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Oct 04

The Pre-match Preamble

Back once again to get the Saturday morning support group going, here’s a collection of random thoughts. Some of which might be of use to you…

Let’s start with Scolari, who, as I said yesterday, is rapidly becoming my favourite Premiership boss with his pre-match sessions (although I notice that Kinnear is doing all he can to change that). Something that was widely missed in yesterday’s team news round-ups around the sites and papers was that Anelka is apparently nursing an injury.

“He has a little problem with muscle spasms,” mentioned Scolari. “He did not train on Friday but I think he will train the day before the match.d papers was that Anelka is apparently suffering from a injury problem.”

Not a major cause for concern perhaps, with Scolari backing him to start and indeed backing him to have a hand in a Chelsea win, although he the Chelsea boss must be playing a different fantasy game to all of us…

”He has 10 assists this season, and we need him to make it 12,” added Scolari.

Chelsea are certainly likely to need to notch a couple of goals to see off a Villa side who look good for a goal at Stamford Bridge. This morning’s papers are backing a return for Joe Cole following Scolari’s conference yesterday - Kalou appears to be the favourite to make way with Malouda keeping his starting role. Cole could be a crucial factor today, but Lampard will surely be the key figure. He’s given a all to arms to his team mates this week as he looks to them to contribute more goals in Drogba’s absence - that will surely see him fire more than a few efforts in on Friedel’s goal tomorrow. Certainly Gareth Barry is well aware of his threat. Which leads me on to the Fantasy Premier League Captain debate.

I’m happy to admit that I’m well and truly wavering on Ronaldo this week. We know he’s not 100%, we know that he started in the Champions League on Tuesday, and we know that Ince will have Blackburn all over him from the off. United will need a couple of goals and Ronaldo will surely be instrumental in some capacity but is this a week to look elsewhere?

As I mentioned in yesterday’s picks, Lampard is a very strong fall-back, while Zaki is the form option. He’s up against a Boro defence that might lose Huth and Taylor today and looks odds on for points at the JJB. With Ronaldo drafted in by thousands of fantasy managers this week, it’s likely that we’ll see 90% of those handing him the captaincy this week. That’s a consideration if you’re looking to make up some ground. There won’t be many weeks when there’s a doubt over Ronaldo’s likely contribution or a worthy option in opposition. Neglecting Ronaldo as Captain is clearly a gamble - the damage he can do is that substantial. However, with half-an-hour to go before the FPL deadline, I’m edging towards Frank.

Wandering off on another tangent I found it interesting this morning that Sky Sports are focusing on Arsenal’s vulnerability at set-plays going into their game at Sunderland. This extended to questioning Roy Keane on the matter after his side were the latest to fall foul to Villa’s threat from set-pieces, he was talking up their importance and hinted that his side have been working on them this week prior to the Arsenal game.

Wenger did threaten changes after the Hull defeat. They didn’t arrive against Porto but they could come this weekend. I’m currently leaning 60-40 in favour that he will bring in fit-again Song for Denilson in midfield, although none of this morning’s papers appear to agree with me. I’m also hoping that Wenger rests Van Persie post-Champions League once again, opting for the extra height that Bendtner would provide when defending set plays. I brought in Bendtner as my cheap option striker to allow for the Ronaldo move last gameweek. A start for the Dane is looking like a long shot but potentially profitable if it comes off for me.

I can’t leave this without going back to Kinnear and Newcastle. Yesterday’s rant, was for me, a stance taken to instill a siege mentality in his side ahead of the trip to Goodison. Having said that, he referred to the press interviewing players that had played under him that he had rejected and, having sat and watched ex-Forest striker David Johnson talk down Kinnear’s chances of rescuing Newcastle on Sky, I did feel a little bit uncomfortable about the angle that was taken on his appointment, and that’s coming from a Forest fan.

