The Week Ahead

So I have a question for all of the readers out there...

First, what we know...

• We know the man pictured to the right has been an excellent player through the years both for Arsenal and Inter - he's won championships
• We know he really wants to play to increase his chances of featuring for France this summer in South Africa
• We know he wasn't getting much run at Inter who are having the kind of season that Citeh want to have (Inter are first, 8 points ahead of Milan who has a match in hand)
• We also know that Citeh have spent a lot of money on young guys - specifically Nigel de Jong and Vincent Kompany - who play the same spot at Paddy Vieira.
• We also know Citeh have a player in Gareth Barry who plays some version of the holding midfield role occasionally for England
• Finally, we know that Mancini has thus far been using two strikers (generally Bellamy and Tevez but hard to say how RSC or K2 will fit in once healthy and present)

So, what's the question? Why the hell did Citeh make THIS move when they clearly need central defenders more than they need another holding midfielder? Do they have so much money that they'll spend now and figure it all out later? Are they going to move Kompany and/or de Jong to the back line (Kompany was originally on Arsenal's radar as a defender if I recall correctly although my impression is that his few starts there last season were hardly convincing).  We can only assume that Vieira only said "yes" to Citeh with a promise of more playing time so you have to wonder if Citeh have actually weakened two positions (holding midfielder and central defender) by making this change rather than just spending money to improve the center of the back line.  Finally, the way I'm reading a lot of the comments, it almost sounds like Citeh has hired an assistant manager with quotes like "he's won before", "he can show the younger guys how it's done", etc.  Those are great qualities but they tend to be applied to part time players who are "good in the dressing room" rather than full time players who want to fight tooth and nail for a World Cup spot.

What should you take from all this? Mostly that I'm confused as to why anyone on either side thought this would be a good idea.  If Arsenal, who really need a holding midfielder for the next month and could provide playing time there, weren't interested then you have to think that Vieira isn't up to the challenge.  Ask yourself this, do you think Wenger if given the choice would prefer de Jong, Kompany, or Vieira for the next month until Song gets back?  I'd guess it would be one of the former two.



From the confusion of the first (semi-) relevant transfer of January to our collective sadness at Bolton/Arsenal being postponed yesterday and the uncertainty with which we look forward to the upcoming week of fantasy action.  As Jeremy mentioned, one thing that we'll all have to pay special attention to is the weather.  Weather forecasts more than a couple days in advance are notoriously inaccurate (super-geeky link if you're interested) so the Sunday matches are a little more risky than Saturday but the early weather from our old friends at Yahoo! has snow and temps just above freezing for London on both Saturday and Sunday and I can only assume that it will be worse in the Northern parts of the country.  We'll keep an eye out but hard to know how to take this factor into account.

Match-ups
Assuming all of the scheduled matches are played, the most interesting match-ups for me are:

• Arsenal vs. Everton - I'm sure you all remember what ARS did to EVE on the opening weekend and that one was at EVE); 
• Chelsea @ Hull - Hull just aren't very good and even if Chelsea have been vulnerable at the back, Hull don't seem good enough to stop even a Drogba-less Chelsea from scoring 2 or 3 times; 
• Villa @ Wigan - hard to predict Wigan but betting against them has been far more attractive than betting on them; 
• Citeh vs. Rovers - hard to see Citeh not scoring a bunch regardless of how their defence does
• Bolton @ Sunderland - Jeremy is also hot for this one given the Black Cats' injuries at the back but I have to say I'm a little less optimistic based on Bolton's recent track record for not playing its matches.  
• Liverpool vs. Spurs - This isn't the typical favorable match-up where one team is obviously more talented than the other but what it does offer is the potential for a shootout - it probably won't be great for defenders and keepers but will probably have you wanting to be "in" on a bunch of the attackers on both sides; and finally 
  
• Fulham vs. Pompey - Not sure what to make of this one since Pompey have been positively adequate over the last six weeks while Fulham like all of its brethren below Chelsea, ManYoo, and Arsenal in the standings have been infuriatingly inconsistent.  I have some Fulham players on my squad from the 3-match slate last matchweek but I'm questioning how many I should keep.

