When compared to the vast majority of sides that have previously been promoted from the Championship, Blackpool’s impact in the Premier League has been a real breath of fresh air. Pre-season, most talk was centred around Ian Holloway and how -somewhat patronisingly- the Seasiders’ boss would bring a “bit of character” to the top division, but the first seven gameweeks have seen his team’s on-pitch performances grab the headlines instead.
Central to the team’s success has been the club’s playmaker Charlie Adam. The ex-Rangers man currently sits on 38pts in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, the third-highest scoring midfielder in the game so far, behind only Florent Malouda and Nani. A breakdown of his points shows Adam has scored 2 goals, made 2 assists and has 9 Bonus Points, being awarded the maximum 3 on 3 occasions, including the club’s last game, the 2-1 win at Anfield, where he bagged a penalty. In terms of midfielders, only Mikel Arteta can match this as a Bonus “darling”.
A look at our OPTA Stats, showing Adam’s involvement in the games, may explain why this is. Only three players have saw more of the ball; his 616 “Touches” is more than the likes of Arteta and Steven Gerrard and just five behind Paul Scholes. His 15 “Shots at Goal” have him in the top ten midfielders, and defensive-wise, he’s also in the top ten midfielders for “Duels”, “Aerial Duels”, “Loose Ball Recoveries” and “Blocks”. Added to the fact he’s on set-pieces and penalties, and it becomes clearer to see exactly not just how influential Adam is for Blackpool, but, perhaps, how eye-catching he may be to the Bonus Point judges.
With most people expecting Graham Dorrans to be the main Fantasy option from the promoted sides, thanks to Holloway’s attacking ethos, Adam has subsequently out-shone his fellow Scot by some margin already. Blackpool’s approach to games has meant that, despite playing five of their first seven matches away from home, they tend to get amongst the goals, with only Chelsea and Arsenal keeping clean sheets against Holloway’s men so far.
Adam comes in at just £5.2m and is owned by 9% of FPL managers so far. Such a low price means that, in terms of “Value“, he is joint-top, with West Brom’s Peter Odemwingie. Blackpool now have four of their seven fixtures at home (MCY, bir, WBA, EVE, avl, whm, WOL) though judging by their displays so far, it almost seems an irrelevance as to what ground their fixtures are played on. The one constant that does flow through them, however, is the Fantasy potential of Charlie Adam.
