Monday 3 January 2011

Week 22 Update

Apologies for the lack of posts over the past few days but unfortunately I just don't have any time at the moment and there have been four game-weeks in just 9 days over Christmas & New Year. This mean I will be unable to write a full player picks post for Week 22 as it takes me hours which I don't have spare today (which is the final day of my break before going back to work).

I've missed every barndoor over the holidays, have found only 30 minutes to do my team & haven't touched the Blog Team, so while I'm sorry for letting you down I hope the majority understand; I'm sure you've found yourselves in a similar situation!

I obviously still need to do the Blog Cup Results from Week 20, but again this takes a long time so they will be calculated later this week & a full Week 23 Player Picks post will be completed the following week as it does not come around until 15th January due to the FA Cup.

"What about Blackpool v Liverpool on Jan 12th?" I hear you ask!? Well...

...judging by the info on the Yahoo team page (shown in the image above), we WILL have a double-week in Week 22. The deadline is stated as Tuesday 4th January, 19:00 GMT for games Jan 4th to Jan 14th.

The fixtures listed on the page are...

Tue, Jan 4     Blackpool v Birmingham
Tue, Jan 4     Man Utd v Stoke
Tue, Jan 4     Fulham v West Brom
Wed, Jan 5    Blackburn v Liverpool
Wed, Jan 5    Everton v Tottenham
Wed, Jan 5    Bolton v Wigan
Wed, Jan 5    Aston Villa v Sunderland
Wed, Jan 5    Newcastle v West Ham
Wed, Jan 5    Wolves v Chelsea
Wed, Jan 5    Arsenal v Man City
Wed, Jan 12  Blackpool v Liverpool 


...which suggests Blackpool play at home twice & Liverpool play away twice in Week 22 (with the teams in blue the ones I like from the single fixtures). This would mean all the information from The Fantasist earlier in the season suggesting no more double-weeks and points for postponed games being awarded retrospectively to the original game-week was completely incorrect. It's appalling organisational by Yahoo, but doesn't surprise me at all.

The Fantasist is running a match-chat tomorrow lunchtime so be sure to visit the official blog to ask him what the hell is going on, but for now we have to assume it's a double when planning our teams. However, PLEASE DO NOT DROP DISCOUNTS SPECIFICALLY FOR THE DOUBLE-WEEK UNTIL WE HAVE 100% CONFIRMATION FROM THE FANTASIST TOMORROW.

I'm looking to build on a much better Week 21 in which I scored 118 points (thanks mainly to Bale, Rooney, Malouda, Lampard, Bent & my hunch Shola Ameobi!) to salvage what had been a terrible Christmas period for my fantasy team. I'm now back in the Top 250 after dropping to 500th after Week 20 and I'm hoping for some more positive progress in Week 23.

For that reason I'm bringing in as many double-gamers as possible without dropping any major discounts, and I suggest you do the same. You may not really fancy the fixtures or many of the players from either Blackpool or Liverpool, but speaking from experience it really does tend to be the sensible way to go & you'll almost certainly break 100+ if you can get five or six in your team.

My (unsaved) team: Reina, Skrtel, Kolarov, Bale, Phillips, Lampard, Adam, Van Der Vaart, Gerrard, Ameobi, Torres

Six for me but as I missed the barndoor I'm buying the double gamers at full price, meaning I can't afford Glen Johnson, Dirk Kuyt or Luke Varney who I was planning on adding. Reina could be a season keeper at £6m as he will rarely go negative once Gerrard & Torres build up full match-fitness, Skrtel comes in as Liverpool's ever-present defender, Matt Phillips is due a couple of starts from Holloway after his excellent form from the bench, Adam is Blackpool best points scorer, while Gerrard & Torres are no-brainers.

I'm keeping Kolarov @ 4, Bale @ 12, Lampard @ 11, Van Der Vaart @ 6 & probably Ameobi @ 5, although he might go for Gary Taylor-Fletcher (the only Blackpool striker I can afford). To be honest I'll probably keep the Newcastle man at home to West Ham.

That's all I have time for as my new fiancé is moaning that I promised to only spend 15 minutes writing before we watch a film & it's already been 30! What I would ask is that if anyone has some spare minutes then I'd really appreciate if you could maybe list your top single-week & double-week player recommendation for each position in the comments section below. It would really help me, but mainly it would help out all your fellow readers... which is the whole point of this blog after all :)

I'll be back before tomorrow's deadline to update you on any useful info we get from the Fantasist's live-chat.

