Wednesday, 7 May 2014

GW37 Review; Our Collective DGW Experience


Well, the gameweek began with one thing and one thing only on everybody's minds.... 
How's Rooney's stomach bug?  Or his groin?  Or his epiglottis? Good Lord I hope he hasn't hurt his epiglottis! Thankfully Ryan Giggs cleared everything up and set everyone (if by everyone you mean Ryan Giggs) at ease with a detailed, forthcoming disclosure during his weekly press conference. So, certain of the possibility that Rooney may or may not play and may or may not be sick and may or may not be hurt, FPL Eve began in earnest....

As always, I took in the information, or lack thereof, with casual interest and a calm, rational approach. Certainly this gave me food for thought, but getting in a tizzy wasn't going make things any better.

As I coolly and calmly began to research possible transfer alternatives, the conversations regarding how best to respond to the uncertainty set the Twitter world alight.
First, reigning FPL World Champion Matt Martyniak, (aka @spiderm4tt) sat down for his weekly Friday Night Team Talk to rev things up.
Fly put on his big boy pants and boldly made the decision that no one seemed ready to make yet. I, at the time, although cool and calm as ever, was still deliberating the fine points involved in another transfer. After reading his bold declaration, I returned to my reserved, sophisticated state of FPL calmness, took a long drag from my £1,000 pipe, summoned my butler to deliver my daily paper, and muttered, "Attaboy Fly; nice job"

 Then I found out that Chief, Matej and I were all picking young Connor "5 goals in 3 matches" Wickham in our weekly picks. This made me feel really good and that if I'm gonna be wrong again I'll have some company. Strength in numbers, fellas!


 The inevitable price rise forecasts start to come in.....



The tension continued to build.....

 Then Matt got hungry...



Pretty soon a few more daredevils with cajones made of steel finalized their decisions and shared them with the group....

As for me, I had a bit of non FPL related business to attend to in the evening and blessed with an uncanny ability to compartmentalize my emotions, I did not have a care in the world, yet decided to stay up a little bit later than usual - "just because". In the wee hours of gameday, with nerves of steel and without blinking, I calmly pulled the plug on a small 8-point transaction moving Rooney out and bringing Mata in before fluffing my pillow, laying an unwavering head onto it, and drifting off into a deep, peaceful sleep. The FPL world around me, however, was in fulll blown chaos; and it was only about to get worse in the early-morning build up to DGW37 deadliine. With Rooney the central character on everyone's minds, it went a little like this....





























And before you know it, the games were ready to begin.  Everybody took a deep breath and sat glued to the telly and Twitter.....


























































































































And there was Sunday in the books.... oye vay it's been quite the gameweek so far....what will tomorrow have in store?  Check out part 2 to find out ->  http://fantasypremierleaguehints.blogspot.com/2014/05/gw37-review-our-collective-dgw_8.html
Posted by
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Bantasy Football: Time for Tottenham

The last day of the season has thrown up some wild ones over the years: Man U and West Brom's 5-5 last year; Man City's epic last-gasp Agueroooooo in 2012. This year the shortest odds for a home side not challenging for the title fall to Spurs. Dare you pick players from a team that has nothing to play for? Yeah, baby - That's what fantasy football's all about. Yeah. 


 Just desserts?

Your first thought will be of the slovenly loss to West Ham and how Spurs have nothing to play for - or maybe of how some players have been faking injuries to get out of playing (probably so they can focus on their fantasy teams). Some are even suggesting the real match this week will be the Ledley King Testimonial on Monday. But Tottenham have recently developed a penchant for spanking rubbish teams at home (Sunderland 5-1, Fulham 3-1) - and Aston Village are just that - as evidenced by the drubbing Man City are about to give them (score not available at time of writing due to the linearity of time).

The result may be irrelevant to their final table position or whether Sherwood gets sacked (he will be) but a show will be expected - the White Hart Lane faithful have endured an unsatisfying dog's dinner of a season and will demand something delicious and conciliatory for pudding.


