Rafa Issues Rotation Warning
Arch rotation villain Rafa Benitez has offered a kindly warning to us fantasy managers by informing us that Gerrard is on the verge of being rested. He also gives us an insight into his current thinking regarding his team lineup, as Torres becomes a lovely new option for the Liverpool boss. How kind…
Rafa must be rubbing his hands at the prospect of throwing Torres into his side alongside Keane off the back of his two goals at the weekend. While Rafa was tipping Keane for more goals on a regular basis, he’s also made it clear that he will rotate his approach up front…
“Sometimes we’ll play with two strikers and other times we’ll just go with one….Going with two strikers helped Robbie in this game but it will be a good problem for me to have Torres fit again, Gerrard and everyone else fit.”
That will be food for thought for any fantasy manager eyeing up a short-term punt on Keane. While Rafa will likely hand Keane a sustained run in the side, it should be noted that the striker has been subbed 13 times in 15 games since he joined the club. He’s likely to command a starting role in the coming weeks, but equally, you can expect him to be hauled off with 15-20 minutes remaining as he was on Saturday, even with a hat-trick in his sights.
As for Gerrard, he’s been employed further forward in the absence of Torres but will now adopt a deeper midfield role. However, Rafa has warned us that a rest for the Liverpool skipper is imminent.
“Stevie needs a bit of rest. He was injured during the international break and it is important to try and keep players fit all the time,” remarked Benitez.
Now that could be just Rafa’s way of justifying omitting Gerrard in a weakened Liverpool lineup at Spurs tomorrow night. Then again, that wouldn’t surprise anyone and with Arsenal putting out the kids, Rafa’s hardly got to save face when it comes to the Carling Cup.
Rafa does have Alonso in reserve of course, and benching the Spanish playmaker is always going to nag at Rafa. Alonso will get games over the next 4-5 weeks - it’s just a question of where, when and whether Gerrard will be the player sacrificed.
Liverpool have a Champions League tie on November 26 with a home game with Fulham prior to that on the Saturday. That fixture in gameweek 14 leaps out as an immediate opportunity for Rafa to hand Alonso a start, either for Mascherano or even Gerrard.
Gerrard owners need to be on alert then. Those taking a look at Keane need to consider the damage that frequent substitutions will cause and those hanging on to Alonso can perhaps take comfort in the fact that Rafa hasn’t changed his old ways.
I was tempted to take Keane in given their fixtures. Glad I didnt after reading this cos Rafa sounds as if he is gonna leave us all wondering ..as usual. I took Kuyt in for Young last night, not sure if it was a wise move or not!
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Reply by andiwulf on November 10 10:29 pm:
When Rafa does choose to play one up front is it most likely to be Torres?
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Reply by Mark on November 10 10:32 pm:
Yeah, with Gerrard in behind. That was deadly last season.
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Reply by Sojourner on November 10 10:33 pm:
What would you do with arguably the best Striker in the world on your squad?
Yes.
However I do see the possibility of Rafa giving Torres more rests against bottom half teams now that Torres has been injured twice already this season. He may role the “Resting Torres” dice till he gets burned once.
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Reply by Mark on November 10 10:31 pm:
I reckon you did okay CK - Kuyt looks pretty safe in his role and should produce with the fixture he’s got. That Fulham game looks a potential danger spot for all managers with Liverpool players though - Agger, Arbeloa, Aurellio, Gerrard, Rierra, Kuyt, Torres and Keane are all possible contenders for a rest prior the CL game. It all depends on how Rafa assess Fulham’s threat.
For now I’m hoping this is just Rafa justifying his CC lineup. We’ll shall see though.
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Reply by CK on November 10 10:37 pm:
Yeah it could well be a justification for the CC as you say. I’d be very suprised if he doesnt go all out for all prem games this year, which is why I now have 3 Liverpool players.
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Reply by Schwing on November 11 7:29 am:
I think he’ll always start with his strongest and tinker around the hour mark (depending on the situation) with Keane, Gerrard and Torres rested for Babel, Benayoun/Lucas and Pennant respectively (the latter I see him starting mid week).
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I believe Kuyt is a sounder investment then Young. He is one of few, perhaps the only other besides Jamie C?, Liverpool player to feature in every match this year. He may score fewer goals with Torres back but he will still get something from all that running he does on the pitch!
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Reply by Stion - (Strathcarnage) on November 11 11:07 am:
Agreed. He is doing a good job for me so far this season. So good that I did not hesitate to drop A. Young in fact.
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Whats peoples thougts on Aurelio.
I know hes at risk of rafatation with Dossenna, but hes played a decent amout recently and is quite attacking.
Has Dossenna been injured / unavailable during this time, or was Aurelio preferred/rotated in?