Cheers,
AM

p.s. Just something I wanted to mention as I have not posted it up since Week 2... if any of you play http://fantasy.premierleague.com we do have a Blog League with 150 members already. Please join with code 101159-129333

98 comments:

Arsenal_Bergkamp said...

1st!!!!

Anonymous said...

2nd!!!!

-CVB

lucidswirl said...

thinking i will drop bale @15 to get gerrard @15. i got lamps on the BD @12.xx. do that an I can run with Pepe/Skyrtel/Gerrard/Torres for some double points. I will have a little change left over for a cheap filler. Or I keep Bale and have 6.xx for 2 fillers.

Mandrake said...

Hi AM, how much can we really trust The Fantasist? How close is The Fantasist to YFF, is TF a member of staff or just a volunteer?

Somehow, I'm not getting good vibes regarding this whole double week and delayed week thing. IMHO, we're all going to be dropping points because of it.

Bryce said...

How about Baptiste of Blackpool? Will he get a start? He's been on the bench for the past two games and he was really impressive at the beginning of the season.

Anonymous said...

I sent a blind email to Lee Walker who appears to be involved at some level with yahoo uk sports. Don't know if the email got to him and if it did whether he would even reply. Best bet is to hit the chat tomorrow. I'm thinking 7 DGs and keeping my core of season keepers.

BCB

JT said...

Not 100% sure I am gonna ditch players who could potentially score big for out of form Liverpool players who have 2 away games. I'm tempted by Blackpool though.

Kirkland
Kolarov, G Cahill, Ferdinand
Barton, VDV, Fabs, Lamps
Rooney, VanP, Varney

Anonymous said...

PS - WTF happened to Krul. I had guesstimated 14 points from Newcastle's clean sheet but was dismayed to learn he didn't start :(

BCB

donut said...

THanks AM was beginning to worry about your festive hangover!!

COmpletely agree with your views on DG - great way of ensuring you get to 100 points. I have posted a number of times this year on the dangers of holding on to discounts too much and I think the fact that we have a few DGs likely soon means that the more flexible you can be the more success you will have...

Anyway for what its worth here are some players I think are good this week

GK
Reina (Liv) 7.87 2 games
Harper(Newc) 7.26 home v West Ham
Friedel (AV) 4.71 home v Sunderland, can Villa keep going after positive Chelsea Game

DF
Dann (Birm) 7.01 away v Blackpool
Crainey (BPool) 8.18 DG and decent scoring WB

MF
Adam (BPool) 8.64 surely due some points and with 2 games should be in most teams I expect
Cole (LIv) (6.73) DG even if he starts both from bench only needs a couple of SOT to make value back, and he could start 1 game...
VDV (Tot) 15.81 - one of the best players in the league IMO...

FW
Torres (Liv) 14.48 - complete bargain if he keeps form building
Varney (Blackpool) 8.54 can take free kicks and not bad value...

My Team

Reina
Bale Kolarov Skrtel
Lamps VDV Cole Adam Lucas
ROoney Torres

Anonymous said...

i want to get gerrard but i cant fit him in my team. how bout meireles? Is there any news about the injury he picked up last game?

Anonymous said...

is aurelio a good choice?

SK said...

These two seasons, Liverpool had a horrible away record, and with two away games in their current state they are certain to drop points. Both teams have FA Cups on the weekend and will have a busy schedule, as a result some of the lesser stars on Liverpool may not start both games. With Roy Hodgson on the line as well, I think we should take caution when selecting their players. I will personally look at Liverpool players as if they have one good matchup rather than two subpar matchups.

Maxi Rodriguez looks good imo

Peter said...

struggling this week,
should i drop Bent @ Villa for Ameobi V west ham?
plus drop or keep Lampard?

Peter said...

