Rafa to Ease Off On Rotation
Rafa Benitez has handed fantasy managers a timely boost by stating that he intends to rotate his squad less in the coming months, according to comments on Liverpool’s official site today.
When asked whether he will keep his team selection more consistent now that Liverpool have exited both domestic cups, Benitez responded…
“I think so. It will depend on the players in the end, but we can keep some players playing more games now.”
The comment comes just as Liverpool enter a double fixture week with games against Bolton at the weekend and West Ham next Wednesday. They are vital games in Liverpool’s pursuit of fourth place and Rafa’s statement here would appear to offer reassurance that the likes of Gerrard, Carragher, Mascherano and Torres will turn out in both fixtures.
There are still doubts however, as to Rafa’s first choice defence now that he has Skrtel, Agger, Arbeloa, Aurellio, Hyypia, Carragher and perhaps Riise, fighting for places. Agger and Carragher would appear to be favourite to be his centre-back pairing for the bulk of the remaining games. Agger turned out for reserves and played 45-minutes last night but Saturday’s game could come too soon for him.
Comfy Coxy
Robbo
The Fran appreciation society
Gary
CBC
Joe
Damp
iv got gerrard and torres for the double game wk who shall i pick???? i also have ronaldo and with his form at the moment i cant over look that….any comments or help wud be very appriciated. thx
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iv got gerrard and torres for the double game wk who shall i pick as captain???? i also have ronaldo and with his form at the moment i cant over look that….any comments or help wud be very appriciated. thx
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I’ve got Gerrard, Torres for the double gw - if I was thinking of going with the captaincy I’d say Gerrard is the better option, although having been burned before I’m sticking with Ronaldo away to Fulham.. what’s the betting he does sweet fa in that gw now!
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yeah…prob….i alway get the captaincy wrong think il go with torres.
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Captaincy is sooo hard this week but im goin with Torres like i did last week
:D:D
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Mark et al:
I have Reina and probably will choose 2 of the following defenders:
R. Ferdinand, Vidic, Riise, Carragher, Hyypia, Skrtel, Agger
Alternatively, I could choose one of these and include Mascherano in my midfield instead.
Thoughts?
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Reply by Mad on February 27 7:33 pm:
Rio and Vidic?
I even tempted to sell them for Liverpool’s defender, as MU won’t play next GW and no clean sheets in last 3 games. Anyway, it’s also an away game.
I don’t like Mascherano for FPL games, as he hardly scores or even makes an assist.
And IMO Rafa plays Mascherano for games that needs a good defensive midfielder. When playing against lesser team, he played Alonso. I don’t know the current situation though
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Reply by TheNecromancer on February 27 8:10 pm:
I agree about MUN and their propensity to leak the late, weak-ass goal, but they’re playing FUL. The Scousers seem to have the same bad habit at times.
Good point re fxtures. That may be the deciding factor.
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What’s the likelihood of any Liverpool defender (other than Carragher) playing both games this week?
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Decisions decisions… I messed up last week by picking Gerard as Capt and not Ronnie!
BUT surely I gotta pick Gerard this week?????? or will Ronnie go mad against Fulham??
HELP!!!!!!
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I sold Finnan for Carragher for that exact reason. Carragher is the safest option I think!
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It’s got to be Gerrard for Capt. He’s due a goal, he’s due an assist and he seems to get many bonus points.
I shipped out Evra for Carragher. 3 liverpool games to one Man Utd. Easy decision. Then I can swap Carragher for Vidic. Sorted!!
I worry about the trip to Bolton. Will Liverpool be able to pierce their defence. And West Ham seem better away than at home. Worried we may not see many goals but hopefully at least 1 clean sheet.
a nervous Moz.
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Oh, the amount of times people have said Gerrard is “due a goal or assist” in the past few months…I don’t see how him playing twice is going to change the fact he hasn’t gotten much of either since…well…December.
He’s still in my squad but definitely won’t be my captain.
It’s between Torres and Ronaldo for me.
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Reply by waggy on February 27 11:13 pm:
aye between those two for me as well. Just pick which ever I don’t and you will be alright.
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Reply by Dave on February 27 11:22 pm:
I was actually going to pick whichever I didn’t, then remembered there’s only one of me…
Or is there??
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Reply by Old Gregg on February 28 11:01 pm:
There’s the you that’s making a stament about you, the other you. Subject and object.
If you read some Lacan, you’ll find some stuff about the ‘mirror stage’, where the infant comes to recognise its own reflection so to speak, and its sense of social identity is born.
Descartes idea of the fixed ’self’- the Cartesian ego, a stable idenity or ’soul’ if you like- has been ripped apart by more postmodern theory, which argues for the more perfomative nature of identity. A lot of contemporary theory argues that you can perform yuor idenity, and produce it depending on different contexts, which means your sense of self is fluid, constantly changing and, yes, subject to moments of duality and self-recognition.
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Reply by Mark on February 28 11:32 pm:
Damn, you beat me to it Gregg
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Reply by Dave on February 29 12:03 am:
Just as I was starting to feel old…you gave me a flashback to university.
God, 3 years can go by so fast…
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Reply by Old Gregg on February 29 6:22 pm:
All those youthful hopes and dreams disappeared…
I’ve been lucky though.. ever since I was six years old I dreamt of being an admin assistant.
And just look at me now.
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Reply by Alex on February 29 7:17 pm:
Ah well, I got my BBA and studied film science just to end up working at a Sports Channel. Now I have to watch football all day. Hard life.
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Reply by puffinboy on February 29 6:59 pm:
Descartes discredited?! I’m so out of touch.
