Hugo Rodallega to put QPR under pressure | Never Captain Nicky Butt
Never Manage Alone partner Never Captain Nicky Butt is at it again. He has chosen Huge Rodallega as his Funny Feeling Friday pick. See his reasoning behind the link above.
NCNB: Funny Feeling Friday: Yayga
Hugo Rodallega to put QPR under pressure | Never Captain Nicky Butt
Never Manage Alone partner Never Captain Nicky Butt is at it again. He has chosen Huge Rodallega as his Funny Feeling Friday pick. See his reasoning behind the link above.
Injuries and Suspensions: Week 3
Premier League team news - ESPN Soccernet:
There are a fair number of interesting line-up machinations related to injuries, suspensions, and transfers. For all of the fantasy implications for this weekend, here is everything you need to know:
There are a fair number of interesting line-up machinations related to injuries, suspensions, and transfers. For all of the fantasy implications for this weekend, here is everything you need to know:
Villas-Boas set to delay Mata debut
Villas-Boas set to delay Mata debut - Yahoo! Eurosport
Manager Andre Villas-Boas has warned Chelsea fans they may have to wait until after the international break to see Juan Mata in action for the club.Juan Mata
Wednesday night saw the Blues complete the signing of World Cup winner Mata, who is expected to add some much-needed creativity to their midfield.
Villas-Boas has revealed the 23-year-old, for whom Chelsea reportedly paid Valencia around £24million, is unlikely to start their Barclays Premier League game against Norwich, although he could well be on the bench.
"This league is very, very specific in terms of intensity, emotionally and culturally," Villas-Boas said. "It doesn't mean he's not threatening the starting XI, but two training sessions is short for a player creating new relationships with the players.
"Friday is a decisive day in terms of the strategic part of our game, so that's when we'll decide."
Chelsea
Forward
6.56
The Week Ahead: Part 2 - Player Recommendations
As we get a few weeks into the season, you may have noticed a few changes to the Yahoo game upon which this blog was founded. The most obvious are the visual and usability tweaks that have improved the experience of searching for players and changing your team around. I applaud Yahoo for the changes they made but don't want to leave it at that. There are also additional, behind-the-scenes, changes that it would probably be good for you to know about. Since we know some people at Yahoo, we're here to help.
#1 - Points Up Faster: At the beginning of each new season it has been my impression that the Yahoo game got points up (and prices adjusted) pretty fast for the first few weeks. However, like buying a new computer, the improved performance was generally a temporary thing that eroded over the course of the season. A person who knows about these things tells me that the change is the real thing this time around. Why do you care? It will mean that you know how you did faster which is always nice. It will also mean that the Barn Door will close faster all season. For those of you unable to sit in front of a computer during matches and make changes as you find out the results, you'll be well served to at least take some pre-Barn Door risks on players you think you may want for the next week before heading off to whatever other obligations come before your fantasy team (as hard as it is to imagine that such things exist).
#2 - Players In Faster: Another by-product of the improved performance of the database/fantasy game interaction is an improvement in the speed of players being added to the system. As of this writing on Thursday, Mata is not yet in (he signed officially late yesterday/early today) but Nasri is officially listed as a City player. For those of us who have suffered through silly circumstances like Sessegnon not ever being listed last season or missing out on players like Kolarov for the first match of last season because they weren't added in a timely fashion. This will answer a long-standing gripe. For those new to the game, it will function as you'd probably expect and you'll be spared this particularly painful form of digital torture.
#3 - Pricing Changes - I'm not sure whether to be impressed (by the insight) or depressed (by the amount of time spent thinking about it when the world has real problems to solve) but fantasy players have gotten pretty smart about figuring out how prices will adjust, especially for players new to the league/game. The key finding in this was the "7 match rule" that saw new players increase dramatically in price after their 7th match played. Before the 7th match, their prices tended to stay inappropriately low and afterward, it tended to go overly high if the player had had even a few solid performances. In recognition of this and a general trend toward wild swings in pricing, Yahoo has adjusted the way prices are calculated. According to our sources, the "7 match rule" no longer exists and price changes should be a little less extreme for all players than in years past.
