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

Season Preview - Liverpool

Quick Reminder, Real Life

What a crazy season it was for the Reds. To do it justice you’d probably have to write a book (and I hear Jeremy thinking to himself that this preview is entirely likely to turn into one the way I write). In the quick version we find the first half low-lighted by poor performances, the disasterous Joe Cole signing, Roy Hodgson being in over his head, a contentious change of ownership between two groups of Americans, and numerous debates online and in the press wondering whether Liverpool could possibly go down under the weight of all of the above.

As bad as the first half was, the second half was that good. New owners, back office staff, and manager made the bold move of selling off star Fernando Torres and replacing him with the excellent-so-far Luis Suarez and full-of-potential-but-overpriced Andy Carroll. The results improved dramatically and Raul Meireles proved to be more than adequate cover for oft-injured captain Steven Gerrard. All the drama aside, Liverpool had two major weaknesses last season - their left back position and playing away from Anfield where they could neither score nor keep the ball out of the net.

Quick Reminder, Fantasy

As crazy a season as it was for Liverpool on and off the pitch, it was no different for fantasy managers trying to figure this team out. Reina’s fortunes mimicked those of the club (bad early, better late). Meireles and Suarez had excellent second halves of the season while Carroll had a great first half while playing for Newcastle but injury dragged down his second half pretty badly. Finally, out of almost nowhere, Maxi Rodriguez had an absolutely amazing last two weeks which saw him get about a third of his overall output for the season. On the defensive side of the ball Martin Skertl was ever-present and had an OK season but the rest of the defenders were seemingly on a carousel due to injuries and general mediocrity.

Summer Changes

Season Preview - Fulham

Quick Reminder, Real Life

An odd season at Fulham saw them lose their very successful manager to Liverpool where he was a flop. His replacement managed them to a very solid 8th place finish in the standings with no reason to expect that it was either a fluke or that a huge regression was coming but then he left too. On the pitch, the season saw US International Clint Dempsey stake his claim as one of the top few players outside the top six clubs. He joined Brede Hangeland (also born in Texas) in that category as the big Norweigan had another strong season at the center of Fulham’s defense. The Hangeland-led defense was good enough to tie Arsenal for 4th in the “goals conceded” category. Of the teams below them in the table, only Stoke were even close to being as stingy and they conceded 5 more goals (about 12% more).

Quick Reminder, Fantasy

As noted above, Dempsey made the leap from occasionally spectacular fantasy player to consistently dangerous. Hangeland gave you exactly what you expected - albeit for a higher price as his price caught up to his output. Guys like Mark Schwarzer, Chris Baird, and Damien Duff were solid in stretches and very much viable options when Fulham were home to modest opposition. The interesting developments for Fulham in fantasy last season were at the forward position. When healthy, Bobby Zamora and Mousa Dembele were productive options. We’ve seen it before in stretches from Zamora. It was a little less clear as to whether Dembele was just hot for a stretch at the start of the season and then cooled down to what will become his normal level of production or if his early season form was the norm with the rest of the season derailed somewhat by injury.

Summer Changes

When Is It OK To Boo?

I had an interesting interaction via Twitter with Georgina Turner who writes about the Premier League for Sports Illustrated on the topic of the booing of ones own team. The cause of the conversation was the ugly conclusion to Arsenal vs. New York Red Bull in the final match of the pre-season Emirates Cup. For those who didn't watch (or read about it), Arsenal supporters channeled their inner Philadelphian and let out a chorus of boos as, for the second straight day, catastrophic defending late in the going saw Arsenal snatch a draw from the jaws of victory against a team with significantly less talent.

Here is the "transcript" of the Twitter conversation on the topic of booing between Ms. Turner and me:

@GeorginaTurner: Why do (an increasing number of) fans boo every single (mildly) disappointing result these days? 

