Last year's surprise package. A team with Paintsil and Konchesky at the full back spots with a better defensive record than all but the top clubs. Now THAT'S a surprise! A lot of the credit for that has to go to Schwarzer who was surely the signing of the season last year. Not only did he solidify Fulham and take them into Europe but Boro's lack of an adequate replacement doomed them to relegation.
And for Fulham's next trick, they are going to have to do it all over again - and compete in Europe - with largely the same team. For fantasy managers that means that many of last year's bargains are now well priced for their past performances. No more Paintsil at 4-something and you don't even look at that spot again all season. And they can't compete at the same level again this season, can they?
One possible exception to that would be Bobby Zamora who is still cheap. Of course he didn't really perform last season so he's probably priced right too. He teases every pre-season with some good performances and goals galore and has again this year. However, other than his lone purple patch for West Ham years ago, he's just not a regular Premier League goal scorer. Another possibility might be Gera, at least until Simon Davies returns to fitness.
Possible Starting XI: Schwarzer, Paintsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Dempsey, Murphy, Etuhu, Gera, A Johnson, Zamora
Players to Watch:
Andrew Johnson - AJ has been a mixed bag since his stunning season at Crystal Palace after their promotion to the Prem in 2004-05. He still brings the same attributes to the table but he doesn't necessarily take PKs for Fulham (he scored a lot of his Prem-leading goals in 04-05 from the spot) and he hasn't consistently been able to stay on the field. This has led to long stretches where he is a question mark in the line-up meaning that, for the money, he isn't worth the aggravation for most fantasy managers. He goes into the same category that guys like RvP and Owen populate - IF they played regularly they'd be excellent players for your line-up but for every 20 point match you'll get 0 twice when you thought they were going to play but at the last minute ended up on the bench or, even worse, the trainer's room. That said, he appears to be healthy starting out the season so worth it when Fulham have good match-ups.
Bjorn Helge Riise - Interesting because he's a newcomer but I'd hold off until it becomes clear that he is a presumptive starter. If the Europa League qualifier is any indicator then Riise is nothing more than a reserve to start the season. Of course we'd all be excited if he evolved to be a fantasy contributor like his brother but for now, I'd lay low. If you're scouting for interesting options I'd look at Dempsey who is now correctly listed as a midfielder (although a little overpriced to be a bargain at just under 10). I'd also look at the well-named Zoltan Gera who has a chance to be a decent contributor for under 6.
Mark Schwarzer - The Schwarz had a great season behind a surprisingly efficient defence at Fulham leaving us all to wonder why he wasn't picked up by a bigger team. Sort of makes you wonder how much really separates guys like Petr Cech in his prime (who had an airtight defence in front of him) and Roy Carroll (who looked pretty good at ManYoo for a while but like a complete waste of space when paired with a defence of lesser quality). Anyway, the question of Schwarzer's value this season probably has to do with how well you think Fulham will do in repeating their defending performance from last season. Obviously, Hangeland's return is necessary but even if they return intact I'm guessing there will be some slippage. As a result, I'd be inclined to think of Schwarzer as a good option from time-to-time when Fulham are matched with bottom-half opponents but he shouldn't be your main option both because he's more expensive now and the performance won't be quite as impressive.
No comments:
Post a Comment