Last but not least, the third article in our series focusing on attacking potential takes a look at the defenders. We’ve already ran the rule over the midfielders and forwards in the past couple of days and now the men at the back come under analysis. Highlighting the top 10 performers in terms of threat in our own ICT Index, we also list the top 20 for goal attempts so far and cast an eye over their underlying stats to ascertain their possible Fantasy value going forward:
So, Baines and Johnson, captain the one who's at home each week? 😀
Open Controls"There is no need for people to be our working on the pitch. We have a heating system which, if we close the roof, can dry the pitch in 30 minutes. I know this situation is not very nice, but please wait until the inspection."
Sounds like it might go ahead but delayed just like in the Euros.Open ControlsThis Wilson band-wagon is going to be out of control!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Open ControlsWales very lucky not to be 3 down!
Open ControlsMaybe they should try rolling more balls on the pitch.
Open Controls
This... definitely this^^
Open Controls
baines has a gross amount of key passes
Open Controlssuarez in la paz tonight, means when he dives he'll fall a bit quicker as the air is so thin
Open Controls
Does the thickness of the air have an effect of the strength of gravity?
Open Controls
Any good tips for bets tonight?
I have £5 and want to make some money as i've accidently spent my months budget already 🙂Open Controls
Belgium-1, Portugal-1, Belarus probably.
Open Controls
Stuck a fiver on Lewandowski and Defoe to both score at 17/2. Wish me luck!
Open Controls
Suarez more touches in the box than RVP and Ba together!
Open Controls
Have a feeling Clark is going to be a bit of a legend this year. For better or for worse
Open Controlswhich one?
Open Controls
Haha Boyce's stats are brilliant. Can't shoot for toffee.
Open Controls
Does anyone know if the England match will be on in India tonight? Which channel?
Open Controls
First!
Open ControlsAnybody want easy money?
Bet on Portugal to beat Northern Ireland -2 goals.Open ControlsBelgium -1 are 21/20 ............... cha ching
Open Controls
no vermaelen? was making plans to get him in next week for rafael
Open Controls
You worried about rotation for Rafael?
Vermaelen has QPR mun vs che ARS and then Uniteds fixtures turn lovely.Open Controlsyeh thats my concern, guessing smalling and jones will get gametime
would be a hit to get verm in though so i may hold off, what do u think?Open Controls
Verm's overpriced this year? Compared to other ARS options and accounting for Bould's apparent changes.
Open Controls
He`s not overpriced, he`s just not been going forward. Usually he only attacks when Arsenal are down, which they havent been much this year.
Open ControlsThat would make him overpriced though? Not saying he's not absolutely elite, but 1.5 more than others in that team, all of whom have outscored him, is a bit much for me, ta. eg:compared with Baines or Ivanovic. It's a bit like Kompany at 7.5 or Evra @ Manu. Why pay more?
Open ControlsWell yeah i see your point. If you compare his attacking threat at the minute (from watching games, not just reading stats), you would conclude that he`s far behind the likes of Baines/Ivan/Cole/Rafael and even Gibbs, but we all know what he`s capable of and i think once Arsenal start conceding first he`ll push forward more. That said, if i were to get an Arsenal defender i`d go with Sagna when fit or Gibbs. That extra money comes in handy other places, and you cant really depend on your defenders to produce offensively every week.
Open Controls
Gibbs and especially if Kos is injured for longer period are way much better value. With the new Ars defense verm isn't that kind of a threat anymore
Open ControlsHe's still up there for shots, the first table seems a bit pointless as there are so many with 3 games or less.
Not sure if he is worth a hit though, given he has United away the week after, but it is Vermaelen after all.Open ControlsDon't think he's worth 1m+ over Gibbs and Sagna when he returns either.
Open Controls
The most useless ICT Threat ever. No one is guaranteed minutes and then good bet obviously
Open ControlsP.S. Can't wait for the my table to be available starting this w/e hopefully. Now I can't sort for the column as I want it. Also would have add filter at least 3 games or something
Open Controls
October 16 at 3:28 pm
DEANO SAYS:
Sorry gents, I got caught out the back of the last post with this (I hope.)
As a first time Aussie would appreciate some advice on whether to WC or just battle on with these boys. Currently on 369pts with 1 FT this week that I was going to go Hazard>Cazorla.
Al-Habsi (Ruddy)
Gibbs, Cueller, Hangeland (Demel, Clarke)
Hazard, Pienaar, Michu, Kagawa (Sterling)
RVP, Tevez, Fletcher
Thanks to those of you who take the time to advise.Open ControlsSave your WC, only a few of your back 7 *need* changing and I don't think a few defensive transfers is worth a WC.
Can you do Kagawa > Bale next week?Open Controls
At uni I've been learning business psychology and I cannot believe the parallels between trading and FPL.
All the mistakes I have made, and seen others continue to make, are nothing but the result of an incorrect mindset- which can be fixed.
You get burned badly one week, confidence is shot and even more points are lost over the next 5 gw's because you're being 'too' careful. (not being in the 'flow')
Or planning a mega-transfer strategy for weeks then at the last minute going with whatever random bit of advice appears on the board. (avoiding the pain of responsibility).
Think I should write an article with ideas for fpl?Open Controls
Go for it.
Open Controls
FPL despite relating to football and the events that happen on the pitch is basically a numbers game and you build stock in order to get maximum value and when it goes wrong you hedge your bets on other rising stocks and get rid of dead stock...I can see the parallels with trading.
