The Week Ahead - Week 6 Edition

Roman, with other shiny things to look at other than the Carling Cup.  Photo courtesy Daily Mail.

Funny thing, sometimes I really have to think a little bit about what I want to write at the beginning of what usually turns into a really long column and sometimes the events of the week just sort of speak to me.  With the remarkable events of the last two days in the Carling Cup, this one just sort of wrote itself as I watched yesterday's events unfold via textcast (here in the States we're generally at work when mid-week matches are happening unless it's a really big one and we can find a way to take an "extended lunch meeting" at a strategic time).  Here are my observations about what the Carling Cup results this week showed us as part of overall trends (I trust you can find the specifics of what went on during the actual matches in a lot of other places) and somewhere in here you'll find a valuable lesson about having the proper respect for the concept of Momentum:

• Don't Talk Smack Above Your Weight - Harry Redknapp spent some time criticizing Wenger and Arsenal for playing their young players in the Carling Cup despite not having won anything in the last several years.  Then 'arry shows up with a less experienced line-up than Wenger and while he should have only lost 1-0 in regulation (Keane was pretty obviously offside on Spurs lone goal) he ended up being embarrassed as his young players wilted and made stupid plays where Arsenal's have matured into a group capable of being a credible second team rather than merely a youth team.  That's what happens after a few years of being blooded in the Carling Cup at a young age, you're ready.  If Harry was going to talk smack like that, he probably should have started a line-up that had a better chance of winning.
• What, Me Worry? - At Chelsea, there might be minor worries as a more experienced second team got taken down at home by a NUFC reserve squad but honestly, I don't think anyone at Chelsea really cares even a little bit about the Carling Cup at this point - it's Champions League/Premier League Double or bust at Stamford Bridge.  If they can win the FA Cup and/or Carling Cup along the way without hindering the primary goals, then that would be great too but if not, I'm sure Roman barely even looked up from whatever models he was, ahem, engaged with as NUFC was building their lead.
• In Stark Contrast - Manchester City is far behind Chelsea in the nouveau riche game and let's face it, right now it just isn't looking very good - think the Chelski Era before Mourinho with David Silva starring as Arjen Robben and a similar array of over-rated and way overpriced English players dominating the roster.  The goal SHOULD be to win something to show progress and start building momentum but in fielding a roster of guys no one but their families have ever heard of Citeh makes us wonder where all the money has gone.  Sure, Chelsea is coming town this weekend and it is admirable that they want to put their best foot forward but if I'm thinking about this strategically, they'd probably have been better served putting a strong Carling Cup line-up out there and a few kids out against Chelsea.  Chelsea is going to beat them regardless and at least they could play the injury card then.  As it stands, they've now lost a cup match against a much less talented opponent and they'll follow that up by losing against Chelsea at the weekend.  That seat getting a bit warm Mr. Mancini?
• Oh, Liverpool - Jeremy and I really enjoyed the introduction of Jonjo Shelvey (who looks like he has potential to be an excellent fantasy player down the line - attacking midfielder who takes kicks and is a strong passer) but when you pull off Ryan Babel who you paid I-don't-remember-how-much-but-it-was-a-lot for and you're hoping that's what saves the day, you a) haven't managed well; b) haven't acquired players well; or c) both.  As you'll recall, Arsenal started a weaker line-up against Spurs but they brought on Arsh and ChamWow when they wanted to push for the win.  Liverpool brought on an 18 year old who played in League One last season.  Like Citeh, Liverpool lacked respect for the concept of Momentum.  Chelsea have enough outside of the Carling Cup that they can thumb their nose at such a minor setback.  Citeh and Liverpool (and to a lesser extent Spurs) need all the success experiences they can get at this point after starting the season off in disastrous form compared to the expectations of them.  
• Yet More Contrast - West Brom have Big Mo' on their side right about now.  After getting their @ss-whipping at Stamford Bridge out of the way the first week it's been just about nothing but upside for the Baggies.  Odemwingie comes into the roster.  Win vs. Sunderland. Win vs. Leyton Orient in the Carling Cup.  Respectable 1-0 loss to Liverpool at Anfield. Draw vs. Spurs. Win over Birmingham.  Win over Citeh.  With the common wisdom being that they'd be relegated straight away this season, they're playing with house money at this point.  The lesson? When you have things going your way - just keep doing what you're doing.

In any event, you have to figure it's now down to Arsenal vs. ManYoo for the Carling Cup unless one or both are eventually tripped up by someone else with Momentum on their side that wasn't given the proper respect.

Fabregas and Vermaelen not Back Until Chelsea Match

Diaby on course for West Brom comeback | News Archive | News | Arsenal.com

Abou Diaby is hoping to return for the home game with West Brom on Saturday.

The midfielder has been out since injuring his ankle against Bolton a fortnight ago and will have a fitness test on Friday.

Tomas Rosicky (ankle) and Emmanuel Eboue (knee) also face examinations. Meanwhile Alex Song is back from suspension and Sebastien Squillaci (muscle) should return after being rested in midweek.

Apart from that Arsenal’s injury list is well known however, speaking on Thursday, Arsène Wenger did have greater clarity on the timescales involved. Cesc Fabregas (hamstring) is out for the next two games but has a chance of returning for the encounter at Stamford Bridge next Sunday. Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles) is on a similar schedule.

Kieran Gibbs (foot) is almost certainly out this Saturday but any absence will be thankfully short. After limping out of the midweek victory at Tottenham, there were fears he had broken a metatarsal.

“The only player who could come back is Diaby,” said Wenger. “He will have a test on Friday morning and we will see from there.

Roberto Mancini admits defensive crisis

Roberto Mancini admits defensive crisis at Manchester City | Mail Online

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini claims he is desperately short of defensive options for Saturday's Barclays Premier League visit of Chelsea with Micah Richards a major doubt.

After last night's 2-1 Carling Cup defeat at West Bromwich Albion, City could have just three fit defenders for the clash at Eastlands.

Mancini will have only Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany and Kolo Toure available to face the only Premier League side left with a 100 per cent record unless Micah Richards recovers from a hamstring injury that kept him out at The Hawthorns.

Aleksandar Kolarov, Jerome Boateng and and Wayne Bridge are all currently sidelined.

'We have big problems,' he said. 'I hope that Micah Richards can recover. If not I don't know who can play left-back.'

If Richards misses out, it appears likely that Zabaleta will play on the right side and City would look for an alternative on the left flank. That could either involve Adam Johnson being pressed into emergency service, or more likely a midfielder such as James Milner or Gareth Barry.

Keep an eye out for your Citeh midfielders then. And perhaps it's a week to shy away from Joe Hart - as if with Chelsea visiting he wasn't already a stay-away. There will be better match-ups to come as Citeh next face Newcastle, @Blackpool, Arsenal and Wolves.

A Long Article on the Grim Financial State of Football

Soccer: Is European football eating itself - ESPN

UEFA, European soccer's governing body, will implement its Financial Fair Play scheme by the 2012-13 season. It will ban teams that spend more than they earn from continental competitions. Clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City would be in danger of missing out on the tournament, the Champions League, that they spend so heavily to gain access to.

For anyone interested in a solid review of the economics of the biggest clubs in the football world, click on the link above and give yourself some time to read.  For those not interested in the entire thing, I've extracted one paragraph related to UEFA's attempt to legislate some fiscal responsibility.  Assuming that Chelsea and Citeh are employing some of the highest profile players in the world and that they may well not meet UEFA's requirements, would you feel that the Champions League was significantly devalued by their absence?  Would you still watch knowing that there was an "uncrowned" potential champion sitting at home forced to watch from afar?

