Monday 10 January 2011

Some Thoughts...

An entertaining weekend of FA Cup football combined with the opening of the transfer window has brought up a few talking points that I thought I'd comment on...

Firstly, Liverpool. I feel a bit sorry for Roy Hodgson as he's clearly a good manager, but the decision to let him go was probably the right one. The majority of fans lost faith in him, the crowds started to fall and once that happened the board had to move, although it really grates me that the manager takes all the blame when his players performed so poorly for the club week after week.

It'll be interesting to see how Dalglish copes with his first managerial stint for a decade. The fans have got their way, but while it's easy to draw comparisons with Newcastle & Keegan, Kenny has actually kept himself involved in football & still has a great knowledge of the ins and outs of the modern game. Managing the change in "player-power" since he was last in charge of a squad could prove a different obstacle altogether, so it'll be interesting to see how he does in his 5 months as caretaker, but in the short term it will certainly give the whole club a huge lift.

As for yesterday's game at Old Trafford, it was yet another instance of Howard Webb making controversial decisions in Manchester United's favour. As a Spurs fan I've seen us on the end of some Webb shockers over the years - and the penalty yesterday was about as soft as they come - but I don't think there can be any argument over Gerrard's red card; it was a silly, dangerous tackle and it ended any chance of a Liverpool come-back. He'll miss the next 3 league games including the 2nd half of the Week 22 double vs Blackpool...frustrating for those who have him (me included).

Moving on, and you'll all know that Edin Dzeko has moved to Manchester City for somewhere in the region of £30m and he should be added to YFF under £7m, which is very tempting. Is he the final piece of the City puzzle? I must admit I've only seen him a few times over the past couple of seasons but I've been impressed with what I have seen. I'm not convinced the signing will be enough for Mancini's men to overhaul Manchester United's two-points-with-two-games-in-hand lead this season as I don't think they have the mentality to beat any of their title rivals away from home, but it'll definitely be a Top 4 finish & I'll probably put a few pennies on them lifting the title next season.

What does this all mean for Balotelli? Is he now set for a bench role? Or will he play in a front 3 alongside Tevez & Dzeko? Or could it be that Tevez is still set to leave in the summer, and Dzeko is his replacement? We'll have to wait and see!

Next...David Beckham to Tottenham. Harry can't make his mind up, one minute the deal is on, the next it's off, then he might just be coming to train, but he could also play. Personally I'd rather it didn't happen - it's already a media-circus and he hasn't even joined yet.

I have huge respect for Beckham, he's a legend, but he's well past his best, the current squad and harmony is as good as I've seen in my 24 years supporting the club and anything that could upset that balance should be avoided in my opinion. I believe David Bentley's potential loan move to Birmingham is dependent on the Beckham deal. It's one to keep an eye on, as 7.73 for Bentley is an absolute steal.

If Bentley does move this week, I'm considering this team:

Carson, Caldwell, Kolarov, Bale, Adam, Bentley, Brunt, Lampard, Van Der Vaart, Van Persie, Tevez

I absolutely love it, but I'm sure team news/injury news/transfer news will mean I need to change it considerably before the deadline in 5 days time.

I'll leave it there for now, but I'll be back on Wednesday with my Week 23 Player Picks post. Until then, please let me know how your early team is shaping up! Any opinions on the subjects raised above?

Cheers,
AM

42 comments:

Bojan said...

i missed you man... welcome back

ali said...

1st!

Ali said...

damn it. actually 2nd

NaD4132 said...

hilarious picture you have there AM..
not sure about bentley, but he better go elsewhere considering what his got and the amount of playtime he gets @WHL. Any news about Rooney??

Josh said...

err 1st?

Birty said...

it was a penalty and a red card nuff said.

Looks like Babel will get a ban for retweeting that pic. i know everyone hates re-tweets but its a bit harsh of the FA.

as for rooney, he was nearly fit for the bench on sunday as per fergie's pre match interview on ITV, my money's on him playing

BL said...

If you've ever played Football Manager 2010 or 2011, you'll know how good Dzeko is. I'm telling you that game is pretty realistic. :) In terms of YFF, I'd give Dzeko a few games to settle in for EPL. Don't expect him to rain goals immediately, but eventually he will.

PBS said...

Which Caldwell? :p

Assistant Manager said...

Gary Caldwell, Wigan Captain :p

richard_pitts_2000 said...

Is Gerrard suspended for Wednesday?

Assistant Manager said...

Yes, Gerrard is suspended on Wednesday and for the following two league games vs Everton & Wolves.

Anonymous said...

My god. Liverpool is gonna fail three more games.

Dave Collier said...

Nice insight into goings on. Good article on the BBC about Dalglish posing a long-term problem as if he does well, he'll want the job long term, so then the owners have a hard choice. Suppose if he does well, nobody will blame the owners for hiring him full time.

AM, what do you make of Coleman as a long term prospect in defence? (considering those who don't have Bale and/or Kolarov at discounts?).

Anonymous said...

Gerrard is rubbish.

Anonymous said...

when will dzeko be uploaded into the game

Anonymous said...

AM
You're really choosing Carson?
Well, after your Reina pick of last week (@ -9 points, so far!)it's my new year's resolution to Never choose the same GK as you again!(Not that I'd choose Carson anyway!)
Ha!
Pauly

Anonymous said...

