Showing posts with label Mario Balotelli. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mario Balotelli. Show all posts

Week 7 Barn Door Team

I have three different options for you to choose from this week.  Please vote in the comments below.

First there is the real Barn Door team, the one I came out of the weekend with:



I was nervous about going all in on the North London derby, but surely there are goals there.

 Then came the news about Tevez and Dzeko, and all of a sudden Balotelli (God help us all) looks like a great option, at Rovers.  So out goes RvP, who to be fair was flattered by a 10-man Bolton side, and we shake up the team with the extra money.  



Tevez and Dzeko in hot water with Mancini


Exit stage right.

 The news coming out of Manchester City's 0-2 loss to Bayern Munich is explosive.  Evidently, Carlos Tevez refused to come on as a substitute. As a result,
Roberto Mancini tells the post-match press conference that Carlos Tevez will "never, never play for City again".
In addition, it's also being reported on Twitter that Dzeko will also be benched.
It won't get as much coverage but Mancini was "furious" with Edin Dzeko too - "he will sit the next game next to me"
This may be the chance for Adebayor Jo Santa Cruz Bellamy Balotelli to grab the starting striker role against Blackburn.


UPDATE: Evidently, Dzeko had a strop when he was substituted.
Mancini also had strong words for striker Edin Dzeko who also reacted poorly at being a sub.  
“As for Dzeko, if he plays better next time, then maybe he can stay on the pitch.

“If we want to improve to the level of Bayern Munich, some players need to improve their behaviour.

“Dzeko was unhappy but I should be the one who is unhappy after his performance, not Dzeko.

“This is the last time that any player moves his head from side to side like this when they are substituted. You can feel upset inside but keep it inside.”
Video, after the jump.


UPDATE, Part the Second:

''Manchester City can confirm that striker Carlos Tevez has been suspended until further notice for a maximum period of two weeks,'' read a club statement.

''The player's suspension is pending a full review into his alleged conduct during Tuesday evening's 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich. The player will not be considered for selection or take part in training whilst the review is under way.''



Season Preview - Manchester City



Quick Reminder, Real Life

This was the season when all of the money invested started to pay off in a big way. Lots of shiny new objects came into the squad with the corresponding spare parts mostly going out on loan. Some of them fit - Yaya Toure, David Silva - while some of them didn’t - Jerome Boateng - and the jury is still out on others - Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, and Aleksander Kolarov. Still, at the end of the day, the money produced results in the form of an FA Cup trophy and an invitation to Europe’s biggest dance, the Champions League, for the upcoming season. Can’t really argue with that... unless you are turned off by teams just buying big names like the real world were just a big game of fantasy football.

Quick Reminder, Fantasy

Given their results on the pitch, you’d think that there would be more fantasy success around this group but that’s just not the way it turned out. The size of the squad and the frequent rotation between very good and pretty good players kept fantasy output low. The unquestioned fantasy studs were Joe Hart and Carlos Tevez with Kompany and Kolarov putting up solid numbers as well. Beyond that, players like YToure and Silva were much more productive on the real pitch than the virtual one.

Summer Changes

Kun You Believe It?



One of the longest running transfer sagas of the last few years is finally over.  Sergio "Kun" Aguero is officially a Manchester City player as of today.  How does "son-in-law-of-Maradona" fit into the Citeh squad and more importantly your fantasy team? Here's the rundown:

Balotelli Back-Heel Earns Substitution, Mancini Ire

Mario Balotelli's attempted back-heel against the Los Angeles Galaxy earns him an early bath, and a few words with the manager.



Has Balotelli finally pushed Mancini too far? Hard to say, but Dzeko is inching closer and closer to a starting spot on my opening day fantasy Premier League team.

As an aside, it's probably worth watching Mike Magee's goal from the match. A blast from distance!

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Balotelli 'threw darts from window'



Premier League - Balotelli 'threw darts from window' - Yahoo! Eurosport

This is just incredible.
Manchester City are set to discuss Mario Balotelli's disciplinary issues after the striker was reportedly caught throwing darts from a first floor window.

The People claims that Balotelli lobbed the missiles in the direction of youth team players because he was "bored".

The incident occurred at City's Carrington training complex, and the club said nobody was injured.

However, the volatile striker could still face a fine for his actions, and a club spokesman said: "The matter will be dealt with internally."

God help the greater Manchester area if Bellamy ever returns from his loan spell at Cardiff and hooks up with this nut. At least Barton isn't there any longer. Those three together could initiate a singularity of teh stupid.

Dzeko Mocks Balotelli

Edin Dzeko mocks Balotelli's struggles to put on a bib from the previous week.



