You know it makes sense 😉

i'm not keen on the stoke fixtures

I'm not a Swans fan B&B (kind of my second team, so this may not be quite accurate), but as I'm from not too far away I like to try and keep an eye on what's going on. A little anyway.

Routledge has been signed, and I think he may be the highest paid player at the club now, so he's not going to be sitting on the bench. Sinclair is going to play week in week out so unless one of Sinclair, Routledge or Dyer plays through the middle then it's probably unlikely that Dyer will be first choice. Player of the year last season though, so it's a bit unclear, really. I'd hold off until we see what's going to happen, try and find some extra £'s to upgrade him I think.

No.

Not a good switch. If you've already got Ephraim you're way too light in midfield.

is that because blackburn are really solid at the back?

Got a 9/1 bet that Newcastle would go down a couple months back 😉

There are so many bad sides now in the prem... Wigan, Newcastle,Blackburn, Norwich, Swansea, Wolves... It's difficult to say who'll go down

RVP is a really tempting captain choice now with the state newcastle are in.

Personally I can't really see any way Norwich will stay up, rock bottom for them I predict. That leaves the likes of Swansea, QPR, Wigan, Newcastle and maybe Blackburn and Wolves scrapping. Tough to call out two out of that lot for me.

I had both in my first draft, now I have neither. To my mind 12.5 mil is quite a lot to spend on unproven rotating players, I'd rather get an established player I can play for the first 3 or 4 weeks without rotation and stick a cheapie on my bench.

Id downgrade Luiz to Hughes or Rafael and throw Rvp in instead of Drog 😉

I like it except I think one of Lampard/Drogba would be enough. Use it to free up cash to upgrade Luiz to Cashley/Baines.

Im going Roon and RVP up front myself..what are you doing in the midfield though?

Uh oh...

And Chelsea have just signed a defensive midfielder...

His hand will be in a cast for 3/4 weeks but it won't stop him playing and really shouldn't be much of a consideration at all.

Through all my tinkerings he is the one player I've not been able to bring myself to remove 'cos I think he'll really deliver early on.

do zamora-holt and get barton?

I like it. Midfield is risky but I agree when you say there isn't many you really want. I would worry about lack of Chelsea coverage, especially for GWs 2-3.

Im thinking the same way , traditionally been all about the midfield but like you there is nobody I really want ...VDV maybe but fixtures arent kind initially .
Personnally have gone for (so far)

Given (Ruddy)
Cole Baines Hughes(simpson , de laet)
Seggesson ,taarabt , moses ,ohara (sinclair)
RVP , Bent , Drogba

Drogba covers chelsea but risk of non starting , could go lampard route , but can see him sitting back more .

I assume De Vries because why else would he move from Swansea (who just got promoted) to sit on the bench at Wolves?

Skrtel is injured and will miss the start of the season. See Tweet on the front page.

Either Rodallega or Sess

Or if you took ages to balance up your outfield..have a non rotating goalkeeper combo and downgrade given to al habsi

Carroll->Suarez

You could maybe get away with Suarez instead of Carroll. If you're happy with your team, then playing a sub instead of Suarez for the first week might be a price worth paying. Or put a different striker in for GW1 and then transfer Suarez in when he's fit.

This wouldn't be the vicar of west bromwhich would it?

A: he seems to be a regular, and has scored a lot of goal in pre season from open play. So he does not need pen/free kicks to produce goals. And he is cheap, so he is my budget alternative.

B: Once again, I need a budget alternative since I've gone with to expensive forwards. Getting a cheap, regular forward for an attacking team who takes penalties is a no-brainer for me.

C: He is 5.5. I had him last year when he was 4.0 and then he was a bargain, but they didn't get to many penalties, and his corners seldom turned into goals, so it was only his bonuspoints that made me keep him. And that he was a regular. But this year I don't see him as a bargain, since he is 5.5....

Taylor for Swansea and Orr.

briggs is a no. Out of the team once dempsey returns.

as discussed in earlier posts, he's mostly a stop gap for essien in case the moric deal dsnt work and barca have a buy back option in 2 years so chelsea want him to come good but not excellent.

Iva(novic) Goodwillie?

bad tackle from goodwillie

And his arch nemesis, Arthur Badcock

http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/oddballs/871125-mario-balotelli-subjected-to-rotting-fish-prank-by-man-city-boys

Nice one B&B... will have a gander at that later.

I disagree, it's based on the principle that each player has played under the exact same circumstances for the past 3 seasons.

With Baines currently on penalties and set pieces, I think he could retain them even with Arteta back. Over a full season that would be very favourable.

If you have Sinclair then go for Taarabt - if not go for Sessegnon!!!!!

Good team but would swap Modric for Bale and swap Wilshere as he is plays quite deep for the Arsenal and put in Sessegnon!!!!!

I think Chelsea will start Ivan at CB for a game or two so that Luiz can adapt to the new play and then he'll come in with Ivan moving to RB. Lampard or Malouda...Flo being cheaper does help. Leave Yossi for now...

1. I'm (probably) going for Silva and Balotelli with enough cash in the bank to swap Balotelli for Torres/Drogba GW2.

Tevez isn't back in training until Monday, has had no pre-season whatsoever so I can't see any way he'll be anything other that a sub. Mancini said after the Inter friendly that Aguero will only be on the bench for the Community Shield, and again he's had no pre-season so he's unlikely to start the Swansea game, imo. That leaves Dzeko or Balotelli, and I'd much rather Balo, who should also be on penalties, at a guess.

2. I've got for Cole. You pay extra for the security of starts, and AVB apparently likes his full-backs to bomb on forward.

3. None for me, see 1 for Chelsea cover.

4. Kompany and Cole are my two expensive defenders, I'd love to have Baines for GW's 2-5, but I find it ruins the rest of my team too much.

5. No bloody idea!

I don't much like transfers near to season start time. It gives the players very little time to settle in and get used to their new squad and style of play/speed of team-mates etc. The players I will have in my team for GW1 are already at their club.

5m

5.0

5

5.0

Don't see how it is. They're all the best maybe bar malouda options from their respective team's midfield.

They all play and get bps.

Well no but it depends how rubbish it makes your forwards.

I've still got Van Persie and Bent/Carroll in my forward line. I'm just debating whether I should save money from downgrading Silva, who is arguably a tad expensive.