New Yahoo Season Close?
Last year the game re-opened on Friday 17th July, so I'm hoping we could be back in business by the end of this week/early next week - keep checking back as I'll be setting up the new Blog Leagues as soon as I can. My plan this season is to set up an extra Yahoo ID so I can create up to 10 Blog League, which would mean I could run a couple of cup competition with 1000 teams (provided we could fill the leagues!)
Obviously we still have a month until the actual Premier League season kicks off on 14th August, and I'm sure we'll see plenty of new signings before the deadline on August 31st, but I'm getting increasingly concerned by Man City's activity. They've already improved their squad with Boateng, Toure & Silva's arrivals and I'm sure they'll be adding to this, with Top 4 the minimum they should achieve. I can't help but feel Spurs are going to find it very tough to repeat last year's successes.
Cheers,
AM
67 comments:
Man City will obviously be very interesting fantasy wise with quality signings such as Silva and Toure. And Boateng will rack up points as well.
But yes, I feel the same way. It will be really hard for Spurs to find themselves at top 4. Not only has City been doing good on the market, Everton has less injuries to begin with this season, meaning they might not find themselves at 17th after 10 games.
YEa. I can't wait :D
I disagree...sure, Citeh is reloading as one would have expected but, on the flip side, I really don't see Liverpool as a credible Top 4 team this season. If Torres, Gerrard and/or Masch leave in the next six weeks, sayonara. In addition, it sounds as if defections from Villa's core could be forthcoming. So, arguably the top of the league is thinning out, not vice versa.
If Spurs can maintain their line-up (no rumors of key departures thus far), get healthy (Bentley, Woody) and sign one or two marquee players (Cole, Fabiano)...add a new sponsor and kit to the mix and LOOK OUT.
COYS!!!
DT - I'm still confident of a Top 6 finish, but fear Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal & City will fill the Top 4...hoping I'm wrong, as I often am :)
I'm still waiting for the inevitable Citeh fire sale. Petrov is gone to Bolton, but what about Ireland, Santa Cruz, or maybe Bellamy, etc?
Jeremy
Fantasy EPL Blog
@DT - I agree about Liverpool. But I was never thinking of pool as a real threat to either Spurs or City. I just think City will be strong enough to hold Spurs out of top 4.
@Jeremy - Somehow I don't think Ireland will move. Santa Cruz and Bellamy probably will. Fantasy wise, I hope they remain in the EPL.
Worth remembering that spurs lost modric for 6 weeks, Lennon for half a season, only had bale for half a season (effectively) and threw bassong in at the deep end after Woodgate did his best Godot impression. Spurs should also be better than they were last season. On paper anyway. Last year city bought Adebayor (proven goalscorer rated at £25-30m), Robinho (snatched away from Chelsea, transfer record)etc. etc. and were expected to be unstoppable...how did that turn out? They'll impress me more when their signings talk more about their new club than other clubs in their post introduction interviews...
Amen, joshtottenham...although slight correction: Modric was out for 3.5 months last season! I still will never carry Lee Bowyer on my team out of the principle of the matter.
if van persie stay healthy and cesc stays, this will be the year that arsenal finally breaks the duck. if cesc leaves and is replaced by gourcuff, it will take time to adjust, so i don't see arsenal winning it.
i'm more concerned about citeh's purchases from a fantasy point of view.
If they have a host of new quality signings coming in who all start at a very low value relative to their potential impact then there are gonna be a helluva lot of very similar line-ups about eh?
Yeah Nick - I'm with you on this one.
I guess it's all about sticking in the absolute must haves (e.g. silva), and then getting creative with the rest...
City is going to have so many new players, it will be difficult guessing the starting lineup.
I'm also curious why there hasn't been much mention of the players Jeremy mentioned and their impending transfers. I've heard a few rumors about Bellamy, but that's about it.
@Bean: I am super excited to see my Portland Timbers take on Man City on July 17th, needless to say I will be drunk and disorderly :D
@Kellz - that should be fun. Think your Timbers can take em? : )
I was going to check out LA Galaxy v. Real Madrid on Aug 7th at the Rose Bowl.
I feel this years vermaelen and gomez will be boateng and silva. They are pretty much guaranteed starting spots with the money they spent/players leaving. Im thinking about posting some predictions soon for fun, like whos top goalscorer, top 4 etc. Should be exciting year this time around.
