Fantasy Premier League Blog

Round-up

Asian zone group B 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match

Six footballers playing for Iran's national team, including the captain, have appeared in a World Cup qualifier in Seoul, South Korea, wearing armbands in green - the colour used by Mr Mousavi in his election campaign. Our correspondent says this was an incredible thing for them to do with the match shown live on Iranian television.

In other transfer news:

Hahnemann joins Wolves A good signing. He's prone to do some stupid things from time to time, but a great shot stopper and with that vital Premier League experience.
Kelly joins Fulham It doesn't bode well that he couldn't get a game at Stoke last season, but this is a good squad-building move for Fulham. Nothing more, however.
Coyle ready for tough start Burnley's opening month fixtures are @Stoke, Manchester United, Everton, @Chelsea, @Liverpool. Ouch, baby. Very ouch.

Best and Worst of 2009: Chelsea

Football - Chelsea v Everton FA Cup Final

Best Moment: Chelsea 0 - 0 Hull. Not their finest moment? Perhaps. But it was Big Phil's last stand... last straw, whatever... and it was his firing after this match, and Hiddink's subsequent hire, that turned Chelsea's season around. Under Scolari, Chelsea were an under-achieving side composed of pampered stars. Is it notable that the Hull match was Quaresma's only start for them? Under Hiddink they became a team whose best players were put out in an organized fashion. They became a force again, kept from a title challenge in the Premier League only by their earlier failures and from the Champions League final by some um, unique refereeing and a stunning winner.

Best Transfer: Does Hiddink count? If it has to be a player it would be Bosingwa. He gave Chelsea balance and especially earlier in the season he was a great attacking outlet. At 26, he's in his prime and that's not something you can say about a lot of the Chelsea players. Especially...

Worst Transfer: Deco. He was going to be Scolari's midfield general, pulling the strings and dictating the play. In the end he was just Scolari's pet, keeping his place in the side due to his manager's loyalty rather than his form. That being said...

Best Start: Deco's free kick goal in week 2 promised so much. But poor form and then injury (age related in both instances?) saw him fade away into irrelevance. Rumors are that he's wanted by Inter, and perhaps he will thrive in the slower pace of Serie A. Honorable mention would have to go to Nic Anelka who raced out to a league-leading twelve goals before Drogba returned from injury -- is it just me or are all of these things related? -- and Scolari benched him claiming that the two couldn't play together.

Best Finish: Anelka again. After being restored to the starting line-up he got back to scoring goals and finished the season as the Premier League's leading scorer. Honorable mention goes to Florent Malouda whose smart running, and some great finishing, finally began showing why he was one of the most exciting attacking talents in Ligue 1 when Chelsea signed him.

Biggest Disappointment (injury): Joe Cole and Michael Essien. Chelsea sure could have used Cole's guile on either wing, if only as an option off the bench. And when Essien came back to Chelsea he quickly showed how essential he was to their game.

Biggest Disappointment (non-injury): Has to be Deco again, but it could also be Ballack. Both were big signings meant to take Chelsea's midfield to a world class level and both have failed to make an impact at the club. Honorable mention could go to Petr Cech who just hasn't been the same keeper since, well... his injury. Okay so maybe it's the wrong category, but he's no longer the world's best and sometimes flirts with not even being a safe pair of hands.

Biggest Achilles Heel: Their squad is older and not as deep as their rivals at the top of the Premier League and across Europe. They will need a smarter transfer policy going forward as they can't compete with the likes of Real Madrid, or unbelievably, Manchester City in transfer fees anymore and nor are they as attractive a destination as Barca or Milan. While their first eleven can be as good as any, they may need more rest and possibly more motivation. A deeper, younger squad could provide both.

Wolves sign star midfielder

Wolves have made Serbia midfielder Nenad Milijas their first signing of the summer as they prepare for life in the Premier League.