Joe was as good as gold on Friday apparently, concerned more about his injury worres with news arriving that right back Habib Beye is not fit to make a return to his lineup. Expect Cacapa or Taylor to shift to the right then and expect Newcastle to throw in a few tasty challenges from the off. If they can hold it at 0-0 until half-time then they might have a decent shout. If Everton can score early however, I’ve a horrible feeling that it could go very wrong for them. I’ve kept faith with Arteta in my picks and FPL lineup - hopefully a calm, productive level head in what could be cauldron.

That will be all for this morning then. I’m still yet to press that “reject button” on Ronaldo’s captaincy, but it’s coming, I can feel it. Let’s hope the damage is minimal. See you on the other side. Good luck all.

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There are currently 340 responses

  1. Zaki or Ronaldo ?

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    As I say, not giving Ron the armband is a gamble. If you’re riding high and in touch then stick with Ron, if you need to make up some ground then, with so many likely to be banking on Ron this week, Zaki is clearly a good option.

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    Im actually already over 100 points ahead in my private league beleive it or not but i want to go further ahead , Zaki it is.

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    yep - same here

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  2. Cheers!

    Btw, Villa’s keeper is Friedel, not Friedal. ;)

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    I fall for that every time

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  3. jyri, youre a spa

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    It takes one to know one.

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    ouuuuch

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  4. dont suppose anyone got any news on zamora or delap. heard they may be out.

    is it worth swapping them.. as they are my bench players this week.. and it is my wildcard week

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    Delap is 50-50, we’re likely to know more later today - my gut feeling is that he’ll miss out. I’ve kept Zamora in my lineup so I’m banking on him being okay.

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  5. Carson Berbatov or Cech and Defoe

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  6. or hart berbatov

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  7. carson berbatov for this week, but the latter as a long term, imo

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  8. flipped a coin - came up Ron for captain, and I’m still going with Zaki!

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  9. hart berbatov long term option?

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  10. cech n defoe - long term option. defoe a 20 goal +, n cech well we all know cech

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  11. I have gone the gamble - C’mon Zaki - give me a hatrick!

    I hate the fact that I’ll be p^ssed off if Ron scores, even though he’s in my team!

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    Haha. I will be peed off if Ronaldo scores a hatrick too, but for the reason I have chosen not to buy him!

    I’m going for Zaki as captain.

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  12. RVP will be rest or not??

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  13. majorty of managers hav zaki n ronaldo in the same team, it wont be that bad if either of them does well.. jus as long as u hav the other. I hav them both but decided to giv lampard the arm band

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  14. 11.30 it is…

    now its crunch time boys n girls.

    best of luck!

    at the end of the day its fun : )

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  15. just changed zaki for lampard as captain- wise choice? who knows!!!hate putting it on a striker, and he has to have a bad week some week!!! HAD HIM FROM THE START OUR ZAKI, and i touted him here before the start of the season…hopefully frankie boy will sort me out…

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  16. lock down.

    had some major 11.25 jitters about making the Zak the captain over Ron.

    didnt listen to them though. hope they both score a shed load of points

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  17. Went for Ronnie but really fancy Zaki this week. I am now in the strange position of wanting Zaki not to score even though I have him. Strange game this

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  18. Dan: “I hate the fact that I’ll be p^ssed off if Ron scores, even though he’s in my team!” That’s so true!!! I got Lampard as captain. good luck everyone!

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  19. I have zaki and ronnie but went for defoe at last minute.

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    10:37 is the 53rd last minute…………

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    The two times are an hour out of sync, smartypants.

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  20. Good luck to all, hopefully it’ll be a good weekend for the fantasyscoutleague. It would be lovely to go into the international break with this league right near the top wouldn’t it? Fingers crossed.

    As for me in my league, I’m top of my league at the moment and have captained Zaki, I would imagine most others in my league will have captained Ronaldo, with a handful opting for Lampard and Zaki. So we’ll see how it goes. A final good luck boys and girls.