More goals please

Emanuel Adebayor (7.4)

If Spurs are going to crush Villa, one man is bound to be doing a funny dance celebration and that's Adebayscore. He's drawn a blank in his last four but remains the Lilywhites' most prolific threat with 10 goals and six assists. He is owned by 4.9% but probably not the guys you're trying to catch - certainly worth a risk. 


Harry Kane (4.4)

Oh Harry. A few weeks ago I touted you and you set the world alight. Then you went and scored that silly own goal against Wham. Though sacrificed in that game to sure up the defence, he could start again - but Soldado (8.4) is now fit and Levy may be giving Sherwood a cheeky prod in the back to remind him that a striker who has scored two goals from open play in a season isn't worth much on the transfer market these days. Kane's cheap so he's a great option if you're making two transfers to bring in a superstar but Ade is your best bet if you can afford him. 


Christian Eriksen (7.2)

Some call him "midfield dynamite"; others a "free-kick maestro". I'll just get on with the business and tell you he's put up 9 points seven times since Christmas. Guaranteed a start ceteris parabis sine funnybusiness, the Dane has 44 points in his last four home matches. Turn on your metronome, say that out-loud and that's baby-making music.  


Eriksen's home form: Sexier than the sexiest song ever

Vlad Chiriches (4.5)

With Kaboul suspended and Vertonghen probably out with severe "injuredness", Vlad will start - whether he'll get a clean sheet is another matter entirely. Spurs have only managed one in nine. That poor Hugo Lloris. He tries his best. 


Kyle Naughton (4.1)

Even cheaper - and more likely to play (Walker surely won't be risked with Rio on the horizon) - is the worst full-back in the Premier League. This man is responsible for more catastrophes than Stalin, Hitler and Adam Sandler put together. If Spurs shut Villa out, though, he'll get credit. Unfair I know - but them's the rules. 

The poster's actually pretty good compared to the film


For more Bantasy Football, visit www.bantasyfootball.blogspot.co.uk or follow @BantasyFootball. 






Posted by
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, 2 May 2014

Chief's FPL Team - Double Gameweek 37

Disclaimer: *FPLH reserves the right to change this team at any time. Any changes will most likely be confirmed on FPLH's Twitter account.


1 FREE TRANSFER WAS AVAILABLE FOR DGW37.

TRANSFERS (WITH A -8 HIT):

SUAREZ, GERRARD & BARKLEY OUT
WICKHAM, Y. TOURE & MATA IN


I progressed to the Dugout Champions League Final by 1 point.  A mish mash of how I feel:


Just a shame that I captained Rambo instead of Rooney, but you can't win them all. Right, Rocky?


The DGW 37 Temptations:

MORGAN AMALFITANO
Value for money at £4.3M and has a bit of form on his side.  WBA have DGW fixtures.  The only problem is that their games aren't easy & they have not much to play for.

PHIL JONES
Despite being listed as a defender he occasionally plays as a midfielder too.  Has easy DGW fixtures, but I didn't fancying taking a -12 hit to bring him in when I could buy Mata for -8.

EDIN DZEKO
I could have easily replaced Suarez for Dzkeo, but that would have meant no Y. Toure. City need goals and if it isn't Aguero or Y. Toure scoring, it will be Dzeko at the double!

The DGW 37 Transfers:

With one final DGW of the season, I'm treating my penultimate selection as one final chance to knock up a good GW score.  I didn't want to simply settle for a template team and was willing to add a risk or two.  Sure Mata and Y. Toure are musts for this DGW, which is why I bought them.  But I could have only done so by selling Suarez.  I tried so many different combos, but the Uruguayan wouldn't fit in (I may re-buy him if Liverpool are still in the title hunt come GW38.  I think Liverpool will win v Palace, but it won't be by a cricket score.  I decided to buy Wickham due to a number of reasons.  At the time of purchase he was owned be less than 1% (a "Super Differential"), has super form on side (scored recently at the Etihad AND Stamford Bridge) & he is dirt cheap (Sub £5.0M).  Alas, my plans were scuppered by the Rooney injury new on Thursday night.  I thought about a -12 hit to sell Rooney, but I don't think it's worth it if Rooney is fully fit to play in United's second DGW match (v Hull).  Other than that I have sufficient DGW cover at hand.

