Scout Notes – Gameweek 15 – Monday

Michu recovers from injury and manages the full 90 minutes in Swansea’s home draw against Hull. Chico nets for the hosts but is set to miss out miss weekend through suspension, Michel Vorm is likely to require knee surgery, while Robbie Brady warms the Tigers bench as Danny Graham opens his account for the season against his former club:

Michu Back in the Mix
The Spaniard made a surprise return to action last night, having been expected to be sidelined until mid-December. Pre-match, his manager admitted Michu was not yet 100% but still managed to give him the full 90 minutes in the 1-1 draw – given his lack of match-sharpness, his blank against the Tigers was perhaps understandable but it now means he has failed to score in each of his last six league starts for the Swans. Now down to a mere 6% ownership in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) and coming in at 8.5, some may still be tempted, but a look at the fixture ticker indicates Swansea have it far from easy over the next few matches – Everton, Chelsea, City, United and Spurs in the next seven suggests last season’s Fantasy phenomenon may well toil to get amongst the goals anytime soon.

Earlier in the day, reports had suggested Wilfried Bony was set to make an appearance from the bench after also recovering quickly from a hamstring injury but Michael Laudrup admitted after the match he’s likely to be a little cautious with the Ivorian:

“Bony is a little better, but we have to be careful because we are talking about a muscle injury. With a muscle injury, if you come back one day too early, you could have a setback and be out for four weeks. We don’t want that.”

Defensive Setbacks for Swans
With three clean sheets in their previous four at the Liberty, a shut-out looked a strong possibility for Swansea last night. Michel Vorm missed out again through an ongoing knee problem, allowing Gerhard Tremmel another chance between the sticks and, whilst the visitors’ early goal killed off the prospects off defensive returns, Chico’s owners were treated to a nine-point haul after the centre-half finally delivered the goal his attacking statistics have hinted at all season. The Spaniard picked up his fifth yellow card of the season late on, however, meaning he will now miss the weekend trip to Norwich. Ashley Williams moved onto the Suspension Tightrope after collecting his fourth booking of the campaign, whilst Laudrup admitted his goalkeeper is likely to require an operation to rectify his problem, though he’s yet to decide when this will take place:

“Michel’s knee is swollen, and he has had a scan today. He can go on, but I think at some point we will have to make a decision at a certain point that he needs surgery. We’re not talking a long period of absence – maybe four or five weeks, maybe a little less.”

Shelvey in the Points Again
Tucked in behind Michu as the most advanced central midfielder, the former Liverpool man supplied the assist for Chico’s equaliser to continue his impressive recent showings. Shelvey has begun to return attacking points at a fairly consistent rate now and has produced the goods in all but one of the last five Gameweeks – with two goals, three assists and three bonus points over that run, he was snapped up by over 161,000 Fantasy managers heading into the weekend deadline and, while his owners will be happy to hold in light of last night’s display, the above-mentioned schedule may be enough to deter many for now.

Brady Benched as Graham Returns to Haunt Swans
While the headlines surrounded Danny Graham’s early opener against his former club, a first goal of the season for the 5.0 priced forward is hardly going to attract Fantasy managers’ attentions. Instead, the omission of Robbie Brady from the Hull XI will have caused plenty consternation to the patient managers who have kept faith in the midfielder over the last few weeks. With Steve Bruce handing Maynor Figueroa the left wing-back role, Brady remained on the visitors’ bench for the entire 90 minutes of the 1-1 draw and now seems to have fallen out of favour due to a lack of form. Owned by 8.7% FPL managers (Liam Rosenior is the second most popular outfield player for Hull with 3.5%), the Republic of Ireland international has now failed to produce any points since Gameweek 6 and now looks set to be offloaded by plenty in light of last night’s non-appearance.