The Friendly Round-Up
I’ve been stranded in the US all week, fighting a different time zone to bring you news of proceedings back home. As a result, I’ve fallen behind with the pre-season games as the week has gone on. To put things right and to catch up before things go pre-season crazy, I’ve rounded up all the week’s friendlies, together with team lineups, in one handy post.
Monday July 14
Tavernes 0 Tottenham 8
Giovani dos Santos ended his Spurs debut with a second-half brace as Ramos’ side romped to victory over their Spanish opponents. O’Hara and reserve striker Pekhart also got a pair of goals with Malbranque and Lennon completing the scoring.
Ramos went with two completely different lineups, offering little clue at this stage as to his strongest eleven. However, both elevens did appear to take up a 4-3-3 come 4-5-1 formation with Ramos selecting 3 forwards in each half. As a side note, Modric, Zokora and Gilberto were all on extended summer breaks due to international commitments in the post-season.
Spurs continue their training camp in Spain before returning to the UK to take on Norwich on July 28.
Tottenham vs Tavernes:
First half: Alnwick, Gunter, Assou-Ekotto, Dawson, Chimbonda, Lennon, Jenas, Taarabt, Bostock, Keane, Bent.
Second half: Jansson, Hutton, Townsend, Tainio, Archibald-Henville, Malbranque, O’Hara, Huddlestone, dos Santos, Berbatov, Pekhart.
North Ferriby 0 Hull 4
Hull’s first pre-season game saw them take on North Ferriby in the annual Billy Bly Memorial Trophy match. Hull boss Phil Brown put out two different elevens over the 35 minute each way encounter so there were few clues on offer from this one. Geovanni did make his Hull debut up front in the first half however. Marney, Atkinson, Turner and Barmby got the goals for the Premiership newcomers.
Hull City vs Nth Ferriby:
First Half: Duke, France, Plummer (McNamara), Lamplough, Ricketts, Fagan, Welsh, Marney, Atkinson, Geovanni, Windass.
Second Half: Myhill, Doyle, Turner, Cooper, Dawson, Garcia, Hughes, Ashbee, Barmby, Featherstone, Folan.
Macclesfield 1 Blackburn Rovers 2
Dunn and Gallacher got the goals for Ince’s boys as they got their pre-season underway. As expected at this early stage, the Rovers boss changed things with a new eleven at half-time to enable him to get a look at his new players so in many ways there’s little that can be gleaned from thisone. That’s particularly true when you consider that wantaway Bentley (that’s now officially his full name) was absent with a calf strain, whilst Santa Cruz, Ooijer, Emerton and Mokoena were all granted extended leave due to international commitments in the post-season.
Having said that, the Blackburn lineup in the first-half was by far the strongst and offered some clues as to Ince’s thinking. Potential points of interest being Ince’s decision to play Reid at right-back while Derbyshire took Bentley’s place on the right of midfield.
Blackburn vs Macclesfield:
First Half: Friedel, Reid, Samba, Nelsen, Warnock, Derbyshire, Dunn, Vogel, Pedersen, Roberts, McCarthy.
Second Half: Brown, Kane, Winnard, Khizanishvili, Olsson, Doran (Clarke 69), Judge, Hodge, Treacy, Gallagher, Rigters.
Tuesday July 15
Southend 0 Fulham 2
Nevland and Murphy got the goals for Hodgeson’s men as they got their pre-season underway. Fulham put out a strong side for this first game with 10 of the starting 11 boasting first-team experience. Only new signing Stockdale in goal was a newcomer, although Hodgson also handed Steven Davis a start on the right of midfield - Davis was on loan for the entirety of last season at Rangers.
Dempsey and Johnson were both absent for this one but will return for Fulham’s match against Celtic on Saturday. Zamora and Paintsil could also make their debut’s in this one.
Fulham vs Southend:
Stockdale, Volz, Konchesky (Kallio 45), Hangeland (Hughes 45), Baird, Davis (Cook 65), Bullard (Murphy 45), Davies, Andreasen (Andranik 45), Healy, Nevland.
Hull City 4 Winterton Rangers 0
Once again Hull boss Phil Brown elected to put out two completely different lineups for each half with just a couple of exceptions. South African triallist Delron Buckley and youth team defender Liam Cooper also appearing for the second-half. Geovanni, Buckley, Welsh and Lamplough got Hull’s goals.
Hull City vs Winterton Rangers:
First Half: Myhill, Doyle, Turner, Cooper, Ricketts, Garcia, Hughes, Ashbee, Buckley, Featherstone, Folan.
Second Half: Duke, France, Plummer, Cooper, Lamplough, Fagan, Welsh, Marney, Buckley (Devitt), Geovanni, Windass.
Wednesday July 16
Borussia Monchengladbach 2 West Brom 1
Dutch striker Sherjill MacDonald got the Baggies goal as they began their pre-season with a defeat at the hands of their German opponents. Mowbray used 20 players over the 90 minutes, although his initial lineup did offer some clues as to his thinking, particularly up front where Moore and the lively Miller were paired. As a side note to this one, midfielder Robert Koren suffered a knee injury in this game and faces “a few weeks” on the sidelines as a result. Greening also suffered a knock but should be okay for the Baggies next friendly against Cologne today.