Forwards
There definitely some bargains out there to be had right about now between James Vaughn, Daniel Sturridge, and a possibly recovered RSC.  EdS is also a decent bet although his price has moved over 10 after his goal-that-should-have-been-an-OG (seriously, the thing completely changed direction) last weekend.  If you're looking to spend money then Tevez, Bellamy, and Torres are the guys to be weighing with Anelka and Rooney just behind.  Why Torres over the other two? I just have a feeling that Liverpool vs. Spurs is going to feature lots of goals and that Nando will have a couple.  If you're looking below the radar a bit, West Ham's home match-up with Wolves might be interesting and the bargain there is Franco even though Diamanti has been getting the points - he's also gotten expensive.

Finally, perhaps the most interesting decision of the weekend is Andrew Johnson.  With Zamora going off injured and AJ returning he might have an opportunity to reclaim his featured striker role.  Even at his height he was always a hit or miss fantasy player (if he scored you were happy but he didn't get too many phantom points so if he didn't you were regretting the choice).  That said, he's pretty inexpensive at 7.52 so might be worth a spot to see if he hits this weekend against mediocre competition.

Midfielders
So, who plays in midfield for Chelsea with so many players either injured or on national team duty? Will FloMal get a chance? Joe Cole? Deco? Ballack? Pretty much all we know is that Lampard will play and be the focal point with Drogba missing.  None of the above midfielders are exceptionally expensive with most being in the 9 range and JCole being 6.66 (and if that ain't fantasy symbolism, I don't know what is).  My recommendation would be to seriously consider FloMal and stay away from JCole as anything other than an enabler of other things in your line-up.

We could have almost the same conversation about the Arsenal midfield in the absence of Song and with the probable return of Fab4 at the weekend.  It appears that Denilson will be back and Diaby seems to have earned a starting spot unless injured so where does that leave Ramsey?  I'd really LIKE to see Ramsey get some more time based on what I've seen and I could see an arrangement where Denilson takes Song's spot and Ramsey, Cesc, Nasri, and Diaby are aligned with Arshavin as the attacking players.  That said, I could also see Rosicky or EdS coming in and bumping out one or both of Nasri or Ramsey.

So, where else for midfielders? This is where I'm spending the bulk of my money this weekend and the guys I'm choosing between are Lampard/Gerrard (currently favoring Lamps), Duff (but I have him relatively cheap), Dempsey (ditto on having him cheap), Diaby, Modric, Kranjcar, MPet, MTay, and I would be considering Milner if his price were a little lower.  Not a lot of great bargains there which is why I'm spending my money in midfield this weekend.

Defenders
If I'm spending my money in midfield then I'm definitely NOT spending it at the back.  I'm assuming we're still all on Verm at one spot which leaves two spots to fill and there are some bargains to be had.  I guess Matty Upson isn't really a bargain any more after picking up a decent haul last matchweek but Wolves are as likely as anyone to be shutout on the road so he's not a bad deal - ditto Spector if it looks like he's going to play.  The real revelation of the weekend is old friend Gareth Bale who has done very little since bursting onto the fantasy scene in his first half season at Spurs but he should get a chance with BAE out of action.  Another decent bargain is Zabaleta who is hardly a sure thing for a CS but isn't bad for the price.  If you're one of those odd people spending big bucks on defenders then my only real advice to you is stay away from investing in Liverpool, Spurs, or Citeh - the only reason to get in on any of those guys is if they are bargains like the guys above.

Keepers
No exceptional bargains out there right now with Friedel and Schwarzer the most interesting pair if you're going to spend close to 10 on your keeper and Given the nervy option if you want to spend less.

Good luck and lets hope this isn't complicated further by weather...again.