The Champions League is surely the pinnacle of club football right? Settle down with a beer and few mates to watch the best clubs in Europe duke it out; see some of the greatest players on the planet; Watch some of the finest moments in footballing history. Why, then, do I hate European matches so much? No, its not because i’m Xenophoic and no, I don’t read the Daily Mail. I’ll tell you why I hate it – two words – Fantasy Football.
There are a number of reasons why the Champions League and indeed European football in general is annoying from a fantasy football perspective. I shall proceed to tell you why that is…
1) Injuries
Well it goes without saying that midweek European games present to you an issue of injuries. There’s nothing worse than when, on the Sunday after the weekend games have finished, you highlight your next transfer target. Great you think, he’s a perfect replacement for that underperforming midfielder who you picked when you were drunk. You have a look at the prices. Wow, awesome, you can afford him – but what’s this? He’s been transferred in by loads of players and looks set to go up in price before Tuesday! Ahhh nightmare – but he’s playing Champions League football on Wednesday, what if he gets injured? Sod it! I’ll bring him in, I mean, what are they odds of him getting injured? A hundred to one? It’ll be fine!
Wednesday: Groin strain – out for three weeks.
2) Goals scored
Call me deluded but for some reason I feel like a player has a certain amount of goals in him per season. Therefore, when one of my players scores during midweek European games, I get sad and lock myself in a cupboard for a week. Distin bagging – why didn’t he do that against Fulham? Anelka – why can’t he bloody well score against Stoke! If players score in Europe I want it to be someone who’s in no way in my fantasy football sights – Scholes’ goal, therefore, was fine! Ok, you might say, but it adds to form and it can only be a good thing. Possibly, but I’d rather they showed this form in the Premier League!
3) Player Rotation
Surely there’s nothing worse than watching the team line-ups tick over on a Saturday, hoping you’ve got a full contingent out for the week, only to see that your big hitters aren’t’ starting. Why on earth aren’t they %£$&ing starting you think? Then the reality dawns on you – they’ve been rested for the key midweek away game in Romania. Or when you pick your captain, say Torres, against an easy opposition, and feel like you’ve got a full 90 minutes of him ripping them to shreds and clocking up plenty of points for you. The reality is unfortunately that after about 59 minutes he gets taken off because they’ve got a decisive game against Debrecen midweek. Damn you Rafa, Damn you Europe!
Say maybe to Yossi
I don’t think there is any doubt that Benayoun is a class player and certainly one that, given his price, the team he plays for and his ability to both create and score goals, would come under the radar of most fantasy football players. His ability was certainly on show last weekend when the Israeli smashed a hat trick, got an assist and bagged three bonus points against an outclassed Burnley side. In between this he even managed to find the time to have a goal disallowed for offside.
However, despite my praise, the simple fact remains – he’s constantly living under the huge shadow of “Rafa-tation” (sorry, let me just throw up) Long term this guys going to be in and out of the team faster than you can say Hokey-Cokey. My advice is thus, he’s not going to score 24 points again this season – if you had him last week, great work; if you didn’t have him, hold back until we know whether he’s going to be a permanent fixture in Liverpool’s set up once Mascharano is back. Remember, there is a balance between backing form – sustained over a number of games- and chasing last week’s points.
Now this might come back to haunt me because I do feel that were he to start for Liverpool, he’s capable of scoring decent returns. However the simple fact is – we don’t know if he’s definitely going to play. That said Liverpool’s visit to West Ham on Saturday see’s Benayoun return to Upton Park and to play against a side with whom he made his Premier League debut, added incentive I think you’ll agree for the Israeli international to perform against his old club. Nothing surprises me with Rafa though so it’s with this in mind that I say he’s probably just as likely to get dropped as he is score a goal against the Hammers.
Anti-Bandwagon
Slightly tedious one this week but for some reason Lee Cattermole is on the list of most transferred-in midfielders. I’m sure most of you know where I’m going with this, but the fact is he’s a defensive midfielder! Admittedly he’s fair more attacking this season as highlighted by SIR PAULO’s Chalkboards but historically he’s better known for his tenacious tackling than his goalscoring prowess. Defensive midfielders + Fantasy football = Bad. Admittedly he’s picked up an assist and a few bonus already this season but history tells you for every goal he scores he gets 10 cards (well, in two out of the last three seasons). It reminds me of a story of a fantasy football playing chum who, in his naive beginnings of FPL brought in Claude Makalele when he was a Chelsea player. His reasoning? “A guaranteed cool 3 points every week!” At that price I’d rather an attacking midfielder who scores 2/3 points but has the chance of both bonus and scoring. From a fantasy football perspective at around the 5/5.1 million mark there is without doubt better fish in the sea, in particular attacking picks like Hunt, O’hara or even spend a bit more and get yourself Damian Duff. Therefore, personally I disagree with SIR PAULO’s belief that this guy could be a bargain. I, for one. am averting my gaze elsewhere!