West Brom vs Borussia:
Kiely; Hoefkens (Slusarski 67), Barnett (Hodgkiss 67), Clement (Pele 67), Robinson (Tininho 67); Morrison (Worrall 45), Greening (Kim 45), Koren (Dorrans 59), Brunt (MacDonald 45); Miller (Beattie 45), Moore (Bednar 45).
Lucerne 1 Liverpool 2
Goals from Lucas and Voronin were enough to hand Liverpool a second pre-season victory. Spanish youngling Daniel Pacheco was once again the headline act however. Benefiting from the prolonged breaks handed to Euro 2008 pairing Kuyt and Torres, the 17-year old is taking his chances impressing once again having caught the eye against Tranmere last time out.
Kuyt did make a return as a second-half sub in this one having missed the Tranmere game but Rafa used him sparingly, whilst Gerrard was unused as a sub due, apparently, to tiredness. Pennant and Finnan meanwhile both had knocks according to the Liverpool boss - although both are being linked with moves away from Anfield. Make of that what you will. New signing, Dossena, also missed out because his international clearance is yet to arrive.
Elsewhere in this game, the performance of Argentinian Sebastian Leto is also of interest. He’s been unavailable to Rafa since December due to work permit issues but could well feature this season as an option on the left. Certainly worth monitoring.
Liverpool vs Lucerne:
Cavalieri, Degen (Darby), Carragher (Skrtel), Agger (Hyypia), Insua (Aurelio), Benayoun (Babel), Lucas, Plessis (Spearing), Leto, Pacheco (Mascherano), Voronin (Kuyt).
Exeter 1 Portsmouth 1
An early Defoe penalty gave Pompey the lead as they opened their pre-season at Exeter but the Premiership side were pegged back and had to settle for a draw. Redknapp handed Little a debut in midfield but kept Crouch and Sahar on the bench. In typical Harry style, a number of trialists were also given a run out. Diarra, Kranjcar and Johnson have all been handed extended breaks and were absent from this one.
Linvoy Primus made his first appearance for the club since the final day of the 2006-07 season, coming on as a second-half sub.
Portsmouth vs Exeter:
James (Trialist 46); Lauren (Duffy 46), Campbell (c) (Primus 46), Pamarot (Distin 46), Cranie (Traore 46); Mvuemba (Subotic 80), Davis (Hughes 46), Mendes (Mendes 46), Little (Nugent 46); Trialist (Christophe 69), Defoe (Sahar 46)
Thursday July 17
Hampton & Richmond 2 West Ham 4
Craig Bellamy sent an early reminder of his potential for the coming season with a brace at non-league Hampton. Hines and Noble provided the other goals in this win for Curbishley’s side.
In terms of the lineup - Davenport made a return to action in central defence after suffering a nasty neck injury whilst on loan at Watford last season whilst the injury prone Faubert and Ashton also got starts.
West Ham vs Hampton:
Green (Walker 70), Neill (Spence 83), Ferdinand, Davenport, Widdowson, Faubert (Stanislas 65), Mullins (Parker 46), Noble (Collison 46), Reid (Stokes 79), Bellamy (Hines 79), Ashton (Cole 46)
Friday July 18
York 2 Middlesbrough 2
Goals from Wheater and Jonathan Franks earned Southgate’s side a hard-fought draw at York. Boro used 20 players in the game, with only keeper Brad Jones playing 90 minutes.
That is a point of interest in that, on this evidence, Jones appears to be the favourite to start in goal for Boro come the season kick-off against Spurs. Southgate has already stated that he will stick by Jones and Turnbull as his options going into the season, despite the departure of Schwarzer to Fulham. Jones is of course, available for a modest price across the fantasy games.
Middlesbrough vs York:
First half: Jones; Williams, Huth, Pogatetz, Bennett; Walker, Digard, Cattermole, A Johnson; Alves, Aliadiere.
Second half: Jones; McMahon, Wheater, Grounds, Taylor; Owens, Arca, Shawky, Downing; Franks, Porritt.
Swindon 1 Portsmouth 3
Goals from Hreidarsson, Defoe and Danijel Subotic were enough to give Pompey victory in their second pre-season game. Harry made several changes to the starting eleven against Exeter with Hreidarsson, Bouba Diop and Hughes coming in for Cranie, Davis and Little. Once again Harry was without Diarra, Kranjcar and Johnson for this game.
Crouch made his first appearance in his second spell at the club as a second-half sub. Redknapp has already said that he will start with both Defoe and Crouch at Bournemouth on Monday night. Portsmouth will also send a second side to Dorchester that evening with David James apparently lined up to start in that one.
One point that might be worth noting is that Pamarot has started both pre-season games so far, once at left-back and in this game, as a partner to Campbell at centre-back. It looks as though he could well retain a place in the back four over Hreidarsson or maybe even Distin.