Milijas has signed a four-year contract at Molineux, subject to a work permit, after completing a move from Red Star Belgrade for an undisclosed fee.

"We're really thrilled to have started our summer recruitment with Nenad Milijas," said Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey.

The 26-year-old, who stands 6ft 2in tall, was the player of the year in the Serbian league last season.

Left-footed, dead-ball specialist, and scored 1 in 2 for Red Star Belgrade last season. As the song goes, "Heaven... I'm in heaven!" Cheap middie signed to a promoted side. You can cross that off my shopping list for next fantasy season.

United accept world record Ronaldo bid

Football - Manchester United v Aston Villa Barclays Premier League

"Manchester United have received a world-record, unconditional offer of 80 million pounds for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid," the club said.

"At Cristiano's request - who has again expressed his desire to leave - and after discussion with the player's representatives, United have agreed to give Real Madrid permission to talk to the player.

Well, well, well...

First fantasy Premier League had the David Beckham era. He was the player you had to have in your side, no matter what the cost. In fact we still jokingly try to convince our friends to "sell Beckham" when it comes to the "do I hold the best guy in the league even though he's eating up 25% of my salary cap?" question. Then came the TH14 era, which by the time Henry left for Barcelona the Premier League had entered the CRon era.

And now, that is over. Sacrificed for a new galactico era in Madrid. It is going to be FASCINATING to watch Madrid this season. How do Kaka and CRon get along. What happens to the Dutch contingent - Robben, Sjneider, and van der Vaart? They would be welcome in any team. In fact, if I were Milan or ManU I would look to get one of these guys in trade.

And Manchester United... does this pave the way for Tevez to join permanently? Will this further cement Rooney's place on the wing? Or does the money prise Ribery from Bayern? Or - just because I love him - Gourcuff from Bordeaux? Or a holding player like Toulalan or ex of Madrid, Mahamadou Diarra?

There are so many ways these stories can go. We talk about dominos falling in the transfer market. With Madrid making these two signings and in the process shaking up three of the world's biggest clubs... and with Ancelotti going from Milan to Chelsea, dragging another big name into the cauldron... well, it's going to be a REALLY fun summer.

The king is dead, long live the king.

Welcome to the StevieG Era of fantasy Premier League football.

Bradley names roster for Confederations Cup

Injured forward Brian Ching was left off the U.S. roster for the Confederations Cup in South Africa along with defender Frankie Hejduk.

And how this further affects your MLS roster:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England), Luis Robles (Kaiserslautern, Germany)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Danny Califf (Midtjylland, Denmark), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock, Germany), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England), Marvell Wynne (Toronto)

Midfielders: Freddy Adu (AS Monaco), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Ricardo Clark (Houston), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, Denmark), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca, Mexico)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Xerez, Spain), Conor Casey (Colorado), Charlie Davies (Hammarby, Sweden), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles)

Amen Corner

But here we are now, and it's high time to see this assumption of perpetual ascendancy for what it is: wishful thinking. Me? I've seen enough. I see no reason to believe that the national team has improved even a smidgen since 2006. ...You could even argue that things have regressed a bit.

Yes, yes, yes!! Steve Davis has nailed this one! A must read for USSoccer fans.

Corluka eyes bid for Srna

UEFA Cup match: Shakhtar Ukraine 2-0 CSKA Russia

Tottenham Hotspur defender Vedran Corluka 'would not be surprised' if manager Harry Redknapp bid for Darijo Srna.

Shakhtar Donetsk wing-back Srna was linked with Spurs under Juande Ramos' stewardship but a move failed to materialise.

Fresh reports, however, have suggested the North London club could move for the Croatian - and his compatriot, Corluka, feels a deal could be in the offing.

Sure it's idle speculation, but this would be a +10 signing for sure! A right winger who is frequently listed as a defender and who takes all his side's kicks. Where do I sign up?

