Saturday 18 September 2010

Week 5 - My Team

Foster

Koscielny  A.Faye  Bale

 Malouda  Adam  Barton  Etherington

 Dembele  Drogba  Chamakh

Wow, this was a tough week to pick a team. My Friday decision not to go with the "Kirkland Zero" meant I had to significantly re-think things yesterday and I ended up settling on the XI above.

In goal I went for Ben Foster vs West Brom. When all's said and done, I play this game to try and score the most number of points I can each week, and deciding to take a certain zero just didn't make sense to me. Of course I could end up with negative keeper points (for the 4th week this season!), but the fact I could also end up with 10-15 points meant it's was a gamble I was willing to take. It meant Ashley Cole had to go, but I already have an expensive defender in Bale, so I could cope with that. I considered Paul Robinson but I don't like picking a keeper when I have a attacking player facing him (Dembele), same for Howard (Barton), and for Cudicini I already had the possible clean sheet covered (Bale).

Speaking of Bale, he should be back on the left-wing vs Wolves and I expect double figures from him, while Koscielny stays at a big discount after last week's goal. My final defensive spot goes to Stoke's captain, Faye - I only really went for him because I had the spare cash after settling the rest of my team, but he has a great chance of a clean sheet home to West Ham.

Much to everyone's annoyance Malouda was rested last weekend, but I can't see that happening again and I'd be hoping for a goal from him vs Blackpool. Matt Etherington was outstanding vs Villa last Monday, so having picked him up on the barndoor for 9ish he was always going to stay for the West Ham game. You'll notice I've hung on to both Adam and Barton despite tricky match-ups (Van Der Vaart would've replaced one of them had he not been doubtful)....I have both players at 5.44, so on average they are producing double their cost. With Blackpool & Newcastle having winnable home fixtures in Week 6 I felt they were worth keeping at decent discounts, and with both players on corners, freekicks and penalties it doesn't take much for them to outscore their cost, even in away games.

No goals in two games for Drogba, but after his midweek rest I expect some big points from him on Sunday. No Lampard means he'll be on all free kicks and penalties, which is a scary thought - don't let me down Didier! Chamakh will stay in my team until Van Persie returns, spearheading an Arsenal attack which will create plenty of chances for him with Fabregas back to his best, and Dembele completes my line-up. The picking-up of the Fulham man on the barndoor is points-chasing a bit, but he's looked really good so far, I have him at a £4m discount and he's another with a winnable fixture in Week 6, so he earnt a chance vs Blackburn today.

So that's my team - an obvious worry is no Aston Villa players, but I couldn't get close to affording Young/Downing (although Albrighton almost replaced Barton...almost). Another player I seriously wanted was Kenwyne Jones, but after missng him on the barndoor he was out of my price-range unfortunately. Anyway I'm quite pleased with what I settled on, I think it has a good balance so hopefully it'll be another 100+ week if things go well.

The Blog Team choosen from the poll results (with the assistance of Hans & Mike) is as follows:

Kirkland, Bale, Koscielny, A.Cole, A.Johnson, Barton, Etherington, Malouda, Dembele, Chamakh, Berbatov

Week 4 was far better, so we're looking to continue that in Week 5 and start moving towards the Top 1000.

Now a quick look at the Week 6 fixtures to give you some tips for the barndoor. The standout fixture is Arsenal at home to West Brom, so I'll be trying to fit Fabregas in (somehow), as well as hanging on to Chamakh & Koscielny. Spurs travel to West Ham so Van Der Vaart will come in if fit. Liverpool are home to Sunderland, Birmingham home to Wigan and the big game of the weekend is Man City v Chelsea...really looking forward to that one!

That completes my team post...I'm sure you all know by now that this week is Round 1 of the 2010/2011 Blog Cup, so good luck to everyone in the eight blog leagues taking part!

A final note on the blog itself. This week we had 95 comments in my Player Picks post, over 100 comments in the Friday Update post, and we passed 800 members in the Blog Facebook Group, which really is unbelievable. The discussions and advice offered by various blog readers in the comments & chatroom is outstanding and it's what keeps things growing and improving. Thanks to everyone for your continued support, it's hugely appreciated :)

That's it! Please let me know your Week 5 team...are you pleased with it? Who's coming in on the barndoor?

Cheers,
AM

44 comments:

DC said...