(PS I know Agger / Carragher are better bets - looking at budget options here)
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turnbull
agger arbeloa alex
ronaldo geovanni lampard a.young
robinho m.king bent
what you guys think? for next gw?
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Reply by andiwulf on November 10 10:56 pm:
Not sure about Robinho for next match. I have him too at the moment, but worried about Man City’s form, particularly away from home, and they’ve got Hull away which is a tough match, even if Hull are on a bad run themselves.
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Reply by andiwulf on November 10 10:59 pm:
Also Man City’s next two games are Arsenal and Man U, although both at home. Tough games, but then again Arsenal aren’t too defensively tight and as for the derby, who knows? Maybe Robinho will rise to the occasion and show his worth. Or maybe Man City will be rubbish and fail to score.
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Reply by Al on November 10 11:32 pm:
With Wengers talk of playing a more packed midfield though that might help them to keep tighter. Wouldnt be suprised if the win over utd sees a change of fortunes.
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Reply by andiwulf on November 11 12:47 am:
That could well be true. In my post above there’s an element of me trying to convince myself that it’s ok to hang on to Robinho and leave Torres. But I haven’t fully persuaded myself! For me, the reasons against getting Torres are
a)threat of resting/rotation, but hopefully offset by Defoe and Bent (who incidentally I’ve had all season, even if only on the bench)
b)the impact on my finances. Gonna leave me pretty tight and unable to do much wheeling and dealing for a few weeks I expect.
Still think I’m prob gonna get him though.
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re Gerrard rested.
the quotes i read seemed to imply that Gerrard will play a decisive role in assisting Torres . Rafa said after the West Brom Game :”I think [Steven] Gerrard’s level will improve now that we have Torres available. It is clear that Stevie is a bit tired at the moment but with Torres he will have another player that can benefit from the accuracy of his passing.”
so keep Gerrard and buy Torres if u can afford i rekon .
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Paul - Aurelio is starting because Dossenna has looked weak in most Liverpool games .Although Dossenna is ready to start at Rafa’s whim! If he stays fit i think Aurelio is a good shout .
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a couple of weeks ago fergie was talking about rotating vds. do u guys reckon he will play vds against stoke this week after losing a game?
as an alternative option i have schwarzer against spurs at home. which looks very difficult game.
is it worth 4 point hit vds->cech this gameweek?
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Reply by Las Cebollitas on November 10 11:12 pm:
I wouldn’t count on VDS in the long term mate. I’d take the 4 point hit cos Chelsea have got much better fixtures coming up. I think the Keeper position for the Stoke game all comes down to who Fergie thinks is best to handle Delap’s throws. I don’t really know how comanding the other 2 keepers are in the box - maybe the united fans might be able to help us out on this.
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Reply by CK on November 10 11:25 pm:
I would take the 4 point hit mate. I can see another Chelsea cleany so you will earn 2 points and have arguably the best Fantasy keeper you could have, win win!
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Reply by Alex on November 10 11:53 pm:
Hello CK, you owe me a drink for tipping you about Matty Talyor haha!!!!
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Reply by Alex on November 10 11:59 pm:
agreed with comments about cech:)
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Reply by CK on November 11 10:13 am:
Yes Alex, and a very fine piece of advice it was! 8 lovely points. Cheers mate!
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anyone think its worth taking a punt on babel?! he’s a cheapish midfield option in FPL
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no keep van der sar. he will play and keep a clean sheet
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Reply by Niall Quinn's Disco Pants on November 11 2:13 pm:
true
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I don’t know why anyone would really employ Gerrard in their fantasy team anyway - he’s more expensive but less productive than Lampard…
In terms of defense, I really like how Agger has played in the last two matches, and at 6.0 we’ve highly, highly recommended him as a must buy and the cheapest starting defender in the Big 4 (besides Man U right back crazy situation)
On another note - Why is Steven Ireland still owned by 32% of managers? That is just crazy…
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Reply by Ibracadabra on November 11 1:30 am:
correction - Lampard is now up to 11.8 and Gerrard down to 11.4 - but at the start of the season (when I bought Frank) he was only 11 while Gerrard was 11.5…
cheers.
-Ibra
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Reply by Gazzamania on November 11 3:57 am:
I reckon it’s because since he’s somewhat a budget option, there is not much to be gained from swapping him. He’s due a goal again soon by the way.
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Reply by Croublade on November 11 8:29 am:
Ireland is cheap, and very consistent for his price. Only Geovanni, Delap and Marney are cheaper dependable options, so unless you need to free up that midfield slot, might as well keep him.
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 9:45 am:
For me it’s because Manchester City keep scoring goals. Why exactly don’t you like him and who do you think is better ?