I'm curious to know if fans worldwide are willing to support UEFA if they try to create some financial sanity or if audiences will vote "no" to the changes by paying less attention and thus costing UEFA money in the form of reduced audiences in person and on television.

Fulham striker Moussa Dembele out for two weeks

Fulham striker Moussa Dembele out for two weeks following challenge from Stoke City's Andy Wilkinson - report - Goal.com

Fulham manager Mark Hughes has received some good news as striker Moussa Dembele is only set to be out of action for two weeks following a horror challenge by Stoke City's Andy Wilkinson in the League Cup tie on Tuesday night, according to the Daily Mail.

The Cottagers had already seen striker Bobby Zamora ruled out for a considerable length of time with a leg-break and Hughes will be relieved to know that his forward line is not as depleted as first thought.

There were initial fears Dembele could be facing a lengthy spell out of action, but the £5 million summer signing from Dutch club AZ Alkmaar is set to return to the fold within two weeks

Hosting a desperate Everton side this weekend, do we see an all-USA frontline of Dempsey and Eddie Johnson? Or does Zoltan Gera move into the hole where he's always promised so much but delivered so little?

Asamoah Gyan Doubtful For Liverpool Clash

Back to the drawing board.

Asamoah Gyan Doubtful For Liverpool Clash | Football/Soccer | Peacefmonline.com

Asamoah Gyan is a doubt for their English Premier League trip to Liverpool this Saturday.

Gyan scored on Tuesday night in the Black Cats 1-2 home defeat to West Ham to crash out of the Carling Cup but limped out on the hour mark...

“The most upsetting thing of the evening is that we have two or three players with soft tissue injuries and they’re struggling for Saturday,” Sunderland manager Bruce said.

“Kieran’s done his hamstring and we’ll see how bad it is. Ferdinand has a hamstring too. Gyan got a knock to his ribs and has hurt his hamstring. It’s very disappointing.”

It will be interesting to see if Bruce rushes Andy Reid back to the starting line-up after his cameo at the end of the Arsenal match. Also, does this derail McCartney's loan to Leeds? Or do we see Angeleri in the Premier League for the first time?

Beat the Bloggers - Week 5

Week five is in the books, and here are your weekly winners and overall leaders.

• Beat the Bloggers 1
  Weekly: Divings4Wankers 126.00
  Overall: blah blah [AM.Blog] 602.00
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 2
  Weekly: siao der 138.50
  Overall: Asher_MaxTen 555.50
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 3
  Weekly: Quiet Loudspeaker 135.50
  Overall: Aston Villager 573.00
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 4
  Weekly: Murder Inc. 131.00
  Overall: Paulo the NDY Octopus 563.00
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 5
  Weekly: Fran assistant manager 133.00
  Overall: el-Hafiz FC*** 577.00
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 6
  Weekly: Santiago 135.50
  Overall: chuggington [am] 599.00
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 7
  Weekly: Boats & Ho's FC 133.50
  Overall: Numero Uno 554.50
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 8
  Weekly: Stonewall Brigade 133.50
  Overall: Garuda Gondronk 579.50
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 9
  Weekly: hottie 144.50
  Overall: Baram Ulu Gunners 613.50
  

This week's big winner, "hottie", was in on Berbatov's hat trick but also got double digit returns from Bale, Ferriera, Malouda, Gardner, Barton and KJones.  The good ones make it seem easy.  Congratulations!

For comparison, your bloggers are at:

• Fantasy Blogger FC 101.50 (519.50 total)
• In the Spirit of Fair Play 100.00 (501.50 total)

Finally, there is still room in "Beat the Bloggers" private group #9.

Group ID = 16593
Password = bloggers

Fabregas ruled out for two to three weeks

Right club, wrong incident. But you get the idea.

Fabregas ruled out for two to three weeks | News Archive | News | Arsenal.com

Arsenal Football Club have confirmed that Cesc Fabregas will be out for two to three weeks.

The Spanish midfielder gave the visitors an early lead at Sunderland on Saturday but then picked up a hamstring injury. He was substituted just before the half-hour. The extent of the injury was discovered after a scan on Monday afternoon.

Fabregas didn't even give us enough time to get used to his being back before getting injured again. Thankfully for Arsenal, they've got Nasri back, though that didn't work out TOO well earlier in the season. My $0.02 is that with ChamWow the focus of the attack, Arsenal have to work on playing the ball in from wide areas. That mean Clichy and Sagna have to play much better than they have so far this season. That means Eboue, if picked, needs to not drift infield and Arshavin, playing off ChamWow, needs to look to drop deep, get the ball centrally and move it wide. Look how effective Scholes has been for Manchester United simply by hitting accurate passes out to Nani on the wing. It's simple and effective, if difficult, and it will get behind any defence - something Arsenal haven't been able to do regularly since Henry lost a bit of pace.

First Impressions and Second Thoughts - Week 5

Sometimes, and especially when you write a blog analyzing such things, you get WAY too clever for your own good in fantasy sports. This is even more true coming off a week in which just about everything I touched turned to gold (at least in Premier League fantasy terms). Now, on the plus side, even with some stupid moves, I still didn't have a terrible weak (50 points from Drogs and Malouda will do that for you) but how easy would it have been to just focus on my day job and keep the faith with Joe Hart and Paulo Ferreira and just hope for the best with van der Vaart's injury? Instead, I find myself wishing that Yahoo! had the same rule as the Premier League does and limited owners to one move per week. They don't and I'm left here wondering what happened while counting the small blessing that Eth go 9 completely undeserved fantasy points (I watched the entire match and he didn't do a d@mn thing).

With that, on to what we learned in Week 5 about the teams and the players in the Premier League and our own little fantasy world.

The Barn Door Live - Week 5

OK, here we go again.  We'll be here for the first two matches.  Here's my line-up:
Foster, Bale, Koscielny, Wilson, FloMal, Eth, Barton, Adam, Drogs, Carroll, and Dembele.

Based on the schedule for next week, here are the teams we'll be tracking especially closely:
Spurs (@WHU), Birmingham (vs. Wigan), and Arsenal (vs. WBA).  We'll be looking especially carefully at who Spurs and Arsenal start with all of their early injuries and how Brum align with their newcomers in light of the injury to James McFadden.

Recap after the jump.

Injuries and Suspensions - Week 5

Premier League team news - Barclays Premier League - ESPN Soccernet

Not much of consequence from either Liverpool or Citeh's matches in Europa Cup on Thursday as far as injuries go.  Here are the bits of news that you should be focused on as you make the final adjustments to your rosters for the weekend:

The Week Ahead - Week 5 Edition

Just a bit too easy.

Talk about a night and day difference in the experiences of the English teams in their Champions League exploits between Tuesday and Wednesday.  On Tuesday the going was tough for different reasons. ManYoo was arrogant/overconfident in selecting what looked to be a Carling Cup roster and they paid for it with an ugly nil-nil draw.  Spurs, on the other hand, were on the road facing solid competition and at the end of the day a road point in the Champions League isn't so bad.  In isolation, neither of these outcomes should be considered tragic.  The disturbing fact for both teams is that if you choose to look at these outcomes in light of other outcomes early on in the season, you might start to get worried.

I see the Spurs draw as similar to ManYoo@EVE over the weekend.  It wasn't the draw but rather it was the WAY that they got to the single point that felt deflating.  Spurs looked strong in going up two goals and must have had their own supporters and Premier League boosters in general thrilled in the early going.  That said, to give back the advantage and only come away with a point when more were well within their grasp smacked of yet another disappointment in an early season characterized by them.  Loss to a vastly inferior Young Boys on the road. Draw @WBA. Loss at home to Wigan. A draw after dominating the play @Citeh in the opener. Finally, a come-from-ahead draw in Germany.  That isn't exactly the sort of trend that says "we've arrived as a serious contender for honors" to me.

