Late Fitness Test



You've all talked yourselves into the Captain, haven't you? Kirkland is (well, was) dirt cheap and he got the clean sheet last week against Sunderland. Well... if he's a good bet this week, hosting Birmingham, here's my thinking: I'll take the money I was spending on Duff (still a good bet, home to Fulham) and get Scharner. He's listed as a defender so he'll do well if Kirkland does well. And hopefully he can continue to get points from his attacking midfield role. It's funny...

Okay, quick aside... I'm watching The Italian Job as I write this and Charlize Theron is smoking hot. No, she's thermonuclear hot! And with a sense of humor too.
The South African (pictured), whose long-term boyfriend is Irish actor Stuart Townsend... pulled Ireland instead of France out of the bowl during rehearsal.



Okay, where were we?  Right.  It's funny... we all had such high fantasy hopes for Jordi Gomez playing in the attacking midfield role for Wigan and here we are almost half way through the season and it's Paul Scharner shining in that role.

So I'm going that route.  Scharner is my third defender where I had Wes Brown earlier in the week.  Now I've got 7 to spend in the midfield.  Another gamble... KRich!  Why not gamble that 7 on a midfielder rather than a ManU defender who will probably do just fine this week but certainly KRich has a higher ceiling.  And next week, Sunderland host Portsmouth and Villa so I wouldn't hate having him if I can't work the barn door.

My other defenders are Vermaelan, who isn't going anywhere, and Heitinga who I would like to keep as well.  But... okay, I need some money.  And Heitinga is suspended this week, and only playing one match next week (most other teams have 2 matches - the Assistant Manager has a good rundown), and Everton are injured and out-of-sorts.  So I'm going to go against my long-held expectations and sell Johnny Heit for... Seabass!  Yes, I'm going for a Spurs defender and picking Bassong.  He's just so cheap and hasn't performed badly... at worst he's been do-no-harm.

And why do I need the money?  Because I'm spending money on a keeper.  Why?  I don't know why.  but after shutting out everton last week, I had to grab Reina before his price sky-rocketed.  So I've spent the rest of the week convincing myself that Liverpool have turned the corner, that they're going to push for fourth place now and that their run of poor form has been aggravated by the schedule - having played ManU, Arsenal, and Chelsea in October in the midst of an injury crisis which is easing and also having to deal with a tumultuous Champions League group.  So now they have a month or so to focus on the League and while they do play Arsenal at Anfield next, they have Rovers, Wolves, Wigan, Portsmouth and Villa to finish the year.  And hey, if it doesn't work out there are lots of options at keeper for next week.

In midfield, KRich (my "money I would have spent on a third defender" gamble pick) is joined by the barn door duo of Giggs and Eagles, and O'Hara whom I've put in place of Collison.  Their prices were similar, but Collison's schedule is really lousy and of course, O'Hara takes kicks.  And we've liked him around the blog for a long time.

Finally, in attack there's Drogba of course.  I picked up Rooney on the barn door last week and while I sure would have liked to have gotten the 33 points he earned I'm looking for good returns going forward - West Ham, Villa, Wolves, Fulham, Hull, Birmingham, Burnley, Hull and Arsenal through January.  The third forward spot goes to Eduardo.  I'm very nervous about this.  Arsenal are hosting Stoke who are a big, strong team.  But Arsenal need this game and their options in attack are limited.  If Eduardo gets some changes, and he should the way Arsenal play, he should be able to convert chances to points.

So to sum up...

Reina

Vermaelan Bassong Scharner

Richardson Giggs O'Hara Eagles

Drogba Rooney Eduardo

I think this is going to be a VERY interesting week of fantasy football and it's going to be a great lead in to a wild December.  Good luck and we'll see you in the comments and on Facebook.

