You could nearly make a half decent eleven with the players who didn’t play this Gameweek. I was tempted to sit and try and get a team together just to highlight this fact and, well, I could have done it but it got a bit contrived. (Alex Baptiste?)
Needless to say there was a number of high profile absentees which left some gaping holes in players teams and pushed peoples benches to breaking point. Of those missing Nasri, Adam and Alex were irritations but it was the absence of out of position defenders El-Mohammady and Coleman which will have got players worried.
Much is made of the out of position player and to find one is, well, it’s great. To find two therefore is, without wanting to sound lame, absolutely amazing. Many will have both these players as their respective price, attacking potential and ability to keep clean sheets will have made them obvious picks. To have them both out and to etch doubts into our collective minds about their ability to start games going forward is an unwanted distraction. Indeed many have already discussed potentially taking these players out of their teams.
One key thing to consider and remember is the fact that at this time of year, as games come thick and fast, Premier League managers do tend to rotate. This is especially true in situations where games come on Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday. It’s important to take a FFS team deep breath, step back and appreciate the fact that rotation does happen, particularly with players of lower value. This is the knee jerk and the knee jerk reaction is to remove these players. Going forward we don’t know if this is just a rest or if this is a long term issue therefore it’s worth waiting to see what will materialise. For example in Coleman’s case Fellaini’s late red card should lead to a shuffle in the Everton midfield. This could mean Heitinga being called into the centre or a re-call for Coleman.
Elsewhere it was another week of captains under performing. Before the games (and particularly during) people were talking about dropping Drogba, Fabregas and Malouda. Whilst there may be some merit in considering other options such as Torres, who appears to have found his goal scoring form, surely it is only a matter of time before these big hitters begin to find form again. As such my logic follows as above, hold tight. Knee Jerkers (the players, not the articles) tend to act quick, spend points and regret their moves a couple of weeks later. Patience is advised.
Overall though its fair to say these midweek games have been ones to forget. Thankfully we only have to wait two more days until the weekend. Expect more rotation and more headaches going forward. Stay tuned on the site and through our Twitter for updates.
