The first membersβ article of the week arrives this evening as we delve into the data from Gameweek 6. We check in on Chelsea and West Bromβs new attackers, assess Everton and Southamptonβs lone strikers, and cast an eye over Liverpoolβs main performers in light of Brendan Rodgers’ move to a 3-4-1-2 formation at home to Norwich.
Which combo would you guys/gals suggest..,.
Azpi/Pedro
Or
Hazard/Dawson.
Can't but stop but thinking Chelsea investment is on an upwards curve.
That's a real tough one actually. If you have good defensive depth then B, if you need a defender to play every week, A.
Defensively, I feel quite good. Kolarov, Prodl, Gomez ( who is on his way out), Francis and Richards.
I guess my infatuation with Chelsea is like owning Sanchez and keeping the armband on Aguero...Hazard/Dawson seems a no brainer then, he also gives you another captaincy option.
Yeah...I'm struggling to decide between pedro and hazard. Prob get hazard due to pens.
Hazard offers the minutes, penalties, BAP magnet, against the more unknown of Pedro.
Pedro's frequency of shots is in his favour, but agree haz prob wins on everything else.
B
HD
What should I do with Silva?
Myhill
Dawson, Kolarov, Cresswell
Mahrez, Payet, Ayew, Barkley
Martial, Wilson, Vardy
Bench; Cech, Hoban, Kompany, Silva
Also, who should I armband? Thoughts? Thanks and Cheers.wait and see, but most likely put him in your starting line up, Ayew first sub and then let autosubs do their magic. Whatever you do, don't put Silva last on your bench.
balders i'm off to bed now but you can cover because we seem to be giving similars
cheershaha gotcha, cheers Chickens, same time tomorrow?
prob so
well i'd play silva and bench ayew
if you have brought in martial you may as well go full hog and armabnd against a woeful SUN but id bigdick steps down before the w/e MUN could meet a new team
personally i dont have martial and will prob be captaining wilson or pedro
Okay so I’m updating my amazon wishlist ahead of my birthday and want to hear some of your favourite football or general sports books to add to my list. I’ll get the ball rolling with some great books I’ve already read (multiple times too).
How to Coach a Soccer Team – Tony Carr
Great book for anyone involved in any sort of coaching even if its not football there’s still stuff to take away about teaching people stuff and it’ll get you thinking more about football.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Coach-Soccer-Team-Professional/dp/0600627578/ref=cm_wl_huc_item
Fever Pitch – Nick Hornby
A great autobiography about growing up as a football obsessive.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fever-Pitch-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0141391812/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442965009&sr=1-2&keywords=nick+hornby+fever+pitch
The Beautiful Game – Rory Callan
A book of quotes from footballers and managers, great to flick through every now and then for some inspiration.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1849535515?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00
Moneyball – Michael Lewis
I know its not football but there’s so much to take on about every aspect of man management, financial management and “finding the value”. What is FPL but working within a wage budget?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moneyball-Art-Winning-Unfair-Game/dp/0393324818/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442965318&sr=1-1&keywords=moneyball
I am Zlatan - Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Good read or a parody of what you expect?
Heard good things, and has 4.5/5 star rating on amazon, with over 100 reviews.
Cheers, added!
Pirlo's autobiography is apparently excellent as well.
Haha added it when I saw it in the "people also bought" section π
Inverting the Pyramid - Jonathan Wilson
Brilliant Orange - David Winner
Soccernomics - Simon Kuper
The Numbers Game - Anderson/Sally (basically Moneyball specific to football)
The Italian Job - Vialli/Marcotti
Englischer Fussball - Raphael Honigstein
I saw Raphael Honigstein has just released a new book 'Das Reboot'
nice titleIndeed, that looks great too. Definitely some lessons in there that the English FA would do well to learn!
Cheers I've read Inverting the Pyramid, Soccernomics and The Numbers Game already, I'll have a look at the rest though for sure as you have good taste.