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Reply by Cowboy Outfit on November 11 12:00 pm:
In the last few games I’ve watched Ireland has sat back when he would previously have advanced. I can’t get over how small Man City’s team are and they will continue to suffer unless they bulk up in places. If I swap Belhadj for Shawcross, I’ll be able to swap Ireland for Bentley and think that i’m better off without him.
I know Hughes has said how much he rates him, but he has been poor in the games that I have watched recently. Johnson is a classier player and don’t think it will be long till we see him in the side: Ireland’s place may well come under threat as a result.
“His absence has been frustrating because thinking back to the Sunderland game he played really well there. He’s a different type of player to the ones I have had available recently, but he’s not been an option so it would be good to get him back”.
Ireland to score on saturday then!!! He’s hit his purple patch IM humble O, but I’m prepared to eat my words come saturday.
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Reply by Cowboy Outfit on November 11 12:01 pm:
But then Johnson could be out for a while if he has an operation… worth monitoring though.
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 2:55 pm:
He had 2-3 shots on goal in his last match when city had ten men.
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Hi guys,
what do you guys think of 3 strikers up front? Atm I’m playing a 3-4-3
lineup.
Earlier in the season it seemed to be a goer with less clean sheets from the big teams. Just wondering if it’s a gamble and whether I should sub one of my strikers for another big defender. I really don’t want to sub zaki due to his value even with less goals being scored, still think he is class
Team is
Jaask Schwarzer
Belhadj Bosingwa Arbeloa Mendy Pele
Ronaldo Ireland Geovanni Delap Lampard
Bent Zaki Berbatov
.7 in the bank
I’ve already made a 4 point this week with :
Agbonlahor —> Bent
Marney —> Geovanni.
would really appreciate any thoughts, possibly another liverpool defender?
Regards,
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Reply by Ibracadabra on November 11 2:11 am:
I think the team looks good. You had Belhadj for his goal, which was nice, Bosingwa and his assist, and Arbeloa too - what a week last week, I don’t think you should tinker too much..
If you do want to save some $ though - Bosingwa is probably “topping out” at 7.0MM while Agger is just 6.0MM and has room to grow. When Carvalho and Cole come back they will both be around 6.4MM as well…
I think the lineup is good. You could even upgrade Ireland to Modric, Bullard, or Krancjar next week since Man City has some tough games coming up and he is at the top of his value it looks..
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Reply by sean on November 11 2:19 am:
thanks lbra, appreciate the input. Yeah I got really lucky swapping belhadj in for laursen last week. got sick of villa’s lack of clean sheets.
Maybe waiting for carvalho to come back might be a good idea to swap in for bosingwa, Ideally I want to keep a chelsea defender.
I was also thinking modric as a straight swap for ireland, although maybe risky now that I have bent in my team. Not sure if I want to rely on 2 tottenham players even with their current form.
I was thinking of swapping my two drop-kick defenders mendy and pele for gardner and konchesky/paintsil. And two swap and change the 3 gardner/konchesky/Belhadj depending on fixtures.
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Reply by Ibracadabra on November 11 2:36 am:
Sounds good. Paintsil picked up 2 bonus points this past week and is a good bargain rotating defender. He gets forward and puts in some decent crosses. Was one of the best defenders in Israel’s Premier League for a few years and it’s nice to see him make an EPL starting 11.
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i need some help
my defence is
bosingwa, agger, dawson, traore
i need to replace traore with a cheaper defender to save some cash, any ideas on who to get to rotate with dawson?
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reply: jt on 11 November 2008 1:57 am
gardner for 4.3 is a good swap, playing midfield
maybe paintsil
Bel Hadj as a str8 swap, playing midfield if u dont think traore will get game time
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Reply by Gazzamania on November 11 3:59 am:
Have to agree with Sean.
Looking to offload Traore myself, and Gardner and Belhadj are furthest up the list.
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Reply by Gazzamania on November 11 4:00 am:
I play Bosingwa-Agger-Zayatte this GW though, so I am lucky that I can keep Traore on the bench for another week, while monitoring my two top targets.
Already have Paintsil.
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So finally which defender should pick up for 4.6 and why?
Thiking Zayatte atm
I have Garrido Traore Figueroa Cole and Laussen atm !
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With a team of
Cech Schwarzer
Cole Laursen Garrido Traore Figeuroa
Ron Lamps Ireland Delap Marney
Zaki Berbatov Miller
Should I go Laursen to 4.6 defender and Miller to Bent or Laursen to 6.4 defender (Arbeloa) and Miller to Ameobi?
Please guys need some help !
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Reply by Christian on November 11 6:54 am:
Hmmm you got a few issues with your defence mate! Arbeloa has a 1 match suspension so shelve that thought for the moment. Cole may or may not recover from injury, Garrido and Traore may not play at all. You really only have Figeuroa and Laursen that are ‘guaranteed’ to start and as we all know Laursen and Villa have lost their mojo.
