

Anonymous said...

Gutted is not the word, somebody please shoot me. This weekend has been so unlucky I just have to share it.

Not only did Arteta, Drogba and Kalinic not play at all, and that Pavlyuchenko only put in a token appearance and bagged a point, but at the last minute I swapped Elokobi for Mancienne in my back line, and of course Mancienne was subbed in the 70th minute, the only Wolves defender not to get the clean sheet.

So, 54.5 points (thanks to Bale, Myhill and Bassong), only Adam Johnson left to play and the bottom half of my blog league is now in sight.

I just keep saying "it's only a game..."

Anonymous said...

What a disaster. I knew going in that Pav(got him at less than 10) may only be a sub, but managed to pick all the players who did not play: Drogba(why?)Murphy(why?),Arteta(why?)Hutton(why?.)I have Given,Johnson,Tevez left, but did what info did I miss so that near enough 1/2 my team doen't play? Certainly not any of the 4 plus Pav where mentioned in the physio room. I think I just might have to retire from this silly game, because guessing who is in form is one thing, and who has a good match up, and a good string of upcoming games, but I can't get up at some crazy hour every saturday just to wait for some bs news. Very bitter

greginho said...

feel your pain anonymous, this game can be very humbling, at times. i was top 20 of the AM league, top 1000, until around week 12. i just have lost it. what has happened, for me, is every other week i tank it. one week good/great, the other week crap. i will see buzz about a player and i will pick somebody else with an equally juicy matchup, and my choice will noshow or come on late or not produce. then i will barndoor the player, everyone is hot for and they will drop off the face of the earth. it is so hard to predict what each manager will do. i made great choices this week, dunn, whom everyone panned, got 14.5, j.brown, whom everyone panned would not beat burnley at burnley got 12, malouda, which was obvious. i got some people performing ok, cesc 8, carlton cole 7.5, salgado 7, some players not playing, arteta and vermaelen or getting 0 points, bendtner. so i am at 90.5 with tevez left to play.

Anonymous said...

great week for me after a horrible 145 last week. On 143.5 for the week with K2 to go. Lampsy was great for me as was malouda. I am keeping both for the tie with Manure as I think Chelsea will surprise everyone and win 3-1 or 2-0. I really hope Joe Cole is nowhere near the pitch for Chelsea, even though I like the guy.

Saitofall

Anonymous said...

vermaelen got a red card last game and its pretty obvious he wasn't going to play. I wasn't surprised Rooney was not fit because he did had a minor injury annouced mid week. For 20+ dollar, he wasn't worth the risk. Drogba and Arteta were a surprise but a lot of fantasy owner suffered the same fate. I did a last minute change from Hutton to Maxi. It was pretty obvious Liverpool was going to win at home. What did you expect out of Hutton?

Mr D said...

Arteta out for weeks?

http://www.nsno.co.uk/news-5738.html

Anonymous said...

After my Torres brace, I have 109 points with Toure, AJ and Tevez to go tomorrow.

My possible line up next week

James
Bale Jagielka Verm
Arteta Arshavin Malouda Etherington
Saha Tevez Bendtner

What to do with Torres? Still have him preupdate. Need to make a decision fast.

bengoh91

Anonymous said...

I swapped Malouda to Modric in last minute change.
What a bad decision?
My final point is 104. Thanks for Myhill, Elokobi, Bullard, Torres.
Should have done better.
Iceberg

Mr D said...

AM fantastic results for you this week. Congrats.

Do you think Fabregas will be rested this weekend? He has to play Barcelona and he appeared to have taken a knock against Birmingham.

Anonymous said...

According to news, Dafoe is back this week. Time to drop Guhjohnson!

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't gamble on Fabregas this week, he is doubtful for Barcelona's game this week. Even if he did play against Barecelona, he wouldn't be in 100% shape for the Premier league game. For over 20 dollar spent on him, i rather look for talents elsewhere.

Anonymous said...

My possible line up for next week

Myhill
Bale Verm G.Johnson
Arteta AJ Nasri Gerard
Saha Tevez Bendtner

Still not totally sure bout Myhill, AJ and Gerard.

Johnson had a great performance against Sunderland, probably will do well against Birmingham next week. Myhill did pretty well too and are playing Stoke who are quite comfortable in mid table and also one of 4th lowest scoring club in the league this season. So i think it will be a low scoring game on that one.

Gerard totally out of form these few weeks. He got to put up a goal some time soon and he's quite affordable at the moment at 15.29.

Still, not really finalize on everything yet. Not so confident on Fabregas as he's doubtful at the moment and still have Champions League.
Hoping to keep faith in Bendtner and also in AJ but i'll see AJ's performance tonite and will probly decide then.
What you guys think?