The Captain:

Of course, pre-injury news, it was going to be Rooney.  My other options were Aguero and Y. Toure but you just don't know who will rack up their goals/points.  In the end, I came back to United.  They still have an outside chance of a Europa League spot & Giggs will be looking to win their remaining matches.  Mata may have been a sub in Gigg's first match in charge, but he has impressed enough that he should start v Sunderland.  It's not beyond the realms of possibility for Mata to chip in with a goal or two over two matches (both at home).  After all, he will be looking to impress so that he can make it into Spain's World Cup squad.

The Personal Competitive Context:

Last GW was dire in terms of points.  I only scored 40 after my -4 hit and picked the wrong captain.  But it doesn't matter as I made it to the Champions League final!  What's interesting is that #TeamFPLH could end up with a UNIQUE QUADRUPLE when factoring in the following: 

Fly could win the Pundits League. 
Matej (or Walt) could win the Pundits Cup.
Walt is still in with a shout to win the Battle Royal.
I can still win the Champions League!

Even if we don't win our competitions, it doesn't matter as we enjoy FPL regardless... 

NO! WE ARE IN IT TO WIN IT!

#TEAMFPLH

PS - We are still selling FPLH Shirts (designed by @Matejp23/@CalleditFPL - The shirts are reasonably priced, come in different sizes and can be worn all throughout the year.

Click HERE to view/buy. 

Posted by
Labels: , ,

#CalledIt Differential Pick - GW37

It was going to be a pretty dull end to the #FPL season. A double game week for both Manchester clubs would have probably meant you had stacked your team with three players from both Manchester teams (the likely candidates Agüero, Yaya and Nasri or your choice of MCFC defender and Rooney, Mata and one of MUFC defenders), added a pinch of differential with a West Brom player (Amalfitano) and/or Sunderland players to the nucleus that already included Mannone, et voila! Pretty boring when you think about it, right, considering most teams already look pretty much alike?

Enter news on Wayne Rooney.

"He has a bug & a tight groin too. But Wayne being Wayne, he wants to play."

Yes! The factor of uncertainty comes in. What does that mean? Will he feature or not at all? Will he play on Saturday? Or at least on Tuesday? No way of telling. What about RVP? No clue either (by the way, if you need to gamble big, go get RVP and captain him - the best possible differential out there, if he does indeed play). So, what do you do with that 3rd striker spot?

Well, what about a guy who is cheap like hell, completely unproven, no pedigree and has probably had the best month of his life (football wise) in April, one he is not expected to repeat EVER? Five goals, one assist and eight bonus points in the last three games. 5 GOALS! Make that two against M-a-n-c-h-e-s-t-e-r C-i-t-y! You can say whatever you want about the guy and his game, but that has to account for something. Still fighting relegation, has a double game week and one of those games is coming against West Brom. What do you say?

"Can I have 1x Connor Wickham to go, please? How much is that? Only 4.7m? Hold on, let me get my coin purse..."

Connor Wickham, #CalledIt for GW37.

Posted by
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, 1 May 2014

Fantasy Football Hints - Gameweek 37

#REJECT (R):

T. Howard (EVE)

Only kept 1 clean sheet in his last 3 PL games.
Everton concede at least 1 goal per PL game on average this season.
Title-hotshots Man City have been scoring 2.66 PL goals per game on average this season.


#PUNT (P):

C. Wickham (SUN)

Has scored 5 and assisted 1 in his last 3 PL outings.
Sunderland are still in relegation danger and will be looking to score more.
Wickham has been inspirational of late and is surely due another goal or two. 


#HOTPICK (H):

W. Rooney* (MNU)

Scored 6 goals in his last 5 PL outings.
United appear to be rejuvenated under Giggs's stewardship.
They could still sneak a Europa League spot so their season isn't over yet!


*As of Thursday 1st May 8.45pm BST, I'm hearing of reports that Rooney is injured and may not play v Sunderland.  If that is the case and if he is injured up until the final game of the season, my replacement #HOTPICK for this week will be Sergio Aguero!

