A new pre-season regular, the “Sleeper” examines those Fantasy assets that failed to live up to former glories last season. We analyse these slumbering Fantasy giants and assess the prospects of improved fortunes for the campaign ahead.
Brede Hangeland is perhaps not the most obvious of last season’s flops. However, despite starting every game, the Fulham skipper returned his least productive Fantasy season since he became established in the starting lineup back in 2008/09.
With a modest 11 clean sheets and without a single goal or assist throughout the campaign, the towering centre-back slipped into Fantasy obscurity, weighed down by an initial price tag which was bloated by the achievements of the previous season.
The expectations were high. Following speculation surrounding his future at the Cottage, Hangeland enjoyed a superb 2010/11 campaign. His six league goals, coupled with 13 clean sheets in a solid Fulham back four saw him offer exceptional value. Hangeland duly found his way into our team of the season, with the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) hiking his initial value from 5.5 to 6.5 for the start of the 2011/12 campaign. Sadly, Hangeland never got close to justifying such an increase.
The Prospects
The lack of goals is the obvious cause of Hangeland’s slump. Banking on centre-backs to provide steady attacking returns is always a risk but, in Hangeland’s case, the decline was particularly marked. Fulham’s threat from set-pieces, and in particular corner kicks, ranked amongst the lowest in the Premier League last term. That can go someway to explaining Hangeland’s demise and his failure to register a single goal for the first time since is debut season in England. We can take comfort from the fact that Martin Jol won’t have missed those statistics; he will surely be looking to address his team’s efficiency at set-pieces, whilst also improving on those 11 clean sheets.
If progress is made, we should see the results early on. Certainly the fixture list favours Hangeland and his team-mates from the off. A trip to Old Trafford in Gameweek two, with a home clash with City to follow in Gameweek six, present the only stiff opposition in the first ten league games. Home matches with Norwich, West Brom, Villa and Everton stand out as opportunities to gain defensive returns and, with six clean sheets on the road last term, the prospects look good if Jol can instill further solidity.
More significantly perhaps, Hangeland’s initial price will surely suffer a drop across the Fantasy games. Last season’s 6.5 tag in the FPL will likely drop back nearer the 5.5 mark, bringing Hangeland onto the radar as a viable mid-price offering.
Flirting with mid-price assets in the back four is likely to be out of fashion once more, with budget defenders and one or two heavyweights the template of choice. However, Hangeland offers an ever present record, a proven goal threat and a fixture list that suggests early returns. If Jol can tighten the home defence and increase the set-piece threat, Hangeland may yet click into place and earn our attention once more.
