Boards.ie Fantasy Football 2009/2010 (MOD NOTE - POST #2151)

jesus_thats_gre · 17-07-2009 06:09PM

When was the last time Joe Cole played on the left with for Chelsea for a remotely consistant amount of time? I can't remember it myself. I generally remember him only cutting in from the right all the time.

As for Zhirkov. I am not quite sure what to make of him myself. Has he been signed as a wing/full back to compete with Ashley Cole or has he been signed as a left winger?

seandugg · 17-07-2009 08:13PM

5.5 to spend on a sub striker...any recommendations?

Doyle and Zamora already selected.

Whats the verdict on bendter for 6.5 million? could stretch to that..

Eire-Dearg · 17-07-2009 08:15PM

doonothing wrote: »

What about Fellaini in for Nani? I wonder how he'll fare this season..

No to Fellaini, he's a yellow card machine.

Handsome Bob · 17-07-2009 08:16PM

seandugg wrote: »

5.5 to spend on a sub striker...any recommendations?

Doyle and Zamora already selected.

Whats the verdict on bendter for 6.5 million? could stretch to that..

If you can afford it I would just go the extra 1M and get Crouch for 7.5. Wherever he ends up he'll get you goals as well as assists.

Ebanks Blake might worth a punt at 5.5.

seandugg · 17-07-2009 08:21PM

do you think Doyle and Ebanks-blake be a bad move on the same squad?

Crouch is only .5 cheaper than Vidic? cant justify changing the team up that much for Crouchy dont think he's worth

gosplan · 17-07-2009 09:12PM

Some questions for those in the know.

- I want really good defenders. Anyone think Man City's defenders are worth a punt? Due to their inability to keep a clean sheet last year, they're mad cheap. Richards for 5.5 seems nice. Also, will Rafael start for Man U or will Brown go straight back in? if Rafael gets his game, 5.5 is amazing value.

- Secondly, who's a second good cheap striker after Ebanks-Blake? Want someone who's guaranteed to start.

Morzadec · 17-07-2009 09:41PM

gosplan wrote: »

- Secondly, who's a second good cheap striker after Ebanks-Blake? Want someone who's guaranteed to start.

Frazier Campbell at 6.0 could be worth a punt. I expect an improved Sunderland side under Steve Bruce and Campbell is a good goal-scoring striker. For that price he may be worth a risk. Sunderland's opening fixtures are quite attractive too.

seandugg · 17-07-2009 10:49PM

Morzadec wrote: »

Frazier Campbell at 6.0 could be worth a punt. I expect an improved Sunderland side under Steve Bruce and Campbell is a good goal-scoring striker. For that price he may be worth a risk. Sunderland's opening fixtures are quite attractive too.

Is he guaranteed a game with Crouch and Jones in the squad though?

JPA · 17-07-2009 11:18PM

seandugg wrote: »

Is he guaranteed a game with Crouch and Jones in the squad though?

Crouch hasn't signed for anyone, more likely he will sign for Fulham or Spurs.

Morzadec · 18-07-2009 12:25AM

seandugg wrote: »

Is he guaranteed a game with Crouch and Jones in the squad though?

Well if Crouch signs then yes, Campbell would be a poor signing. At the moment I see him as a starter ahead of what they have.

I suppose its the same as a lot of things with FF. No one is going to have a complete team at this stage as there still should be some transfers to come.

miralize · 18-07-2009 03:15AM

Agh first time doing this. **** defence (**** everything really)

Cech

-- Traore -- Melchiot -- Vidic -- Faye ab
-- Young --Anderson -- Alonso -- Mascherano

Torres -- Owen

Mr.Nice Guy · 18-07-2009 03:36AM

miralize wrote: »

Agh first time doing this. **** defence (**** everything really)
Cech
-- Traore -- Melchiot -- Vidic -- Faye ab
-- Young --Anderson -- Alonso -- Mascherano
Torres -- Owen

Ah sure we all have to start somewhere. A good rule of thumb that a lot of people tend to follow (me included) is to ensure you have at least 3 players out of your defence and goalkeeper who are from top 4 sides. This will give you a solid base.

With regards to midfielders, try to avoid the defensive minded players such as Anderson and Mascherano as they don't tend to score well and can lose you points through bookings. For midfielders, players who will get you goals and/or assists are the main priority.

As for strikers, look for players that are likely to get their game. I'd say Owen is a bit risky as he's at risk of rotation and would be unlikely to make 30+ games.

Axwell · 18-07-2009 03:44AM

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

A good rule of thumb that a lot of people tend to follow (me included) is to ensure you have at least 3 players out of your defence and goalkeeper who are from top 4 sides. This will give you a solid base.