Very interesting , I think Man UTD will strugle if they didn't buy a creative mid and a good stricker , so the league title will be between Chelsea and Man city , United for 3rd place , Arsenal/Spurs/Liverpool will fight for 4th place . Arsenal may do a surprise and fight for the title but they always strugle in the final weeks , the same thing might happen to Man City due to lack of experience . It's too early to predict cuz there still time for new signings , let's wait and see
Can't wait to plug in some new transfer signings into my week 1 line-up for cheap! Hitzelsperger, I'm looking at you ;)
@Kellz - Like you I am very exited about Tottenham playing San Jose Earthquakes this Saturday...I'll be at the stadium of course.
-Saul
are you kidding, arsenal rarely fight for 4th place? if the team stands as is, with cesc there, they are favorites, along with chelsea. chelsea lost a lot of dead weight, that was very experienced. they are not going to operate smoothly, with some ups and downs.
no one else has the same class, as chelsea and arsenal in the league.
manure will intimidate teams and referees to 3rd place. with man city, tottenham fighting for 4th.
remember arsenal finished 3rd, last year and often had 6-10 players injured. no other team went through what arsenal did, with the exception of everton and did well. everton sank, as well. liverpool had injury problems and sank. manure lost rooney for a short bit and sank. so i don't know how the additions and current team don't rank 1st place.
@greg - oh oh, looks like Barca are preparing a 42 million pound bid to sign Fabregas. Without him I think Arsenal are gonna have a hard time staying in the top 4, loosing someone like "Fab" is going to make it unimaginable on them imo, specially with Manchester City and Tottenham re-enforcing themselves for next season...Wenger has to start looking, Sweinsteiger maybe? And I don't think United are going to be so reliable on Rooney next season, I have a feeling Ferguson is doing a few underground signings as we speak...sure wished we'd gotten Silva but I read somewhere that he's considering A.Young, not bad if you ask me. Anyways that's all on that topic.
On the WC Fantasy game, I ended up on 220 in the AM blog but didn't really like it...missed a few rounds and kept the same team from previous rounds, loosing points on players not starting. Sure exited about the upcoming Yahoo! Fantasy Football but even more so about Watching yours truly, Tottenham Hotspurs(yes AM I'm talking to you) in Santa Clara vs. San Jose Earthquakes.
Anyone up for playing some "foreign" fantasy this year too? Serie A/La Liga?
AM, do you have an e-mail address posted here? Something I'd like to contact you about, but not via comments.
week 1 line-up should feature lots of Chelsea and Wolves players for me!
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/15072010/58/la-liga-barcelona-50m-spend.html pssssssssssssssshhhhhhhh bollocksssssss
@Bean: My guess is that Citeh are going to play alot of reserve or 2nd team side players, can't imagine any new signings nor many of their top stars will start let alone play. I can imagine a fairly even contest if this senario holds.
@Saul: Have fun!
@Mark: No because Yahoo La Liga and Seria A don't restart player values, so you have to buy Messi or Eto' for over 30mil, thats over 1/4 of your entire budget on one player, then you get stuck with lots of fillers and it isn't fun. Plus theres no Barn Door ability so you must pay full price for every new player you try and get back onto your team (I stake that claim off Ligue 1 correct me if otherwise). It all makes for a very unfun fantasy experience, but if you know the players I am sure you could make it work.
It's way too early to start predicting anything just yet. So many new signings so much time still to wait. Unlike most people, I have United winning the title this year even if they dont buy a striker(Macheda is coming through). They came so close to be honest with only rooney playing at his best. Let's not forget Nani and Valencia are one year older, and that much more experienced meanwhile Chelsea are only getting older and older. Utd's new singing Hernandez will become a behemoth in the EPL given a few years. I hate saying but I feel United are co-favorites with Chelsea. Arsenal could very well win it with Cesc this year and van persie healthy for more than 6 months. City are basically a lock for top 4 this year with only Everton(if we keep everyone healthy and at everton) and Tottenham giving them a hassle if any at all. Although I worry if tottenham put more emphasis on the CL to try and make it out of the groups which they very well can do given a good draw, which might hurt their PL run.
My Bet Blog
Crap, I need to think of a name for my fantasy team... A couple more days should do...
