Thursday 6 May 2010

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.

We've also had the fairytale of Fulham reaching the Europa Cup final despite starting their campaign last July & the same with Portsmouth reaching the FA Cup final despite all the turmoil. The league climax is just a few days away, with everyone expecting Chelsea to walk the title at home to Wigan, but you just never know in this game...we love it because the impossible is only ever round the corner.

Another reason for loving this season has been the unbelievable success of the blog. It will sound like the saddest thing ever, but last June I actually had a dream where I had started writing a Fantasy Football Blog. Not quite in the same ballpark as Martin Luther King I know, but writing has always been something I loved to do, football is a passion & I'd been enjoying Yahoo Fantasy Football for years - it all made sense!

On Sunday 21st June 2009 I wrote my first post & since then it's really gathered pace beyond my imagination, to the stage we're at now - over 400,000 hits, 60,000+ visitors from around the globe, up to 4000 hits per day, over 600 fans on Facebook, 100 replies to some posts, blog regulars constantly discussing football affairs in the chatroom - when I think about it like that it makes me really proud of what it's become.

I couldn't have done it without the help of Jeremy & Neal over at FantasyEPL & the support of the community we've built here, It's been bloody hard work (especially the admin side of the Cup competitions), but totally worth it - I'll be taking a bit of a break over the summer but I'll still be adding the odd post of relevant news (World Cup Fantasy Football anyone?) & I'll be back next year refreshed & ready for the new season!

But before that, we have the final player picks to think about! The final day of the season gives teams the chance to give their fans something to shout about & gives you the chance to secure 1st place in your private league, or grab that Top 50/500/5000th place finish you've worked so hard for. I'm in 316th, so hoping to finish in the Top 300!

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!

So let's look at the final day fixtures:-

Sunday, 9 May 2010
Arsenal v Fulham, 16:00
Aston Villa v Blackburn, 16:00
Bolton v Birmingham, 16:00
Burnley v Tottenham, 16:00
Chelsea v Wigan, 16:00
Everton v Portsmouth, 16:00
Hull v Liverpool, 16:00
Man Utd v Stoke, 16:00
West Ham v Man City, 16:00
Wolverhampton v Sunderland, 16:00

The only teams with something massive to play for are Chelsea & Man Utd, so Chelsea at home to Wigan & Man Utd at home to Stoke are the two you want to be loading up on. Spurs can mathematically still get 3rd so they'll be going for the win at Burnley, but I don't expect Arsenal to slip up at home to a Fulham reserve side.

Away from the 4 teams with something to go for you have to fancy Everton & Aston Villa to put on a decent show in front of their fans after pretty successful seasons. They face Portsmouth & Blackburn respectively, so I can see a couple of home wins & quite a few goals.

I won't be getting excited about any of the other games. I suppose Liverpool could win at Hull, but West Ham v Man City is difficult to call now neither have anything to go for although I'd slightly favour City with the pressure off, while Bolton v Birmingham & Wolves v Sunderland are only attractive for the possible cleans sheets (0-0, 0-0?)

With that in mind, here come my final player picks of the season. It's worth noting the deadline has been pushed to midday on Sunday so you have an extra 24 hours to decide on your team...

KEEPERS
Fulop
Fabianski
Jaaskalainen

I'll be keeping Fulop at 1.60 as he was pretty impressive last night despite Man City's defeat & West Ham rarely score a bagful. If you want to buy him now he'll still only cost you £3m & I feel he's the pick of the bunch.

Despite the fact he's one of the worst goalkeepers I've ever seen (including at School & Sunday League), Fabianski will be in goal as Arsenal play Fulham's reserves, a game they should win to nil, so at £5.36m I feel compelled to recommend him as an alternative to Fulop. If neither appeal to you then Jussi is probably the best bet at home to Birmingham.

DEFENDERS
Bale
Jagielka
Vidic
Terry
O'Shea
Smalling
Mancienne
Campbell
Bassong
Steinsson
Yobo
Elokobi

Obviously Bale & Jagielka are recommended only at discount, but if you're looking to spend on money on defenders likely to get clean sheets & possibly grab a goal then Vidic & Terry should be top of your list, with O'Shea a decent option too.

At the next level down you have Bassong (who'll replace Ledley), Sol Campbell, Steinsson & Yobo, who should all do well with clean sheet chances, although keep an eye on news on Heitinga because if he returns then Yobo could find himself on the bench.

There's also a few choices for cheap defenders, with Mancienne, Smalling & Elokobi all definite starters at bargain prices.

MIDFIELDERS
Lampard
Nani
Malouda
Arteta
Valencia
Arshavin
Young
Walcott
A.Johnson
Nasri
Wilshire
Ballack
Benayoun
Rodwell
D.Jones

Lampard is the midfielder I really wanted this week, but spending close to £23m seems crazy when there are plenty of other options. The outstanding Arteta is too pricey for me too, but Nani & Malouda are two alternatives I'm seriously considering given their must win home games. I missed Nani on the barndoor, so it's possible I go with Valencia instead to save a few million.

I've got a funny feeling that both Arshavin & Walcott could have big weeks for Arsenal, with Nasri also on my radar, while it's hard to discount set pieces takers like Adam Johnson & Ashley Young. This also brings in the bargain David Jones, who should be on set pieces for Wolves with Jarvis out & costs under £5m!