The song is similar at ManYoo and made all the worse by the fact that United are held to a much higher standard than Spurs based on history, glamour, and past results.  Regardless of the glory that is United's history, the early trend is troubling.  Late equalizer conceded at Fulham for a draw.  TWO late equalizers conceded at Everton for a draw.  A scoreless draw against what should have been a hopelessly out-manned Rangers side.  Rooney struggling.  Valencia out for a significant period of time.  Rio, Scholes, Giggs, and Neville still being counted on heavily despite age and fragility which hasn't really been an issue outside of Ferdinand yet.  Is United's season over? Not by a long shot.  Is it possible that Rooney finds his form this weekend and ManYoo rattle off 5 or 6 consecutive wins as Chelsea drop a few points against Citeh and/or Arsenal?  Definitely.  That said, the early indicators aren't positive and Tuesday was just another example of that, not a lone anomaly.

van der Vaart Injury Status

Football365 | All The News | Football News | REDKNAPP DENIES SPURS WERE NAIVE

Spurs' decision to field a 4-5-1 formation paid dividends early on but the formation relied heavily on Rafael van der Vaart, who began to struggle with an injury and was withdrawn shortly after half-time.

Redknapp revealed the Holland midfielder had injured his calf and will be monitored ahead of Saturday's Barclays Premier League game at Wolves.

Who has two thumbs and strained his calf in Champions League action yesterday?

For those of you monitoring van der Vaart's status because you either picked him up on the Barn Door or because you are thinking about him as an inexpensive option in midfield with a good match-up this weekend, it looks like hope is not yet lost. We'll continue to monitor the situation for you up until Friday when team news comes out.

Antonio Valencia suffers suspected broken ankle

BBC Sport - Football - Antonio Valencia suffers suspected broken ankle

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson fears Antonio Valencia suffered a broken ankle in his side's 0-0 Champions League draw with Rangers.

The Ecuadorian was stretchered off after going down under an innocuous-looking tackle from Gers' defender Kirk Broadfoot in the 62nd minute.

Winger Valencia, 25, was taken straight to hospital after the game.

"It looks like a dislocation and a fracture and will keep him out for a long time," said Ferguson.

First Impressions and Second Thoughts - Week 4

Dembele, Dembele, Dembele!

Sometimes you just get a feeling and have to go with it.  As readers of The Week Ahead will recall, I was agonizing over the choice between ChamWow and Dembele and ended up keeping Dembele as much to be different from everyone else as because I was convinced that he'd be better.  The good news is that there were no losers in that decision since ChamWow had his second strong week in 4 tries.  The better news is that Dembele was better still and justified my choice.  Who knows if Dembele can keep this form or not but with Zamora out, I know I'll be sticking with him for a while longer to see how it goes. 

The big question I'll be contemplating this week is whether to move from Carroll (at 5 and change) to ChamWow for the balance of Arsenal's easy early schedule.  I like having Carroll at such a cheap price but Drogs/ChamWow/Dembele looks like it could be a pretty strong combination.

On to what we learned this weekend:

Bobby Zamora suffers broken leg

Premier League - Zamora suffers broken leg - Yahoo! Eurosport

Fulham striker Bobby Zamora suffered a broken leg in Saturday's 2-1 Premier League victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, manager Mark Hughes confirmed.

The forward suffered the injury in a challenge with Wolves midfielder Karl Henry after 27 minutes and left the pitch on a stretcher after receiving oxygen.

"He has broken his leg just above the ankle," Hughes told the BBC.

"He will have an operation tomorrow. He's out for a minimum of four months but if it's worse it could be longer. It's a big loss."

Zamora is the fulcrum of what Fulham do, so this is a big loss. But perhaps it's tempered by the arrival of Neal's latest soccer crush, Mousa Dembele. Dembele has hit two goals and two assists in his first two Premier League games and seems the real deal. It will also provide a chance for Zoltan Gera or Clint Dempsey to claim a place as second striker. Gera has always looked better on paper than he does on the field, and Dempsey is still relatively expensive. So at the moment, Dembele is probably the way to go.

Just ask Neal.

We can't replace Modric - Redknapp

We can't replace Modric - Redknapp - Yahoo! Eurosport

Harry Redknapp admits that Tottenham play-maker Luka Modric is irreplacable amid fears he may face another lengthy spell out injured.

Redknapp is anxiously awaiting the results of a scan after Modric suffered a leg injury in a challenge with West Brom defender Gonzalo Jara during Saturday's 1-1 draw.

The Croatian, who had opened the scoring, left the ground on crutches. The blow to his leg was in the same spot as the one he broke against Birmingham last season and ruled him out for several months.

Van der Vaart. Kranjcar. Gio dos Santos. Not to mention Lennon, Bentley, Bale and Robbie Keane. No offense to Modric, but 'arry has been working long and hard on making him replaceable. And for good reason. He played a good thirty minutes, which is pretty much quota for him until Christmas.

Manchester City turn to Jo

Remember that name.

Manchester City turn to Jô as striker crisis takes grip | Football | The Guardian

I have only Jô available – if not, I will have to play myself,' Mancini said. 'We have been very unlucky. Adebayor got a knock last Saturday in training, Carlos also has an injury and Balotelli has had a very difficult start to life in England.'

No Live Chat Today

Unfortunately I am out of town visiting the in-laws so I will be unable to host a Live Chat this weekend. Normal Live Chat service will resume next weekend. Enjoy the matches and good luck with your choices.

Cheers - Neal

Injuries and Suspensions - Week 4

Premier League team news - Barclays Premier League - ESPN Soccernet

First, the good news - Yahoo! has added the new players (Squillaci, Van Der Vaart, et al) who came in at the end of the transfer window so as you make your final adjustments, you will have them as options. 

Here's a quick list of some of the potentially interesting newbies:
Squillaci (D, Arsenal), Gyan (F, Sunderland), Pletikosa (G, Tottenham), Gallas (D, Tottenham), van der Vaart (M, Tottenham), Boateng (D, Citeh - back from injury), Ramires (M, Chelsea - Lamps hurt), Cleverley (M, Wigan), Ben Arfa (M, Newcastle), Benjani (F, Rovers).

This isn't to say I recommend any of the above highly - Gyan and Boateng are the only two who I'd really consider too strongly with Pletikosa added to the mix if Gomes is definitely out.  If I was sure Ramires would start, I'd be interested there too but the rest are more "wait and see" and be poised to pounce before the Barn Door closes if one or more looks good.

Theo Walcott Out for Four to Six Weeks

Photo courtesy SkySports

Walcott sidelined for ‘four to six weeks’ | News Archive | News | Arsenal.com

Theo Walcott is likely to be out for “four to six weeks”, according to Arsène Wenger.

Speaking to TV Online on Thursday, the Arsenal manager confirmed the extent of the ankle injury picked up by the 21-year-old playing for England on Tuesday night.

It was announced earlier this week that Wenger will be without Robin van Persie for a similar length of time but, on the upside, Samir Nasri has recovered quicker than expected after knee surgery and could even be involved this weekend against Bolton. He’ll definitely be back for SC Braga on Wednesday.

In addition, Johan Djourou and Denilson are available after injury while Sebastien Squillaci could be involved for the first time after his move from Sevilla. All three came through a Reserve team run-out in midweek.

As I wrote on Twitter when his two-week injury was being evaluated by the club,

Is there a scarier phrase in football than "Arsenal's medical team will assess"?

