Today’s Members article is the third instalment focusing on player value. We turn our attentions to the top ten midfielders in our Members Projections area and analyse just why we anticipate each of them to be so budget-friendly Fantasy prospects in the upcoming 2011/12 campaign. With three of our top four are already justifying our hopes in early pre-season by finding the net in their respective clubs’ friendlies, some of the names are already blinking brightly on our radars…
Two head to heads which i NEED a few opinions on
Luiz vs. cashley
and
Sinclar vs. brunt
luiz is supposed to be starting over alex this season and is 1 mil cheaper than cashley but cashley seems a safer option
both sinclair and brunt are on pens and free kicks plus brunt did well last season but everyone seems to think sinclair is a great optionOpen ControlsCashley will play- Luiz might
Brunt proven in prem-Sinclair we wait to see.Open ControlsIf you can guarantee starts, Luiz is the better option.
Brunt/Sinclair: I have Sinclair to rotate with Taraabt. Brunt plays for the better team though and I expect him to deliver more pts than SS.Open ControlsYour link is duff Jafalad, there were problems with their site earlier. 🙂 Good evening, by the way.
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OK, apologies for the lengthy post, but I've come up with 3 potential squads this morning. Opinions would be greatly appreciated....
(A) Given Kenny
Orr A.Cole Kompany Baines DeLaet
Silva Duff Moses N'Zogbia Malouda
Bent Graham Zamora
(B) Cech Moreira
Kompany Warnock Hughes Brown DeLaet
Silva VDV Sessegnon Murphy O'Hara
Suarez Grant RVP
(C) Cech Moreira
Kompany Warnock Hughes Brown DeLaet
Silva Cahill N'Zogbia Sessegnon Moses
Suarez Zamora Bent
(Option C leaves me with 0.5m in the bank)Open Controlsnone of them are really great
too many randoms in the teams ie de laet warnock brown murphy ohara moses grant
a) is the best could be useful if u downgraded baines or cole and upgraded strikersOpen ControlsI don't really see Brown (could be another Sunderland defender) or Warnock as that random... and Murphy and O'Hara are both established Premier League players with decent starting fixtures...
I take your point with De Laet, Moses and Graham, but you need these squad fillers somewhere. Who would you go for in terms of your cheapest defender, midfielder and striker?Open ControlsThose three teams arent the best, you could improve all of them. A is the best imo, could be better though. Get out Baines or cole and upgrade elsewhere. Forward line is weak, Also Duff and Zamora is probably overkill on Fulham. Change De Laet for Simpson as well, Better option imo.
Open Controlssunderland have a lot of defenders he unlikely to start every game
roger johnson hughes enrique all same price as warnock
ohara was wolves 14th highest scoring player..hardly established premier league player
for that price barton brunt sinclair all better
dembele or hoilett are cheap and will start and do wellOpen ControlsCheers for that redlfc...
Defence-wise, Hughes is already in my team, Enrique I'd definitely get if he went to Liverpool, but I reckon Villa will keep more cleansheets than Wolves.
O'Hara was injured for a lot of last season- he basically 3 goals in half (if not a third) of a season, so he's better value than he looks at first glance. The three you mention are decent alternatives though.
I'm not convinced Dembele will start at all- Zamora and Johnson seem to be Jol's preferred 2. Hoillett isn't a bad player, but I think Blackburn are in trouble this season.Open Controls
I want to see how Silva now fits in,could be a bit sidelined by strikers and a lot of £ to have hanging around. Wait to see a few friendlies.
Open ControlsYou might be right. When Aguero comes onto FPL it will probably change a lot of my thinking, if he's affordable. I want some attacking coverage from City, and Silva looked great at the end of the season. But if I end up with Aguero, Silva will probably drop out.
Open ControlsHe certainly looked the best option,and still may be.
I'm not fussed about Brown,I don't think he's nailed on and should be better points elsewhere. That may just be personal I've never rated him.Open Controls
Moses or dobbie?
Open Controls^ This
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Anyone considering Ephraim from QPR? Feel he is gonna be worth it at 4.5.
Open ControlsJust very attacking I think Ini.