Some outside bets I'm looking at are Jack Wilshire, Ballack (playing defensive midfield), Benayoun at Hull & Jack Rodwell, who's due some game time at home to Portsmouth - Moyes may play the youngsters with Everton guaranteed 8th position.

STRIKERS
Drogba
Rooney
Van Persie
Anelka
Tevez
Defoe
Carew
Crouch
Kalou
K.Davies
Doyle
Anichibe

Drogba's ruddy expensive but expect at least a goal from him, while Van Persie & Rooney are sure to want finish their season's on a high. A bit like the Arsenal middies, I feel RvP could be in for a monster week as he looks to make up for an injury hit season.

If those guys are out of your price range than Anelka is a bit more affordable & playing for a new deal, many of you will have Tevez for around 15-16 & Defoe surely has to get a goal at leaky Burnley? John Carew is ending the season strongly & is tempting at under 10 / home to Blackburn, Crouch & Kalou should keep their places, with Kevin Davies & Kevin Doyle outside picks if you're looking to do something different.

My final pick is another risky one but I think I'm going to go with - Victor Anichibe. He's playing well & as I mentioned earlier I think Moyes may give some of the youngsters a run out versus Portsmouth. I remember right at the start of the season I said that you should always try to go with a hunch pick - he's mine in this final week & I feel it's a good way to end my final player picks list of the season!

My team page currently looks like...

    Fulop

      Mancienne  Smalling  Bale

       Walcott  Jones  Malouda  Nani

     Van Persie  Anichibe  Anelka

Fulop, Bale, Smalling, Anichibe & Van Persie will all probably stay but literally every other position is still up for consideration, with players like Yobo, Campbell, Lampard, Valencia, Nasri, Rooney & Kalou possibly coming in.

How's your team shaping up? Anyone you feel I've missed from the lists above?

Please remember to join the Facebook Group if you haven't already. I know it's the end of the season but you'll get notifications whenever I post something new on the blog, I'll be able to alert you about new cup competitions planned for next season & it's also nice for me to put some faces to names...we've passed 600 members - join us!   

BEST OF LUCK FOR THE FINAL WEEK - THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!!!!!

Cheers,
AM

95 comments:

Anonymous said...

Like many teams in the Premier league I have nothing to play for. I am well ahead in my private league and I'm not going to move significantly in the overall standings. I will be taking a few flyers

Doctor Teeth said...

Thanks for everything, AM! Can't believe a full year has passed...time flies when you're having fun I suppose!

My team currently:

Fulop
Bale Vidic Alex
Nani Wilshere AJ Jones Malouda
Davies RVP

Kellz said...

Great Blog all year round!

My Final Team:

Fulop
Bale, Campbell, O'Shea
Nani, D.Jones, Rodwell, AJ
Rooney, RvP, Crouchy

Feeling very confident with my team, which may be a bad thing. But as you stated, Chelsea and Utd have really the biggest to play for, which makes me worried not having any Chelsea, so I may straight swap Nani for Malouda to vary my team because I already have Rooney who should be the likeliest source of goals at Old Trafford. Otherwise everyone else is staying, I do believe Moyes will give youngsters a run out and Rodwell should score nicely for only 5mil.

Good luck to everyone!

Anonymous said...

Great job this season Assistant Manager. I will definitely check in throughout the summer and I'll be back in full force for next season. Congrats on your teams successes.

My team as of now:

Fulop
Jagielka Terry Campbell Agger
Malouda Arshavin Pienaar Dikcagoi (spelling?)
RVP Saha

Worried about Saha not playing, so might go with your Anichibe suggestion and upgrade Dikcagoi...

-lfcinpa

Anonymous said...

thanks AM for all the help along the year.

Anonymous said...

AM your blog is my most favourite web site, brilliant!

rwlwhite said...

I'm sitting 2,156th, my highest position ever. I'm also 838 points ahead in my private league, and while this is a massive achievement for me, i am mindful that most of my friends/opponents/underlings are away travelling so haven't been able to keep up this season.

my form has been helped in a massive way by this blog, and i'm glad i found it right at the beginning of the season. i've had some good arguments/discussions/tips/banter with some of the other regulars, and I apologise for my lack of contributions recently (i have 12 days until i finish my law degree, hence the blog silence!), but I hope I can bring something to the table again next season.

my aim is to make up those 156 places to break into the top 2000 after this week, although i'm not entirely confident i will. because that is all i'm playing for i'm picking my team partly with my heart and not my head this final week. here's how my team looks at the moment:

Fulop
Bale - Campbell - O'shea
Cahill - Kompany- A.Young - A.Johnson
Defoe - K.Davies - van Persie

like i said, not too confident, but hope i can pull it out of the bag

thanks again AM for your blog, and all your contributions and insights!

Hinrik said...

I think that Berbatov could do well against Stoke. He scored against them on Britannia stadium and will be eager to attract interest from top teams in Europe.

DJ PIGG said...

I'd like to add my thanks to those above (and, presumably, below) for all you've written this season. I only started reading your blog in October but it's helped me enormously.

Like rwlwhite I'm massively ahead in my private league (although 'only' 634.5 points ahead) and at 2343rd overall I'm pretty chuffed with my first season.

I'd like to break into the top 200 in the 'Fans of Other' league - currently I'm 206th - and I'm sure I will if Rooney, Drogba and Anelka really go for it this Sunday.

I'll certainly be looking out for a Fantasy World Cup game to play and am really looking forward to improving on my scores next year; with your invaluable help, of course!

