Player Watchlist 2014-2015

Last year's Player Watchlist was an invaluable source of players that we felt could do a job in the world of fantasy football for us so I thought we should bring it back again this year.

Some will be hits and some will be misses but hopefully there'll be quite a few successful punts available to us this year after last years......actually I'm not going to talk about last year

I'll kick things off so:

GoalKeepers:

Tim Krul (Newcastle 4.5)
Ok this is kind of obvious but after a poor second half to the season Newcastle's players have all suffered a probable .5 drop in value. If they sort themselves out then this is a bargain price.

Rob Green (QPR 4.5)
I think QPR might be a good team to look at defensively this year. If they don't score goals then they'll have to keep things tight at the back. Probably the best of the promoted teams.

Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea 5.0)
Fabianski was a very able deputy for Arsenal and with regular football we could see the best from him. Playing in front of a Swansea team who like to pass it and without the Europa League to contend with could see a better level of performance than last season. Rotates very well with Begovic of Stoke too.

Julian Speroni (Palace 5.0)
Palace under Tony Pulis have been a revelation and it's like Stoke have been reborn. Even at 5.0 it's a good price and QPR and Palace rotate remarkably well early on. There may be competition with Hennessy but a battle Speroni will likely win.

David De Gea (Man Utd 5.5)
A bad season last year for United but surely they won't be so poor and with 5/3 at the back looking likely De Gea might get even more protection. The Mignolet of last year only clean sheets might actually be attained this year.

Defenders:

Matt Targett (Southampton 4.0)
I've been constantly singing his praises for the past week and I won't stop until it's finally he confirmed he won't be 1st choice LB. A gateway to the Saints defence at a bargain price needs to be monitored via the "new Luke Shaw"

Chris Baird (WBA 4.0)
Worth keeping an eye on as Baird is a utility man and could pop anywhere in the backline or midfield. Or may not feature at all. Perfect fodder for the watchlist though. See Andre Wisdom too.

Davide Santon (Newcastle 4.5)
I could tell you of the wonders of Ron Vlaar, John O'Shea, Rio Ferdinand, Geoff Cameron or Neil Taylor but I think Santon represents excellent value at 4.5. Dribbles now being awarded in the BPS along with crossing and general attacking could boost Santon's appeal significantly. There's many more options in the 4.5 range and you could quite easily fill your defence with them.

Ben Davies (Spurs 5.0)
Another that has gone straight into my team. Spurs should tighten up under Pochettino while Davies could be pivotal in creating chances down the left. Obvious choice for me. Vermaelen if he goes to United and Jose Enrique if he starts at Liverpool could be assets. Trippier might be worth 5.0 if he fulfills the prophecy of being Seamus Coleman reborn but he plays for Burnley rather than Everton.

Filipe Luis (Chelsea 6.0)
A Chelsea defender, wow so original you say. Well if you're shelling out 6.0 or more for a defender it should probably be from Chelsea. The first choice anyway. Signed for a significant sum so you'd expect he'd start. Might not have the goal threat of the other big 3 Chelsea defenders but assists are more likely and the BPS could suit him.

Midfielders:

Andy King (Leicester 4.5)
A big player for the Foxes over the past few years and likes to chip in with a few goals from central. Not a big name, nothing too fancy but could be the perfect 4.5 mid who won't tempt you to play him.

George Boyd (Hull 4.5)
A fair bit of uncertainty here but he's been chipping in with goals in pre-season and with Hull fighting on th European front this year too he might see more game time in either the league or Europa. There's potential here if things fall correctly.

Diego Poyet (West Ham 4.5)
I'm not going to pretend I know much more than he's Gus Poyet's son and that he did quite well with Charlton last season. If he starts he could be a another option.

Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal 5.0)
Yes I know, but I don't care. However he could be a perfect early gamble if Wenger does indeed rest his German players early in the season. At 5 it's worth monitoring. Arteta is 5.5 too and probably still on penalties if he starts.

Jordi Gomez (Sunderland 5.5)
My eccentricity may be appearing more readily now but I also realised compiling all of this is getting more tedious :pac: Anyway Gomez is hit/miss and nowhere in between but he's good at set-pieces. Lots of these type of options at 5.5 that we can look at over the summer

Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea 6.0)
A hero for me ever before I found this forum. If only we can get Papiss Cisse and Ben Arfa up and running we'll be flying it. I must mention Snodgrass for 6.0 too, Norwich be representing, yo.

Lennon/Townsend (Spurs 6.5)
One of these could nail down the right wing under new management and with dribbles and crosses being rewarded more could see these 2 get some attention.

Herrera/Cabella (Man + New Utd 7.5)
A knee-jerk to Herrera's one and only performance pre-season but he impressed. He got a lot further forward than I expected and could be an assist machine. Cabella and De Jong are big hopes for Newcastle.

Erik Lamela (Spurs 8.0)
More bandwagoning here :P but if he's fit, healthy, in form and playing then he could be a revelation. He deserves a place on this list anyway.

Forwards:

Ashley Barnes (Burnley 4.5)
I wouldn't be picking a 4.5 option but Barnes might see some game time, maybe.

Lukas Jutkiewicz (Burnley 5.0)
This dude might play ahead of Barnes but I wouldn't be picking a 5.0 forward either. He's elligible to play for Ireland so if Emmet is running his Irish team again I'd claim him quick.

Glenn Murray (Palace 5.5)
Be still my beating heart you might say but I think Murray could be a good player for Palace this year, especially if he's on penalties (he might not). A good preseason should set him right after being out injured until the last month.

Charlie Austin (QPR 6.0)
He's my pick of the 6.0 forwards but Jelavic, Long, Ings, Wickham and Ideye all could contend. He should be on spot-kicks and if QPR score it probably will be Austin.

Mame Biram Diouf (Stoke 6.5)
He's big and powerful and learned to score in Germany. If this translates back to the PL then he could be a credible option upfront whilst being fed by Arnie, Adam et al.

Enner Valencia (7.0 West Ham)
Just added to the game today with the news that Carroll could be out for months means that Valencia could be an option if his World Cup form continues. Pricey at 7.0 though.

Graz Pelle (Southampton 7.5)
Himself and Tadic did very well in the Dutch league and it's hoped they'll do well in the PL too. "Dusan Tadic and Graziano Pelle have both made the move from Eredivisie having garnered the top two ratings in the Dutch top-flight from WhoScored.com last season. Although the Italian front man just edged it (7.96 to 7.80), it's Tadic from whom the magic is expected." Football365 article Whoscored.com is actually useful when looking at players too I've found.

Diego Costa (Chelsea 10.5)
He surely deserves a mention simply because he's new and a striker that plays for Chelsea. Whether he's worth a punt remains to be seen but we haven't have a viable Chelsea forward for years and 10.5 is relatively cheap to be fair.

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Ok this took longer than I thought and is in no way exhaustive. There's loads of players I left out that I hope we can all add on. Happy player watching