Fantasy Football 2011-11-24

Game week 12

barcaRONAN’s last game week Score – 35

Average Score on site – 44

  

Highest Haul – 7

Lowest Haul – 1

Average Score Per Player 3.3

Accrued Score – 495

Place in my own fecking league – 80, down 6 Places

Points Off the top - 165

State Of Play

Right I’m in position number 80… I was born right in 1980, so this is clearly a position of… REBIRTH. This where it all kicks in folks, this is the second act… this is where Lady Macbeth has talked me into it… this is where I get back in the ring to avenge Apollo Creed’s death… this is where I start a band called Wings….

I have cunningly had a really a shit first third (turd?) of the season, so my move up a gear (or is it down a gear? I don’t drive yet… the way you go faster and when you make driving sounds you go up a pitch) will be a way clearer to spot!

Vindication

I flagged Irish strikers to be playing as well as they can and one of mine, Walters, scored and another, Long (who is a former member of the barcaRONAN team), also leapt like a gazelle to score one for himself.

D’oh

You know the way there’s 11 players in your team and I mentioned one in my vindication section? You do the math…

Screenshot of my team from last game week.

Questions / Hunch / Drama / Dramatic Narrative this game week before Sky Have Spotted it.

I’m writing this in a rush as I have an appointment with some beer and my best friend in town, and 

I was supposed to get home ages ago, but I got stuck in a meeting… about starting a weekly 

soccer trivia quiz night in Cork City. So anyway, Champions League threw up a few things 

(1) Man United still seem averse to defending (2) Van Arsenal is leading the entire Persie FC team 

(3) Chelsea, like Bart Simpson,  are in trouble, big big trouble [actually this has tickled me today, 

the first paragraph of this article -

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/nov/24/andre-villas-boas-chelsea - they are bang in the middle of the slump yeah? They’ve lost their last two?, and 4 of their last 7?]

Transfers/Theory/Selection

With the news breaking of Anderson also being out till February-ish, Man United’s midfield options are even more limited, so it looks like Rooney might end up in the middle of the park for this weekend (assuming he’s fully fit, he still has the yellow mark against his name on the fantasy football site); and also with the inevitable need for Van Persie, I brought the Dutch man into my team… with parallel inevitably he will get injured this weekend.

I’m not gonna lie, due to this direct swap, I’m not even considering a second transfer this weekend, so that’s it, gotta make a selection out of what’s in front of me. I don’t trust Man City’s defence against Liverpool at Anfield, so by benching those two, it’s a choice of who my third man on the bench will be.

There was a few candidates, but I’ve chosen Agbonlahor on the bench as he’s away to Swansea who have been very good at home so far; but what with VDV also doubtful and Drenthe not a sure fire starter for Everton at Bolton, he may well end up turning out in the barcaRONAN jersey this weekend.

I will captain Robin Van Persie, cos feck it (1) he’s at home to relatively weak opposition, Fulham, (2) he is on fire at moment and (3) I’m never afraid to launch way too much pressure at the first chance of some good quality scoring, which explains why so many potential relationships of mine have floundered.

My Team this week

Keeping An Eye On

I was trying to link to a youtube clip of Homer saying “can’t talk now, I’ve got a class to teach”…. But you get the gag

Captain's Corner with Phergal

[NB Back Of The Net Boy is not responsible for Captain’s Corner spelling, grammar and basic text layout]

RVP does it again in the champions league, a magnificent brace to send Arsenal into the next stage. He's on fire. If you have him captain him. He looks like scoring big every week and is at home to Fulham.

Chelsea @home to Wolves - Chelsea are in rotten form and need a big win to try to lift their spirits. What better fixture to regain some intent than at home to Wolves. Torres, Sturridge and Lampard are all good choices.

Liverpool@home to City - Should be a fascinating match this, Liverpool coming off a nice 2-1 win against Chelsea against a City side who maybe lost a bit of shine losing to Napoli and putting their champions league adventure in serious doubt. Still, now they will be more focused than ever on the premiership and maintaining their unbeaten run. Aguero looks definite to start. Him and Silva will be looking to run the show here. Maybe Adam or Suarez if you think Liverpool can win.

United @home to Wolves - Once again i don't see any captain material in United at the moment. They have lost their way a bit and Newcastle are a solid side. I can see this one being 0-0. Maybe 1-0 with Hernandez getting the goal?

Gamble pick - Same as last week, Walters in tremendous form against a terrible Blackburn side. 

Fantasy Football 2011-11-17

Game week 12

barcaRONAN’s last game week Score – 40

Average Score on site – 53

Highest Haul – 15

Lowest Haul – (0)

Average Score Per Player 3.6

Accrued Score – 460

Place in my own fecking league – 74, down 10 Places

Points Off the top - 149

State Of Play

OLE OLE OLE OLE, after the international break it’s time for us all to get back to club level, I need to get both a better insight to Fantasy Football and a thesaurus, so I can at least say ‘I did bad” in a different way every week. I am just cannon fodder at the moment,

In a bid to inspire myself to great and better things I have a photo of my son in front of me and I am listening to this fine collection of songs…

Vindication

Nothing, now let’s just move on

D’oh

My fupping christhole of a browser, I insist that I had set Agbonlahor to captain as I said in the last blog “so Gabby gets the armband and barcaRONAN debutant Ramsey will get the vice role”, that would have made a 11 point impact on my team, wouldn’t change the world but it would have eeked me up a few spots on the ladder.

