The Digest – Gameweek 8

As Gameweek 8 drifts slips into memory, we digest the brilliance of a pre-season favourite, the options presented by Chelsea’s three musketeers and how United’s own attacking trio are causing consternation…

The Player

Juan Mata’s performance in the Gameweek opener at White Hart Lane sparked Roberto Di Matteo’s side and provided further evidence that the Spaniard deserves to find a place back in our Fantasy squads.

Widely fancied going into the new season, Mata seemed jaded by his Euro 2012 and Olympic exploits and drifted to three opening blanks while new arrival Eden Hazard sparkled. That led to the inevitable exodus that saw Mata’s Fantasy Premier League (FPL) price point slide to 8.8 by Gameweek 6 – at which point Chelsea’s playmaker had come to life.

Handed an extended rest over the international break in September, Mata has responded with five assists and three goals from Gameweek 5 onwards, overshadowing Hazard’s contribution and presenting a fresh and obvious route to Chelsea’s significant attacking threat.

Mata’s ownership and FPL price is now recovering, although at 9.0, he is still well below his initial valuation and offers clear value to new investors.

While Chelsea have a tough schedule ahead, a potential lack of clean sheets could well draw the sting from Di Matteo’s side and, in his current form, Mata looks best placed to orchestrate and inflict the damage at the other end.

The Team

The Mata-inspired White Hart Lane victory leads Chelsea into four home matches in the next six – on the face of it, an encouraging slate of fixtures. However, United, Liverpool and City are the next three at Stamford Bridge.

While that run seems likely to stretch Di Matteo’s side defensively, Chelsea’s attacking talent will need to come to the fore to maintain their run at the top of the table.

Eden Hazard currently commands over 40% ownership in the FPL and is also the most owned player in the Sky Sports game; his opening to the season providing all the evidence needed to lift the Belgian to near-essential status.

Intriguingly, Mata has now put a significant dent in that status and finally emerged as the player that generated the pre-season hype and heavy initial investment. While his ability to earn assists is undoubted, Mata is already half way to his goal tally of last season, indicating that, in Chelsea’s new system, he is proving more of a goal threat.

While Mata is in bloom, the insight into Chelsea’s system offered by the Spaniard indicates that he is perhaps unlikely to have a monopoly on goals amongst the three playmakers…

“The three behind the striker [Fernando Torres] always try to play with movement, swapping positions and trying to assist our striker… We have to work in training but we are players who play like this naturally as well. I don’t think it is a surprise. Oscar, Hazard, Fernando are top players. If you can win and also play really well, it is the perfect way.”

Di Matteo has constructed an offensive unit that is far from reliant on the goals of Fernando Torres and Fantasy managers appear to have four routes into this flourishing attacking unit. With Torres shedding owners at pace amidst stiff completion in our squads up front, it’s clear that the midfield trio are in favour.

The momentum is quite rightly with Mata and Hazard owners will either make the switch or hold firm and wait for the returns to swing back to their man. If both are out or reach, then Oscar provides another way in – available for 7.8 in FPL, the Brazilian has just a single assist to his name so far this season and, while that makes him a poor relation to the heavy-hitting duo, he will be a consideration for some.

Arguably, however, given the attacking intent shown by Chelsea’s full-backs, they provide a fifth avenue for investment. Branislav Ivanovic has the greater goal threat, the ownership and perhaps offers stronger security than Ashley Cole but, at 6.7, the left-back warrants attention for those willing to gamble on attacking returns over what Mata has declared, “the most important part of the season.”

The Talking Point

While Mata gave Hazard’s owners plenty to ponder, it seems that those holding Robin Van Persie will be forced to go on questioning the value of their prize asset. The Dutchman again returned in United’s 4-2 win over Stoke but he was overshadowed by Wayne Rooney for the second consecutive match.

Rooney’s brace and assist more than balanced out his unfortunate own goal and saw him come out of the Gameweek as the top scoring forward on show, ahead of the Dutchman.

At 1.7 cheaper in the FPL, the appeal is obvious and those who have point blank refused to shell out for Van Persie have themselves a clear contender to fill the void and cover United’s ample attacking potential.

There will still be a huge amount of faith shown in Van Persie, not least because he looks certain to lead the attack away from home while Rooney retreats to a deeper role in Sir Alex Ferguson’s new system. That didn’t prevent Rooney from returning at Newcastle, however, and from Van Persie’s comments post-match, it’s clear that there is much fluidity in United’s new three-pronged attack along with Danny Welbeck…

“Sometimes Wayne plays at the top, sometimes I do and then he drops in and then you have Danny coming in from the left sometimes too. I might also go out there for a few minutes in a game or Wazza does. I think it’s only the second or third time that we’ve played in this formation, but the main thing is we’ve had a good game and got three points.”

It remains to be seen if this movement materialises away from home and if Rooney can rival Van Persie in matches at Chelsea, Villa and Norwich coming up in the next four Gameweeks. With some debate still surrounding the issue of the designated penalty taker in the United ranks, there is clearly plenty of uncertainty as to whether Van Persie can outscore Rooney by a margin that would warrant the gulf in price.

One thing is for sure, Van Persie’s owners can at least sit and contemplate the option of the switch knowing that it’s a nice problem to have. From the evidence of this weekend, both Rooney and Van Persie look to be on their way to dominating the FPL forward rankings.