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  21. wondered who had the kahunas to giv the arm band to an outsider…

    bonsingwa, berbatov, clichy - perhaps

    sometimes the obvious choice doesnt always bare up, early stages of season a gamble is not to bad, jus as long as u hav the other key players who r obvious captain choice so u wont be stung that badly

    jr

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  22. Went for Laursen Captain , I can see him scoring against Chelsea.

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    i am afraid you will get burned.

    (now watch him score 2 and pick up 3 bonus)

    but thats the beauty of fantasy football!

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  23. i dont see that as a good shout, well he may score with the lack of carvalho n possible terry but a clean sheet i doubt AV will keep. imo

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  24. We will see.

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  25. Jesus… Gutted for the pple who have Ronaldo, Lamps AND Zaki! I was missing Mr Goal A Game so I chose Lamps… Drafted in Zaki for Robinho at the last minute, then closed the window before I could reconsider my captain option :P. I’m kinda glad, to be honest!

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  26. Ive stuck with ronaldo, i believe most of my competitors neear the top in my league now have him and will almost certainly captain him, and whilst there a good chance that either zaki or lamps will score well, i can’t risk losing huge amounts of points.

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  27. wondered what happened to silverstre.. wenger did say that he wants to giv him his first start..

    could we see clichy dropped to the bench today..

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  28. I think wenger will only drop clichy if there is a dificult CL game during the week. Dont see silvestre coming in very soon..

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  29. Gone for Defoe as captain..

    Had a late night on Thursday but hopefully he will be at his predatory best on Sunday..

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    Me too ,i feel he has more chance of an assist for crouch and he should score 1 at least,got a feeling ronny isn’t going to have a great game.Fingers crossed.

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  30. i like this clichy although he seems over priced ive kept my faith in him. he seems to get into great positions (like evra).. but need to get a few assists or a goal even to justify that price tag.. he n evra are on a 5 week contract at my team.

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  31. I actually have a good team built around Ronaldo.

    Cech ( Hart )
    Bosingwa Laursen Hangeland Figueroa Wheater
    Ronaldo Arteta Young Etherington Delap
    Alves Defoe Zaki

    With 1.2 in the bank bringing in Evra for Wheater next g/w for the home game against West Brom

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    good idea that; swapping wheater for evra

    you need another top four defender, or two.

    mids look nice. plus two solid gks

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    really good them but I dont see the reason in having Cech and Hart

    yes, it does let you rotate between the two depending on fixtures but how many games do chelsea play when you say “They won’t get a clean sheet this weekend”

    1…maybe 2?

    The only time I can see you, using Hart is when Chelsea vs Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd away from home and Hart versus someone like Bolton at home

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  32. Hey everyone,

    Just wanted to air my opinion on the Lampard, Ronaldo & Zaki conundrum. In my view, you have to look at the respective fixtures, fitness and form of the players in question.

    Lampard v Potentially difficult team to break down at the Bridge

    Ronaldo v A team that conceded four goals at home to Arsenal

    Zaki v A team that has conceded two goals a game so far this season.

    Looking at the above facts alone, the two to pick should be Ronaldo & Zaki. Unlike Zaki, Lampard also played in a tough Champions League away match midweek. Ronaldo is claiming he is still not fully fit, but managed to pick up man of the match in his first Premiership start last week. Personally, I have never rated Lampard in the same league as Ronaldo. He gets a lot of his goals from penalties and deflected strikes, but goals are goals. As we all know, football’s a funny old game. Best of luck to everyone, whoever you choose.

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  33. I missed the deadline and have Dunne, Denilson and Zamora playing :( Fabregas captain from last week should have been lampard !

    Ahhhh fuck need some luck.

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  34. Gone with Big Ron as Capitano.

    I do prefer to have a midfielder wearing the armband, though I can see the attraction of Defoe and Zaki, both who are in my team, though buying Ron last week was done to assist me when handing out the captains armband, as I’m always picking the wrong guy!

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  35. If I had to sacrifice one of SWP, Young or Arteta to bring in either Ronaldo or Lampard, who should be out and who should I bring in?

