Say What? – Gameweek 8

Say What? shakes off the jet lag from another international break to bring you the tastiest sound bites from a dramatic Gameweek 8. This time, we hear from Manuel Pellegrini and Roberto Martinez on the return to form of their star strikers. Arsene Wenger and Louis van Gaal discuss stuttering starts, Nathaniel Clyne reviews the new arrivals making an impact at Southampton, while Gus Poyet reacts to Sunderland’s infamous collapse at St. Mary’s. Meanwhile, Cesc Fábregas plays himself down, Eden Hazard talks himself up, and Jose Mourinho throws Oscar’s hat somewhere in the middle.

With Diego Costa rated as an injury worry for Chelsea’s trip to Selhurst Park, the stage was set for Sergio Aguero to showcase his credentials as a Fantasy Football heavyweight in Gameweek 8’s opening fixture against Tottenham. Four goals, a penalty miss and 19 points later, Aguero rose to the top of the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) standings as Costa was handed the day off and, post-match, Manuel Pellegrini reckoned we are now starting to see the best of his clinical striker. Almost 158,000 Fantasy managers have ploughed in for the 12.4-priced forward already, and with more cagey news on Costa’s fitness from Mourinho, the figure looks set rise ahead of an encouraging run of fixtures which will see the Champions through to the January wildcard.

“I have said before this game that Aguero can be one of the best in the world – today we’ve seen what he can do when he is 100 per cent fit. I have known Kun for a long time. I have seen him in Argentina and Spain and now in England, and he has all the qualities. Last year he was unlucky with injuries, but he has had a good pre-season. We also rested him in the first few games and now we are seeing him at his best.”

Aguero may have attracted the majority of Fantasy shoppers’ attention, but the star of Gameweek 8 was undeniably Dusan Tadic. The Southampton midfielder produced a season-high 23 points courtesy of a goal, four assists and maximum bonus in the Saints’ 8-0 thumping of Sunderland and finds himself third most transferred-in player this week after the Argentine and team-mate Graziano Pelle. After the match, Saint boss Ronald Koeman praised his Serbian playmaker after he opened his league account but insists he’s expecting plenty more from Tadic over the remainder of the campaign.

“It’s always important (scoring), because we speak about that. To give assists is an important quality, but players like Tadic has to score between seven, eight, nine goals every season. He knows now that he has to work hard for that, but he played on a fantastic level today.”

Koeman also took time out to discuss his defence. Whilst the Saints main attackers hogged the headlines, the result means they have now earned four clean sheets this term – more than any other side – and their manager was keen to elaborate on his philosophy:

“To win points, to win games, it starts at the back. It starts in the defence. That’s the reason that we bought Fraser (Forster), because he is a fantastic goalkeeper with a future in the club. We have a strong defence. It is all about organisation in the team and one time a week we do unit training. We make three groups and we have training for the defenders, for midfielders and for forwards. You try to put them in situations that can happen in the game and to prepare the defence, to prepare the midfield. That is an example of how we try to do work the whole week. Building a house you don’t start up, you start at the bottom. That makes winning teams.”

Danny Welbeck’s last-gasp equaliser may have spared Arsenal’s blushes in the 2-2 home draw with Hull City on Saturday but the Gunners’ defence remains a genuine concern for Arsene Wenger. His side have produced a single clean sheet this season – the shut out at Aston Villa, who have the joint-lowest goal tally in the league alongside Burnley (four). Wenger now has the perfect opportunity to establish greater balance in his side, with the suspended Calum Chambers returning in time for back-to-back matches against Sunderland and Burnley.

“It’s not easy against a team who plays with five defenders, four midfielders and one striker. Where we are guilty is to give away two goals from nothing. We showed some great quality today in the build-up. Finding the balance is an issue. Look at the number of shots on target we’ve had in the last five games – you’ll be surprised. Hull had two shots on target and [scored] two goals. We have progressed since last season in the way we dominate the games and the way we combine. Last year we had 17 clean sheets with the same defenders but we have not started to do that yet. Our defensive efficiency is not there and we cannot survive at the top level by always conceding two goals.”