We tend to be harsh on Yahoo when we feel they aren't getting things right so we want to make sure that we're equally quick to praise them when they get things right and the changes made over this past summer fall firmly into the latter category. Thanks to all involved in making that happen at Yahoo and also for listening when we have suggestions for improvements.
OK, on to the player recommendations...
#1 - Points Up Faster: At the beginning of each new season it has been my impression that the Yahoo game got points up (and prices adjusted) pretty fast for the first few weeks. However, like buying a new computer, the improved performance was generally a temporary thing that eroded over the course of the season. A person who knows about these things tells me that the change is the real thing this time around. Why do you care? It will mean that you know how you did faster which is always nice. It will also mean that the Barn Door will close faster all season. For those of you unable to sit in front of a computer during matches and make changes as you find out the results, you'll be well served to at least take some pre-Barn Door risks on players you think you may want for the next week before heading off to whatever other obligations come before your fantasy team (as hard as it is to imagine that such things exist).
#2 - Players In Faster: Another by-product of the improved performance of the database/fantasy game interaction is an improvement in the speed of players being added to the system. As of this writing on Thursday, Mata is not yet in (he signed officially late yesterday/early today) but Nasri is officially listed as a City player. For those of us who have suffered through silly circumstances like Sessegnon not ever being listed last season or missing out on players like Kolarov for the first match of last season because they weren't added in a timely fashion. This will answer a long-standing gripe. For those new to the game, it will function as you'd probably expect and you'll be spared this particularly painful form of digital torture.
#3 - Pricing Changes - I'm not sure whether to be impressed (by the insight) or depressed (by the amount of time spent thinking about it when the world has real problems to solve) but fantasy players have gotten pretty smart about figuring out how prices will adjust, especially for players new to the league/game. The key finding in this was the "7 match rule" that saw new players increase dramatically in price after their 7th match played. Before the 7th match, their prices tended to stay inappropriately low and afterward, it tended to go overly high if the player had had even a few solid performances. In recognition of this and a general trend toward wild swings in pricing, Yahoo has adjusted the way prices are calculated. According to our sources, the "7 match rule" no longer exists and price changes should be a little less extreme for all players than in years past.
We tend to be harsh on Yahoo when we feel they aren't getting things right so we want to make sure that we're equally quick to praise them when they get things right and the changes made over this past summer fall firmly into the latter category. Thanks to all involved in making that happen at Yahoo and also for listening when we have suggestions for improvements.
OK, on to the player recommendations...
Injury Roundup
A run-through of the news from ESPNSoccernet. More as it becomes available.
Cech set to return for Man Utd clash
The article isn't quite as definitive as the headline, but Cech is quoted as saying that, ""The rehabilitation is going according to plan," Cech told his personal website. "I don't want to jinx anything but it seems that I should be ready to return to action inside the original timescale" which could have him available for United on Sept 18. That would meant that Hilario will likely start just this weekend's game against Norwich and the trip to Sunderland after the international break.
Meireles injury blow for Reds
Suarez started the match and played an hour. Hopefully we'll see more of the same from him - goal and two assists - against Bolton at the weekend.
Alcararez blow for Wigan
Seemingly Stam will start at right back with Boyce coming inside to partner Caldwell. It may not matter against QPR, but Wigan will need all the help they can get when the schedule toughens up - Manchester City, Everton and Spurs are coming up after QPR.
Ebanks-Blake blow for Wolves
Just FYI.
Wilshere sidelined with ankle injury
Another month out for Wilshere and Arsenal can ill afford a prolonged absence from their team's new hub. They'll be missing Wilshere, Song, and Gervinho against Manchester United and still have questions over Koscielny and Gibbs.
Y!AM: Week 3 - Player Picks and Update
Yahoo! Fantasy Football Blog - Your Assistant Manager: Week 3 - Player Picks:
The weekly player picks column from Never Manage Alone partner the Yahoo! Assistant Manager. He hasn't started out the season in the greatest of form [who has? - Jeremy] but his pick column always provides some wisdom.