Best and Worst of 2009: Liverpool

Best Moment: In March Liverpool thrashed Real Madrid in the Champions League and Sunderland, Manchester United and Aston Villa in the Premier League scoring fifteen and conceding a solitary goal. It was breath-taking stuff and such a shock after watching Benitez become more controlling and more defensive over the course of his reign. But at some point he decided that his team could - and needed to - take the shackles off and they responded. Boy, did they ever!

Best Transfer: Not selling Xabi Alonso to Juventus was like a transfer. His partnership with Mascherano in Liverpool's engine room was the platform on which Gerrard, Torres, Kuyt, etc, ran. The pair won balls in midfield and turned that into attack with a single pass. It was fast and deadly, and was a key to Liverpool's late season success.

Worst Transfer: On the flip side, there's a book waiting to be written about the Robbie Keane transfer. And how someone decided that Dossenna was a nine million pound player is beyond me. He had some good moments, even scoring a few goals in a purple patch mid-season. But that was as a substitute on the left-wing. He was simply a defender who couldn't defend. And with Aurelio and Insua at the back and Riera and Benayoun on the wing it certainly doesn't seem like money well spent on a third choice player at either position.

Biggest Disappointment (injury): Sometimes the obvious ones are true. Torres and Gerrard played a third of the season together. And while Phillipe Degen never did make an appearance this season, it's the loss of Liverpool's big names that that pose a real "what if".

Biggest Disappointment (non-injury): Any striker not named Torres. N'Gog. Babel. Keane. Full of potential, and they did get their chances this season. But do any of them compare favorably to Carlos Tevez as on option off the bench or in case of injuries? Or even Niklas Bendtner? A little more depth at striker and perhaps some of those disastrous draws against the league's smaller teams could have yielded three points instead of one.

Best Start: By default I'm going to give this to Albert Riera. He looked like he cared (which he never seemed to do at Manchester City) and gave Liverpool balance on the left flank. He wasn't spectacular by any means but he did have some flashes of skill. However he faded down the stretch and lost his starting place to Benayoun.

Best Finish: Yossi Benayoun and Dirk Kuyt were real keys for Liverpool in the season's run-in. Seemingly given more freedom in Benitez's attacking regime they flourished and each began scoring regularly. Gerrard also had an amazing run in this new system but it was these two nominal wingers that really showed some unexpected class.

Biggest Achilles Heel: Any striker not named Torres (see above) and the notion that Benitez was too controlling and too risk averse to let his team play to their true potential over the course of the season. They ended so strongly, and while that gives hope for next season it does make one wonder how he got it so wrong for so long.

Best and Worst of 2009: Arsenal

Greetings from India everyone. Why, you ask, am I in India during the hottest part of their year? Surprise, the answer ISN'T that I'm something of an idiot . Now, I'm not ruling out the possibility that I am in fact something of an idiot but I'm here for work so at least in THIS instance, that's not the reason. So, what am I going to write about after the better part of 48 hours with very little sleep while commuting? The answer as you may have guessed from the title is the recap of Arsenal's 2008-2009 season. What went well and what went poorly - we'll leave what comes next for a bit later in the summer - what you're expecting us to write about CRon-to-Real & Barry-to-Liverpool rumors ALL summer?

OK, away we go...

Best Moment - This wasn't a season that featured many great moments to be honest. There were the typical fluid/spectacular goals. There were the returns of EdS and Cesc from long injuries and the brief run of extremely strong play that coincided with Cesc/K2 returning to the line-up late in the season. All that said, the unquestioned high point of the season for me was Arshavin's first kick for the club. Why this moment? The obvious reason is that he's an excellent player and has the potential to be a difference maker with both his passing and his scoring. The symbolic reason is that I and all Arsenal supporters hope this is evidence that Wenger understands that in order to make a serious challenge for the title he needs to buy some top shelf established players rather than continuing to buy kids. Even if the hoped-for symbolism turns out to be not-so-symbolic, I'm thinking this is still the high-point.