The Week Ahead - Week 4 Edition

I was preparing myself to fill the space generally reserved for ranting about whatever is on my mind with news about the various injuries sustained by key players - Defoe, Dawson, Walcott, et al - over the international break but since Jeremy already covered that here and here there isn't much sense in being repetitive.  Just click and see his fine work.

Honestly, with 4 fantasy (gridiron) football teams getting ready to kickoff the new NFL season this evening and two weeks where there was very little news other than injuries, I have to say that I'm a little bit at a loss as to what to write about leading up to my weekly analysis.  I will go on record with a few NFL predictions that probably none of you outside of the US care about but I'd like to get them on record somewhere so I can take credit for them later in the year.  Plus, we're all about fantasy sports here so there is at least some relevance.

• Kevin Kolb may or may not get the Eagles to the playoffs but he's going to be an excellent fantasy quarterback.  Under Andy Reid (the exceedingly plump coach, not the slightly overweight Sunderland midfielder) the Eagles have always thrown for a lot of yards no matter who the QB has been.
• The New England Patriots aren't going to be very good this year.  Randy Moss bitching about his contract, best O-lineman holding out, best D-lineman out for the year, best CB out for the year, no quality running backs.  I am all for giving Brady/Belicheck their due but at some point there has to be some talent and I just don't see it.  No playoffs in New England.
• Arian Foster will be a top 10 fantasy running back.  Great offense and he fits their style to a T.
• Malcolm Floyd will be the Arian Foster of wide receivers.
• San Francisco will look great until the playoffs when they have to start playing much better teams.  SF players will be great for fantasy but will not deliver in the end when it matters - but maybe next year.
• Dallas will be a playoff team but not the best team in the NFC.
• Kansas City and Oakland will battle down to the wire for a playoff spot and both will be much better than expected on offense - I think Oakland will win out because they were already pretty solid on D.
• Green Bay and Baltimore (who should get healthier on defense as the year goes on) will play in the Super Bowl.
• Green Bay will win it all.

OK, I feel better having that out of the way.  For those of you who don't care, I apologize, back to the Premier League and EPL fantasy now.

Jermain Defoe KO for Six Weeks

Harry Redknapp confirms Jermain Defoe KO | The Sun | Sport | Football

TOTTENHAM boss Harry Redknapp has confirmed the news that Jermain Defoe has been ruled out for six weeks with an ankle injury.

Defoe was taken off on a stretcher during England's 3-1 victory in Switzerland but had hoped to be fit to face West Brom this weekend.

But the Spurs striker was on crutches and wearing a protective boot on his right foot at Spurs' training ground today

Boss Redknapp said: "Even if it's a bad sprain, you're still talking about six weeks or so, because it's a nasty one."

But Theo hopes to be back midweek.

Premier League Roundup

Maybe Kuyt should just leave this kind of thing to the experts.

International break always brings with it injuries, real or imagined, that fantasy managers have to take into consideration for the next game week.  Some are big news, others are a bit more obscure.  This time, there is the added fun of the transfer window having just closed so there's also news about new players and their potential to start (and shine) for their new teams.  Here's what I've been tracking over the last few days:

Rafael van der Vaart Vaart is Upset

Like her husband, Sylvie seems very comfortable on the bench.

Rafael van der Vaart Vaart is upset at his treatment by Holland coach Bert van Marwijk | The Sun |Sport|Football

"I gave everything. Also I was playing in a position which is not comfortable for me, I'm not a left winger."

Good news for fantasy managers with Gareth Bale in their side.

... and at this point, isn't that the large marjority of us?

Walcott Out for Two Weeks

Photo courtesy SkySports

Premier League - Walcott set for spell on sidelines - Yahoo! Eurosport

Arsenal winger Theo Walcott's ankle injury sustained during England's 3-1 win over Switzerland in Basel is not as bad as first feared, but he still faces up to two weeks on the sidelines...

After finding Glen Johnson out wide, Walcott continued his run into the Swiss box, only to trip over Steve von Bergen's outstretched leg just before Wayne Rooney tapped home Johnson's cross from close range.

The 21-year-old was taken to hospital for a precautionary X-ray on his ankle, but the scan revealed he had merely sprained rather than broken it.

England manager Fabio Capello said after the match: "It's a little problem, but not a big problem. We will have to wait to see how it is.

"I spoke with Theo and he told me it is not a big problem. I said 'two weeks?'. He said less."

I'm tipping Eboue to take the right-side of the front three spot, and for 5.55 looks a good bet at home against an admittedly tough-looking Bolton.

Injury Updates: Can't Say We're Surprised...

Mixed injury news ahead of Bolton game | News Archive | News | Arsenal.com

News from the Arsenal camp is that Nasri will be back to training later this week (I wouldn't count on him to feature this weekend though) and that RvP will be on the bench until mid-October.  With RvP's injury history you can't think this comes as a big surprise.  Fantasy managers will be happy because this likely cements Arshavin, Chamakh, and Walcott as the three attackers.  The jury is still out on Chamakh who has yet to really find his footing but for Arshavin and Walcott (whom many may have at a significant discount) the news is good.

Cheers - Neal

Stats That May Surprise You

F365's Ten Favourite Geeky Stats...

Football365 starts Tuesday with some insight that may help fantasy managers with their evaluation of "phantom points" and who is and isn't likely to be getting them.  I'll let you read the entire article because it's a good read but it is remarkable how efficient Chelsea - mostly Drogs and FloMal (1 missed SOT between them) have been thus far.  Also amazing how incompetent ManCiteh has been going forward.  Tell us again what a great idea it is having a well-known Italian manager.  I guess we should be asking "well-known for what?"

Anyway, with another 5 days until the matches start again, I figured I'd start knocking the rust off after a few days of not writing during the international break.

Hope everyone enjoyed what was an amazingly beautiful weekend here on the East Coast of the US.

Cheers - Neal

Belated Injury News

Sunderland striker Fraizer ruled out for season | Mail Online

I generally don't have many positive things to say about Yahoo's attempted forays into social media (mostly via the Yahoo Mail platform) but today we see one of the few benefits of it.  Jeremy and I are connected via that platform and I saw that he had "bookmarked" this article about Frazier Campbell's injury (he's out for the season with a ligament tear) but due to a vacation with his family he didn't have any time for a blog post.  So, I'm here to help fill in the blanks and do a little analysis on this injury.

Waiting on the Big News...

Did Spurs get the deal for van der Vaart done in time?  Reports from Spain say "yes" but there hasn't been any confirmation.  If he did, there will be all sorts of "fantasy football" implications...(if you didn't get that one, see the picture of his better half). 

If Spurs do get their man, it will make for some interesting selection dilemmas once everyone is healthy at the Lane.  VDV will presumably start and you have to play Bale and Lennon/Bentley and then a holding midfielder (presumably Palacios on most days).  That would leave Modric, Kranjcar, Jenas, THud, and the other of Lennon/Bentley stewing on the bench and playing cup matches that you know they think are beneath them.  Not to mention Jamie O'Hara and Danny Rose who may not even make the bench for said cup matches at this point.

Analysis of the Deadline Moves [Updated]

Here we go, the last day of Silly Season for 2010.  By the end of the day we'll know the complete list of who is staying and who is moving on.  I'll be keeping a running list here of the moves and my impression of their impact on your fantasy choices in the weeks and months to come.  I'll also update this post as new confirmations come in.

Beat the Bloggers - Week 3

Week three is in the books, and heading into the international break here are your weekly winners and overall leaders.