Portsmouth vs Swindon:
James (Begovic 46); Lauren (Cranie 46), Campbell (c) (Distin 46), Pamarot, Hreidarsson (Traore 46); Mvuemba (Subotic 83), Diop (Davis 46), Mendes (Muntari 46), Hughes (Christophe 83); Defoe (Crouch 46), Koroma (Sahar 46)
Newcastle Town 0 Stoke City 3
Stoke got off to a winning start in their pre-season thanks to goals form Cresswell, Parkin and Rooney. Like many Premiership managers at this point, Stoke boss Tony Pulis used two different sides over the 90 minutes giving us little clue as to his first eleven. With more new arrivals likely to follow yesteday’s siging of Dave Kitson, it’s going to be a while before we’ll have a handle on Stoke’s likely lineup come August 16. The game against Nuremberg on Tuesday might give us more clues and should see Kitson get his Stoke debut.
Stoke City vs Newcastle Town:
First Half: Simonsen; Wilkinson, Cort, Matteo, Pugh; Lawrence, Delap, Whelan, Cresswell; Pericard, Parkin.
Second Half: Simonsen; Griffin, Shawcross, Buxton, Dickinson; Grocott, Thorley, Pulis, J. Phillips, Rooney, Sidibe.
Keep up all the great work Mark .
LFC were poor in there friendly !
cyki.com 945-234
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hmm, i’ve been thinking about Bellamy recently, and wondering whether if he’s fit he might be well worth a go at 6.5m. playing 79 mins and scoring 2 goals has maybe convinced me. here then, are 2 potential line-ups… which is best?
Team A:
GK: Reina, Schwarzer
DF: Bosingwa, G.Johnson, Cahill, Knight, Lescott
MF: A.Young, Fabregas, Arteta, Petrov, Geovanni
ST: Van Persie, Alves, Bellamy
Team B:
GK: Reina, Schwarzer
DF: Bosingwa, G.Johnson, Cahill, Knight, Lescott
MF: A.Young, Fabregas, Arteta, Gamst Pedersen, Geovanni
ST: Van Persie, Alves, Elmander
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Reply by MrPDM on July 19, 2008 5:42 pm:
Hello Sam I think I would opt for Team A but probably have Ashton instead of Bellamy or even opt for 5.5m Zamora .
cyki.com 945-234
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sam i think team A is better option for you.
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Reply by Sam (Team Sam) on July 20, 2008 3:00 am:
cheers, appreciate both replies
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I notice mark you pick noble in your scout picks what about faubert same price same team injured most of last season now out to prove a point?
What does anyone else think faubert or noble?
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Reply by lfcrafa on July 21, 2008 9:27 am:
yeh faubert
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2 interesting £4.5 million players possibley starting in the 1st team
Paramot for Portsmouth and
Vogel for Blackburn Blackburn vs Hull GW2
I’ll keep an eye on theses two…
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does anyone have any formation policies. I seem to remember at the start of last season defenders did very well and towards the end with tied legs it was a goalfest for the strikers. I’m thinking of a 5 4 1 or 4 5 1 but is all this in my imagination?
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Well I would opt for a strong 4-4-2 , then have at least one decent sub in def / mid / att .
cyki.com
code 945-234
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I don’t think it is in your imagination Higgo.
Defenders are cheap compared to midfielders and forwards but they all end up with similar point totals, so you get more points for your pounds by investing in your backline.
For example - last season Lescott cost 7m and got 196 points, whch equates to 28 points per million. Compare that to CRon who cost 14m and returned 283 points - 20.2 points per million. If you look at the top 20 players in each category, you’ll find keepers and backs give you best value for money, followed by midfielders and finally your frontmen.
So in THEORY, invest heavily in your defence, every million spent will give you a good return, get whatever good midfielders you can and go budget up front, 5-4-1 would be your desired formation.
Having said this, I’ve already made a thousand transfers and have no idea what I’ll end up with come kick off so don’t take my word for it!!!
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Reply by CK on July 20, 2008 10:02 pm:
Very interesting Dub! I was thinking same ie: Investing in defence. Up front is a lottery and last year strikers were very quiet early on.
Any of you lads see any interesting low budget lads playing well yesterday?
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It’s a shame the Price/Value stat doesn’t work properly for last season. Otherwise thats a pretty good way of working it out Dub.
Another one I use is points per minute played, handy for picking out high impact substitutes and elimenate injury periods when deciding on cost:points return.
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Thanks Al - I spent an age working out those numbers and you’ve just brought to my attention the fact that they were just a drop-down-box away!! Ha ha ha…I’m laughing about it, at least I think I am…
All that wasted time, I could’ve been making more transfers!!
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thats funny- the part about making more transfers
people spending 2 hours trying find an extra half million, only to completely revamp the whole team the next day!!!!what did i do on the internet before this??? oh yeah..
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Do you have this thing in your head that you HAVE to spend all your budget no matter what or is it just me ?
Does it make sense to just pick a side that you think will do the business even though its £3m - £4m short of you full budget ?
Probably come in handy the extra millions when you have make later transfers .