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    I have Ronaldo, Lampard, SWP, Denilson.

    I sold Arteta 2-3 weeks ago for SWP and sold A Young to bring in Ronaldo last week. Everton still has tough fixtures ahead and i think it’s a choice between keeping Young or SWP.

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    Agree with you on Everton’s tough upcoming fixtures. Ideally, I’d like to keep SWP and A Young. Both of them would generate plenty of assists and goals over the course of the season. Might have to settle for Lampard for Arteta. Ronaldo’s too freaking expensive. Might have to take a 12 point hit if I insist on bringing Ronnie in.

    Current squad:

    Cech/Schwarzer
    Bosingwa/Laursen/Skrtel/Fig/Ricketts
    SWP/A Young/Arteta/Etherington/Denilson
    Berbatov/Adebayor/Defoe

    Proposed changes for Lampard:
    Out: Arteta, Etherington, Berbatov
    In: Lampard, Marney, Zaki

    Proposed changes for Ronaldo:
    Out: Arteta, Etherington, Berbatov, Adebayor
    In: Ronaldo, Marney, Zaki, 8.5-for-another-striker

    What do you suggest Aris?

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    Err, hard for me to suggest bringing in either Ronaldo or Lampard since i have both. But anyway, I’m assuming you’ll want to play a 3-4-3 formation?

    I think you have invested quite a bit in your front line (nothing wrong with that) but like you said if you want to accommodate Ronaldo you may need to downgrade them to cheaper strikers.

    Also, i think man city have slightly easier fixtures compared to aston villa if you’re deciding on which one of the two of SWP and Young to keep. You may/may not want to keep Etherington, depends on how he does this weekend?

    I would suggest (just what i would do in your position) downgrading Laursen to someone like A Traore and rotate him with Figueroa depending on fixtures. As for your midfield i see it as either a way of accommodating SWP+Young or Ronaldo+Lampard, but since you didn’t have Zaki when he was 6.0 i’ll actually say go for either one not both. So how about something like:

    Cech, Schwarzer
    Bosingwa, Skrtel, A Traore, Figueroa, Ricketts
    Ronaldo/Lampard, Young, SWP, Denilson/Etherington, Marney
    Zaki/Defoe/Berbatov/Carew/C.Cole

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    Haha…you know what? I made my transfers before I headed off to the pub just now and before reading your reply.

    My team now is almost similar to your suggestion:

    Cech, Schwarzer
    Bosingwa, Skrtel, Laursen, Figueroa, Ricketts
    Ronaldo, Young, SWP, Denilson, Etherington
    Zaki, Defoe, C.Cole

    Keeping Laursen coz he’s a goal threat and a bonus magnet. Only took a 8 point hit to bring in Ronaldo. Vindicated by Adebayor’s and Berbatov’s lack of points again. Will be eyeing to transfer out Ricketts in the following gameweek. Etherington is under close observation with Marney on standby as replacement.

    Anyone got the code to join FISO’s FPL League? Is there one for this forum?

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    I’d ditch Arteta, as Everton have 2 tough fixtures coming up. Who to bring in - both are almost as good as each other, but I already have both Lampard and Ronaldo, so it’s a decision I no longer have to struggle over! If push comes to shove - Ronaldo.

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  36. I’m going to bring Nasri in for Arteta for the next couple of weeks.

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  37. Firstly, I went for Zaki over Ronaldo, mainly because Ronaldo played 90mins on Tuesday 100’s of miles away, while Zaki was sitting at home with his feet up. Also, ‘Boro have unbelievably poor at the back.

    Hoping Ronaldo does really well as only 2 people in my main mini league have him!!

    Secondly, if RVP doesn’t play (as Mark is suggesting/hoping) then I’ll sell him and vow NEVER to buy him again. Can’t see it though as he only played about 60mins mid-week after scoring 2 and setting one up (I also have him in my champions league team :) ), and Wenger said it was purely tactical.