Have a great summer!

CFCBOSS said...

first off, what a brilliant blog it is, i discovered it by jeremy & neil around christmas, really the best advice for real.
also congratulations, spurs getting to champions league, coming from chelsea fan.
my team so far:
jussi
bale mancienne smalling
aj valencia d.jones wilshere
carew van persie drog

call me crazy but i just have a feeling that drog can be the biggest scorer of the week, i certainly hope so, buying at 25~ better produce some magic.
van persie is must-have, carew good pick, in my opinion.
so im having all faith in forwards that they should fire in all cylinders.
what you guys think?

Pop Thy Collar said...

I too discovered via Jeremy & Neal's blog. Sadly for them I now spend more time on this one since it meets my requirements more.

It's helped me squeeze a few extra hundred points over the course of a season and I'm going into the final week of my private work league 60 points in the lead.

So it's not a given but I'm looking to play it solid and bring home the trophy. About time too after finishing 5th then 4th then 2nd last year!

Thanks a lot - keep it up for next season.

Pop Thy Collar

Anonymous said...

Like a lot of others, I want to express thanks to AM and many of the other posters for all the tips and thoughts throughout the year. This blog has been an immense help and a great place to discuss what is going on.

I also don't have much to play for in my private league having an advantage of over 1,000 points. I do have a lot to play for in overall standings. I'm ranked 1,017th currently. I'd really like to crack the Top 1,000. This blog (along with Jeremy and Neal) are the primary reasons I'm anywhere close to that level.

For the last week I'm sitting on:
Fulop
Bale, Smalling, Terry
A. Johnson, Nani, Malouda, D. Jones
Defoe, Anichebe, Van Persie

This could change a lot in the next couple of days. I had Mancienne in the back instead of Terry previously. I may go back to that and try to find a better way to use the extra 6 points. I was just short of being able to upgrade Defoe to Rooney in that scenario. There is still some ways to move around and do something probably.

Again, thanks AM. Looking forward to next season already.

Cech's Mates

Kernal_Panic said...

Just wanna say, like many others, thanks for such a great blog. Managed to win my league again this year, mainly down to you (and a certain mr bale for 2.84!)
Hats off to AM!
Well done spurs.

Birty said...

Great blog AM! Started reading just after the new year when I had a disasterous double week when I got less points than most single weeks.

I always like it when I read the player picks and I already have about 3/4 of my team already made up of them. Can't wait for next season, Paul Rachubka for 1.4 anyone?

For this last week, I need to make up 100+ points to gain a spot in my private league so I'm just hoping for a good week.

Howard,
Bale, Knight, Campbell, O'Shea
A Jo, Arteta, Walcott
Davies, Anichibe, Agbonlahor

Quite happy with that, I went for Agbonlahor because a) Defoe annoyed me by not scoring in the double week and b) I think he's a good player.

Anonymous said...

fulop
bale,yobo,terry
AJ,arteta,nani,jones
tevez,elk,(kalou/carew)

or

fulop
bale,yobo,o'shea
AJ,arteta,nani,jones
RVP,elk,anichebe



any thoughts? which one is better team? hope someone will comment my team..

anyway, great work from AM as always.. reading your blog had improved me a lot. from 1st half of the season i ranked 12k+, i gained to 3200+ right now hoping to break top 3k. looking foward to next season. i hope can be better than this season..

Bojan said...

well done mate... thx for everything... i am 39th overall heading into final week... this blog is big help to get so high and i am glad that you will continue to help us and hold us all together...


i would add Traore, Babel, Cahill, Rio and Scholes as good picks for this week...

i have Elk,Kalou and Drog in attack right now ;-)

psrv said...

First post, but I have been reading this blog since you wrote the great "The Week Ahead" over at Jeremy & Neal's blog. Thanks for all the hard work.

Anonymous said...

well, this has been a great year for me with Chelsea very close to a double, and rising to second in my private league after missing the first 2 weeks. My team is pretty Chelsea heavy and I refuse to pick a Manure player until the title is in our hands :). I am even keeping Begovic :P

Begovic
Bale Mancienne Terry
Malouda Lampard Riise Rodwell
Van Persie Anelka Anichebe

Saitofall

Any thoughts Comments?

Anonymous said...

First off I too would like to express my gratitude towards this blog. I stumbled upon it when I was looking at the message board briefly at the Fans of Tottenham group. Then when you linked us to Neal and Jeremy's blog, my sources of information for the Prem were complete. Anyway, I am up 1000 pts in my private league (my main rival stopped paying attention in January) and I am currently 1,893 overall. So my goal is top 2000 overall and hopefully finish well in all the other private groups i am in (related to this blog and Neal and Jeremy's blog).

With that being said, my final team as of now is:

Howard
Bale, Jag, Yobo
Nani, AJ, Walcott, Arshavin
Tevez, Anelka, Anichebe

I'd like to get another Manure player in there some how but I don't think it's feasible. I have only .63 left over. This will probably be my final team.

Anonymous said...

Hey AM, was listening to talk sport earlier and have to agree with what they said about if Ledley King had been injury free he would have been one of the best centre backs in the world!! Also England simply have to take both him and Dawson. Good work on the blog, always a good read although sometimes I avoid it so that I don't confuse myself and end up making rash decisions ;-)

orphans said...