FPLH's GW Star Picks:

Hart

P. Jones
Azpilicueta
Ivanovic

Y. Toure
A. Johnson
Hazard
Mata

Rooney
Wickham
Aguero

Subs:
Foster
Amalfitano
C. Davies
Vlaar


FANTASY FORECAST*:

TOTTENHAM TO BEAT WEST HAM 2-1.
VILLA & HULL TO DRAW 0-0.
MAN UTD TO BEAT SUNDERLAND 3-2.
NEWCASTLE TO BEAT CARDIFF 2-1.
STOKE & FULHAM TO DRAW 1-1.
SWANSEA & SOUHAMPTON TO DRAW 1-1.
MAN CITY TO BEAT EVERTON 3-1.
ARSENAL TO BEAT WBA 3-1.
CHELSEA TO BEAT NORWICH 2-0.
LIVERPOOL TO BEAT C. PALACE 1-0.
MAN UTD TO BEAT HULL 3-0.
MAN CITY TO BEAT VILLA 4-0.
SUNDERLAND TO BEAT WBA 3-0.


*NOT TO BE USED FOR BETTING PURPOSES
Posted by
Labels: ,

#FlyBuy - DGW37

So here we are; only a couple of weeks from the end of another fascinating FPL season before we switch our footballing attention to South America for the World Cup.

But before we do, we have the small matter of what could be a season defining double gameweek to get through, followed by all of the drama of the last day of the season. Personally, I'm not happy with the DGW coming so late in the day. Many managers already have near identical team's, and it will get worse this weekend. 

The "Giggs Effect" at Manchester United means managers will be taking points hits to ensure full representation by their players - a situation almost unthinkable only a couple of weeks ago! If you recall, my FlyBuy pick for last week was Danny Welbeck. My reasons proved correct, Giggs did indeed start him, but he was kind of overshadowed by the points returns from Rooney and Mata. BUT - don't forget, FlyBuy ISN'T just a "one week pick" so Welbzzzz still has an opportunity to prove himself worthy of a place in your DGW team. Don't rule him out, that's all I'm saying...

I need a pick for this week though. It will have to be from a DGW team in order to maximise potential points returns. I won't go with Man Utd again though. And I can't go with Man City (remember my parameters - 5-15th placed team with ownership stats between 3-20%)
That also rules out Sunderland and Aston Villa. Which leaves West Brom or Hull. The former have exactly 0 players owned by more than 3% (making Dorrans or Amalfitano EXCELLENT differentials by the way) and Hull have two away games and one eye on the FA Cup Final meaning any players that did satisfy the FlyBuy criteria very unappealing (Harper, McGregor, Davies, Chester, Huddlestone, Rosenior and Livermore if you were wondering...)

All this means is that I lied to you before. I AM going to go with a Man Utd player for the second week in a row. This time though, in a break from the norm, I am going to go with a pick for his potential DEFENSIVE points, rather than the offensive returns. 

United always look more solid with this guy in the back four than when they are without. And they are going to be without in exactly 3 games time. Interestingly, the longest consecutive run of games he has played this season was 5 at the very beginning of the campaign. Only appearing sporadically since then, could his absence have contributed to the downfall of United and of Moyes?

Who knows? But he's back now under Giggs and returned with a clean sheet (although it was only Norwich and the media frenzy following that result was a little farcical in my humble opinion!) And so, I predict 2 clean sheets and maybe even a farewell Old Trafford goal for my FlyBuy pick for DGW37 - Nemanja Vidic.

FLY

@meet_the_gadfly


Posted by
Labels:

GW37 FPL #JackInTheBox

I pick guys from the bottom 8
Whose ownership is low
We call the guy #JackInTheBox
But all this stuff, you know

I've used my head, I've used my gut
But neither has produced a score
I wish that I'd be cheering but
My recent run is 0 for 4

I can't recall my last success
I'm old, my memory stinks
I've really got to fix this mess
Come on Walt; think think THINK!

For now I will not scream or yell
Try not to get real pissed
I log back in to FPL
And check the fixture list

West Brom, Villa, Sunderland
They all sit on that bubble
And golly gee what do you know
They each will have a double!