• Beat the Bloggers 1
  Weekly: Poacher FC 120.50
  Overall: blah blah [AM.Blog] 418.00
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 2
  Weekly: Asher_MaxTen 124.50
  Overall: Syaitan Merah V4.0 366.50
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 3
  Weekly: Wont Win Anything With Kids FC 119.00
  Weekly: Motee 119.00
  Overall: The Gav FC 372.00
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 4
  Weekly: Dream Team 117.50
  Overall: Realronaldo[AM.Blog] 369.00
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 5
  Weekly: In Roy We Trust 131.00
  Overall: Los Once Guevones [AM.Blog] 368.50
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 6
  Weekly: nmrsfc 117.50
  Overall: chuggington [am] 406.00
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 7
  Weekly: Mat Aji 122.00
  Overall: WokWok-[AM.Blog] 377.00
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 8
  Weekly: Kenny Lunts snooker experience 112.00
  Overall: Merv XI 375.00
  

This week's big winner was likely Liverpool fan, "In Roy We Trust", with 131 points.  Clean sheets from Reina and Skrtel, and goals from Nani, Etuhu, Drogba and Carroll powered Roy's blogger-beating side.  Congratulations!

For comparison, your bloggers are at:

• In the Spirit of Fair Play 103.50 (317.50 total)
• Fantasy Blogger FC 85.50 (301.5 total)

Finally, due to popular demand, we've created "Beat the Bloggers" private group #9.

Group ID = 16593
Password = bloggers

First Impressions and Second Thoughts

I was THISclose to having a pretty strong weekend.  But for Kolo Toure's penalty I would have had an extra 15 points (between Hart and Kompany) or so and been in solid position in 2nd or 3rd in my private group with Jeremy, Nik (the Assistant Manager), and assorted other friends and friends-of-friends. For a moment as I watched the textcast unfold on BBC.com (while watching Villa/Everton) I even had thoughts of Hart making the PK save and having a massive weekend but it wasn't to be.  Instead the weekend ended bittersweet at best.  Here's a recap of what I observed about the actual Premier League as well as the fantasy Premier League:

Liverpool agree fee for Raul Meireles

BBC Sport - Football - Liverpool agree fee for Portugal's Raul Meireles

Liverpool have agreed a fee with Porto for midfielder Raul Meireles.

The combative Portugal international is seen as a natural replacement for Javier Mascherano, who is poised to complete a move to Barcelona.

A statement on Liverpool's website said Meireles was on Merseyside to "undergo a medical and discuss personal terms".

I think Meireles is a great player. He's a box-to-box midfielder and can disrupt play as well as start - or finish - it. What's odd, and it's the same problems I had with the Joe Cole signing, is that Liverpool keep strengthening the areas of the team in which they are already deep, or already have quality. I mean, if there's one player already in the Liverpool squad to whom I'd compare Miereles... it would be Steven Gerrard! Certainly he's much more of a player than Mascherano. And besides, they've already bought Poulsen to play in the midfield destroyer, "Makelele" role.

So kudos to Liverpool for the addition, but we'll have to wait and see how they fit Miereles into the side.

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.

Andy Carroll Fitness Doubt

Newcastle striker Andy Carroll is struggling to be fit for today’s visit to Wolves.

The 20-year-old star, who scored his first Barclays Premier League hat-trick in last weekend’s 6-0 drubbing of Aston Villa, is struggling with an ankle injury.

Carroll picked up the knock in training on Thursday and was unable to take part in the final team session yesterday morning.

Insight Into The Mind Of Wenger?

TEAMtalk | Football | Premier League | Arsenal News - Denilson fit to face Rovers

Arsenal (from): Almunia, Clichy, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Sagna, Arshavin, Fabregas, Song, Walcott, Chamakh, van Persie, Fabianski, Diaby, Vela, Wilshere, Rosicky, Eboue, Gibbs, Djourou.

This from TEAMtalk.  For those who don't know, most Premier League teams list all of the players they are bringing in the squad for a given match by position (i.e., two goal keepers first, then defenders, you get the idea).  Arsenal typically list their starting XI first followed by their reserves.  The fidelity on this method of determining their line-up isn't 100% but it has generally served us well over the years.  For that reason, I give you this link and extract from the article.  If this is to be believed then Arshavin, Theo, RvP, Chamakh, and Cesc will all start in an extremely attacking-oriented line-up.  Is it enough to make your selections based on? I'm not sure but I figured it was worth getting the information to you so you could make your own decision.

Cheers - Neal

Injuries and Suspensions

Premier League team news - Barclays Premier League - ESPN Soccernet

While the link above is still being filled in, you can also check out the BBC's individual match previews for team news if you want to get the news direct from the source.  If you'd prefer some fantasy analysis with your injury news, here you go:

The Week Ahead - Week 3 Edition

There has been a lot of chatter - in the blog comments, on AIM between me and Jeremy, and on last weekend's Live Chat - about the relative merits of Joey Barton (especially when compared to Kevin Nolan).  I thought I'd throw in my two cents before I got on with the usual business of this column.  This decision really comes down to philosophy in picking your fantasy team and the quirks of the Yahoo game versus most other fantasy games.  Since Yahoo includes the notion of "phantom points" (successful crosses, corners won, shots on target, etc.) the most frequent goal scorers aren't necessarily the most useful fantasy players - especially if that's about all they do.  Here's my breakdown of the two players and why I chose the way I did on the Barn Door.

Justification

... not for the mustache.  There's no reasonable justification for that.  Rather, I'm having a hard time justifying having Joey Barton in my team. Especially in a week when I've also fielding Scholes in the midfield. So I'm trying to remember Barton of a few years ago, taking kicks and generally being a fantasy stud for Manchester City circa 2005-07.

Also helping is Newcastle's upcoming run of fixtures:

• @Wolves - not an easy task, but not @Che either
• Blackpool - you're in on this one, right?
• @Everton - not an easy task, but Eve may not have sorted out their by now typical early season issues yet
• Stoke - not an easy game, but not the hardest either especially at home
• @Manchester City - A player scoring against his old team? Not unheard of.
• Wigan - you're in on this one, right?
• @West Ham - see Blackpool and Wigan above (just like West Ham see Blackpool and Wigan above them in the table! Thanks, I'll be here all week.)
• Sunderland - derby, but at least it's the home leg. And Sunderland remain a lousy road team.

That takes us through to November, and who knows what the Premier League landscape will look like by then. But I'm feeling a litte better about Barton on the Barn Door. How about you?

Beat the Bloggers - Week Two

Week two is in the books, and here are your winners, who top their respective "Beat the Bloggers" groups for the week.

• Beat the Bloggers 1
  blah blah [AM.Blog] 204.00
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 2
  Syaitan Merah V4.0 204.50
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 3
  The Gav FC 184.00
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 4
  Realronaldo[AM.Blog] 197.50
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 5
  Toon Army 190.50
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 6
  Taf Tacklers 212.00
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 7
  WokWok-[AM.Blog] 202.00
  
  
• Beat the Bloggers 8
  Paul the octopus 173.50
  

This week's big winner was Taf Tacklers in BtB 6. He got hat-tricks from both Walcott and Carroll as well as goals from Bale, Malouda, Arshavin and ChamWow. Drogba and Foster also contributed. His only misses were Carr and Dorrans who were certainly enabling players. Congratulations, Taf Tacklers.

For comparison, your bloggers were at:

• Fantasy Blogger FC 131.00 (216 total)
  
• In the Spirit of Fair Play 145.00 (214 total)
  

Finally, there are still spots available in "Beat the Bloggers" private group #8.