Just wondering have you spent ALL your budget ?
cyki.com
code 945-234
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Reply by CK on July 20, 2008 10:06 pm:
Pick team you think will do the business and forget about budget. I’m on 97m at mo. Don’t care about spending full budget!
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Yeah, I get the same idea mate, so ur not the only one. I only like to have spare money if I genuinely know I will get a player that is expensive in near future. Otherwise I always start with more or less my favourite team.
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Who thinks Deco is worth investing in. In all honesty I want to buy him but because this is his first touch of english football I have other thoughts. In Chelsea’s first match is he even guaranteed to play? I mean Ballack is there as is Cole,Essien and with the possibilty of Lampard and Malouda to name a few. What do you guys think?
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Reply by Old Gregg on July 20, 2008 11:27 pm:
Deco in at £9m… Ballack seems a safer bet for that price?
I’ll be very very surprised if Deco starts making an impact straight off the bat.
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I’m trying to stay away from players who could be rotated through the season…I’ve got a very solid back line and midfield and taken a gamble with my forwards…Time currently is…
Jaaskelainen, Kirkland
Baines, Cahill, Laursen, Vidic, Richards
Bentley, Fabregas, Arteta, Bullard, Young
Alves, Mccarthy, Bent
I may play 4-5-1 this year but i figuredi’m bucking the trend and going against Gerrard and Torres…Sure they’ll score you points but 12M for Torres who WILL be rotated again seems steep…My strikers either disappointed last year or took time to settle in and consequently much cheaper this time around…Alves will bang them in at Boro, Bent just needs regular games at Spurs to rack up the points and will get these with the departure of at least Berbatov or Keane and Mccarthy had niggles and admitted interest from Chelsea sidetracked him last season…The year before he was electric…If my strikers fire i’m in business big style i hope…thoughts?
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Reply by Old Gregg on July 20, 2008 11:23 pm:
Bullard, Young and Fabregas I like.
Is Arteta missing the start of the season?
The three strikers are all risky- they’re 7.5m each too.. So you’ll have 22.5m to spare on three.. You could slip in Torres and two cheap ones- there’s a few good options for £5.5m- Bentdner at Arsenal might be starting a few more games this season.. Or you could get a couple of more establised ones.. Yakubu and Santa Cruz say, and then a cheap one to make up the numbers.
My opinion anyway. which isn’t worth much!
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Reply by Richard on July 21, 2008 12:08 pm:
Thanks sir - your opinion has been taken onboard (all comments welcome) and team now stands like this looking at a 4-4-2 on the opening day
Jaaskelainen (Kirkland)
Cahill Lescott Vidic Laursen (Huth)
Young Fabregas Bullard Taylor (O’Hara)
Torres Alves (Ashton)
I think this has better balance…I’m looking to play 5-4-1 or 4-5-1 more often this season…Barring injury all those players are certain starters except maybe O’Hara who i think is an emerging talent and will keep the bench warm…At some stage i”l rotate as i’d like Babel in midfield after olympic duty and possibly Richards at the back
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It seems that most people aren’t even CONSIDERING ronaldo at this point, is that not a strange omission? Sure he’s 14 million but he outscored everyone else by 80 points last year, 160 if hes your captain! Or are people just being sneaky and keeping a couple of million spare for when he does make a comeback?
Howard (Schwarzer)
Knight, G Neville, Bosingwa, (McShane), (Meite)
Bentley, Fabregas(c), Petrov, Lampard, (Reo-Corker)
RVP(vc), Defoe, Ashton
Any thoughts on my team by the by?
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Ronaldo. Hmm lets see, he costs 14m and is the most expensive player in the FPL, there is still a chance he will never play for united again, and he is recovering ankle surgery which could mean he misses at least the first 3 or 4 matches. Not picking him means you can get 2 of gerrard, fabregas and torres and a strong team around them. Picking Ronaldo at this stage makes absolutely not sense whatsoever.
The real question is if/when he starts playing again and what will his value be at that stage. In order to drop value people have to sell which obviously won’t happen if nobody buys him in the first place. My guess is he will start playing again for united late september but his value will still be at 14m.
As for spending your budget I agree you don’t have to, but remember your money won’t appreciate if it’s sitting around unused. Only money spent on the pitch can go up in value. However it does give you more flexibility for transfers which can be very handy in the early games.
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Shin C…
I think you have a few risky players in your team…
Gary Neville is still 50/50, he always seems to be injured even though Man Utd continue to say he will be back “in 2 weeks”
Lampard looks to be leaving Chelsea this season so I wouldn’t have him in your team, at least not until the season starts
and Defoe has a really hard start to the season..Man Utd, Chelsea and Everton!
I would sell Lampard for Ashley Young, which should give you an extra 2 points to spend and replace Neville/Defoe.
+ also even if G.Neville does play, they have a tough start to the season and miss Gameweek 3
Name
P.S. Also Meite won’t play for Bolton
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gormdubhgorm - I was thinking Faubert, my mate supports West Ham and says he can whip amazing free kicks. Has anyone else heard of this or is he bluffing me, so he can get a better fanasty football team than me?