Inverting the Pyramid is a great read for understanding the evolution of football tactics and Soccernomics is a pretty good analytics read if slightly hindered by the data available when it was written. The Numbers Game I've got to say I thought was an abuse of critical thinking and statistics, I really couldn't get past chapter 3(?) when it concluded Darren Bent to be the most valuable striker in the league by completely futzing up causation and correlation, variation and environmental factors.Yeah I wouldn't say I agreed with everything and you can never take away the human element and the "eye candy test" as it's called in Moneyball, but it was a totally different way of thinking about the game when I first read it so it made for an interesting read.
Inverting the Pyramid is my favourite football book because I'm a massive tactics geek. I could see it being a bit dry for people who aren't though.
Of those ones you haven't read, definitely go for Brilliant Orange first.Yeah Moneyball definitely benefits from actually being in and around a club, it just 'gets' analytics and management in a way I'd never seen before from any other writer, again Numbers Game was bleurgh from me having read Moneyball first.
For an Inverting the Pyramid fan I've got to recommend as a kind of counter-balance to the tactics side of things "How to Coach a Soccer Team" by Tony Carr. I found this recommendation of it through Zasa and hopped it straight onto my kindle app:
http://leftwingsoccer.com/tony-carr-vs-the-hipster/
** The opening qualification in the article applies massively to the tone of the article:
"Before proceeding, it is important that the reader gains an understanding of the hipster in question... If this article relates to you then consider it an opportunity to acquire. If you do not recognise the character depicted, you needn’t worry."
Numbers game & Soccernomics are great reads, essential information.
I'm hooked on that blurb, Georgie Best without the fame?
Football Weekly did a podcast about him in pre-season, worth a listen.
Might have to sneak this in while waiting for the price changes, thanks.
How to Score - Ken Bray
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1862079889?ie=UTF8&tag=zonamark-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1862079889
Teambuilding - Rinus Michels
http://www.amazon.com/Teambuilding-Road-Success-Rinus-Michels/dp/1890946737?_encoding=UTF8&tag=zonamark-20&ie=UTF8&linkCode=ur2&qid=1323098050&camp=1789&sr=8-1&creative=9325
Attacking Soccer, Massimo Lucchesi
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1890946710?ie=UTF8&tag=zonamark-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1890946710Not a book per-se, but Michael Cox's series of "How the 2000s changed tactics" is fantastic.
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2012/04/24/how-the-2000s-changed-tactics-1-the-fall-and-rise-of-the-passing-midfielder/Great read, will read again π
Great shouts, I'm adding those to my wishlist!
Nice one!
Cheers Zazou
β
β
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added πWelcome, bud π
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trautmann-The-Biography-Alan-Rowlands/dp/1859834914
Gives the details and prices.Cheers ILF π
If it was nowadays he'd have a cape.
How Football Explains The World
http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Football-Explains-World-Globalization/dp/0099492261Cheers Kylie!
Moneyball definitely
Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King
El Diego (by Diego Maradona)
too much uncertainty surrounding silva's injury, thoughts on silva > KDB?
Who is KDB? Pardon my ignorance.
Nevermind. Just figured it out. D'oh!
so should i bring in de bruyne?
RMWCT please π (0.3 ITB)
Begovic / Rudd
Azpi / Kolarov / Francis / Huth / S.Taylor
Sanchez / KDB / Mahrez / Payet / Drinkwater
Aguero / Martial / Ighalo
Looks good. Only concerns are Huth and Taylor.
Thanks, yea I'm not 100% convinced by either but I think I'll keep Taylor cause once he returns from injury he should be a starter again
Id be tempted to use that 0.3m to do Sanchez > hazard.
Def wouldn't have Huth either. Maybe Azpi > zouma Huth > Evans and Rudd > McCarthyNot sure if I'm brave enough to get Zouma with JT and Cahill still lurking π Hazard is tempting!
Def get hazard....better incoming fixtures and Sanchez stats are deceiving. Still wouldn't wildcard and leave myself with two non players and a def from a team yet to register a CS.
