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.