Scout Notes – Gameweek 25 – Sunday
Filed under: Scout Notes - Posted by: Mark
Bale strikes to maintain Tottenham’s march on the top four, while goals from Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko are not enough to keep their title ambitions on track as an old boy returns to the Etihad to play his part in a strong Liverpool display. As the dust settles on Sunday’s events, here’s our Scout Notes analysing the reaction and aftermath…
Bale Central To Tottenham Ambitions
Gareth Bale’s superb strike added to his effort in the midweek draw at Carrow Road to underline his importance to Tottenham and reinstate him in the thinking of Fantasy managers. Bale had suffered significant sales going into the trip to Norwich but, with back-to-back goals secured, he’s now firmly beck in the frame for a slot in our midfields.
Deployed in a more central role in yesterday’s match, Bale was able to terrorise the West Brom defence and ultimately strike a stunning winning goal. We’ve seen Bale in this central role before, with Harry Redknapp experimenting with it with some effect last season. The Welshman indicated post-match that it’s certainly a role that he relishes…
“I enjoy it. It’s a role that I’m learning season by season. I’ve come inside more often than previous seasons and it’s a role I’m enjoying…It’s a new experience for me, a chance to improve my game and it gives me another dimension.”
The injury to Jermaine Defoe, who suffered suspected ankle ligament damage in yesterday’s match, could well see Bale continue in this role, or even be converted to a forward. Andre Villas-Boas brought us this, post-match, on Defoe’s setback…
“Jermain’s ankle does not look so good. He will have a scan in the morning and we will assess it from there. He is certainly out of the Newcastle game next weekend, for sure. It was always a risk not to buy a striker in the transfer window, but this is the risk we decided to take. We have many attacking options in our team and you could see we created a lot of chances during the game.”
While Togo’s exit from the African Cup of Nations brings Emmanuel Adebayor back into the squad for the weekend clash with Newcastle, the Spurs boss acknowledged that he could call on Bale to reinforce the attack, having already played in that position in Tottenham’s pre-season…
“When we played pre-season, Gareth played alone in the striker role and it is something he feels comfortable with…He gives us even that possibility for sure. It is something we have to look to. You just have to adapt to it in the best way you can.”
Given Bale’s current form, a more permanent shift to a central role to lend maximise his goal power could be a big development in Fantasy terms. While all eyes switch to Liverpool’s attacking assets for their double Gameweek exploits, Bale’s ascendency may be ignored for the time being but seems likely to attract major interest should he continued to be deployed in a central role and produce the goods when the Magpies pay visit to the Lane.
Having said that, Bale’s home form remains an enigma – while he’s been prolific on this travels, the Welshman has only returned goals and assists on three occasions in front of his own fans – in nine starts. He has failed to return in his last four league matches at the Lane.
Sturridge Shines Back at City
The stage was set for Daniel Sturridge to impress and he didn’t disappoint. While Liverpool had top performers all over the pitch, it was Sturridge that drew the plaudits, finding the net with a superb first-half strike whilst impressing throughout with his pace and movement. Yesterday’s goal means that he has returned in every one of his four appearances for Liverpool in the league so far – it’s that kind of consistency, along with his modest price tag, that helped to attract huge interest overnight ahead of Liverpool’s double fixtures in Gameweek 26. Sturridge enjoyed more acquisitions in the FPL than any other player in the last 24-hours, with his price rising to 7.6.
That interest arrived despite slight concerns surrounding his fitness following a thigh injury sustained in Sunday’s match. Brendan Rodgers brought us more on the knock, whilst heaping praise on his new striker…
“He [Sturridge] got a knock just before half-time on his thigh and he wanted to give it a go in the second half. I think he will be a doubt for the game on Wednesday, which is unfortunate because he was terrific today. His hold-up play, movement and pace was a real threat, and combination with Luis Suarez, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson up front was outstanding. He is just with the medics at the moment, and he will have a chat with our doctors and he will speak with the England set-up. They might want to have a look at it but at the moment he is obviously struggling.”
The player himself, seen with an ice pack strapped to the injury post-match, seemed optimistic on the injury…
“I did it in the first half and throughout the game I couldn’t sprint…After I did it, I couldn’t really open up properly. Hopefully it’s not too serious and I’ll be okay for next week’s game.”
It remains to be seen if Sturridge is withdrawn from England’s squad for their friendly with Brazil in midweek. Clearly there is some doubt, however slight, that he may miss out when Liverpool take on West Brom a week today. It must be said, however, that, having seen out the majority of the game with the problem, it would suggest that it is only a mild concern rather than a injury that threatens a period of time on the sidelines. We await further updates from Anfield.