Season Preview - Everton

Quick Reminder, Real Life

Stop me if you’ve read this before but Everton didn’t start out the season particularly well. Shocking, I know. This time around, it took them a little longer to revert to being a top half team but they got there eventually with a late charge up the table well after there was any chance of them challenging for a Europa Cup spot. Still, they finished 7th in the table which is something for a team that hasn’t spent much money on their squad in a few years. Throw in the injuries to key players like Mikel Arteta, Marouane Fellaini, and Louis Saha (although the latter’s frequent absences can hardly be considered a surprise at this point). Of note during the season, Leighton Baines continued to be exceptional going forward while being a very solid defender on the left. Tim Cahill did what he always does with a brief injury interruption. Jermaine Beckford took a while to adapt to the Prem but ended the season with solid goal numbers that belied the reputation he earned early as “in over his head”. Finally, Seamus Coleman moved into a more regular starting role - split between right midfield and right back - and played pretty well.

Quick Reminder, Fantasy

Baines was an absolute stud with 5 goals and 11 assists and a ton of phantom points for the formats that count those sorts of things. Coleman was the unquestioned value play in the squad since he was listed as a defender but played in midfield more often than anywhere else increasing his chances at both attacking and defending points. Quietly, Osman had a nice run of starts in a more advanced role and good fantasy production late in the season that reminded us that he can be a valuable player if injuries provide an opportunity for regular starts. On the down side, Tim Howard (incredibly inconsistent as a fantasy keeper) and Arteta (not as productive as he used to be and still just as expensive) were disappointing to fantasy managers who fondly remember better seasons from both in the past.

Summer Changes

Season Preview - Chelsea

Quick Reminder, Real Life

Sort of an odd season at Stamford Bridge wasn’t it. Never REALLY in the race for first but never REALLY out of it either. The Blues big names down the spine of the formation - Drogba, Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Essien and Cech - were all less than their best for varying reasons but all were still above average Premier League players when they played. The names brought in to supplement that core also had their ups and downs. Florent Malouda had a great first half but only an adequate second half. Anelka and Kalou were effective in spells and invisible over other spells. Ramires wasn’t ready. Mikel may never be ready. Big winter signings Torres and Luiz cost a lot of money with mixed results at best. Luiz was by far the better of the two although he seemed to have a penchant for making one big mistake per match. Torres was an unmitigated disaster. Chelsea are clearly a team between “generations” of players with half a roster of players heading toward the downside of their careers a few decidedly on the upside and precious few healthy and at their prime. It just wasn’t enough to compete with United.

Quick Reminder, Fantasy

You expect a lot from Chelsea players when it comes to fantasy. Lots of goals, lots of clean sheets, and expensive prices. Of note, FloMal was one of the best players going for the first two months of the season. Drogba closed the season very well. Luiz scored some goals which will be a great addition to defending points if he can settle down a bit, hold on to a place in the starting line-up, and avoid the bad cards and fouls in the box. Anelka degraded throughout the course of the season leaving us to wonder what his fate will be this coming season.

Summer Changes

Season Preview - Bolton Wanderers

Quick Reminder, Real Life

A hot start to the season seemed to fall apart when rising playmaker Stuart Holden was injured and Elmander, who started the season blazing hot, cooled dramatically. Bolton fell to 14th in the final accounting. Much-ballyhooed summer signing MPet (Martin Petrov) failed to recapture the form he demonstrated in his first season with Manchester City. Kevin Davies kept doing what Kevin Davies does.

The problem is that Bolton found themselves stranded between Owen Coyle’s attacking style and personnel left over from Big Sam’s grind it out style. That could potentially be a great thing or an ugly thing and last season it seemed to transition from being the former to being the latter. It could have been worse but Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge scored a flurry of goals after coming over in January on loan.

Quick Reminder, Fantasy

If you put Elmander (first half) and Sturridge (second half) together, you’d have had one great forward (18 goals). Holden had a very nice early season run of putting up “phantom points” in the Yahoo scoring system - tackles, corners and fouls won, successful crosses, etc. Gary Cahill, Jussi Jaaskelainen, and Matty Taylor were typically solid but ended the season a bit on the overpriced side based on their production.