P.s.
Forgot to put Thanks! ;-)
Peter

paul mac said...

i have a word of caution for the people preparing on loading up on double gamers.the weather is supposed to take a turn for the worst here again in the next couple of days and last for about 4 weeks.this will result in game postponements and with blackpool playing both games at home and them having no undersoil heating then they will end up playing no games and liverpool will only get the 1 away game.personally i dont think that is worth throwing away any discounts for

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but this blog is really starting to deteriorate...enough with the excuses!!! Either run a proper blog and post updates in a timely manner or move on. You don't see any of this dead air from the other fantasy sites. This is starting to get absurd.

greginho said...

here is a really bittersweet moment. i am getting visited by 3 friends friends from the states. one of them plays in my fantasy football league. 8 weeks ago i was top 200 and he was 250 points behind in 3rd place behind my 7 year old son, who is in his first fantasy game. i have had 8 weeks of 2 or 3 zeros, in that time, most of it was van der vaart and alot was nani. the van der vaart holding, was a great move to keep him at 6, the nani move, backfired because he kept getting pushed back further. sir alex would say nani would play then he wouldn't be on the bench.
the bittersweet moment is that my friend passed me up sunday, the day i picked him up. so now i have to hear some serious trash talking in my own house. he is a facebook friend of jeremy and neal's blog with the team name irishzen.
we will be travelling to the beach at rio de janeiro, so we will have to share his phone for updates.

Assistant Manager said...

Wow anon @ 7:53, that really is quite harsh!

Most other Fantasy sites have 2, 3 or even 4 writers to share the load (Fantasy Football Scout charge a subscription and have a team of 8 people!). I am doing this on my own to help people with the Yahoo Fantasy Football, as a hobby because I enjoy the game and enjoy writing, but we've had 4 game-weeks in 9 days which is crazy!

The amount of work required is impossible to find when I'm trying to spend time with my family, my fiance & my friends over the holidays. My Player Picks post takes up to 5 hours to write each week and a further 2 or 3 hours to update team news each week! I still managed to write 2 player picks posts and 2 updates in that time and still wrote a post today that I hoped would be helpful.

Posts like yours can make me wonder why I bother at all, but I'll keep doing what I can because I know 99.9% of readers aren't ungrateful and understand that YFF is a game, and life is...well...life!

Nik

Emepror said...

carson
skrtel
alan smith
n'gog

or

carson
carney
a.smith
welbeck

greginho said...

just curious why the biggest dickheads always stay anonymous. they will bash on AM, jeremy or neal or even me, but they are always anonymous.

Anonymous said...

Kick on Nik! I enjoy your Blog and appreciate all the sacrifices you make to keep us well informed. I hope all went well over the holidays and wish you and your family the best for many years to come!

Cheers!
marco

MPFC/KPM said...

Blackburn is currently in an injury crisis and could be without 10 first team players for the game against Liverpool. For this reason I think that Liverpool players are good value even if the second game ends up being postponed although I personally feel that is highly unlikely.

Blackpool will do pretty much anything to avoid additional postponed matches and they have over a week to keep the ground and surrounding area in match condition.

Kiko_Robben said...

koscielny or paulo fereira ?
pls i can really use your help on this one guys..
nik don't pay attention to that moron who says stupid things for no reason...you are doing a great work and keep it up :)

Synch said...

Keep up the good work AM! I barely have time to get to the computer over this period ( thank god for iPhones!) and I don't expect you to either! Enjoy your break!

DRogba 11 said...

koscielny , baloteli , jonas gutierez

or

skrtel , adam smith , n'gog ?
pls help...nik keep up the good work... CHEERS :)

donut said...

Nik don't worry about it bud - no need to defend yourself in my opinion, any help you can give us is extremely useful, readers of a FREE blog don't have a right to expect updates...I think you do some great work and as you have noted, most of your readers are extremely grateful for the advice...

How about reducing the number of days you post or getting someone else to manage the blog cup and/or groups that you run? I think you have a big following now and I'm sure you can find people you trust who would be very willing to help out?

donut

Staffer84 said...

Happy New Year Nik, AMers

Don't bother answering to those bastards AM ...just don't pay attention and they will stop trashing, I hope.

Team name: DIMITAR BERBATOV FC [AM.Blog]

I'm on:

Reina
Kolarov,Evatt,Skrtel
VDV,Lampard,Adam,Gerrard
Berbatov,Baloteli,Van Persie

I like my team and I think it's final unless I switch Skrtel.