@Kellz: I understand what you are saying. The prices of the elite players (mainly La Liga/Serie A) are out of hand I think. That is probably the biggest outrage on my part, but I still have fun playing. I managed to finish 191 overall (pretty good I thought) last season in Serie A, without splurging for a really expensive player at the onset (or any time really). I just enjoy playing the game and as a result following the respective leagues closer. I'm just throwing it out there, might be a fun distraction to have AM foreign leagues. Another site I frequent we have them and even run Cups, etc.
i am playing all three foreign leugues, as i do every year. france and italy i finished 580th and 890th. la liga, i might well have been have been last. the reason i play the premier league, is that i follow it much more, closely, but i don't like the barn door. i think that it is a cop out. it rewards only those people who put away everything in their lives for fantasy. i watch a lot of football, but don't like running to the computer every few minutes. down here in brasil, our premier league games are usually 1 on saturday, 1 on sunday and 1 during the week games, sometimes 2 on saturday. i would rather have a life, with 3 young kids, teaching english classes, and regular weekend activity. i am punished when making great picks, by everyone who hasn't done anything all weekend but sit at their computer and barn door players. they didn't make the pick. and to me there is something very manly about making bold picks that work, rather than picking off other peoples picks. you end up chasing points half the time.
that is why i like the other leagues, if you pick the player early you rock. if not you have to pay for it. for all of those that play the american fantasy leagues, none of them have barn door. why start now? when people say you need to pick fillers, you have to realize that there are plenty to choose from. i had in the french league, arsenal's new signing, koscielny for 3.33 and ciani for 1.00 for most of the year and they goat me goals, many assist for ciani and a bunch of shut outs. in spain, i had albiol from real madrid for 1.00 who started 90% of the games. italy had a bunch.
@Greginho-
The reason there are no barn doors in American fantasy leagues is because most games (except golf and maybe NASCAR or something), no one can have the same player. You draft you're own unique team, which makes the draft very important. Then you trade or pick up free agents during the season, or just stand pat.
I am also doing fantasy Aussie Rules (to try and follow it more closely), which has no barn door either, but you are limited to only 2 changes a week and 20 per the season. If there wasn't a season limit, I'd follow it more closely, but I only have 4 transfer for the season left, so I have just left it.
If I lived in England, I probably wouldn't barn door, but since I am in the USA, I got nothing better to do on a Saturday morning at 9 am (central time, for the 15:00 games GMT), then follow the premier league.
Though, I agree with you on your last point. It is satisfying when you pick a player really cheap and watch his price skyrocket. I did the other leagues 2 years ago. I remember having a defender in La Liga at 1 and his price rose to 12 at one point when he started scoring. I also had Diego Milito when he was on Genoa that year, at like 10 and he got up to 22ish.
TOFEE DAVE TYPICAL BITTER BLUE - ENJOY THR CHAMPIONSHIP THATS WHERE U R HEADING
How am I in anyway a bitter blue? Joke.
@ToffeDave: I chuckle at your incessant support of Everton finishing top 4 or even top 6, but thats why you are respected here. Every football supporter has the right to believe their team is the best and believe next year will only get better. Your a great contributor and I enjoy your bantor. Keep up the fevered support and faith, even if it is blue :D
@Greginho: I agree with you mostly except your over generalization of the people who can utilize the "Barndoor". I use the BD every weekend but I don't put my life on hold nor do I not have a life outside of YFF. It just so happens I can wake up at 6am and start watching the Premier League games Saturday/Sunday morning and have the advantage of a laptop by my side. Theres really nothing I love more than some morning footy, maybe this is unfair being in the US in terms of the way the time zone works out, but I certainly don't "pack everything away" for YFF. Plus the BD gives some fun advantages and excitement to the game I think. Nothing feels better than snagging Bale for 2.84mil when your nearest league mate snagged him for 5+
@kellz
i agree, barndoor is cool with advantages, but that's the reason i think it's the best premier league fantasy game, cause values change & new players coming in cheap twice a year.
for me, i always barndoor, when i'm home, country(timezone suits good) where i live haven't got sky sports, espn and any others channels that prodcast, so i have to watch football from internet, i got the time in half-time or after game to change players.
can't wait to start playing already.
here in brasil the earliest i have seen games are 9:30am and the latest for premier league is 2:30pm local time, so i do enjoy favorable time zones, but i still don't like that people spend there whole day wrapped around a game. i was top 1000, until week 8 or 9 when i started teaching english, then i dropped a lot and finished top 3000. i still follow the game, closely. i think if the barn door didn't exist people would actually pay more attention. imagine the difference. if i choose a set of players in a game without barn door. i am really pressed because my choices resonate more. if i choose a couple of great picks i am rewarded, not just with points, but also, that player cheaper than anyone else. if i make, equally bad choices, i not only have less points, i also have to spend some of my money to get players that other people already picked. to me, it is so much better. without barn door, you actually have to make smart picks. with the barn door you have the safety net of knowing that you are going to get the players you want, just like everyone else. there is nothing separating the pack.