Group ID = 14421
Password = bloggers

First Impressions and Second Thoughts

First it was just Chelsea piling on the goals (OK, Blackpool did it too) in Week 1 but this week was a goal-fest that included some of the usual suspects (Chelsea and Arsenal) and another promoted team who announced that while they may not be ready for ManYoo at Old Trafford, they are most definitely ready for anyone outside of the league's elite with a 6-0 thumping of Aston Villa.  Here's a quick look at what we learned this weekend:

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

Carlos Vela Juggling

One more note on Arsenal/Blackpool. This was a lovely demonstration of skill from Carlos Vela, ultimately undone by a demonstration of his left-footedness.

TW14

Okay, the title may be a bit blasphemous, but I have to give a little love to hat-trick hero Theo Walcott. I picked him for my team and am honestly surprised that he wasn't more of a popular selection. Of course I don't know how many fantasy Premier League teams did pick him up because Yahoo! hasn't updated the game yet. But that's a story for another day... or post.


 by Guardian Chalkboards

It's a bit amazing that after two weekends, we'll already had three players score hat-tricks - Didier Drogba, Andy Carroll and Theo Walcott. Another player, Florent Malouda, has three goals and Drogba even added a hat-trick of assists against Wigan.  With Spurs hosting Wigan, Manchester United hosting West Ham United and Chelsea hosting Stoke City would anyone bet on the trend NOT continuing?

Barn Door Insider

For those of you who couldn't make it to the live chat, there weren't a ton of Barn Door options that presented themselves today but I figured I'd send along some options if you have time to make some moves before Yahoo! posts scores:

• Jussi - Foster had a better game today but Jussi has a better match-up next weekend (home to Foster and Birmingham).  Really though, either would be a good "get" while you decide what you want to do this week.  You might not want to keep either of them in the end but wouldn't you rather have the choice?
• Bale - Did I mention, he's a stud?  If you didn't listen last week, you should listen this week.
• Nzonzi - I guess we'll see how Dunn recovers but if Nzonzi continues to play then you should consider him for the price - even against Arsenal.
• Malouda - His price is going up but you should get in on the action before it gets to Lampard level.

Honestly though, there weren't too many "finds" this weekend.  The best match-ups go to the big clubs next weekend with ManYoo, Liverpool, and Spurs all having what should be easy home matches.  Chelsea shouldn't be too challenged by Stoke at the Bridge and Arsenal and Citeh have relatively weak opposition on the road (Rovers and Sunderland respectively). 

Why no love for Hat Trick Hero Theo Walcott? Too much uncertainty.  Maybe he starts but more likely he doesn't with RvP and Cesc coming back into the side.  My guess is that Theo starts most of the time at home and Eboue starts most of the time on the road.  I don't know if that's exactly how it will turn out but I can say with certainty that Walcott is not a guaranteed starter.  If you want to pick him up before his price goes up, that's fine but don't be shocked when he's on the bench next week at Ewood Park.

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.

Injuries and Suspensions

Are you fit? No, are you? No.  I'm sorry.  Give me a hug.  Are you fit?

There doesn't seem to be quite the laundry list of issues for this week.  The most important news is that Drogs and Lamps have been pronounced fit.  Following up quickly behind that is the fact that Spurs have been a bit decimated - especially at the striker position.  Finally, we still don't have much in the way of definitive pronouncements from Arsenal with Cesc, RvP, Song, and Djourou still all up in the air after today's pre-match reports and press conferences.

Definitely Out

• Defoe, Modric, Keane, Pavyluchenko, Bentley, dos Santos, and O'Hara - that's a lot of attacking power that won't be starting this weekend for Spurs but it does mean that we can probably count on Crouch, Kranjcar, Lennon, and Bale to get starts in front of THud or Palacios which is nice.
• Koscielny, Djourou, Bendtner, and Nasri (according to BBC.com) - this probably means that Song will be forced back into action at CB with Diaby continuing on as a makeshift holding midfielder.  No real illumination on the more important questions related to the attacking roles between Cesc/Wilshere/Rosicky and RvP/Chamakh/Walcott/Arshavin - I'd tend towards certainty here which SEEMS to favor Arshavin and Chamakh over any of the other choices.
• Collins and Cuellar - No word on whether Davies will deputize or if he'll be eased back in after a Thursday match - Clark isn't a bad idea but there's certainly no guarantee.  That said, Luke Young will almost definitely continue on the right.

Other News from around the Premier League

The Week Ahead - Week 2

It was quite an opening weekend for fantasy managers.  Everyone's favorite projected trend - load up on players playing against Blackpool, especially when 'pool are on the road - was about as big a flop as something can be.  Chris Kirkland owners are nodding their heads vigorously at this point and joined to a lesser extent by those who bought in on Yayga, Boselli, N'Zogbia, Stam, and Figueroa.  Just not a good week for Wigan and the fantasy managers who bet on them. 

Before we over-react TOO much, let's remember that this was the Premier League debut for both Boselli and Stam so I wouldn't write either of those two off just yet.  We also may want to give some level of credit for the debacle to the unsettled nature of the Charles N'Zogbia situation.  For those of us operating outside of the dressing room, we can never know how much or how little a single unsettled player can disrupt an entire team.  It can be very little (see Milner, James for Villa last weekend) or potentially a lot as in the case of Wigan.  Or it could just be that Wigan miscalculated when they lost Scharner and Bramble in the off-season and their replacements either aren't that good or just haven't adapted yet.  Hard to say.  What we can say is that we probably won't be betting on Wigan again until they show some signs of life.

Poor Advertising Decisions

From Arsenal.com:



Sorry, but that seems to me to be a poor choice of words when, before just the second match of the season, your injury list looks like this:

• Nicklas Bendtner (groin - out)
• Samir Nasri (knee - out)
• Emmanuel Frimpong (knee - out)
• Aaron Ramsey (leg - out)
• Laurent Koscielny  (suspended - out)
• Alex Song (calf - doubtful)
• Johan Djourou (hamstring - doubtful)
• Denilson (abdominal - doubtful)
• Cesc Fabregas (match fitness - doubtful)
• Robin van Persie (match fitness - doubtful)

Alert: Charlie Adam Price Break

We here at the blog aren't sure how long whatever glitch is going on over at Yahoo! will last but for those of you who didn't get Charlie Adam on the Barn Door last weekend and are interested in doing so, this is the time.  Some quirk of the database has reset his price to under 5.5.  So if you want to take a chance that the team that allowed Gerrard 15 points (despite him playing in a deeper-lying position than usual and without benefit of either a goal or an assist) might give up some points to Adam as well then get to it. I'm not sure that I'm going to keep him but I'm happy to have the opportunity.

The Best Fake Competition Idea Ever

OK, I don't know if it really would be the best fake competition idea ever but I certainly needed something to draw the eyeballs in and that's what I came up with.  The genesis of my proposal came from - what else - an IM session between Jeremy and I yesterday where we were discussing, among other things, the insane amount of talent on the Real Madrid bench in the wake of the Ozil signing from Werder Bremen. That got us thinking about the combined talent on the Real Madrid and Man Citeh benches and here's where my twisted mind went from there:

Why doesn't some enterprising entrepreneur create a shadow one month competition (not unlike the Indian Premier League in Cricket) between the four best second teams in the world?  Real Madrid and Manchester City would clearly be the first two teams on the list with Barcalona a likely third.  I'm not sure who the fourth would be this season with Chelsea and Inter Milan having thinned their ranks somewhat over the Summer but I'm sure we can come up with something (maybe Arsenal's reserves). 