Green
Bale Carr Jones
Malouda Arshavin A.Johnson Y.Toure
Drogba Chamakh Carroll

Really not confident this week. I also decided against Kirkland at the last minute and went with Green on the grounds that it isn't too bad a fixture and West Ham surely *can't* remain so bad.

Also have a bad feeling Kalou might rack up the points this week...

Anonymous said...

great post as always AM! great team, similar to mine.. only 3 different player.. you have foster/faye/ether and mine is cudi/kompany/AJ.. want to fit in fab somehow, but can't really do it without dropping bale or malouda or drogba..

Anonymous said...

Hart
bale koscienly carr
malouda nolan adam ethe
drogba chamak carroll

Chi said...

Hi Nik
thanks for your great posts every week
my W5 line up, also dumping my 1.00 Kirkland...

Cudicini
Ferreira M.Wilson Bale
Albrington Barton Malouda Etheringon
Dembele Drogba Carroll

DJ PIGG said...

Gah! My first disaster of the week has already occurred! In an attempt to find the cash to fit Fabregas into my team, I went with Marc Wilson in defence... Pulis has swapped him for Pennant in the 12:45 game!

My team:

Kirkland

Bale Squillaci Wilson Ferreira

Etuhu Fabregas Malouda Reo-Coker

Drogba Chamakh

Now that I have two players probably not going to score, I fear that I've put too many eggs in too few baskets!

donut said...

THanks for all the hard work AM - team looking good...

Also thanks to chat group for getting Stoke/West Ham team posted at 11:55 - great work guys!!

Malouda isn't playing until tomorrow, so I will BD Fabregas I think...surely he will destroy Baggies on his own...

Robbo (ugh)
Bale/Jacobsen/Mancienne (starting fillers...)
Malouda/BFAY/Barton/Adam (lots of SP, pleased with this)
Drogba/Gyan/Dembele (point chaser...may not work!)

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE...

mudwalkerz said...

Carson (good luck to me on that one... lol)
Bale/Shawx/Jones
Flomo/Adam/Ether/Ramires (hunch!)
Drogs/Dembele/Christmas

Flomo is gone for next week.. here comes Fab..but need to take kirk.

Ian Sanderson said...

With Capt. Kirk in goal my team is.....

C. Kirkland
Bale Squillaci Pantsil
Malouda Adam J. Cole Young
Chamakh Drogba Dembélé

Bradley said...

Robinson
Bale Koscielny Mancienne
Malouda Adam Etherington Albrighton
Drogba Dembélé Chamakh

Generally I don't like having keepers and strikers at cross purposes either, but here I am. I'm reasonably happy though apart from having Mancienne. I neglected to BD Etherington on Monday (weekday games are problematic now, one of the downsides of finally being off the dole :) ), so I had to go the cheap DF route. So far Etherington's not looking worth the effort.

Anonymous said...

Kirkland
Bale / Koscielny / ivanovic
Adam / Milner / Malouda / Etuhu
Drogba / Chamakh / Beckford

... And the GM (my GF):

Howard
Faye / Squillaci / Hangeland
Adam / Etuhu / Scholes / Dempsey
Rooney / Drogba / Chucharito

She likes the "Kirkland Gambit" but likes Tim Howard more.

No Name FC said...

My team for week 5:

Cudicini
Squillaci / Bale / Kompany
Malouda / Mikel / Albrighton / S. Davies
Drogba / Chamakh / Odemwingie

BD 7 new players for week 6:

Kalinic, Carroll, Fabregas, Arshavin, C. Adam, Koscielny and Foster

greginho said...

Good Morning chaps. i made the decision to drop drogba and pick up for next week, week 6, because cesc is at home to and chelsea is at city, which could be a 0-0 or 1-1 game. i was afraid cesc would be too expensive so i went ahead and did it this week. this move allowed me to go up from cahill to nani. i am hoping that nani and cesc outscore drogba and cahill. i am a little unsettled too, that drogba is getting just assists. teams evolve over time and maybe chelsea is going to spread around the goals this year. i wanted to switch from carroll to dembele, but playing at blackburn is much tougher than playing at everton, the way that everton have been playing.
my team

ben foster
koscielny/ bale/ fereirra
cesc/ malouda/ adam/ barton/ nani
chamakh/ carroll

Anonymous said...