I had Garreth Bale at 5.45 and lost him during the Yahoo glitch two weeks ago. Bought him back last week at 15.64. I need to catch a player 20 points ahead to win my league. He still has Bale at the cheap price (ugh). Should I sell Bale and go for Malouda or Valencia and upgrade elsewhere or just keep him and try to compete with the 84 salary elsewhere? Thanks.

Ian Sanderson said...

Back in the Summer of '09 I read your first post and have been back every day since.
Risen 1500 places in last two weeks to 1699th with 3640 points.
I've got a couple of risks in my final week's team, but in honour of AM I'm bringing in Modric - surely, surely he's due a few goals.

Fülöp Sell at 1.59(market price 3.03)

Bale Sell at 2.84 (market price 18.01)
Jagielka Sell at 5.85 (market price 12.61)
Evra Sell at 11.06 (market price 12.57)

Arteta Sell at 13.93(market price 19.01)
Adam Johnson Sell at 8.88(market price 9.93)
Joe Cole Sell at 6.14 (market price 6.16)
Modric Sell at 7.82 (market price 7.82)

Tuncay Sell at 1.00(market price 4.60)
Defoe Sell at 13.84 (market price 13.90)
Drogba Sell at 24.65 (market price 25.34)

Anonymous said...

@Hinrik - I'm with you on Berbatov.

Fulop
Bale/Yobo/Terry
Nani/Lennon/Malouda/Benayoun/D.Jones
Berbatov/Defoe

Not too happy about it yet so changes to be made.

-Saul

greginho said...

thinking of dropping yobo, milner, tevez and fulop for fabianski, sol campbell, walcott and van persie

Yankee said...

AM - thanks for all your hard work and great advice this year. I'm in 80th place and trying to hold onto top 100. Biggest dilemmas: (1) whether to drop Arteta at a big discount for fear he won't play close to the full 90 - and to enable other trades, (2) whether Tevez has the heart left and gets the minutes to score big, and (3) whether Defoe will ever get another SOT and will 'Arry even give him the chance. Otherwise I like Scholes as a "filler" - ManU always relies on the old guys in big matches.

Anonymous said...

Hey AM as always a good post.. I couldn't agree more that this is an amazing blog.. I'm thinking of including Bolton's and Sunderland's cheap defenders, as i think they have a good match-up... Do you think the names like robinson and hutton will get good points? What do you think as well guys? I will post my line-up after i have decided my defenders..

-Cuy

Anonymous said...

Thx AM for all the hard work this season. I have really enjoyed the weekly posts.

My team for the final week.
Fab
Bale, Smalling, Mancienne
Dikgacoi, Nani, Malouda, Jones
Drogs, RVP, Rooney

Anonymous said...

Berbatov may never score again the rest of his life...
-HC

Fidan said...

Wow, AM!!! We have (currently) identical teams. You didn't post how much money you got left, but it's 3m for me...!!!

@Yankee - I dropped Tevez @15.17. It depends on at what price do you have Arteta. Imo, anything below 15m for Arteta is WELL worth it, even if he doesn't play the full 90', which I think he will!

I'm just outside the Top 50, and I hope to get there this week. I hope. And I have this FANTASTIC blog to thank for that. A big, huge, enormous, giant THANK YOU to AM for building this cracking blog!!! You know AM, I can still remember reading that very 1st post of yours. I don't quite remember but I think it was something about Spurs...and I just CAN NOT believe the end of season is just around a corner. It makes me SAD!!!

Thnx GOD for WC...!!!

Cheers...!!!

Anonymous said...

Pauly's Final Fling Fantasy Fillers - Week 34

After last week's 164.5 points for 78.25m invested (a 200% + return!):- here's this weeks top fillers, playing at home unless stated with an (A):

GK :

Fulop Mcity 3.03 (A) **
Jaaskelainen Bolton 5.85 **
Green WHam 5.29 *

DF :

Hutton Sund 5.75 **
Campbell Ars 7.14 **
Smalling Ful 3.33 * (A)
Yobo Everton 6.46 ** ?
Elokobi Wolv 5.14 **
Mancienne Wolv 3.79 **
(Bale Tott 2.84 ******* ! ;)

MF :

Jones Wolv 5.56 **
Scholes ManU 6.69 *
Fletcher ManU 7.43 **
Neville Everton 4.65 *
Kompany ManC 6.83 *
Rosicky Ars 7.73 ** ?
Song Ars 4.92 **
Mujangia Bia Wolv 5.81 ** ?
Boateng Hull 3.42 *
Weiss Bolt 6.08 **
Rodwell Everton 5.36 **

FW :

Anichebe Everton 6.74 **
Davies Bolt 6.69 *
Piquionne Ports 7.09 * (A)
Franco WHam 4.62 * ?
Thompson Burnley 3.73 * ?

* Filler
** Top Picks
? Check team sheets

Good luck for this final week-end
Thanks AM for this season's great work
Look forward to playing next season!

Pauly

Kwyjibo said...

A tremendous THANK YOU to AM and all the posters here. You transformed my season. Unfortunately, I didn't discover this blog until mid-March, when I was floundering around 25,000th. Now, in less than 2 months, I'm now flirting with 11,000th! I can only imagine how it would have been if I had known about this blog from the beginning. I'm already anxious now for the next season to get under way.

At least we have a WC to distract us this summer.

Thank you all...

FLScott said...

A special thanks to AM!

First YFF stab for me - and I won my group by over 600 pts (as of now). I know much of that has to do with your insight, and that of the good people of this here blog-O-rama.

