The Barn Door Live - Week 8

OK, I decided to bite the bullet and keep Drogba despite his absence. The 4+ discount is too good to pass up and I honestly wasn't in love with any of the other changes I would have been able to afford. Drogs has been the best player in the league by far so far this year and I'm going to count on the fact that he'll continue to be so and make up for his illness this week.

My starting line-up is: Hart, Bale, Salcido, Boateng, VDV, Adam, Barton, FloMal, Drogba, Dembele (he's back!), and di Santo

Replay after the jump.

The Barn Door Live - Week 6

Welcome to our weekly chat where we discuss the matches as we watch them and discuss who managers should be considering picking up in advance of price changes.

Recap after the jump.

The Barn Door Live - Week 3

Well, my late changes on Friday yielded one correct choice (removing Chamakh) and one incorrect one (removing Theo) but in general I'm OK with how things ended up.  Here's how I'm lining up:

Hart, Bale, Kos, Skertl, Evans, FloMal, Scholes, Barton, Drogba, Crouch, Carroll

Chat recap after the jump.

Manchester City versus Liverpool - Live

For what it's worth, four of these players are on display today.

Neal Thurman: wow, no DSilva vs. Liv
Neal Thurman: Hart, Richards, K. Toure, Kompany, Lescott, De Jong, Barry, Y. Toure, Milner, A. Johnson, Tevez
Neal Thurman: 5 Ms, no Silva, and still no K2 - not going to go well for them today is it?
Neal Thurman: Liverpool on the other hand going all out in attack and have Ngog, Torres, Kuyt, Jovanovic, and Gerrard all starting
Jeremy Spitzberg: wow
Jeremy Spitzberg: citeh at home, right?
Neal Thurman: yup
Jeremy Spitzberg: milner wide right?
Neal Thurman: I know he's Italian and all but isn't this the same Mancini who regularly played Inter to 4-3 matches with all sorts of crazy twists and turns?
Jeremy Spitzberg: he and aj crossing for...
Jeremy Spitzberg: um...
Jeremy Spitzberg: never mind
Jeremy Spitzberg: they'll swap flanks so they can come inside
Jeremy Spitzberg: someone described mancini's inter teams as "let's keep it tight and ibra will do something to win it for us"
Neal Thurman: I remember watching them come back from 3-0 to win 4-3 in the last 20 minutes at least once while he was there (pre-match-fixing scandal) and remember the reverse happening at least once as well
Neal Thurman: maybe he manages differently when he (theoretically) has more talent but when Inter was 3rd best behind Milan and Juve he seemed to let fly a bit more
Jeremy Spitzberg: it's crazy
Jeremy Spitzberg: three holding players to protect 4 center backs
Neal Thurman: and they STILL aren't going to stop anyone
Jeremy Spitzberg: guess toure gets forward, but all i've ever seen him do is play balls over the top
Jeremy Spitzberg: sometimes it works out...
Jeremy Spitzberg: often times not
Jeremy Spitzberg: especially if your fwd players are silva and swp
Jeremy Spitzberg: or aj and milner as the case may be
Neal Thurman: I mean, Spurs went through them like they weren't there in the first half
Jeremy Spitzberg: with tevez dropping deeper and deeper
Neal Thurman: 4-6-0
Jeremy Spitzberg: balotelli saved for Europe?
Jeremy Spitzberg: Jo to Fulham! ;-)
Neal Thurman: lol
Jeremy Spitzberg: will be interesting to see if liv are in 4-4-2
Jeremy Spitzberg: jova and kuyt wide?
Jeremy Spitzberg: without jcole he's changing formations?
Neal Thurman: seems likely
Jeremy Spitzberg: or torres being back the bigger factor?
Neal Thurman: most likely JCole replaces N'gog
Jeremy Spitzberg: but cole plays deeper than ngog
Jeremy Spitzberg: though we'll see
Neal Thurman: perhaps but no real like-for-like alternative available
Neal Thurman: unless you want to move Maxi centrally (blech)
Jeremy Spitzberg: no, but kuyt could move infield
Neal Thurman: true but I like him more as the right side of a 4-3-3 much more than as the 2nd striker in a 4-4-2
Jeremy Spitzberg: leaves LIV with no strikers on the bench
Jeremy Spitzberg: for what it's worth
Jeremy Spitzberg: while not even enough room for all of citeh's
Jeremy Spitzberg: jo to liv!
Neal Thurman: lol
Neal Thurman: heck, he's over 6' tall - Jo to the Citeh starting line-up
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol
Neal Thurman: Balotelli is apparently out with a knee
Jeremy Spitzberg: thank you, neal simmons
Neal Thurman: :-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: alright...
Jeremy Spitzberg: time to fire up espn3
Neal Thurman: nice - any reports are welcome
Jeremy Spitzberg: will do
Jeremy Spitzberg: after these important messages
Neal Thurman: lol

