See new article on www.fantasyfootballgeek.co.uk re new Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud. Is he a potential fantasy premier league bargain as the sole striker once RVP leaves or is he merely an 80 minute sub plus Carling Cup and FA cup player.
http://www.fantasyfootballgeek.co.uk/new-fantasy-premier-league-player-olivier-giroud/
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Saturday, 30 June 2012
Monday, 25 June 2012
FANTASY PREMIER LEAGUE - MANAGER PREVIEW - CHRIS HOUGHTON
The Norwich players and all fantasy premier managers wont know what hit them next season. Imagine being, or owning from a fantasy premier league view point, Andrew Surman and not have to spend until 2.30 on a Saturday wondering if he's going to be in the starting line up.
Rotation was the essence of Paul Lamberts Norwich City. That was great for fans as their high tempo high pressure attacking football saw Norwich finish in an amazing 12th place, scoring more goals than anyone outside the top 6. Grant Holt scored 15 goals in 24 games (imagine if he played regularly!) and was the highest English goal scorer in the premier league after Wayne Rooney.
Imagine the pressure that Chris Hughton is under to follow that. Except that this will seem like a stroll in the park when in the previous season you saw the owner arrested for money laundering shortly after you were appointed. The resultant financial turmoil saw a sell off of anyone that could raise a few quid including Gardner, Jerome, Dann and Ferguson. Despite this Hughton presided over his own miracle season and Birmingham finished 4th losing in a 2 leg play off with Blackpool.
The challenge for Hughton will be centred around whether he can keep Grant Holt. There have already been a number of reports saying the striker wants to leave. Without a reliable defence Holt will definitely be needed to compensate for a team that only kept a total of 3 clean sheets last year. However Hughton is known as a methodical organised manager and a strong tactician who should improve the clean sheet column.
Fantasy premier league players views on Norwich will very much be dependent on price. Its hard to think that there will be so many bargains as there were last season and this will probably compensate in a negative way for more certainty over players game time. Therefore I will be one fantasy premier manager who will be very cautious.
Rotation was the essence of Paul Lamberts Norwich City. That was great for fans as their high tempo high pressure attacking football saw Norwich finish in an amazing 12th place, scoring more goals than anyone outside the top 6. Grant Holt scored 15 goals in 24 games (imagine if he played regularly!) and was the highest English goal scorer in the premier league after Wayne Rooney.
Imagine the pressure that Chris Hughton is under to follow that. Except that this will seem like a stroll in the park when in the previous season you saw the owner arrested for money laundering shortly after you were appointed. The resultant financial turmoil saw a sell off of anyone that could raise a few quid including Gardner, Jerome, Dann and Ferguson. Despite this Hughton presided over his own miracle season and Birmingham finished 4th losing in a 2 leg play off with Blackpool.
The challenge for Hughton will be centred around whether he can keep Grant Holt. There have already been a number of reports saying the striker wants to leave. Without a reliable defence Holt will definitely be needed to compensate for a team that only kept a total of 3 clean sheets last year. However Hughton is known as a methodical organised manager and a strong tactician who should improve the clean sheet column.
Fantasy premier league players views on Norwich will very much be dependent on price. Its hard to think that there will be so many bargains as there were last season and this will probably compensate in a negative way for more certainty over players game time. Therefore I will be one fantasy premier manager who will be very cautious.
Sunday, 24 June 2012
EURO 2012 FANTASY PREMIER LEAGUE REVIEW ENGLAND V ITALY
No matter what Chelsea did this season you cant consistently keep winning without the ball. 37% possession and 12 shots to 49 really is an indictment of Englands performance. Much as it pains me any other result would have been a footballing travesty.
I wont go through each England player individually but just give a short comment in the context of fantasy premier league. How much can you comment when they had so little ball.
Joe Hart was fantastic, made some great saves and looks to be the premium fantasy premier league keeper.
The back 4 were great especially Johnson and Terry. However it was a backs to the wall performance of blocks, headers and interceptions rather than getting forward although Johnson did in the first half.