Open Controls
Knock yourself out.
Open ControlsBut I'm not sure the financial crisis was really caused by traders being 'too careful', although the credit crunch that succeeded it could have been a result of that.
Open ControlsI suppose you could say FFS is kind of like a credit rating firm.
Open ControlsIts more like a trading floor. Most of the rants/advice here are emotional and in response to past successes or failures.
"BUY BUY BUY" !!... Doesn't score a hat-trick "SELL SELL SELL"!!Open Controls
I like the concept.
The key to FPL is to take a long-term view, and not make knee-jerk decisions. The knee-jerk moves provide gratification, so it's difficult.Open Controls
sounds interetsing man. Give it a go!
Open Controls
Doos says Matt Taylor.
Open ControlsNot sure.
He does get the odd game at LB. Plus there's Benayoun, Maiga and Collison(injured atm). And as Tosey says, shite fixtures. I'd stay away tbh.Open Controls
Indeed, poor right upto GW 19.
Open Controls
tosey, what trades you looking at this week? Getting rid of Dyer and Ramirez?
I've got two free and thinking of:
Hazard -> Cazorla
Ba -> Berba
Meaning i can do Michu -> HBA next week.
Seem sound?Open Controlsim sticking this week but will get rid of those two the week after
michu is staying for me, on course for another 15 goal season like in la liga last year as hes their main attacking threat so worth keeping long-term
if u already have bale then i like the two moves this weekOpen Controlsyeah, already got Bale.
Cheers for advice on Michu. I might just have to go w/out Newc - or bring Ba back in if Berba struggles over next 2 weeks.
think you've got enough to cover until next week by the way.Open Controls
Surprised that Ivanovic has so few attempts with all these penalty box touches. He spends half the game in the opposition box this season it seems, for me he's probably #1 for goal threat from defenders this season but stats don't show everything.
Open Controls
Trying to decide whether to hold on to him at the moment, fixtures turn unpleasant so cleansheets look harder to come by but his menace going forward is delicious.
Open Controls
ICT index and threatvscore is slightly flawed? Accuracy is actually an overlooked key stat. Indicates a players class in front of goal. That's why Suarez's stats are so bloated, and I agree Ivan has the biggest goal threat so far
Open ControlsHe has the most shots on target as well you know.
Open ControlsI think one thing we can say is that with all those penalty box touches things are looking good for Ivan, because even if his accuracy drops, as this article states it should, then he's probably likely to get a higher ratio of attempts to box touches.
Open Controls
When they talk about 'touches in the box', does that mean literally every time the player touches the ball (hence Suarez having loads because he's always jinking past players)?
Or is one touch each time you receive the ball, then subsequently release it, whatever happens in between?Open ControlsIt's clear Suarez never gets touched in the box...that's all I know.
Open ControlsTouches
A sum of all events where a player touches the ball, so excludes things like Aerial challenge lost or Challenge lost.
----
That is the OPTA definition, so the second alternative of yours. I think 🙂Open ControlsCheers, it's still not all that clear from OPTA, though...
Open Controls
Good question, I've always assumed the latter but thinking about it a little more the former sounds plausible too 😕
Open Controls
Have 2 Free Transfers and want to give my DF a bit of a change:
Jaaskelainen (Begovic)
Koscielny O'Brien, Baines (Nelsen, Olsson)
Hazard, Yaya, Cazorla, Ben Arfa (Puncheon)
Jelvavic, Tevez, Ba
Thinking mostly about getting rid of Koscielny and O'Brien but not sure who to get in.
Cheers in advance for any help. 🙂Open Controls
Currently have Caz/Haz/Peanut/Michu as my 1st choice midfield.
Thinking about a decent (not makeweight) midfielder to rotate with Peanut/Michu when they have tricky fixtures, especially away from home. Have £5.7m to spend.
Who would you say is the better prospect?
a) Javi Garcia (£5.5m)
b) Tom Cleverley (£5.7m)?
c) Other suggestions
I alredy have RvP up front and have no Man City players so that could be a point I guess.......Open Controls
Taraabt, Maloney, McAnuff, Routledge & Dyer are all better options if you ask me...
Open ControlsGood stuff, thanks guys. Purposely avoiding Routledge and Dyer as it's hardly worth rotating them with Michu 🙂
Otherwise, good advice. CheersOpen ControlsSorry missed the bit about having Michu...
Open Controls
If you're on a WC, would you get in Rafael or Evans? Or neither? Worried by Smalling returning
Open ControlsRafael tbh... Attacking potential and think he has impressed SAF with it.
Open Controls
Interesting article on Goal.com website today. A few weeks ago in a passing comment when everyone was discussing the merits of Cazorla I compared him to a lightweight version of Iniesta with great potential.
http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/85/england/2012/10/15/3451409/cazorla-i-try-to-copy-barcelonas-iniestaOpen Controls
Anyone know much about Romania? Thinking of popping Holland (-1) into an accumulator tonight at 23/10. Romania are having a decent qualifying campaign so far, but Holland are having a great one... am I being a mug here?
Open Controls
Hey guys, any advice for this team?
Foster, Begovic
Baines, Gibbs, Cuellar, Demel, Davies
Cazorla, Ben Arfa, Michu, Pienaar, Puncheon
RVP, Tevez, Fletcher
1FT, 2.0 in bankOpen Controls