I fancy the following players for this week:

GK:
Reina
Friedel
Stokdale

DEF:
Rafael
Cathcart
Evatt
Skrtel
G Johnson

MFs:
Adam
Gerrard
Nani (if fit)
Lampard
JCole
VdV
AJohnson

FW:
Torres
Berbatov
Hernandez
Baloteli - he'll finally meet Wilshere
Dembele - team news

That's what I can think of...hope it helps. Thank you for your magnificent work Nik. I wish you and all AMers great things in 2011 and congratulations on your engagement.

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

This is my first post, but I am a follower of AM's blog for over a year. As well as those who regularly comment there are many who follow and who may not have many words of wisdom to add (such as I) but really appreciate the work you put in for what is indeed after all just a game. So AM please don't feel disheartened by the anon comment @7.52 - you do a great job.

Cheers

Richard
Wokingham Red (performing very poorly in AM blog league 7)

Anonymous said...

Nice story Greginho, but speaking only American English, I almost choked when you said bittersweet twice and "passed me up" in the same breath, that's very close to "pass away" in my vernacular. Very happy you are all doing well in Rio with your buddy--- great.

Anonymous said...

Balotelli stopped short of apologising to Wilshere, what he said was taken out of context and blown out of proportion by your useless press.

Anonymous said...

He called Wilshere a fortissmo- a very good player, after watching a few of his games.

Pop Thy Collar said...

Turn the other cheek to these nutters who are getting on your nerves AM.

The vast majority of us appreciate the time and effort you put in. Your input helped me win my work league for the first time last season and I'm top again this season so far.

I'd kick myself if I passed up on some double gamers so whilst I'm not going to completely gut my team for Liverpool or Blackpool players I'm going to give them probably about six places (the other 5 places are locked down e.g. Lamps, Bale, VDV etc).

Hope you had a great new year and well done for getting your priorities straight and spending time with your family and friends.

Pop Thy Collar

Doctor Teeth said...

Happy New Year, AM. Keep up the good work!

Good/solid week to kick off 2011 for me with 117 points although it could have been 120 if I had not changed Green to Reina at the last second...oh well, I suppose I can't complain.

I, along with some other posters that I've spoken to in the chat, am not going to go crazy with the DGers this week...chalk this up to Liverpool's incredibly mediocre form, the sub-standrd pitch at Blomfield Road and my holding several studs at discounts. I will have Gerrard and Adam for sure...possibly Varney, Crainey and Reina as well but that is the absolute maxmum 3-4 DGers i more likley, to be honest). Going to hold on to RVP, Lamps and Mario for the foreseeable future.

Is that just some lingering blurred vision from New year's Eve or can we see Becks at an introductory price of 7.2mill on the horizon?

Anonymous said...

I'll echo what a few have already said, this site has been a revelation for the last two years for my team. I was a bad fantasy player my first year, mediocre in Year #2, then found this site prior to my third season. I finished 1,100th last year, and currently sit at 713th this year thanks to the help provided by AM and the other regular posters. The hard work that goes into player picks and updates is greatly appreciated by a lot of people on this board.

Currently, I'm sitting on:
Hart
Kolarov, Coleman, Skrtel
VDV, Lampard, Gerrard, Adam
Van Persie, Torres, Balotelli

I've got 6.24 left to spend. Hart, Kolarov, Coleman, VDV, Van Persie and Balotelli are all on huge discounts (at least 3.41 points each). Lampard, Gerrard and Torres are on smaller discounts.

The big questions at this point are Adam, Skrtel and Balotelli. If Balotelli is going to play, I want to keep him. I'm concerned about his starting position with the potential arrival of Dzeko going forward. I'll probably upgrade Skrtel to Glen Johnson for the double week if I can't find a better use of the extra points. Still toying with getting Nani back into the lineup, or grabbing Drogba for a week.

Cech's Mates

Dave Collier said...

Nik,

I've felt your absence over the festive period, especially missing your barndoor picks, as I was left to make my own decisions. Think I picked up the right players before price rises, but I have 0.9mill to fill 2 slots so I'm going to have to make some big decisions. Blackpool v Liverpool being removed from the GW would make decisions easier but I'd be angry as I made decisions based on it being included.

I haven't posted on here for a while, I definitely take more than I give, but I read every blog entry and a lot of comments and drop into the chat on Saturday mornings. Some of the comments on here recently have been ridiculous. I'm not sure if people are just trying to wind you and regulars up, or whether they just have unrealistic expectations (and have come to rely on you for their team and therefore blame you when they have to do it themselves and do poorly), but the amount of bickering is just daft. As the ever-present greginho said, a way to combat it may be too only allow non-anons to post, unless that's how blogspot works and not something you can change.