The Week Ahead: Part 1 - The Schedule
Talk about your all-time sigh-of-relief moment. I can't say I'm entirely out of the woods in my nervousness related to Arsenal and their direction. That said, the fact that they, you know, scored a couple goals and didn't have any players thrown out of the match was a nice step forward. Winning on the road in the Champions League, even the qualifying stages, isn't easy and the fact that it came after both Nasri and Cesc were gone provides some nice closure. That new addition Gervinho was integral to the critical goal was yet another positive sign that not EVERYTHING is going in the wrong direction. Gervinho looked good and the combination of he and Walcott will clearly cause problems for their opposition based on speed on both sides of the field. If one or both gets more comfortable with their end product then that's even better.
You can imagine a very strong Starting XI that includes Jack Wilshere replacing Frimpong/Rosicky. The issue continues to be depth. Targets for Arsenal in the transfer window can now be reassured that they will be moving to a team in the Champions League group stage. Will that be enough to get a big name like Eden Hazard? Hard to say. Regardless, it will be critical to find some cover at CB and CM. It might not be a bad idea to find another left back and another forward unless Bendtner will indeed be sticking around.
Only with some critical fortifications can Wenger and Arsenal ensure that their supporters don't go immediately from worrying about THIS YEAR'S Champions League to worrying about NEXT YEAR'S Champions League where Liverpool and Spurs will give them a run for their money even with the acquisitions suggested above.
You can imagine a very strong Starting XI that includes Jack Wilshere replacing Frimpong/Rosicky. The issue continues to be depth. Targets for Arsenal in the transfer window can now be reassured that they will be moving to a team in the Champions League group stage. Will that be enough to get a big name like Eden Hazard? Hard to say. Regardless, it will be critical to find some cover at CB and CM. It might not be a bad idea to find another left back and another forward unless Bendtner will indeed be sticking around.
Only with some critical fortifications can Wenger and Arsenal ensure that their supporters don't go immediately from worrying about THIS YEAR'S Champions League to worrying about NEXT YEAR'S Champions League where Liverpool and Spurs will give them a run for their money even with the acquisitions suggested above.
Zombies Calientes del Getafe
Ever since last January's transfer window, my fantasy team name has been "A Scotsman Named McTavish" after a brilliant quote from Ian Holloway.
"If Charlie Adam’s worth 4 million then I’m a Scotsman called McTavish"But I've found my inspiration for a change. Feast your eyes - and try to wrap your brain around - this promotional video from Spanish side Getafe. The premise is that they are a poorly supported team so the only way to get more fans in to have their current ones donate sperm. And to encourage said donations they've concocted some soccer/sci-fi porno, "Zombies Calientes del Getafe". This is not safe for work, nor is it suitable for anyone under the age of 18 without explicit parental consent. That being said... enjoy, "Zombies Calientes del Getafe".
Barn Door Team - Week 3
Another disappointing week in week 2 has me scrambling for answers. I'm trying to follow The Rules and Mo's Rules and it's not happening for me. Looking at the team I have "on paper" for week three and I'm less than thrilled.
Rooney came in, but as well as he's doing he's going to have to keep producing at that level to be worth 20. Would it be worth gambling with a cheaper option? There are equally hot players like Long and Klasnic, as well as gambles with high upside like Torres.
In midfield it's all well and good but pehaps a little safe. Yes, Cabaye is doing fine and he is home to Fulham. But is he going to get the goal or score a ton of fantasy points? I guess he could. But would it suit me more to field Sessegnon or Cahill who are more out-right attackers?
In defence, I like the idea of Bosingwa again but he's just a touch expensive. I wonder if I should just keep Richards for a little less. I'd be happy enough with Brown - why did all of you gamble on him in a derby match? - but I'd be just as happy to get someone else.
So... all very wishy-washy. But that's what a barn door team is -- a canvas. A wet lump of clay to be molded over the course of the week.