Summer Changes

Season Preview - Blackburn Rovers

Quick Reminder, Real Life

What an ugly season. They dropped from 10th place in 2009/10 to 15th in the standings last season. They fired a solid if not spectacular manager in Big Sam and replaced him with Steve Kean who excites exactly nobody. They didn’t score well, they didn’t defend well. Really, the only thing that went even passably well was their defending at home which was the sixth most effective in the league. Sadly, their scoring at home was tied for second from the bottom so even the thing they did well didn’t help THAT much other than allowing them to avoid relegation.

Quick Reminder, Fantasy

A slight return to adequacy by Morten Gamst Pedersen and continued fantasy excellence from Christopher Samba were notable performances, as was the emergence of David "Junior" Hoillet. I suppose you could say Robbo rebounded from a long while in the fantasy wilderness. It would be stretching to get excited about much else as occasional fantasy stalwarts like Nelsen and Dunn were injured more frequently than usual.

Summer Changes

Season Preview - Aston Villa

Quick Reminder, Real Life

Last season started out with an odd choice for manager (Houlier) who didn’t make it through the year due to health reasons. The team that had been excellent the year before regressed terribly despite a lot of the same talent and they hovered just above the relegation zone for a good part of the first half. In January they added Darren Bent as a front line of John Carew/Emile Heskey and Gabby Agbonlahor just wasn’t getting it done. The new acquisition helped them climb from the depths of the table to 9th. Still, a disappointing finish given the talent on hand and the expectations created in 2009-10 when they flirted with a Top 4 spot until well into the season.

Quick Reminder, Fantasy

BFAY (that’s Blog Favorite Ashley Young to the newly initiated), Downing, and DBent were exactly what you’d expect (very good) but also fairly expensive at this point. Albrighton and Clark were excellent values when they played. Friedel was a bit of a disaster in the first half but as tends to happen, his numbers improved along with the team’s fortunes in the second half. The forwards who started the season - Gabby, Carew, and Heskey - didn’t show much. Kyle Walker, a loan signing from Spurs, came on in the second half of the season and provided some good value when he was in the line-up. Left back Stephen Warnock disappeared after a very good 2009-10.

Summer Changes

Season Preview - Arsenal

Quick Reminder, Real Life

As we are all constantly reminded, Arsenal experienced what is becoming their typical season again last term. They looked to be contenders on a number of fronts from August until about February and then everything pretty much fell apart. The injuries mounted, the tragi-comic errors re-surfaced, and all was lost in about the time it takes to soft-boil an egg. Lest we forget all the positives, Luke Jack Wilshere matured significantly, Aaron Ramsey returned and at least showed signs of his pre-injury reputation coming good, Johan Djourou had a solid spell of being very good before an injury seemed to derail his progress, and Wojciech Szczesny showed enough that I won’t be terrified if he starts the season as the #1.

Quick Reminder, Fantasy

Robin van Persie was fantasy gold when healthy (which was more than usual). Samir Nasri was a stud in the first half but dropped off significantly in the second half. Cesc Fabregas was solid but nowhere near his fantasy peak, though he was still priced as an elite fantasy player. Wilshere reminded us that you can be both talented and effective but still be mediocre for fantasy purposes. The combination of injuries and attacking rotation - Theo Walcott, Andrei Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh, Niklas Bendtner, Tomas Rosicky, Denilson, Abou Diaby - meant that there was little long term value to be had but plenty of fantasy points still scored.

Summer Changes

Malbranque joins St Etienne

Malbranque joins St Etienne - Yahoo! Eurosport

St Etienne have confirmed the signing of Steed Malbranque from Sunderland.

The Ligue 1 outfit have agreed a two-year deal for the 31-year-old midfielder, who returns to his native France for an undisclosed fee.