Best Transfer - See above. Not even close for second place really.

Biggest Disappointment (injury) - Wow, where do you start on this one with so many to choose from? Seriously, the obvious answer is Cesc's injury. He makes the team go and without him in the middle the attack just seemed lost far too often. That said, injuries to K2 and RvP compounded the problem. Finally, the reliance on Rosicky recovering as the excuse not to sign Arshavin last summer (if that's really the reason) may be the biggest injury-related disappointment of all. My guess is that the state of finances at the Emirates are worse than we are being told so I doubt Rosicky's return was anything but a red herring to avoid having to say that "we just don't have the cash right this minute". If Wenger believed that 'sicky is a substitute for Arshavin even when healthy then, well, I guess he hasn't watched Sicky play anything other than Czech Republic matches.

Biggest Disappointment (non-injury) - I'm sort of torn here between Kolo Toure (a player I really like) and guys like Abou Diaby and Denilson on this one. The argument against Abou Diaby and Denilson is pretty obvious, neither of them live up to the standards of Cesc, Pires, Ljungberg, Vieira, and the rest of the recent luminaries in midfield from the Wenger era. That said, I'm giving them both a little slack because I think that Wenger has done a poor job of managing both players. Neither player really seems to have a position and both are sort of thrown into just about any midfield role at a moment's notice. If you're Ryan Giggs or Stephen Gerrard and you're both talented enough and senior enough to make different positions your own then maybe this can work but for two guys who haven't really established themselves as first team starters, this has to make life incredibly difficult. Heck, even Wayne Rooney seems to be suffering from being lined-up all over the pitch.

That brings us to Toure who seems to have either gotten old or just lost it pretty quickly. Maybe he just doesn't mesh well with Gallas or maybe there wasn't sufficient support from the midfield but more often than not when bad things happened for Arsenal this season, it seemed like Toure was the victim.

Best Start - Most of the remarkable starts happened well into the season. For me the best "start" was the joint return of Cesc/K2 with what seemed like 10 hook-ups for goals in 3 matches (ok, I think it was either 4 in 2 or 5 in 3). Still, it gave supporters a glance of what could have been had we not been mixing and matching pieces for the middle part of the season.

Best Finish - Hmm, can't say that too much positive happened down the stretch between the beating by ManYoo in the Champions League, the draw to them in the League, and the losses to Chelsea in the FA Cup Semi and in the league. That said, Bendtner ended May with 3 goals bringing his total in the league to 9 which isn't so bad given that he only started 17 matches in the league. Throw in 2 goals in 3 matches in the FA Cup, 2 in 2 in the Carling Cup, and 1 in 4 in the Champions League and you'd have to say that despite his less-than-ideal personality, he's had a reasonably strong season for a 21 year old.

Biggest Achilles Heel - Hmm, do you go with having players who are too-frequently injured? The inability to cope with set pieces? Or the misfiring in front of goal that sabotaged the season in January? I'm going off the board and suggesting that the biggest Achilles Heel is Wenger's inability to copy his "buy young and really talented" philosophy on the defending side of the ball. Really, it seems that every year we buy a bunch of forwards, wingers, and attacking midfielders who are 16, 17, and 18 years old. Sure it will take some time for them to mature and some will make it (Cesc) and some will just become assets (Bentley, Pennant, Larsson, etc.). That said, other than Djourou and Senderos, Wenger doesn't seem to spend much time finding potential stars for the defence. Obviously it would be great to have the cash to go out and buy a great defender in his prime but if that isn't the case and the philosophy is to buy young and hope these guys BECOME great defenders in their prime in a couple of years, shouldn't the philosophy be consistent for attackers and defenders? (OK, Clichy, Sagna, Gibbs, and even Eboue fit the mold so I guess I'm really talking about central defenders - is it possible that Wenger just isn't any good at evaluating talent at the position?).