The Barn Door Live - Week 2

Here's my line-up...

Hart, Bale, Vermaelen, O'Shea, FloMal, Albrighton, Adam, Dorrans, Kalinic, Chamakh, and Drogba

On the Barn Door we'll all want to be focused on Man United (home against WHU), Liverpool (home to WBA), and Spurs (home to Wigan) with some consideration to Arsenal who are away to Rovers but will be in the second of a five match stretch where they play teams likely to finish in the bottom half of the table.

Chat recap after the jump.

The Barn Door Live - Last BD of the Season

I'm not sure if I've talked to anyone who completely loves their line-up for this weekend but here's mine...

Gomes, Bale, Jagielka, Smalling, AJ, Eth, Lawrence, Modric, Fuller, Tevez, Defoe

Worried about the number of people who have PVC and I think we're all worried about our keepers...

For next weekend, I'm looking ahead to Citeh (@WHU), Spurs (@Burnley), Chelsea (WIG), and ManYoo (STO) assuming all of those teams are still in the mix for whatever they're chasing (Title or Champions League). Same goes for LIV (@HULL) if they're still in the mix for 4th which seems unlikely.

Matchday Open Thread

I'm a little late to the party as Cahill and Rose (???) have opened the scoring for Everton and Spurs, respectively.

Honestly, I'm just trying to get through the week with minimum of damage and move on to Villa's double.

You?

The Barn Door Live - April 10

So, here we go for FA Cup Semi Final weekend.  Only two matches and I have Hull vs. Burnley on TV and my line-up is...

Kirkland, Verm, Bale, Onuoha, Arteta, Nani, Jummy, FloMal, Drogs, Bendtner, and K2

Matchday Open Thread

photo courtesy Lynchie999

Easing my way back into the blog with a matchday open thread. I'm going to try to follow Ful/Wig, Brm/Liv and then Eve/WHU today. After a decent Saturday - goals from Drogs, Bendt and Tevez and hopefully three assists from AJ - I'm looking for points from THo, Gardner, Osman and Maxi.

You?

Matchday Open Thread

Only one more after today and he qualifies for a winner's medal.

Man Utd
Foster, Neville, Brown, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Gibson, Scholes, Anderson, Berbatov, Rooney.
Subs: Kuszczak, Owen, Park, Rafael, Evans, Fletcher, Diouf.

West Ham
Green, Faubert, Tomkins, Upson, Spector, Behrami, Noble, Kovac, Diamanti, Franco, Cole.
Subs: Stech, Dyer, Ilan, Mido, Da Costa, Collison, Daprela.

Consider this your matchday open thread (and Van Der Sar bitch session).

Matchday Open Thread

Mazel tov to Carlos Tevez and family on the birth of their baby girl. That's great news for him personally, and for fantasy managers it means a much more rapid return to Manchester City than was originally planned. He and Craig Bellamy could be available for the Liverpool match but will miss today's match at Stoke.

Two-match hero Matt Etherington - really, is there a player other than Stephen Hunt who steps up their game more in Y!fantasy football double-match weeks? - is out with a knee injury which will sideline him for a few weeks. Perhaps Liam Lawrence becomes a good pick-up for the weekend's trip to Portsmouth?

