The most inconvenient Fantasy deadline kicks us out of our New Year’s hangover and has us contemplating the perils of rest and rotation ahead of yet another bank of Premier League fixtures.
As if the whims of the Ferguson, Wenger and Redknapp are not a big enough concern, the revelation of a month long absence for star Fantasy asset Andy Carroll, gives me plenty of fodder as I purr over the Saturday morning press in preparation…
While the press is full of talk concerning the futures of Roy Hodgson and David Beckham this morning, Fantasy Managers will certainly be more concerned about the fate of Andy Carroll. The Newcaslte number nine is facing up to a spell on the sidelines after sustaining a thigh strain which has been troubling the striker for a period of weeks.
The Daily Mail have the bleakest view on the situation and have reported that Carroll could be absent for up to a month, missing clashes with Wigan, West Ham and the derby with Sunderland in a fortnight.
Alan Pardew certainly didn’t sound too optimistic and had this to say on the situation…
“Andy has a thigh injury, which is being assessed…He has travelled down to London with the doctor to see just how serious, or not serious, it is. It could be serious but we’re all a bit in the dark at this stage….You are talking about one of the best young players in the country, who has had a fantastic first half of the season. We don’t want him to be missing for too long, that’s for sure.”
Carroll is owned by a staggering 54% of Fantasy Premier League Managers – only Gareth Bale has more coverage. That’s a lot of Fantasy Managers who will this morning be contemplating the future of the big number nine in their squads for the coming weeks.
The case for holding firm looks convincing while details on the injury are scarce. With the break for the FA Cup, Carroll may only miss three league matches; more significantly, his FPL price rise from an initial 5.0 to a tag of 6.5 today would see his owners having to face a substantial loss in funds.
However, If a month-long absence is confirmed and with the Gameweek 22 Wildcard looming, we must surely expect huge sales of the striker with options like Dimitar Berbatov in the bracket above, and Danny Welbeck in category below, both looking immediately appealing. That’s before we consider a gamble on Blackpool’s budget strikers ahead of their three double Gameweek run.
Expect plenty more on the Carroll situation once results of his scans in London begin to surface. For now, let’s focus on the threat of rotation facing our other Fantasy assets this weekend.
Starting with United and, reassuringly, three of my four morning papers go with a Rooney/Berbatov pairing in their predicted lineups. Only the Guardian are brave enough to stick their necks out and opt for an alternative – they have Alex Ferguson resting the pair with Hernandez and Macheda leading the attack at the Hawthorns. Indeed the Guardian also go with Neville at right-back and Smalling in for Ferdinand alongside Vidic; Gibson and Obertan also start.
This is a difficult one for Fantasy Managers – while Ferguson has hinted at changes, the Guardian lineup would seem a major risk, taken at a time when United have the advantage in the title race. Ferguson’s back four looks settled and he may well be reluctant to disrupt that, while in attack Berbatov’s form and Rooney’s quest for a first goal from open play may well see them earn pitch time. United have Stoke at Old Trafford in midweek – that surely presents another opportunity to rest some personnel and after that we can expect further changes for the FA Cup tie with Liverpool.
Moving on to Spurs, and Rafael Van der Vaart is our main priority here. The inspirational Dutchman looks exposed to the threat of rest of rotation having played in both Christmas fixtures following a recent hamstring injury. This morning’s papers disagree however – all four have Van der Vaart in their predicted lineups for the home clash with Fulham.
Redknapp’s options are of course limited by the suspension of Jermain Defoe and it would appear that none of the press feel that a Pavlyuchenko/Crouch pairing, or indeed the prospect of Luka Modric being pushed forward to support the striker, is something that Redknapp will entertain, even with the trip to Everton looming in midweek.
Carlos Tevez is another name causing us concern this morning – there’s a very real prospect that, despite sitting out the win over Villa, Tevez will be spared against Blackpool with the trip to the Emirates on Wednesday in mind.
Again, the morning papers help to put minds at rest here; all four have the Argentine in their lineups. Elsewhere, the City lineup looks fairly random with each one having their view on the result of Roberto Mancini’s tinkerings. Only two of them – the Sun and the Guardian – predict a recall for Kolarov at left-back with Zabaleta getting the nod in both the Times and Telegraph. Yaya Toure is a constant however – none of the morning papers predict that he will be handed a rest, although I certainly feel that there’s a chance that Barry and our Milner will return to allow Mancini to preserve Toure for the Gunners clash.
The press treat the Arsenal lineup very similarly. There’s a difference of opinion across the board as to Arsene Wenger’s starting XI at Birmingham, although the good news is that Nasri and Fabregas are included in all four. Robin Van Persie is a starter in both the Sun and the Times, while the Guardian opts for Bendtner up front and the Telegraph stick with Chamakh. The striker role looks to be the cloudy issue then, and those Fantasy Managers clinging to Chamakh clearly have concerns going into the Gameweek although Wenger’s statement yesterday in which he stressed the need to protect Van Persie, would suggest that we will see the Moroccan striker start at St Andrews.
