Friday 19 August 2011

Week 2 - Update

I get the feeling it's going to be a busy day at work and a busy day of team and injury news, so please bear with me; I'll get things updated as quickly/often as possible. Straight in to it...

- A big blow for Manchester United - Nemanja Vidic has been ruled out for up to 5 weeks with a calf injury. Rafael is already out for a few months but better news is that Rio Ferdinand will probably only miss the Spurs game as his hamstring is not as bad as first feared. Evra is also back, so it looks like it'll be Smalling, Jones, Evans, Evra this weekend, with Fabio on the bench.

- Rafa Van Der Vaart played an hour of Spurs' 5-0 hammering of Hearts last night, scored a goal and looked excellent, so you can add him to the premium midfield options for Week 2 alongside Lampard, Malouda, Young & Nani. Defoe, Bale, Lennon, Kranjcar & Walker all looked sharp and all of sudden I feel less miserable.

- It's always surprised me that despite Chelsea's spending they've never bothered buying a decent back-up keeper and they'll be hoping that doesn't come back to haunt them again after Petr Cech suffered a knee injury in training. He will be missing for for up to 4 weeks which means Hilario or Turnbull will cover and neither has inspired confidence in the past. It devalues the chance of a Chelsea clean-sheet for sure.

- Better news for Chelsea is the return of Ivanovic, although it remains to be seen whether he replaces Bosingwa at right-back or Alex at centre back. I've spoken to a few Blues fans and they seem to think Alex is more at risk. Luiz is still out, Sturridge is still suspended but new signing Lukaku could be on the bench.

- Aston Villa goalkeeper Shay Given has shaken off a groin injury sustained in the season-opener at Fulham last weekend and will be fit to make his home debut against Blackburn.

- Matt Etherington has made a miraculous comeback from his shoulder injury and started in the Europa League for Stoke last night, so he should be fit for Norwich and that of course reduces Pennant's value.

- Kieron Gibbs is definitely out of Arsenal's game against Liverpool so if you need to replace him with a similarly priced defender to avoid changing the rest of your team then look no further than Wes Brown. Djourou and Rosicky are also missing but Nasri is in the squad (however unlikely it is that he'll feature). Gervinho is suspended.

- Mancini has revealed Carlos Tevez is fit and could play some part against Bolton this weekend. I assume it'll be from the bench but it'll be interesting to see how City manage the striker situation.

- Wolves manager Mick McCarthy is poised to name an unchanged team for the visit of Fulham, so that would mean: Hennessey; Stearman, Johnson, Berra, Ward; Jarvis, O'Hara, Henry, Hunt; Doyle, Fletcher.

- Seems Everton have most of their players back to fitness which means Heitinga is no longer certain to start. He was my plan to cover the potential clean sheet at Goodison, so it's back to the drawing board now. I'm actually thinking about taking my own advice and going with Baines.

- Ryan Nelsen and Christopher Samba could be available for Blackburn which puts a bit of a dent in Aston Villa's chances of a home win as they make Kean's men a far more solid outfit.

More to follow...

My own team looks like this:  

De Gea, Brown, Richards, Baines, Moses, Cahill, Silva, N'Zogbia, Sinclair, Torres, Aguero

I've essentially gone Ashley Young to Baines, which has meant a few changes elsewhere. I'm still not sure about that switch, or my choices of Torres, N'Zogbia, Sinclair & Moses, so expect plenty to change before the deadline.

How's your team looking?

Cheers,
AM

p.s. Thanks for the kind comments in the Player Picks post - I felt it was probably the best I've written since the blog started so it was nice to see a few of you agree... your support is hugely appreciated!

36 comments:

1998jjb said...

Cheers for the update Nik, it's going to be a struggle this weekend!

ayushmann said...

Had BROWN AND GIBBS....:( :( NOT ENNOUGH MONEY TO GET ANY OTHER SO GOIN WITH FLANAGAN...DONNO HE WILL START OR NOT WITH JOHNSON NEARLY FIT!!!!!!!

kwyjibo said...

N'Zogbia-Watson OR VdV-(Moses or Hoolahan)

Currently
DDG
Riise-Baines-Brown
Taarabt-Silva-(N'Zog/Watson/VdV/Moses/Hoolhan?)
Suarez-Aguero-Sinclair

lufcwls said...

thanks for the post nic! always helpful! whats the link to the new site? and are your posts still gonna be yahoo orientated? thats what I dont like about FFscout, no yahoo specifics! also, the guardians live football blog is good every friday for the latest news ;)
lufcwls

neil said...

thanks nick and mick

Eddy E said...

Obertan is dirt cheap--surely he'd return his value, right?

I have Malouda--wondering whether to downgrade one of my midfielders and pick up Obertan and then upgrade Malouda to Nani or go with a different formation and pick up RVP... thoughts?

Lion Heart said...

Hey how does my team look?

De Gea
Bosingwa - Riise - Cahill
Tiote - Young - Taraabt - Ramsey
Aguero - Rooney - Suarez

(I love my strikers :D )

Anonymous said...