In a list of my other regrets and grievances from last week, I will refer to this (work it out yerself)….

Screenshot of my team from last game week.

Questions / Hunch / Drama / Dramatic Narrative this game week before Sky Have Spotted it.

I’m wondering how much of an immediate impact qualifying for the Euros will have on the Irish players, while a lot of them hit the gargle on Tuesday night, it’s more the psychological impact I’m wondering about. Will McCarthy really push on now, and same with Coleman; and will O’Hara really go for gold and try and join the Irish squad. Also Trap said he anticipates bringing 4 strikers, so assuming Doyle and Keane are fit, that means the last 2 spots are a shoot out between Walters, Long and Cox (at his stage my knee is still at me, so I don’t think I’ll be getting a look in for the squad). And Dunne/Given, who both seem the decentest kinda guys you’ll ever meet must surely have a spring in their steps coming back into the Villa’s dressing room.

On a broader level there is the clash between Liverpool and Chelsea, with the Torres factor getting most of the red top attention, there’s also an interesting meeting of Terry and Suarez, two men who have had a problem with… how do you say it subtly… not being assholes, yeah that’s it. Terry inevitably scores goals when he’s under scrutiny (I wonder does Abromovich know this himself? God knows that he’d concoct to keep the Chelsea Skipper knocking in crucial headed goals)

Regarding my team specifically, the elephant in the room that is Van Persie (68 points in last 6 games!!! How amazing is that?), I’m giving Rooney one more chance, he didn’t play in the friendlies for England (How much does Alex Ferguson love that punishment do you think?), whereas RVP returned to England after Holland’s match at weekend, will he perhaps be benched for their visit to Norwich? The reason I think that is the Champions League is back on Tuesday. Damn it, now I’m thinking Rooney won’t play either…

Transfers/Theory/Selection

Basically, I wanted to make a change with no obvious candidates, I have the feeling Holohan might excel against Arsenal (yet another Irishman who wants to grab Trap’s eye even more than before now); so I got rid of Shaun Wright Philips; and in comes Drenthe, mainly cos the Fantasy Football Scout site are pushing him at the moment. As you can see I’ve two injury doubtfuls, VDV and Agbonlahor; The Dutchman has time on his side, as their game isn’t till Monday evening.

My selection is hotch potch to be honest, it’s all half hunches more so than ruthless insight, since Many City have conceded in last few matches, I’m gonna play just Kompany. Of the team I select I can see Huth and Walters not playing anyway. This week is probably Huth’s farewell appearance with barcaRONAN due to his very disappointing form this season.

Gonna captain Bendter for the fact he’s a nailed on starter, they are at home and I need a differential.

My Team this week

Keeping An Eye On

Scribbled in my notebook are Formica and Hoillet (Blackburn), Enrique (Liverpool), Cleverly (Man Utd), let’s see if his fitness and form is back to the start of season yet; and O’Hara (Wolves)

Captain's Corner with Phergal

[NB Back Of The Net Boy is not responsible for Captain’s Corner spelling, grammar and basic text layout]

Tough Captaincy choice this week. Lot of top players played two internationals the last week. There's a good article on who played and for how long at www.totalfpl.com. I can't link to it directly due to the way the site is laid out, but it's the first story in the community articles section.

Van Persie - Away to Norwich looks like a great bet for a goal or two from RVP. He was rested for a friendly on Tuesday at the request of Wenger, so looks likely to start.

Rooney - Rooney played no part in Englands internationals and is fully rested. Rooney tends to score in bursts and has been having a dry patch the last few games after his early season heroics. Away to Swansea wouldn't have a lot of goals in it i'd say. There are better choices for your armband.

Man City - Home to Newcastle. I don't worry too much about fixtures anymore with City, they're just that good. Rotation is a much bigger issue. Aguero played 45 minutes for argentina and got himself a goal. Dzeko and Balotelli are less rested, having both played 180 minutes.

Chelsea @home to Liverpool - The biggie this weekend.  Chelsea have lost their way the last few weeks. I'd almost fancy a Pool win here. Suarez scored an incredible 4 goals against Chile but fatigue could be an issue, as well as all the media and FA attention regarding the racism story. 

Van Der Vaart - Is apparently "75% fit" and in with a chance to face Villa.

Gamble pick - Walters full of confidence after Scoring for Ireland and getting to Euro 2012, he'll be full of energy against QPR.

Fantasy Football 2011-10-21

Game week 11

barcaRONAN’s last game week Score – 43

Average Score on site – 45

Highest Haul – 20 (Factoring in being in Captain)

Lowest Haul – (-1)

Average Score Per Player 3.9

Accrued Score – 428

Place in my own fecking league – 64, down 9 Places

Points Off the top - 119

State Of Play

Okay I write this minus a wisdom tooth and with painkillers in my system, so the pain of my shit fantasy football weeks is somewhat sated.