Interesting thing to note: 3 of the last 4 goals that Everton conceded were due to Baines and Pienaar venturing too far up to attack, leaving Everton's left flank vulnerable to counter-attack. I suspect that whoever plays on Newcastle's right flank might have a bumper week. Normally I'd say Routledge, but with Newcastle experimenting with their formation quite a bit recently, I wouldnt take the risk. My final team was:

Foster
Bale / Wilson (who didnt start) / Kompany
Adam / AJ / Essien / Holden / Barton
Drogba / Carroll

--neoncoffee

Anonymous said...

VdV starts??

Anonymous said...

I guess days of Bale as a season keeper might be over, as from what i see VDV is on all set pieces now with 2x lower price, ok no possible clean sheet points for VDV, but 6 dollars in a bank may be more valuable than only possible 6 points. Still thinking though.

SfSS

Anonymous said...

I'll be lucky to score above 50pts, my keeper just let in a Goal, plus 3 of my players are on the bench

Anonymous said...

When i eventually drop Bale, i'll stop picking Tottenham players even if i'm told they're going to play against 9 men.

Anonymous said...

When i eventually drop Bale, i'll stop picking Tottenham players even if i'm told they're going to play against 9 men.

kwyjibo said...

Currently: WBA 3-1 Birmingham

Yet ANOTHER goalie nightmare! That's it, I've had it with goalkeepers this season. Expecting another big negative. 5 weeks worth of goalkeepers, and negative points. Wasted money. Why didn't I keep Kirkland?! Argh! This is unreal...

greginho said...

a big thanks AM for picking foster and bringing your goalkeeper jinx to him. i have had foster since week 2. i guess your decision to not take the zero, might backfire.

Anonymous said...

Drogba is my only season keeper for now and with Rooney and Torres priced lower that too might change, Ben Arfa, its like the match at Goodison is all about him.

Assistant Manager said...

You're welcome Greg, glad I could help :)

GTR34 said...

Kept Kirkland for the '0', and it might work out. Went with a hunch in Odemwingie, and he looks to have scored great points:) Should have had 2 goals, but the 1st was rules as an OG.

Kept VDV, and he scored a penalty, so I got lucky there.

Lost my clean sheets for Bale and Heitinga, but any defenders apart from Newcastle also lost CS's.

This has by far been the most unpredictable start to a fantasy season I can remember.

Hopefully Drogs and Malouda, both of whom have been rested, and should be biting at the bit, will further a good start to this week:)

In addition, I have Kos and Cham this afternoon, with Adam and Scholes (hopefully no Red) to round out the week.

Looks good so far, but as it's so unpredictable, could still prove a disaster:)

Let me know how you all got on this weekened so far?

Anonymous said...

It's only -1 for Foster isn't it? All things considered, it could have been worse though.

Fidan said...

-3 for Foster. Sorry!!!
I went for PRobblem this week, and I guess it wasn't the worst of choices. He certainly was a sensible one. I had him on +1.xx discount and didn't bd Dembele, so I wanted to go against the flow this week. It could have been better...!!!

My team
PRobbo
Bale,ACole,O'Shea,Wilson (grrr)
FloMa,Adam,Albright (dropped VdV, grrrr)
Drogs,Yakubu,Kalinic (grrrr)

Too many grrrs I think. I'm surely heading towards a miserable week unless Chelsea hit Blackpool for 4 or 5 with a (very welcomed) CS...!!!

Grrrr

Fidan said...

And btw...is it time to drop Drogs???
I mean he IS away to City, but he is Drogs - the stud, AND then he is home vs Arsenal (do I have to say that he scores errrr...ALWAYS against them)...!!!

My hunch says drop him for City and pick him (even if he doesn't fall in price) for Arsenal...!!!

I guess I'll have to think this one over. I just hope Cesc sucks this week and let me decide later on Friday. Hope...!!!

Anonymous said...

My BD team

5.98 GK
Bale Kos Salcido
Malouda Adam Fabs Barton VDV
Cham Jerome

I quite like this lineup for next week. I am waiting for a price drop for foster so I can fit him into my roster. I will add in a Liverpool player after the game tomorrow.

How's your week so far? I only had 1 goal from ashley young (cheers kellz) and dropped pennant for dorrans at the last minute.

Cheers
bengoh91

SK said...

I definitely regret not sticking with VdV. Cudicini is also done. 1 SOT 0 Saves 0 CS. If Drogs fail to score a brace, I may not do too bad this week.

