The title can mean only one thing: Anderson has finally scored. It took him two-plus years of his Manchester United career to find the net and the lad came up golden in a pivotal win over then-unbeaten Spurs at White Hart Lane. Meanwhile, back in Manchester, the club from Stockport, erm, that other club from Manchester hosted Arsenal in a heated affair where Emmanuel Adebayor's nagging obsession with all things Arsenal reared its ugly head. Adebayor's provocative goal celebration in front of the Arsenal away supporters, as well as his seemingly unintentional stamp on former teammate Cesc Fabregas, take a back seat to the ugly stamp on Robin van Persie. Read on about my thoughts on Adebayor's odd, histrionic behavior. Elsewhere, we'll lament about a last-gasp victory for Chelsea, talk a bit about the Birmingham Derby, and we'll be heaping some praise on this past weekend's hat trick hero, Yossi Benayoun.
What We Learned in Week Four
Spurs just couldn't beat United with an "all-in" approach.
It seemed to me that Harry Redknapp read a bit too much into Spurs' club motto, "Audere est Facere" (To Dare is to Do) and trotted out a team with a mixture of a gambler's mentality and Dutch courage. Good 'ol 'arry squeezed three strikers into the fold: confidence player in current world-beating form Jermain Defoe, the pogo stick that can't strike a ball well with his head to save himself Peter Crouch, and Robbie Keane on the left in Luka Modric's stead. It was surely a cavalier move on Redknapp's part to play up to Manchester United's strength in going on all-attack mode for three points and I, for one, liked his ambition. The bold strategy paid immediate dividends as the United center-halves fell asleep within the first minute and Defoe scored a highlight reel-worthy bicycle kick of a goal to draw first blood to Tottenham. Only thing was - and Spurs can heavily attest to this - striking first surely can't keep United from getting back in the match and I think past the opening ten minutes, United gradually patched things up and eased into this game. Spurs, on the other hand, floundered some, not taking into account the odd scoring opportunity they could muster. Wilson Palacios, in particular, was rough along the edges and could have gone the route Paul Scholes wound up taking later on, but it was a mistake for Redknapp to substitute him going into the second half because their midfield looked much softer with Jermaine Jenas in and Tom Huddlestone being exposed for much of the game.
The outlook I'd extract for this game on Spurs is I don't see this first loss of the season as a reality check to their top four credentials. However, this is more or less a wake-up call to Redknapp that Spurs need more structure and not to rely on a fighter's chance to come away with a result against an elite quality side. Granted, they've already dispatched Liverpool, but like I've said, Liverpool looked half-interested in that game and more importantly, they did not adapt well (especially considering it was the first match of the season). Spurs won that game with Palacios acting as the perfect bridge from a backline that plays a bit too high and still possesses a couple of holes, to the attack; this was simply a game that commanded a better all-hands-on-deck effort in beating United. Spurs have Chelsea up next, another team that one can't rely on ambition and great individual play to extract a result from. We'll see how 'arry's boys adjust from this first setback of the year and to regain the momentum which got many abuzz with in the first place.
United show up for the season, five games in.
Up until this point, United had been sleepwalking for the most part in the new term, but you got the feeling that entering this game at White Hart Lane that the Reds were going to approach this match as if it took place in April, especially when most of the team stayed home during the international break. Not considering the fact that Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic were scatterbrained on Defoe's peach of an early strike and Vida's sloppy first half in giving away possession/inability to keep tabs on Crouch, United really put on a command display, as it seemed that they had gotten better as the game had gone along, even with Scholes' dismissal. In particular, Darren Fletcher was a massive influence in keeping Spurs off-kilter and I think it was because of him, that the pitch was better compacted in United's third of the pitch while United could let Rooney loose on the counter while leaving the slow Huddlestone dead in his tracks. I thought the midfield from top to bottom was solid in concert with Fletcher and even Scholes had a fine game, showing that he's the best retainer and creator of the ball in the middle of the pitch for United before getting a second yellow on a rather rash call. Patrice Evra was phenomenal in keeping Aaron Lennon at bay, who had received a bit too much hype after Wednesday's England triumph over Croatia heading into this one. Still, we saw a fresh Evra, seemingly in midseason form and a far cry away from the fatigued, overused Evra for club and country that was run ragged by the same lad twice last term. Lastly, I keep saying this often, but I surely hope Wayne Rooney stays fit throughout; his workrate and skills are exceptional and while this another fantastic outing for Rooney, I think he has a lot of room for improvement. For one thing, Wazza still fluffed that one golden opportunity by taking one extra dribble to his left when it was best to take his shot on a whim, which would've beaten Carlo Cudicini. In the grand scheme of things, Rooney could become something really special when he's best being more proactive than the conventional center forward role confines him to.
