Say What? – Gameweek 34

We scour the press conferences and post-match press reports again this Thursday afternoon. Tim Sherwood and Tony Pulis both talk tactics, Jose Mourinho praises Chelsea’s young Egyptian, Roberto Martinez hails the importance of his skipper and Gus Poyet is looking to go on the attack:

Tim Sherwood explained his recent decision to reshuffle the Spurs midfield in order to get the best out of summer signings Christian Eriksen and Nacer Chadli. With the Dane shifted out wide, the Belgian has been moved into the middle in a 4-4-2, allowing Emmanuel Adebayor and Harry Kane to wreak havoc up front. The move has certainly brought the best out of Eriksen, who has had a telling hand in seven of Spurs’ last 11 goals and picked up eight bonus points along the way. Tottenham face favourable opposition for the run-in (FUL, sto, whm, AVL), and with almost 100,000 new owners in the past three Gameweeks, Eriksen’s FPL influence looks set to grow.

“I said when I first came in that the new signings need time to settle, and they need to find a system that suits them. Certainly in recent weeks we’ve found a system that suits Chadli in central midfield. We’ve also found a system that suits Eriksen. It’s not only about him [Eriksen] playing in that position, it’s about getting the football to him and trying to find ways of getting him on the ball, because when he is on it he does affect it – so those two for sure have been very good. They are best suited to those positions. Chadli is a big boy, very powerful and he runs away from people. He turns on the back foot and drives away. He has got more power than Christian, who’s is a little bit more Plymouth to be honest – Ar-guile.”
Tim Sherwood finds joy in switching the field positions of Christian Eriksen and Nacer Chadli.

With Jason Puncheon once again taking the plaudits in Palace’s weekend win over Villa, Tony Pulis explained why wingers are key to his system. After scoring against Everton last night, Puncheon has now notched seven goals since the turn of the year and, as the players become more accustomed to their new manager’s tactics, has been the main beneficiary from a Fantasy perspective, with Pulis singling out the winger’s about-turn in form:

“At Stoke we used Kenwyne Jones and Peter Crouch and we used them in abundance because they are good players at what they do. We haven’t got that target man here so we play through the pitch quicker and you need people who can come inside, like Bolasie and Puncheon do, into the pockets and we build up our momentum really through them. A lot of time and a lot of work has been spent trying to get them to understand that and the team to understand it. I think the way they have taken to it has been first class… Punch has been outstanding. Perhaps the turning point for him was that penalty miss. Players frequently get criticised and that’s when their real character comes out. It was important that he bounced back and came out of himself. He has done that and been very good for us. He can be anything he wants to be and, so long as he commits himself 100 per cent – which he hasn’t always done – he can become a very good player.”
Crystal Palace boss, Tony Pulis, talks up his flying wingmen.

After the narrow victory at Sunderland, Everton manager Roberto Martinez discussed Phil Jagielka’s imminent return to action. Whilst young John Stones has proven an able deputy, Martinez made no bones about Jagielka’s role in the first XI. Everton welcome both of the Manchester clubs to Goodison Park, separated by a trip to Southampton in the next three Gameweeks, and the return of their captain could prove crucial as they duel with Arsenal in the race for a lucrative Champions League berth.

“He’s our club captain. As soon as he’s ready, he’s straight back in the team. We need him immensely in that respect. He’s been very much influential, even when he hasn’t been on the pitch. He’s always had a real presence in the dressing room, he’s always had wise words of advice for the young players in the squad. He’s our club captain and we need him back on the pitch as quickly as we can.”
Martinez nails his colours to captain Phil Jagielka’s mast.

Martinez also spoke of young Gerard Deulofeu’s innate ability to produce goalscoring chances. The Barcelona prodigy, on loan from the Catalan giants, has impressed in his spell at Goodison, notching three goals and four assists in the Premier League. It was his terrorising runs at Sunderland left-back Marcos Alonso that eventually led to the Toffee’s breakthrough, earmarking him as a potential game-changer for the important fixtures that lie ahead.

“We knew that Gerard Deulofeu could bring that magic and spark. In games like this you need that sort of contribution.”
Roberto Martinez on Gerard Deulofeu’s game-changing talent.

