As Benteke runs riot and Liverpool blossom without Suarez to spank Newcastle in their own backyard, Fantasy managers were treated to a profitable Gameweek, with a fair smattering of controversy thrown in. As the dust settles, we pay tribute to the Belgian destroyer, the Merseyside blitz and try to find sense amongst “Bale-gate” Monday.
The Player
With just Monday night’s Villa Park encounter remaining, both Daniel Sturridge and Romelu Lukaku looked primed to wrestle the mantle of the Gameweek’s star man. Christian Benteke’s latest one-man show changed matters, however.
While we’ve already dealt with the numbers behind Benteke’s achievements this season, one statistic that sums up his role more than any other is the fact that he’s played a part in 59% of the goals scored by his side – a level of involvement that surpasses any other player in the league. Quite simply, Villa would likely have been relegated by this stage had the Belgian not been a factor.
The irony of all this is that, early in the season, Paul Lambert was being lambasted for leaving Darren Bent in the stands, watching on while a largely unproven striker led the line. Lambert knew better, however. His patience with Benteke as he settled into his stride and Villa’s pattern of play should be commended. By the time Benteke struck a brace as Liverpool were embarrassed by his talent at Anfield in Gameweek 17, it was clear that Lambert had been right to back the new arrival. Bent has failed to earn a recall, leaving Benteke to notch 18 goals in first top flight season.
The summer will doubtless bring mounting speculation on Benteke’s future at the club but, in many ways, Lambert deserves to have the impressive Belgian at his disposal next term, as a reward for his judgment and unshakable faith in young players. Certainly, Fantasy managers will welcome the opportunity to work with Benteke again, although this season’s price tag of 6.5 in the Fantasy Premier League game is set for an almighty hike.
The Team
They were supposed to be a one man team. Without Luis Suarez, Liverpool would struggle, many assumed. Instead, a trip to St James’ Park afforded the Merseysiders the perfect opportunity to draw a line under the biting controversy that had dogged them since the Uruguayan decided to sink him teeth into Branislav Ivanovic the previous weekend. With Daniel Sturridge handed the chance to lead the line in Brendan Rodgers’ 4-3-3, Liverpool tore apart a sorry Magpies side in a display of slick, attacking football that not only caught the eye but delivered their most emphatic victory of the season.
Sturridge was hugely instrumental. Having climbed off the bench the previous week to deliver a goal and assist against his former club Chelsea, he vindicated the show of faith that had persuaded over 50,000 FPL managers to snap him up in light of Suarez’s suspension with a brace and assist in a clinical performance. Since arriving from Stamford Bridge back in January, Sturridge has now delivered seven goals, four assists and five bonus points – over 11 appearances, that’s 66 points, or six points per game; only Robin Van Persie (7.0) and Suarez (6.4) have managed more this term amongst forwards. With Suarez set to remain on the sidelines for the remaining three games of this season and the first six of the following campaign, Sturridge has the potential to be a key Fantasy asset – many will surely be pencilling him to their three man frontlines over the summer when the price lists are rolled out in July.
Elsewhere for Rodgers’ side, an able cast of midfielders chipped in with substantial returns. Philippe Coutinho maintained his impressive displays since joining from Inter in January with a pair of assists and has now produced two goals and five assists in just nine starts, while the previously maligned Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson continue to step up under Rodgers’ guidance. Downing mirrored Coutinho’s creative contribution while Henderson, operating as the most advanced central midfielder, equalled Sturridge’s haul with a brace and assist and is clearly thriving as a result of a consistency of starts. Frustratingly for Steven Gerrard’s owners, he failed to contribute to any of the Reds’ goals and now has just two converted spot-kicks in the last eight, with his deep-lying role relying on penalties and set-pieces to boost his points potential.