How is your clay shaping up?
UPDATE: Rooney/Cabaye/Bosingwa to Long/Malouda/Kelly? Or will Barton's possible move to QPR enhance Cabaye's value enough to make him work keeping?
What Did We Learn: Week 2
Still one match left to go and we still haven't seen Spurs play. That aside, here are some observations from a weekend where I got to watch a pretty serious amount of footie. Here we go...
One Shot. One Goal. One Loss.
... or the "Sigil" (Shot. Goal. Loss), as it's known.
Tim Howard shows you how it's done:
A classic example. The platonic ideal, even.
Tim Howard shows you how it's done:
 |
The Barn Door Live: Week 2
A big weekend for Arsenal as they look to prove that their season is not lost even before it begins. Despite all the drama they're two clean sheets in to the season after an away match and a Champions League qualifier against Italy's most prolific forward.
Nasri Selection for ARS Tomorrow?
Samir could be selected - Wenger | News
An interesting wrinkle that is being reported pretty widely at this point has Samir Nasri participating in a final match at the Emirates tomorrow against Liverpool before heading off to Eastlands for obscene amounts of money. If true, it would likely mean the following alignment for Arsenal tomorrow:
Szczesny
Sagna, Verm, Kos, Jenkinson
Frimpong, Ramsey, Nasri
Arshavin, RvP, Walcott
Honestly, not as hideously bad as it would look if there were yet another youngster (Lansbury or Ryo) in midfield. With Liverpool not exactly blazing with speed down the wings (or anywhere really) Jenkinson has a solid chance even if he's playing out of position. The key will be Frimpong and whether he can handle wave after wave of skilled Liverpool central midfielders without picking up one or more early cards.
Should be an interesting match and we'll look forward to sharing it with you with a Live Chat during the match.
NCNB: Funny Feeling Friday: Gabby Agbonlahor
For fans of gut instincts everywhere, here's the inimitable NeverCaptainNickyButt with his Funny Feeling Friday post.
Y!AM: Week 2 - Player Picks and Update
From Never Manage Alone co-conspirator the Yahoo! Assistant Manager.
Plus an update
NCNB: Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 1 Preview | Never Captain Nicky Butt
From our resident expert on the official Premier League fantasy game:
Injuries and Suspensions
Oh, how miserable it is to be an Arsenal supporter these days. Critical matches to start the season, two excellent players seemingly out the door, two questionable suspensions from the first match of the season, and now the typical injury-riddled squad adding to the misery. Here's the quick round up of the latest injury news heading into the weekend and the implication for fantasy owners:
The Week Ahead: Part 2
I'm a strategist at heart. Most of the consulting work I do centers around helping businesses make better strategic decisions, improving their processes to yield better results, and creating digital tools to help them improve their engagement with customers. In consulting we live for the elegant solution. That one thing that simultaneously solves a bunch of issues for our client and proves how smart we are. As it turns out, that thing rarely exists. Generally, the approach that brings results consists of a lot of little changes that all meet with a fair amount of resistance and make limited but positive impact by themselves. Only after a few of them have come to fruition do you start seeing large scale change and potentially company-changing results.
I bring this up because it occurs to me that many Premier League teams need some help in understanding how to make change happen. Since it is the (assumed) birthright of all consultants to make recommendations on businesses in which they themselves are not necessarily experts, I offer my unsolicited (and likely unwanted) advice to managers and technical directors across the land on small tweaks to the way they do things that will help down the line:
Steve Bruce: See above, change happens slowly - you can't switch out your entire roster each season. More money on 2 or 3 high quality additions each off-season rather than the same money spent on 8 or 9 lesser players you can't possibly hope to bring quickly into a unified team concept.
Arsene Wenger: Buy earlier man. Everyone on the planet knew you had money coming in from Cesc and Nasri at some point. Why not get ahead of your problem and buy Hazard and Jagielka BEFORE pre-season started (we know you were already on the phone with Lille)? You have a new billionaire owner, I'm sure he'd have been willing to float the cash for a month until Cesc and Nasri were sold. Why waste the value of an entire pre-season and the first few matches of the actual season?
