April
18

The Knee Jerk – Don’t Bale Out Too Early

Filed under: Scout Reports, The Knee Jerk - Posted by: Mark

Selling Gareth Bale has been the most recent fundamental error in my Fantasy season. Having recognised his potential over a month ago, I’ve quite simply been surprised that he has not only maintained his form against tough opponents – he’s pushed on further.

Yesterday Bale scored his second consecutive goal to help see off Chelsea having notched earlier in the week against Arsenal. This return was bolstered by yet more Fantasy Premier League bonus points, taking his tally to 19 bonus in his last 12 league appearances. All this from a defender priced at just 5.3 at the time he broke into the Spurs lineup following the injury to Benoit Assou-Ekotto in January…

Up until gameweek 32 I was a proud Bale owner. Smug from my returns to that point, I took at look at the Welshman’s forthcoming fixtures (sun ARS CHE mun), plus the fact that Bale could shifted to left-back from his midfield role, or even rotated with fit-again Assou-Ekotto, and came to the conclusion that selling him on was a wise move. Many of mini-league rivals had him and I needed to find differentials where I could. That decision has backfired spectacularly.

While I brought in the security of Jamie Carragher as a replacement, which to be fair has earned me a couple of clean sheets, Bale’s attacking prowess against Arsenal and Chelsea has more than made up for the predicted lack of Spurs cleanies. I’m now faced with the prospect of either hauling Bale back into my side for the remaining matches or watching on while my rivals continue to profit. It’s a trip to Old Trafford next for Spurs and Bale – surely I can take a crumb of comfort from that? And yet, in his current form, I’m nervous. With a double fixture against Bolton and City in gameweek 37, it seems inevitable that I’ll have to tuck in to humble pie and welcome Bale back in the ranks.

It’s all hard to swallow and I haven’t even mentioned Tim Cahill and Matt Taylor – two further bitter-tasting tales of failure for another day.

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“Mark created the beast. He's now looking to tame it.”

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Player Club Factors
No Change Krul NEW A, Vs
No Change Hart MCI B, Vs
No Change Kenny QPR C, Vs, Rest, £
Up Al-Habsi WIG B, Vs, £
Up Schwarzer FUL C, Vs, Inj
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Up Vorm SWA B, £
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Up Robinson BLA C, Vs
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Player Club Factors
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No Change Simpson NEW B, Vs, £
Up Senderos FUL B, Vs, Rest, £
Up Evans MUN B, VsX, £
Up Rangel SWA B, VsX, £
No Change Bardsley SUN B, £
Up Taiwo QPR C, Vs, £
Up Cole CHE C, Vs
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Up Taarabt QPR C, Vs
Up Sinclair SWA B, VsX, £
Up Moses WIG C, Vs, OoP, £
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No Change Ireland AVL C, Vs, Rest, £

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No Change van Persie ARS A
No Change Agüero MCI B, Vs
Up Ba NEW B, Vs
No Change Zamora QPR B, Vs
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Up Bent AVL A, Vs
Up Yakubu BLA C, Vs
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