Might have to do 2 transfers to shore up that defense, maybe Gardner for Garrido and Belhadj for Traore?? Cole should come right very soon then maybe next week dump Laursen for Arbeloa/Agger.
I suppose there are plenty of options available but you might have to hang tough this week and make sure you have at least 3 defenders that will play.
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Reply by Christian on November 11 7:03 am:
Gardner is playing MF for Bolton and is 4.3 so is worth a punt but also Paintsil at 4.1 is good value and he has played every match so far for Fulham. So I reckon get your defense sorted 1st then think about upgrading Miller.
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Reply by Leighton on November 11 7:18 am:
Darcy,
Agree with Christian that your defence needs an overhaul.
Liverpool and Hull have favourable upcoming fixtures so I would look at Agger and Turner, both of whom offer a goal threat as well.
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Have lost patience with A Young Cant decide between straight swop for Kuyt but worried about his output now Torres is back, swop for Malouda and upgrade Marney to Geovanni, or finally downgrade a defender and bring in Gerrard. Any thoghts?
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Reply by comfycoxy on November 11 9:34 am:
I wouldn’t bring in Gerrard. Read some peoples comments in this thread about him. He won’t perform as well as Lampard. Granted he is cheaper, but his points scoring capability will now be reduced because of Torres.
I would say Malouda and Geovanni is a better option. Or perhaps A tottenham hotshot Bently or Jenas?
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 9:50 am:
I would say Bentley and Geovanni
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I don’t think Torres will be rested against the lower league teams, not at the moment anyway. I think he desperately needs some minutes and match fitness. Granted he probs won’t be playing 90 mins week in week out, but I do hope that he makes the starting line up this weekend.
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With J Cole injured again and Chelsea fixtures dont you think Malouda will outscore Bentley?
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Reply by comfycoxy on November 11 10:05 am:
Not really. Malouda can be inconsistent and Chelsea have Lampard and Deco to take points away.
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 10:25 am:
I like Bentley because of his track record last season
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Reply by Pack The Ripper on November 11 3:19 pm:
Malouda is in between SWP and Bentley…..more consistent than SWP but not as consistent as Bentley. He has games where he looks a world beater and gets lots of assists but other games like an egg beater (his shooting needs a bit of work)!
IMO Lampard is first name on the teamsheet.
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I was wondering if you guys could give me a helping hand with my team. This is my first fantasy football season and I joined in gameweek 7 so I have got a lot to catch up on.
My team is:
Myhill
Figueroa Bosingwa Carragher A.Traore
Ronaldo Lampard Arteta Geovanni
Defoe Zaki
0.2 in the bank with Sorensen, Marney, Zamora and Kompany on the bench.
I’ve already used one sub this week bringing Carragher in for Arbeloa due to his suspension. At the moment I’m concerned about my goal keeping situation with 2 newly promoted keepers not guaranteeing clean sheets, A.Traore’s fixture in the Pompey team and Arteta’s lack of output at the moment.
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 10:39 am:
Well I agree with all that. Trouble is you need cash to upgrade your keeper and you just spent some getting Carragher when Arbeloa only has a one game suspension. Nevertheless now that you have him Carragher is less likely to be rotated. Most people are saying Belhadj or Gardner for Traore. I’m not convinced Gardner will be a regular started. Mark has speculated that Belhadj will be a first choice.
So it looks to me that you should swop Kompany and Arteta for cheaper players and use the cash for a better keeper. Possibly Bent for Defoe too so you can improve Zamora.
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What are people’s thoughts on Modric v Kranjcar?
Both have 2 home games in a row coming up soon.
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 10:43 am:
My thoughts are that Kranjcar did not have an outstanding fantasy performance last season but he’s cheap and Modric might be a fine signing but he’s still unproven, zero goals 2 assists or whatever it is. Look at Bentley’s record last season.
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Team so far
schwazer turnbull
alex carragher traore olsson garrdio
lampard ronaldo a young geovanni marney
zaki berbatov harewood
1.6 left
want to offload A Young and play a 3rd striker but i’m worried about my 3rd defender.. any ideas?? should i bring in modric and bent or modric and belhadj as a safe bet with marney as on field in 352 formation
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 10:51 am:
Well if it was me I’d be looking to raise cash for Reina/Cech. Keeping cash in hand for replacing Alex when Carvalho comes back. Swopping Belhadj for Traore. Selling Ashley for someone cheaper, probably Bentley, and getting a better 3rd defender Arbeloa, Agger, Silvestre in your team before worring about Harewood. Fuller for Harewood might be an idea. Sorry but I can’t be bothered doing the maths.
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Was thinking of trading in Laursen > Agger this week for a 4 point hit. What do you guys think?