Cudicini
Bale Kolsielny Terry
Malouda Adam Cesc Scholes Albrighton
Dembele Chamakh

Birty said...

no goals and no clean sheets and Gyan on the bench but four to play - nuff said.

Got VdV on the barn door and brought in asharvin, vidic and kosc... kocil... kocs... the one that's not Vermaelen but have enough in the bank to upgrade him to Vermaelen if he's gonna be fit.

Mandrake said...

Lol, AM why not try putting "the curse" up against the likes of Cech or VDS next week! :p

GTR34 said...

Well Fabregas is injured again:( Scored a goal, but has been subbed in the 24th minute for Rosicky. Obviously there is no need for this unless an injury has happened? Didn't have him, but some people did, and others were thinking of it for next week?

GTR34 said...

That's Alex Song sent off for Arsenal.

Anonymous said...

fucksake arsenal blown it as always

kwyjibo said...

Turning into a disaster week for me...if Chelsea and/or Man City don't win big, it's bye-bye Blog Cup on day 1! D'oh!

Added VDV back in on the BD, as well as trading Foster + AJohnson for Kirkland + Arshavin, mainly due to the matchups. (AJohnson v Chelsea, Arshavin v WBA)

Ian Sanderson said...

Oh dear,
Kayoti FC, who was doing quite well, appears to have an incomplete team and will be posting a zero this week.
Unlucky mate, we feel your pain.

Anonymous said...

Once I knew that AM had picked Foster, I thought OMG! I'll get the AM goalie jinx so quickly switched Foster to Kirk......phew!, that was close.

AM is a top bloke, superb,sublime,stupendous FF informationist BUT can't pick a keeper to save his life or his wallet!

FUTURE FF PLEA

AM, next week, please don't pick Krull(or Harper if fit)

Thanks, have a great week.

ThatsEntertainment81

Anonymous said...

I think too many people are too biased against the Fantasist over at Yahoo. AM continue to make poor recommendations and he don't get slaughtered for it the same way the Fantasist gets.

For each game, he recommends over 15 midfielders. There will sure be some that perform well.

Anonymous said...

Terrible week, 38 points with Drogba, Malouda, Adam and Meireles to go.


I've dropped Drogba for this week as his away to City and might even drop Malouda as I hardly have a discount for him. Plus it sux to have 4 SKs with Bale, Adam.

Current team:

Robinson
Bale Koscielny Carr
Malouda Adam BenArfa Fabregas VDV
Kalinic Chamakh

Kalinic will will probably go, as will Fabregas if he's doubt

Saul said...

@Anon 5:04 - This blog is a much better read than that of a fantasist! if you don't believe it, just take a look at the to 10 overall rankings, there are at least 2 that follow this blog out of how many YFF players??? I myself have a ranking of 581 with C.Adam/Malouda/Nani/Tevez/Kalou left to play...all of which AM recommended!

Now, yes, I do think too many people are biased with the Fantasist but imo, AM puts alot more effort into his blog. He has a track record that the so called Guru hasn't even come close to.

Thanks AM for putting so much effort out of your own free will to create such a great blog, thanks to Kellz, Hans, Mike-B, pauly, and everyone for contributing and helping with player recommendation. It is the beautiful game that we all love!

Here's to me climbing up to the top 100 this week, yay!!!

Saul said...

...Anon 5:04 - Let me know if I misunderstood you because by your comment of...

"AM continue to make poor recommendations and he don't get slaughtered"

It meant AM's player picks weren't good.

Anonymous said...

I dropped Bale and i'm regretting that decision already, Rob Green is as shaky as a drunk. How did England take him to the world cup? Roy Hodgson wanted to buy Carlton Cole? And some people believe he is a good manager

Anonymous said...

I dropped Bale and i'm regretting that decision already, Rob Green is as shaky as a drunk. How did England take him to the world cup? Roy Hodgson wanted to buy Carlton Cole? And some people believe he is a good manager

Anonymous said...

Anon @3:45

Funny, The wallet comment cracked me right up!

Saul, I agree with you, AM puts in a hell of alot of work in this blog, criticisms seem unfair. I wouldn't take anon @ 5:04's comment too seriously. Look at the use of English.

"AM continue to make poor recommendations and he don't get slaughtered"

Subject-verb agreement errors which indicate a non-native English speaker, therefore probably doesn't realise the severity of the comment. So take no notice.

Anonymous said...

Is it a good time to drop Drogba? Chelsea s facing City away and Arsenal.

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