Anonymous said...

As mentioned a few post above, Arteta might be out for the next few weeks. I'd stay away from any player that are in doubt for the remaining games. there are only about 6 weeks left and holding on to players with "discount" while they are in doubt is a bad idea. Unless you have drogba at 11 at the beginning of the season, that'd be different. But then again, he's perfectly fit for the remaining games.

A low scoring game means Myhill may not get a lot of saves. Unless he can get a clean sheet, he is not likely to produce any points. If you can afford it, i'd suggest u to replace him for the coming week.

Gerrard is very disappointing. Even at home with a 3-0. He ended up with a mere 7 pts. Even Maxi who cost less than half of him got more points than him. If you have nowhere else to spent, maybe Gerrard, but i'd rather bet on maxi and drop Myhill if i were you.

Efthymios said...

130.5 points for me with Adebayor to play tonight. Come on Adebayor make a hat-trick! Thanks to Myhill, Malouda, Bullard and Torres. Moved 203th overall and hope to finish in the top 100. I hope to be in the next round of the blog cup(top 10). Good Job AM!

Anonymous said...

Another suggestion is that u might want to pick up Maxi or Manchester City players now and drop Gerrard. Because I can only foresee his value dropping before the deadline while Maxi and or other Manchester city player's value go up. Next week, Man City have a easy match up, I'd try and go with a man City defence for a easy clean sheet before their value go up after tonight's game.

And to Efthymios, Tevez will be the man of the game, not adebayor.

Anonymous said...

so many no shows it's unbeleivable. no roon, rio, arteta, hutton, kalinic. how i'm on 60+ with only 4 proper scores is unbeleivable. still got ad-jo tonight. is hutton only on loan from spurs and therefore inelegible to play vs them next sat ? gonna be hard to replace him at just 3'ish.

S.P.

Anonymous said...

after what i said about hahnemann in the week..quoting his excellent saves ratio, he did it again...and spoiled your bet there A.M., 9 saves, clean sheet and 25 pt's. almunia's goals/saves ratio of 0.48 has got to be a major stumbling block to them winning the lge.
jussi was on poor form... 4 goals for just 3 saves..a ratio of 1.33- awful. friedel continues his bad form 7/3=2.33 shocking- was poor for me in the double gamers, and seems to have carried on after having an excellent season..even after the recent bad stuff... a ratio now of 32/102 = 0.31 !


S.P.

Anonymous said...

smalling@3.xx :)

Anonymous said...

so you bought hahneman S.P?

Anonymous said...

olsson Bburn played as striker with 2 SOTs last night...look interesting against portmouth next week..

Anonymous said...

Thanx for the advices. Then if i were to drop Gerard, i think i would go for Arshavin or Cahill or N'zogbia instead. Arsenal kind of have an easy game at home with wolves but they do have a game against barca in midweek, while everton have a chance with also at home with struggling westham while wigan have an away game to tired fulham who have an europa league game with wolfsburg in midweek.

Then since i think Fulham will be quite tired, so should i go for kirkland instead of myhill. i had myhill at 1.69 so thinking he wouldn't do much wrong in getting back his value for points.

Dens

STM said...

@S.P.: Hutton apparently got injured in training, must be a late news, so he sat out. Anyway, he won't be eligible against Spurs.

@Anon 11:29AM: So the best kept secret is out? :-D

I had mentioned on Neal&Jeremy's that once Nelsen/Givet is back, Olsson will be pushed forward to the LW once again.

Didn't follow the match entirely, just on and off but it didn't look like an out and out striker role. Seems more of an advanced attacking role in LM, just behind Roberts. Probably a switch in position between Olsson and Pedersen.

Anyway, seeing where the goals and attacks in the Spurs vs Portsmouth match came from, i.e. from the wings, it could be an ominous sign.

Anonymous said...

no, anon unfortunately i didn't. i did switch from green to myhill in the week so pretty pleased with that. i take it anon you were aware of hahnemann's great saves ratio..after all it has received so much coverage in the national media..NOT ! ;) . it's just one to note for future reference. even arsenal might struggle getting past him on sat. obviously you still back them to win but it might not be the thrashing you'd expect..and if it is, he still might escape with a healthy saves ratio on the day ..of say 3 goals for 8 saves = 0.375.

S.P.

