Say What? returns this Wednesday lunchtime with a look back at some of the most pertinent quotes from the Gameweek gone by. Arsene Wenger, José Mourinho and Sam Allardyce discuss their goalscoring midfielders, while Dusan Tadic talks up his marriage to team-mate Graziano Pelle. Mark Hughes and Mauricio Pochettino promote the prospects of a couple of re-emerging budget forwards, whilst Brendan Rodgers admits he’s still searching for a solution to his team’s lack of cohesiveness in the final third.
Alexis Sánchez approached Gameweek 10 as one of the Fantasy Premier League’s (FPL) in-form players and rewarded almost 250,000 new Fantasy owners with a repeat of Gameweek 9’s 16-point haul, courtesy of a brace, a clean sheet and maximum bonus, as Arsenal cruised to a 3-0 home win against the league’s bottom side. The Chilean is now FPL’s top-scoring player after racking up 45 points against Hull, Sunderland and Burnley in the last three, and Arsene Wenger explained the former Barcelona star’s role in recent weeks as his side have prepared for weaker opposition.
“We played 4-4-2 and we played like that against Sunderland. It works because he [Alexis] works very hard so we can afford to do it. We have to balance the midfield and defence. Since he’s played through the middle he looks more goal dangerous. Now it looks to me that he’s really dangerous through the centre of the pitch because he’s in full confidence, he’s physically strong, he likes to take people on as well and he makes perfect runs. Through the centre of the pitch maybe he’s more dangerous.
While Sánchez has stepped up his goalscoring exploits for the Gunners, Aaron Ramsey’s restricted involvement in first team affairs has seen him fail to register a single goal since Gameweek 2. The Wales international has been sidelined through injury or illness for the majority of the last five Premier League fixtures, but with fitness returning, Wenger was quick to shelter him from the weight of his reputation in front of goal.
“A midfielder is a player who defends well, attacks well and keeps his priorities right. He’s not a goalscorer, so he has not to be obsessed by that. I just want him to do his job well. The goals are the consequence of the quality of his game. I don’t believe that he has to be obsessed by that. He’s running after consistency. He’s one of the players who has been very efficient last season. Since the start of the season, he has not had a consistent run. He’s now coming back – he has been sick as well.”
Across London, José Mourinho continued to bang the drum for Oscar. Ahead of the game at Old Trafford last week, the Chelsea manager threw the Brazilian’s hat into the ring as Eden Hazard and Cesc Fábregas battled for the title of ‘Chelsea midfielder of choice’ and it was Oscar who came in for praise from his manager once more after scoring the winner against QPR at Stamford Bridge. At 8.3 (FPL), he offers an alternative route into the Blues’ heavyweight midfield where Fábregas (£9.8m) and Hazard (£10m) dominate ownership, and with form in his corner, we could see Fantasy investment trickle his way ahead of a lengthy run of favourable fixtures.
“Oscar was our best player. When the team recovered the ball he was always sharp and fast, I think he was fantastic. He played last Sunday, on Tuesday and today. Some other guys didn’t play in midweek so I would expect them to be fresher and sharper than him. He’s playing very well, pre-season was difficult for him after the World Cup but he’s giving balance to the team, lots of creativity and the goal is only possible in a very talented boy.”
Mourinho went on to give Diego Costa’s loyal Fantasy owners a long overdue boost of confidence. The Chelsea boss had continually played down his star striker’s chances in previous Gameweeks, citing a niggling hamstring injury which has seen him miss two matches and carry a yellow flag in FPL for much of the campaign, but this latest update will come as welcome news to those who’ve persevered through the doubts.
“A muscular injury doesn’t just affect your body but also your brain, because after that you are afraid of reactions. Normally, the next match for him will be much better.”
West Ham maintained their excellent early-season form after battling their way back from a two-goal deficit at the Britannia to secure a hard-earned point. Sam Allardyce’s side now sit fifth in the Premier League, level with Arsenal on 17 points and, post-match, the Hammers manager discussed the change of tactics and the outstanding form of Stewart Downing that sparked his side’s revival. Incidentally, Downing’s 13-point FPL haul was second only to Sánchez in the midfielder rankings – with solid form, favourable fixtures and a kind asking price (5.8), the England international is becoming increasingly hard to ignore.
“It was all about changing the system and the way we played and getting the subs on. Losing Winston Reid to a thigh injury we couldn’t help, but the other two subs were tactical and they helped us to change the shape of the team, get Stewart in the hole and get two up top… Downing was outstanding. We started with him out wide, but once we brought him back into the middle again he started getting into the areas much better and was much more dangerous.”