AVB: Start playing Drogba and Torres together now because you just bought the "next Drogba" for a bunch of money. All three players are best suited to the "9" role in your favored 4-3-3 alignment but those aren't the cards you've bought/been dealt. You have one player (Malouda) who makes sense as a wide player in that alignment from time-to-time and a couple who either don't fit well (Anelka) or just aren't that good (Kalou). Seems like time for Plan B.
Mancini: I'm sure that all of England appreciated that the first attempt that the club made to spend its way to success focused mostly on English players (SWP, Barry, Milner, Lescott, Bridge, etc.). Now that the flaws in that plan have been revealed, it is time to allow the corpses of these players to go back to the mid-table clubs where they belong. I have no problem with the notion of playing two holding-type midfielders but the ghost of Gareth Barry added very little going forward or backward against an over-matched Swansea side. Time to let him find his rightful place on the bench or somewhere else where he can make a positive contribution.
Harry Redknapp: Be decisive. I can only imagine the plight of current forwards Defoe, Crouch, and Pav. They've spent the last two summers reading about how Spurs needed a world class forward to take the leap to being a serious and regular contender for the Top 4. We're almost two seasons on and nothing has happened. Either shut up and try your best to boost their confidence because there is some talent there or pull the trigger and get the guy you want. The middle ground isn't helping anyone but the media who get to write column after column about your failed/failing attempts to improve your lot at forward.
Petr Cech out for a month
After some good news on the injury front, here's some surprisingly bad news.
Petr Cech out for 3-4 weeks with medial knee ligament injury suffered in training. Courtois on loan, time for Hilario or Turnbull to step upless than a minute ago via web 
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ESPN Soccernet
ESPNSoccernet
We'll post more information as we have it, but for fantasy this is a blow with Chelsea having a good matchup, home to West Brom. I don't think I'll take a gamble on Turnbull or Hilario against Long (and maybe Odemwingie) who's already drawn blood against the top teams. It would also give me pause if I had the likes of Cole, Bosingwa or Terry in my fantasy team.
The Week Ahead: Part 1
The Best Interests of the Game.
For all of the imperfections that have existed in the past and continue to exist in Major League Baseball, the governance of the game has embedded within it a clause that the commissioner can use to fill in when the rules as written just don't apply properly to the situation at hand.
There are two reasons I mention this in a column about the Premier League. First, baseball sensibly has an "out" clause that the Premier League clearly lacks to help facilitate the right thing being done. Second, baseball (and all American sports) rightly have appointed individuals (Commissioners) who are charged with overseeing their leagues, acting as figureheads/PR talking heads, and acting as the lightning rod for controversy when things go wrong. The controversy at St. James Park on the opening Saturday of the season underscored the lack of an individual in the driver's seat with sufficient latitude to ensure that the right thing happens.
If the Premier League had a single Commissioner who the public generally held accountable (and feared in any way for the ability to hold down what is generally a high-paying, high-profile job) then the end result of this past weekend's melee would have been entirely different. I could be talked into red cards for everyone involved (Song, Barton, and Gervinho). I could be talked into yellow cards for all involved. I could be talked into reds for Song and Barton and a yellow for Gervinho. What I and any public-facing Commissioner would never be talked into under the confines of American sports is letting a technicality like "we already awarded Barton a yellow card so we can't even review it and get it right" because that's the way our screwed up system works.
A Commissioner that is forced to meet regularly with reporters, go on sports talk radio, and watch his name crushed on social media would find a way to get it right, and fast. Apologies would be issued for the way things turned out. Slowly but surely, the tide of public opinion would force even the most traditional of traditionalists (you listening Mr. Selig) to do things like enlist video replay to get more things right.