Open ControlsI'm not great on the promoted teams, I didn't watch much Championship last year. Different this year now Brighton are in. Even doing the Texaco FF. 🙂
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Apparently likes to get forward from full back but he doesn't assist or score much. If he wasn't 4 I don't think anyone would be considering him.
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Got to love the Guardian Rumour Mill column.... Arsenal are also set to tease Everton further by upping their bid for Phil Jagielka to £15m, plus tickets to a West End show and a signed 2001-02 photo of Francis Jeffers
Open Controls"Valencia winger Mata has told friends he is joining the Gunners in a £19m deal" - The Sun
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Ok so some more tinkering, please RMT the f#$@ out of this headache of a squad! lol
Given (Al-Habbbbi)
Cashley - Bardsley - Kompany (Orr, Simpson)
Moses - Taarabt - Malouda - Silva - Sessesgnon
Suarez - Bent (Ba)
Aware of the suarez saga for first gw - 0.0 in the bank lolOpen ControlsWill Silva be as good now Aguero's in? Otherwise decent balance imo.
Open ControlsSilva is fairly rotation proof at City now. Mancini leans on him for all creativity in the midfield. Aguero will be a forward. The forwards will have rotation worry. I would not invest in Balo or Dzeko, and even Aguero will be a gamble in the beginning. Could pay off big though.
The only thing that could upset Silva's position is possibly Nasri or another attacking mid signing.Open ControlsWho knows whats going to happen at citeh when kun comes aboard too many unknowns at the moment i guess... Just gota take a punt but i dont think his arrival will damage Silva's free roaming rampage in the middle of the park
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Anyone know when they will price Kun??
Open ControlsRight guys this is the last RMT I'm going to do on here. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Schwarzer (Given)
A Cole, Kompany, Samba, Hill (Distin)
Taarabt, Lampard, N'Zogbia, Murphy (Sessegnon)
Zamora, Rodallega (Holt)
with 3.5m in the bank.
I still might change Lampard out for someone, also I'm planning on bringing in RVP for Rodallega after GW3
Any help would be great.Open ControlsHi all,
So I'm testing out a new strategy (one that I've been mulling over since mid-June), and the results are as follows:
Given/De Vries
Jags/RJ/Kompany/Bardsley/STaylor
Moses/Taarabt/Duff/Sess/Nzog
Rooney/Torres/Bent
Midfield investment is 5/6.5/6.5/6.5/7.5 whereas attack is 12/11/10. Essentially, I'm going for midfielders who are key to whatever attacking exploits their respective teams may have, as I feel that in this game you get high prices for "finishing" talent, which is best maximized (over a season) in the attack. In my midfield I've taken into account the importance of the player to the team's attack and the opening fixtures, so as to maximize returns in terms of BPs and potential attacking points.
It's certainly a "cheap" midfield, but can people really make the point that it's "weak"?Open ControlsLooks OK TA. An essential midfielder as last year proved can do as well in a lower team. Sometimes people get scared they haven't got the BIG names.
Open ControlsWhere is it weak? Okay I'll give that a go.
Moses - largely unproven, and playing in a team that doesn't know how to defend. In terms of finishers, ol' Rod isn't the best; certainly not the worst though.
Duff - injured all the time. Loves to get injured. He plays two games; football, and seeing how much he can get paid for not playing football.
That said, i do agree with taarabt, see and n'zog - all definitely worth a crack.
Torres - really? You predicting big points from him? There's little evidence to show he's even guaranteed a starting spot on the squad. I wouldn't touch him, simply because, in accordance with your 'finishing' criteria, he's been hopeless.
I'd go Zamora over Torres and upgrade Duff and Moses; they're weak.Open ControlsI like your tactic and think you should stick to it.
But as Farsickle said, Torres is way too risky. I would look at transferring him out for either Bent or maybe Ageuro!Open Controlsor RVP!
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Not a bad side but sticking strictly to that tactic surely restricts you. You said yourself you thought of it before we knew prices. Surely it would be better to judge each player on their own merit?
