The Knee Jerk

The Knee Jerk – Robin Red Faced

“He is an exceptional player and when you feed him in the box, he’s deadly.”

You see, we kind of knew all that. We realised that, against Blackburn, particularly a Blackburn reduced to ten men after half an hour, Van Persie had the tools to destroy them and deliver massive returns. The problem Mr Wenger, is that on Friday afternoon you uttered this…

“I will rotate a little bit because many players have given a lot…[With Van Persie] the temptation is there.”

That was news to us Fantasy managers. That put the frighteners on and, despite our attempt this morning to deconstruct that statement and put up arguments against the idea of resting Van Persie, some took action. Indeed, two of the top four ranked Fantasy Premier League managers opted to give the armband to Sergio Aguero – perhaps oblivious to Wenger’s threats, but more likely as a result of them.

The very idea of us, a site dedicated to passing information to Fantasy Football managers, ignoring the quotes from Wenger was never a viable option. We turned a blind eye to Friday’s Sun report, but when Wenger speaks, we had to report it. So, to counter that, in this morning’s Preamble, we stressed the need to keep faith with Van Persie and hope that Wenger resisted the gamble. Hopefully, that helped some in their decision to sit tight.

Is there a lesson to be learned? Certainly the fact that Van Persie remained on the pitch to provide an assist to Thierry Henry with the score at 6-1, indicates that the idea of resting Van Persie didn’t cross Wenger’s mind once the goals started flowing. Had Van Persie been tiring, had he been desperate for a break – why was he left on the pitch when the match was dead and buried?

Only Wenger has the answers, and it seems we’ll never quite work out his thinking when it comes to Van Persie. With the Champions League programme looming, we can surely expect more uncertainly, perhaps some smokescreens.

However, today surely confirmed that we can ill afford to take risks with Van Persie and the armband. There is no better Fantasy damage dealer and if there’s a chance that he will be on the pitch, particularly against abject opposition, we have to back him. That policy may cost us – there may well be occasions when Van Persie will be left fidgeting on the bench whilst sporting our armbands. The question is, will those who suffer that fate feel any worse that those who missed out on today’s incredible haul? Right now, in this Knee Jerk, it seems unlikely.

Mark Mark created the beast. He's now looking to tame it.

3,340 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Swagat
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    12 years, 1 month ago

    Why didnt kompany start yesterday?? Is he available for this week??

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    1. JimmyDeemo - Sir Puntalot
      • 14 Years
      12 years, 1 month ago

      Minor knee injury apparently, should be available for next game.

      On a similar subject, anyone know why Mancini switched Clichy to Kolarov?

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      1. OPTA FPL
        • 12 Years
        12 years, 1 month ago

        rest after Everton game, just 3 days

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  2. Swagat
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    12 years, 1 month ago

    thanx ..

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  3. lallu11
    • 12 Years
    12 years, 1 month ago

    I have missed the RvP train. Should I buy him now at the expense of some defenders? He just won't stop scoring. Next Arsenal matches: Sunderland (A), Tottenham (H), Liverpool(A), Newcastle(H).

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    1. FORCA INTER
      • 12 Years
      12 years, 1 month ago

      u missed RVP train??!wow,u are like frist person here who dosn't have RVP

      u should buy him cause he is MUST HAVE

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    2. Skipdipper
      • 12 Years
      12 years, 1 month ago

      you've not had him all season?!?

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    3. JimmyDeemo - Sir Puntalot
      • 14 Years
      12 years, 1 month ago

      Time to swallow your pride I'm afraid. Shoehorn him in.

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    4. jagshmash
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      12 years, 1 month ago

      yes. the only question you should be asking yourself is whether to captain him. and generally the answer is yes.

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    5. lallu11
      • 12 Years
      12 years, 1 month ago

      Thank you for your replies. Finally bought RvP.

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    6. Khushalpt
      • 12 Years
      12 years, 1 month ago

      ya surely... he is the ARSENAL!!

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  4. Mílanista
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    12 years, 1 month ago

    NEW POST

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  5. Congressman
    • 12 Years
    12 years, 1 month ago

    Do people think a Fulham defender to replace enrique is a good idea? Decent fixtures.

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  6. Paolo Di Laernu - low rep r…
    • 12 Years
    12 years, 1 month ago

    Did anyone else make the same mistake I did and drop RVP to the bench? Luckily I had reliable Henry as captain so got some decent coverage from the Arsenal win but god it could have been so much better. I'm praying James Perch doesn't play tomorrow so I can get those RVP points in

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    1. TorresMagic™
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 14 Years
      12 years, 1 month ago

      60 & telling lies. 😕

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  7. BootlegRascal
    • 12 Years
    12 years, 1 month ago

    Taarabt or Sigurddson (or anyone else for that matter) ? I'm leaning towards Taarabt as his fixtures are generally better for longer

    Any striker (apart from Dzeko, Aguero, RVP)? - Leaning towards Zamora

    What are your thoughts?

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    1. Khushalpt
      • 12 Years
      12 years, 1 month ago

      ROONEY!! DECENT FIXTURES FOR HIM AFTER liverpool..

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  8. Bonkers
    • 12 Years
    12 years, 1 month ago

    I have Sess and Morison, need some quality replacements in the same budget?

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    1. TonyVilliers
      • 12 Years
      12 years, 1 month ago

      More quality than Sess....do some research dude. Sess and Dempsey just under Bale and Silva for midfielder in opta stats.

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  9. TonyVilliers
    • 12 Years
    12 years, 1 month ago

    I meant to put Bale as Captain and RVP as VC. Got it wrong. Best mistake of my life.

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  10. jezstatham
    • 14 Years
    12 years, 1 month ago

    david luiz looks just like nicole kidman from behind

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  11. jezstatham
    • 14 Years
    12 years, 1 month ago

    in dead calm or days of thunder

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  12. jamsiep
    • 14 Years
    12 years, 1 month ago

    Reina, Kelly, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Spearing, Adam, Gerrard, Kuyt, Bellamy, Carroll

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    1. Valar(Keith)
      • 14 Years
      12 years, 1 month ago

      45 mins too early

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      1. jamsiep
        • 14 Years
        12 years, 1 month ago

        We'll see....

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    2. Gargamel
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      12 years, 1 month ago

      That man is so early with news that if Liverpool are the early Saturday game anytime soon we might have team news on them before deadline

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