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Reply by CK on July 21, 2008 10:34 am:
I think he is bluffing you mate!
Re: Reonaldo. Yeah his value will NOT drop. It can only drop if people sell him and if no-one has him to sell…
I think alot of people will have a plan to buy him!
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Ronaldo= waste of money 14m you could get fabregas for 10m and hes guaranteed to knock a few assists + goals in and score more points than ronaldo considering ronaldo is missing at least the first 5 games of the prem than fabregas is definetely the better option in my opinion
any thoughts on my team by the way
GK:Howard,Kirkland
DEF:Lescott,Laursen,Scharner,Ferdinand,Glen Johnson
MID:Fabregas,Young,Kapo,Bullard,Lassana Diarra
ATT:Adebayor,Benjani,Kitson
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Ok, after a year to the day of lurking on this gold mine of fantasy football factoids, it’s time to start contributing.
Damien Duff got a hat trick in a pre-season friendly the other day (BBC News says so). Fair enough it was against a rubbish team, but it must mean he’s fully fit again.
Anyone similarly tempted? He’s dirt cheap in most games. A few season’s back he had a blinder and I’m wondering whether he could be a bargain this season - plenty of goals in Keegan’s Newcastle after all.
Your thoughts?
Also - Villa look awful at the back. I had Laursen from the word go last year but now he’s shot up in price I’m thinking of ignoring him. Villa weren’t great for clean sheets last year so Laursen is only valuable if he scores. How solid are Tottenham in comparison nowadays? Will Bale take free kicks? If Tottenham keep more clean sheets and Bale takes free kicks, he’s got to be better than Laursen. No?
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Reply by Phil Pino on July 21, 2008 2:16 pm:
Ah Big Phill, some very astute observations. Keegan has said that Duff hasn’t had a pre-season warm-up for the past 3 years and now is something back to his proper fitness levels (compared him to his 18yr old self!) I think if you’re willing to take a chance with a NEW player then Duff should definitely be in the thinking. I’m also tempted by Smith’s price (£5m!) if he rotates with any of the frontmen. Unfortunately NEW’s fixtures don’t look brilliant…
I also agree with you re Laursen. Whilst he did score in the Odense game a lot of 606 Villa fans were saying the CB pairing looked really dodgy. The 2nd goal they conceded was comically bad. I’ve got rid and brought Bale in. I dunno if Bale will get free-kicks (dos Santos & Modric are probably better) but if they play 4-3-3 as per pre-season games then Bale will be expected to provide some width from LB. Also, if King can stay fit then TOT will have a formidable back line!
End of essay.
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gents, any opinions on strikers for a fiver? was thinking of the 3 promoted clubs and trying to bag a bargain like jones last year. any thoughts on the best of them?
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Best 4.0m defender anyone? (Please don’t say Meite as everyone has this guy!!!)
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Reply by Phil Pino on July 21, 2008 4:19 pm:
Meite…
They’re aren’t many good ones about, you’re looking at relegation fodder defenders really but:
Griffin (STO), Paintsil (FUL), Hoefkens (WBA), Mendy, Ricketts & Brown (all HUL) are likely to play. Hard to pick though. Probably Paintsil if he plays. Otherwise, Mendy as he’s likely to get forward.
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Reply by Del on July 21, 2008 5:05 pm:
Is Meite a full back or centre back? I thought the 1st choice centre pairing for Bolton would be Cahill & A. O’Brien… can anyone clarify? Cheers.
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Reply by Phil Pino on July 21, 2008 6:37 pm:
He’s a CB. You’re also right on the 1st choice pairing. Megson prefers those two. Hence, why Meite is getting linked with a few clubs (HUL?) Don’t think he’ll start for BOL.
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Meite simply wont play for Bolton, he refused to play the second half of a game last season and Megson went mad and he hasn’t figured since.
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i’m pondering a man u defender . Who would the esteemed group pick from Neville or Brown ?
Or are they both just too risky due to rotation between the 2 ?
cheers
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Reply by CK on July 21, 2008 7:54 pm:
Ferdinand injured, Neville and Brown rotation… that only leaves Vidic.. Man U have tough opening fixtures. I think I might give the Man U defenders a miss for opening few weeks!
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Don’t forget Evra, his only competition for left back is Silvestre.
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Yeah if I were going for a MU defender I’d either go for Neville (but watch him during preseason to see if he continues to play regularly) or Evra — and I’d lean toward Evra, who is pretty competent going forward too.
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I would really appreciate your thoughts on my team:
Reina
Bosingwa, Lescott, Toure, Bale
Kapo, Fabregas, Scholes, Downing
Yakubu, Van Persie
Subs: Kirkland, Geovanni, Diouf, Pogatetz
Money: 0.5M
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Reply by Sam (Team Sam) on July 22, 2008 6:35 pm:
looks nice, but maybe you could replace Scholes. Man U miss gameweek 3, and have a feeling Scholes will have a lot less starts this season, as Anderson will start to take over his role
defence looks brilliant, and i like that you’ve got Geovanni, was beginning to think i was the only one. I’m actually starting him in the first game!