After Sunderland’s loss to Everton, Gus Poyet admitted he’s keen to load up on attacking alternatives as Sunderland fight for Premier League survival. The Uruguayan is looking for a cavalier set-up on the bench as he attempts to address a run which has seen his side score just six times in the last nine matches. With Chelsea up next, Fantasy managers will be in no rush to gamble on Poyet’s men, but Sunderland play host to three of their relegation rivals in their final three Gameweeks (CAR, WBA, SWA), with an away trip to Manchester United making Gameweek 37 a double header – a run that suggests they could still have an important part to play in our Fantasy seasons, as their manager goes for broke:

“When I planned the team (for West Ham and Spurs) I changed the bench a little bit. Normally, I would always put on a couple of strikers, couple of midfielders, a full-back and a centre-back – depending on the shape. But I think it’s time to take a risk. We’re trying to make the bench in a certain way and sometimes we have three strikers on there.”
Gus Poyet is determined to take risks to boost Sunderland’s survival hopes.

After publicly berating his side’s display in the 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, Cardiff City manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this week praised his team following their unlikely win at Southampton. The Bluebirds now sit three points from safety with four games to play and Solskjaer seems set to keep faith in his diligent performers, with the unlikely match winner Juan Cala coming into a refreshed starting XI along with Kim Bo-Kyung and Peter Whittingham. Solskjaer went on to confirm Whittingham’s involvement for the final games against Stoke, Sunderland, Newcastle and Chelsea.

“Of course it also helps having one of the very best goalkeepers in the Premier League in David Marshall. He did his job, as did the entire back-four. In front of them the six players ran their hearts out until some had cramps, showing how much it means to them to pick up results for this club. I wasn’t as happy at the end of the game last weekend because we had nothing to be proud of, but today, no matter what happened in the last few minutes you could stand there proud of the effort and endeavour from the players… Peter will play in the next four games. There’s reasons for everything and sometimes you make the wrong decisions but he’s had a couple of injuries as well.”
Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer, pleased following the response of his players after a hugely improved performance against Southampton.

Having snuck away with three points in the win against Swansea, Jose Mourinho described the role of the attacking midfielders in his 4-2-3-1 system. Chelsea have demonstrated the value of a lean defence in remarkable style over the second half of the season, conceding just six goals in their last 18 games – with 12 clean sheets over that run – thanks, in part, to the tenacity of their midfielders. With Sunderland next to visit the Bridge ahead of a title showdown with Liverpool in Gameweek 36, Mourinho will be hoping for the trend to continue.

“Every player has to work for the team, both with and without the ball. All of our players contribute defensively and for the attacking midfielders there is a big responsibility to press the opposition when they have possession in their own half….It is extremely important to try to win the ball as high up the pitch as possible because, when you do this, your opponent is usually less prepared for the counter-attack. Usually, when you win the ball back close to their goal, the opposition defenders are not positioned to deal with a quick attack, so you have a good chance to find space, to exploit it and, hopefully, to score.”
Jose Mourinho on shared defensive responsibilities and counter-attacking football.

After giving us the heads up on Mohamed Salah and Willian in last week’s Say What?, Mourinho again took the opportunity to praise Salah’s talents.

“I think he has the potential to be a very exciting player…He has come from a different situation to most of the squad, because he was playing in Switzerland before he came here, and in Egypt before that, so he has to adapt to his surroundings here. He has incredible pace and he is comfortable receiving the ball in space, like a traditional winger, so he offers us another way to beat the defence.”
Mourinho taking a shine towards Mohamed Salah

With a come-back win against West Ham complete, Arsene Wenger pondered his attacking options for the final Gameweeks. Lukas Podolski has come into fine form, harvesting 31 points from his last four games courtesy of three strikes, a pair of assists and six bonus points and Wenger maintains that he suits the team best from a wide position, despite the temptation to play him off Olivier Giroud. Either way, with just 1.4% of Fantasy managers benefitting from his services, the trigger-happy German looks a viable differential with form and fixtures (hul, NEW, WBA, nor) on his side.

“I am tempted [to play two strikers] but I have so many offensive players, who all want to go in the middle, and Lukas is the only one who is really a wide player. Rosicky is a central player, Cazorla is basically a central player, and when you don’t have Walcott it’s very difficult to do that… I played [Podolski] centre forward a few times and I felt he came a lot to the ball, more like an off-striker than a target striker. But he is a fantastic finisher because he has unbelievable power and a very short backlift. So the one you want to have a chance is him”
Arsene Wenger weighing up his attacking options.