The theme in the midfield was the same. The first half saw the England team get behind the Italian defence on a number of occasions, Milner in particular surprisingly. Young was poor, always giving away possession and crossing poorly. The penalty miss summed up his performance. You really have to think that Young is far behind Nani for his fantasy premier league Man U spot after this performance and in the tournament.
Gerrard and Parker, again it was a case of chasing, tackling and harrying rather than creating. However, the situation was of their own making as they continually gave the ball away either through sloppy passing or a continued desire to play the long ball rather than construct an attack with any patience.
Of the forwards, it was another poor game from Rooney and didn't reflect his fantasy premier league season. He didn't hold the ball up well or passed and his touch was poor. His finishing, what chances he had, didn't look as sharp as we would normally expect. Additionally, if he was designated to pick up Pirlo he sure didn't bother after the first half.
Welbeck overall did well in the tournament and has to have enhanced a starting spot come the season kick off. Today his highlights, ironically, were his defending.
The only fantasy premier league player in the Italian team was Ballotelli who was excellent and unlucky not to score. He led the line well, positioned himself in the box cleverly and again enhanced his case for a starting spot come the 18th August.
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I wont go through each England player individually but just give a short comment in the context of fantasy premier league. How much can you comment when they had so little ball.
Joe Hart was fantastic, made some great saves and looks to be the premium fantasy premier league keeper.
The back 4 were great especially Johnson and Terry. However it was a backs to the wall performance of blocks, headers and interceptions rather than getting forward although Johnson did in the first half.
The theme in the midfield was the same. The first half saw the England team get behind the Italian defence on a number of occasions, Milner in particular surprisingly. Young was poor, always giving away possession and crossing poorly. The penalty miss summed up his performance. You really have to think that Young is far behind Nani for his fantasy premier league Man U spot after this performance and in the tournament.
Gerrard and Parker, again it was a case of chasing, tackling and harrying rather than creating. However, the situation was of their own making as they continually gave the ball away either through sloppy passing or a continued desire to play the long ball rather than construct an attack with any patience.
Of the forwards, it was another poor game from Rooney and didn't reflect his fantasy premier league season. He didn't hold the ball up well or passed and his touch was poor. His finishing, what chances he had, didn't look as sharp as we would normally expect. Additionally, if he was designated to pick up Pirlo he sure didn't bother after the first half.
Welbeck overall did well in the tournament and has to have enhanced a starting spot come the season kick off. Today his highlights, ironically, were his defending.
The only fantasy premier league player in the Italian team was Ballotelli who was excellent and unlucky not to score. He led the line well, positioned himself in the box cleverly and again enhanced his case for a starting spot come the 18th August.
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FANTASY PREMIER LEAGUE - NEW MANAGERS - PAUL LAMBERT
The conundrum with Paul Lamberts Norwich City last year went along the following lines: You see that your premium midfielder of, say, Nani is on the bench being "rested", you look towards your own fantasy premier league bench and see that Andrew Surman, who the week before scored a goal and an assist and took all the corners and the majority of free kicks to come on and bag you some points. for some unknown reason though Paul Lambert has rotated him and its nil poit all round. Arghh.... This is despite the fact that Norwich aren't in Europe and are out of the FA and Carling Cup. So why rotate? It makes no sense! Never has such a smorgasbord of quality value midfielders, who consistently perform well, left out virtually every second week irrespective of form. It made for virtually the entire Norwich team, Grant Holt apart, (well Lambert was a tinkerer, he wasn't crazy, Holt was a cut price revelation last year) as unworkable in fantasy premier league. You just couldn't pick them in fantasy premier league due to his rotation policy.
By way of background, the 42 year old Scot has seen an impressive playing career with Celtic and Borussia Dortmund followed by a successful management career with Livingston , Wycombe and Colchester. His management career has culminated in a hugely successful spell at Norwich where he guided the club to successive promotions from league 1 to the premier league. His first season in the premier league was a major success with the team finishing 12th. They won many admirers for their attacking style and Lambert gained many plaudits for success on a low budget and bringing unknown players through the divisions. A draw away to Liverpoool and a win at Spurs also did his reputation no harm. In addition Grant Holt was a revelation. However, apart from the 3 relegated teams they conceded more goals than anyone except QPR and Wigan. No fantasy premier league manager would hold a Norwich defender for any other reason than price.