Two chances each for points of three
Avoid their biggest fear
Make sure that all their fans will see
The Prem again next year

Pepe, Pauly, and Poyet
Backed up against the wall
Just how high will each one get
Will any of them fall?

 In truth they've all a decent chance
And all are safe for now
They all will want to stay this way
But who will score, and how?

 Of all the three with doubles here
The Black Cats must feel free
For just about the whole darn year
They sat in bottom 3

 Yet here they are with game in hand
Three other teams below
They must be feeling pretty grand
With 3 games left to go

 This little kid has saved their butts
This week it is my honour
To pat him on the back on say
"Here's your armband, Connor"
FPL GW37 #JACKINTHEBOX:  CONNOR WICKHAM

Good luck this gameweek everyone; it's a BIG'N!!
Walt

Posted by
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A forgotten DGW man?

With just two gameweeks remaining some of you will be looking for that different player to 

help propel you up that minileague and the overall ranking. Let me guess, each DGW player 

you have considered so far someone above you already has him.

So you ask, is there anyone out there flying below the radar right now? I might just have 

found your man…



Graham Dorrans has been a forgotten man at West Bromwich Albion, after starting the first 

two games of the season he lost his place to record signing Stephane Sessegnon when he 

joined the club on transfer deadline day in September.

Due to a series of injuries and a falling out with Steve Clark he was frozen out of the team 

having to make do with the occasional Capital One Cup outing here and there.

When Pepe Mel took over in January he promised as all managers do that all players will get 

a chance to prove themselves and in this instance he has been true to his word.


Injuries to Chris Brunt and Zoltan Gera and a drop in form for the Baggies gave Dorrans 

a chance to grab his first team place back. Fully recovered from injury Dorrans played 74

minutes of the crucial 2-1 win at Swansea coming off to a standing ovation. Since then 

Dorrans has started the next six games and has scored two goals including the quality finish 

at the Etihad a couple of weeks ago. 


The Scotland international has been quietly inspirational in securing three wins and two 

draws for the baggies and has been subject of a great deal of praise from his manager in 

recent weeks. His quick passes in the middle of the pitch and energetic movement have 

been a constant problem for his opposition which have included City away and a home tie

against a rejuvenated Spurs. A look at his average position over the last six weeks suggest 

he is still playing quite deep but his vision and ability to pick a pass has seen him creating 

chances for others that have not been taken.


His team mate Morgan Amalfitano has been taking a lot the praise and valuable points in 

the last few weeks and has been getting most of the focus although in reality his underlying 

stats are not much better than Dorrans and in some cases worse. Of the crucial statistics on 

offer Dorrans has averaged 19.3 touches in the final third to Amalfitano’s 20.2, 1.5 penalty 

area touches compared to 1.4 and most significantly 1.8 goal attempts to 1.4. 


Dorrans is averaging an attempt at goal every 49 minutes and creating a chance every 45 

minutes. Winger Amalfitano is behind this averaging a goal attempt and chance every 64 

minutes. This stat is slightly skewed as Dorrans has also been taking corners for Albion 

racking up 16 over the past six weeks.


As for the fixtures, West Brom’s double doesn’t provide the easiest of games with trips to 

Arsenal and Sunderland but nine goals in their last five games suggest there may still be 

potential for returns. They also have a more enticing home game against Stoke on the last 

game of the season.


So apart from an impressive 10 point haul where he secured three bonus points despite 

being on the losing team against City, Dorrans’ performances are yet to be rewarded with 

consistent points in FPL. Maybe he is going down the path of notoriety as a player who 

assists the assist or maybe he is a player who is gaining match fitness by the week and might 

just get you some extra bounty in his last three games. Could we see a return of the player 

who scored 17 goals in Albion’s promotion from the Championship three seasons ago? Also 

with Morrison injured could he be only second in the pecking order behind Berahino for 

spot kicks?


Either way, I think we’ll struggle to find a differential with more potential right now for such 

a low price of 4.4m and if you don’t consider him now maybe he is one to consider for your 

watchlists for next season.


Note: I am backing Dorrans and put him in my team last week for Silva.


Thanks for reading

(Guest Author)


*Some statistics provided by www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk
Posted by
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)