With Shaw Injured and Gomez unlikely to start in future, I want to do like for like swaps, Shaw for Smalling/Darmian was thinking Rojo but not seemed guarenteed for 90 mins. Is it worth swapping Gomez for Moreno or should I keep faith in Gomez?
Thoughts?Both need to go but Shaw's obviously more important to shift. I wouldn't look at another Utd defender right now, they look a bit shaky trying to reorganise without him. Stability is everything in a back 4. Defenders I like the look of at present include Evans, Nyom, Bellerin, Azpi, Francis and Zouma (and obviously Kolarov if you don't have him yet). Moreno could also be a good option but as with Gomez he carries a rotation risk.
Oh I also like Ashley Williams
I left Shaw for a Couple of weeks as I needed to strengthen attacking players as Shaw was planned to be benched the past 2 weeks.
I currently own Kolarov - Shaw (INJ) - Azpilicueta - Gomez - Yoshida all seemed to have stability in their teams back 4 Smalling is guaranteed and Blind but classed as midfield not worth it. Was thinking about going for arsenal and getting Bellerin or KoscielneyYeah Bellerin is a good option, or you could free up some funds by getting a WBA defender, they have great fixtures.
I was looking for a stable defensive option that can remain for weeks as I have their keeper I may look elsewhere and Fabianski as well. Thought ARS, TOT, WHAM, and MANU are my best defensive option even a Norwich defender to keep for easier fixtures
Just woke up to see highlights of Lewandowski's 5 goals in 9 minutes wow! His 5th goal was an absolute peach!
Think I'm going to go for Payet and Rondon in Ayew and Benteke out. This Gwk g2g?
Myhill
Darmian Gomez Cedric
Sanchez Mane Yaya Payet
Rondon Kun Vardy
McCarthy Richards Janmaat Surman 1.4 inb.Rondon? Nah.
Rondon is left field but could work out. Think I might prefer benteke > ighalo and Ayew > hazard
Can't do it, Hazard in v Ast for Sanchez.
Can you afford Martial? If it was me and I could get him for free I would, call me a sheep if you must!
Yes, But no, bah
π
Sounds good to me, Rondon isn't a first choice option but definite potential for a great differential.
Cheers guys, Payet form and fixtures, Rondon fixtures and differential.
Thoughts, FT
A) Ayew > Hazard
B) Ayew > Pedro
C) Westwood > Pedro, (benching Ayew in the process)
Cheers
Silva. Good chance to be back vs Spurs
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-city-pellegrini-hopes-silva-10112884"could be in contention"
Cheers Acqua
Those comments arent as good as the tweet made out earlier. Only says two of three might play so could still leave silva on the sidelines.
If you had to pick one; Pedro or Hazard? I have 2.9M avail, so I could transfer out Silva for either.
Don't lose silva if fit. Hazard if he's out.....or KDB.
Hazard
Anything here stand out? Aside from maybe moving Morgan out.
McCarthy - Begovic
Francis - Williams - Kolarov - Dawson - Morgan
Mahrez - Sachez - Pedro - Yaya - Westwood
Gomis - Aguero - Wilson
0.6 ITB. 1 FT
KDB to survive the night, only gone up ~4% in last 24 hours.
You'd sort of hope he make it through a few seasons tbh.
this guy
Hello all,
Hoping for some collective wisdom or at least some constructive criticism from you seasoned players
My current team:
-------------------------------------Myhill---------------------------------------------.......(Rudd)
Kolarov-----------Azpilicueta-----------------Gomez--------------Koscielny.......(Coates)
Mahrez----------------Ozil--------------------De Bruyne------------------Mata......(Redmond)
------------------------Aguero---------------------Benteke------------------------.......(Fletcher)
Key is that I'm already on -4 having brought in Myhill and KDB for Panti and Silva, with Bentekes injury I'm considering the wildcard now due to weak bench and Gomez uncertainty.