Meanwhile, Downing’s team-mate, James Collins, heaped further praise on the revitalised midfielder highlighting Downing as the key man behind the Hammers run of form, tipping him for an England recall.
“I think he [Downing] deserves the recognition because he is playing superbly at the minute. He is probably the driving force in our team, whether it’s through the middle or out wide. It’s nice to see him getting back in the limelight. If he keeps playing the way he is playing, I’m sure an England call-up will not be far away.”
With West Ham in bloom and Diafra Sakho in line for a return this weekend, there’s sure to be plenty of interest in the Hammers five-goal striker. However, Big Sam was also in the press in the last week underlining his concerns on Sakho and his other new signings ahead of the busy Christmas period.
“The games come so thick and fast you are pushing to get them back when they are not really ready but you have to. The squad still has to be fitter than now going into that period. New players – particularly Enner Valencia, (Diafra) Sakho, (Cheikhou) Kouyate, (Mauro) Zarate won’t have hit that cauldron of mental and physical output during that particular period. All of those normally have a break. If they fatigue and they need a rest, the rest of the squad has to be fit for us to give them that rest.”
From those comments and the strong possibility of Andy Carroll’s imminent first-team availability, it appears that Sakho owners will have to watch for potential rotation once the schedule starts filling up.
As Liverpool’s pricy assets continue to make way for in-form Fantasy stars, Brendan Rodgers acknowledged his side’s slump, attributing their recent under-performance to the sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona, and the long-term impact of missing Daniel Sturridge through injury. The Reds have now failed to score in back-to-back Premier League games against Hull and Newcastle, and with Chelsea next to visit Anfield, Fantasy investment looks unlikely to pick up yet.
“It’s fairly straightforward and easy to see why the performances haven’t been as fluent… We’ve lost goals, we scored 101 goals last year and the team has been working towards that… But then, you take out nearly 80% of that and it can become difficult for you. There has been the introduction of new players as well. So it is not rocket science but you need to find the answers and that’s my job as the manager and coach to do that.”
Mauricio Pochettino celebrated a controversial comeback win against ten-man Aston Villa on Sunday; a victory inspired by substitute Harry Kane. The Spurs starlet stole all three points thanks to a deflected free-kick, but it was the manner of his overall contribution from the bench that put shame to the displays of starting strikers Emanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado. With Fantasy managers clamouring for the likes of Sergio Agüero and Alexis Sanchez, Kane could become a genuine Fantasy makeweight following his manager’s indication that the 4.8-priced striker is in line for more Premier League action, while a run of favourable fixtures only serves to enhance the budget forward’s appeal.
“He is an important player. We have a lot of very good players. It is true the performance like in the last game and today, he maybe deserves to play in the Premier League more. It was a great goal, and a happy goal for him and the team. You always need all the players. When you play a game you analyse the possibility of putting players on the pitch to make an impact. Today Andros (Townsend), Erik (Lamela) and Harry (Kane) made a big impact.”
While Pochettino finds his feet at the Lane, his former club, Southampton, go from strength to strength. One of Saints’ key men to this point, Dusan Tadic, gave a recent interview to the local press in which he offered positive words for those holding him and striker Graziano Pelle in their Fantasy squads. Southampton may well have a testing schedule looming but Tadic has no doubt that his relationship with Pelle will go on growing, resulting in consistent Fantasy hauls…
“I think we have both like to play together and I think, as the season goes, that it’s going to be better and better for me and for him [Pelle], and that he’s going to score a lot of goals and I am going to make a lot of assists for him. Always when I play with strikers, some strikers, I make them a lot of assists, and especially when they have a lot of qualities like Graziano then it is more easy for me, but this is my job and I need to do that.”
Finally, last weekend, there was a rare sighting of a pre-season favourite who may yet prove to be of use to us and Stoke City. While Bojan Krkic failed to produce attacking returns in the 2-2 draw at home to West Ham, at 4.9 (FPL) his presence alone is enough to raise the Fantasy eyebrow. Mark Hughes reinforced his credentials as a rival to Kane on the sub-5.0 FPL striker scene, but with fixtures turning incredibly sour from Gameweek 13, Bojan looks an unlikely source of Fantasy returns.
“I was really pleased with him. I think he really benefited from the game he had on Wednesday. You could see the difference in his play from the first couple of games this season. You could see the quality of his work and everybody saw his understanding of the game and his creativity. That’s the reason we brought him here and why he will be a success here.”