Congratulations on your engagement, that's great news. I can sympathise with your partner trying to limit your fantasy football time, I only spend about 3 hrs a week reading these blog and checking scores on the day and I get plenty of eye rolling and complaining. I read in an earlier post that someones girlfriend actually played fantasy football! All I can say to them is 'you lucky b*stard'.

Thanks as well for taking the time to write this blog every week (and often more than once a week). One positive thing to come out of all the stupid negative comments is the amount of posts of appreciation and thanks. You've improved my weekly scores no end. I still feel like I over rely on your expert guidance, but I'm learning, and intending to participate more and help people on the chat and blog this year.

Lastly, you must be delighted with the way the Yids are performing! Strong contenders for top 4. I like the football they play. How do you feel about the prospect of getting beckham? Probably best quote ever from lawro when they asked him if it'd be a good signing and he said 'even if he just comes in for 2 months and doesn't play, if he just teaches Aaron Lennon to cross a ball, it's a good signing', haha.

Doctor Teeth said...

As an addendum to my post above, here are some stats for you Liverpool DG lovers:

9 away games
1 win
2 draws
6 losses
6 goals scored
6 goals conceded

I know some of you will protest that Liverpool is now at "full strength" and as such the past is not an accurate indication of future results. But for me, it's thanks...but no thanks.

giggsyUnited said...

Stick in AM! We may not post much...but the silent majority like what you do and look forward to reading what you post. Stick in son.

Come on you Red Devils!
Bodeyzafa

Anonymous said...

Hey Nik,

I appreciate all of the hard work by you and other members of the blog. Our private group has two payouts, based on the two halves of the season, and I just won the first half and will be collecting a nice sum of cash. I could not have done it without your work and the blog. As a small token of my appreciation, I have donated some cash for you to pick up a few pints, the next time you are out! Thanks again and keep up the good work!

Here is my team (slightly risky on the front line):

Reina
Bale-PRobinson-Eardley
VdV-Lampard-Adam-Gerrard
KDavies-Balotelli-Taylor-Fletcher

Good luck to all!

A1

Anonymous said...

FAB FILLERS - WEEK 22
The cheapest of the cheap for all your filler needs:

GK
Friedel - AVilla 4.71 h **
Howard - Evert 5.55 h **
Carson - WBrom 1.06 a *

DF
Ibanez - WBrom 5.24 a **
Koscielny - Ars 5.67 h **
Squillaci - Ars 5.98 h ** ?
Ferreira - Chels 5.66 a ** ?

MF
Wilshere - Ars 5.70 h *
Routledge - Ncstl 5.61 h **
Y Touré - Mcity 5.48 a **
Etuhu - Ful 4.74 h **
Anderson - ManU 5.27 h ** ?
Lucas - Lpool 4.16 a a ** DG
Sylvestre - Bpool 4.60 h h ** DG ?

FW
Ormerod - Bpool 5.21 h h ** DG ?
Klasnic - Bolton 5.91 h ** ?

DG - Double gamer
? Check team sheets

Wishing you all a great year ahead

Pauly

Anonymous said...

anyone no if rooney is out this week i heard rumors

Kendo said...

Nik

Love this blog you do a great job don't let anyone put you down!

Kendo

Anonymous said...

Nik - hate to say it, but she may have to go :) - hope thats a wink?

ug88 said...

Nik, your website has helped me so much throughout this season. I am very thankful for all the tips that I get every week!

Anonymous said...

So... are we 100% certain the two Pool's are getting double points this week? Can anyone confirm?

Nik - top-drawer always!

Donegal08

Doctor Teeth said...

That's 16 goals conceded...sorry.

SK said...

@Pauly - I am pretty sure that Ferreira will not start again after last game. I also think Djourou has greater chance to start over Squillaci.

@anon 10:01 - SAF thinks Rooney will play but he did pick a knock. Something to check right before the deadline tomorrow.

@Doctor Teeth - Typo: LVL conceeded 16 away, but scored 6 in 9 away games. No other team have scored less goals away. Compare this to home record: 17 scored; 8 conceeded in 10 games.

Anonymous said...

please be in mind that liverpool have manu in between!!

