United grind out a rather fortuitous three points at the Hawthorns as a certain Mr Rooney returns to the scoresheet to earn the points. Arsenal show stronger intent with a 3-0 dismissal of Birmingham at St Andrews, while Roy Hodgson earns breathing space courtesy of a dubious Joe Cole tap-in, as a 2-1 victory over Bolton appeases the Kop for now. Here’s the notes on Saturday’s contribution to Gameweek twenty one…
Wayne Rooney’s early precise stooping header was his first goal from open play since March. While it’s unlikely to tempt Fantasy Managers to take the gamble on him just yet, it did leave Alex Ferguson enthused in his post-match comments…
“Wayne Rooney was exceptional. He drove us on and he was out of this world. He’s off the mark and hopefully he’ll be on a run now.”
The striker suffered an ankle injury during the game that threatened to end his match but Rooney shook off the problem to continue and, according to Ferguson, will be “ok” for the midweek meeting with Stoke..
“He had an ankle injury (and needed treatment) but he came back on, that shows his courage. Our doctor thought, ‘That’s him – he’ll be out for a couple of weeks.’ But he came back on and he should be okay for Tuesday.”
There’s real confusion here, with some sources quoting confirmation from Ferguson that Rooney will need time out with the injury – there’s certainly every chance that he will suffer a reaction and that Ferguson will be forced to rest him for the visit of Stoke on Tuesday.
Ferguson’s tinkerings at the Hawthorns were not as severe as feared, although Fantasy Managers were robbed of the services of Rafael who was rested from the squad to allow Gary Neville a start at right-back. Gabriel Obertan also came in for Ryan Giggs, while Darren Fletcher also returned for Darron Gibson as Nani again missed out. Rafael owners can at least take comfort from the fact that their man should return to face Stoke at Old Trafford in midweek – Neville did little to convince that he offers a viable alternative to the Brazilian; he was fortunate not to have cost United the game with a first half challenge on Graham Dorrans that should have conceded a penalty and seen him receive an early bath.
West Brom’s performance was encouraging for Roberto Di Matteo and, with a blatant penalty denied and a second-half spot-kick missed, the Baggies could easily have earned a point at least. Dorrans particularly caught the eye, his form saw him maintain a starting role despite the return of Chris Brunt from suspension, with Somen Tchoyi dropping to the bench. At just 4.7 in the FPL, Dorrans is an option that needs monitoring.
West Brom’s prospects for Tuesday’s trip to Fulham have taken a further blow with both Steven Reid and Pablo Ibanez ruled out of that game. Di Matteo will at least be able to welcome back Gonzalo Jara from his ban to return to right-back but Gianni Zuiverloon will likely be required to come into central defence.
Roy Hodgson made two changes to his back four in the win over Bolton, drafting in Dan Agger and Fabio Aurelio for Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Paul Konchesky. Both had a strong game with Aurelio returning to pick up the maximum FPL Bonus Points.
Clearly the Fantasy prospects of both Kyrgiakos and Koncheskey are now in doubt. The former Fulham man is a favourite of Hodgson but not amongst the Kop faithful – he was reportedly cheered off when he was recently subbed in the defeat to Wolves. Nevertheless Hodgson may look to bring him back for the midweek trip to Blackburn given that Aurelio has just made his return from injury.
Liverpool transformed themselves in the second-half having fallen behind to an early Kevin Davies header. The Steven Gerrard/Fernando Torres combination clicked to provide the equaliser. That pairing continued to pose a major threat at Hodgson’s side created a raft of opportunities, before Joe Cole bundled the winner with Gerrard again a factor. Both Gerrard and Torres will now have to be considered given that Liverpool have two matches in the Gameweek. Those games do come away from home however – at Blackburn and Blackpool. Liverpool have won just one of their last five away trips, scoring just 4 goals in the process.
Raul Meireles picked up a first-half injury which helped to introduce Gerrard after 20 minutes. Meireles will be a doubt for the Blackburn trip.
Roberto Mancini recalled both Jerome Boateng and Aleksandar Kolarov to the full-back roles, dropping both Micah Richards and Pablo Zabaleta to the bench. Kolarov was however subbed on 58 minutes to be replaced by Zabaleta, as the pace and power of Blackpool’s Matt Phillips exposed the Serb’s defensive frailties. It meant that Kolarov missed out on a clean sheet by just 2 minutes, much to the frustration of his Fantasy owners.
Kolarov’s pitch time remains a concern then, with uncertainty over his starting role for the trip to the Emirates in midweek. His stock is falling by the Gameweek as it gets more an more difficult to pin down a secure asset in City’s back four.