Cheers everyone! Good luck with your last weeks, and I hope to see all of you again next season.

Anonymous said...

Bebertov/Walcott or
Valencia/Bendtner?

Yankee said...

@Fidan - agree with you on Arteta IF he plays.... hope the Moyes youth lineup has room for this stud. The only downside is now I get the poor man's Drogba (Anelka or Kalou) instead of the original.

Anonymous said...

It's the final week of 09/10 fantasy football, a big TQ to AM and Jeremy+Neal for their fantastic blogs! And the comments from fellow blog followers are great too! I started reading AM blogs when i first discovered it on the 2nd half of the season and it is hard not to confess it truely helps alot. Now i'm top of my private league with over 100+ points lead (and i missed 1 double week). My current BD team (pre AM's Week 34 Players Pick)..

fulop
j.evans, zabaleta, terry, campbell
nani, a.johnson, malouda, walcott
bellamy, kalou

cheers and TQ to all

Anonymous said...

Thank you AM and all blog regulars for all your help. I found this blog late last year and how it has paid dividends. I am now sitting in 2582 spot, up more than 10000 places since I found your blog! All the best for this last gameweek! Hopefully there will be a WC fantasy football to occupy us!

bengoh91

Anonymous said...

Here is my final team of the season

Fulop (1.50)

Bale (5.45) Yobo (5.57) Elokobi (5.13)

A.Johnson (8.88) Malouda (14.47) Nani (13.44) Walcott (9.15)

Carew (8.15) Crouch (8.15) RVP (18.58)

Might change Elokobi to an another defender though. Otherwise, quite happy with this team.

Dennis

Anonymous said...

AM, is Mancienne a good pick? For the last couple of games he has been subbed out very early

Arshavin said...

how bout pienaar?
is he fit for this week?

Anonymous said...

My team,

Pretty much sticking to the same team last week...
Banking on my Malouda for some assists/goals !

M. Fülöp
P. Jagielka G. Bale C. Smalling
F. Malouda Adam Johnson M. Arteta L. Modric T.Rosicky
J. Defoe C. Bellamy

Naughty.G

Anonymous said...

Hi peeps,

Final game of the week, excitement is there with Chelsea and MU fighting for title. I am personally a fan of liverpool, and they are practically dead for this season. Hope any fresh and good players to join Liv next season. but as of now, at least my 2nd team, Tottenham, manage to get into the 4th spot!

Back to the game, Naughty G is in my group and I just realized it 2 weeks ago. Hope I could stay at the same position by the end of next game, right G? =P

My team (as of now)

Fulop
Bale, Mancienne, Elokobi
Walcott, AJ, FloMal, Arteta (is he gonna play?)
Crouch, Carew, Bellamy

Lets end the season high! and thanks AM and all FF Managers, y'all helped me up to the table in my local group and its a good season for me as this is my first time playing this game (just knew this game year ago!)

Cheers!
DarkZero

Anonymous said...

Jones / Rooney
or
Rodwell / V.P.
or
Walcott / Anelka

Cheers,
Dark

Anonymous said...

...........AM = Fantasiest Legend

Thanks a million!


ThatsEntertainment!81

Anonymous said...

thanks AM and guys..for all the ideas and the challenge...

wow...13th from 600 teams over 6 rounds...proud enough even my total points around 3500++ and rank 2700++...and second in all private group...

additionally currently 8 over 704 in wigan team..
go go wigan to beat chelsea...i'm not devil fan either...

we are so important as to influence champions-to-be game...

final week prob line up:
fulop
bale, smalling, manciene
modric, johnson, lampard, valencia
tevez, davies, kalou

regards
TM yang 1
aka Temiang, Malaysia

Freddie M said...

Firstly,I'd like to thank AM for this wonderful blog and also to all the regulars for their contributions in this blog..You guys are really great!
I'm now currently sitting at 4th overall... the best rank I've ever had in my second season of playing YFF..
Currently on:

Fulop

campbell
Bale
yobo

Walcott
Malouda
AJ
Nani

RVP
Carew
kalou

Any comments guys?need to go to the top thus promoting this great blog! ;)

Cheers!

AdmiraLord Nelson said...

excellent blog AM!!!

Bojan said...

Drogba to take PK(s) against Wigan

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2962559/Didier-Drogba-to-take-Chelsea-penalties.html

Anonymous said...

Filler Picks update :

It would seem that Song is out for Arsenal.
Rosicky too, will not play.
O'Shea at ManUre is a good DF filler for 7.71.

Pauly

Anonymous said...

Hi

Thanks AM and all the members here...

currently im first again after 2nd last year in my private group..really meaningful for me...

i cant imagine how if 2nd week at the beginning of the season i didnt found this blog..and getting average 100 most of the weeks...

all bcoz of this blog...a million thanks to ya all...

as i mentioned b4...the only thing i got from this blog but i cant afford to have to was BD...
only rely on office internet connection...


fulop
bale,smalling,yobo,
arteta,a.johnson,walcot,malouda,nani
van P, Carew

wow..with 0,00 balance...

hopefully i manage to have my own internet connection for BD next season...i cant imagine i can score more with BD..

really proud of my achievement this season breaking 1700 ranks...

lots of dramas this season...as mentioned by AM...really enjoy in FYY but not my team...wat else...LIVERPOOL...the only spoil story this season...

luv ya all..thanks...