Anonymous said...

why does daniel fox's price went up so much while he got minus points? its just ridiculous

Anonymous said...

im running ok so far earning 109 with AJ and tevez to play later on.thanks to myhill,bale,bassong,bullard,modric,torres,crouch..zero point by arteta and hutton(not too disappointing @3.76 )..tq guyz esp AM =)

greginho said...

boy i am really enjoying my dropping of drogba for tevez. i reasoned to myself that i could get almost as much production for 7 dollars less. i wouldn't have forseen drogba not playing and tevez with a hattrick, 5 shots on target and 5 fouls drawn. i am 90 now so around 120 is alright by me.

gman26 said...

so happy I swapped out Tevez on Friday because a coupe of people on this blog were worried about how effective Tevez would be with Adebayor coming back. it's my fault for listening. No one else to blame.

Anonymous said...

People, for next week, should I take in Gerrard/TCahill instead of Eagles/Tevez?

Thanks in advance.

-cvb

Saul said...

@gman26 - I feel your pain as I was one that went for Adebayor instead of Teves...but then again, I've been burned before when I chose the oposite...should've know better though and gone with my man Tevez, aw well I guess 120.5 is nothing to complain about.

Anonymous said...

rooney@16/mokoena or saha/wilshere for next week?

SK said...

Anonymous - It's too early to tell since ManU has to play midweek against Bayern. I would definitely hold Rooney until after the game, but you can try to get Saha now as well.

- SK

Anonymous said...

Like i said in a few posts before, Tevez was the man! Adebayor is terrible~!!! I managed to pick up Zabaleta before the game but is he banned next game for having 10 yellow cards?

Kellz said...

@Anon: 2:30am: Yes Zabs is suspended for 2 matches for 10YC. He misses Burnley and BHam.

@cvb: Tevez for sure, but not Eagles. He hasn't started frequently enough, you never know whens hes going to be on the bench or the first 11.

I finished on 119pts after ZERO'S from Rooney, Bendt, Arteta, and -1 from Fererria. So have to say great rebound. However many managers here got into the 150-170 range, congrats to INDIA aka Hans!

Next week:

Given, Bale, Jags, Garrido, Malouda, Nasri, Arteta, Maxi, Tevez, Bendt, Torres

Have fun watching the Champions League tomorrow!

FLScott said...

My Tops this week - and kicking myself 4 not picking up Lamps!

Carlos Tévez 39.00
Nemanja Vidic 22.50
Peter Crouch 17.00
Heurelho Gomes 16.00
Steven Mouyokolo 15.00
Niko Kranjcar 14.00

eh, 146 overall ain't to bad I guess. I'm leading my group by around 400 so I'm happy to be taking home my first Yahoo Football Trophy - barring disaster... need wood to knock on.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Kellz. I found that info as well after some digging in last night's live feeds!

its a shame bcoz he would have worked out well as he had a stunning performance last night. So what do you guys think about Bellamy next week?

I'm actually consider Hull Defense as well. Dawson looks like a cheap decent pick for the week.
Right now i have Saha/Zabaleta. I am considering going Bellamy/Dawson.

I wouldn't gamble on anyone from Man U and Arsenal as they have UEFA game mid week. i rather keep Drogba or even go for Malouda. Man City also have an easy match up too...

Kellz said...

@Anon: Ade and Tevez seem like the best choices for goals next week, and Bellamy isn't a sure starter between AJ/SWP. I'd stay to sure bets unless you here otherwise. Hull away to Stoke, don't let this previous result fool you. I don't see a Hull CS let alone win next week. Brittania has been tough for many teams. As per Saha, hes never worked out for me so I stay away, but if you fancy him, stick with and find another option in place of Zabs. Bendtner is affordable now and will spearhead attack at Wolves.

Anonymous said...

Will Hutton play against Spurs or will he be barred as part of his loan ?

Superfly Jim

Anonymous said...

thanks again Kellz.

then my question becomes, is Ade really worth it? a great example is Stevie G. He's now very affordable but for the price you pay for him and his return in points most of the time, its pretty much a waste to pick him up.

i do agree with you that bendtner might be a good choice, I m just afraid of Arsenal going down hill after Barcelona's game. I wont pick him up til at least friday and see how it turns out.

Anonymous said...

@ Superfly Jim - yeah Hutton will be unavailable to play against spurs as they are his parent club. Ended the week on 134.5 but could have been so much better had I not dropped Tevez!!!

greginho said...

the anonymous person who suggested that the idiot who said that tevez would not be effective playing with adebayor, was not just one person. there was a collective dismissing. i pointed out to them that tevez's first 7 games, on his streak, came with adebayor on his side. noone bothered to comment. i am now secretly hoping that tevez pips rooney and drogba for the golden boot. what would sir alex criessegson do then. he might admit he is not that great and retire.

Gasper said...

For all those who droped Arteta after he didn't play this week. He will be back to play WHam on Saturday.

http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/2010/03/27/midfield-injury-headache

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