From a fantasy premier league perspective then what does the upcoming season hold for Aston Villa with Paul Lambert. The interesting point is that you have a manager of a team with an attacking philosophy taking over a team who scored less goals than anyone last year except Stoke and we all know they were too preoccupied with kicking the opposition. The defence however performed better than most in the bottom regions of the table. So will Lambert be able to improve the attack stats while not upsetting the prospects of a reasonably solid defence? There are so many other unanswered questions. Will he also look to bring through the youngsters as his predecessor was forced to. Will Villa suddenly be packed full of former Port Vale and Doncaster Rovers players as Lambert did at Nowich. Will he just name his team after randomly picking names out of hats like he seemed to do at Norwich. No one knows the answers to these questions at the moment apart from Lambert himself which is why I, as a fantasy premier league manager, will be giving villa players a wide berth.
The one advantage he will have is Darren Bent. Forget his rather donkey like reputation, from a fantasy premier league perspective the man is a proven goal scorer and goals mean bonus points seemingly whether you're involved in the play generally a la Wayne Rooney or a tap in merchant like Jermaine Defoe. He may also be good value this year due to injury and poor form. Like him or not as a footballer the man has scored 147 goals in 346 games in his career. His record for Sunderland was 32 goals in 58 games and even for 2 pretty negative managers at Villa it was 18 in 38 games. He's worth monitoring even if no one else is and hopefully Lamberts attacking style will get the best out of him for us fantasy premier league managers willing to take a punt. A reasonable set of opening fixtures could make bent a worthwhile fantasy premier league bet for the brave. Me, Ill be just monitoring.
By way of background, the 42 year old Scot has seen an impressive playing career with Celtic and Borussia Dortmund followed by a successful management career with Livingston , Wycombe and Colchester. His management career has culminated in a hugely successful spell at Norwich where he guided the club to successive promotions from league 1 to the premier league. His first season in the premier league was a major success with the team finishing 12th. They won many admirers for their attacking style and Lambert gained many plaudits for success on a low budget and bringing unknown players through the divisions. A draw away to Liverpoool and a win at Spurs also did his reputation no harm. In addition Grant Holt was a revelation. However, apart from the 3 relegated teams they conceded more goals than anyone except QPR and Wigan. No fantasy premier league manager would hold a Norwich defender for any other reason than price.
From a fantasy premier league perspective then what does the upcoming season hold for Aston Villa with Paul Lambert. The interesting point is that you have a manager of a team with an attacking philosophy taking over a team who scored less goals than anyone last year except Stoke and we all know they were too preoccupied with kicking the opposition. The defence however performed better than most in the bottom regions of the table. So will Lambert be able to improve the attack stats while not upsetting the prospects of a reasonably solid defence? There are so many other unanswered questions. Will he also look to bring through the youngsters as his predecessor was forced to. Will Villa suddenly be packed full of former Port Vale and Doncaster Rovers players as Lambert did at Nowich. Will he just name his team after randomly picking names out of hats like he seemed to do at Norwich. No one knows the answers to these questions at the moment apart from Lambert himself which is why I, as a fantasy premier league manager, will be giving villa players a wide berth.
The one advantage he will have is Darren Bent. Forget his rather donkey like reputation, from a fantasy premier league perspective the man is a proven goal scorer and goals mean bonus points seemingly whether you're involved in the play generally a la Wayne Rooney or a tap in merchant like Jermaine Defoe. He may also be good value this year due to injury and poor form. Like him or not as a footballer the man has scored 147 goals in 346 games in his career. His record for Sunderland was 32 goals in 58 games and even for 2 pretty negative managers at Villa it was 18 in 38 games. He's worth monitoring even if no one else is and hopefully Lamberts attacking style will get the best out of him for us fantasy premier league managers willing to take a punt. A reasonable set of opening fixtures could make bent a worthwhile fantasy premier league bet for the brave. Me, Ill be just monitoring.
