Aug
15
Essien Out. Deco A Doubt
Must have missed this one earlier but according to Scolari, Deco is struggling for fitness for Sunday’s opener with Portsmouth, while Essien is out with a “leg injury”.
‘Deco didn’t train today because of something in his knee and ankle and he may not play on Sunday”, remarked Scolari today.
Essien meanwhile has been struggling with an injury since returning from Chelsea’s tour of asia and it is hoped that he will return to training next week. Wright-Phillips now seems set to get a start and Ballack could also figure if Deco fails to make it.
Laursen Or Jagielka
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Reply by Steve on August 15, 2008 10:02 pm:
Laursen
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both the same really. both will be a threat for there teams. But, looks like jags in the midfield as everton have no midfield at the moment.
The Dog
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Laursen - Villa’s defence is stronger now, and he’s proving pre-season he’s still good for a few goals
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Laursen for me then
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OK, my midfield and attack seem kind of sorted, but I’m worried about my defence. I sort of know which teams I want to invest in, but not sure whether I want them in defence or in goal… which sounds better:
1)
GK: Reina, Jaaskerlainen
DF: Sagna, Carvalho, Cahill, L.Young, Figueroa
2)
GK: Cech, Jaaskerlainen
DF: Sagna, Carragher, Cahill, L.Young, Figueroa
3)
GK: Jaaskerlainen, Kirkland
DF: Sagna, Carragher, Carvalho, L.Young, Figueroa
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Reply by Steve on August 15, 2008 10:17 pm:
Sam, 3?? it’s a tricky one. i don’t fancy arsenal for may clean sheets, how about sagna for a man u defender or is their tricky start and no game week 3 putting you off? It’s difficult to call between the 3. Are you not worried about carragher getting rafatated?
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Reply by Sam (Team Sam) on August 15, 2008 10:21 pm:
a little, I’m leaning towards 1. Basically, I will be replacing Carvalho for Bosingwa next week freeing up 0.5 (plus I already have 0.5 in the bank), then after Man Utd’s fixtures I’ll use that to bring one of their defenders in…. so confused!! (my girlfriend is not happy about me spending so much of my evening staring at a fantasy football screen!!)
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Reply by Steve on August 15, 2008 10:29 pm:
yep, my gf was made up that the test matches had finished until she noticed i’ve spent all week on the pc and then she saw an ad for 3 (oh yes get in!!) live games on Sky this weekend. She hasn’t noticed that the 1 day final is on SS2 tomorrow either!
go for option 3 then mate. bolton have friendly fixtures and outfield players have more chance of getting goals/assists. therefore option 3 has 3 outfield players from the big 4 teams. the other options only have 2.
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Reply by CK on August 15, 2008 10:35 pm:
ha ha yeah my girlfriend throwing a strop too. I told her its ONLY this Friday night cos its opening day of season. I lied! lol
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Been reading this site a while as I play telegraph FF. I have not seen these news at all except on here. And there I was thinking my team was finally sorted! Now I suppose Downing in as it was a toss up between deco/downing anyway.
Or Arteta………….. Downing me thinks as I already have some Everton players.
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guys,
should i take a punt on this Zaki bloke for wigan?
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Reply by Andy P on August 15, 2008 11:23 pm:
Too much of a gamble for me, he’s on my watch list though.
For an extra 0,5m I’d go for Ashton.
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Reply by CK on August 15, 2008 11:24 pm:
I was tempted but I’m gonna wait and see. Have Chelsea next week and then have nice fixtures after that. Wait till then. Zamora is a better buy till then
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Thanks again, MArk. I had Essien already to play tomorrow. No probs I’ll swap Gerrard for Downing and Essien for Lamps>
I had a really bad start last season so I want all my players on the pitch this weekend!
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Does the lack of a mention of Bosingwa mean that he is ready to go?
Most of the game previews have him listed although some have Essien pencilled in at right-back.
I know I shouldn’t start with a doubtful player but I don’t want to have to bring him in in a couple of weeks and I have Jagielka as my first sub so I feel a little less exposed.
I fancy Chelsea’s clean sheet potential as being better than Everton’s though.
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Anyone care to give the likelihood that Bosingwa will start tomorrow? Plus, Sagna for assist threat, or Gallas for goal threat??
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Reply by Mark on August 16, 2008 12:25 am:
As I understand it, Bosingwa has been in light training and would be a risk on Scolari’s part. He has a chance but I’d say it was an outside one. Sagna or Gallas - I’d probably go Gallas if they were identical price - close though.
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Most popular team on FPL:
James 17% (Schwarzer 38%)
Ferdinand 33% Laursen 29% Lescott 25% (Johnson 16%) (Meite 22%)
Bentley 32% Gerrard 30% Fabregas(27%!) Young 18% (Hamann 17%)
Torres 44% Adebayor 19% Defoe 18%
Please make a note of this team as a benchmark to beat by the end of the season - if we cant beat the “market” view, then what are we doing here?
Few points:
Im shocked at how many people are holding on to Fabregas - surely going to be able to pick him up at 9.8 in 2wks time
Meite/Hamann also way too high but they probably remain as unused subs so not sure how much they fall - maybe 0.1 at most
I cannot believe how few people are picking Young - madness - he’s my captain this week
Also, lot of people have picked Torres, although he will be a top performer this season - can see him being sacrificed for the in form striker.
Other players:
Shockingly, Taylor only picked by 0.7% - probably by the readership of this site. If he does well, heres a great chance to make money early doors.
Good chance to make money out of Jussi too - just 4% picks
I can also see people switching out of Hamann into De ridder and out of meite into figueroa…
Good luck for the season… wish you the best
Its 2am this is dedication…
ITS NOT JUST A GAME!
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OK, going to bed. I’m leaving Bosingwa in, as if he plays could score well, and if not, I’m alright with L.Young coming off the bench as he’s playing a Man City side that don’t look likely to score. So, here it is, my team for the first gameweek:
GK: Jaaskerlainen
DF: Bosingwa, Gallas, Carragher
MF: Bentley, Lampard, A.Young, M.Taylor
ST: Adebayor(c), D.Bent, Ashton
subs: Kirkland, L.Young, De Ridder, Figueroa
bank: 0.5
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Reply by Dr. Rog on August 16, 2008 1:09 am:
im the same but
no bosingwa (coming in wk2), carragher, no kirkland
instead i have laursen, baines & tunball and 2.5mln cash
i’m focusing on reducing transfers and cash in the bank will give flexibility + facilitates the fabregas & downing plan!
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i fancy bolton c/s against stoke - has anybody heard whether gary cahill is suspended?
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Reply by Jack on August 16, 2008 9:18 am:
Someone helpfully pointed this link out to me: http://www.thefa.com/thefa/dis.....layers.htm
Answer is no :D.
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Thanks jack!
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last minute changes…arrghh!!
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Jagielka and Alves or…
Baines and Bent
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shattered i saw deco was a doubt and traded him… now he has a goal and an assist on debut…
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