These multiple match weeks can be so frustrating!  Especially in a "week" like this one where you have FA Cup games before or between matches... there is so much can go wrong in terms of injuries, suspensions and squad rotation.  Who knew that Martin Petrov would be injured or that Tevez's wife was having a difficult pregnancy?  How could you predict that James McCarthy would go out with a hamstring strain or Etherington would do his knee 15minutes into the FA Cup match? 

However, persevere we must.  As always, consider this your midweek matchday open thread.

Matchday Open Thread

Bendtner, Mido, Gudjohnsen, Arteta, Zhirkov, Salgado... all the big names are on the pitch tonight. Consider this your midweek matchday open thread.

Matchday Open Thread

Today we get into the midweek portion of our program.  Unlike last week, there are no huge "Drogba, or not Drogba" issues hanging over our heads.  With Manchester United and West Ham United being two-gamers it's more a matter of how many of those players can you afford or stomach.

But there are still many interesting subplots... injuries, suspensions, new arrivals and returning heroes.  All of which we'll chronicle and comment after the jump.

And, as always, consider this your midweek matchday open thread.

Barn Door Live - Snow-bound (Again) Edition

Welcome, we probably got another 2 feet of snow since mid-day yesterday.  Just crazy for a city that usually gets one or two small to medium-sized storms per year.  Here's my line-up...

EdvS, Verm, Bale, Hutton, Eth, MPet, Lee, McCarthy (Wig), Drogs, Tevez, and K2.

OK, off to Liverpool for the derby...

Matchday Open Thread

Big guns edition with Chelsea and Arsenal in league action and the Manchester Derby Part Deux in the Carling Cup.

As always, consider this your matchday open thread.

Matchday Open Thread

Here's your pre-match look in, blog roundtable style:

[11:21] JSpitzberg: so what does 20 million get you these days?
[11:21] JSpitzberg: a back up attacking middie, if you're LIV
[11:21] JSpitzberg: Gerrard fine and dandy, so Aquaman back on the bench
[11:22] buttonmoulder: working on Rooney +0 as my team this week
[11:22] JSpitzberg: i'm on Elk/Drogs/Tevez + no one over $4
[11:24] JSpitzberg: it's surprisingly easy
[11:29] JSpitzberg: i think barmby is a better choice than Aquilani
[11:29] JSpitzberg: what a world
[11:30] buttonmoulder: i hope leeds gets promoted just so i can buy a guy names snodgress
[11:30] JSpitzberg: ;-)  i'm in
[11:30] JSpitzberg: all name team always looking for good players
[11:30] buttonmoulder: felt so empty since windass left
[11:39] JSpitzberg: taylor makes the starting XI!
[11:39] JSpitzberg: unless it's another taylor
[11:40] JSpitzberg: bfdb for spurs.  kranc not on the bench
[11:40] JSpitzberg: but o'hara is
[11:40] JSpitzberg: with seabass
[11:40] buttonmoulder: kranc hurt?
[11:41] JSpitzberg: to the google!
[11:41] buttonmoulder: he's been all of their width when lennon's out
[11:41] JSpitzberg: no word
[11:41] JSpitzberg: but there is this...
[11:41] JSpitzberg: "The Tottenham manager conceded that it is time to hand over the responsibility and named Tom Huddlestone and Niko Kranjcar as prime candidates. "
[11:42] JSpitzberg: i guess defoe missed v. leeds
[11:42] buttonmoulder: responsibility for what?
[11:42] JSpitzberg: PKs
[11:42] JSpitzberg: uh oh...
[11:42] JSpitzberg: bair at right back?
[11:42] JSpitzberg: baird
[11:42] buttonmoulder: can't be.  i have him in my team
[11:42] buttonmoulder: he must be on the bench
[11:43] JSpitzberg: well, he's a good central middie
[11:43] JSpitzberg: but a lousy right back
[11:44] JSpitzberg: actually...
[11:44] JSpitzberg: ful in 3-5-2
[11:44] JSpitzberg: from their line-up at least
[11:44] JSpitzberg: sorry... 3-6-1
[11:45] JSpitzberg: 3 center backs - hang, hughes, smalling (who manu just bought)
[11:45] JSpitzberg: gera and duff wide
[11:45] JSpitzberg: murphy, dikgacoi and baird holding the middle
[11:45] JSpitzberg: and zamora up top
[11:45] JSpitzberg: murphy, dikgacoi, riise and baird holding the middle
[11:46] JSpitzberg: maybe it is a 4-4-2 in an alternate universe
[11:46] buttonmoulder: ha

OK, kick-off in the early matches. Consider this your matchday open thread.