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Thomas, i think that looks a good team. Bale will be great if he gets starts. Scholes although cheap will struggle for games this season, and he plays a deeper role now. I would invest it elsewhere.
What do you think of my team?
Kirkland “Villa Keeper”
Neville Lescott Dunne Scharner O’Brien
Fabregras Gerrard Petrov Pieenar Bullard
Owen Yakubu Chopra
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looks good thomas although im not too convincd bout scholes shootin the lights out, kapo also looks good but will he do enough to be a starter in ur team? i like ur back line and strikeforce…i was also thinkin reina but if cech is the same price(and hes fit) and chelsea look like keeping more clean sheets wouldnt he be the better choice? im kinda inbetween both…
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looks good Mark and im happy to see some1 else with Petrov cant believe no1 else has mentioned him…ive also got him..what do u think of mine?
Cech (Scharwzer)
Lescott, Clichy, Bosingwa, Bale (Mendy)
Young, Fabregas, Petrov, Taylor (Geovanni)
Van Persie, Yakubu (Zamora)
I think zamora and geovanni are gonna be great value for money…remember the great start zamora got off to 2 seasons ago? already a selection headache for the first game here…cant wait for the start!
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Any thoughts for improvements with my team
Kirkland
Richards/Ferdinand/Woodgate
Arteta/Gerrard/Modric/Downing
Rooney/Berbatov/Ashton
Schwarzer/McShane/Meite/Haaman
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Reply by Alexi on July 22, 2008 1:48 pm:
no Arsenal players with such a great start to the season? u got 3 united players even tho they mis gw3(i included berbs)….other than that looks good…
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Reply by Sam (Team Sam) on July 22, 2008 6:40 pm:
a spurs player in every position is never a good move! they should be better this season, but still wouldn’t rely on them that heavily. maybe stick Petrov in for Modric, and Van Persie in for Berbatov
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Alexi,
I think that team is incredibly good. I don’t share your same confidence of zamora however. I think Healy or Chopra offer better alternatives personally. My team has now changed….
Kirkland Taylor
Neville Lescott Dunne Scharner O’Brien
Fabregras Bentley Petrov Bullard Young
Alves Yakubu Johnson
Thoughts….
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Greg,
Your team is looking good all over. Rooney is a gamble but I have a feeling he will have a great season. I think totenham will be really strong come the start of the season although there is rumour they are playing with 1 striker next season. If Berb goes to Man.Utd I think he will be prone to rotation with Tevez.
There’s a rumour, Shevchenko is going to be played up front ahead of Drogbra next season….if so at £8mm he will be an absolute steal!
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Any advice from the seasoned pros on this site would be much appreciated. It’s my 1st year in the FPL game…
Assuming Bentley leaves Blackburn, Arteta stays fit and Traore gets a few starts in midfield during pre-season this is my thinking:
Reina - Jones
Vidic - Lescott - Bosingwa - Clichy - Traore/Young
Fabregas - Young - Petrov - Arteta - Little
Yakubu - Bellamy - Derbyshire
1m in the bank.
I’m worried that I’m lacking enough big hitters like Ron, Torres, Gerrard. I think week 5/6 will be a good time to draft one of these in, but it seems that the cheaper (but safe) options suit for the first 5 games.
I’m steering clear of Chelsea midielders until we know who will be selected. Same for Brown/Neville. And I’m keeping a close eye on Duff, Agger, T. Cahill, Bale, Modric & Dos Santos in the 1st few weeks.
Thanks in advance
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Reply by Cambo on July 22, 2008 5:48 pm:
Phil, your team looks pretty good to me. Only thing you should consider by leaving out the big hitters is your captain choice.
Picking your captain each week is almost the most crucial part of the game because of the double points, and historically its always been the super stars who rule the roost. Henry, Lampard and Ronaldo have been the classic picks of previous seasons, but this season its all a bit up in the air. Fabregas is a prime candidate, but for weeks when arsenal have trickey fixtures, it may pay off to have another super star in your ranks for the captaincy.
Here’s my bunch of misfits, although its likely to change again about 50 times.
Kirkland, Schwarzer,
A.Cole, Bosingwa, G.Neville, Traore, Bale
Bullard, Fabregas, Young, Mullins, Hamann
Torres, Tevez, Ashton
cheers.
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Reply by the Moz on July 22, 2008 5:48 pm:
Half of my team is similar to yours!
I’ve gone with
Howard - Schwarzer
Cahill - Lescott - Bosingwa - Clichy - (Paintsil)
Fabregas - Young - Modric - Pienaar - (Vogel)
Torres - Van Persie - (Moore)
I think Arsenal will start off strong again.
I like the idea of Modric in a 4-2-3-1
Pienaar is great value
Cahill is a good cheap defender to have all season.