Carragher’s Renaissance
While the likes of Sturridge and Steven Gerrard again impressed going forward, Jamie Carragher earned another start at the back at the expense of Martin Skrtel. The Liverpool stalwart has now started the last three matches and, despite conceding twice to both Arsenal and Liverpool, now seems to have cemented a starting role. Brendan Rodgers was quick to talk up the efforts of Carragher following yesterday’s draw…
“You look at Carra, marshalling and controlling. Two big games this week and two big performances. He was up against top players [on Sunday] – Aguero, one of the best players in the world…Carra has never put a foot wrong for me.”
At 5.0 in the FPL, Carragher looks to be the cheapest route into the Liverpool defence as we approach their double Gameweek. Carragher will be expected to sit out the Europa League tie with Zenit following the West Brom clash, leaving him clear to line up against Swansea and complete both league fixtures. Skrtel, meanwhile, looks to be out in the cold having appeared to have secured regular starts alongside Dan Agger earlier in the season.
Goals Not Enough for Mancini
While both Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero returned goals at they renewed their partnership up front, this was not enough for City to earn the points and certainly not enough to appease manager Roberto Mancini. The City boss took the decision to recall Dzeko and saw him score his 11th goal of the season to open the scoring, whilst Aguero converted superbly to punish a Pepe Reina error late on. However, Mancini was in no doubt that his strike pairing could and should have offered more…
“The should do better. They scored two goals but they don’t play well. If they play better, probably we win this game.”
Such comments once again cast doubt over the City attack. With Carlos Tevez unused from the bench in yesterday’s game, there’s every chance that Mancini will again offer him the opportunity of a recall for the trip to Southampton next weekend. While Dzeko was far from impressive in yesterday’s game, he has scored five goals in his last six league outings – Tevez has failed to score in his last eight league appearances.
Mancini could at least be cheered by defeat suffered by the Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations. That will see both Yaya and Kolo Toure return to the City squad for the trip to the South Coast in Gameweek 26.
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michelin man crossed with some kind of pig-bird » -
⋋( 'Θ')⋌ Who am I? » -
fine Pacers Spurs then. spurs have homecourt no? so grizzlies just have to win out at home and win one on the road… » -
:D genius! »
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pablo picasso artwork »
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woop woop. just google-image searched picasso and that grav showed up. god i'm great :D »
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some picasso-lookin monstrosity »
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nope! no change for me what on earth is your grav supposed to be? :shock: »
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“We have dynamic players with good movement, so if he can link with them fine. He can play a bit higher because his timing getting into the box is very good.”
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February 4 at 1:04 pm
Giggs Boson says:
What a strange season this is. I just ended up comparing Michu and Sturridge. Pretty conclusive result as well…
February 4 at 1:06 pm
Giggs Boson says:
352 Vs 343
February 4 at 1:07 pm
roscola says:
Is that shots in the box? Sounds quite high …
February 4 at 1:08 pm
Giggs Boson says:
February 4 at 1:06 pm
Somebody's gonna get Litt Up! says:
Strange comparison to make. One is lively, greedy and always looking to get involved, the other shows nice touches, can be invisible and then pops up with a goal.
February 4 at 1:08 pm
Giggs Boson says:
Not really. Most people have to make that choice when choosing between the two formations. Selfish players are usually FPL gold anyway.
February 4 at 1:12 pm
Somebody's gonna get Litt Up! says:
Agree with that, Michu is gone after the DGW for me.
February 4 at 1:06 pm
HVT says:
One is Spanish and one is English ?
February 4 at 1:07 pm
Santiagounreal says:
Michu is absolutely terrible lately…I’m telling you. I watched the Sunderland Swansea game and was extremely underwhelmed by him. Although I was happy he didn’t score against us.
February 4 at 1:10 pm
roscola says:
I got rid this week and felt absolutely no regret, other than not having done it sooner
February 4 at 1:10 pm
Giggs Boson says:
I’ll be doing it after the DGW regardless. I need Fellaini in my team.
February 4 at 1:14 pm
RamaJama says:
Me too, Michu out for Fellaini after the DGW, really tasty fixtures. But Michu should show consistency and better form over the 2 matches, I’m considering Gerrard to Fellaini.
February 4 at 1:12 pm
Phaze 1 says:
Michu -> Sissoko in GW27. could be the new Siggy
February 4 at 1:06 pm
MJ6987 (Atalanta) says:
Nearly 10k people have brought Suarez in today after doing nothing at the weekend? What’s going on? Why so many today rather than later in the week?
February 4 at 1:07 pm
HVT says:
It’s been like that all season , it’s called pre-mature transferation
February 4 at 1:09 pm
Jack(off)Attack says:
He has West Brom and Swansea at home and is the second (not sure if still true) highest scorer so far? Some people do their transfers early, and Suarez is an obvious transfer in this week.
