Capello Experiments

England team to face Japan:
David James, Glen Johnson, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Theo Walcott, Tom Huddlestone, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, Wayne Rooney, Darren Bent

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Football Books

Brilliant opinions on where the World Cup may end up, from the sensible, to the unlikely, to the dream - I love the fact we have so many differing opinions on what can happen...I think the different interactions from different nations makes those opinions & also makes the blog what it is

Now for a curve ball based on some of the responses I've seen. What is THE best football book you've read? Be it fact or fiction? I've seen some great suggestions on the previous post & I've added those to my personal list, but from the whole variety of stuff in the chat room & comments it made me realise that posts like those could end with loads of us reading great stuff we'd otherwise miss out on, as we all know we have knowledgeable regulars from around the globe!

The first/main aim of this blog was Yahoo Fantasy Football, but I've realised in the past few months it could now go further than that given the huge following, & I encourage that. So...

My favourite football book is 'The Fix' by Declan Hill - I won't reveal too much but I will say I think every football fan should read it to realise what has/could/will happen with our game. Genius, but scary stuff for any fan of the game as it is (or as we think it is...)

So there you go - best football book, what's yours?

Cheers,
AM

World Cup Debate

The first debate regarding Fabregas went reasonably well (after the initial drunken meltdown by ALN), with a variety of views from Arsenal fans & fans of other clubs. General opinion was to do everything to get him to stay for one more season, but if he really wanted to go then play hard-ball & force Barca to pay megabucks - seems sensible to me.

Next I'd like to ask you 2 straightforward questions:-

1. Who do you think will win the World Cup?
2. Who do you think will end the tournament with the Golden Boot?

I'd love to answer (1) England & (2) Wayne Rooney, but I'd be lying. My honest answers are very boring, but I simply can't look past Spain & David Villa after they ended their hoodoo in Euro 2008...their midfield scares the hell out of me & I can't see any other side creating more chances than them, with Villa to score 6 goals on their way to the World Cup trophy.

Predictions please guys...do you think an outsider could spring a surprise?

Cheers,
AM

p.s. We now have over 250 people in the World Cup Blog League already, so it's sure to be a great competition! Place are unlimited so please feel free to join. We're going with the Official FIFA World Cup Fantasy game at http://en.mcdonalds.fantasy.fifa.com/M/home.mc & the code to join is: 107956-25552

Fabregas Debate

While we wait for the World Cup to start I thought I'd start a bit of a discussion on the Fabregas saga, namely the fact Barcelona have decided they definitely want to sign him this summer, & Cesc is probably ready to re-join his boyhood club.

I know we have a lot of Arsenal fans reading the blog, so I'd like your opinions...

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Fantasy World Cup - Blog League 1

We're going with the Official FIFA World Cup Fantasy game - http://en.mcdonalds.fantasy.fifa.com/M/home.mc

Code To Join 1st Blog League: 107956-25552

You'll be able to pick your squad from the 4th of June, after the official squads have been announced...see you over there! :)

Cheers,
AM

Fantasy World Cup Feedback

Real quickie guys - I've been searching around & the many of the World Cup Fantasy games I was planning on using (e.g. Sky Sports, Metro) are for the UK & Ireland only. You can lie about your nationality when registering, but that would mean you wouldn't be eligible for any prizes. Seeing as over 50% of our readers are from outside the UK it doesn't make sense to use one of these games.

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Blog League Winners!!!

On reading FantasyEPL earlier today, namely the Winner's Circle post, I realised I forgot to reveal the winners of the 6 AM Blog Leagues, so here goes...

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England Provisional World Cup Squad Announced

England coach Fabio Capello has made several surprise selections in his preliminary 30-man World Cup squad.

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham).

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Tottenham), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa).

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Aston Villa), Scott Parker (West Ham), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City).

Forwards: Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).

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The Blog Cup - Final Results

Firstly, congratulations to Chelsea for sealing the 2009/10 Premier League title yesterday  - I think they probably deserved it over the season & its easy to forget they did it without their best player (in my opinion), Michael Essien. We'll have to wait & see who does what over the summer, but I'm sure Man United & Sir Alex will be even more determined to get revenge next year, with Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool & maybe even Spurs thrown in to the mix...I'm looking forward to it already!

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Week 34 - 09/10 Season Final Team

Fulop

       Bale   Smalling  Mancienne

Walcott   Malouda   Nani   A.Young

   Kalou   Van Persie   Anichibe

...and so we face the final curtain. It's always sad when the Premier League season ends - the thought of having to wait over 3 months for the new season to start fills me with dread, but at least that will be tempered slightly by the World Cup this summer. 