TokEY Borong
KL, Malaysia

Will said...

Hey there.

First of all: a massive thank you to AM and all the members. This blog is amazing and it has been very helpful during the season.

My current team:

Fulop
Bale, Jagielka, Mancienne
Scholes, Fletcher, Nani, Walcott
Drogba, Rooney, Kalou

Not sure about keeping Scholes and Fletcher as they don't score big points. However, playing against Stoke might be different. I'm trying to get in some Everton player(s) as well. Any thoughts?

How about changing Kalou/Fletcher to Anichebe/Diaby?

Anonymous said...

Filler update :

D Jones at Wolves (5.60) is likely to be off set pieces as Jarvis is set to return, so he becomes a * and not a **.

Pauly

Anonymous said...

Phenomenal job AM

Thanks for the blog

COYS

Kendo said...

Thanks for a great Blog have really enjoyed it this season.

Been thinking tho I had a policy to hang on to good players i had at a discount and make few changes.

Reading this blog i went more for weekly matchups selling discounted players (except Bale@ 5.45 and drogs @ 11.99

starting to wonder is the former strategy of hanging on to dicounted players a better cunning plan???

ur thoughts folks??

Rukkie said...

Pretty much first full season I play with proper preparation and its all because of AM and Neal/Jeremy. Huge thanks to you guys.

I learn a lot in the last year through you guys and obviously the 2 communities we have. Hopefully I will end the season in top 100 and English wins the WC.

Anonymous said...

DAMM...CHAT ROLL NOT WORKING !

Chanterboy said...

Thanx AM , i took some great advice this season. My best score ever. Cya next seeson!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much, AM, for helping me raise my YFF game to another level. I don't recall what my final score was last season, but I'm sure I'll finish this one hundreds, maybe even a thousand points higher.

Another feather in your cap is the top-flight YFF talent your blog has attracted. I feel that reading their comments as well as yours has allowed some of their success (and yours) to rub off on me. That said, my top-half finish in my blog league, against some pretty stiff competition, is a source of personal pride.

It's also worth noting that despite all the hard work you put in keeping this blog going you had an amazing second-half run, perhaps only equaled by Rosa's Leg Ends in my blog league. So congratulations for that too.

Looking forward to some time off from YFF (but not too much) applying what I've learned and doing even better next season. Go you Alzheimer Wanderers!

BtG

Anonymous said...

My team this week:

Gomes
Bale, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto,Bassong
Modric, Huddlestone, Palacios, Bentley
Defoe, Gudjohnson

Come on the Spurs!

Anonymous said...

Pieenar is a doubt and I would stay away since there is no point to risk him. He might play 45 mins, and he might score but at around $10 not worth it.

Malouda will be playing more in a deep MF role since Kalou will start. Not that it will hamper his $15 value?

Even with Jarvis back I think Davey Jones still is good value at his price tag of $5.6

This week I personally like the risk/reward for fielding 4 defenders (if like me you got bale @$2.5). I would stick with the top 7 teams + some middle pack.

CS Least Risk Tier AAA: MUN CHE
Tier AA: ARS, AVL
Tier A: MCY, EVE, TOT, LIV, BIR
Tier BBB: WLV

Justifications for Clean Sheet Risk:
-why not ARS as AAA? Fabianski in goal, FUL can score goals even without all their starters, FUL has good tactical/positional discipline
-MCY, TOT, LIV tier A because last game of season away, and beware the opponent who has nothing to lose
-EVE is somewhat risky due to uncertainty in starters
-BIR is away to BOL who will be desperate to show home fans some goals, however, Carr returns.
-WLV is BBB since Bent will want a shot at the golden boot (IMHO)

good luck see you next season?

-HC

FLScott said...

Signing out:

M. Fülöp

C. Smalling
J. Terry
M. Mancienne

A. Johnson
R. Babel
V. Kompany
K. Kilbane

N. Anelka
W. Rooney
R. van Persie

See you all on the next go around'

Anonymous said...

Fulop
Bale Yobo Mancienne
AJ Nani Malouda Utaka
Carew Kalou Anichebe

Nani or Valencia?

Fidan said...

Valencia is OUT (confirmed by SAF ;))...!!!

Cheers

Anonymous said...

My current team:

Howard
Bale Terry Vidic Bassong
AJohnson Malouda Nani Babel
Carew Kalou

And no, I don't like it at all. I don't have any Arsenal player not because I don't see them winning, but only because I can't really predict who will get the points from that win. I'm a bit worried about Kalou, but I guess he should start again after his recent form, right?

SF

CFCBOSS said...

valencia is out for manu, i just reed that from jeremy & neil's blog, i also have to make some changes now.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the success of this blog AM. It's nothing short of well-deserved. Insightful advice that factors in my decision every week.

I can't post my team since I am in direct competition with Alex for the Blog Cup final. Besides, it is highly unstable at the moment, I keep on switching players like Vanessa Perroncel and Zahia merged in one body!

Currently at 402, hoping to break the top 350 (or to stay under 500...), and hoping to get my hands on this damned Arsenal shirt. Anybody but Bendtner.

So best of luck to you AlexDarlo. This will be my last opportunity at savoring victory since Lyon can't be French or European Champions and I am pretty sure Domenech will lead France to World Cup disaster.

Stephane

Anonymous said...

Here's my team for the upcoming final...