For fecks sake, where is going wrong, I don’t think I am making bad decisions when I click save changes every Friday evening. But then again who does I guess.

Vindication

Well captaining Mata, and that it’s it…

D’oh

… because Mata got me 48% of my points this week. What a fuckbucket (I think every week I’ll come with a new way to curse the lads, at least give ye a reason to come back every week). I need Rooney to take charge more and stop being an assistant to the play, I need him to me more of a Head Master and less of a Runaí (hardy harr, see what I did there). I don’t need to need to talk you through my d’ohs individually, you can see them all here in my…

Screenshot of my team from last game week.

Questions / Hunch / Drama / Dramatic Narrative this game week before Sky Have Spotted it.

Chelsea, I think they have kept one clean sheet in last 8 games or something, will John Terry step in and just pull them together because he’s a racist, I mean because he’s a good defensive leader?

Is this season the Silva and Van Persie show? In fantasy football terms you are literally a fool if you don’t’ have one, if not both of them; Ergo I am a literally a fool (I did just lose a wisdom tooth I guess, so it’s in my nature)

I heard a good point that Aston Villa are actually more over achieving than Newcastle; just an interesting point pointing out it’s not like the magpies bought dregs of players - they all had proven qualities, just they had less famous roads than some premiership imports. Now the Newcastle momentum will be severely tested over next month and then as Paul Doyle of the Guardian pointed, the African Nations Cup will take Ba from them.

Transfers/Theory/Selection

Okay, so in short, I’ve just taken an 8-point hit and made three changes; a lot of people have been in and out of my squad for the last 30ish minutes.

Mata, my hero last week, has just felt how ruthless I’ve decided to be, as has Taylor, (anticipating a value drop from next week on) and Arteta, basically I traded down to a cheaper (and currently in form Ramsey) and Mata went too, mainly to afford VDV. Cos as I said I’m simply a fool to not have him or his Dutch teammate. I very nearly did the Rooney swap with Van Persie too, I had them swapped into my team and all, but I just don’t fancy a 12 point hit. I’ve brought in Jones too, cos Man Utd seem to be getting their shit together at the back and they certainly have a run of favourable fixtures ahead.

What with those transfers, I’ve obviously put them all in the first 11, and then with Kompany suspended, I only had 2 decisions to make (well three factoring in goalkeepers, as usual I went with the home play, Shay Given, who needs to know he was out of my squad for a while too. At home to Norwich can certainly be possible to get him 6 points). Because of Jones, and wanting him to keep a clean sheet, I’ve dropped Bendter and similar thing for Given v Hoolahan.

I’m frontloading the captains with Rooney as main and in case he gets rotated Aghbonlahor as Vice, but if Rooney is put on bench it’s probable Ferguson will give him a few mins. Okay I’ve just decided to not use him as captain, so Gabby gets the armband and barcaRONAN debutant Ramsey will get the vice role.

My Team this week

Keeping An Eye On

No one in particular this week, nice broad view this weekend, in the words of Eddie Cochran, c’mon everybody.

Captain's Corner with Phergal

[NB Back Of The Net Boy is not responsible for Captain’s Corner spelling, grammar and basic text layout]

Blogs, forums and idle pub talk all point to one acronym this weekend: RVP. He's in the form of his life, and completely carrying a less than brilliant Arsenal team. 10 goals in as many matches so far in the premiership, and 7 in the last 3. The fixture is an appealing home game to West Brom and you'd be a brave man not to captain him if you have him. His ownership also hasn't reached Rooney type levels,  at the time of writing, he's at 17.1%, making him somewhat of a differential still. This is the time to have him when others don't and climb your leagues.

Anyway, failing that, there are some other nice fixture choices if you're a gambling man or without the dutchman.

Man U @home to Sunderland. Sunderland are in dreadful form and look badly exposed at the back. I'd back United for a few here. Rooney is the obvious choice, although on account of injuries less than stellar other options in centre mid, Fergie has employed Rooney in an unfamiliar but effective role in midfield the last two matches, posing a bit of a nightmare for FPL owners. As massive as Rooney can be in FPL, you don't want a 12.2m striker playing in midfield, but Fergie himself has hinted this is only temporary, but who knows for how long? I'd be captaining Nani here if i had him over Rooney.

Man City @QPR - Aguero only played 15 minutes against Villareal so looks likely for a start. Dzeko the likely partner up front. Both are strong options. Silva has a back problem but by all accounts it isn't too serious, but this is the kind of fixture Mancini could well rest him, just to be sure.

Chelsea@Blackburn - I fancy Sturridge to bounce back in this one. Torres too.

Liverpool @Swansea - Suarez continues to frustrate owners hoping for big hauls. The problem with Suarez seems to be around the fact that he isn't getting a lot of bonus points. Those in the know put this down to the new EA PPI bonus point system, which takes points off for missed shots which Suarez has a fair share of. I wouldn't have him as pick tbh, but felt it needed to be said.