Tough week to be a manager in Yahoo FF...

My team looks like this

DeGea
Richards, Brown, Flanagan
Silva, Young, Cahill, ????
Aguero,Suarez,Torres

Do I drop Richards to keep MF of Silva, Young, Cahill, Taraabt or Keep Richards/drop Taraabt and look for a cheap MF alternative that will start. Al of this is because Gibbs is out and Fabio is probably not going to play with Evra fit for the start.

Zuccarello said...

Ashley Young or VdV?

Ahh decisions decisions..

Max Frederick said...

degea
verm, richards, bosingwa
cahill, ramsey, malouda, silva
torres, dzeko, agbonlahor

DavidKBritt said...

Thanks Nik, this week I've got:

DDG
Riise, Warnock, Evans
Hoolahan, Silva, Lampard, Delph
Rooney, Aguero, Torres

Ignoring Everton may come back to bite me. I could replace Hoolahan/Silva with Cahill/Anderson, but that just seems like trading down. Thoughts?

Dave Collier said...

Nik, as long as you keep improving my fantasy football ability, and help me make better picks than I would on my own, i'll keep saying thanks and supporting you.

Couple of questions on your team/picks, as they are the same questions i have about my squad.

Torres - Will he play? How certain are you of a start? It worries me that AVB may try something different. I know he looked lively, but he was still missing the target.

DDG - How much is he devalued by Vidic injury? Surely with the defence you've listed, they won't keep a CS against Spurs?

Bosingwa (or other Chelsea back line) - How much is he devalued by Cech's injury? I'm less sure of a CS.

Btw, i prefer your current team to your team listed in Player Picks - Week 2. Not hugely convinced on N'Zog myself, but I like Baines on the roster.

Tobias Pulver said...

Thanks for your helpful blog, Nik!

What do you all think about this team:

Howard,
Riise, Richards, Baines
Taarabt, Silva, Yaya Toure, Cahill
Sinclair, Suarez, Aguero

Not sure whether Torres and Bosingwa are gonna start, so i left them out, even if id have liked a Chealsea player or two, playing against WBA.

Going for Howard instead of DDG, not so sure about the ManU defence against a strong Tottenham side with VdV always good for a SP-goal..

A bit much of Everton/Man City, but i just don't know who to lineup instead of Toure (don't want to change the other City players), given the fact that i bought him for 7.9 and have no money left at all.
Maybe Howard & Baines is too much of Everton? What could i do about that? DDG for Howard? Not sure if thats the better option...

Tell me your thoughts!
Greetings from Switzerland

swagger said...

What about Shaha will he gonna play ! any idea !

Ken M. said...

Well, looks like I have over thought my team until I took somthing I was quite happy with and changed it into something that looks like an all or nothing squad.

Only 2nd week--right

Hilario
Riise/Brown/Senderos
Silva/Malouda/Cahill/A. Young
Aguero/Sinclair/Carroll

Changed Pennent even after I felt he could be a great pick.
Zogbia also went. Why I am not sure.
Goal...well, guess everyone deserves a chance?
Come on Fulham/Chelsea/Sunderland clean sheet!

Believe it or not I feel Sinclair, is one of my strongest players this week. Expect 2x his return if not more.

Good luck.

Thanks again AM.

Thank you regular "posters". You know who you guys are. You are helpful beyond words. Thanks for taking the time.

MakotoJunko said...

hi, i'm new in the field and would like to know comments on my lineup (if anyone thinks of giving me comments or bashing me, lol)

I'm new in the fantasy league and i'm in it coz i wanted to know more about football, hope everyone can help me on this. Thanks

de gae (krul)
Smalling, heitinga, warnock (brown, jose enrique)
silva, moses, watson, nzogbia (larsson)
saha, aguero, torres

what do you guys think?

greginho said...

makoto you and i are the only ones who seem to have watson, so hopefully it works out.

de gea
riise, smalling, bosingwa
young, taarabt, watson, ramsey
dzeko, aguero, rooney

i like my strikers. as soon as gervinho comes back, i will drop dzeko for him.

mrtwig said...

Wrong game Makoto but not bad team!!

Good luck all

De Gea
Brown Riise Richards
BFAY Moses Silva Ramsay
Aguero Rooney Suarez

Going for real life form players except GK this week and hoping it pays off...

Young Rooney Silva Aguero I thought were superb

greginho said...

are smalling and ramsey better choice than wes brown and elmohamady, stephen ward or moses.

other question is
watson and ramsey or moses and cahill.

kwyjibo said...

@Tobias Pulver - our teams are identical except I have Moses for Toure! So, yes, I hope your team does really well. ;)

Then again, I haven't clicked save yet on dropping DDG. I'm conflicted about it. DDG may not get the cs, but he's likely to have more save chances against Spurs than Howard will get against QPR.

@Ken M - I agree about Sinclair. I have a hunch about him this week. But, I'm not as brave as you in picking Hilario.