I hope you enjoyed that - we'll be back later in the summer with more on what Arsenal needs to be doing to make themselves relevant again...

Great Moments in Commentary

Football - Wigan Athletic v Manchester United Barclays Premier League

The headline reads, "England must cope without Carrick".

Dear lord! How will they EVER cope without him? Against those European powers, Kazakhstan and Andorra, no less. Why there will be an empty place at the end of the bench where he would have been sitting.

That being said, it's nice to see blog-favorite James Milner getting some recognition with his call up as Carrick's replacement.

Best and Worst of 2009: Manchester United

SOCCER: MAY 16 Barclays Premier League - Manchester United v Arsenal

Best moment: For a title winning side, there were very few moments that truly sparkle in memory. Berbatov had a few amazing touches where he pulled a ball out of the sky and created a goal. CRon's Champions League goals were stunning. But for sheer drama and improbability there was nothing that compared to Federico Macheda's match-winning goal against Aston Villa. It isn't over-stating it to say that it saved their season after loses to Liverpool and, improbably, Fulham. And to have come from a teenage striker on his debut... it couldn't have been written any better.

Best Transfer: I think we're going to have to give SAF the benefit of the doubt on this one. Zoran Tosic, depending on the slant of the story you are reading, is either one for the future or an established Serbian international. Maybe he really is both. And with Giggs likely to be an increasingly bit part player (and a winger in memory only), Nani failing to impress, and CRon's future seemingly at center-forward, Tosic will be needed on the left wing. It is interesting, however, that when ManU played the kids in the FA Cup semi-final and then on the final day of the season, Tosic wasn't involved. So this could become the worst transfer. Only time will tell.

Biggest disappointment (injury): He wasn't missed much during the season, but much ink was spilt over Owen Hargreaves after ManU couldn't get the ball off Barca's midfield in the Champions League Final.

Biggest disappointment (non-injury): While the end of the season seemed to be all about the will-he-won't-he, Tevez's season really didn't live up to the hype. Never able to play regularly, his knack for scoring important goals which not deserting him, wasn't as pronounced this season. And even worse, when he was called upon to start, and should have been a fantasy sure-thing, he never came through.

Biggest disappointment (non-injury): part two of this award would have to go to the other disappearing striker, Dimitar Berbatov. He wasn't even a starter at the season's end with CRon prefered at center forward. 30 million is a lot to spend on a back up and with Macheda and Wellbeck joining CRon (and seemingly not Rooney) in vying for one or maybe two forward spots it does make one wonder how SAF will square this particular circle.

Best start: Darren Fletcher. With CRon on the sidelines for the opening of the season, ManU stumbled into four points from their first two matches thanks to goals from Fletcher. It was never going to last - either their struggles or his goal scoring - but at the time it was vital.

Best finish: It was stop/start for much of the season, but when it counted CRon showed that he was a player for the big stage.

Worst tackler: Paul Scholes.

Biggest Achilles heel: Vidic has been exposed against strikers with pace. Now, granted Torres is no ordinary player but look what happened to Senderos. Drogba single-handedly ruined his career.

Champions League Post-Mortem

[07:45] JSpitzberg: guy at work all proud to call ronaldo "cron"

[07:45] JSpitzberg: "see, i'm reading you!"

[07:45] Neal J Thurman: HA

[07:45] Neal J Thurman: so long as he also called him no better than the 4th best player on the pitch yesterday

[07:48] JSpitzberg: fair placement

[07:48] JSpitzberg: manu got it all wrong

[07:48] Neal J Thurman: agreed

[07:48] Neal J Thurman: and finally paid for lack of a midfield

[07:48] JSpitzberg: or at least, they didn't have a plan b when the long balls over the top didn't pressure the 2nd string D

[10:10] Neal J Thurman: so, if you were SAF, what would your shopping list look like for the Summer?