Lastly, now that Anderson has finally broken his goal scoring duck, with the first of his United career into his third year with the club, you can expect a barrage of goals from the lad now. By the way, I had The Anderson Song stuck in my head for all of halftime. It's a delightful little ditty that never fails to bring a smile to my face.
Arsenal are very much a confidence team.
I'm still not all that impressed with Manchester City although when you consider the outcome against Arsenal, bagging four goals (albeit with one being an own-goal) without Robinho in the lineup, against Arsenal and to come away with all three points, one would be foolish into thinking that this result didn't stamp their legitimacy as a Premier League title contender. However, City were on the back foot for much of the second half when Arsenal kept pressing, thanks to the substitution of oft-injured central midfielder Tomas Rosicky who really injected new life into the Gunners' attack with the space and chances he created. That said, I thought Arsenal shot themselves in the foot on both sides of the ball. Not only did you have fluffed chances from Nicklas Bendtner, but you saw total kamikaze football from Arsenal with both centerbacks, Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas way up the pitch while Gael Clichy was guilty of the same offense and Alex Song failed to keep tabs on game-winning forward Craig Bellamy. All of City's three other goals resulted from Arsenal breakdowns and the team, as they had often times as they had done away from the Emirates last year, lost their heads. The game winner from Bellamy was due to Song making a flimsy challenge on Micah Richards' misdirection leading to Bellamy with space to fire in a volley. Then you had that infamous Emmanuel Adebayor goal with the center halves caught napping when a foul against Arsenal wasn't called and play moved on. The fourth and last goal was a fantastic break caused by Bellamy winning the ball back from Clichy caught forward, leading up to Shaun Wright-Phillips booting it in. I think City were exposed some in the final few minutes, but it was Arsenal losing composure off the ball and emotions running high on Robin van Persie getting allegedly stamped by his former teammate Adebayor that proved costly and City just took over from there.
Emmanuel Adebayor is a classless twit.
I don't reckon that's news, but Adebayor really sunk to a new low Saturday afternoon. First off, I think I'll say a few things about Adebayor's relentless ranting of the Arsenal fans not being true fans that has stemmed all Summer long when it seemed that Arsene Wenger wouldn't re-sign the Togo striker. The feeling has been mutual with a number of Arsenal fans who had seen Adebayor as nothing more than a mercenary, who was looking to parlay that breakout 30 goal campaign a couple of years back for a fat contract on a big club on the continent, such as Barcelona. Then, Adebayor had those Arsenal fans who criticized his play and his attitude, but look, that's to be expected of any supporter emotionally invested in the club they root for. Anyhow, I looked through all the football news bits as I do first thing in the morning while I'm on my cell phone or my computer and found myself chuckling Adebayor's most recent verbal jabs at the Gunners fans by once again, calling them as "not real fans". I chuckled because I know a number of us, whether you're a Spurs fan, a Chelsea supporter, or a United fan like myself, we like poking fun at how Arsenal use up our club's fan-created chants to alter them by simply putting the word "Arsenal" wherever our favorite team's name pops up. We get our jollies off by laughing at the Highbury Library or the Emirates' continued upkeep as a rather quiet modern cathedral for football. Shoot, some of us like pointing out that Arsenal don't even have a proper footballing firm. It's just natural to grin when a former player rants about his former club for insinuating that the team's fans generally don't keep up the atmosphere, especially a club like Arsenal, which for me, some part of it rings true. Then, there was a part where I stopped chuckling and it was the bit where Adebayor said, "What is good at City is the fans. They love you. Arsenal have fans from America and Jamaica. Today they are Arsenal fans, tomorrow they will be Liverpool fans, after tomorrow they will be Manchester United fans." As if to say there aren't any glory hunters in England? I've known a couple of English lads who don't have much conscience in supporting Liverpool when they're on the telly and Manchester United when they're on the telly... and these lads show their faces at the local pub, albeit a pub here in the States. Well, I've run into die-hard Arsenal fans who just happen to be American and they follow the team quite religiously. Personally, I interpreted Adebayor's egregious comment as a knock on not just American fans, but on foreign fans who take more than just a passing interest in the Premier League, in implying that they're not knowledgeable and that they'll float from bandwagon to bandwagon. If indeed City have the kind of season that Chelsea enjoyed in 2003-04, in Roman Abramovich's first season in taking over Chelsea with his moneybags, then one would expect City - the Premier League's very own version of the Los Angeles Clippers - to have a bumper crop of fans on the wagon, not just English fans, but foreign fans. This is beside the point and of course, we're just scratching the surface with Adebayor's offenses. The point is, most of Adebayor's criticism of Arsenal fans, is derived on the feeling that he wasn't well supported and while it's true that a faction of Arsenal fans haven't endeared themselves to him in his three years with the club, Adebayor should still be grateful for what the club had done for him in his development as a player and the fans' general support of him. After all, every club has to have their loyal lot and I'm sure that by Adebayor's inclusion of Jamaica in his random comment, he meant to insult Usain Bolt subtly for his support of United.
