I feel as if I've done nothing but write about Manchester City this summer. And frankly I'm getting tired of it. I'm very ready to see how this experiment in fantasy football (English version) plays out in real life. The cream of world football went to Madrid this summer, but a lot of attacking talent has ended up at Eastlands. It would seem that Adebayor and Tevez are his starting forwards with Robinho given a left-midfield berth, Wright-Phillips on the right, and Barry to pair with Ireland in the center of midfield. Of course that leaves Craig Bellamy, Roque Santa Cruz, Benjani, and Martin Petrov on the bench.
On defence, they haven't strengthened other than Toure's arrival. That is an improvement at one spot, but we're not talking about just one missing piece. Even playing with two holding players in de Jong and Kompany last season the defence was still a mess. Especially away from home. Now, thanks to the influx of attacking players, it doesn't seem that there is any steel in midfield other than Barry. Or if Barry holds in conjunction with de Jong, for example, which of the big name attackers falls out of the line-up? Probably Wright-Phillips, come to think about it. 4-2-1-2-1? Regardless, they don't look stronger defensively, and the worry is that they won't be able to cope when they aren't in possession.
If Hughes can keep everyone's egos in check this is a very strong squad, albeit one that is out of balance. If he can't, the whole thing could blow up in his face. How will it play out? Well, we'll spilled a lot of digital ink about it but to be honest we just don't know. However, I'm cautiously optimistic that after week 1 or 2 we'll have a sense of a pecking order and fantasy managers will feel comfortable investing in Citeh players. At least in their attackers.
Possible Starting XI: Given, Zabaleta, Onuoha, Toure, Bridge, Wright-Phillips, Barry, Ireland, Robinho, Tevez, Adebayor
Players to Watch:
Carlos Tevez: So, what to make of Tevez? He's a big name, he's scored some big goals, he's had some hot streaks for both ManYoo and WHU and he's been the subject of some pretty sizable financial transactions (at least we think so, I'm not sure anyone but Kia really knows how the money has changed hands over Carlito since he left South America). Here's the dirty little secret, he's really never produced consistently or justified these crazy valuations. Sure there have been some extenuating circumstances - not a lot of help at West Ham and no regular playing time last season at ManYoo - but if he was THAT good then neither of those things would get between him and production. Now, throw him on a roster with about a million strikers and with a manager who - if you ask me - is going to be overwhelmed by the big egos he is being asked to fit into 1, 2, or maybe 3 striker slots and you have to wonder how things are going to work out for Tevez on the other side of Manchester. How regularly will he play? Are there enough touches to go around for Tevez, K2, and Robinho backed up by Ireland, Barry, and SWP? Throw in back-ups like RSC and Bellamy getting the occasional start and the more-than-occasional 20-to-30 minute sub appearances and what's the upside here? 12 to 14 goals while not taking kicks, not getting assists, and likely not getting any other phantom points other than SOTs. Here's betting he's just barely worth the 9+ cost. Robinho seems likely to be the only guy on this roster worth even close to his price.
Wayne Bridge: So, I'm not expecting that Bridge will all of a sudden become a lot better HOWEVER if Citeh end up picking up another high quality CB to go with Toure then Bridge might start getting a serious string of clean sheets to go with his adequate production as a defender going forward. Again, not something that is going to make your season but at 7.41 to start the season he might end up being a pretty good value.
Shay Given: Honestly, he's sort of in the same boat as Bridge but even more tempting due to his low price. Right now I'm on Foster based on ManYoo's insanely easy first two matches but if Citeh pull together a strong defence and I can feel good about trading in for Given and getting more than my share of CSs at home and fewer blow-out losses on the road then Given becomes one of the fanasty values of the season.
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