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  38. it will be interesting to see what team arsene whinger puts out. he might as well field a bunch kids as far as i am concerned and rest all his big players for CL. He could also put bendtner in defence and get rid of hopeless gallas.

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  39. I’m getting Fran withdrawal symtoms. There is far too much sense being posted on here this morning. Where are you Fran, master, oh holy one?

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    Enjoy the peace while it lasts!!

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    He is getting his legs waxed

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  40. Well, just to add the discussion, I have Lampard, Arteta, Ronny and Zaki. Have given the armband to the Zakster, like a previous comment made, Lampard and Ronny have travelled this week, both games 90mins while the Zakster (I’m hoping that catches on) has been sat at home playing playstation and thinking about the hatrick he could score against one of the worst defences (IMO) at the moment, a defence that is also struggling with injuries.

    Dont get me wrong it certainly is a difficult decision but for me, with all things taken into account, the Zakster (picking it up yet?) get the nod by a small margin.

    I’m also interested to hear about people thinking of ditching Arteta. Is it worth it? From what I have seen he is back to his best of 2 seasons ago and will only get stronger and stronger. PLus, everton will eventually sort out their defense so he will also start adding clean sheet pts to his weekly bounty.

    I have also left Bosingwa and Cech in, I think chelsea will have too much for villa at the bridge, clean sheet IMO.

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    screw zakster.

    ZakAttack is the way to go

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  41. I went for Zaki but know i will regret it. thinking of making a last minute change in my TFF team….. for those that dont play, itys important you get long term scorers in as you are limited to transfers. Defenders score big in clean sheets. so….

    Bale out now or wait 2 games?

    If now, swap for Alex, G.Neville, Dossena or Sagna?

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  42. my team is:

    foster

    carvalho degen meite

    deco scholes kranjcar guitterez babel

    drogba eduardo ashton

    could you please provide any suggestions on how to improve this team. cheers

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    dots. lame

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  43. perhaps SAF might like a go in goal?

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  44. sorry that is 12 players. i will drop guitterez to the bench and make babel captain

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  45. I’ve got ronaldo, lampard and young but I went with neither of them… instead… I have BERBATOV AS CAPTAIN!!!!! nice to do soemthing different, just hopefully i dont see everyone cashing in on a zaki hat trick or soemthing haha

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    I have just looking at the team line ups in my mini league and only 1 team have ronny in there out of 20 teams! Really surprised by that, does anyone else see a lack of ronny selection with their competitors?

    I have him so get scoring you portugese ‘winker’

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    Berb as capt? Very brave move dude

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  46. Penicillin.

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  47. kammy, easy, stop wasting our time, all injured.

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  48. anyone checked out crack the code this morning?! Huge movements in the price rise and falls across loads of players.

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  49. coming back to reality, i have marney in my first 11. is this a good move. tottenham look very poor at the moment and i don’t see them beating hull. i can see possible bonus/assist points for marney should hull prevail.

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  50. yea i just looked through my mini league and Im the only one with Ronaldo apart from one guy near the bottom who still has Mendes so hes not exactly a threat! Maybe i was foolish making zaki captain, I should be milking the Ronaldo points fest before everyone else catches on!

    still mulling my defensive issue in TFF game though. What do you think….

    Bale out now or after the hull game?
    If now, replace with G.Neville, Alex, Sagna or Dossena?

    Need long term option that will score plenty of clean sheet. Thanks for your help on this!

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    Sit tight dude. Zaki will score again. Although Ron will get 90mins and of course that should mean points!!

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  51. of those 4 Sagna is probably the safest-G.neville may be rotated a fair bit, Alex is likely to lose his place as soon as Carv is back and Dossena could be Rafatated.

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  52. Bale out now, Hull will score against tottenham, in fact my brothers under 11 team could score against tottenham.

    Sagna is injured at the mo (I think), I would go for G Neville simply because I think he could be amazing value….. just as long as he remains injury free……its a slight gamble but if it comes good you are looking at good price rise and plenty of clean sheets/

    PLus if it makes you feel better, I have Lampard, Ronaldo and Arteta but have gone for Zaki as Captain….