Brendan said...

I love this blog! That anonymous d-bag who is whining about updates not to his expectations is probably just a virgin who is angry about being a virgin.

Anyways, here's my squad:

Reina
Bale, Kolarov, Skrtel
Van der Vaart, Adam, J. Cole, K. Nolan
Balotelli, Torres, Van Persie

I would love feedback

kwyjibo said...

@Nik - I don't want to give you too much of a swelled head ;), but yes, to reiterate what the others have said...99.9% of us think you are doing a great job. I, for one, probably wouldn't even be playing YFF right now if not for this blog.

Thanks Nik, and the 99.9% of good posters on here.

@Raconteur - Yes, the negative comments are coming mostly from anonymous posters, but keep in mind the number of GOOD anonymous posters that are still the majority, and have contributed to the success of this blog. It would be a shame to alienate them just for the sake of a few bad eggs.

I sure hope it's a double week, because I've got 6 from the two 'pools:

Hart
Kolarov-Skrtel-Rafael(may change)
VdV-Lamps-Adam-Gerrard-Phillips
Torres-Varney

Good luck, all!

Assistant Manager said...

Thanks lads, appreciated as always, I know you support the blog and community we've built is excellent

kwyjibo - you make an excellent point, and it's the main reason I still allow anon posters...most of the anonymous posters are really good and have contributed to the success of this blog. I don't want to force people to sign-in/sign-up in case we lose some of that.

What do people think? Especially those who write anonymously most of the time - would you still comment on posts if you had to sign in?

Cheers, Nik

Anonymous said...

Nik,

Don't listen to any negative posts. There's a reason you have such a following and I assure you that garbage is a tiny minority (and a sad one).

Down to business: I'm not so sure Liverpool in two away matches is worth dropping solid players for. I'm much more inclined to pick Blackpool players (any of the defense, Varney, Adam) than any Liverpool player. Another thing to note with regard to Blackpool is that they will have 9 matches in the next 6 weeks. That means all their players are basically returning time and a half over the span. That may make it worthwhile to take a longer-term approach to these picks. Adam starts to look pretty good at 11.5 ppg rather than 7.7.

Of course there is the pressing concern that the weather could cause re-postponements, which would actually compound the potential gains, but move them later in the season.

In any case, thanks as always for the blog. And for god's sake don't listen to the tripe that inevitably finds its way into the comments section of every website.

DB

DJ PIGG said...

Hi Nik,

Please don't let people like Anon @ 7:53 get you down. If he doesn't like what you do then he doesn't have to read your blog.

As so many other people have said, your advice is invaluable and the VAST majority of the people who post really appreciate the effort you go to in order to help us.

Please keep up the good work whenever you can but make sure your family life doesn't suffer. There are more important things in life than fantasy football!

Anonymous said...

i love you nick

Anonymous said...

nothing wrong with a bit of bro-mance, but at least spell his name right (NIK) (o:

Joshua said...

I'm a huge fan of this blog. I read a few others for advice, but this is my go to page for making tough decisions. It's paid off as this season I have a higher ranking than any prior seasons (currently 180 overall, and as high as top 50), and I'm running away in my private league (272 points ahead of 2nd place). Thanks for any insight you're willing to kick down, congrats on the engagement, and remember that the majority of people are silently very happy with your blog. The bad eggs are always more vocal.

BFAR said...

Happy New Year AM...please keep on the hardword..

About Mario Balotelli...i browsed thru the TOP 10 overalls leaders of this game..and 9/10 have the super mario in their lineup..perhaps 4++ is a really good filler for a top striker (ok..we can still argue) playing for a top team...

but with the arrival of the new strikers..and also his crazy attitude... not sure what fantasy managers going to do with him..

for sure..he is a big risk of rotation (also big risk of turning into a monster..either scoring goals or collecting cards/fouls)... and with double weeks coming..maybe its time to let him go???

Any thoughts on Baloteli?

Anonymous said...

Have been following your blogging since the starting of this season thru some of my frens... you really do help me alot.....U REALLY DO HAVE A BIG SUPPORT FROM ME!!!
CHEEERS!!!!HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Anonymous said...