That said, what in the world did Adebayor think he could accomplish by running the length of the pitch to showboat his goal in front of the Arsenal away section? It's one thing to prove a point to your former club's fans in the way you perform against the team they adore, but another to rub it in their faces; this was just an utter showing of disrespect on Adebayor's part. Part of being a professional footballer is to be above the fans' emotions and part of accomplishing that is being fully aware at all times of just how the fans would feel if you reacted in such a way. Sure, all athletes having their breaking points and they're caught in the heat of the moment, much like how over the weekend, Serena Williams let her frustration with the officiating get to her. However, Adebayor ran 90 yards to the Arsenal end. You can do quite some thinking in running 90 yards down the pitch, but common sense didn't kick in and he showed up the Arsenal away fans anyway. No one can rightfully condone the way the Arsenal fans reacted in tossing things at Adebayor and threatening to charge down onto the pitch to have at it. By the same token, if that's you and me out on those terraces, we would have been in the heat of the moment also, and gone ballistic, which at the least would have provoked a litany of obscenities out of our mouths and/or a certain flipping of the bird. If you were out there in the Arsenal away section, I wouldn't blame you in the least for getting irate; that's what fans do, caught up in the passion of the match do after all. Nonetheless, had it not been for Eastlands stewards and police, it could have all been a flashback to hooligan times and we could've seen not just Adebayor's deplorable antics souring what was a perfectly good football match into a riot of any scale making headlines. It's Adebayor's foolish pride that has blinded him into being aware of the consequences of him inciting the Gooners with such a provocative celebration. Again, it should be the players who have the common sense and the players who should be above all distractions. If such an incident proves anything, it's that Adebayor can't prove he's up to professional code and clearly had the Arsenal fans in mind, well past his signing for City.
Of course, inciting crowd trouble isn't the worst of Adebayor's sins, but instead, what's worse is Adebayor's alleged low blows on a couple of his former teammates and really, this has me at a puzzlement. Check out this tackle from Fabregas and while it looks relatively tame, Adebayor could have messed up Fab's ankle after this:
Here's the infamous incident of Adebayor stamping van Persie in the head on the hand. The more I see it, the uglier it is and the clearer it is to me that it looks deliberate.
Granted, the van Persie tackle on Adebayor earlier in the game was a bit brash and might have been a whisker of being worthy of retaliation, but I also thought that like RVP that Adebayor came into this big game with an agenda of his own to hurt his former mates. He talked smack about Nicklas Bendtner, which sort of goes beyond how Arsenal fans rant about him (and boy, do they). At any rate, granted that the clips can also be interpreted as inconclusive (and really how could you think that boot to RVP's head and hand was anything but intentional), Adebayor's behavior leading up to the match and on the pitch with the Arsenal fans, had shown he had something to prove that wasn't necessarily tied onto football matters.
That said, I hope the FA make an example of Adebayor. They have no excuse but to ban him for this weekend's huge derby match against United this Sunday. Not only is he a mercenary player with no respect for the fans of his old club - the same club he kissed the badge of months ago - but he's a punk in every sense of the word. The lad could have put out van Persie's eye with his boot, for all you know, and thankfully, he missed. City fans will be inevitably comparing this Adebayor incident as a lesser evil than the vicious tackle Roy Keane laid out on then-City player Alf Inge-Haaland several years ago, but on the surface, it didn't seem like in the public eye, that Adebayor had a prior dust-up with van Persie, Fabregas, and his old teammates, so as to pick a fight with them. No one can condone what Keane did to Inge-Haaland that day, but he also had a reason to seek retribution on Inge-Haaland for the latter's controversial comments a few years prior to that. RVP is no saint himself but once again, Adebayor proved he was immature to acknowledge respect for his former mates he once played with and for the former club he thrived in. Remember that corny piece of art of Adebayor's face with a bunch of words making up his face, someone should graffiti it with "twit" on top of his forehead. Anyhow, with no Robinho, no wanker Carlos Tevez, and presumably no Adebayor, a bit of the luster of the upcoming derby is shined off although speaking as a United fan, I wouldn't mind seeing Adebayor out to better United's chances of securing three points on Sunday.
A few long punts...
I did a bit of scoreboard watching while seeing the City/Arsenal game early in the morning and presumed that Stoke and Chelsea would finish off with a 1-1 draw, as the match was in stoppage time. This would have been a fine result with regards to the title race early on and for fantasy purposes, I was glad to see Didier Drogba score again for the Blues while Stoke stubbornly held on with a number of Chelsea shots blocked. Then, Florent Malouda bags the go-ahead goal late in the match to give Chelsea the win over a Stoke side that had only dropped four games at home last term. One thing to keep an eye on from this game is the status of two Stoke players who got nicked and had to leave early from this game: striker James Beattie and goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen.
