The Week Ahead

By way of apology, here's a photo of Steve Bull scoring against WBA in 1996.

First, to the person who commented on the Transfer Deadline Winners & Losers debating the comment I made about Wolves being a remote footballing outpost.  The comment wasn't made to offend Wolves supporters or belittle the club's history.  I made the comment because in a world where clubs attempt to recruit players who are generally young, single, fairly wealthy, have employment options, and in nearly all cases aren't students of English footballing history it is difficult for clubs that are geographically isolated to recruit.  Selling players on England based on climate can be difficult enough for the famous clubs like ManYoo, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool.  If you extend the selling to include a smaller city (like Wolverhampton) and/or a less famous club to TODAY'S players (like relegation-threatened Wolves) and you make the problem nearly impossible to overcome.  Clubs like Wolves, Wigan, and Hull face a huge uphill battle to sign decent players. It is no mystery that Wigan have been most successful recruiting players from "below the radar" soccer countries like Honduras.  This isn't my opinion of Wolverhampton, I'd play there in a second if they offered me a contract, these are just the facts of trying to recruit players in the modern day.

With that clarification out of the way, I turn my attention to one of the "fashionable" clubs that didn't do what they needed to at the Transfer Deadline.  My beloved Arsenal.  What is my opinion of them after no transfers and 5 dropped points over their last two matches?  I think the most astute headline I saw was "Beautiful Game 1; Winning the Game 3" (I think it was on Football365).  My interpretation of that headline was that while Wenger probably has more talent on his team and they certainly play a more skilled game, they sacrifice a certain amount of pragmatism in doing so.

I don't have any problem with recruiting youth and developing them - it is a legitimate strategy in a world where finances are tight and ManYoo make £20 to £30 million mistakes on players like Hargreaves and Berbatov (who haven't produced any more for all that money than frequently-maligned Diaby and Denilson who were picked up at a fraction of the ManYoo duo's cost). There are holes in the Arsenal line-up for sure between Clichy having regressed from his early performances as the "next Ashley Cole" to the point where he is a liability, Denilson often looking lost when he shares the field with Cesc, and Almunia not being able to come up with the big saves when the defence lets down.

I appreciate that Denilson and Clichy are both young and might still develop into quality players who can consistently deliver high level performances.  Wenger's loyalty to both is admirable to a point but at what point do you say "we have a chance to win it all THIS YEAR" and by bringing in some alternatives you can accomplish the following:

• Fill gaps that are causing the team to leak points;
• Provide some momentum to the team who would feel that management takes this season's title chances seriously; and
• Motivate the youngsters who lose their places for the long-term and teach them that failure has its consequences rather than that the young guys will always be protected for the long term.

I think the root cause here is Wenger's desire for the beautiful (either on the field or in developing young players) rather than the pragmatic (going and getting an occasional stop-gap player with lower upside either on loan who can do a job RIGHT NOW).  There are lots of very good managers who have a fatal flaw and Wenger's seems to be this willingness to be practical either with his tactics or his player acquisition strategy.  This fatal flaw still has him with the 3rd best team in England and one of the top 7 or 8 in the world but to overcome Chelsea and ManYoo in England and Barca, Real, and Inter in the Champions League he's either going to have to hit huge on another transcendent talent like TH14 or he'll have to get a little more practical from time to time.

OK, enough ranting, on to the Week Ahead...

Schedule
As I'm sure most of you have noticed Bolton, Wigan, Citeh, and Stoke have three matches each.  Hard to argue with that.  Of those with only two matches Birmingham, Blackburn, Fulham, and Sunderland have the best match-ups.  Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Everton have particularly difficult match-ups which devalue all but the surest of things on each roster.

Forwards

• Tevez - my only reservation is that he and K2 don't really seem to work too well together and K2 is back;
• K2 - back with a bang last weekend and it's hard not to take him with three matches that include Hull and Bolton; 
• Yayga - Wigan have 3 matches and that's a lot of minutes for him to shoot without conscience; 
• Fuller & Sidibe - both are cheap and starting for Stoke against some mediocre defences (Citeh, Wigan, and Rovers) if you're looking for enablers with some upside, they might be worthwhile; 
• Chucho - the price has come down and the match-ups aren't bad; 
• Drogs - hard to argue now that he's back; and
• Okaka - I liked what I saw this afternoon and he's cheap;

Midfielders

• MTay - 3 matches makes him more than worth the investment with Lamps, Gerrard, and Fab4 all with more difficult match-ups;
• MPet - a strong weekend for M...guys - it might be that MPet only gets two starts from the 3 matches with all the options at Mancini's disposal but with Robinho gone MPet has a good a chance as anyone at getting all three;
• Eth - he's not an over-the-top fantasy player with huge upside but he'll be a nice play with 3 matches - hard to imagine him not returning solid value for the money; 
• Lee/Wilshere - with Wilshere and Weiss coming in to help Owen Coyle play a more attractive style of play there is now some question of who will get the PT in midfield at Bolton - if you have some money Lee is probably a better bet, if you need an enabler then Wilshere has some upside;
• Bowyer - only two matches but his price has receded to a reasonable level and the match-ups are solid; and
• McCarthy - he got a lot of love on the Live Chat over last weekend and he's another one who has some upside if you need a player with a lower cost who is getting 3 matches (he plays for Wigan if you don't know); 

Defenders

• Verm - hope you didn't sell him;
• Bale - we'll see if he continues to play; 
• Hutton - nice pick-up for Sunderland whose central defenders are back as well;
• Man Citeh Defenders other than Toure - we'll have to see who is going to play with Bridge potentially back but with three matches, there is going to be a fairly inexpensive way to get in on Citeh;
• Scharner - always an injury risk but he's had some really nice fantasy weeks in the past; and
• Carr - two nice match-ups for Brum and a cheap price

Keepers

• Given - price went up last weekend but worth the money;
• Hart - if you don't trust Given/Citeh then Hart looks like a solid bet for at least one if not two clean sheets; and
  
• Gordon - if you want to bet on Sunderland's upside with an improved defence, then this is the play;  

Good luck with your selections and please join us for Injuries and Suspensions on Friday and the Live Chat on Saturday.