Open Controlsthanks for the feedback, all. good points about moses and duff...fulham's opening fixtures are tasty and he's not injured....yet....so i may stick with him. moses is the only one causing me any concern.
as for torres, yes, i'm thinking that he might need to go. as for replacing him with zamora and upgrading the MFs, well, that would go against the strategy. not saying i'm going to be really rigid about it...
if i did get rid of torres, i would probably do so as part of a full forward tweak, e.g. RVP, aguero, bent. if aguero comes in at 10.5, it would give me another .5m to upgrade moses.
but what of the general idea i floated regarding premium strikers vs. midfielders? y'all think there's any weight to it?Open ControlsThe allocations of player positions on FPL is quite abitrary. Did you play in the C Ronaldo days? He was a midfielder and you had to have him.
Open ControlsIt's a gamble but may work out - I've been looking at similar options to free up cash but having one or two cheapies is ok, having 5 is a risk because you've got nowhere to go (cash-wise) should one not work out. If you just look at the mid who inspires the confidence? If you'd looked at that team last year would you have put down any of the same names? There are a lot of flash-in-the-pan type players in FPL and you need some solidity.
If you stick with it I'd probably swap one for Barton (look at his history, he's very consistent), keep Moses as he's the real cheap option - Martinez expects big things from him too so he'll definitely feature when Zog goes.
Up front don't overlook Liverpool - I've put Carroll in, they're shaping up as a very attacking side with a lot of midfield supply, they're going to be fragile at the back so will end up with the old Keegan mentality of letting goals in as long as they score more.Open Controls
How come Sessegnon isn't in this top 10 midfielders article yet the scouts openly recommended him recently?
Open ControlsIt's points per pound. Mark said he expects more points from taraabt at 6.5 and he only just made the top 10
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RMT
AlHabsi/Given
Kompany/AshleyCole/Hughes/Simpson/Givet
Sinclair/walters/Downing/ (Ireland|Brunt) /Sessegnon
Bent/Carroll/Ba
Have 4.5 mil in the kitty for Aguero or an MF.Open ControlsSeems your defense and attack is very strong so i would spend that extra 4.5m in MF.
Just a suggestion but you should look to get in some chelsea or man city coverage just because the pair have such easy fixtures to start. Sinclair and Walters (if he even plays) have pretty terrible opening fixtures. In my eyes Ireland is a big gamble too, i havent heard anything pre-season to suggest he will finally fulfill the potential he showed at city all those years ago.
Otherwise looking goodOpen Controlsthx for the suggestions..walters is now silva 🙂
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So dalglish hopes suarez will be ready when he returns in 2 weeks but will wait until he gets back to make a decision.
Sounds like that physio on Twitter was talking shyte thenOpen ControlsOk after huge amounts of tinkering i feel im nearing completion (who am I kidding?)
My defense is (intentionally) the weakest area so would welcome suggestions without upping the price if possible.
Given (Ruddy)
Kompany Luiz Alcaraz (Simpson) (O'Shea)
N'Zog Downing Toure VDV (Ferguson)- will never play
Rooney Suarez Holt
I must admit that I feel I have the strongest MF 4 combo that I have seen so far (with a no-hoper on the bench every week)
I'd like to downgrade O'shea to a 4.5 DF who plays regularly and has ok fixtures at the start so i can have .5 in the bank to swap VDV for Malouda after GW1.
Any help greatly appreciated.Open Controlslook no further than newcastle. 2nd in cleanie potential over the first 7 GWs. i've gone for steven taylor, as he scores goals, too, but you could also go cheaper with simpson.
Open Controlshow bout salgado or berra (i think wolves could have a better season, defensively because of the johnson signing) or brown for o'shea? or u could even punt on woodgate.
cheers!Open Controls
I think with the likes of Aguero/Tevez Saurez/Carroll Rooney/Hernandez Torres/Drogba RVP Bent its gonna be a goalfest for the strikers this season & those sacred CS which were rarer than usual last season will probably be repeated again . Plus i reckon a lot of managers will be opting for the 3-4-3 formation coz of this .