Why do this? For a few reasons:

• By locating the tournament strategically, it would be great marketing for football in markets they don't traditionally reach during the regular season.  I'd think India, Japan/Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and US/Canada would be great places to rotate.  Alternatively, they could pick a resort destination and create a high end event for fans to enjoy as part-spectator event, part-vacation (I'm thinking Las Vegas would be the obvious spot for this).
• By bringing together exceptional talent and (presumably) having the financial power to create a meaningful financial incentive for the club that wins (say $10 Million), the matches would mean something.
• Finally, because the matches would mean something this would give us an opportunity to watch some of the best talents in the world in the competitive situations that they'll be missing out on over the next couple of years as they rot on the benches of their current "super clubs."  Here are some excerpts from those rosters and the players we're likely NOT to see on a regular basis...
• Real Madrid - Ozil, de Maria, van der Vaart, Benezma, L. Diarra, M. Diarra, Drenthe, Carvalho, Gago, etc.;
• Man City - K2, SWP, Adam Johnson, Robinho, Given, Bridge, Lescott, Vieira, Weiss, Micheal Johnson, RSC (for now), Jo, Richards, etc.
• Barcelona - Krkic, Ibrahimovic, Hleb, Keita, Hleb, Abidal, Pedro, and a bunch of kids who are likely to improve;

We could hold all of the matches on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays so as not to compete with league matches across Europe.

The final twist in this twisted idea is that at the end of the tournament, the management team from the winning side must come out to the center of the field to be ritually flogged by contest winners.  Perhaps this would dissuade them from accumulating so much superfluous talent.  At the very least, it would make the supporters of teams like Bremen and Lyon and Everton who used to be able to hold on to one or two exceptional players when they unearthed them feel better that at least their tormentors were suffering some consequences for robbing the footballing worlds of so much talent on a weekly basis.

Just a thought, you may now return to your regularly scheduled day.  Of course you may also contribute your own thoughts on alternative ways to take advantage of all of the talent sitting on the benches of rich teams or to punish those in charge of assembling these too-large squads in creative ways.

Manchester City sign James Milner with Stephen Ireland going the other way to Aston Villa - Manchester City FC

Manchester City sign James Milner with Stephen Ireland going the other way to Aston Villa - Manchester City FC

Manchester City have today completed the signing of James Milner from Aston Villa.

Milner completes his move from the West Midland club in time to be available for a debut in front of the City fans for Monday evening’s eagerly anticipated game against Liverpool. He will not be able to feature in tomorrow evening’s Europa League game with Timisoara...

Going the other way, Stephen Ireland has also completed his transfer from City to Villa. Ireland spent eight years at City, having come through the ranks as a teenager. He made 142 starts in that time, scoring 23 goals. His best season in a City shirt came in 2008/09, when he was named as the Club’s Player of the Year.

Both transfers were completed this afternoon, with Milner taking up the squad number seven following Ireland’s departure. City manager Roberto Mancini was delighted to finally seal the capture of Milner.

Groin Injuries for Defoe and Modric

Tottenhamhotspur.com - News Articles - 'A great defeat' - Harry

Harry reported that Luka Modric and Jermain Defoe were both forced out of the action with groin injuries.

Niko Kranjcar came on for Luka Modric at half-time while JD limped off and was replaced by Robbie Keane after 66 minutes.

"We'll have to see how they are," added Harry, who now prepares for the trip to Stoke in the Premier League on Saturday.

Keane and Krancjar now in your Premier League fantasy reckoning for @Stoke?

Kolarov blow for City

Kolarov blow for City - Manchester Evening News

New Manchester City defender Aleksandar Kolarov is out for at least two weeks after damaging ankle ligaments against Tottenham.

Thankfully, his price dropped after the Spurs' match so it shouldn't be a problem to drop him now and pick him up when he returns.

But whom do you pick up? Ferreira? Faubert? What other defenders are worth getting at the price?

Nasri blow for Gunners

Nasri blow for Gunners - Yahoo! Eurosport

Arsenal were dealt another injury blow this afternoon with the news that France midfielder Samir Nasri would be out of action for around a month with a knee problem...

Arsene Wenger must also now do without the versatile Nasri - who often came inside to cover for captain Cesc Fabregas in central midfield - for probably the next five games, which also include the start of the Champions League campaign in mid-September.

A club statement read: "Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri will today undergo minor surgery on his knee following a meniscal injury sustained during the match against Liverpool on Sunday.

"Nasri, who has been in impressive form, will be out of action for a month."

Well, it's back to the drawing board for me. I was planning on selling Martin Petrov to get Nasri so that I could afford Vermaelen in defence. However, now I may only be able to afford Sagna. I was worried that Sagna would sit out the home match as he did so often at the end of last season, but if Eboue is likely needed in midfield, maybe it's a safe bet.

This injury also makes Cesc's return to the first team even more vital for the Gunners. I couldn't find any information on his status yesterday, but will keep looking as the week progresses and the visit from Blackpool gets closer.

A Nickname is Born

It's only one week into the season and I'm already tired of trying to remember if new Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh is spelled "kh" or "hk". I need a shortcut, so he needs a nickname.

In the spirit of "Who is K2" I am pleased to introduce, ChamWow!



The pitchman even has the same haircut!

First Impressions. Second Thoughts.

Alternate title, "Monday Morning Manager".

So here are a few thoughts from the first weekend of Premier League matches. We'll try to break things down in a couple categories. First, what we learned about the actual league and how things might end up turning out. Second, what we learned about fantasy. Finally, we'll put a specific focus on new arrivals and rising players and what we learned about them.

Beat the Bloggers - Week One

Week one is in the books, and here are your winners, toping their respective "Beat the Bloggers" groups.

• Justified 102.00
• NUFC BenWang [AM.Blog] 104.50
• Team Buzzkill [AM.Blog] 111.00
• Papaya.FC 106.50
• Los Once Guevones [AM.Blog] 107.00
• SuperrB0B FC 106.50
• Alibaba FC 115.00

Alibaba FC, the week's big winner's team selection is interesting. Not only did that team not have Drogba and his three goals, but it also fielded Kirkland and his -10!  However, goals from Malouda, Berbatov and Ngog, and good performance from Terry, Bale, Rodallega and Adam paced Alibaba FC to the top.

For comparison, your bloggers were at:

• Fantasy Blogger FC 85.00
• In the Spirit of Fair Play 68.50

Congratulations to all the week one winners!

Also, since Beat the Bloggers #1-7 are full, here is the info on "Beat the Bloggers" private group #8.

Group ID = 14421

Password = bloggers

It's never too late to join.

Manchester United v. Newcastle United - Live

Updated below (after the jump) with second half "call" and post-match wrap up.

Neal Thurman: sigh - Rooney and Valencia in, Fabio out (apparently the Evra resting thing was a red herring)
Neal Thurman: O'Shea was the right choice
Jeremy Spitzberg: boo
Jeremy Spitzberg: well, if i had to pick 2 outta 3...
Jeremy Spitzberg: those would be the two
Neal Thurman: grr
Jeremy Spitzberg: espn3?
Neal Thurman: I'm still between internet providers so I don't have an ESPN3 account to use right now :-(
Jeremy Spitzberg: loading
Jeremy Spitzberg: nice
Jeremy Spitzberg: MAX BRETOS?
Jeremy Spitzberg: oh hell no
Neal Thurman: yeah, he went over to ESPN over the summer
Neal Thurman: just when you thought it was safe...
Jeremy Spitzberg: yuck
Jeremy Spitzberg: carroll is a big dude
Jeremy Spitzberg: not pretty either
Jeremy Spitzberg: fabio not even on the bench
Jeremy Spitzberg: sigh
Neal Thurman: oh well - my only non-starter of the weekend which puts me up on lots of people - now I can comfortably root for a ManYoo loss, Rooney RC, etc
Jeremy Spitzberg: comm shield Owen's swan song?
Neal Thurman: could be - nice of SAF to give him a send-off but would have been nice if he'd told any/everybody

The Barn Door Live - Welcome Back Edition

Welcome back everyone.  The blog is back at full strength after a summer of relaxing a bit.  Join us for our first Live Chat of the season.