Friday, 22 June 2012
FANTASY FOOTBALL PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYER PREVIEW - EDEN HAZARD
Do you think anyone at Chelsea really thought about how they were going to use the Belgium born 21 year old attacking midfielder/winger when they bought him. I wonder if the Barcelona obsession is finally getting to Roman Abramovich. The prospect of buying an incredibly talented and technical 5'7" player was just too tempting for him one suspects. Personally after seeing Chelsea play, in the Champions league especially, this season, I think they got it right last summer when they wanted to buy Luka Modric. Or anyone of similar style whose speciality isn't to give the ball back to the opposition as soon as Chelsea have won it.
However, you cant argue with last seasons haul of 20 goals and 15 assists in 38 games in the French league for Lille as well as the player of the season for the second year running. Those are the stats that get us fantasy football managers excited. I imagine Chelsea are planning on using him on the right with 3 up front with Mata on the left and Torres in the centre. Now Torres should reduce his assist total for the season! That does beg the question of what happens to Daniel Sturridge or how they deploy the Hulk assuming he eventually arrives. However, the potential of playing in the front 3 , Torres or not, does mean there is a fair prospect of a strong points haul in fantasy football for Hazard.
There's no doubting his quality in finishing and dribbling. Last years haul was quite astonishing even allowing for the quality of the league. The year before though was not quite so convincing with 7 goals and 10 assists in 38 goals. His European stats aren't anything like as convincing though with 1 assist in the last 2 years from 13 games.
My view then is we need to see him in a few friendlies to see how he is planning on being used by De Matteo. This should give an early view of his prospects in fantasy football. He does have a distinct advantage of rest, not having been part of Euro 2012, which should make him less of a rotation target. However, the Chelsea midfield haven't been too affected by Euro 2012 with Lampard at home through injury and Mata only warming the bench to date. This may negate that advantage.
There's also the adjustment to the premier league which has affected some midfield signings, even David Silva took some time although Van der Vaart and Mata adjusted fairly quickly.
I've therefore firmly got him in the monitor box although I have to say he will have to do a fair bit to get in to my fantasy football starting lineup as a new player to the league. However, Chelsea's fixtures are among the easiest to start with and there are some pretty enticing home games early on so its definitely possible.
However, you cant argue with last seasons haul of 20 goals and 15 assists in 38 games in the French league for Lille as well as the player of the season for the second year running. Those are the stats that get us fantasy football managers excited. I imagine Chelsea are planning on using him on the right with 3 up front with Mata on the left and Torres in the centre. Now Torres should reduce his assist total for the season! That does beg the question of what happens to Daniel Sturridge or how they deploy the Hulk assuming he eventually arrives. However, the potential of playing in the front 3 , Torres or not, does mean there is a fair prospect of a strong points haul in fantasy football for Hazard.
There's no doubting his quality in finishing and dribbling. Last years haul was quite astonishing even allowing for the quality of the league. The year before though was not quite so convincing with 7 goals and 10 assists in 38 goals. His European stats aren't anything like as convincing though with 1 assist in the last 2 years from 13 games.
My view then is we need to see him in a few friendlies to see how he is planning on being used by De Matteo. This should give an early view of his prospects in fantasy football. He does have a distinct advantage of rest, not having been part of Euro 2012, which should make him less of a rotation target. However, the Chelsea midfield haven't been too affected by Euro 2012 with Lampard at home through injury and Mata only warming the bench to date. This may negate that advantage.
There's also the adjustment to the premier league which has affected some midfield signings, even David Silva took some time although Van der Vaart and Mata adjusted fairly quickly.
I've therefore firmly got him in the monitor box although I have to say he will have to do a fair bit to get in to my fantasy football starting lineup as a new player to the league. However, Chelsea's fixtures are among the easiest to start with and there are some pretty enticing home games early on so its definitely possible.
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