So he has a sense of humour. That's good. Maybe he can tease me for writing that Manchester City was going to come good with him in the line-up and that he was going to be a fantasy must-have for the second half of the season.

That was some poor, poor prognostication on my part.

Balotelli faces another month out

Balotelli out for at least 3-4 weeks with recurrence of knee injury http://tinyurl.com/6ktdcpnless than a minute ago via web



Can we get Dzeko listed in the fantasy game please?

Tevez hands in transfer request



http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=1350615.html
"I can confirm I have handed a transfer request to the chairman of Manchester City Football Club," said the 26-year-old. "Now I need to clear my head and think because this is an important part of my career. My feelings have not changed and it is regrettable that we have reached this situation. But it is something I have felt for some time and have spent many hours thinking this through."
So Tevez hands in a transfer request, which is rejected. But he states that he needs time to think (now?) and it doesn't seem as if he will be available next week when City host Everton. I know we are all feeling a bit burned after Balotelli's -2 yesterday. But what if his early tap-in had rolled into the net instead of across the face? How different would it all have been? It will be very hard - for me at least - to stay away from him at just over 6.

Though Defoe at 10, at Blackpool, may be too tempting as well alongside Torres and Rooney.

And of course, this isn't the first time Tevez have been involved in some unseemly dealings.

Headlines



Nani and Fletcher to miss Wolves clash
Sir Alex Ferguson has ruled Nani and Darren Fletcher out of Saturday's Premier League encounter with Wolves.

The pair both picked up injuries during the3-0 win over Bursaspor in Turkey.

And whilst it is hoped the damage is not too serious, it is enough to keep two of Ferguson's most important players out of a key domestic encounter.

"Unfortunately, Nani has a groin injury and is out for Saturday," confirmed Ferguson.

Balotelli looking to reach the top
Balotelli endured a disappointing first Barclays Premier League start in the defeat to Wolves on Saturday, but could get another chance to impress in Thursday's Europa League clash with Lech Poznan if he shakes off a knock to the thigh in time.

Two weeks out for Joe Cole
Joe Cole will be out for two weeks following the hamstring injury he sustained in Liverpool's 1-0 win over Bolton on Sunday...

That means Cole will miss out on facing his old club Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday.

Injured Fabregas out of Arsenal's trip to Donetsk
Arsenal will not risk skipper Cesc Fabregas against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday after the Spaniard strained a hamstring against West Ham United at the weekend...

"Cesc will not travel," Wenger told Arsenal's website (www.arsenal.com). "It's a mixture of caution and his hamstring. We cannot take the gamble. He has a good chance to play (against Newcastle) on Sunday but tomorrow would be a risk."

Alex Song is also doubtful for the Group H clash with a calf strain, as are Andrei Arshavin and Denilson who have groin injuries.

Spurs make it White Hot Lane for holders Inter
Spurs fans were buoyed before kickoff when Van der Vaart was declared fit after tweaking a hamstring on Saturday.

Besides scoring the opening goal he was also at the heart of most of Spurs attacks during a 45-minute appearance before going off at halftime.

  ========

I know what you're thinking... "What does all this mean?"

And I wish I had good answers. Nani's situation is the most troublesome for me. Van Der Vaart I have so cheaply that it's worth keeping him even if he is out for a game or two. But Nani, while I have him at a discount, is still a significant investment and I'm leaning towards selling him. Not only will he miss the match against Wolves, but there are midweek games (a new gameweek for Y!, however) so you wonder if he'll be fit to play in the Manchester derby on Wednesday.  Fabregas is seemingly likely to play so is a good investment, but maybe Nasri is a better bet - he's healthier [at time of writing] and has been scoring well for fantasy.  We'll see if he plays, and if so how he fares, in the Ukraine today.

As for the man of the moment, Gareth Bale, he hasn't transferred his Champions League form to the Premier League recently.  But if Van Der Vaart does miss any time then Bale could be right back on set-piece duty and the offense will once again run through him on the left rather than Van Der Vaart through the middle.  Playing at Bolton and then home to Sunderland is a bit of mixed bag, especially after yesterday's exertions.  But I might consider backing him, even at just under 15.

Injured Carlos Tevez flies home



Injured Carlos Tevez flies home, Manchester derby doubt - Barclays Premier League - ESPN Soccernet
Tevez is all but certain to miss City's upcoming Premier League matches against Wolves and West Brom...
Now we know. And knowing is half the battle.

The other half is figuring out if K2 or Balotelli get the playing time. [My guess - Balotelli scores the winner after coming on for the ineffectual K2, who starts.]

And the other half is figuring out whom to gut to afford/place them.