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 10:53 am:
I would wait for a week but hey what do I know ???
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Reply by TJMoray on November 11 11:01 am:
It’s a difficult one. I feel Liverpool are very likely to see a cleany and AV are very likely to let at least one in and based on recent form perhaps more? Agger’s value is also going up fairly quickly and Laursen’s is going down. I’m sorely tempted! Any more feedback/advice before I push the button?
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Reply by Niall Quinn's Disco Pants on November 11 2:19 pm:
I would def do it, one price goin up, one goin down, one with low chance of cleanie, one with a good chance….
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Reply by Pack The Ripper on November 11 3:21 pm:
Not worth the 4 point hit id say, unless Agger is going to get a goal. Hold on until next week and trade earky to avoid price hike
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Does anyone have a second to give me some advice/assistance with my team?
Current team-
Reina - Schmeichel
Clichy / Bosingwa / Figueroa - Hunt Baird
Ireland / Ronaldo (c) / Young A / Reo-Coker - Hamann
Zaki / Defoe / Anelka
Money Av. - 2mil
I want to do the following….
Defoe – Bent
Anelka – Torres
… is this advised? Anelka is banging them in at present and Defoe is consistently picking up a nice bundle?
Also I am thinking….
Young – Bentley
Reo-Coker - Richardson / Geovanni
…. This is gunna cost me an additional 8pts on the 4pts for my attack? Is it worth it or should I do it progressively?
Any help would be much appreciated, thanks in advance…
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 11:08 am:
I think you should get a better 3rd defender as your first priority and also a better player than Reo-Coker. So Defoe for Bent and Young for Bentley look like good swops as you suggested. So I wouldn’t think of Torres as a priority.
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 11:10 am:
In fact I just realised you might be able to swing Young for Lampard with a bit of fiddling.
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Reply by Dr. Rog on November 11 11:12 am:
everyone loves a fiddle
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 11:14 am:
lol
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Reply by Charli_2na on November 11 11:35 am:
What i can do is Defoe - Bent and Young - Lampard?
It uses all my funds and restricts the potential for an improved defender, Figueroa 4.1mil? I will also be unable to buy Torres really now and im thinking with the games liverpool have it is due a bundle?! What u rekon? Cheers for the help dude
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 12:19 pm:
Well I would do it. Lampard is way more reliable than Torres and if Bent runs cold there are similarly priced options. Depends if you want that third defender ?
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Reply by sean on November 11 11:48 am:
I’d look at ur defense first,
Schmeichel isn’t playing in the 1st team, so I’d look at swapping him to schwarzer/turnbullfor a cost of 0.2
Hunt & baird are no use to you as reserves, you could swap them to decent point scorers for a very small cost.
Hunt for Paintsil at a cost of 0.2
Baird for one of the solid cheap bolton defenders for a cost of around 0.3
these swaps along with young bentley would leave you with plenty of money to do other things.
Either that or the str8 bent lampard swap
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But I will miss the Bent boat and Ashley Cole is due to be back this weekend?
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Reply by Jimbob on November 11 10:36 am:
Cole should be back, was due to be out for 7-10 days, and it’ll be 14 on saturday
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Hey guys, basically at the start of the season I had cheapy defenders, and big mid/strikers which seemed to pay off cos there wasn’t many clean sheets. But now the defences have settled in I think that a consistent way of getting points would be playing 5 at the back most weeks, thinking of getting a team along the lines of:
Reina - Turnbull
Carragher - Carvalho - A.Cole - Evra - Belhadj
Ronaldo - Modric - Delap - Barton - Texeira
Berby - Defoe - Zaki
So basically, I’d play 5 at the back pretty much every week, using my free transfer to get rotate Belhadj for someone who looks pretty good for a cleanie. And then either 3 mid and 2 strikers or the otherway dependant on fixtures. Any thoughts?
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Reply by Dr. Rog on November 11 10:42 am:
personally i dont like the strategy as its imbalanced but i think its great to see alternative strats then whats currently out there.
how would your team perform over the course of last season or since the start of the season?
if you crucnh the numbers should give u an idea whether its worth pursuing or not
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Reply by Jimbob on November 11 10:48 am:
Well it’s just that Chelski, pool and Utd, will probably get to the 20 clean sheets mark, and to find a striker for 6.5 odd to do that isn’t gonna happen, but I hear what your saying and the calculator shall come out!
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Reply by Dr. Rog on November 11 10:55 am:
well i hate to point this out but last year no utd defender got more than 17 clean sheets, chelsea 14 sheets and liverpool 12 sheets.
this applies to outfield defenders and is obviously due to rotation / injuries etc… gk’s are different as they are more regular starters but having said that your reinas of the world get no points for saves/bonuses/pen saves as they dont have any work to do.
when you bear in mind that you should be able to find 8-10 cleanies from cheaper defenders then the differential for the extra cost is not that large.
having the money to afford a strong mid and a form strikeforce is key imo. and i get that money from my defence. i dont go overboard i just try to pick the 2 cheapest top 4 defenders and top them up with 3 budget defenders which rotate into the final slot.