[10:11] JSpitzberg: working on a post, i hope ;-0

[10:11] Neal J Thurman: not yet - just starting to think about it

[10:30] JSpitzberg: how much does it depend on hargreaves' health?

[10:32] Neal J Thurman: good question

[10:33] JSpitzberg: set at GK and D

[10:33] JSpitzberg: fair assumption?

[10:33] Neal J Thurman: not 100% sold on the GK situation but I think SAF is

[10:34] Neal J Thurman: D could use an additional CB but that's engineering at the margins - no starters needed

[10:34] JSpitzberg: rio/vidic

[10:35] JSpitzberg: evans the backup and brown, neville, oshea can all play in the middle

[10:35] JSpitzberg: left back - evra, fabio, de leat (sp?)

[10:35] JSpitzberg: right - neville, rafael, oshea, brown

[10:36] Neal J Thurman: yup - if it were me and i had the money, I'd still buy one additional CB - I like evans but Brown/Neville/OShea is trouble (IMO)

[10:36] JSpitzberg: try convincing the glazers ;-)

[10:37] JSpitzberg: mid - fletcher, carrick, anderson your starting 3?

[10:37] Neal J Thurman: not good times

[10:38] JSpitzberg: scholes, gibson, hargraeves, giggs can also play centrally

[10:38] Neal J Thurman: have to assume scholes is done

[10:38] JSpitzberg: djemba djemba, kleberson

[10:38] Neal J Thurman: lol

[10:39] Neal J Thurman: honestly, I'd try to sell Carrick

[10:39] JSpitzberg: man... the ghost of steve sidwell

[10:39] Neal J Thurman: Giggs has to be treated like Bergy was the last year (we might get something from him but we should consider it a bonus)

[10:39] JSpitzberg: bigger fall from grace in the last 2 years?

[10:39] Neal J Thurman: who? Carrick?

[10:40] JSpitzberg: sidwell.

[10:40] JSpitzberg: best player on a crap team to...

[10:40] JSpitzberg: end of the bench guy on a great team...

[10:40] JSpitzberg: to middle of the bench on a good team

[10:40] JSpitzberg: though if barry leaves...

[10:40] JSpitzberg: "bide your time, steve. your time will come."

[10:41] Neal J Thurman: will be interesting to see what happens to Petrov vs. Sidwell if Barry leaves

[10:41] JSpitzberg: spet just signed a new deal

[10:41] JSpitzberg: all the buzz about how great he's been in a deeper role

[10:41] JSpitzberg: who has fallen further - sidwell or nrc?

[10:42] Neal J Thurman: excellent question

[10:42] Neal J Thurman: I'd have to say NRC because he isn't even in contention for his preferred spot

[10:43] Neal J Thurman: and there isn't even an above average player blocking his path

[10:43] JSpitzberg: sidwell?

[10:44] Neal J Thurman: I meant at right back

[10:44] Neal J Thurman: but I guess the CM answer is that NRC has fallen farther since Sidwell seems to be ahead of him in the midfield pecking order

[10:44] JSpitzberg: but this is a tangent

[10:45] Neal J Thurman: agreed

[10:45] JSpitzberg: is diarra happy at madrid?

[10:45] JSpitzberg: he's been there a couple of months...

[10:45] Neal J Thurman: main question is whether ManYoo has ANY midfielders worth keeping

[10:45] JSpitzberg: that's when he usually moves on

[10:45] Neal J Thurman: lol

[10:45] Neal J Thurman: especially since they won exactly as much as Pompey did this season :-)

[10:46] JSpitzberg: all the talk about wigan losing palacios and heskey...

[10:46] JSpitzberg: no one talks about pompey losing diarra and defoe

[10:47] JSpitzberg: and utaka dying some time last summer

[10:49] Neal J Thurman: well, in truth, he really died in November of 2007

[10:49] Neal J Thurman: was only really alive for about 8 weeks

[10:49] JSpitzberg: lol

[10:50] Neal J Thurman: he was Zaki before being Zaki was cool

[10:51] JSpitzberg: careful, you're talking about the best striker in international football

[10:51] Neal J Thurman: heh

[10:51] Neal J Thurman: Utaka or Zaki?

