This weekend seems exclusively reserved for talk of Fernando Torres and it’s difficult to swallow for us Fantasy Managers.
The Spaniard has hardly registered in our thinking this season, although ironically, he nudged his way into a few squads just before his record move to Chelsea and now those managers, me included, are almost caught in limbo.
The next chapter is just so unpredictable. Torres has his work cut out if he is to live up to the wave of hyperbole that’s swept him up and is sending him crashing into Sunday’s encounter with Liverpool. But then, there’s always a chance that he could explode. Chelsea are back scoring goals and creating chances, and Torres is undoubtedly amongst the very best at taking them.
It’s a fascinating scenario and us Fantasy Managers will have to watch carefully – not just for the impact made by Torres, but also the changes his arrival will force on Chelsea’s lineup and Carlo Ancelotti’s tactics.
Torres “might” just pull it off. We might just see him “not celebrating” while the Bridge taunt the visiting fans with chants of his name. He “might” make a return to the radar in spectacular style. Then again, he “might” just sit on the bench and see 10 minutes of action.
Ancelotti wouldn’t do that to us though would he? Sky have made such an effort building it up, surely it’s contractual that he’ll start?
The general consensus is that Torres will be in Chelsea’s starting lineup when the kick-off against Liverpool at the Bridge tomorrow.
The Sun opts for a 4-4-2 with a simple Torres/Didier Drogba pairing. This is backed by a familiar four-man midfield with Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Ramires and Mikel all earn starts – no place for Florent Malouda or Nicolas Anelka here then. In addition, the Sun go for Branislav Ivanovic and Jose Bosginwa, with no start for David Luiz.
The Guardian opt for something a little different. Torres starts but he is placed up front with Drogba, with a midfield diamond in operation behind – Anelka the spearhead of this diamond. It’s a formation that Ancelotti put into practice in the 4-2 win over Sunderland, a game in which Anelka excelled. The Guardian feel that Torres will slot into this system, with Salomon Kalou making way. The midfield three behind Anelka is Mikel, Essien and Lampard.
The Daily Telegraph appear to agree with this – they’ve gone for the same front three – although their system is not set up in the diamond. Anelka and Drogba flank Torres here and again, it’s Essien, Mikel and Lampard in the midfield three. The Telegraph are the only paper this morning who opt to give Luiz his debut – they drop Ivanovic to the bench to make way, with Bosingwa retaining the right-back role.
Finally the Times is the only one of our papers who feel that Torres will start Sunday on the bench. They opt to stick with the diamond on show at the Stadium of Light with Kalou and Drogba paired up front and Anelka played behind in support. The back four remains untouched.
Some interesting views then and the opinions keep on coming – Terry Venables thinks it will be a 4-3-3 with Kalou, Mikel and Malouda set to be frozen out. Alan “smudger” Smith feels it will be the diamond with Anelka on the point.
Everyone seems to have an opinion and ours, like the majority out there, is that Torres will start on Sunday, with Anelka retaining his place and Malouda on the bench once more. Whether we’ll see a diamond in midfield is less certain, however, if we do, then that’s likely to be key to Bosingwa keeping his right-back role. We’ve stuck our neck out with the predicted lineup and retained Bosingwa with Luiz making his debut alongside Terry.
This weekend is not all about Torres – there are other players, other matches going on.
Fantasy Managers have concerns over Charlie Adam’s chances of starting in Blackpool’s lineup at Goodison. The Seasisders skipper is reportedly a doubt with a calf injury sustained in the defeat to the Hammers. The good news is that every one of my morning papers has Adam in their predicted lineup. He looks set to play then and will surely be pivotal to Blackpool’s chances of returning from Merseyside with some reward.
Tim Cahill is predicted to return to the Everton lineup in opposition to Adam; every paper goes for the Aussie in their Everton starting XI. Cahill is not only in our predicted lineup, he’s also in the Scout Picks – hopefully then, he can be “transferred in” for today’s clash with Blackpool with some confidence.
That’s all very comforting , but it wouldn;’t be Saturday morning without a press clipping crawling into our heads to tweak the worry glands. I found that little treat buried in the Sun’s predicted lineups.
For some unknown reason, the red-top choose to omit Rafael Van der Vaart from their Tottenham starting XI for the clash with Bolton at the Lane. There’s no reported injury, so presumably they’ve got wind of Harry Redknapp potentially resting the Dutchman. Bizarre.
No other paper agree, and nor do we – with Luka Modric absent, Van der Vaart will surely start and will likely be up in support of Jermaine Defoe or Peter Crouch.
I suggest we go back to our coffee and put it down to an oversight from the Sun rather than a touch of Nostradamus prophecy. Let’s not worry; everything will be fine. Enjoy the Gameweek.
