In the Hole

A classic trequartista?

Formerly, and derisively, known as the Scholes role, "in the hole" refers to a midfielder playing in an advanced position just behind a lone striker. For fantasy purposes these midfielders are real gems because their remit is soley to attack. It's the polar opposite of the "Makelele Role" and any fantasy manager would be well suited to find a midfielder playing in this position. In past years, perhaps the best example of this was Gerrard playing off Fernando Torres so successfully as Liverpool ripped off a string of 4-0 wins against big-time opposition.

This season there seems to be a glut of attacking midfielders which, combined with the popularity of the 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation, offers a wealth of such midfielders for fantasy managers to choose from.   In fact, you could probably find at least one from each of the Premier Leagues teams, many of them very reasonably priced considering the fantasy value of the position they're likely to play.

• Arsenal - Cesc Fabregas is one of the best in the league at this advanced position and Wenger has built the side around him playing "in the hole". While another ball-winner would help ease Cesc' burden in midfield, Samir Nasri has been tipped in the past to play a deeper role to accomodate the captain.  In Cesc's absence, Nasri will step into that role, though Andrei Arshavin is also very comfortable as a second striker.
• Aston Villa - While all bets are off with Martin O'Neill's resignation, he had been experimenting in pre-season with Ashley Young playing off John Carew. That would accomodate rising star Marc Albrighton on the wing, but is Young too good a crosser of the ball to work infield? Regardless, he came up with Watford as an inside left, and he's been a blog favorite ever since.
• Birmingham - McLeish is fairly dogmatic about a 4-4-2 and will likely have Jerome and Zigic in harness this season. But James McFadden can come in from the left to play off the striker and indeed had his best fantasy returns doing so for Everton.
• Blackburn - In Blackburn this is the David Dunn role. When healthy, Dunn was an excellent attacking option last season notching nine league goals. With Roberts, Kalinic and Diouf in various states of unhealth, disfavor and sheer "where the hell am I now?", expect Dunn to again be the hub of Big Sam's team.  Morten Gamst Pedersen has also been effective playing centrally, and will surely be asked to do so again should (when) Dunn goes down for any length of time.
• Blackpool - Blackpool play a fairly strict 4-4-2 with Charlie Adam the key attacker out of the midfield.  With a rash of injuries and no transfers coming in to the club yet, it's not too much of a stretch to imagine Adam pushed further up the pitch.  
• Bolton - As excited as we here at the blog were for Martin Petrov's move to Bolton, it was tempered by our trying to figure out how MPet would be used on a team already featuring Matty Taylor, Stuart Holden and Lee Chung-Young.  But now that we see Owen Coyle experimenting with a 4-4-1-1 with MPet in the hole, well our hearts are singing!
• Chelsea - Chelsea are a bit of an oddity on this list.  They very much play with a lone striker, but their formation relies on support from the wide areas rather than behind/off Didier Drogba.  So while Florent Malouda, Salomon Kalou or Nicolas Anelka form an attacking three - with Frank Lampard coming from midfield to make it a four - there is no one assigned to "the hole", though Lampard would be the closest equivalent.
• Everton - The player that started this whole thought process (but please don't blame him) was Tim Cahill.  Everton have relied on his goals from midfield - really as a second striker - for years and the team prospers when he is scoring.  He scored a hat-trick in a pre-season friendly a few weeks ago but looks to have picked up an injury before Australia's friendly tomorrow.  Go figure.  While I don't love Everton's opening fixtures, Cahill at under 10 may represent real value for money as you're getting a second striker lining up in midfield.  
• Fulham - Another player who was top of mind for this post (and the last one will be next) was Fulham's Zoltan Gera.  Nominally a wide player, he wouldn't displace either Damien Duff or Simon Davies in those positions but has struck up a good understanding with Bobby Zamora and has been scoring goals for fun in pre-season from that second striker role.  Clint Dempsey can also play striker, but when he does he's more of a lead-the-line type than a midfielder moving into "the hole".
• Liverpool - Unlike Scholes, one player who craves playing off a lone striker is Joe Cole.  In fact he's made the move to Liverpool, among other reasons, because he's been earmarked by Roy Hodgson to play off Fernando Torres.  Costing just over seven in the fantasy game, Cole may represent the best value of this valuable bunch.  But Liverpool are not limited to Cole "in the hole".  As we mentioned in the open, Gerrard has played his best football in that position and many are still clamoring for him to play there instead of moving deeper in midfield.  Liverpool also have Milan Jovanovic who, unlike Cole, is happy to play wide left but is more comfortable playing centrally.    Alberto Aquilani, Dani Pacheco and Ryan Babel will also be competing for this spot.

We'll end part one here, and address the second half of the alphabet tomorrow.