[10:51] JSpitzberg: the latter.

[10:52] JSpitzberg: Wigan have finally concluded the loan signing of Egypt striker Amr Zaki, currently ranked by Fifa as the best striker in the world.

[10:52] JSpitzberg: 27 goals in 48 games for his country put him at the top of Fifa's player rankings

[10:52] Neal J Thurman: wow - and who knows more about the game than FIFA?

[10:53] Neal J Thurman: wonder where Healy sits on that list :-)

[10:53] JSpitzberg: lol

[10:53] Neal J Thurman: scores by the bucket for Norn Ireland

[11:03] JSpitzberg: @ sun now, right?

[11:07] JSpitzberg: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article6380258.ece

Premier League Season Wrap-Up

... and fantasy season breakdown and awards.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/fantasy-football-blog/article/20965/

I was slow to pick up on this year's dearth of striking options and emphasis on defence and goals from midfield. It will be interesting to see if that continues into next season.

Who could know?

Give the man his due: Ruud Gullit got a lot of things wrong while indifferently trotting alongside Los Angeles Galaxy proceedings for a few months in 2008. But he sure had MLS pegged on one account.

Gullit seemed exasperated after one particular match last year, admitting, more or less, that he was struggling to identify patterns and recurring themes in MLS. "Who could know?" he said with a comical shrug of the shoulders. Scouting was difficult because teams and individuals were all over the place in terms of form and predictability. For a man so used to keeping a steady beat in Europe, he found himself struggling to catch the cadence of decidedly less orderly MLS.

And that goes double for trying to play fantasy is this crazy league!

Lee Dixon: Sweat the Small Stuff

A very interesting article from Lee Dixon, speaking to BBC Sport, on how it's the little things in the game that can make a real difference. Great advice for any players or managers, and applicable to any walk of life.

It's the little things like being in position quickly from throw-ins and set pieces. The teams at the bottom seem to not take those positions that seriously and, all of a sudden, they lose the ball and are under attack.

Little things from West Brom's game against Liverpool were where a shout would have enabled a player to either leave the ball, bring it down or knock it back to the keeper.

But nothing is said and the player puts the ball out for a corner. At this level if you are giving the top teams corners and free-kicks around the box because of a lack of communication then you are asking for trouble.

Chelsea 1 - Barcelona 1

Click on the arrow in the player (not down on the menu bar).

1-0 M.Essien 9'

1-1 Iniesta 90'

Great moments in commentary

I think we'll see goals and Villa will run away with it 4-1 - but it still wouldn't surprise me if Hull went there and got a result

Thank you, Paul Merson.

Update: In the end, the answer was C) as Villa beat Hull 1-0 by hanging on to a first half goal from Carew.

This week's team news

Meanwhile, back in Major League Soccer

While the Premier League fantasy season is heading towards its dénouement, domestically, Major League Soccer fantasy is just hitting it's groove. I had a TERRIBLE week overseas, but a top-15 week in MLS did ease the pain a little bit. Cold comfort, but comfort none-the-less.

The bright spot in my line-up over the last two weeks has been Chicago Fire midfielder Marco Pappa. I remember him coming in late last season and playing well. But this year he's taken it to a new level. Two goals and two assists over his last three matches have helped Chicago cope without Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who is coming back from a pre-season injury. It will be interesting to see how both players combine when Blanco is starting and likely hogging all the limelight and kicks.

Otherwise, my team got goals from Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Brian McBride and Dwayne DeRosario. Robbie Findley and Chris Pontius chipped in with assists, and Omar "OG" Gonzalez and Pat Onstad kept clean sheets.

MLS fantasy is a crazy, unsatisfying game. But I had to comment on it really as tonic for my overseas woes.