Instead, the Premier League continues on with a Chairman, a Chief Executive, and a Board of Directors to oversee day-to-day operations. If ever there was a way to diffuse responsibility for things going wrong, this would be the way. A Google search for "Barton" and "Scudamore" (the Chief Executive of the Prem) yielded exactly 13 hits under the "news" tab. You have to try hard to find a search that yields only 13 hits. A similar search for "Artest" and "Stern" yielded 30x more hits associated with a particularly ugly incident in the National Basketball Association. Another similar search on "Selig" (MLB commissioner) and Dodgers (a financially troubled team where he had to step in) yielded even more than that.
My point is that with a diffused management structure at the league and even more ability to avoid responsibility by hiding behind the FA, UEFA, and FIFA there's almost no chance that the Premier League as currently constituted will ever be serious about making things better. It would be like expecting FIFA to not be corrupt or the NCAA to make decisions that are in the best interests of the fans or the players.
Sadly, unlike most of my rants, I don't really have a proposed solution here. The league has to WANT to change and make things better. The clubs have to decide that there's some risk to their financial health to not making the change. The way things are going with TV revenues, etc. that seems highly unlikely. We'll just have to suffer through poor decisions left un-reviewed, no video replays, and an absence of even modest improvements like referees using spray paint to keep walls from encroaching like they do in the US and Argentina.
For all of the imperfections that have existed in the past and continue to exist in Major League Baseball, the governance of the game has embedded within it a clause that the commissioner can use to fill in when the rules as written just don't apply properly to the situation at hand.
There are two reasons I mention this in a column about the Premier League. First, baseball sensibly has an "out" clause that the Premier League clearly lacks to help facilitate the right thing being done. Second, baseball (and all American sports) rightly have appointed individuals (Commissioners) who are charged with overseeing their leagues, acting as figureheads/PR talking heads, and acting as the lightning rod for controversy when things go wrong. The controversy at St. James Park on the opening Saturday of the season underscored the lack of an individual in the driver's seat with sufficient latitude to ensure that the right thing happens.
If the Premier League had a single Commissioner who the public generally held accountable (and feared in any way for the ability to hold down what is generally a high-paying, high-profile job) then the end result of this past weekend's melee would have been entirely different. I could be talked into red cards for everyone involved (Song, Barton, and Gervinho). I could be talked into yellow cards for all involved. I could be talked into reds for Song and Barton and a yellow for Gervinho. What I and any public-facing Commissioner would never be talked into under the confines of American sports is letting a technicality like "we already awarded Barton a yellow card so we can't even review it and get it right" because that's the way our screwed up system works.
A Commissioner that is forced to meet regularly with reporters, go on sports talk radio, and watch his name crushed on social media would find a way to get it right, and fast. Apologies would be issued for the way things turned out. Slowly but surely, the tide of public opinion would force even the most traditional of traditionalists (you listening Mr. Selig) to do things like enlist video replay to get more things right.
Instead, the Premier League continues on with a Chairman, a Chief Executive, and a Board of Directors to oversee day-to-day operations. If ever there was a way to diffuse responsibility for things going wrong, this would be the way. A Google search for "Barton" and "Scudamore" (the Chief Executive of the Prem) yielded exactly 13 hits under the "news" tab. You have to try hard to find a search that yields only 13 hits. A similar search for "Artest" and "Stern" yielded 30x more hits associated with a particularly ugly incident in the National Basketball Association. Another similar search on "Selig" (MLB commissioner) and Dodgers (a financially troubled team where he had to step in) yielded even more than that.
My point is that with a diffused management structure at the league and even more ability to avoid responsibility by hiding behind the FA, UEFA, and FIFA there's almost no chance that the Premier League as currently constituted will ever be serious about making things better. It would be like expecting FIFA to not be corrupt or the NCAA to make decisions that are in the best interests of the fans or the players.
Sadly, unlike most of my rants, I don't really have a proposed solution here. The league has to WANT to change and make things better. The clubs have to decide that there's some risk to their financial health to not making the change. The way things are going with TV revenues, etc. that seems highly unlikely. We'll just have to suffer through poor decisions left un-reviewed, no video replays, and an absence of even modest improvements like referees using spray paint to keep walls from encroaching like they do in the US and Argentina.
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