Saurez if starting the season will be awesome with Aguero along side him 🙂Open ControlsI can see Suarez taking the league by storm this year. it wouldnt shock me if throughout the season he rises to be a 12mil striker. There are doubts about him starting the first few games but after that he's a must have IMO at 9.5
On Aguero people are getting a bit too excited. If Tevez stays then im not sure he'll play enough games unless he kills it on his debut. They have Balotelli, Dzeko, Silva, Toure and of course the only player who scored for them last season (Tev) all vying for his AM/ST birth. Plus the pressures of the champs league will also push rotation on ManciniOpen ControlsAguero is much better then Balotelli and Dzeko, he will start nearly every game for them.
Open ControlsI agree!
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I agree on Saurez. Aguero is class but may need time to settle in the EPL and at the circus that is City. Remember Nasri may end up there too...
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I agree that the goals will continue to pour in and CS will be few and far between. But the big clubs will still get cleanies and defenders who offer attacking potentiasl will be vital.
I think most people will go 3-4-3 as there are not only many pricier options but many options around the 6-8m value as well.Open Controls+1
I can't trust any teams for clean sheets this season apart from Man Utd/City and Chelsea. Thats why I went for the Cole/Kompany/Baines trio in defense (Baines offering assists and goals)Open ControlsI have Baines, Kompany and Hughes atm but I'm waiting to see if a 5.5m defender moves to a bigger club.
Open ControlsMark's Best Friend: I'm looking at the Cole/Kompany/Baines trio myself... care to share how the rest of your team looks? I found I ended up with a fairly weak strike force with that trio.
I'm also considering getting Cech in goal instead of Cole, then getting Hughes (or Warnock, or Enrique if he goes to 'pool)... have you considered this route?Open Controls
how's this squad?
given alhabsi
cole kompany hangeland bardsley simpson
n'zogbia benayoun taarabt sinclair moses
suarez rooney zamora
got 1m in bank, changes?Open ControlsNot sure Benayoun will get enough gametime. If he does, he will be a steal though. Wait and maybe get him in gw2/3
Cole--->Luiz and save another 1mill. Might want to get a City player for gw1.Open Controlsbenayoun seems to be a favourite of avb, and i'm hoping he starts but if not, will bring malouda
luiz is not guaranteed starts like cole is and cole is more attacking
finally, i will bring aguero if he is 9-9.5 and tevez leavesOpen Controls
I like a lot.
I reckon Holt could be the best value for money in the whole game.
Zamora & Moses or Holt & Sessegnon?Open ControlsHolt + Moses + Duff
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ok team for now and maybe my final draft depending upon aguero's price!
Kenny(Given)
Kompany Hughes Alcaraz(Simpson Bramble)
Downing Malouda Sessegnon Taarabt(Sinclair)
Bent Rooney Holt!
1.0 in bank!Open ControlsIt's a good team for sure.
I'd downgrade Sinclair though. You don't want a bench selection problem, and doing that would allow you to upgrade Downing to a 10.0 captain (VdV, Nani, Young etc.)Open Controls
Anybody considering Kompany for captain first gameweek?
I can't really see Swansea scoring and it seems like a nice, safe choice to start the season.Open ControlsAnyone selecting Tevez for gw1 if he is still at City?
Open ControlsMorning lads
What do u think
Given , ruddy
Jagielka, brown, kompany, Simpson, Rafael
VDV, Barton, nzogbia, sinclair, taarabt
Holt, van persie, RooneyOpen ControlsDont like Jags & Rafael.
Open ControlsPotentially 7 penalty takers, which is always good.
Open ControlsWould you like Jags more if he left for Arsenal?
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Hi guys can i have RMT please?
Given
Brown , Hughes, Kompany, (Simpson) (orr)
Nzogbia, Lampard VDV, Sessengnon (Ben Arfa)
Zamora, RVP, Rodallega.
Thankis guysOpen Controlsdefence is fine. Having Lamps and VDV is making your Forwards weaker. Ben Arfa is out for first 3 games fact. Id say down grade VDV and change Zamora to a Rooney or Bent
Open ControlsLampard to silva, Zamora to aguero. If you can afford it.
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I don't believe that Rodallega is a good option. The received opinion here is that Wigan's fixtures are fine - but you might want to look at that in terms of their stats last season, minus N'Zobgia. The only value for money there, imo, is Ben Watson.