Never mind Gregg, at least you’re an admin assistant with an in-depth knowledge of fantasy footy.
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Gerrard or Torres captain this week, Mark?
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Reply by Alex on February 27 10:55 pm:
Ronaldo.
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Reply by Milet on February 28 3:44 am:
I’m banking on ronaldo too. Gerrards dun nuthing, torres has had 1 good game. And fulham vs ManU snd betta
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Something to bear in mind this week.I picked Agbonlahor and Laursen for Aston Villa/Arsenal double gameweek in GW 14 and made Agbonlahor Captain.He netted 32 as captain and Laursen got 12 for two clean sheets.Other people in my league had at least 2 from each team playing in the Double GW but still didnt make as much as these two.
I currently have Torres and Gerrard (like everyone else).With rotation and West Hams unfavourable line up for the week I dont really see the point in bringing in any more.I am thinking of starting to build for the Chelsea double gameweek as they have some nice looking matches.
Of course if I was to pick Carragher and liverpool have 2 cleansheets I will regret it,but I dont think they will,their clean sheet record at home has not been great (only 1 in the last 6 and that was Sunderland!)
I reckon bringing in Cech/Terry & Essien for Chelsea Double GW would be better
Anyone else agree with this logic?
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Reply by Farhan on February 28 5:47 am:
Yes, I agree. I m thinking on the same terms. Chelsea defence in EPL is more reliable than Liverpool.
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Reply by Inshaman on February 28 8:49 am:
I agree. Terry and Essien look good for Chealsea’s double
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Reply by Mad on February 28 3:23 pm:
Agree with Cech/Terry. But still not sure about the rotation in Che’s mid..
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I have
HART
LAURSEN RIO CARRAGER
FABREGAS RONALDO BENTLEY PEINEER
TEVEZ ADEBAYOR TORRES (C)
next week
Tevez > BERBATOV!
Rio > Carvahllo!
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Dave. i’m with you. good logic.
Skrtel/agger coming back from injury provides some headaches plus they have been conceding.
The early investment in Chelsea sounds good
But you cant go past Gerrard this week, if Pennant and Babel play, the width provided should allow Stevie to rip it up in the middle behind El Nino
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Ditto CK painful aye - I’m doing a reverse going with Ron this gw and will probably get it wrong again lol! Perhaps Torres is a good outsider
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Mark,
We desperately need your views on the Captain debate this week, got it horribly wrong last week switching from Ronny to Gerrard only consolation so did most others in the league,now what? Back to Ronny, Gerrard or Torres??? Need a logical mind on this one.
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hi mark any chance you could create a thread for fantasy football ‘rotation’ disasters including transfers that went wrong when you tried to be too clever. like a player who scored a hat-trick that was transfered new captain rested and all those on the bench scored..
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In the last two game weeks Gerrard scored 4 and 5, meaning he would have got 9 in a double game week. Before that he got 5+8 =13.
Doing this since the start of the year (and ignoring the game Torres missed through injury) gives the following 2-match totals:
Torres: 24, 8, 3, 8, 14
Gerrard: 9, 13, 10, 4, 5, 5
Ronaldos 1-match totals are:
Ronaldo: 18, 2, 1, 16, 8, 21, 9
Not sure if this makes things much easier really. It shoows Gerrards consistency, but it also picks up just how good Ronaldos scoring really is. I’m still tempted by Torres though…..
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Reply by Dave Cork on February 28 7:49 pm:
Good work on the stats,but for Captain it has to be Ronaldo v Fulham or Torres.Gerrard has not been hitting the highs of old anymore and while consistent,I would rather risk Captaincy on either Torres or Ronaldo.Torres is in blistering form at the moment,Stevie G carried the team for long enough and this duty for the time being seems to be on Torres’ shoulders.I will leave it to the very last minute to pick between Ron and El Nino,at the moment I have Ronaldo….
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Help. Would it be better to start nosworthy this week ahead of A. Ferdinand?
My team is:
Reina
Lescott, R. Ferdinand, Nosworthy
Bentley, Ronaldo, Gerrard (C), Fabregas
Adebayor, Cole, Jones
Bench: A. Ferdinand, Valencia, Hreidarsson
Carvalho for R. Ferdinand next week! He is best bet for chelsea defender since terry may be rested for other competitions, whereas carvalho plays every match…
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Wouldn’t Murphy from Sunderland be a good investment for this round?
He has, so far, scored against Birmingham and Wigan, who I assume to be the worst teams in the league, with Derby of course. This week Sunderland have Derby, but Murphy may continue his scoring against another weak team.
Also I have Tuncay Sanli in mind. He scored last week, and having Reading this week, I think he may be up for another strike.
What do you think?
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Reply by Mark on February 28 11:37 pm:
Murphy is a good shout - likley to play in midfield but push up to support Jones from wide left. Jones is a more obvious target but Murphy’s form is certainly better.
Not sure on Tuncay though - he didn’t start on Wednesday and I reckon he’ll be benched again with Alves and Mido starting vs Reading.
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Reply by carlitooooos! on February 29 1:41 am:
i heard that richardson might play, i would buy him after watching him play a game . he is very cheap too, i would trade dempsey for him.
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Dave I’m inclined to agree with you RE Gerrard. Also his latest comments on the BBC website about not winning titles, which is a well known annual event, made him sound very downhearted whereas Torres is young enthusiastic and in great form, he represents a much better prospect I reckon over two matches.
The scary thing is that Ronni is more than capable of outscoring him in just one match.
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