The Wayne Rooney “worldie” aside, it was all far from spectacular day. But then, we were never going to get another Saturday like the last – despite West Brom doing their best to self-destruct Arsenal “stylee” at the Hawthorns.
That 3-3 draw with West Ham helped Paul Merson practice his Harry Met Sally routine in the Sky Sports studio, but somehow left us Fantasy Managers well short of an orgasmic state. Peter Odemwingie missed ample opportunities to notch, leaving him with just an assist to reward this week’s heavy investment. We can have a good old moan about that over a jar or two tonight but, in the main, most of us have little to grumble about.
Robin Van Persie again delivered a most satisfactory climax. He mercilessly converted two chances to help the Gunners see off Wolves at the Emirates, returning 20 points for the FPL captaincy before the Bonus Points are even dished out. Yet another maximum duly arrived, as Van Persie overshadowed the likes of Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas once again – that pair and their owners had to be content with assists and the agony of another string of missed goalscoring opportunities at the Emirates. Van Persie’s shadow is looming large over his Arsenal team-mates.
Birmingham were the other double Gameweek participants to stick nicely to the script. They played contributed to a dire game at St Andrews, but battled manfully to resist the Stoke set-piece bombardment and reward defensive investment in the likes of Ben Foster, Roger Johnson and Liam Ridgewell. Nikola Zigic again lumbered into view to fire the winner for Alex McLeish’s side; the Serb is becoming an unlikely hero at St Andrews and is 1-0 up over Odemwingie in the battle of the Gameweek mid-price strikers.
Investment in Newcastle and Stoke went largely unrewarded unless you gambled on the Magpies back four – the clean sheet at Ewood Park was richly deserved if you did. As for Charlie Adam, he avoided his yellow card, earned an assist and did his usual sprinkler routine in the middle of the park, spraying the ball at will around the scurrying Villa defence. Much respect. Muchas Bonus Points – yet again.
So we have little to moan about then? Well not quite. Harry Redknapp benched Aaron Lennon at Sunderland for some reason – just to throw us off the scent. His owners can wallow in his single point tonight, while the rest of us turn our attention to the pleasure of figuring out how we’re going to fix our broken squads for the blank in Gameweek 28.
This Saturday night’s alright for Fantasy Managers – but you really don’t have to look far to find a fresh torment.