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    Sagna isn’t injured, I agree with Will.

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  53. i also think aurelio will start more games from now on. it’s a shame he’s not a regular starter though as he takes some of the set pieces. he would certainly be in my team if he was.

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  54. You can only count on Carragher to start in the liverpool defence, hence why he is now 7m!! Crazy price for a none scoring defender IMO

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  55. what if carragher gets injured. what will rafa do then

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  56. i can’t see any of the big 4 keeping a clean sheet this weekend. i think it will be down to the midfielders and strikers to bring in the big points

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  57. probably put Gerrard in defence

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  58. regarding the chelsea game, i think lampard will be pushed further upfield. this adds to his goal scoring potential significantly.

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  59. I thought sagna was probably least likely to be rotated but i already have almunia and clichy. TFF is a funny game compared to FPL…. If a defender get s a clean sheet he gets 6 points minimum but let in 1 goal and that drops to 1pt! No price rises either.

    Are you sure sagna is injured?
    Whats the story with Nevilles injury, anyone know if hes playing today?

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    sagna starting eboue on bench

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  60. neville isn’t going to start

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  61. ok thanks Kammy. I think im gonna sit tight and wait to see how Neville gets on. LIke you say, Dossena is gonna get rafatated, and putting neville in lets me keep some cash in the bank. According to SAF, hes gonna play the weekend games but skip the midweeks.

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  62. on a side note, since playing my wildcard last week ot get ronnie in, my team value has risen by 0.8M (now sitting at 101.7M) Zaki, berbs, ronaldo, figueroa and bosingwa have all shot up and will probably make even more if this weekend goes well. definitely an argument for playing the wildcard early.

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    I have an interesting theory. I have been watching the transfer activities of the guy that has won the league for the last two years. He used his wildcard in week 3 and have consistently spent points bringing in players (not this week). He isn’t doing very well at the moment but his squad value is £102.4M.

    Does anyone think this is his plan? That is, to increase his squad value in the first 6-7 weeks and then be able to afford the better players later on. Or do people think he is panicking. I have a sneaky suspicion that he knows what he’s doing.

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    Its what I try and do Akers, build squad value for the first part of the season, then try and make those extra millions count later on. I try not to spend more than 4 points a week doing it tho.

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    Sorry everyone including Akers - Been busy all day!!!
    You are definitely right Akers with you post here!!! Some good players build up the cash early and then try to get big players especially in the midfield area. How do I know? B cos I am doing exactly that! I am 20 point away from the top in my league and have got 103.8M as the total cost of my team! It gives you flexibility later on in the season especially around Christmas time. If you use the wildcard later on in the season it does not make much difference to your present advantage. Best to use it early if you want the cash to spend. The price website makes making money slightly easier. I would not recommend everyone to do this as you still need to be making fairly good points to not fall well behind your leaders. But get it right and they will get the BIGGEST Shcoks in their football lives.

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    More likely he picked good players, (or if he’s less astute, players who were on form before he bought them, but unfortunately not after) and good players will inevitably rise in value.

    Good players probably helped him win, not money for the sake of money. For example, if you bought Zaki, Bosingwa, Ireland and Defoe, all cheap, consistent performers thus far, and Deco before his price began to fall, then your stock would inevitably have risen.

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  63. RVP starting. Now just need a couple of goals from him. So far so good with no late injury/rotation concerns with Fig, Zaki, Valencia and RVP all playing. Think I’ll jump up the league tonight as I’ve 7 playing today including Zaki (C).

    Now just to sit back and watch the points roll in. Well, I’d be very content with 25 points from my 4 3pm payers, although I’d hope for 30.

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    I’m with you Akers, I’m looking for a goal fest from Valencia and Zakster, got Zaki as my Captain as well, hold on to your seats!