@BFAR: Personally i will keep balotelli at 4.75. There isn't any striker you'll want to get in his place.Yes, he is prone to collecting cards but is just as likely to have a monster week. For that reason, I can overlook whatever flaws that he has. At that price, there is no better alternative.

bengoh91

Anonymous said...

rooney/silva


or


dj campbell/aurelio


????? thanks

Anonymous said...

is rooney out injured or not?

Didier Drogba said...

Keep up the great work Nik - I love you man!

Anonymous said...

@Nik, i'm browsing from my phone and because of poor link it's always easier to post anonymously. When my link is ok i try to post from my yahoo/open id.

Anonymous said...

If Rooney himself said he was fit for the match, i wouldn't believe. I saw the knock and dropped him even before he came back to complete the match.

Anonymous said...

Gerrard and Torres may be rested, says Hodgson

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/gerrard-and-torres-may-be-rested-says-hodgson-2175209.html

i hate the word maybe~ hmmmmm....shud i drop gerrard?

Fishy

Anonymous said...

Hart
Bale, Salgado, Kolarov (I think he's not good enough for City but he takes shots and FKs so...)
Adam, VdV, Nasri, Malouda (at full price)
Balotelli, Elmander, Varney (DG)

Anonymous said...

I am not sure about this double games week, it doesnt give me a good feeling about it as Yahoo didnt mention nothing at all. But i guess thats better than the rumour about adding back the postponed games pts back to the week they were supposed to play. Well, for most of the managers here would probably go for at least Reina , Stevie G and Torres. Both Stevie G and Torres are having such a bad form at the moment. but that again, since every single dude here have them, there wont be a lost they i have them as wlll and if they scored badly. Just like balotelli few weeks back. So is better to have them than be sorry if torres suddenly went crazy and grab a hatrick and Reina got clean sheet.

Anonymous said...

Sad...Gerrard and Torres will be rested, i wont go for both of them.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2011/01/04/steven-gerrard-and-fernando-torres-may-be-rested-in-liverpool-fc-january-fixture-congestion-92534-27927547/

Anonymous said...

You are right !!! They both will be rested.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/01/04/2288804/liverpool-manager-roy-hodgson-steven-gerrard-fernando-torres

Anonymous said...

hi... pls help me i just have 4.17 to buy def... is carney will play?

Anonymous said...

We don't know when they'll be rested or if they'll both miss the same games, Torres has a good record against Blackburn and i'm tempted to keep him.

Anonymous said...

Kolarov had one bad game and he's suddenly not good enough for Citeh, how interesting.

Carney is off to the Asian cup with Australia.

Anonymous said...

cahill play or not?

Anonymous said...

GUYS! need help ASAP! Anyone know if Rooney is playing?

Anonymous said...

There is no double game !!!

http://uk.premiership.fantasysports.yahoo.com/football/10443?week=22

chico said...

Can Vidic playing, he picked up 5 yellow cards.

Anonymous said...

hi all,

i got 120++ last gweek with numbers of SUPERSTARS like RVP DD Rooney StevG Lamps n VDV. also had filler like kolarov lescott n b.haim (def BD below 5). if they keep winning games, i'll could get into top1000 soon.

p/s: agree with AM bout keeper selection. reina will be my season keeper.

Last Minute FC

Anonymous said...

Anon @ 9:27. I can't see your link!

Anonymous said...

On your fantasy home page just click on more fixtures, you'll see blackpool v liverpool is as week 19, still not clear where the scores will be added. I'd say it's a double week.

jimmy said...

"Gerrard and Torres may be rested, says Hodgson" dont u guys think if he wants to rest those two players that he would rather push his luck with resting them in the fa cup game? Liverpool is doing really bad and his job is on the line! he needs to win matches in the epl and we all saw what happened with liverpool last season when they where injured! im rather gonna keep them, double week or not.

Eric said...

Hi Nik , I saw you got some harsh comments and you don't deserve any of those . I had been lurking in your site for some time and no doubt , I really appreciate what you've posted so far . Quick and precise information regarding YFF , hope you're not demotivated and continue to run AM .

Anonymous said...

any injury news update on rooney yet? my team setup will depends on him. if he's out, i'll bring in skrtel, crainey, varney, and taylor-fletcher.

Yy said...

Not sure if it is official or not, hope this helps!

Manchester City will be without David Silva and Mario Balotelli for Wednesday night's crucial Premier League encounter at Arsenal.
The pair have both been struck down by knee injuries, with Silva possibly out for two weeks.
"It is a big problem," said manager Roberto Mancini.
"Neither of them will be available."