39 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:53 AM

    kirkland

    baird, traore, bassong, scharner,


    fabregas, aquilani, dempsey

    drogba, rodalegga, rooney


    :D

    Let me know!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous6:02 AM

    kirkland

    Hreidarsson, traore, bassong,


    fabregas, duff ,kranjar , boateng

    drogba, rodalegga, rooney

    ReplyDelete
  3. kirkland

    verm, traore, brown

    fabregas, duff ,nasri , boateng

    drogba, eduardo, rooney

    -yahoofantasysoccer.blogspot

    ReplyDelete
  4. Benj :D6:45 AM

    Given (I know)

    verm, dunne, scharner

    bily *kept him :D , fab, arsh, o'hara

    Drog, Tunc (I know I know!), Roon


    I agree, interesting week coming up - bring it on!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dan Brown6:48 AM

    Kirkland
    Verm, L Young, Scharner
    Fabregas, O 'Hara, Dempsey, Bilyaletdinov
    Rooney, Ngog, Piquionne

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous10:03 AM

    Kirkland
    Verm, Hreidarsson, Traore
    Bullard, Dempsey, Duff, Milner
    Drogs, Rooney, Chucho Benitez

    No Barn Door Live this morning? Hope everything is OK with Neal.

    G-man

    ReplyDelete
  7. Missing: Eduardo for Arsenal.
    what the F?! add in a yellow from KPB AND Ohara, shaping up for a fantastic week! FML!

    ReplyDelete
  8. O'Hara had a crossed assist, so that should help a bit, but I'm with you on the Eduardo pain. What happened?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Friday night trade come good - brought in Chucho for Eduardo

    ReplyDelete
  10. Cesc with a PK miss.
    Holy geez.
    Was there news on EdS that he wasn't even going near the pitch?!?!?!

    ReplyDelete
  11. "Muscle injury"
    awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  12. "Jimmy Bullard is going off. He's collapsed to the ground again, and is being helped off by the physio. He's almost in tears, and it looks pretty serious."
    - Surprise anyone?!

    - Cpt. Kirk subbed off in 24th min. bye-bye Clean sheet.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous10:42 AM

    Whats wrong with Kirkland?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Argh, there goes 1 units well spent - Kirkland and Bullard.

    Here's hoping Chucho can now go wold on the replacement Wigan keeper.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous10:51 AM

    arghh.. eduardo n kirk..

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous11:04 AM

    kirk got 4point.. atleast he has point

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous11:13 AM

    my friday trade was nasri to eduardo because i wasnt certain nasri would start...

    JT

    ReplyDelete
  18. Chris O.12:07 PM

    Haha, Jeremy, just have to laugh at how many of your new players this week are complete flops. Kirkland ships three, Gomez gets it done and not Scharner, and Eduardo nowhere to be seen. Ah well, we all have weeks like that right?

    ReplyDelete
  19. nice work, G-man... chucho just got you a goal.

    Chris O -- too many of my weeks are like turning out like this. But to be fair I had Reina not Kirkland.

    ReplyDelete
  20. any more firm news on bullard as yet?
    really glad I subbed Milner for downing, gues my 'gut instinct' was just wind after all!

    ReplyDelete
  21. YFF Holiday Wishes:

    1. Darren Gibson in, traitor Carrick/Anderson/Scholes out of the Manure midfield. The guy has the BEST long shot in the world and is constantly ripping them on frame.

    2. Good lower to mid priced MF options. This year more so than ever before there seems to be a dearth of passable midfielders (guys you take a punt on because you know they play regularly and can score double their value every now and then) in the 7-10 range. This problem probably exisits becasue of all the transfer letdowns (Aquilani, Milijas (first good game today), etc)

    3. BIG transfers. With this being a World Cup year, players stuck on the bench will seek to move for guaranteed playing time. What's not to love about sure starters and guys who are playing for a quadriennial (I think that's the word for once every four years) opportunity. Loan deals also work here (i.e. an O'Hara to Pompey situation)

    Let's hear everyone's YFF wishes

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous1:07 PM

    Kirkland now at -2 points!! What the...???

    ReplyDelete
  23. Gavin7:47 PM

    Kirkland was prematurely credited with a win, and then Wigan lost, so that's where the 6 point swing comes in.