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Team News

I got dragged to a wedding today (not mine thank God), but there was a free bar, so I couldn't do any team/injury news research before the deadline tomorrow at 12 BST even if I wanted to...lucky for you, Jeremy & Neal are up with the shizzle over at FantasyEPL - click the link for all the info http://fantasyepl.blogspot.com/2010/05/injuries-and-suspensions.html

Probable Team...

Fulop

      Mancienne  Smalling  Bale

       Walcott  Young  Malouda  Nani

     Van Persie  Anichibe  Kalou

Cheers,
AM

Week 34 - Player Picks

After 9 long months, the final week of the Premier League / Yahoo Fantasy Football season is upon us! It's been a great season in my opinion, not just because of the success Spurs have achieved, but generally because no team has "run away" with it & we've had a number of sides contesting the title-race, Champions League & Europa Cup places.

I think the top of the league is more competitive than ever - Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal, Spurs, Man City, Liverpool, Aston Villa & Everton are all strong sides who have taken points off each other & I believe it'll be even closer next year as everyone looks to build / improve. The breaking of the Top 4 cartel for the first time in 5 years should give other sides belief that it can still be done.

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The AM Challenge Cup - Final Results

Rank	Team	Total
1	pk all stars	197.5
2	iceman_tsc	186.5
3	Shock The Monkey	175
4	Juan Sebastian Veron	174.5
5	INDIA © [AM.Blog]	171.5
6	Simply Da Best	168
7	Remedial Spastics	168
8	Kop Kings (BB)	168
9	Unintended XI	163
10	‹^› ‹(•¿•)› ‹^›	161.5
11	Steve Bob FC ***	161.5
12	Rizal Plate F.C.	160.5
13	TM yang 1	158.5
14	Welcome to Man City (S11)	157.5
15	FC Skwarek	148
16	No Longer Defending Chaffs	138
17	CF Aimarcia	130
18	No Name FC	127
19	gamatoilrefinery [AM.Blog]	109
20	VANDE MATARAM	93.5
21	chuggington	91.5

Massive congratulations to PK ALL STARS, who has won the AM Challenge Cup, beating 600 teams over 6 rounds! There is no prize as such, but the pride of winning the competition will hopefully be enough :) Well done to all who got through to the final!

I'm not certain if PK All Stars are managed by any of the blog regulars, but if it's you then please let yourself be known in the comments section below...congratulations again!

The Week 34 Player Picks will be up later today & they are of course the last of the season. It's also the final of The Blog Cup where Stephane's FrenchCannons face off again AlexDarlo's Supermassive FC, with the winner rewarded with the prize of the Premier League football shirt of their choice. Good luck to both!


Cheers,
AM

Week 34 - (pre) Player Picks

Gomes
Bale
Kaboul
Dawson
King
Assou-Ekotto
Huddlestone
Lennon
Modric
Crouch
Defoe
Bassong
Bentley
Jenas
Palacios
Pavlyuchenko
Gudjohnsen
Redknapp (might not be on the game)

What a season - and what a night, one of the best in my lifetime. 4th may seem trivial to Man Utd/Arsenal/Chelsea/Liverpool fans who have seen so much glory in the past 2-3 decades, but this is huge for us, no matter what happens next season, & it destroys so many deamons after LasagneGate.

Real player picks will be up tomorrow, but for now I have to think of an excuse to give to my boss for being a waste of space at work on Thursday.

Oh, I've got one...CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!!!! The dream of potentially playing some the biggest teams in Europe is beyond what I expected from this season.

COYS,
AM

Week 33 - Sunday & Monday

Quick round up of the 5 games since I posted on Sunday morning, and we'll start with the Fulham v West Ham game in which most of us had a few Fulham players.

It was an irrelevant game in terms of the Premier League - Fulham have only the Europa Cup to worry about & West Ham  are safe from relegation, but they served up a decent game. Clint Dempsey put Fulham ahead before Carlton Cole scored at both ends. Okaka wrapped things up for Fulham before a late consolation from Franco.

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Week 33 - Saturday

Only five Premiership games took place on Saturday, but they involved 3 of the 4 teams with a double week. Looking at people's teams it appears the majority have done the right thing & loaded up with a minimum of 8 double gamers, many (like myself) going with 11. It's already paying off.

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Week 33 - My Team

Fulop

Bale  Collins  Zabaleta  Smalling

A.Johnson  Modric  Dempsey  Etherington

Tevez  Defoe

Collins on the bench for Stoke for no apparent reason...not a good start. Let me know your team!

Cheers,

AM