He might be Chelsea’s top goal scorer in the Premier League but the signs are that Florent Malouda may well not be the cast iron FPL selection his early season form suggested. Malouda scored 6 goals in his first 5 games (one of those five games being a 7 minute cameo against West Ham) to carry on the form he was displaying in front of goal on the back end of last season.
However since Chelsea’s 4-0 against Blackpool the Frenchman has scored only one goal and contributed zero assists in the following 8 games. He has also picked up zero bonus points to top it off. That is not the sort of form that warrants inclusion in Fantasy Football teams and certainly not the type which can be justified under his price – currently £10.4m in the FPL game.
What is ominous is the fact that Chelsea’s early season form has slowed to a halt. Today’s 3-0 defeat (battering?) by Sunderland served to highlight how much Chelsea are stuttering at the moment and, whilst it’s clear they are missing some big players, there are signs that the machine that is Chelsea is beginning to rust. Based on this and their performance against Liverpool, extensive coverage of Chelsea players is not looking to be the golden goose it was a few weeks ago. Malouda’s poor returns appear to have coincided with Chelsea’s slowdown in goalscoring form.
To highlight how poor his returns have been it serves as a worthwhile exercise to compare his returns in the last 8 weeks to some (not all of course) of the other midfielder’s who the Frenchman is up against in our Fantasy Football Teams.
| Name | Score in last 8 GW’s |
|---|---|
| Nani | 50 |
| Van Der Vaart | 49 |
| Cahill | 46 |
| Nolan | 45 |
| Brunt | 41 |
| Downing | 38 |
| Bale | 34 |
| — | — |
| Malouda | 24 |
Note that this list isn’t exhaustive but it makes worrying reading – just think about how many more points your FPL team would have had (and how much more money you would have to play with) if you’d gone with Nolan for that period? It doesn’t bear thinking about.
What is making it worst is Malouda’s inability to finish games. This serves to indicate that Ancellotti may not see him as essential as FPL managers did throughout the start of this season. For many tonights substitution will be the straw which breaks the camels back and at having maintained his highest price of £10.4m for the last 6 weeks now might be the time to cash in whilst you can get the best return.
To be fair to Florent Malouda, and to give a balanced perspective on things, he has been carrying an injury that with a full squad to pick from might have seen him given more rest. Indeed he mentioned it before the build up;
“It came against Blackburn. It was a tackle from behind but I had to carry on because it was a tough game and I was struggling.
“Until half-time I was OK but after half-time I could feel the ligament and the calf was a bit stiff so I was limping on the pitch and I had to take care of my ankle.”
This surely provides an explanation into the constant substitutions. However, FPL managers aren’t exactly a sentimental bunch and a half injured midfielder who is offering nothing points wise isn’t going to hang about long.
As a result no doubt thousands of managers will be dropping the Chelsea midfielder for someone in better form. Managers could do a lot worse than closing their eyes and picking one from the list above.
