There’s plenty of forward thinking in this week’s round-up of the best quotes, with Iheanacho, Kane and Costa leading the line. Defoe and Anichebe get a mention too, while Pulis goes all Jedi and Wenger relishes playing away.
The Heart Of The Aguero Matter
You’ve got to admire Sergio Aguero’s (13.0) consistency.
Having attempted a not-exactly-surgical incision on David Luiz’ torso last week, he’s gone straight for the heart again with some well-chosen words for his potential replacement Kelechi Iheanacho (6.6).
“Before we played Celtic (Aguero said) that it’s up to me now to fill that gap, to carry the team along. He’s telling me I should do very well and they are words of encouragement from him. So I’m going to do it. It’s a big opportunity for me now. Sergio’s not around so I have to take responsibility. I need to work really hard to prove myself to the team. I need to do extra to help the team to carry them along and to get the points that we need now.”
All very heart-warming, and all very effective seeing as Iheanacho promptly scored against Celtic.
But although Aguero might be many things – striker, team man, sporadically homicidal ninja – he is most definitely not Pep Guardiola.
And Pep picks the team, so we’d all best forget Aguero’s heart and try second-guessing what goes on in the boss man’s head instead.
Seeing as he fielded three right-backs against Celtic, that’s easier said than done, but any thoughts starting with ‘false nine’ and ending in ‘De Bruyne’ will be of particular interest.
No Kane, No Gain?
Whatever we all thought of Sergio going loco on Luiz, one simple truth emerged – those of us who owned him now have a bucket load of cash to spend elsewhere.
Harry Kane (11.1) is an obvious replacement – he’s scored five times in four league matches since returning from injury.
So joining the Kane gang could be the closest thing to heaven, not Loserville, if you’re looking for gold. But don’t let obscure references to 80s bands cloud your judgement, read what the man himself has to say.
“It’s very pleasing to come back from a period out and still be scoring goals. Hopefully I can keep doing that for the rest of the season. We know in the last couple of months we could have done a lot better. We spoke about how these next couple are very important. Last year in December and January we really pushed on and put a good string of results together. That is what we have got to do now.”
The striker continued his rich vein of form with another goal in the midweek Champions League win over CSKA Moscow, and he is well aware that he has fixtures on his side as well.
“We have definitely got some winnable games coming up, some good games at home that we should definitely win. We are looking at these next two months to build on this win against Swansea, hopefully get a few wins in a row and push us up the league and start fighting for the title.”
After Sunday’s trip to Man United, Spurs take on Hull and Burnley at home and Southampton and Watford away. Small wonder then that close to a quarter of a million managers have bought into Kane this week alone.
And Tottenham’s fixtures have prompted investment elsewhere in the team as well, with Heung-Min Son’s (7.3) stock on the rise again.
After a golden period during which he racked up 43 points in four Gameweeks, the South Korean’s output tricked to a halt – for which he has a solid explanation.
“I was playing with a small injury, but every footballer has small injuries. I’ve also been travelling a lot with the national team. Now I can stay until maybe March to play here, training really well and recovering well and I think I feel fresher than in the last two months. I’m really fine now and I’m just looking forward to scoring many and helping Spurs as much as possible.”
A goal and three assists in the past three matches is testament to a Son on the rise once again and, at 7.3, he remains the cheapest way into Tottenham’s stable of attack-minded midfielders.
Team The Key To Costa Fortune
The other tempting place to splash the Aguero cash is on Diego Costa (10.8).
The Spaniard is behind only Kane and Alexis Sanchez (11.6) in this week’s most popular buys, with 182,000+ new owners.
His form is staggeringly good – 11 goals and five assists have him second to Sanchez for points this season – but we all know that Costa comes with more baggage than a fully-booked flight to a Freudian convention.
The fact that he’s spent the last eight Gameweeks on four yellow cards has been a consistent turn-off for some Fantasy bosses, and yet the obvious fact there is that he’s gone eight matches without getting booked.
Gary Cahill believes that Chelsea’s new-found togetherness as a team is at the root of Costa’s calm, as became evident in the 3-1 win at Man City on Saturday.
“I’ve seen more composure from him. I know everyone says he’s an angry guy, but I’m seeing that composure now. I’m sure if you asked him, the first half didn’t go ideally. We were starved of the ball and so was he. In the last few years, maybe he gets frustrated at that point. But he kept his cool and got more involved in the second half. The players around him were playing well, defending for our lives when we didn’t have the ball and he’ll see that.”
Eden Hazard, meanwhile, let slip an even more astonishing fact about Diego – the guy might just have a sense of humour.
“I always say to Diego that he can become the top scorer. If I get the chance to score a goal, I will take it. But he can become the top scorer if I can win the trophy of the best player. We can laugh about it now, but we’ll see. Diego is performing on a high level, we are scoring a lot of goals. We are strong as a team, we are together and that’s very good. We are going to try to keep playing on this level. We will see, but we are full of confidence.”
Should Costa stay clean until the New Year, thus avoiding the looming suspension, that would mean a rather fitting 13-match run without a caution for a man who has a certain amount of previous in the dark arts of football.