(Guys in brackets - Keep on swapping these ones around)
Just a bit worried how to fit in Man Utd player after gw5
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right guys. i reshuffled my team a bit trying to bounce olympics distractions and at the some time try to exploit a first 5 fixtures schedule where: MU lack Cron and have a blank GW 3, Everton fixtures list looks the most promising etc… here it goes:
cech-schwarzer
lescot-bosingwa-laursen-scharner (meite)
fabregas-young-petrov-(pienaar/dempsey)
torres-yakubu(harewood)
Recently I swapped Ferdinand for Lescott, Jo for Yakubu, Modric for Petrov etc..
Still I am big fan of Bale and he’s 6.0, Modric (but Petrov is more rigid and stable), Defoe in case Yakubu is sleeping..and for a long time… ZERO Man.Utd players…who are current champions btw
but the fact of CRON out and tough schedule this is how it is…
any thoughts?
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anyone gona take a gamble on kuyt this year??
He’s classed as a Midfielder in the FPL which is the only reason im considering putting him in my team.
Hes competing with torres and gerrard for goals but may play upfront quite alot esp with rafas tinkering.
He should get more than the average amount of goals for a midfielder.
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Reply by the Moz on July 22, 2008 7:48 pm:
I think Kuyt is too expensive at £8.5mil when you can get Young, Bentley, Downing, Petrov, Modric, Essien, Arteta (Cahill wneh fit)….
But worth thinking about Kuyt. Trouble is he was rotated as much as any Liverpool player around Champions League time.
Do you think if Liverpool finish 4th again this year, Rafa will be asked to move on?
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longjohn: interesting gamble for kuyt. he might be a star or just be dead. and he’s 8.5 while bentley is 8.0, arteta, downing, modric and petrov are 7.5..young and barry are 8.5 too but even they are more promising.. but Kuyt is still an interesting gamble.
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Reply by longjohn on July 22, 2008 7:58 pm:
yea thanks for the advice i think ill go for arteta in midfield instead then especially given evertons opening fixtures he should prosper..
i think a fourth place finish this year for liverpool will mean rafa will have to go, unless they do well in the CL again and win a cup.
My team so far is
Cech (Swarchzer)
Laursen Terry Cahill Baines (Scharner)
Fabregas Noble Arteta Young (Taylor, Bol)
RVP Yak (Ashton)
Im hoping Everton and West ham get good starts and splashed the cash on Terry as i think he’s due a few goals this season.
Thoughts??
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good team liking the back 4 should be some good points with all 4 set for regular games would go for crouch rather than yakubu though as he seems to be linking up well in pre-season with defoe so lots of assists and goals look on the cards.
my team! post your thoughts!!!
Reina,(Schwarzer)
Lescott, G.Johnson, Laursen, Clichy, (Paintsil)
Fabregas, Petrov, Pienaar, Young, (Geovanni)
Adebayor, Crouch, (Kitson)
thinking also of replacing Adebayor with Rooney any thoughts?
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like many,ive changed this a billion times. would love thoughts on this one though, its a bit unorthodox, but i like it:)
howard/kirkland
clichy toure bosingwa a.cole
fabregas lampard young geovanni
torres stokes (or rooney later on)
a.obrien,vogel and some other muppet striker.
what doth thou think gents?
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Reply by the Moz on July 22, 2008 8:28 pm:
Solid back line, Jim. Though I’d worry about Arsenal keeping as many clean sheets as Man U. And it’ll be interesting to see if Cole and Bridge will be rotated. Perhaps Carvalho is a better choice.
Plenty of Captain material there.
I’m sure Young will have a great year.
And Torres is bound to score a hat trick or two!!
I’ve got Vogel in my team - just hopes he gets regular starts
Perhaps after a few weeks you could get a Man U defender, a Portsmouth defender and possibly a Portsmouth striker cos Portsmouth will finish 5th this year!!
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Reply by jim on July 22, 2008 8:42 pm:
fir play Moz. with you on the portsmouth ideas, and after the start was gonna move away from heavy arsenal backline. Agree also on the carvalho over cole. i can see chelsea having a solid clean sheet record this year, i dunno bout united though- the absence of ronaldo could really put alot more pressure on the defence- how many opposition players hung back because of his potential, and also, the time he spent attacking. should be well interesting.
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This is my time, and I have to say, I’m rather pleased with it:
Green (Schwarzer or whichever young Borough goalie gets the nod)
Boswinga, Clichy, Lescott, Neville/Brown, (Steinsson)
Young, Fabregas, Petrov, Pienaar, (Fernandes)
Yakubu, Van Persie, (Zamora)
And 1.5 million in the bank, in all likelihood to upgrade to Adebayor / Drogba when Van Persie knackers himself.
Looking for some clean sheets from the boremonger Megson, and possibly Bruce later on in the season.
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This is my time, and I have to say, I’m rather pleased with it:
Green (Schwarzer or whichever young Borough goalie gets the nod)
Boswinga, Clichy, Lescott, Neville/Brown, (Steinsson)
Young, Fabregas, Petrov, Pienaar, (Geovanni)
Yakubu, Van Persie, (Zamora)
And 1.5 million in the bank, in all likelihood to upgrade to Adebayor / Drogba when Van Persie knackers himself.