Encouragingly for Fantasy managers, Liverpool have now scored 67 goals this term – only Chelsea (68) and United (79) have managed more, though aside from Suarez and Gerrard, their assets have been kindly priced this term. Given the impact of Sturridge and Coutinho, it remains to be seen just what sort of price hike can be expected next time round but if the Reds continue in the same rich attacking vein, their popular Fantasy prospects will undoubtedly extend far beyond a certain Uruguayan.
The Talking Point
“Balegate” dominated our Monday morning. We spent the weekend waiting for the situation to resolve, only to see a status update that was first to deny us the assist and then, hours later, reward it. There was confusion, there was minor outrage but, when all said and done, most are in agreement that the right decision was made.
We shouldn’t lose sight of that. The Premier League reviewed the goal to assess whether Gareth Bale touched Tom Huddlestone’s cross, came to a conclusion and then reassessed that original verdict after further review. The process wasn’t perfect but at least it was transparent and, to my mind, the end decision was correct.
To a great extent, Monday’s events are a symptom of the current assist ruling. A definition that leads to few contentious issues over the season but, when they do arise, they create scenarios that have to be assessed with a human eye and are often incredibly difficult to unravel. They require an individual or a group of individuals to assess footage to an almost forensic level in order to ascertain whether player X has touched the ball.
The alternative is to tweak the ruling to revert back to what we had two seasons ago; to only consider touches when they make a significant difference to the path of the ball. Perhaps a flick on or touch that changes the course of the pass or cross before the goal is converted.
The problem here is that we are then increasing the subjectivity by making it an individual’s decision to judge what is a significant touch. Arguably, this would not only lead to an increase in the number of decisions to be made but also a hike in the amount of contentious assists awarded. It would also make it far harder to maintain consistency over the season.
So what do we want? Clarity and consistency that leads to fewer decisions but with the possibility of more controversial incidents? Or a degree of subjectivity which could lead to more frequent contention, perhaps on a smaller scale.
Personally, I lean towards the latter because I think it’s impossible to rule the subjectivity out completely using the existing system. It’s going to happen once or twice a season and when it does, it can create a storm rather than a mild tremor. For me, it seems easier to argue for or against a significant touch than to painstakingly examine footage to decipher whether the ball glanced off a stud or shin.
Imagine we had Bale’s incident but on the final day of the season with the overall game leaders and mini-leagues waiting on the decision. If we were basing the assist on a significant touch – whether Bale’s intervention led to Boyce scoring the own goal, the decision seems cut and dry – Huddlestone’s cross did not deviate enough to rob him of the assist – we don’t have to spare a thought as to whether Bale touched it or not. That’s a decision that can be made in seconds and, in this case, the argument against the verdict seems paper-thin.
This is just one case when, over the season, there would likely be a decision to make every match. To solve this, I’d probably go a stage further and let an expert make the decisions. Opta’s view of an assist is pretty clear:
“The final pass or pass come shot leading to the recipient of the ball scoring a goal.”
While this would give us fewer assists in the game and reduce the number of points being churned, it would mean that we’d have a ready-made decision maker available to assess each assist and an established and proven set of criteria available to refer to.
Opta are used to making these judgments, it’s their business. With Opta now the data provider for the Premier League, this route should be available but it would mean a fairly radical change to the game, in that we’d see the number of assists reduced which, in turn, could also reduce the bonus points allocated (depending on whether the PPI is retained as the basis of the bonus system next season).
Despite this, I think it’s the best route forward. Opta are experienced at making the call – their assists feed other Fantasy games and, in my view, they are a fair assessment of an assist award on a player level.
Players should not earn an assist if their cross is headed 30 yards outside the box before being converted. Players should not earn an assist if they choose to shoot only to see the ball rebound to a team-mate who then converts. The assist should only be awarded when the objective of the player delivering the ball is achieved eg: the pass to the intended target is completed before that target then scores.
The Premier League have expert decision makers available to them – data and football analyst experts who have a set assist criteria, established and proven. It might be wise to use them and take the points hit on the chin.