    Having a tough time finding a reasonably-priced keeper for the double game week. If Kirk's injured for a while, I may slot him in as a do no harm option.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous7:59 PM

    why -2? this is terrible.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous8:23 PM

    The Kirkland score is rediculous. Why should he be responsible for his replacement letting in 2 goals?

    ReplyDelete
  26. He's only credited for the loss... not the 2 goals.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous1:15 AM

    Jeremy - what I meant is why should Kirkland be respnsible for the loss? It was Politt, not Kirkland, who let in the Birmingham goals (3 actually, not 2). When Kirkland left, Wigan was still keeping a CS. Wigan's loss points should not be given to Kirkland.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous1:43 AM

    Thank God I dropped Kirk. I wouldn't want to be one of you guys. Kidding.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Gavin1:06 PM

    Wow, what a match at Goodison. I think that should be the final bit of proof needed that Gareth Bale is poison. There's absolutely no way Spurs shouldn't have won that game. I wonder if Redknapp is aware of Bale's track record.

    In any case, I was very impressed by Coleman. Anybody think he'll get an extended run in the squad?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous2:05 PM

    All penalties saved this week... Great efforts from the goalkeepers. I had 2 of them, sigh... Glad didn't get all 4 PKM's. How many do you have?

    Agree on Bale comment.

    - Brian

    ReplyDelete
  31. Any one know what happened to Vidic?? There was no news on Physio Room Sat morn about him..I only realised he wasn't playing when I checked my score for the first time last night!! What happened? Injured in the warm up or something I completely missed? Another average week for me netting 88.5 points.

    ReplyDelete
  32. How is Bale posion?
    - First goal was mostly his fault. He let Coleman go around him. But granted he tried to block the cross, and Coleman went around him (a common mistake in footy)
    - He DID come as a sub(for Lennon) against Burnley(Sept. 26) to secure a victory thus erasing his winless drought. and Yes, EVERYONE was aware of his track record. BUt should see more of him when BAE goes to ACN.
    - Didn't help Defoe missed the PK. Crazy weekend for missed PK's.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Robbo has been a pleasant surprise for me the last few wks... despite others' advice I held onto him for what I thought looked like decent enough matchups for his 3.3 price, and he's rewarded me with roughly 11 ppg

    ReplyDelete
  34. @Shayan - I'm hoping Gibson keeps his place, would very much like to pick him up for double week.. i would guess he wouldn't start both matches though? but with ManU's defensive injury crisis, more of the MF might be playing further back, so maybe he has a better chance.
    @Ketz - i thought I read Vidic just had the flu and may be available midweek.
    @David - PRob has been quite a surprise. I don't want to jinx it but he's been staying positive for a nice little streak now... I think he's a good double week option, even though matchups are not great.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I know Bolton haven't been in good form of late.. but what's everyone think of Jaaskelainen as a cheap double keeper?

    He is home to city... which could mean lots of goals allowed, or lots of saves. And then home to West Ham which should/could mean 1 clean sheet.

    The best option for the price is Hart... Birmingham have been in good form and are home to WHU and Blackburn. But I cannot work my team to free up the extra $$... decisions.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous1:44 PM

    Anyone even remotely thinking about keeping Kirkland for the double gamer is going to live to regret it...he's playing away to Stoke and Liverpool, and Wigan are rubbish away from Home...even at 1.6 he's not worth it. I agree with Josh, you're better off going for a more expensive keeper...i.e. "Hart" or "Gomez", I'm going for Gomez as he is a bit cheaper than Hart. Birmingham seem like a team to bet on, they're playing both games at home and Benitez may be a bargain...just my opinion.
    (Honduran-Saul)

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous3:07 PM

    Thanks Jeremy, I apologize for the incorrect spelling, I have a friend who's name is spelled "Gomez" instead of "Gomes".
    (Honduran-Saul)

    ReplyDelete
  38. No worries. Just trying to preempt any confusion.

    ReplyDelete