This doesnt necessarily hold true, if you look at last years points out of the top 10 defenders half were from the top 4..the other 5 werent, and that includes 3 of those 5 being from chelsea.

Same for keepers out of the top 5 points for keepers only 3 are from the top 4 teams and the leading one was Schwarzer from Fulham..bonus points are awarded to keepers for making saves..a keeper with a great defence in front of him doesnt get many bonus points..but a clean sheet gets both him and the defenders 6 points in total for not conceeding and playing at least 60 mins.

As regards Owen hes on a pay as you play scheme, hes unlikely to start that many matches and his value is money wasted considering the better options out there.

Mr.Nice Guy · 18-07-2009 04:13AM

Axwell wrote: »

This doesnt necessarily hold true, if you look at last years points out of the top 10 defenders half were from the top 4..the other 5 werent, and that includes 3 of those 5 being from chelsea.

But if we take the top 5 defenders, 3 of them were from top 4 sides. A lot of Fulham players made the top 10 based on a terrific defensive record but it remains to be seen whether or not that can continue. It's fair to say though that the likes of Vidic, Carragher and Cole etc. will continue to be up there at the top next season. I'd rather go the safe route and stick with established names.

Axwell wrote:

Same for keepers out of the top 5 points for keepers only 3 are from the top 4 teams and the leading one was Schwarzer from Fulham..bonus points are awarded to keepers for making saves..a keeper with a great defence in front of him doesnt get many bonus points..but a clean sheet gets both him and the defenders 6 points in total for not conceeding and playing at least 60 mins.

3 out of 5 is pretty reliable I would say. I have been looking into this area myself and in my opinion it's risky to go for a goalkeeper for saves rather than for clean sheets...

Top 10 keepers last season:

Schwarzer - 175
Cech - 171
Reina - 169
Howard - 159
VDS - 155
Green - 148
Given - 144
Almunia - 144
Sorensen - 143
Jaaskelinen - 140

Looking at the above, while Schwarzer's points through saves helped him top the charts, the other top points earners via saves were at the bottom end of the scale (Jaaskelinen, Sorensen, Given). Three of the top 4 keepers meanwhile, who got most of their points via clean sheets, made the top 5.

My conclusion then is that while going for a keeper in the hope of getting points through saves can work out well as it did with Schwarzer last season, ultimately it's safer to go for a top 4 keeper.

Just my thoughts on the matter. Obviously we can look at things from tons of different perspectives which is what makes this game awesome.

Axwell · 18-07-2009 04:17AM

All very true but you spend a lot of money kitting out your team with a top 4 goalie and 3 defenders meaning the rest of your team is made up of stoke and birmingham players

Morzadec · 18-07-2009 12:45PM

I'm with Mr. Nice Guy on this one. It's the conservative approach, but the sensible one. Yes there probably will be some high scoring defenders/goalkeepers from outside the top 4, but at this stage it's a bit of a guessing game. I think its worth the extra 2.0 or so for guaranteed points.

Also players like A.Cole, Ferdinand, Skrtel, Evra etc.. would have been way further up the list had it not been for injuries, thus they all represent good value now I feel. And if they are injured again you can just straight swap them with Evans etc.. and have a little cash left over.

Teams like Wigan and Fulham were good for clean sheets this year but it's likely enough to be a different couple of weaker teams that come out well this year. And as I said this is hard to predict. Whereas we can all be pretty sure that Chelsea, United and Liverpool will be keeping their fair share of clean sheets. For example, I think it was David James that was the big points scoring goalie the season before last, whereas last season he faded away. And this year it was Schwazer. But both years Reina was right up there with them, and will be again this year.

Also for Goalkeepers its worth remembering they get minus points for goals conceded.

Axwell · 18-07-2009 12:49PM

Its about finding a happy medium across the whole team, you cant have top 4 players in every position you have to cut corners here and there and find that player thats going to get you max points for minimum price, the Fulham players did that last year so its now the time to find the new Fulham. Having them in your team last year meant you could splash out a bit extra up front or in the middle which makes all the difference.

token56 · 18-07-2009 01:58PM

Few changes to my team, and likely a few more to come but for the moment

Schwarzer

Evra

Zhirkov

Hughes

Baines

Carragher

Lampard(c)

Gerrard

N'Zogbia

Cole

Ebanks Blake

Subs: Sorensen, Andrews, Muamba, Benitez(could be removed depending on injury)

Happy enough with the team, all subs should play and could be useful.

Opinions?

Eire-Dearg · 18-07-2009 02:10PM

Changed my team all over again, thoughts?

Given

Agger

Evra

Bridge

Gerrard

Modric

Petrov

Arteta

Cole

Torres

Ebanks

Not my best draft, but it ain't bad. Obviously question marks over Agger and his playing time.