Looking for some clean sheets from the boremonger Megson, and possibly Bruce later on in the season.
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i think crouch could be a star of the season. definitely a draft in after portsmouth tough start.
reina/schwarzer
wheater, clichy, ferdinand, scharner, campbell
fabregas, young, nolan, petrov, lawrence
crouch, yakubu,diouf
i’m sure this will change a million times more though. diouf and nolan are really to capitalise on boltons early start then i think it’ll be bullard and kitson depending on how stoke adjust
who do people think will be the lescott and laursen of this season in defence?
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Reply by Richard on July 22, 2008 10:20 pm:
Stick me down for Huth i think he’s great value at 4.5 if he stays fit…Big centre back who will go up for set pieces, picked up bonus points at the end of last year and Southgate rates him very important segment of the team. You heard it here first :o)
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I’m hoping the strikers start slowly again…5-4-1 for me opening day of the season…
Jaaskelainen (Kirkland)
Clichy Lescott Vidic Cahill Bosingwa
Essien Fabregas Young Arteta (Geovanni)
Van Persie (Derbyshire Kitson)
Come on the clean sheets :o)
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James/Schwarzer
Agger/Bosingwa/Dunne
Fabregas/Lennon/Geovanni/Gerrard
Torres/The Big Yak/Zamora
Subs :
Schwarzer
mendy
gary cahill
hamann
what you all think?
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What i don’t understand is WHY is Clichy so expensive. Arsenal leak goals more than Chelsea do and their defenders are cheaper. Another thing, what team is Dos Santos playing for. Can’t find him on the FPL site.
Thoughts on my team. New to this Premierleague fantasy.
Van der Sar/Al-Habsi
Bosingwa,Skrtel,A O’Brien(Scharner & Pantsil)
Fab,Ballack,Petrov,Downing,Geovanni
Carew,RVP(Alves)
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Reply by Sam (Team Sam) on July 23, 2008 1:53 am:
Dos Santos is at Tottenham. he’s listed as a striker, under his first name Giovani.
Team looks very nice. Van der Sar however misses gameweek 3, and has some tough fixtures, so maybe stick Reina/Cech in instead. Also not sure if Skrtel is worth 6mil considering he’ll be rotated. For that price Bale (if he’s fit), Laursen, and Jagielka might prove more reliable options
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Reply by Richard on July 23, 2008 4:08 am:
Jagielka himself may also be rotated this year. I’m convined Moyes will go back to Baines at left back and put Lescott back to cb which leaves 1 of Yobo and Jagielka to partner him. Does anyone else think that even if fit Gareth Bale may not occupy a left midfield role for spurs this year?? His price is set because in the few games he played there last year he wasin a more attacking role but i have a feeling he will revert back to lb. Thoughts?
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Reply by Alexi on July 23, 2008 7:33 am:
even at left bak tho Richard he will overlap countless times and will def. take a couple of free kicks…i think the kid has got summin really special about him whether hes at lb or lm…thats just me of course…
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Reply by Andy P on July 23, 2008 11:22 am:
Bale is quality and LB or left wing, I reckon he will get most his points from set pieces though so it doesn’t matter too much where he plays.
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Thanks Sam,
will take the goalkeeper advice into account especially after Gameweek 3 they play Liverpool. Cech it is
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Hmm the big question is, will Chelsea be as solid at the back as they have been before, what with Big Phils promise of more exciting attacking football? I’m not sure but as it stands my team is this….
Cech - Just to start off with and see how it goes…
Jones - At 4mill if he starts good back up….
A. Cole - If they are going to attack more, i’d hope for some assists
Bosingwa - Ditto
Lescott - Likes to score, Everton have by far the easiest start…
R Talyor - Will wait for Wigans tricky patch to end, but a def who takes pens, free kicks and corners should be worth the odd goal/assist to make up for the lack of clean sheets…
Mendy - At 4mill if he starts good back up….
Downing - Well hub of most things attacking for ‘boro…
Fabergas - Same but for Arsenal…
Young - If barry goes, its going to be all though Young…
Geovani - Seems to be playing up front lol
Routledge - Cheap and with us having a small squad could play a part and i’d tip him for making an impact at some point in the season…
The Yak - Mainly due to Evertons easy start…
Alves - Give him a full season and i expect him to reach 15-20 goals…
Adebayor - Well…they play Baggies first…was toying with RVP?
Possible changes…
Cech to Reina, Van Der Sar or someone else
Adebayor to Drogba….
Also will be looking to see if Kalou starts regular enuff for a forward in a midfield spot…
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Everyone has the same 7-8 players. What do people think to Martins as a dark horse, especially if Viduka (and Owen) are often injured.
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Hello everyone, I’ve been lurking too long - what do you reckon to this line up?
Almunia, (Kirkland)
Steinsson, P Neville, A O’Brien,(Bale, Young)
Fabregas, Lampard, Noble, (Geovanni), A Young
Van P, Ashton, Bent
Constructive criticism very welcome.
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