My line-up for anyone interested...
Cech, Kolarov, Koscielny, Fabio, MPet, JCole, Gera, FloMal, Drogba, Chamakh, Boselli

Click "Read More" for the chat recap.

Injuries and Suspensions

Premier League team news - Barclays Premier League - ESPN Soccernet

Out

• Carlos Cuellar and James Collins - the problem is that there isn't any definitive on Davies' health so the Collins replacement could either be Davies or the youngster Ciaran Clark.  Regardless, Luke Young is probably too expensive to choose as a deputy for Cuellar on the right;
• Thomas Hitzlsperger - he picked up a thigh injury playing for Germany in midweek - I wasn't clear exactly what his role was going to be to start the season anyway so probably not a major change to the WHU starting line-up;
• Andy Reid - you knew this but just a reminder in case you forgot - Jeremy's soccer crush Jordan Henderson could pick up the points;
• Liam Lawrence - out with a groin strain for Stoke - not really worth worrying about a replacement;
• Johan Djourou/Nicholas Bendtner/Aaron Ramsey - the only Arsenal players who are definitely out for the Liverpool match despite Football365 constantly assuming that Arsenal will "break the unofficial record for players being crocked to open the season" - means Koscielny will definitely start because, well, what other options does Wenger have at the back?
  

Uncertain/Fitness Test

• Joe Hart/Shay Given - no obvious answer here so I'd stay away from both due to uncertainty and quality opposition;
• David Silva and Jerome Boateng - more mystery coming from Eastlands as neither new signing is certain to start after international duty - you have been duly warned so you can make your decisions accordingly;
• Agbonlahor - "battling to overcome a hamstring" doesn't sound like "I want to spend a lot of my budget on this guy"; 
• Mame Diouf - the loanee from ManYoo played an international in midweek and hasn't had much training time with his new team but Rovers are thin at striker - sounds like a substitute appearance to me;
  
• Schwarzer/Etuhu/Konchesky - that's a lot of defending in question for Fulham which could mean that Bolton's attack goes from being "not bad" to "a pretty solid bet" at home;
• Darren Bent - rated as "50/50" by the manager which pretty much kills the value of both Bent and Welbeck;
• Ben Foster - facing a late fitness test but you probably don't want him nor any alternative on the road;
• Kevin Doyle - he sounds closer to "out" than "in" but it isn't definitive, guess my "Reading Reunion" storyline will have to wait a week or two to get started;
• Abdoulaye Faye - could weaken the Stoke back-line/toughness but at best it balances out the likely absence of Doyle for Wolves - nothing to see here;
• Graham Dorrans - one of the potentially very interesting newbies looks very likely to make his debut in the league - I'm not picking him against Chelsea but it will be good to see how he adapts before potentially picking him for next week;
  
• Frank Lampard - he usually comes through these things and starts but its worth noting that he's listed on the injury report and will face a "late fitness test";
  
• Didier Drogba - no real information on Drogba and we know he can play but the question is whether he starts - the uncertainty probably makes Rooney the better value as a Premium Striker;
• Fernando Torres - my gut tells me he won't be ready but the injury report says "he's in contention" so we shall see;
• Cesc Fabregas/RvP/Alex Song/Denilson - Which means that Wilshere and Chamakh are also questionable to start since we have NO IDEA what Wenger will do if he has all of his players available;
  

Back/All Clear

• Petr Cech - all clear putting him (and his lower price) firmly in competition with EvdS for best keeper option of the week;
  
• Alex - Even better news for Cech (and a CHE clean sheet) is the news that Alex will be back to partner Terry which probably pushes Ivanovic over to right back and negates Ferriera's value on as a cheap defender - guess that's sort of a good news/bad news thing for managers;
  
• Tim Cahill - looks like he'll make it and start in his typical attacking midfielder/withdrawn striker role for Everton;
• Javier Mascherano - Looks like Hodgson will consider him despite wanting to sell him which should help the Liverpool defense;
  

The Week Ahead - Season Kickoff Edition

I have to admit that I'm a little mentally fatigued from writing all of those season previews over the last couple of weeks but I have to say that after looking at all that information about all of those players, I feel as prepared for a season as I ever have been.  Given the level to which I've geeked out in the past, that's really saying something.  With The Fantasist having (ahem) co-opted many of the good ideas from this blog as well as some of the other independent blogs focused on the Yahoo fantasy game (Assistant Manager, Scout, etc) we have to keep ourselves ahead of the game.  With that in mind, I have some new wrinkles that we'll be introducing over the course of the season to help our readers stay ahead of those unenlightened types who don't care enough about their fantasy teams to find and consistently read our blog.

Season Preview: West Brom

Overall Outlook - As Jeremy just called them in our IM stream about the last few teams in our season preview series, they are "the Darren Huckerby of teams" and sadly that isn't a compliment despite Huckerby's status as both an EPL fantasy favorite when he was with Norwich and more recently an MLS fantasy favorite in his first year at San Jose.  That said, the reference is to a player, or in this case team, who just treads water.  The players are largely the same as the last time we saw WBA in the Prem.  They are mostly veterans and there is little reason to think they're suddenly going to step up their level after being cast off from bigger clubs and finding their level at the top of the Championship and the bottom of the Prem.  Guys like Nicky Shorey, Luke Moore, James Morrison, Roman Bednar, and the like just aren't going to take you anywhere and sadly for fantasy managers, they also aren't likely to put up many exciting numbers for you.  Despite their veteran presence, you have to think this group is bound directly back from whence they came.

Season Preview: Wolves

Overall Outlook - One of the teams that I saw live and in person last season and I have to say I went from being a little down on them to really appreciating the effort and commitment that they got from limited talent last season.  There were some numbers (Fletcher, Mouyokolo, van Damme) as well as some proven quality added over the Summer in an attempt to consolidate their place in the Prem.  The quality comes in the form of Stephen Hunt arriving from Hull to reunite with Kevin Doyle and Marcus Hahnemann to see if they can recreate the Reading-in-2006/2007 magic that shocked the Premier League with an 8th place finish.  The big question is whether the talent exists on the current Wolves roster to fill the roles that players like Dave Kitson, Sidwell, etc. filled on that Reading squad to push them towards the top half.  I think that Wolves will indeed consolidate their place and survive.  That said, there is one thing worth mentioning at this point, I'm pretty sure those two exact players - Sidwell and Kitson - are extremely available if Mick wants to get Stevie Coppell's band back together.  In fact, I guess Coppell himself is pretty available at this point as well - perhaps a first team manager in waiting?  Just saying...

Season Preview: Wigan Athletic

Overall Outlook - It's hard to know what to expect from Wigan's roster shuffling thus far.  More importantly, the question is whether that shuffling - specifically the "headed out the door" part is yet complete for the summer.  There have been persistent rumors that either N'Zogbia or Rodallega will be departing for clubs farther up the table.  If either of those players departs, the outlook at Wigan will be dramatically different than it would be with them.  There seems to be a growing base of solid talent but N'Zog and Yayga are the only two who have proven themselves to be potential match-winners.  While neither are so exceptional that they are going to push Wigan firmly into the top half, the lack of a couple proven match winners is going to make it very difficult for them to stay out of a relegation battle.  If both players stay, I predict something in the 13th to 16th place finish area.  If one goes then they'll probably survive but only just barely.  If both go, then we'll be seeing Roberto Martinez back in the Championship next season.

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