Unfortunately my timezone is different, so the games finish in the wee hours of the morning, leaving me with no time to barndoor. Unless Yahoo screws up and takes a long time to update price changes, which I'm actually hoping for next season to give me time to barndoor.
bengoh91
I can't wait for next season's YFF? Who will be the next Bale?
bengoh91
@Greginho: I see your point but I still disagree over the BD. If you look at our community here, then yes the BD represents a fairly null advantage because all of us have football knowledge and actually watch the games with real interest. But over all I find it a very fun way to try and take an edge from your opponent. We differ, but I think a static team is just boring. BD allows you to get the "good" player in cheap to still allow a very decent squad. I personally don't care if my first choice resonates more because I can make some bad ones, the BD allows me to make corrections that get me further ahead. Your way would just place a pack of exception players at the top, good players in the middle and bad players at the end. The BD helps good players move up into the top tier. But hey thats my view, you have yours!
@Greginho-
I also am on my laptop following the games (usually on uk.yahoo) since until this past season when ESPN picked up EPL games, I had to follow all on text commentary (my internet connection at school was laggy, so really couldn't stream). I actually discovered the BD in my first year, in 2007, just trying to add players during the games, because I thought I may forget later in the week. I also did it because I knew they played and since I had no real information that year, I got tons of 0s from players who were injured and I had no clue. So really, it was the fact that I was following the game on my laptop and wanting to get players who were actually playing.
Since, I did the other games first, and I was accustomed to the BD, I got frustrated with La Liga, Serie A, and Ligue 1. However, I did feel like it was more fair, so I do side with you there. Though, I would BD either at home or when I was in the computer lab doing homework, later that afternoon, if Yahoo lagged in updating.
If the times weren't in the morning I wouldn't plan my day around it probably. Unless i was watching the games on TV at home, then I may have my computer on and potentially.
I mean I have my computer on when watching NFL and I'll look at the waiver wire to see if I wanna pick someone up that I is having a good day. But like I stated earlier, American fantasy games are different in that no one has the same player.
If you judged the league purely on paper then City would be favourites. If the players they had were wearing any other shirt then we'd have them nailed down as champions. If I were a city fan, the minimum I'd expect is to win maybe two or three trophies. If they don't then it would be a disappointment.
(There's only one thing funnier than thinking about city winning the league and that's convincing city fans that they're gonna win the league.)
The official premier league fantasy is now open! I'm looking for some cheap good players to get.
bengoh91
fair enough i won't bring up the barn door again. i guess, those of us who can't make the commitment of every hour of the weekend sitting at the computer, are gonna fight for the top 3000, while the rest of you who can make the commitment to sacrifice your lives, will fight for top 1000. somehow that just doesn't seem fair.
Personally I don't make picks on the barn door every week. Up until December I typically have games on Saturdays and Sundays and if I'm traveling I won't even find out about the scores until after the weekend is over. I still managed to crack the top 400 this year picking up players not on the barn door. I don't claim to be that great of a fantasy manager (I owe a lot of my success to this blog) but I still think the opportunity to do well is there regardless of the barn door. You just have to make some really different and good picks.
@kellz haha what can I do, I dont really think everton will finish top 4, but a man can dream.
@Greginho: Okay man, boo - freaking - whooo. I thought I just got done explaining to you that I don't sacrifice my life to BD because I can watch the game with a laptop. And yes I get up at 6am and WATCH the games on weekends, and yes I HAVE A LIFE. You really think everyone in the top 1000 has no life and that YFF takes priority over all else? You think Nik has no life because he BD's, makes the top 500 and run's a Blog? Check your self greg just because you can't BD or make it past the top 3000 doesn't mean we all break our back to do so... its easy..
thanks kellz i wasn't getting personal, as a matter of fact i never once mentioned your name, i was talking about everyone, so i won't stoop to responding any further
it sounds to me as if i got awful close to striking at home!
Oh SNAP!
fight fight fight fight fight
I spend about 15 minutes on my 'barn-door' work.
Anyone who doesn't and knows it's there is really quite foolish.