Source:
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_6634109,00.html

Anonymous said...

torres n gerard not play?
need to buy them?

Anonymous said...

Where can I find a good site for match previews, probable lineups, and injury news?

Anonymous said...

@anon 11.36

Here!

Jay88 said...

@Anon - 11:36

One of the best sites to use is http://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/

Is has a great team news section with probable line-ups and details all the injuries and bans and also has all the set piece takers listed for all teams.

Superfly Jim said...

Hi guys,

Nik, I appreciate the blog greatly - ignore the anonymous idiots...

Anyway, BALOTELLI & SILVA ARE OUT.

I'm in a quandry as you can see below. I have great players all barndoored but can't pick a team without dropping at least one of them - hopefully Rooney is injured and I can drop him but ill wait till nearer deadline to make that call...

Reina
Bale/xxx/xxx
VDV/Lamps/Nasri/Gerrard
Rooney/Torres/xxx

Now, I have balotelli @ 4.75 but if i keep him for a zero then I need to sell someone like Nasri aswell as Reina to get in Adam, Carson & 2 cheap defenders.

If anyone has any bright ideas to help me out it would be much appreciated !

As always Thanks Guys

Superfly Jim said...

Sorry, forgot to say I only have 7.06m left for 3 players with the line up above...

Anonymous said...

Balotelli and Silva have been out since, problem is Balotelli's value might not drop to single digits again if he misses just the Arsenal match, like news suggest.

Anonymous said...

Why hold on to Balotelli when Dzeko could be available for the wolves game. Personally i have over 10.00 left after picking my team, so i could bring Balotelli back in at full value

Anonymous said...

Matt Phillips at 6.56 or Joe Cole at 6.73 anyone???

Jay88 said...

Re: Double week.
The following has been posted on "The Fantasists" Live Chat -

Points will be awarded for BOTH games involving those two sides, including when they face each other next Wednesday. No points will be awarded for players selected for the original fixture last month, only the upcoming rearranged one, so it's time to load up on Reds and Tangerines this week. Let's hope that puts the matter to rest. Apologies for any confusion...

So looks like the double week for Liverpool and Blackppol has been confirmed.

Anonymous said...

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sports-news/Holloway-looking-for-Birmingham-revenge.6678970.jp

Anonymous said...

Yes, Jay-- this Fantasist just brushes it off as no big deal, when folks have been pleading for an answer for ten days. Lost a lot of respect for Yahoo and I conveyed that to Sunnyvale, California (Yahoo HQs). Well at least we have an answer, despite the lack of info throttling the BD for many of us.

I am so glad this blog is such a positive place, thanks to all the posters and Nik.

I am keeping Hart at 9.00 over Reina- I have just compared their stats-- I can surely see Reina having a good first game.

Anonymous said...

Nik,

Your blog gives me a lot of helps and I believe for a lot of other managers. I appreciate on your good work. Just ignore the bad comment. You still have a lot of follows. Keep on, we all support you.

Arsenal Boy [Am.Blog]
SK Tan

Anonymous said...

my team is,

reina
kolorov,skrtel,rafael,
nasri,vdv,gerrard,lampard,
balotelli,k.davies,ameobi.

Jay88 said...

@Anon 1:57

Yeah it's very frustrating that they have brought double weeks back in after the official statement earlier in the year saying "no more double weeks" and then the ludicrious statement from The Fantasist a few weeks back saying that points would be retrospectively added when the games were replayed!

But like you say at least we have this excellant blog and all the great contributers.

I currently have Reina at 6.14 but I'm very worried about Liverpools away form, especially against Blackpool who I think I'm right in saying have scored in every home game this season. But at such a low price Reina could be a season keeper so I may just stick with him.

My team at the mo is -

Reina
Jara, Skrtel, P.Robinson
VDV, Lampard, Kuyt, Adam
Elmander, Torres, Varney


Although I may swap Kuyt and Elmander to Gerrard and M.Phillips from Blackpool and I will have 1.22 to upgrade either Jara or Robinson.

Or I may simply downgrade

footballbettingtips said...

a lot of different opinion,,but i think lets respect authors blogs,if we don't like what they post so don't then don't read..otherwise it will give to the writer a bad impression..

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