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Reply by Bedknobs and Boomsticks on November 11 11:19 am:
Agreed Doc. I’ve got Agger and Boswinga at the mo’, with the mighty triumverate of McShane, Pantsil and Shawcross to rotate in as neccesary.
It’s the lack of a reliable mid-price keeper that’s annoying me this season. I’d normally be looking to the likes of Howard or James to give me a fair few clean sheets + save points at a reasonable price, but there’s no-one at the moment.
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Reply by Dr. Rog on November 11 11:23 am:
its a strange season thus far as its top 4 vs the rest
and the next best teams - villa and everton are up there because they score goals rather than keep it tight
i think this will change over the next month or two but it is difficult to predict which teams it will be this season as its so open
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Reply by paul on November 11 11:34 am:
Top defenders are better than strikers. The likes of Evra, Carvalho, Carra will guarantee you 150-160 points at the end of the season. Can you tell me 3 or 4 strikers in that price bracket who can do the same?
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 11:36 am:
So do you have 5 top defenders ?
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Reply by paul on November 11 11:45 am:
no 4. just click on my name and you can see my team. I cant quite match Dr Rog’s points yet :o) but I am happy so far. You should have a strategy imo and stick to it. If you are happy with 2 top defenders and rotate the rest thats fine but dont try to change your team every 2 or 3 weeks.
Reply by Feanor on November 11 1:44 pm:
Evra got 111 points in 06/07, and 133 in 07/08. And he’s averaging just over 3 points a game this season.
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 11:25 am:
That’s interesting. This is my first season at this and I’ve been playing 5 defenders expecting them to be good value for money. So I was thinking like Jimbob.
I’ve made several newbie mistakes but I am in the top 100,000 ( just ). A couple more clean sheets from Man U would also have helped quite a bit.
I just don’t have the courage to “destroy” my team to get Ronaldo as well as Lampard. I would be interested to see your team Dr Rog.
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Reply by Dr. Rog on November 11 11:37 am:
http://fantasy.premierleague.c.....p;event=12
don’t know if i can link my current team for the forthcoming week but i’ve brought in bent and modric for carew and ireland…
will be monitoring the traore / belhadj situation and respond appropriately when there is more colour
with barton earmarked to replace mullins (need to strengthen the subs bench for the week man u dont play)
and young to come in for cahill when villa have nice fixtures and everton dont - plus young will be cheaper and hopefully get his suspension out of the way
well thats the plan…!
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Reply by Dr. Rog on November 11 11:44 am:
*reply to Paul*
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Reply by paul on November 11 11:49 am:
very impressive score you have so far :o) dr.rog. do you do more than one transfer per week on a regular basis?
Reply by Dr. Rog on November 11 11:50 am:
i dont know how you can come out with unfounded statements like ‘top 4 defenders garantee you 150-160pts)
look at last seasons stats:
http://www.fantasyfootballscou.....defenders/
a top 4 defender i’d say is worth around 110-140 over the season.
some useful facts you may want to consider:
1) Only THREE defenders made over 150pts last year. Those being Lescott, Laursen & Ferdinand. Defenders get big scores because of goals and bonus points.
2) Of the TOP 10 (actually 11 but whose counting!) defenders last year, only 5 came from the top 4.
Hope that clears it up
Reply by Dr. Rog on November 11 11:55 am:
yeah i’ve spent 32pts on transfers this year
need to cut down as i would be higher without them
i did do a little study though and concluded that although transfers hit me week to week in the short term, the long term points and value uplift generally has outweighed this
Reply by Bedknobs and Boomsticks on November 11 11:49 am:
VERY impressive doc. I note you’re in a league called La Matlock Premier A. That wasn’t you I saw standing on the Crown Square roundabout on Saturday night, shouting “I’m king of the Fantasy Football world” was it?
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Reply by Dr. Rog on November 11 11:51 am:
haha
nope thats what i do at new year.
i’ve been exiled in london for the last 7 years
Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 11:56 am:
Yeah…thanks for that…very interesting. I can’t argue with your strategy because you’re 100 points ahead of me. Plus if I put in Ronaldo and used your system, basically you would have Cahill and Carew and I would have Geovanni and Bent. That’s on your current team that you kindly linked me to. Basically I’ve pretty much missed the boat on Ronaldo unless I weaken my team quite a bit more than yours.
So can I ask you if I should still take the plunge ?