David Silva picked up an injury in a nasty-looking challenge with David Vaughan and was duly replaced on the hour-mark. The injury will surely make him a doubt for the Gameweek 22 trip to Arsenal in midweek.
Matt Phillips was introduced as a second-half sub for Ludovic Sylvestre and once again impressed. The former Wycombe man must have a chance of starting at least one of Blackpool’s two matches against Blackburn and Liverpool at Bloomfield Road. Phillips is available as a 4.5 differential in the FPL.
David Moyes brought in Louis Saha up front at Stoke, as Victor Anichebe returned from suspension to find himself on the bench. Phil Jagielka returned to the defence with Tony Hibbert dropping to the bench where he was joined by Jack Rodwell and Leon Osman who was back from injury. Jagielka’s return did little to improve the Everton defensive record, the 2-0 defeat at the Britannia means that they have now kept just a single clean sheet in 10 league matches. At the other end meanwhile, Tim Cahill has now departed for the Asian Cup. That could seriously blunt Everton’s attacking threat and owners of Leighton Baines will be contemplating a cheaper alternative, given that assists could be harder to come by and clean sheets so scarce.
Kenwyne Jones earned his first returns for 6 matches with a goal and an assist in the win over Everton. Matt Etherington was again a key figure here – providing the trickery and cross for Jones’ opener. That pair shared the FPL Bonus Points – Etherington has earned 8 Bonus in his last 6 matches, with 14 Bonus overall this season. Elsewhere, Jermaine Pennant suffered a slight knock in the game and was replaced by Tuncay on the hour mark.
Sunderland’s 3-0 win over Blackburn saw their trio of attacking assets on the scoresheet with Gyan coming off the bench to seal the win with a third. Danny Welbeck continued his strong form with his sixth goal in his last 8 starts, while Bent found the net for the first time in 6 outings.
The Black Cats coped without Lee Cattermole against Rovers – Steve Bruce announced that he would be out for around a month with a back injury, while the Sunderland boss also confirmed that Welbeck, Darren Bent and Ahmed Elmohamady had all suffered knocks that make them doubts for the midweek trip to Aston Villa.
Jordan Henderson’s recent form had me bring him into my Scout Picks lineup and he duly rewarded that faith with an assist and the maximum 3 Bonus Point return. Henderson’s influence in the Sunderland side is growing and he could well establish himself as a Bonus magnet for the second half of the season – he has earned 11 Bonus overall this season but has picked up 2 maximums in the last six matches.
Defensively, Sunderland go on to offer value; their back four earned their tenth clean sheet of the season – their fourth in the last six matches. With Villa and Newcastle (without Andy Carroll) coming next, there could well be further returns to come.
Arsene Wenger brought back the likes of Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie into his starting lineup at Birmingham. That saw Andrei Arshavin drop to the bench, while Marouane Chamakh dropped out of the squad altogether. Johan Djourou was recalled to the centre of defence with Sebastien Schillaci dropping to the bench – Djourou may well have gone above Schillaci in the pecking order and at just 4.2 in the FPL, he could present a prospect. Wenger’s lineup for the Emirates meeting with City will go a long way to confirm his strongest side; it seems likely that we will see a similar starting XI, with Arshavin the most likely to earn a recall.
Nasri again impressed, earning his fifth goal in his last 6 league starts with a well-taken second at St Andrews. Despite that, it was predictably Fabregas who earned the 3 FPL Bonus Points – something we’ve come to expect with almost every Arsenal victory. Djourou’s performance was also recognised with the award of 2 Bonus.
Freddie Sears was the hero for West Ham in their vital basement win over Wolves at Upton Park. Sear’s has found starts in the Hammers lineup for the last three matches and announced himself with the second goal in the 2-0 win. At 4.3 in the FPL, Sears at least offers a rock bottom option earning starts but, with Blackpool’s budget strikers preparing for 3 double Gameweeks, it seems unlikely that his display will earn Fantasy interest.
Rafael Van der Vaart made his third start in a week following his recent injury – underlining his importance to Harry Redknapp’s side. It was the Dutchman’s free-kick that was diverted in by Gareth Bale for his seventh goal of the season, his fourth in 8 starts.
Elsewhere in Harry’s lineup, William Gallas made a return from injury to partner the impressive Michael Dawson, while Roman Pavlyuchenko held his start up front but was again replaced just after the hour-mark. There appears to be little security amongst the Tottenham forward line for Fantasy Managers then. Alan Hutton suffered an injury and was subbed on 27 minutes; he will be a major doubt for the midweek trip to Everton with Vedran Corulka likely to deputise.