A statement on www.asse.fr read: 'It's official. Steed Malbranque is a St Etienne player. The midfielder is committed to ASSE for two seasons.'

We don't usually comments on transfers OUT of the Premier League, but this deserves special mention. Malbranque was a fantasy stud back in his Fulham days, and an early member of the "French winger" club that we love so much. Other founding members include Robert Pires and Fabrice Fernandes, but Steed outlasted them all. It was clear that he wasn't at his best with Sunderland. I believe he has the distinction of being the player who had the most shots on goal last season without actually scoring.  Best wishes to him back in Ligue 1, or should we say, "bon chance" and "mercis pour l'expérience".

Blackburn Rovers sign Goodwillie

Blackburn Rovers | News | Latest News | Latest News | Rovers sign Goodwillie

In a boon to headline writers and 13-year olds everywhere...

Blackburn Rovers have today completed the signing of Scottish international David Goodwillie from Dundee United.

He was scoring about a goal every third match for Dundee United, which isn't THAT impressive, but still represents a big upgrade for Rovers. No offense to Jason Roberts, of whom I'm a big fan, but I would expect Goodwillie to go right to the head of the Rovers attacking pecking order.

Oh, I might as well use this moment to announce my "player that I'm unreasonably excited about in week one" of 2011. "Distinguished" past winners include famously Marek Cech against Arsenal.

Congratulations to Mauro Formica, who has been playing pre-season as a withdrawn forward and has scored a few goals for Rovers. Welcome to my week one fantasy line-up. Hosting Wolves will be a good early test for both sides. Goodwillie will become an interesting choice if he is posted to the games in time, but Formica is my pick.

Two More Private Leagues

I'm not sure if there are any spaces still open but two more private leagues have been posted.  Here's the info.

YFF Blog League 11
Group ID#: 6517
Password: footy

YFF Blog League 12
Group ID#: 6518
Password: blog

Cheers - Neal 

Notes on Valerenga v. Liverpool

After the first ten minutes....

• Nice to see Agger back to fitness and back in favor.
• All the early play down Liverpool's right with Downing and Johnson. I think the idea is that Downing will tend to cut inside on to his left foot and Johnson can overlap and exploit that space.  Might be something to watch when the season starts. Johnson is very expensive for a defender (13.37) but he will look to get forward. For the money I'll go with Zabaleta in week one and then Arsenal host Liverpool in week two, but your mileage may vary.
• Downing taking corners from the right, not Adam, but not taking them very well at all.
• Henderson is the midfielder breaking forward to try to support Carroll and Kuyt.
• Nice to see Kuyt getting a game at forward, but it's hard to see him playing there when Suarez returns.  Indeed it's hard to see him getting the wide-right berth back either, which is a bit of a shame.
• No Meireles today because of injury. I wonder if he would have played had he been fit, and who would make way -- the question we'll likely be asking all season about any number of Liverpool midfielders.

Valerenga 1 - 0 Liverpool

Newcastle Fall-Out Follow Up

In the wake of Joey Barton's being transfer listed by Newcastle United and Wayne Routledge signing for Swansea, I've been running the rule over the squad trying to piece together how they'll play in the upcoming season. This may get repeated in our season preview, but so be it. This is really more of a first draft documentation of my thought-process.

So it might be messy.

Barton Available for Free after Twitter Outburst

Newcastle United have confirmed that Joey Barton has been made available on a free transfer.

Relations between the club and the outspoken midfielder had already been strained following a breakdown of contract talks over the summer, with Barton taking to Twitter to air his frustrations.

The 28-year-old did so again following Sunday's friendly defeat at Leeds, hinting at widespread dressing-room discontent towards the Newcastle hierarchy, before saying he would make an announcement on his future at 4pm on Monday.

But the club pre-empted whatever Barton was going to say by announcing he is able to leave St James' Park a year out from the end of his contract.