( team to follow )
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Reply by Dr. Rog on November 11 12:02 pm:
its def possible to make do without ronaldo this year given his price. the problem is that for the price u pay on ronaldo you are getting guaranteed pointage whereas if u go without him you need to make the right calls elsewhere.
so you are paying (probably overpaying) for certainty. and its up to you whether u want to do that. i am paying for that so i concentrate on managing other areas of my team.
i cant help thinking that a torres/anelka/berbatov strikforce would be very nice indeed if you went without him!
Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 12:09 pm:
So should I pick Ronaldo ? Current team is:
Cech (Schwarzer)
Boswinga/Arbeloa/Ferdinand/Evra (Traore)
Lampard/Ireland/Geovanni (Delap/Davies)
Berbatov/Robinho/Bent
Cash 1.2m
I was going to swop Ferdinand for Agger to pay for Bentley for Davies next week. And I’m still reasonably happy with this plan.
If I bring in Ronaldo for Davies my team could be:
Cech (Schwarzer)
Boswinga/Arbeloa/Cheap/Cheap/Cheap
Ronaldo/Lampard/Ireland/Geovanni/Delap
Berbatov or Robinho/Bent/Zaki or Alves or Cisse
So should I do this ? I just feel very exposed to injury/rotation/loss of form. Is Ronaldo really worth the risk ?
Or have I just missed the boat ?
Apologies if it’s already been posted but I’ve been off site for a few days.
If anyone’s scrambling for an extra 0.1m the lowest midfielder is now 4.2 - Nicky Barmby.
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Was thinking along the same lines with Ireland > Modric. Only thing that is holding me back is Ireland being my only City player and I feel for a team that scores so many goals he has to be one of the best in terms of value for money. Modric however still has huge potential once Tottenham have properly found their feet.
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Carpyfish - its really up to you. I think both teams are pretty good.
As Paul said, whats important is you have a strategy and stick to it/have faith with it. Chelsea & Pool have great fixtures over the next few weeks so if you switched out of utd defenders and into say liverpool ones you could maintain your strat. I think you needed to spot this sooner as defence is the key part of your strat so the area where you should have been actively managing the most to abuse the fixtures.
As an alternatve, is there a way u could incorporate Ronaldo into a 442? try to raise the funds by switching out Ferdinand and Robinho? that could be optimal without causing too much disruption to your team…
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Reply by Dan on November 11 12:35 pm:
I’m thinking a 4-4-2 is the way forward, have gone with:
Myhill/Schwarzer
Bosingwa - Zayatte - Carragher - A Traore - Arbeloa
Lampard - Ronaldo - Delap - Geovanni - Kuyt
Berbatov - Bent - Harewood
plus 1.3m in the bank.
Next week i will be ditching Traore for Silvestre or Alex and hopefully rotate that position with top 4 club defenders for the 5.9m I will have.
Any thoughts? Have always been hit and miss with strikers so I’m reluctant to put much money in them!
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 12:38 pm:
No I would have to lose Ferdinand for Griffin, Robinho for Miller ( gulp ) AND Traore for Cheap (4.1m) leaving me with a 12 point hit and 0.0m cash. But I would have 3 big defenders.
Plan B as stated above would be a 16 point hit, only 2 big defenders ( your strategy ) but leaving me with Alves (say) rather than Miller.
I think plan B is better because Miller for Robinho would be hard to swallow. Basically I try to fit Ronaldo in every week, and every week I decide that I’ve missed the boat as a couple of you seem to be agreeing.
To paraphrase the Hitler spoof…”At least I don’t have any Newcastle players” ( wink ).
Thanks for your help Dr. Rog and others.
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Reply by Dr. Rog on November 11 12:43 pm:
dont take a 16pt hit - phase it
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 2:04 pm:
I’ve been trying to phase out Simon Davies for 2 months let alone sitting with loads of cheapo players and not havin Ron. No, thanks for your help but I’m gonna accept that my various newbie mistakes have made it sub-optimal. Next season I’ll give your defensive strategy a try though. I also think your willingness to take 4 point hits is interesting. Thanks again.
p.s. I am now officially your bitch.
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Reply by Phil on November 11 1:08 pm:
does anyone have a link to that hitlet thing… ive heard people talking about it?
thanks
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 2:07 pm:
Go into You-tube and search for “hitler stoke”. Very funny and some of the others are even better if you can take the language.
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Reply by jimbo on November 11 2:21 pm:
Just put Stoke Liverpool into youtube and hit enter. It will be top of the pile.
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CarpyFish,
I think your first plan minus Ronaldo looks best at the moment because of the defensive solidity. Ronaldo was difficult to get into my team at first and I suffered at the back with cheap defenders particularly when he had the odd bad week. With Liverpool and Chelsea rattling up the cleansheets and Spurs bang in form the Ferdinand for Agger swap and Davies for Bentley look more reliable, points-scoring options in the short-term.