So, I'll just copy Tobias' team and switch Toure to Moses and...:

Howard,
Riise, Richards, Baines
Taarabt, Silva, Moses, Cahill
Sinclair, Suarez, Aguero

swagger said...

Will SAHA play !! please CONFIRM !!

David S said...

@Swagger--

Unfortunately, only David Moyes can confirm whether Saha will play. But I think many intelligent fantasy managers believe he will.

El Canon said...

Thanks for the blog, Nik.

Taking your advice on Brown in for Gibbs.

My team:

De Gea
Baines Richards Brown
VdV Taarabt Silva Ramsey
Suarez Aguero Agbonlahor or Sinclair (Haven't decided yet)

writemcsean said...

I think Paulie's Bargain Basement picks should get it's own regular sub section of the new site, maybe in neon - just saying. Also, external links should always open up in a new tab (pet peeve w/Jeremy and Neal's blog).

This week I'm on:

DDG
Riise, W Brown, Baines
Silva, Ramsey, Delph, Cahill
Suarez, Kun, Torres.

Feel kind of meh about this squad somehow...
ready to get off DDG, but he's cheaper than Vorm, and I really wanted Baines. A little sketched out about Cahill, he does feast or famine in YFF and Everton are slow starters... oh damn it...switching everything now... I love YFF!

MakotoJunko said...

this is my new team, care to comment on it?

I got 2 teams

team 1

Schwarzer (VC), (ruddy)

A cola, Jose Enrique, lescott (de leat, simpson)

Nani, moses, brunt, silva, nzogbia

surez, aguaro (captain), (holt)


team 2 (option 1)

Given (ruddy)

heitinga, cola A, baines (de leat, simpson)

Silva, moses, Nzogbia, larsson (ferguson)

Aguearo, torres, saha


team 2 (option 2)

Given (ruddy)

heitinga, cola A, Brown (de leat, simpson)

Silva, moses, Nzogbia, larsson (watson)

Aguearo, torres, suarez


team 2 (option 3)

Given (ruddy)

heitinga, cola A, richards (de leat, simpson)

Silva, ssegnon or larsson, Nzogbia, brunt (moses)

Aguearo, torres, saha

any comments

Unknown said...

De Gea
Brown Riise Richards
Taarabt Moses Silva Young
Aguero Rooney Dzeko

Any comments guys? Why are not many people taking Dzeko this week. He did well in week 1 and saved many fantasy players as...

MakotoJunko said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MakotoJunko said...

thinking of

given (ruddy)
heitinga, cola A, brown (de leat, simpson)
Silva, moses, brunt, nzogbia, sinclair (dont know who to sub or maybe should change)
aguero, torres, suarez

any comments on changes and who to put on sub?

SK said...

@Makoto - I think you are playing a different game. YFF doesn't have subs and sinclair is listed as a FWD in YFF. Can't really help you if we don't know what game you are playing

SK said...

I think I am going with this team. Got 1.50 left. What do you guys think? Only Torres, Silva and Aguero are at discount.

Vorm
Bosingwa Baines W. Brown
Silva Ramsey Hoolahan Larsson
Torres Aguero Sinclair

El Canon said...

@SK - Damn! I think I might like your team better than mine.

mrtwig said...

SK not sure about Vorm, he made some saves but it's Swansea... Not sure how good they are yet...

Rick like your team, Dzeko didn't actually look great to me, he got a goal and shots therefore points but 1. Not sure if he will play with Balotelli, Tevez and Aguero rotation risks and 2. Bolton much more solid than Swansea probably

Writemc I know what you mean re Cahill; I don't pick him so I am never annoyed if he scores high...

El canon Sinclair would be good option this week IMO

I have changed this morning, getting rid of Rooney to free Baines cash and space for Sinclair

Note that loads of prices have dropped this morning so you might be able to get in different players eg Suarez down to 14.6 from 15.2...

DDG
Riise Richards Baines
Moses Young Silva Ramsey
Suarez Aguero Sinclair

I am happy with it for once!!

robmcm said...

Thoughts on Fellaini for 6.14?

小冠 said...

T.Howard, Brown, Richards, Baines, Moses, Cahill, Silva, Yaya Toure, Sinclair, Dzeko, Aguero

Goalkeeper will be more solid when I see De Gea against Tottenham, which just score 5 and in good condition...

Howard will be good against QPR.

I must keep Dzeko no matter he's sharing time.

To Bolton, Man City is more stronger than QPR.

So I keep Yaya Toure.

(I don't know what will happen between Arsenal and Liverpool. Suarez looks like he can score against anyone, but the game is held at Emirates. They are both risks... )

kendo said...

Wanted to drop gibbs but to cheap to replace so hoolahan made way for Ramsey and fitted in Johnny Evans

kendo said...

Dgea
Brown Evans riise
Laarson nzog Ramsey silva
Rooney aguero Suarez

Feelin lucky this week! ;)

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