Hey hey, it’s almost Christmas and all of us at New Cork Cosmos HQ need a christmas miracle.
GAMEWEEK 15 REVIEW OF NEW CORK COSMOS
Dang, thought I’d done relatively well this week, but of
course what with most of have the same bunch of players, rising tides lifted
all boats. 57 points seems to have been
the ballpark average score of everyone in the top half of our league.
Got the captain right? Nope, that Swanish (Spain and Swansea
put together) fella had a great 16 point haul.
Got the keeper right? Only Jaaskelainen played so it’s a
moot point.
Got my subs decisions right? Yes
Alternate Selection Point Swing – 14 points. (inc if I had
captained Michu instead)
WHAT’S THE POINTS
Points scored last week -
57 Points
Points off the top -
131 points
Position in BOTNB League -
32nd (up 5 places)
LAST WEEK’S TEAM
THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS
…last week’s highest scorer was Pat O’Donovan, of Dynamo Douglas
[who for the record have the same name every year, which is a rarity in Fantasy
League terms] with a humnogous 87 point haul. Here are his thoughts on gameweek
15…
The Secret of My Success stems from a decision I made about
6 weeks ago. That was to ignore all my hunches, gut feelings and friends who
seem to know what they are talking about and instead pick a starting 11 from
players who are as close to the top in their position as I could afford. Last
week 9 of my 11 were in the top 5 in their position and I hit paydirt with 8 of
them (Bale being the notable exception). Happy Days
His Team
TRANSFERS
Maloney out, as he is injured for GM16, and would be defo
benching him for GM 19/20 & 21 too. Also gone is Hazard who has lost form,
possibly won’t play this week anyway and then the trip to World Club Cup, Moses
seems to have become an option for Benitez and we all know how much Rafa loves
trying all his options – insert gag about options here, once I remember if it’s
a hot chocolate or a hot chocolate substitute.
I’m really thinking outside the box and bringing in Fellani
and Dempsey; taking a leaf from Pat’s notes and decided to go with some known
quantities.
And in what might shriek of short-term- ism, Williams at
Swansea has gone (2 clean sheets in last 9 games isn’t worth having, and since
I played him on the bench so much, it really was treading water) and I’m bringing
in Shorey at Reading, 2 games this week, so hopefully one clean shoeet from
either will offset the cost of a third transfer (I had 2 from last week).
All told I’m not left with 1.4 million pounds to play with
for next set of transfers.
THIS WEEK’S SELECTION
Starting with benching the doubtful Crouch and the completely
ruled out Ruddy.
Also on the bench is Sterling, who has a tricky tie away at West
Ham, but more specifically for me sicne I will have the Hammers’s keeper and
key defender in my line up, I don’t want him doing well anyway [it must grate
liverpool fans that a visit by Liverpool is deemed less difficult than a visit
from Everton by Fantasy Football Scout’s fixture ticker]; and finally I will
bench Cameron who is playing for Stoke at Aston Villa.
I am clearly hoping both my debutants score, ergo I need
Baines to get several assists rather than the clean sheet.
Here’s the screenshot.
MY CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
My decision for this last week was “Berbatov, all the way.
RVP as vice.”, which is what I was thinking again… but since I’m staying on
tonight, I will possibly revisit the decision a few times. I’m wondering about
Nolan… but enough of my captain's thoughts lets go to....
CAPTAIN’S CORNER
Argggggh! Suarez! His brain melting tendency to need 1,472
chances before hitting the net need came to the fore again last week. His
threat numbers remain at a disturbingly high level so despite his suspension,
I’ll be keeping the faith with the polarizing Uruguayan. This week I’ll be
looking at some budget options for captaincy as all but 1 of my options are
under the £8m mark.
My primary candidate for the armband this week is the in-form
afro rockin’ fantasy nugget, Marouane Fellaini. Fellaini seems to have taken up
the mantle for the Toffees goal scoring responsibilities as Nicola Jelavic
continues to struggle for form. In fact, in Everton’s stalemate with Man City
last week, the Belgian played a full pitch quadrant (That’s an average of 6/7
yards further up field for you first time readers) ahead of his team mate. It
appears as if Moyes has now pushed Fellaini into the role of a striker more so
than sitting in the hole. The numbers back this hypothesis up. In the last 4
game weeks, Fellaini has had 23 touches in the opposition penalty area, with
only Kevin Nolan having more (27) of all midfielders. This despite Fellaini
playing one game less due to his suspension against Norwich in GameWeek 14. His
shot accuracy rating of 87.5% in this time frame is by far the greatest of any
midfielder who has had more than 2 efforts on goal (Shelvey of Liverpool is
next with 80%).
Speaking of midfielders playing ‘in the hole’, its seem to
be a constant source of captaincy potential in FPL as 4 out of the 5
highlighted players this week occupy that position. Michu seems to typify that
role in the hole more than most as his late runs and minimal possession touches
have seen him emerge with Frank Lampard of old type numbers this year.
His 10 goals thus far see him share top spot in the scorers chart although he
does so as the ‘sole midfielder’ to hit double figures. Where Michu really
baffles observers though is the stat department. In Michu’s last four games,
his tally of 18 penalty area touches is not even good enough for a top ten rank
amongst midfielders and his ICT threat rating of 46.6 fails to even be the
highest on his team (Hernandez 48.6). His 67 touches in the oppositions half in
the last month fails to rank in the top FIFTY of midfielders as Swansea
continuously by-pass the Spaniard with preference to winger-centric football...
Despite these worrying numbers, his 4 goal haul in as many games indicates that
‘knack’ or right-time-right-placeness (god I hate intangibles) and a home
fixture against Norwich offers a viable captaincy option.
Another fire in the hole midfielder is Stephane Sessegnon,
who also gives us our first chance to frantically panic at a double game week
opportunity since the opening week of the season. What potentially boosts the
Beninian…Benanian….Beniagon…..the man from Benin’s chances is Steven Fletchers
ankle injury. Should it keep him out of the double fixtures, Sessegnon will
inevitable take up the role as striker once Luis Saha’s left foot falls off
minutes into the first fixture. Sessegnon’s numbers have been far from
compelling this term and a brief rise in form over GameWeeks 12 and 13 only
highlight the consistent inconsistencies you face when taking on a Sunderland
attacker.
To finish off, I’ve decided that this is the week Arsenal turn
there fortunes around. Wenger is simply too good a coach to let this sort of
petulant criticism continue and West Brom appear to have run out of steam after
their juggernaut of a start to the season. My gut had hinted at leaning toward
Walcott but the numbers, as well as the frails winger’s calf injury, now have
pointed me firmly toward his midfield counterpart, Santi Cazorla. I can’t
believe I’m saying this after the GameWeek 9 debacle, but Cazorla’s numbers are
too strong, despite his side’s poor vain of form. In the previous two
GameWeeks, no midfielder has had more attempts on goal, received more passes in
the final third, had more successful dribbles in the final third or a higher
success rate in final third passes than Cazorla. For no other reason than an
imminent plethora of cheesy ‘Santi comes early for Arsenal’ tabloid headlines,
I envisage a healthy points total for the Spaniard. Though I may have said that
exact line before….ahem.
Game Week 16 Choices Game Week 15
- M. Fellaini L.Suarez (1 pt)
- S. Cazorla R. Van Persie (6 pts)
- Michu O. Giroud (2 pts)
- S. Sessegnon A. Taarabt (2pts)
- D. Berbatov D. Silva (2pts)
The Punt: G. Ramirez A. LeFondre (7
pts)
Total Score: 20
pts/ 3.3 pts per player
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