Seeing as these days he seems more inclined to set up a kitten sanctuary than whinge to a referee nanoseconds after tap-dancing on a centre back’s wobbly bits, that saintly scenario really could happen.
And with West Brom, Sunderland, Palace, Bournemouth and Stoke as his remaining 2016 opponents, he should remain in the goals while he’s about it.
Defoe’s Victorious Tendencies
We’ll complete our focus on forwards with a word on Jermain Defoe (7.7).
To say that the pint-sized predator is vital to Sunderland is an under-statement.
Sunderland have scored 14 league goals this season. Defoe has eight of them, and he’s got two assists. So without him, the Black Cats would have managed a princely four in 14 matches – an attacking return even David Moyes might consider below par.
Three of those four have gone to Victor Anichebe (4.7), and Jermain is in no doubt as to the importance of his strike partner.
“When you are up there with someone else, taking more of the physical side of it, and Victor pins defenders, he rolls people and gets his shots off, it helps. Victor is aggressive and good in the air. We are keeping the ball better and it has given me more time to think about my movement. It has helped me. When Victor came in he had missed pre-season, hadn’t played much and some days he had to do three sessions to get his fitness right. He has got the rewards. He has been amazing and has helped in a big way.”
Since starting for the first time in Gameweek 11, Anichebe has helped Sunderland win three out of four matches. He has three goals and an assist in that spell; Defoe the same number of strikes and one more assist.
The next six matches are a curious mix of the daunting and the doable – they face Chelsea, Liverpool and Man United, but also Swansea, Watford and Burnley.
Defoe and Anichebe should prosper for at least some of that run, and they might well have another attacking option to help them out along the way.
With Sunderland’s leading midfield points scorer (by a country mile), Duncan Watmore (4.9), out with a long-term knee injury, the door has potentially opened for Adnan Januzaj (5.3).
The United starlet has been in the wilderness for a while, but Moyes is now talking up, albeit in his usual low-key way, the Belgian’s ability.
A fine goal in an U23 match against Spurs prompted Moyes to declare:
“His goal in midweek showed his ability. If he wants to go back and play for Manchester United he has to show it here. Adnan’s general fitness is low and I want more from him. How does he get recognised? Get the assists and the goals on the board. I know he has Manchester United quality so he has to show everyone at Sunderland he has got this.”
It is to be hoped that the ‘Manchester United quality’ Moyes is on about refers to those halcyon days before his own stint at the club, but Watmore’s absence and the usual Christmas fixture pile-up could represent the perfect chance for a Januzaj renaissance.
Then again, Moyes’ parting shot…
“Jermain (Defoe) can be individual and score. Adnan, if you are individual, what is it that you do? Cut in and shoot, get to the byline and cross. I wasn’t seeing either and I am not yet.”
…means the jury’s still out on that.
Tony Pulis The New Yoda Is
If Moyes is one for tough love, Tony Pulis is as wise and cuddly as the ‘Dagobah Messi’ – Jedi Master Yoda.
Except without the hairy ears. Yet.
At least he seems to be where Matt Phillips (5.4) is concerned.
West Brom are in a real purple patch at the moment, with three wins and a draw from their last four matches, and midfielder Matt’s three goals and as many assists have been central to that surge.
That’s been enough for Pulis to reveal his more sensitive side.
“We’re all made differently, and thank god we are. Different people have different strengths and weaknesses. Matt is most probably his own worst enemy in terms of confidence. If he had that self-belief and that confidence that some players have got he’d be absolutely outstanding every week.”
Whoa there Tony, you’re beginning to sound like some kind of psychologist.
“I’m not a psychologist.”
Ah.
“But it’s just trying to get him to move that to one side and out of his way. It’s just that self-belief and putting your arm around him and encouraging him week in, week out to overcome a mental demon that I think he is trying to get rid of more than anything else. If he does that and believes in himself as much as we believe in him then he can have a fantastic season for the football club.”
Three goals and five assists is a pretty good start, particularly in a team as..let’s just say starchy…as West Brom.
The 50,000+ bosses who’ve bought him this Gameweek – making him a top ten acquisition – clearly believe in him, although even Yoda might struggle to get much from a run of fixtures that includes Chelsea and Arsenal away in the next four matches.
Arsene Enjoying The Journey
At least the Force is strong in Arsenal these days, and particularly on the road according to Arsene Wenger.
“I felt that maybe we play with freedom away from home. We face a bit less defensive, less compact defensive blocks than at home. At home recently, maybe we lost a bit of patience sometimes when it didn’t come off early in the game.”
The stats back him up – no away team has scored more goals (18), created more assists (15) and conceded fewer times (five) than Arsenal this season, and only Chelsea have kept more clean sheets.
And this week’s managerial darling (over 250,000 new owners), Alexis Sanchez, has most definitely developed a taste for travelling – eight of his 11 league goals have come away from The Emirates, as have three of his five assists.
To be fair, the Gunners aren’t exactly shabby at home either, but their 15 goals, eight assists and nine goals conceded all fall short of that impeccable away record.
There’s an even split of home and away fixtures for Arsenal from now until the break for the FA Cup following Gameweek 20, but the fact that their toughest matches – Everton, Man City and Bournemouth – are all on the road might actually play into their hands.
