The Manager's lot can be an unhappy one. Consider Mr. Wenger. Arsenal have alreay lost two games this season and did not look very convincing in their two wins. Though still early in the season, and with a game in-hand, they find themselves 9 points behind Chelsea.They certainly miss Viera. Not only would he win the ball in midfield, but so often he would start (and sometimes finish) Arsenal's sweeping moves forward. It is that momentum and motion that Arsenal lack now. At Boro, they pressured the home side, but everything stalled at the Boro 18-yard box. Hleb, Reyes, Bergkamp, and Pires would all line up or clump together trying to pass the ball through the massed Boro defense. Often it was left to the fullback, Cole or Lauren, to try and get behind the defense without the ball. Where or where is there "fox dans le box"?
Not much else to say as the Manager didn't see too much footie this weekend. But from looking at the fantasy table, it looks like Mr. Stoltz picked it just right. Kudos to him. Ruud and Drogba continue to score goals and points with very limited touches. Murphy and Pennant score points with lots of crosses, etc., but without scoring goals. And the new boy, Owen ... did he touch the ball at all on Saturday?
Two new defenders that a few teams picked up, Nuno Valente and YP Lee, did well for themselves (and their fantasy owners). Valente collected 8pts without a clean sheet and despite picking up a yellow card. Though home to Portsmouth seems like it will be a game that other teams will look forward to all year long.
In his group, the Manager is just keeping pace. Though Baros is yet to play so here's hoping that Villa have some joy against the Hammers. And if Reo-Coker can find his shooting boots again (Nigel, they're the ones you wore in the first week of the season) that would put a smile on the Manager's face too.
What is not putting a smile on the Manager's face is that Thierry Henry's price continues to go up even though he's not playing. Is the rest of the league so poor that he looks better and better by comparison? So it looks doubtful that TH will find his way back to the squad. Anyone recommend a few middies the Manager can spend $20 on?
On the positive side, Reyes did have a boatload of fantasy points...
ReplyDeleteHe did at that. And with TH now out for a month, Reyes looks a good bet from the midfield.
ReplyDeleteBy the time Henry comes back, Reyes will have a bazillion fantasy points, Arsenal will have gone 0-1-2, and Henry will cost $43.28 for no apparent reason.
Good times.
I'll probably write more about this later but Arsenal SHOULD go with Van Persie and Reyes up front with Hleb (left), Freddie (right), Silva and Cesc and then start calling every team in Europe in an effort to find another central midfielder for January. I'm still glad we didn't end up with Jenas but am thinking that it's time to wander down to White Hart Lane and see if Michael Carrick has any plans for the immediate future that might include a cross-town move
ReplyDeleteArgeed. RVP seems to be the only player who wants to get behind the oppo defense and score some goals. And with 9 players strung across the 18 trying to feed pin-point passes through... he should do okay.
ReplyDeleteNo offense to Berkamp, but ARS need more drive in the middle of the park (where Dennis seems to float these days).
Sadly, I agree - time for Dennis to take a seat on the bench and start teaching RVP the trade.
ReplyDeleteWhat was that about Berkamp?
ReplyDelete