Update: For the rest of the conversation, follow the link to read more.

Matchday Open Thread

Team news is in.  Arsenal have Fab starting consecutive games for the first time in a while and welcome back Clichy and Denilson as well.  Bolton drop Klasnic to pack the midfield.

Liverpool have Aquilani and Riera supporting Kuyt with N'Gog on the bench.  Aurelio doesn't even make the sixteen, which is just brutal for me fantasy-wise.  Spurs bring in King for Bassong in an otherwise unchanged eleven.

Line-ups:

Liverpool: Reina, Carragher, Skrtel, Kyrgiakos, Insua, Degen, Mascherano, Lucas, Riera, Aquilani, Kuyt.
Subs: Cavalieri, Maxi, Babel, Ngog, Spearing, Darby, Pacheco.

Tottenham: Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, King, Bale, Modric, Jenas, Palacios, Kranjcar, Crouch, Defoe.
Subs: Alnwick, Hutton, Pavlyuchenko, Keane, Giovani, Bassong, Rose

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy, Fabregas, Denilson, Diaby, Rosicky, Arshavin, Eduardo.
Subs: Fabianski, Vela, Walcott, Silvestre, Traore, Eastmond, Emmanuel-Thomas.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Lee, Mark Davies, Muamba, Cohen, Taylor, Kevin Davies.
Subs: Al Habsi, Samuel, Elmander, Klasnic, Ricketts, McCann, Andrew O'Brien.

And for the completist:

Aston Villa: Guzan, Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Petrov, Milner, Downing, Ashley Young, Agbonlahor, Heskey.
Subs: Friedel, Luke Young, Sidwell, Albrighton, Delfouneso, Delph, Beye.

Blackburn: Robinson, Chimbonda, Samba, Nelsen, Givet, Emerton, Nzonzi, Pedersen, Olsson, Dunn, Kalinic.

Consider this your matchday open thread.

Matchday Open Thread

Sorenson, Hangeland and Shawcross all come into the match after being injury doubts though Wilkinson can only make the bench.  He is joined there by former first team strikers Beattie and Fuller while Tuncay partners Sidibe on the pitch.  Fulham also have Kelly in at right back in place of the injured Paintsil.  Baird stays in central midfield with Murphy while Dempsey loses his place to Gera.  AJ (all 7.28 in the fantasy game of him) partners Zamora.

For tomorrow's match, Arsenal expect to have Denilson and Arshavin back.  However, Cesc has been definitely ruled out at least through the Everton match at the weekend.  As for Bolton, the only word is about Coyle joining as manager, but that announcement will likely be face "late fitness test" to happen by match time.

Consider this your matchday open thread.

The Barn Door Live - November 22

I'm up before the rest of the family - it's 5:30am here - so I'm going to try my hand at the live commentary thing. So join me for Bolton/Blackburn.

The Barn Door Live - Nov. 7

Here's my squad for the weekend
Given, Verm, Heiti, Gibbs, Fab4, MPet, DDunn, BFAR, Drogs, Bellamy, Campbell

and here's Jeremy's team for those interested...
Given, Verm, Heiti, Gibbs, Emerton, BFAR, DDunn, Collison, RvP, Bellamy, Drogs

Looking ahead to next week (OK, two weeks from now since there's another International break coming up next weekend) - Rovers, Fulham, Everton, and Hull are all 2-gamers.  None are exceptionally exciting based on the quality of the clubs and the match-ups (Everton - the best of the group - is on the road twice with one being ManYoo; Rovers - both on the road - against teams that are playing better than they are; Fulham is on the road against Brum who aren't terrible at home and home to Rovers; and Hull are, well, Hull.

Outside of the two-gamers Chelsea host Wolves and Stoke host Pompey.

Live chat after the jump.