Open ControlsOh. And I would keep a Fulham forward ...
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Any Chelsea fans, what is the likelihood of Ivanovic starting the season as first choice in defence? Either right back or centre back it doesnt matter.
Open ControlsI think very likely hold down that rb spot. Bosingwa is just too weak defensively and his forward runs last year were not too crash hot.
Open ControlsI would have thought that too but maybe with a new Portugese manager, Bosingwa being Portugese himself might get a look in during the early stages of the season which would ruin my team if I had Ivanovic.
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Defo wont be starting CB with Luiz Alex and of course JT..Right back maybe but have a feeling bosingwa might get the nod being portugese and all. ps not a chelsea fan
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bent downing... bent has such great fixtures and downing surely pic up more assists? if starting of course.
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I've read lots of RMTs in the last week and none are the same as mine. Trying to decide whether I should be encouraged or scared! 🙂
Open ControlsHavent been on at all last 2 days but anyone know what price Aguero is going to be?
Open ControlsHow do people feel about Park or Anderson from Man U?
I've spent heavy on my forwards this season and need some good ideas for midfield players but have a tight budget?
Looks like Park is having a great pre season and has scored 3 out of there 4 friendly games?
Worth a punt??Open ControlsAs a United fan I can confidently say that Park will not be a regular this season, even more so that we have signed a 3rd winger to fight out for the 2 spots. Anderson might start the season if Fletcher is still feeling the effects of a virus but after that he's probably going to make way.
Open ControlsHe's definitely an off-the-radar punt. Is now one of Man U's more veteran players so with others retiring will feature strongly. His attacking play has definitely been improving too. There are cheaper options from smaller clubs more likely to be involved in set pieces though.
Man U players seem to be getting largely avoided as they have a tough run, thing is they're champs for a reason. (I thought they had a pretty weak squad last season and they still pulled it off)Open ControlsThat's a very good point, guess I still gotta shop around then?
Gees I must have changed my team about 100 million times now!
Any ideas on good midfield players that are under 7 million?
Was thinking about Toure & Yossi? What u think?Open Controls
Alright folks, my turn to be annoying. Whattaya make of this attempt. Schwarzer (Moreira)
Cashley Kompany Collins (Briggs) (Connolly)
VDV O'Hara Barton Walters (Sessignon)
Rooney Aguero Rodallega
Hoping Aguero is 10.5, leaving me with .5 to play with for little tweaks or depending on the responses here, I may have !00 million to work with on a whole new team!!!Open ControlsSeems like a strong team for the season but could struggle a bit in gw1. U wana get off to a flyer.
Not heard of this Moreira before either. Whose he play for?Open ControlsThanks Jason,I was kinda concerned about gw1 also but trying to think more long term,hoping the 6mil midfielders all have big value increases by gw 7-8. Moreira is Swanseas keeper, I know they may have some contract issues still to work out but if he starts,he looks like an o.k 4mil option.
Open ControlsYeah swansea were tight last season. Just didn't know wh th chap was.
I normally play wc in gw2 so for me gw1 is normally a gimme. Will look into this moreira.Open Controls
BOOOM!!!!!
Given (Ruddy)
Kompany Cashley Hughes (Bramble simpson)
Moses Lampard Yaya Taarabt (N Dyer)
RVP Carroll Holt
Any advice? If Aguero comes in at £10mill will drop carrollyOpen ControlsYour back 7 look solid, my concerns would be with Taarabt(possible one season wonder) RVP has some tough fixtures and Andy Carroll hasn't looked sharp in pre season.
Open Controlscheers pal.
I'm a spurs fan so got to see taarabt first hand and always looked dangerous when i saw him. Was more concerned with yaya tbh.
I want suarez over carroll but he could be out first few weeks. Aguero is my wait and wonderOpen ControlsAs a Spurs fan,its probably unlikely you have any faith in Bent remaining but he's looked sharp in preseason and opening fixtures are favorable. Taarabt just seems risky at 6.5 to me, unhappy player unproven at this level. But if you've seen the player develop,thats worth a heck of a lot.
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