February 4 at 1:09 pm
Count Of Monte Hristo - "Corner the market, then raise the price. Simple economics" (Heisenberg, 2009) says:
Are you that shortsighted? Does one blank week make a player a good or a bad prospect? He is one of the best strikers in the league and has a DGW. It’s not complicated.
RVP hasn’t scored for 2 weeks. Should we all sell him?
February 4 at 1:09 pm
Gopher says:
0.1
February 4 at 1:09 pm
heco87 says:
All based on expectations isn’t it .. everyone expects him to rise so make transfers early which makes him rise when if they didn’t do it early, he wouldn’t rise. Similar to financial markets etc
February 4 at 1:13 pm
Phaze 1 says:
people still wanna beat price rises.
February 4 at 1:15 pm
RamaJama says:
His price is rising, so many don’t have the chance to wait. And Sturridge is a doubt, would go for Suarez.
February 4 at 1:07 pm
The Baines says:
so can we believe Rodgers?? I want to have a cheaper pool defender.. Carraghar nailed on mates???
February 4 at 1:08 pm
heco87 says:
New post http://www.fantasyfootballscou...../#comments
Carragher not nailed on for me but could easily play both. Enrique worth the extra I reckon.
February 4 at 1:07 pm
Santiagounreal says:
@Granville, are you going without Suarez for the DGW? Feeling nervous?
February 4 at 1:11 pm
COW says:
Think he said hes gone Stur.
February 4 at 1:14 pm
Mark says:
Not sure about Granville but I’m slightly worried but thinking it could be a handy differential. It seems unlikely that Suarez owners will use a transfer to also get Sturridge and the flipside is that they will be worried that Sturridge will steal the DGW thunder. If he does, it could come as a double blow as, by the time they decide or are free to make the “downgrade”, he could be significantly more pricey.
February 4 at 1:15 pm
G-G-Granville says:
Not really. I actually feel sanitised not having him.
February 4 at 1:09 pm
Alonso The Great Midfielder says:
i dont think wba and swansea will be an easy games for liverpool….based on that, i am preparing for dgw failure….
February 4 at 1:10 pm
Alonso The Great Midfielder says:
and forget to say, dont you think sterling will play one and a half games of dgw??
February 4 at 1:16 pm
Mile Plankton - Myth and Chronology says:
I think Sterling will be used in Europa.
February 4 at 1:17 pm
RamaJama says:
Saw WBA-Tottenham yesterday, WBA really bad at home, Pools good form can make it really difficult for WBA at Anfield…
February 4 at 1:52 pm
BabyDave says:
Liverpool did deliver an awful dgw last season
February 4 at 1:09 pm
Eddie(^_^) says:
(c)Suarez
February 4 at 1:10 pm
Nick says:
New post, chaps – http://www.fantasyfootballscou.....meweek-25/
February 4 at 3:23 pm
FINALLY POGREBYNYAK SCORES says:
Team for GW 26,
Begovic
Clyne Davies Russel
Michu Wacott Bale Mata
Suarez Sturridge Van P
Subs: Jussi, Punch, Harte….
No FT. I wanna take the midfielder with an away game(Walcott) for Gerrard for a +4 point hit.
What do you guys think?
February 4 at 3:41 pm
Deano says:
Just a couple of boring FTs this week in KUN > Suarez and Benteke > Sturridge. Bit of a pity to lose the big Belgian after he has served me so well over the past 8 GWs but that’s business.
Good to go for next week?
Mignolet
Davies, Zabaleta, Dawson
Mata, Michu, Walcott, Fellaini
RVP, Suarez (C) Sturridge
Henderson, Puncheon, Pearce, Bertrand
February 4 at 7:02 pm
VAN PERSIE says:
YES OR NO?
for GW26 : Bale > Gerrard (free transfer)
for GW27 : Gerrard > Bale
Glen Johnson > Zabaleta (-4)
My other dgw players are : Glen Johnson, Suarez, Michu and Davies.
What do you think guys?
Thanks!
February 4 at 9:25 pm
Just One More Thing says:
Keep Bale.
February 5 at 12:04 pm
Rambo Motin says:
Need help with my team guys comments are really appreciated ps: i really want to put sissoko in my team but i dont know how to go about it
Federici (Nicholls)
Zab, Harte, Davies (Mariappa, Clyne)
Sterling, Fellani, Michu, Walcott, Mata
Suarez, RVP, (Fletcher)
0.3 in bank lads! please help!
February 6 at 12:49 am
bigmacca73 says:
suarez cappy the only way this week guys!!!!gotta love thr teeth lol
February 6 at 11:37 am
wh36tom says:
will caragher start both games???
February 7 at 6:18 am
Marouane Michu says:
Dzeko or Lambert?! Looking for a replacement for Remy with 2.3 in the bank.