Ronaldo does have a juicy fixture at home to Stoke this week and captaining him can override one or two defensive blips. I’d like to know the “cheap” defenders you will use if you do draft in Ronaldo!
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 2:11 pm:
I’m not going to do it but I’d have to do 4.0/4.1m guys because my finances would be so tight. I’ve not thought about it exactly but just the guys with lots of minutes. I’d advise just checking out Dr Rogs link to his own team above.
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Any suggestions on how to improve this team:
VDS (Schwarzer)
Boswinga Arbeloa Figueroa Hangeland (Dawson)
Ron Lampard Delap Bentley (Marney)
Zaki Berbatov (King)
1.0 in bank
I wanted to trade King for Bent but 0.1 short!!!
Would love some opinions.
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Reply by sean on November 11 12:48 pm:
maybe VDS out for as he’s going to be abit iffy with rests, for jaask.
gives you 2.4 to play with,
could upgrade marney to geovanni aswell as the king–>bent and leave u with a bit of cash in hand
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Reply by fuelled by passion on November 11 1:17 pm:
brilliant name
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I reckon Henri Camera may be worth a punt for a cheap short term striker, with Heskeys injury I think he will play and is very cheap!
I will be keeping an eye on him this evening, but I do have Zaki, so unlikely I will have a two pronged Wigan attack!
Anyone else think so?
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Reply by Stion on November 11 1:14 pm:
I wonder if Zakis returns might not be dented by the absence of Heskey. People underrate how important he is to Zakis scoring record. That said I will wait a week before changing Zaki just to see if I am right.
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Reply by Marknlard on November 11 2:40 pm:
What’s happened to the Heskalator?
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Reply by Al on November 11 2:23 pm:
I’ll be keeping a close eye on him too. Off to the Emirates cummon the youngsters!!
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Thanks sean, that’s not a bad idea. Would play Schwarz this week tho. Is it worth 4 pt hit to upgrade King to Bent this week?
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Reply by Qubit on November 11 1:04 pm:
I wouldn’t get Jaask in yet, Boltons fixtures look bit rough next 5-10 games.
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Reply by sean on November 11 2:13 pm:
good point qubit, altho bolton are quite solid in defense, jaask is on fire. even if he’s letting in a couple of goals hes gotta be good for a bag of saves
either way i reckon on king/bent, might be worth it. king at home to shaky man city defense or take the hit and hope for bent to continue his 5 in 4 games
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Reply by Qubit on November 11 2:39 pm:
Bent i would say is a reasonable gamble. Jaask although in good form plays liverpool twice, man u, arsenal and chelsea all in the next 10 games (and Villa too). I could be wrong, but i wouldnt want to rely on him making saves for points. Id rather have a bash with Turnbull perhaps whose fixtures look a little nicer!
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Laursen has to go. I’m gonna take a 4pt hit as my defence is just not good enough.
Laursen / Paintsil / Bosingwa / Belhadj / Garrido
Recommendations for a replacement? Keen on a liverpool defender or Jagielka at the moment. Still feel very uneasy about ‘pool rotations. Given Arbola is on a suspension, who can i use? I don’t really want to go Carragaher cos of his price, but I have 2.4m in the bank.
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Reply by sean on November 11 2:02 pm:
I’m really tempted on jagielka aswell. he looks in good form and cheap at around 5.7
I’ve had arbeloa for awhile now, although all the talks been on carragher/agger as the best pool options, arbeloas been playing consistently without rotation
bit of a dilemma, feel like a liverpool defender is a must atm.
Maybe wait on the 4pt hit and bring in arbeloa for laursen next week, not sure how his price rises are looking though.
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Reply by Jono on November 11 2:10 pm:
Arbeloa to miss the next match, ppl are jumping on the bandwagon after his goal but fail to realise he’ll be rotated with Degen when he makes his return.
I would go with Agger for now who himself could be rotated or dropped when Skrtel is back, however, you can easily downgrade nearer the time should it come to that and pocket the change (he’ll be 5.5 - 5.6 by then..)
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Reply by Carpyfish on November 11 2:16 pm:
But I am worried Agger and Skrtel will be rotated. What are your thoughts ?
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Reply by sean on November 11 2:24 pm:
Skrtel’s not back till xmas, and even wen he gets fit Agger should keep his place, as that’s what happened when agger returned and Skrtel kept the place.
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Reply by Tresco on November 11 2:26 pm:
A lot of people are jumping on the wagon in full knowledge of his suspension too though. You should be able to play a sub defender for one week, then have a great Pool defender and have made a few .mils as well. And if they’re not, they should - Arbeloa still represents the cheapest reliable non-rotated top 4 defender. And when you use that many descriptive words you know he’s good.
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