Fulop
Bale/Rio/Mancienne
Malouda/Nani/Lennon/Rodwell or Scholes
Defoe/Berbatov/Kalou

I don't know if Lennon will start but I guess he'll be begging Rednapp to play him so that his World Cup spot can be assured...wish I could fit in Giggs due to Valencia being out but he's just so expensive. Comments and Suggestions will be taken with great analysis. Thank you all and AM for this great blog. Everyone on it has made it great. Good luck all!

-Saul

Sulldaddy said...

this blog has been absolutely incredible for information on players, hunches, and general debate about EPL, I love the chat function and need to thank AM immensely for setting this up!!

I am struggling with decisions with only a 14 point lead in my pvt league.

Currently have

Fulop
bale, mancienne, smalling
AJ, nani,riise, walcott
rooney, kalou, defoe

4.75 in the bank...any thoughts? gotta maximize my score this weekend!

Anonymous said...

AM-

great blog. thanks for the great advice and the great posts. keep up the FB posts during the WC summer. 34 days to go

SecretSquirrel said...

Great Blog AM, been addicted since I stumbled across it mid season, firmly placed in my favourites!

Quick opinion gatherer if poss on:

Tevez or Rooney??

Very close in my leauge, and I feel this could make or break it!

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Someone posted previously on this blog that Drogba would be on PK duties, can anyone confirm this? If so I'd say Drogba would be gold for the last game of the Premier League.

-Saul

Anonymous said...

Alright my team changed quite a bit...

From:
Fulop
Bale/Rio/Mancienne
Nani/Malouda/Lennon/Rodwell
Defoe/Berbatov/Kalou

To:
Fulop
Bale/Smalling/Mancienne
Nani/Malouda/Diop/Rodwell
Van Persey/Rooney/Kalou

I figured it's the last game of the season and might just give the fillers a chance and go big with the Big Dogs.

-Saul

Maxer said...

last game of the season.. thanks very much AM for this blog and to all regular posters.. this is a very good season for me.. thanks again..

now back to my team..

fulop
bale, smalling, o'shea
a.jo, d.jones, dikgacoi, walcott
tevez, rvp, anichebe

*fulop, bale, smalling, a.jo, dikgacoi & tevez stays from my last week team..
*replaces zabs to terry then downgrade to o'shea for the $..
*drop modric & moko to walcott & jones.. really tempted to get arsh but not enough funds..
*replaces defoe & nevland to drogba & anichebe.. then downgrade drog to rvp for the $ and i think rvp will try to redeem himself for the injuries absences..

good luck everybody..

Maxer..

Anonymous said...

thank you AM for all the effort. Appreciate it super much!!

my team for this week

fulop
bale bassong salgado[filler]
AJ nani walcot muamba[filler]
RVP anelka bellamy

Salgado and muamba in to give way for RVP, just hope it's worth it. both of them are so so only..anybody got input on this??
BD nani and anelka, bale and aj have been in my line up for quite some time, bellamy was from last week [a stunning 30.5 points-kindda wondering why he's not in AM's list] letting go tevez coz i can't afford to have 2 city forwards in my team and RVP seems to be in good form looking from last week.
i don't know why i nver put in any chelsea player for this week. will consider it though ^^
I just got this feeling that Arsenal will stand out this week but too scared to buy any of the DF and GK [can you blame me for that??]
i'm currently 4th in my pvt league with 70points diff with the 3rd. but considering i went from 500+ point difference to 70 only make my self proud. So I'll just do my best for this week and do it better next season..THanks AM!!

NaD4123

Anonymous said...

Saul, Drogs is not on Penos per C.A. It's still Lamps.

Anonymous said...

Scholes?? Does he start?

ToffeeDave said...

Im probably not the first to say this, but thank you AM from the bottom of my footy loving heart. It was complete coincidence I came across your blog, and from the moment of "meeting" you in one of your first posts in august of last year to the final day picks which are always a help when I feel undecided, it's been a pleasure bouncing my passionate yet sometimes irrelevant ideas off of you and getting those "oh toffeedave" chuckles back. I do hope you continue writing and posting on this blog over the summer simply to keep in touch. I will be discussing with some colleagues who live near me to join in and make a proper YFF podcast with multiple personalities instead of my failed attempt earlier this season which you could hopefully post on the blog for an even more objective look at picks.

Cheers again AM and thanks for the time you spent on this project.

Dave "ToffeeDave" Kubacki

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot for your interesting and informative blog. I only wish I'd have found it sooner! Never mind, next year I'll definitely be here from pre-season on. Thanks again, great job.

Crazylegs said...

Cheers AM

Good job on the blog..

Most of the picks discussed through the season were also available on the S11 forums, just a quick push there for the forums..

Will be back here next season for sure..

All the best Crazylegs..

CFCBOSS said...

@saul
in the sky sports interview drog sayed that he would want to get the golden boot and he already talked with lampard, if they get a penalty then drog will take it, so its confirmed.
like i told before, besides van persie, drog should be also must-have, picked up myself, looking at 25+ for him.

Conswaila said...

Hi AM, First off ( and this is hard to say as a gooner ) but well done to spurs ,3 london teams in Champ lge, balance of power swinging , anyway great job by harry and co . As always your blog has been leaps above all other , so much so that i dont bother with any of the others now ( ok i peep into jeremy & neal every now and then ) Thanks for all your hard work, much appreciated, look forward to being here next year

Anonymous said...