Handed the lone striker role against QPR, Mario Balotelli once again failed to find the net as Liverpool needed a couple of own goals to edge past the R’s in Sunday’s Loftus Road showdown. Prior to the encounter, the Italian admitted that playing up front on his own doesn’t suit his style of play – with Daniel Sturridge sidelined for up to another four weeks, though, he’s unlikely to get his wish any time soon:

“Right now my first league goal is my first and only objective. I need to get in the box more. I don’t do it enough, but it is something I am working to try to do more. I have never been a real, out-and-out striker – I have always been someone who goes around the pitch, you know? If it was my choice, I would always go with two strikers. It’s the way I like to play, but Brendan [Rodgers] asked me to play as the first striker. I understand that when the ball comes from wide on the left or right, I need to be in the box otherwise there might be no-one there at all.”

Choosing a route into José Mourinho’s midfield could become the subject of much debate in coming weeks. Cesc Fabregas may command maximum attention right now – the Chelsea playmaker boasts the highest total score for his position and joint-highest ownership of all FPL midfielders (52.3%) but, although he opened his goal account last weekend, the Spaniard seemed to sound a word of caution to owners with regard to his deeper role.

“Now I am playing deeper in midfield there will be moments during the season when maybe I go five or six games without a goal or an assist, and I am more proud about the team work, the discipline, the way we coped with the sending off, than my goals or my assists. I give those to other people to talk about.”

Eden Hazard would seem the most obvious alternative to the Spaniard and new investors looking to justify the additional 0.2 (FPL) outlay over Fabregas will be encouraged by his post-match comments at Selhurst Park. Hazard served up a timely reminder of his explosive capacity to score huge returns with an eye-catching Champions League performance last night and seems intent on translating his ‘flat-track bully’ reputation into one of a big-game match-winner as Chelsea prepare for trips to Old Trafford and Anfield in the next three.

“He [Mourinho] might have a little dig, saying: ‘Today we played with 10 men’. But it stops there. Then he will leave me alone, he will not break my head. It’s the first time I have known a coach who operates like this. The others tended to protect me. Him, he really wants my potential to explode – and he does everything to make it happen…I am not in the top five [players in the world], not yet. I perhaps am not very far from it, but I still have to work. When you are decisive in big games, that is when you are in the group. Slowly I am managing that, as we saw against Arsenal and Manchester City.”

Mourinho waded into the argument with a differential of his own, touting Oscar’s growing influence in the middle of the park. The Brazilian opened the scoring against Palace with a scintillating free-kick and later assisted Fábregas’ goal to secure maximum bonus. The result took his tally to 34 points for the season, or 5.7 points per game (ppg) after missing two of Chelsea’s opening five matches. At 8.3m and only 3% ownership (FPL), Oscar’s form may signal the arrival of an affordable option to rival Fabregas and Hazard, whose returns for the season average 6.1 and 5.4 ppg respectively.

“He did fantastically against Arsenal and again today. He’s the number 10 that plays with the ball at his feet. He’s a number 10 that looks back and to the side. He analyses the game and sees where the team needs him. He creates balances. For example, in the first half when they had McArthur man to man on Fabregas, I was so happy with that because Fabregas was taking McArthur from the central area and Oscar was dropping back to play. Him and Matic controlled the game completely for us. Oscar has had a mental and tactical evolution that has allowed him to be a fantastic player. Can he physically improve? Of course, but people forget he’s still so young. There are great conditions in front of him to keep improving.”

Manchester United are next to face the league’s most prolific attack and it seems they will have their work cut out following their 2-2 draw with West Brom in the Monday night kick-off at the Hawthorns. Louis van Gaal rolled out a 4-2-3-1 which paired Daley Blind and Ander Herrera in the double pivot with Robin van Persie leading the line at the expense of Radamel Falcao. With his side stunned by Stephan Sessegnon’s blistering opener, Van Gaal turned to Marouane Fellaini ahead of Falcao and his half time introduction was quickly rewarded with the visitors’ first goal. After the match, van Gaal gave his take on tactical switches.

“You never know (whether I’ll keep formation) but I have a lot of confidence as I liked the match…We have to look for physical balance and maybe that’s part of our problem. I am a coach who always looks for creative players but in England you also need physical bodies in your team – Fellaini is one of these. I am looking for balance and maybe with this formation, but with the same philosophy, we could do better. With training sessions players now understand the philosophy more and I have seen it also tonight which is why it’s such a pity we couldn’t get the result we deserved.”