Should Have Done Better

In the first of what I am hoping to be a regular look back at the players that ‘Should have done better’, I have analysed the players who posted strong underlying statistics in Gameweek 1, but failed to deliver any end product.

These figures have then been compared to their performance in Gameweek 2, to see if  they ‘did do better’.

All data for this article has been derived from the following two members area tables;

Midfielders

Forwards

THE GOOD

Across both the midfielders and forwards tables (when sorted for Gamweek 1), there was a total of 23 players who posted strong underlying statistics, but failed to get into the points.

Of this number, 22 played at least some part in Gameweek  (Everton’s Sandro Ramirez missed out through injury), with a relatively modest total of six players posting returns amongst this group.

The Southampton quartet of Dusan Tadic, Steven Davis, Nathan Redmond and Manolo Gabbiadini, who all contributed to Southampton’s 22 shots on goal in Gamewek 1’s 0-0 against Swansea, all managed to produce the goods in Gameweek 2’s visit of West Ham to St Mary’s.

Tadic put in another well rounded performance, creating four chances for his team mates, as well as having two goal attempts; his all-important points coming from a penalty. This does mean, however, that he is yet to score from open play, but the stats remain very promising for the Serbian.

Redmond and Davis both registered assists in the game, with Redmond in particular putting in another strong performance (three chances created and four goal attempts). Davis’ performance was far more underwhelming though, with a solitary chance created, only one goal attempt, and his points coming via a ‘Fantasy’ assist for winning the penalty that Tadic duly converted.

Gabbiadini notched his first goal of the season, to the delight of his 242,865 owners. Following an indifferent end to the season, Gabbiadini will surely now look to kick on after this showing against West Ham, having registered a total of 7 goal attempts for the season now.

Amongst the opposition for Southampton on the day, was a player who posted the highest Gameweek 2 score from those who were on the Gameweek 1 ‘Should have done better’ table.

Javier Hernandez‘s promising underlying stats in Gameweek 1 converted into two goals in Gameweek 2, and has encouraged 324,670 new managers to purchase the West Ham striker  ahead of GW3.

Interestingly, after his blank in Gameweek 1, he entered last weekend’s trip to St Mary’s with Net Transfers of -73,234, proving to all of these managers that patience would definitely have been a virtue.

Elsewhere, Matthew Phillips was our final player to deliver, based on our Gameweek 1 tables. His assist from a total of three chances created, and a single goal attempt, was enough to reward his managers with six points – a respectable enough score in a low scoring game week.

THE BAD

The most notable negative amongst the 23 names listed in our Gameweek 1 tables, was the premature ending to the afternoon of Marko Arnautovic, who saw red after only 33 minutes. The West Ham midfielder lost his head, and disappointed nearly 12,000 fantasy managers, who brought him in before the game week; probably as a replacement for the injured Wilfried Zaha.

This red came ahead of a fairly kind run of fixtures for West Ham, and many will be thinking twice about drafting in Arnautovic for his return in Gameweek 5.

Players who had strong statistics in Gameweek 1, but then became anonymous in Gamewwek 2 (i.e. those who did not register strong enough underlying stats in Gameweek 2 to be picked up by the table, having played 60+ minutes) include Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser and Josh King, Baggies striker Jay Rodriguez, Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke and Tammy Abraham of Swansea. All of which were fairly good picks for the Gameweek, but ultimately endured a frustrating weekend. Nevertheless, they are all players that I would expect to see in the points very soon.

THE CONSISTENT

Finally, having a look at the players that ‘Should have done better’….. again!

Players appearing in the stats tables in both Gameweek 1 and Gameweek 2 (Members should filter the above tables by all matches) include a host of big names… and Mark Noble.

Most importantly, for 29.8% of fantasy managers, Harry Kane has topped the forwards table for two weeks on the trot.

‘He has never scored in August’ was a piece of advice given to us before the start of the season, which a third of the game duly chose to ignore.

Two points from as many games may be looking like the August drought is going to continue, but the stats could not be more promising; 14 goal attempts in the last two weeks, with 11 of them coming in the box indicate that there is strong enough encouragement ahead of a Gameweek 3 home game against Burnley.

Surely it will only be a matter of time until the goals start flowing for the Spurs talisman.

Another high profile name on the list is Mesut Ozil, who has created 10 chances and registered five goal attempts so far this season. A hefty price tag means that the Arsenal midfielder only sits in 2.5% of teams, but the stats suggest that the points will be coming sooner, rather than later…

Many, though, will deem Ozil too inconsistent to justify his price, considering you can collect Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen or Dele Alli for around the same price, and Manchester United duo Paul Pogba or Henrik Mkhitaryan for significantly less.

Other repeat offenders across both set of fixtures include Burnley’s Robbie Brady, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain of Arsenal, and the aforementioned Fantasy legend that is  West Ham’s Mark Noble.

Looking ahead to Gameweek 3

Over the first two set of fixtures there are 27 players that ‘Should have done better’  –  17 midfielders, and 10 forwards.

These players represent to Fantasy Football managers either; a player worth holding on to as the points seem imminent, or a player that might be worth transferring in, if the fixtures seem particularly kind.

I hope that you have found this useful, and that I have been able to give you a little bit of optimism if your player is in the above tables.

For Members – who do you feel are the notable names in the current Should Have Done Better tables for midfielders and forwards (sort by current Gameweek), and what are your opinions on them?