Current WCT:
-------------------------------------Myhill---------------------------------------------.......(McCarthy)
Kolarov-------------------------Azpilicueta------------------------------Bellerin.......(Martin, Ryan Bennett)
Mahrez---------Hazard--------De Bruyne---------Barkley------------Payet........
------------------------Aguero---------------------Wilson--------------------------.......(Ighalo)
So staying 2 up front probably due to mid options but will likely assess ighalo/Wilson/Barkley/Martin game by game. Not concerned about Martial - really think he'll regress back to his long run average but will continue to monitor.
The question:
Is it worth it to trigger the WC? - I've done 9 transfers in addition to the ones I have already done.
Thanks in advance for any help everyone - have a great evening tooRyan Bennett out of my WC team just for that IMO
No need to WC that team....especially if benteke fit.
Thanks mate - holding for now
You could play 3-5-2 or 4-5-1:
Kolarov, Azpi, Kosc
Mahrez, Ozil, De Bruyne, Mata, Redmond
Aguero
Then hope for 2 of Benteke, Gomez and Fletcher to play some minutes.
It's a bit tight though - if you're really tempted to take another hit you might as well just wildcard.Actually wait you only need 1 of those 3 to play - wait for news on Benteke.
Thanks for advice mate, if Benteke plays then it prob would be a wildcard wasted espec with mata playing sun. I'll wait, but leaning against playing it still. Wonder when I will play it though every week so far has been nothing more than ok, nothing disasterous...
I'd be happy with that WC team to be honest.
I need a replacement for kouyate. Any thoughts?
do I go for sanchez or haz!?
Haz
Both!
I'm keeping Sanchez for two weeks then Haz in v Ast.
Keep the one you have (if you do). Otherwise I'd go for Haz
I have Sanchez but will be switching to Haz long term.
They are both quailty but Haz is nailed 90 min each game and has set piece (well, did, should still imo).
Sanchez, flat out overpriced.
Which combo is your preference?
A: KdB + Zouma
B: Yaya + Azpi
C: KdB + BellerinA if you think Zouma is nailed.
C if you don'tI would have silva over KDB. He wont be in the hole. Silva will, and will be dictating as always.
I think KDB has more goal threat though
Zouma not nailed but surely not rested after a goal and good performance.
Can't afford Silva and KdB has impressed me, all be it in the holle... KdB not as Pacy as Navas but is still quick and unlike Navas he can pass and shoot. So might be worth the risk.
Chelsea's fixtures look good but Costa out is a pain (or possible blessing, who knows)
C
Cech and Ozil to Myhill and Hazard for -4?
Yes. But why do you still have Ozil, get rid asap.
Blind faith in Arsenal attack I suppose
I could do just Ozil to pedro for free
I'd rather save and do it for free next week if you still want.
I would 100% save
Yaya > KDB a sideways move?
2 FT but not too much to do - could bring in Hazard as well, of course, or bring in a West Brom defender.let's see the rest of the team
Butland - Ruddy
Prodl - Darmian - Kolarov - Targett - Richards
Yaya - Payet - Sanchez - Mahrez - Westwood
Gomis - Wilson - AgueroI'd rather do Ruddy to Myhill.
if he wants a rotation..Stoke have great fixtures and ShawX not far off
sorry, forgot Ruddy was 4.5, mixed him up with Rudd.
3.3 ITB, 2 FT. Will likely just use 1 this FT this week.
I'd use it to upgrade defence.
Ruddy to Myhill or Darmian/Targett/Richards to Chelsea/Wba defenderThat's what I'm thinking. I've been staying away from Myhill as tempting as he is, so I will probably for Evans or Dawson this week and a Chelsea defender for Darmian next week.
Bertrand is playing tomorrow in the cup, this might be your chance to be rid of him comfortably.
be rid of Targett*
True, though there's no real difference if he sits on my bench until next year anyway? Would probably rather have him sit there instead of using an FT on a nailed-on replacement for 0.5 more... Would probably rather ship out Richards or Darmian, I think.
unless you get hit by an injury/suspension/rotation issue. I prefer my players to all be nailed personally
Not at all. Kevin is way more attacking
Like making my transfers sat morn, but Payet will rise again tonight so going to have to make them now.