Sometimes Barn-dooring doesn't necessarily mean that you will have a good week, as a matter of fact last season I missed many weekends without getting players on discount and still managed a decent score. Sometimes you gotta work around it, if someone got a player at a discount because he BD'd and you didn't, get the player and see Pauly for the Bargain Basement for the week. Another way to look at it is if you play La Liga/Serie A and missed the bargains you had to find a way to fit Ronaldo and Messi with 9 fillers. Don't sweat it though, we will get new players coming into the premier league next season starting @ 6.xx so there'll be plenty of funds to go around. Anyways does anyone know when the Yahoo! Fantasy Football game will start? I can't wait.
-Saul
thanks toffee dave
Why did YAHOO closed the past season , Now im waiting for them to re open .. checking everyday !!!
haha cheers greg. Can you believe how big this post is already, no one is even posting who they currently have in their squad! I see big things for this blog next year. C'mon 200 post topics!
bad news folks - yahoo will NOT be running FF again - if you look closely they always say 'see you next season' not this time ! which backs up my statement
I'll quickly wade in with my opinion on the barndoor.
I respect and often agree with Greg's views but I completely disagree his comments here...that people who take advantage of the barndoor must sacrifice having a life by spending their entire time on computers - it's simply not true & slightly offensive!
It takes me maybe 10-15 minutes to bring in players who have done well for the following week, either on my laptop or my iPhone, hardly a big ask, and I enjoy the challenge/gamble of snap decisions we need to make on who to bring in before prices shoot up.
At the same time, there were 4 or 5 weeks last season where I couldn't get to my computer to do any barndoor work, so had to pick players at market value, which I also enjoyed and didn't hold any resentment to people who had the chance to get player's at discount - I just had to look at different options and almost always did very well with this approach over other managers who had barndoored players who bombed. It can work both ways.
Would it be fairer if it didn't exist? Probably, but at the end of the day, the barndoor isn't a new thing, it's part of Yahoo Fantasy Football and it always has been. Along with the scoring system it's what makes the game so immersive for those of us who become addicted!
This is a Yahoo Fantasy Football Blog, full of people who spend a lot of time thinking about, reading and discussing the game and looking to get an advantage over other managers, so I find it odd that somebody on here as often as Greg would go as far as to say people who spend time using a freely available feature have "no life"!?
Anyway, this entire discussion could become irrelevant - I'll admit I am getting slightly concerned that Yahoo have not yet set up the game for 2010/11. Obviously if they don't run a game this year that would be the end of the blog, which would be devastating after the success of the first year. My fingers are crossed it'll be back soon...
Cheers,
AM
WHERE THERE IS THE "ALMIGHTY KELLZ"...THERE IS BOUND TO BE A FIGHT.
Greginho....you are not the first person here in this forum to get a taste of KELLZ syrup.
C*****khoor
i wasn't trying to piss anyone of, i was just despairing really.
and we can always use the blog to the spanish, italian and french leagues.
there's no point about any other league blog, most of us play game because it makes our favourite team & premier league follwing more interesting and fun.
in my opinion it has to be premier league, i hope yahoo starts the game in a few days.
Can anyone recommend EPL games other than YFF? In case Yahoo pulls the plug...
Just to calm down everyone - and I'm included - in the messages box in YFF there was a summary of the season that said who won the game afer the season ended. The message was sealed with the sentence: "we hope you play again at 2010/2011", or something like that. They might have changed their mind, but it clearly shows that Yahoo intended to continue the game this year as well.
SF
I say, Calm down everyone. If it doesn't come up sometime this week, then panic. But I'd be really shocked if Yahoo decided to stop Fantasy Premier League.
Yes yes to SF and thanks man you made me relax :) I remember reading the hope you play this season , and it's early to reopen the game , everyone should have fun in the vacation :) cheers guys
@G-man
Official one ? it gives less points and only 1 free transfer a week, but it's still good :)
Need to think ahead more...
Just a thought, but YFF may be running behind since they put on a World Cup game this summer too. I wouldn't be worried... yet.
-Matt
@Matt
Yeah, I was thinking that yesterday when I posted, but I didn't wanna double post. I wouldn't be surprised if they are running behind because of the World Cup or maybe they finished with the World Cup and they are taking a vacation (holiday) themselves.
Kolarov to be teh new Bale? Hitzelsperger to score against his old team in week 1? Koscielny the new Vermaelen?? Joe Cole to impress on his Liverpool debut? M-Petrov looking good in the preseason so far.
Anyone else thinking about their week 1 rosters and hyped for the start??
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