Monday Morning Manager

First week of the season is in the books. Everyone settled in now? Ready for the real work ahead?

Now we know most team's starting lineups and we've seen how they fared against their first opponents. But did we learn anything? Leave it to the Monday Morning Manager to try and suss out the lessons from week 1 of the EPL season.

First lesson... play by the rules! Danny Murphy isn't going to win any player of the year awards outside the Valley, but he takes Charlton's free kicks. Those are free points people! Look, Fulham v. Birmingham was THE MOST BORINGEST GAME OF ALL TIME. Yet Claus Jensen got 2 silly shots on target because he takes Fulham's free kicks. 0-0 scoreline, but your guy gets 6 points (at the minimum) right there.

Second lesson... play by the rules! Nigel Reo-Coker is a box-to-box midfielder for West Ham United who scored a few goals last season. And he's listed as a defender by Yahoo! But I bet you know that now that he's scored against Blackburn. Players listed behind their actual position are gold in this game. They're normally cheaper than their correctly-listed peers and are more likely to grab you points.

Third lesson... don't go for the defensive midfielder! There are plenty of cheap attacking middies out there. Yes, Jenas a good player. But for the same amount of money you could have Emre who is MORE LIKELY TO GET YOU POINTS. Granted, no one could forsee this tackle on Gilberto (a yellow-card offense, we now learn). But while Jenas might get you more tackles won, he won't get you as many successful crosses or corners won. And the offense is where the points are. Besides, fouls, yellows and the occassional red are the downside of the challenges that the defensive middie makes his living on.

So for those of you with Davids, or considering Davids when he returns from injury... don't.

Fourth lesson... never bet against Henry. He was pretty poor against Newcastle (as was most of Arsenal). I think he's taking this captaincy too seriously. He stayed too central, and passed a few times when he should have had a shot himself. But he still came away with 17pts. If can afford him, buy him.

Fifth lesson... it pays to do your homework. Etherington, Whitehead, Reo-coker, Kirkland, Bent... the top scorers this week were a who's who of promoted sides, loan signings, and summer transfers. Don't miss out just because these guys are new or not talked about above-the-fold.

Sixth lesson... injuries and squad rotation will ALWAYS bite you in the ass. No way around it. Fantasy EPL is a cruel mistress. My sympathy to those of you with Ronaldo, Cisse, Davids, etc. As Phil Ochs sang, "And there but for fortune (not Quinton), may go you or I."

(photos courtesy of ESPN Soccernet.com)