Some of the "offending" tweets included these:

If only we as players could tell the fans exactly how it is, without them above fining us lots of money. There will be a time and a place.less than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet ReplyJoseph Barton
Joey7Barton

And again it would be left to those magnificent fans to pick up the remnants of their once great football club. #hadenoughofcertainpeopleless than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet ReplyJoseph Barton
Joey7Barton

If I wanted to leave, I'd just come out and say "I want to leave" Things need addressing as am not prepared to go through a relegation againless than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet ReplyJoseph Barton
Joey7Barton

And he's at it again today.

One day the board might realise, what the shirt signifies. HONOUR and PRIDE. Thanks for your continued support........... #toonarmyless than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyJoseph Barton
Joey7Barton

So... where will he end up? Liverpool is the obvious answer as they're collecting every English midfielder they can get their hands on. [To that point, do you think they're regretting the &poind;24 they've spent on Henderson and Adam?]

But seriously, what club couldn't use his talents? But what club will take the chance on him after his washing out with Manchester City and now Newcastle United?

Who are we kidding. Barton on a free? ANY club would take a chance. It's not even a question of who has money to spend! This is going to get silly, quickly!

Weekend Notes

Pre-season Grinds On

Its been a nice relaxing weekend around the Thurman Ranch after a lot of work and fun travel over the last month or two.  We're making great progress on the team-by-team season previews that have become a staple of the blog over the years.  It is my hope that we'll start posting them next week so that you'll have plenty of time to use that information for your fantasy teams.  We'd post them sooner but it feels like there are still a lot of pretty significant moves still to be made and we'd prefer not to post and then have to entirely re-do say Everton or Bolton or Arsenal's preview.  Fear not, they'll arrive soon enough along with a variety of other information to get you ready for the season to come. 

Before we get to the reason for the post, I'll also take a moment to bask in the excitement of the incredible weekend in Philadelphia sports.  The Phillies (baseball for those who aren't into the American sports) started the weekend with the best record in baseball.  The Eagles (American football) one-upped the Phillies by acquiring a ton of defensive talent as the season gets ready to start which firmly entrenches them as one of the top contenders for the Super Bowl title.  The Phillies, not to be outdone, also made a strong acquisition to fill one of the few gaps in their line-up as they prepare for their playoffs in October.  Oh, and on the field the Phillies have won both of their games thus far this weekend.  Good weekend to be a Philly sports fan.  

So, aside from writing and basking in the glow of being a Philly sports fan in 2011, I also got to watch a decent amount of pre-season action.  For those who had better things to do with their time, here are some observations from the Emirates Cup and a few Manchester United pre-season friendlies. 

Emirates Cup

Gerrard out until September, at least

Steven Gerrard was ruled out until September due to an infection related to his groin injury.

Liverpool's captain has not played since the 3-1 win over Manchester United at Anfield on 6 March, but had been expected to recover in time for the club's first Premier League game. However, the club have revealed that Gerrard is now undergoing a course of antibiotic treatment in hospital, where he will remain "for several days".

Gerrard will miss at least three Premier League matches – against Sunderland, Arsenal and Bolton Wanderers – plus England's friendly against Holland on 10 August.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but that only leaves Miereles, Lucas, Henderson, Aquilani, Sheveley, Spearing and Poulsen competing for two spots. King Kenny is going to have to earn his crown this season.

Plus ca change

What was true last January is true again this summer.

[11:21] JSpitzberg: so what does 20 million get you these days?
[11:21] JSpitzberg: a back up attacking middie, if you're LIV

Private Leagues: 5 through 8

In conjunction with Y!AM, here are the next set of private leagues. Please join only one.

YFF Blog League 5
Group ID#: 5085
Password: blog

YFF Blog League 6
Group ID#: 5086
Password: footy

YFF Blog League 7
Group ID#: 5088
Password: prem

YFF Blog League 8
Group ID#: 5089
Password: ball