AM which Caldwell because there are 2 on Wigan

Anonymous said...

Wow, Torres is playing for Crawley tonight against Derby. Wonder how much Crawley paid for that transfer?

P

Anonymous said...

jesus the AM goalkeeper joke got old 3 months ago yet people still go on about it like its funny! carson for 1.00 at home to blackpool is worth a shout. i'm 74th overall and i'm going for it and if you look over at starting11 the majority of the top players are going for carson if they dont have a long term foster/hart

Daz

Fred G said...

Someone has a goalpost up there behind.

Anonymous said...

First off, as for your gripe about coaches being blamed when things go bad, think of it this way. It's easier to fire 1 person than to sell/trade a whole squad of starters. It happens in all sports and probably other professions as well. The boss gets the blame for poor leadership or something.

As for my team...
Going to sell my 3 Liv players most likely (Skrtel, Cole, and Torres). Hoping to get Dzeko at 7ish when he enters to go along with RvP at 9.08 and Rooney at 14.98(though I may sell Rooney eventually). I'll sell Vaughan from BPool too. Selling Torres for Dzeko means I can hang onto Bale if I choose.

STLRam01

Anonymous said...

Do you know why ashley young is suspended for 3 games?

-Cuy

Arsenal_Bergkamp said...

@CUY

A.Young - 1 game

"Suspended from all first team football until the Club have completed 1 first team match for a Sending Off in a match played on 08/01/2011."

http://www.thefa.com/thefa/disciplinary/suspensionlists

Anonymous said...

So Man United have their own special referee? How interesting

rwlwhite said...

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/11012011/58/premier-league-lampard-ll.html

Reason not to pick Lampard again?

Anonymous said...

To Arsenal_Bergkamp, you got to win back your first place. FTW !!! can share some of your thoughts for this weekend picks?

Anonymous said...

anyone knows what happend to Kolarov???...seems like he wont start again. too sad...i am going to sell him.

Anonymous said...

Sunderland shall have their revenge this weekend.

LC said...

My team atm (Likely to change when Dzeko comes in and then will probably upgrade Kolorov)

Carson
Kolorov, Pantsil, G.Caldwell
VDV, Nani, Fabregas, Lampard
RVP, Gyan, Benjani

I have 1.01 remaining so i will probably downgrade Gyan for Dzeko and then upgrade Kolorov for someone. (Not sure who yet though.)
I have a feeling i need Bentley in but my plans would have to change to fit Bentley in.

What do you guys think?
LC

Jinglebells said...

I was thinking of Bentley as well:

Foster
Bale-Kolarov-around 7.66
Lampard-VDV-Adam-Bentley
Drogba-RVP-Dzeko

something like that... Kolarov out? nooooooo

Anonymous said...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jan/11/roberto-mancini-mario-balotelli-month-out

Balotelli out for a month. Should pretty much make that decision a no brainer for everyone thinking of holding him and makes Dzeko worth that much more once hes added

Anonymous said...

Should I sell my Kolarov@7 and Balotelli@4.7??Confused.Please help me out guys...

TJ

Anonymous said...

Read the post above you lol

Anonymous said...

Wow my question was responded by Arsenal_Bergkamp! Sort of an idol and a candidate of FF Champion for sure.. :) Thanks mate..

Wish i could buy Drogba for this upcoming week. But i think i cant, even if i have to drop reina for carson.

I have bent, torres and tevez upfront, but should i drop torres? And where the hell is Dzeko?

-Cuy

Anonymous said...

When will YFF has Dzeko for us to pick? I am so going ot buy him at 5

Anonymous said...

Carson will be dropped to bench.

http://www.wba.co.uk/page/News/0,,10366~2262835,00.html

Anonymous said...

For those who are curious. We may not be getting a freebie on Dzeko like you all think. Fantasy Premier League just added him, and hes worth a whopping 9.5.

For comparison, Van der Vaart entered FPL at 7.5 and has only moved up to 8.8 after his great season.

So be wary everyone who assumes we get a cheapy here

Mell fantasyonthego said...

Agreed with you AM, I'm also concern about Tevez and Balotelli with the Dzeko issue. But it seems settled for the time being as Balotelli reported to be out for a month. Bentley is interesting, the days of set piece maestro Larsson might be over soon I presumed

Anonymous said...

I think Dzeko will come in close to 8-9 assuming hebut doesn't score well this weekend. His weekend performance will determine his start price, earliest we'll see him will be after this weekend deadline.

Assistant Manager said...

If Dzeko is added before this weeks deadline (before playing a game) then Yahoo do not make a judgement on player quality when adding to him to the the system. New defenders are usually added at 5.5, new midfielders around 6 & new strikers at around 6.5 regardless of who they are. However, if he is added next week after he has played in the Wolves match then his initial value will be affected by his performance in that match. A couple of goals & we'll be looking at £8m-£10m for him.

Anonymous said...

Odemwingie may not play v Blackpool due to injury

http://www.wba.co.uk/page/News/0,,10366~2263987,00.html

Carson is a doubt too due to Myhill's excellent performance v Reading, but it says nowhere that he will NOT play

Pauly

Internet Marketer Teaches You How to Make Money Online said...

haha... it looks like it's gg to be Man United season again! even the ref is on our side!

Jack Harold
Internet Marketing Expert
Affiliate-HomeBusiness.Net

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