Axwell · 18-07-2009 02:11PM

Zhirkov will be interesting as its not known if hes going to start or where, id say he will be playing left wing instead of left back with Joe cole still out so its between him and Malouda for that position. If he does play he will be like philip neville last season playing in the midfield but getting a clean sheet bonus as hes down as a defender, but the thing is will he start every if many games.

madma · 18-07-2009 02:40PM

@ Axwell

I have zhirkov too, and a few people have said its a risk as we dont know if he'll start... i put my thinking cap on and realised the charity shield a week before the big kickoff will give us an idea... it will b interesting what side both teams will put out.. id imagine it will be strong line-ups

jesus_thats_gre · 18-07-2009 03:00PM

As I asked yesterday..

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

When was the last time Joe Cole played on the left with for Chelsea for a remotely consistant amount of time? I can't remember it myself. I generally remember him only cutting in from the right all the time.

Axwell · 18-07-2009 03:03PM

Well he did his knee in back in January and hasnt played since so that would explain you not seeing him playing on the left and cutting in anywhere

Handsome Bob · 18-07-2009 03:07PM

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

Changed my team all over again, thoughts?
Given
Agger
Evra
Bridge
Gerrard
Modric
Petrov
Arteta
Cole
Torres
Ebanks

Not my best draft, but it ain't bad. Obviously question marks over Agger and his playing time.

If Agger manages to nail down a regular starting place, then that is a finely balanced team with quality throughout.

eirebhoy · 18-07-2009 03:09PM

I thought Cole always played on the left JTG. That's his best position by far (while being allowed to drift inside all the time) and where Ancellotti will play him.

jesus_thats_gre · 18-07-2009 03:09PM

Axwell wrote: »

Well he did his knee in back in January and hasnt played since so that would explain you not seeing him playing on the left and cutting in anywhere

Before he was injured..

LZ5by5 wrote: »

If Agger manages to nail down a regular starting place, then that is a finely balanced team with quality throughout.

Agger is injured. Even if he is fit again before the new season, I would quite confident that Skrtel will start as he will have had a full pre-season.

jesus_thats_gre · 18-07-2009 03:10PM

eirebhoy wrote: »

I thought Cole always played on the left JTG. That's his best position by far and where Ancellotti will play him.

I am not saying that he won't or can't. I just can't remember the last time he played there. I always remember him being deployed on the right wing in recent seasons.

Think about this way, they have Malouda and Zhirkov on the left wing. Who do they have for the right wing?

jesus_thats_gre · 18-07-2009 03:14PM

I think I am going to settle with this team:

Cech

Corluka

Hangeland

Skrtel

Evra

Gerrard

Jiminez

Lampard

Beattie

Torres

Doyle

Subs: Sorenson, Muamba, Edwards, Zayatte.

MementoMori · 18-07-2009 03:16PM

So Cole is going to pretty much miss all of pre-season - from the report below he's not going to be start back training until the season has started.

"We expect Cole to return to full training in approximately one month," said a statement on Chelsea's website.

After being out for 8 months it's going to take him a few weeks to get his fitness and sharpness back, so he might not even be in contention for a spot until a couple of weeks into the season.

At the moment I'm assuming that A. Cole is going to be 1st choice at LB.
If Zhirkov is as good as reported, I would expect him to get the LW spot ahead of Kalou at least initially. A lot will depend on how Zhirkov performs in pre-season and with the chances he gets. After that it could well be a case of Cole and Zhirkov rotating. I'd say keep an eye on how things look in pre-season to see who Ancelloti uses on the left

Cole hit by fresh injury setback

Cole provides Chelsea with a creative spark
Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole has suffered a setback to his comeback from injury and will miss the club's pre-season tour of the United States.

A cruciate knee ligament injury in January ruled 27-year-old Cole out for the rest of the 2008/2009 season.

He recently returned to training but suffered a small tear to his meniscus in the knee and has undergone surgery.

"We expect Cole to return to full training in approximately one month," said a statement on Chelsea's website.

Chelsea called the blow a "minor setback" but it will prove further frustration for Cole and the Stamford Bridge outfit.

The playmaker provides Chelsea with a creative spark while he will also be eager to return to the first-team and force his way back into the England team ahead of the 2010 World Cup finals.

Chelsea will leave for the US on Thursday and will play four matches on the trip, starting with a match against Seattle Sounders on Saturday, 18 July.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/8153914.stm

Handsome Bob · 18-07-2009 03:19PM

What are the thoughts on Glen Johnson at 7.5? I brought him in because I thought he might get a good few clean sheets as well as assists, but it's still awfully expensive for a defender.

Boards.ie Fantasy Football 2009/2010 (MOD NOTE - POST #2151)

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