Just want to add my voice to the choir in saying cheers for all the hard work this season AM. yff takes up so much of my time, so i can only imagine how much effort it takes on your part to keep this blog going as well.

Kendo.. obviously,keeping players like drogba @10.66 and bale @2.65 makes sense,but the right play is to change the majority of your team based on the weeks matchups and to sell players if they're going to get you zero for the week through injury or suspension. those who kept drogba through the african nations were wrong to do so in my opinion.

Freddie M.....congrats on being 4th overall at this stage of the season,that's outragous.

And cheers to everyone who posts on here,no disrespect to J&N,as they've been great over the years, but this is easily the best yff blog on the net now. good luck to you all tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

cheers for all the hard work AM,best yff blog on the net now due to the quality of the posts and quality of replies,good luck tomorrow

Anonymous said...

AM, thanks for the advice this season, contributing to my being 800+ points ahead in my private league, see you next year!!

L'Orange Noir said...

Some late news for those who are still reading this far down;
Valencia has been confirmed injured
Jarvis is set to return for Wolves and likely take away set pieces from Jones.

Thanks for everything AM!

Joshttenham said...

@ Anon 1.10pm, I have to disagree, my strategy is to buy low and keep for around 5 players in my team. Means that instead of fillers you have productive players. Obviously there is a time to sell every player, if they are out for a few games/there is a double week and you need the space (I sold drogba). To me most of the trick to this game is picking the consistent players when they are cheap and holding them through a good run of games. Picking the exact best players each week is always going to be better, but its too easy to have terrible weeks IMO. I usually finish in the 900-1500, and around the top 40-75 in the spurs section so I'd like to think its not a terrible strategy!

please said...

kalou and walcott
or
anichebe and arshavin
?????????????????????

SLASH said...

A BIG *Congratulations!* to you, AM ! I'm happy to see your fantastic blog has grown up this big. I found it around Christmas and since then I haven't had a week without visiting it and the chatroom. You have been a great help over the months and I'm still climbing up the charts. I hope next year I won't make so many bad picks as earlier this(and previous) season when I wasn't aware of this great blog.

btw, I really like the sound of , it would be interesting to "manage" something without the PremLg FF.

~ ~ ~

I think I won't make any more changes in the following team for this week

Howard
O'Shea Sagna Yobo
Arshavin Cahill Fletcher Jones(Wolves)
Defoe Carew Anichebe

All the best,

SLASH

See ya next year :)

Fidan said...

@ please - 1st one, easily, imo...!!!

Anonymous said...

For ppl who are talkign about the best strategies:

Move all 11 guys around unless you have a consistent points getter at VERY CHEAP.

If you look at the top 10 teams and see their moves from week-to-week you will see that most of the time they changed 11 players depending on match-ups.

What's astonishing is the number of times some of them had 4 DF. They must really know about individual players, team tactics, and managers' tendencies to get good results on defense. Also, a team's FW won't benefit if they win 4-0 unless they score/assist; however, DF will benefit in the 4-0 win even if they didn't do anything individually.

By the end though, they were moving 10 players around, with Bale as a constant.

Remember that guy Glory Zizo Kuwait or whatever who was number #1 for the longest time? Bale was his downfall. He used Bale once for a good match-up and once again for this double week. He should've had him in constantly no matter what.

Bale at 2.5/5/or even 10 is the reason a whole slew of guys broke the top 10 and/or stayed in it.

-HC

Anonymous said...

Pauly's Filler Update - Final day

Here's the latest filler info:

Neville - Everton MF (4.73) - out

Yobo - Everton DF (6.65)**? - still unsure if he will play because there is no surefire report on Heitinga's injury status

Babel - Pool MF (5.75)** A likely starter as Maxi R. seems to be out - could have an attacking role, but the fat spanish waiter is always difficult to double-guess on his strategy - he probably draws his team out of a black waistcoat pocket :-)

Mancienne - Wolves (3.79)**? I prefer to leave the ? about his starting/full match status, as it's the last game for us, if he's not 100% sure to play 90 mins, then, IMO, he's droppable - but I'm no leading expert on Wolves MF strategy this week - but if D Jones plays, will Mancienne start as Jarvis is back?

Bassong - Tott DF (6.71)** Will almost certainly start as King is unlikely to.

So top filla** team for the final day:

GK: FULOP 3.03
DF: HUTTON 5.78; ELOKOBI 5.14; BASSONG 6.71; CAMPBELL 7.14
MF: RODWELL 5.36; BABEL 5.75; WEISS 6.08; DE JONG 5.70;
FW: ANICHEBE 6.74; ILAN 7.23

Hope that helps with any last minute changes or cheap fillers to place in your team

Good luck
Pauly

Anonymous said...

PS
And Bale at 2.84 of course ;-)

P

Anonymous said...

PPS

Campbell's price has dropped to 6.95

Anonymous said...

HC ...you're spot on in that assessment.

Yankee said...

@Joshtottenham - I'm with you on strategy. To be fair, much of my success this year is due to some lucky multi-game runs with Salgado and Nelsen, getting in on the ground floor with AJo and Bale (thanks AM, Neal and Jeremy), and sticking with guys like Arteta and Drogba who are always capable of a huge game. Typical week? Probably 6 trades. 40 points out of the top 50 right now.

Anonymous said...

What do you think about my team??
fulop
zabaleta yobo bassong
a.johnson malouda walcott a.young
drogba defoe k.davies

from:#andy#

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