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  64. I agree stevo, people were up in arms a few weeks ago on the mention of wild card action. I think its a good strategy to play the waynecard after 4 -5 weeks so that you can jump on the seasons new golden boys (aka Zakster, Defoe, Figeuro etc). I played it early, made 2m and now able to get ronny in quite easily, my squad is now:

    Cech (Schwarzer)
    Bosingwa, Laursen, Clichy, Johnson, G Neville
    Lampard, Ronaldo, Arteta, Valencia, J O’Brian
    Zaki, Cole, Zamora

    I couldnt have managed this without utilising the wildcard and making some cold hard cash!

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  65. Apologies, I said early Song is injured, he returns today…..

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  66. Have noticed a lot of people have gone for Schwarzer this weekend but I think West Brom have enough to prevent a clean sheet for Fulham, mistake i think….

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    yea agree. West brom is quite organised and disciplined at home and i fancy robert koren.

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    Sadly you were right!

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  67. I want Wigan to totally destroy Boro today! None of this 1-0 crap! I want a repeat of what City did to Portsmouth, but this time with only one man getting all the goals. No need for me to tell you who.

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  68. COME ON ARSENAL NEED FABREGAS TO GET BONUS :)

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  69. Oh and Denilson better have the worst game of his life today. Got rid of him yesterday, so he better not make me feel sick today.

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  70. lol i hope Boro beats wigan, hence own everyone on the Zaki bandwagon

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  71. i’ll take a goal from adebayor, zaki, and de neilson please and a hatrick by ron, and a brace from defoe - got a feeling lampard will get a red card (here’s hoping)

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  72. who’ll give odds for no goals in premiership today

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  73. Damn! Zaki has a yellow card! He better score two to make up for it!

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  74. lol zaki yellow card.. lucky i didnt captain him no matter how bad ppl make out of boro’s defense. no matter how bad they are they arent those teams who will concede >2/game anyway.

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    But Fran basically guaranteed that Zaki would score today!?!? Even said he was the new Ronaldo and the greatest in the World.

    :(

    Still 45 to go, but not the quick start I’d been hoping for. Come on Zak-man.

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  75. Half time report:

    Sunderland 0 - 0 Arsenal
    West Bromwich A. 0 - 0 Fulham
    Wigan Athletic 0 - 0 Middlesbrough

    Yellow card: A.Zaki, G.Clichy, J.Olsson, B. Valero

    Fulham looks strong today. Hopefully Zamora will score one or two.

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    Not much from Bobby Z so far in my view. Dempsey has been more active and involved than Zamora. Hard to imagine this one stays scoreless as both sides have had opportunities. I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least 3 goals in the second half.

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  76. Hope i don’t regret keeping Reina in goal instead of Schwarzer!

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  77. I’m kinda hoping fulham and wigan concede-make me feel better about leaving Fig and Paintsil on the bench!

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  78. all 3 games totally boring . 1am here in oz,hard to stay awake,our clocks go forward in one hour,so man u kick off at 3.30am need some goals from wigan & arsenal to keep me going,gotta do it again tomorrow nightzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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    i feel your pain spirit

    i am in sydney

    usually only stay up for the 3.30 am games if liverpool is playing but since my capt. ronnie is playing i thought what the hell

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  79. Do any of you think that Van Der Saar could be under threat at UTD?

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  80. a goal at last!

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    Don’t sound too excited, it’s the baggies! ;)

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    i know - posted the message before they scored out of boredom

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  81. come on scotty!!!

    give us a cleanie!

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  82. Zaki is rubbish

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    He’s not rubbish, just a tight game at the moment.Zaki looks the most likely to score from what I’ve seen of the game.

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    Zaki. ffs what a waste of a captaincy. 7 gameweeks so far and haven’t got the captain pick right once.

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    Yeah, mate, I know what you mean, two weeks ago it was Torres, and he was rubbish, than I changed it to Fabregas and well you know how Torres played last week and then, now, I changed it from Fabregas to Zaki, I-m just going to shoot my self right now and get it over with.

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