He got through last night without injury so go for it.
Would you sell or keep Diouf in these two scenarios?
1. He is passed fit before the weekend
2. Like last week, he is labeled as a doubt with a chance of making it
Ighalo is staring me right in the eyesIf you prefer Diouf over Ighalo then stick
Bego
Kola Gomez Targett
Sanchez Yaya Ayew Mahrez
Kun Martial Wilson
Butland Westwood Richards Shaw
2 in the bank and 1 FT
which one guys?
A. Fix my def with Shaw -> Cresswell maybe?
B. Yaya -> PayetMust spend it on Shaw, for me. Shaw to Evans or Dawson.
Who to get rid of from Chadli, Toure, Sanchez or Ayew for Hazard? Thinking Chadli.
Chadli/Ayew
Toss a coinChadli by all the miles.
Chadders
A thought on Gomez as a Liverpool fan, he can play anywhere in the back line, in the current formation Moreno definitely starts but, Gomez could well play cb over Can, he is a better defender, Can is a Def mid.
He's lost his starting position, for now.
That's not a certainy I wouldn't be surprised to see him playing at cb, but he may just be used for Europa. It's a wait and see.
That may be, but as AF says he's lost his place right now.
Can is wasted at CB. Which means Rodgers will keep him there.
π
You reckon? I can see how he's more naturally suited for a holding midfield role, as he's great on the ball, & has good service. But he's still pretty crucial to the 3 at the back shape, seeing as he's great at building up attacks from the back & is the only one that seems comfortable on the ball.
Would be interesting to see Can take Hendo/Lucas's spot though, Lucas seems to be on the wane.I'm not saying his role isn't important when he plays CB, just the he is obviously more influential on the game when he plays as a box to box mid. Absolute beast on the ball.
Yeah Lucas seems to have lost it. Can't help that the moronic manager treats you like a piece of trash either...Yeah, I see where you're coming from. He has so much potential & is extremely versatile, hopefully he'll get a chance in the midfield soon.
Haha, that definitely doesn't help π
Butland - Schmeicel
Azpi - Evans - Kolarov - Muniesa - Cedric
Silva - Mahrez - Ozil - Payet - Anya
Kun - Benteke - Gomis
2FT 0.3ITB. So many choices for change!
Better to wait until more is known for Silva and Benteke right?Silva yes, Benteke - I'd be shot of him either way
Was thinking Pelle until the injury news. Maybe someone cheaper and then Ozil to Pedro
Will Bellerin rise today?
No, neither fplstats nor fff say he will
Thanks!
Going to my 1st match of the new season on sat v Ast. Hope we get our act together!
So do I, did a premature Stur
Morning DZ.
Is there any way to check the players stats in cup games (C1C, FA etc) in the members stats?Especially the comparison tools.
not in members area afraid
Ah π , could be a nice addition in the future.
Is the bot ready Balders? πOPTA are a bit sporadic with cup data unfortunately
Maybe that's why.
Or need to pay for entirely different package of stats.yep, that too for sure.
Balders how do we check on the play off league?
Hopefully ill have a community article out tomorrow. But you can see this in advance:
http://imgur.com/PWEoZllOh cool!
Ranked 86 πIs there any chances for a tiny addition into the spreadsheet, like say managers ID?
Would like to check the rival team.maybe in the knockouts, some people are pretty secretive with their teams and wouldnt want it posted publicly
Cheers mate, make sense!
Is it worth going -4 points this week to take Shaw out? my formation is 3-4-3
playing Azpilicueta - Kolarov - Gomez (Shaw & Yoshida) on Bench
I was thinking is it worth taking shaw out now for a defender on the chance Gomez doesn't play to get me a clean sheet.
Thinking Bellerin, Smalling, Martin, Dier, Cathcart, Dawson or Reid
Thoughts