Assuming that Liverpool had no trouble putting away Burnley, 4-nil, one had to assume that Steven Gerrard and/or Fernando Torres struck one or two of those goals. Rather, it was Israeli winger, Yossi Benayoun bagging the hat trick in this one and as a result, he was far and away, the highest fantasy scorer for all leagues and formats. Indeed, Benayoun was a handful for the space surrendered by the Clarets and he really should have four, as he beat the offside trap on both occasions (the third goal and the goal that was called off on a saved Gerrard free kick). Gerrard himself could have had a goal or two himself had it not been for a smart save from Brian Jensen on a long looping volley and had the Liverpool skipper not fluffed his point blank chance at the post after skipping through the Burnley defense.
Of the new boys, I reckon Birmingham are the unluckiest lot, as they continue to grind through games against say, United and Tottenham, but wind up being on the back foot of the scoreline anyway. Such was the case against Aston Villa in the St. Andrews leg of the Birmingham Derby, as the Blues mustered a nil-nil draw only for Gabriel Agbonlahor to score the only goal and if they had done better in capitalizing on their lovely breaks, Villa would have prevailed 3-nil. The mids and the backline were well organized to keep James Milner and Ashley Young under wraps for a bit, but they have trouble retaining the ball when they attempt to venture forward and I think five games in, they figure to have trouble scoring goals. Never a good thing if you're a side that's likely to stare at the barrel of relegation later on. As for Villa, they have done well to put the disappointment of the opening loss of Wigan behind and the new defensive reinforcements in James Collins and Richard Dunne, can prove to be smart moves in keeping the Villans' top four hopes alive.
At Craven Cottage, David Stockdale made his goalkeeping debut for Fulham while Mark Schwarzer was ruled out with a neck injury suffered on duty for Australia. Everton had gone up like they've usually done, with a header off a set piece, courtesy of Tim Cahill this time. Everton had a fairly good first half at the expense of a bad first half for Fulham, but it was the reverse of that in the second half. Paul Konchesky equalized off a deflection, old United boy Phil Neville was stretchered off by a rough challenge from Dickson Etuhu resulted in torn knee ligaments unfortunately, and Everton were a bit rattled while Damien Duff bagged what would have been a game-deciding goal. After a few frantic moments, Everton couldn't equalize just when Fulham were better to keep the ball with time winding down. The loss for David Moyes' side is made worse as Phil Neville is set to miss extensive time, which leaves him without his most flexible midfield and defensive option.
Finally, all I got was a measly five points out of Paul Robinson for the ultra-cheap mid-3's price behind the pipes for my Yahoo fantasy team, but I'm also glad that recommending and starting Robbo didn't jinx things, as Rovers were denied of a clean sheet against Blackburn. Gael Givet, my other ultra-cheap Blackburn defender was robbed of a goal because Jason Roberts had a faint touch on Givet's header..... You could have done much worse at keeper if you had gone with Hull's Boaz Myhill at Sunderland as he picked up a big fat -11 points as the Tigers were blitzed, 4-1, on the strength of two Darren Bent goals from a penalty kick and the other on some poor Hull defending that led to Bent practically walking the ball to the goal as well as Kamil Zayatte's own goal (oddly enough, Zayatte netted Hull's only goal) which could have been credited to new Sunderland lad Michael Turner against his old Hull mates. Andy Reid had the eventual game-winner, which can explain why he scored 28 points in the Yahoo game because of the game-winning bonus; he happens to be Yahoo's second-highest scoring midfielder of the week, second to Mr. Benayoun of course..... I happened to mention Bolton as clean sheet contenders against their fellow bottom two dwellers, Portsmouth, but instead the Trotters surrendered two goals as they had plenty of problems at the back. On the bright side, Gary Cahill redeemed himself by bagging the last-gasp match winner for Bolton as they won, 3-2 over Pompey. Another positive to be had here was ex-Portsmouth man Matthew Taylor bagging his first goal of the year from a penalty. However, Matty scuffled a golden chance with a horror finish wide of net when he was so close to Pompey keeper David James..... Lastly, Wigan won on just a Hugo Rodallega goal over West Ham, as the Latics won a rather gritty game over the Hammers to win their first since upsetting Aston Villa on opening day.
Week 4 Heroes
Yossi Benayoun, MID, Liverpool - 3 goals (1 match-winning goal) on 6 shots on target; 4 tackles and 2 intercepted passes
Undoubtedly, this week's most valuable player, having entered this week with a price tag of under 9 million in the Yahoo game and is now priced under the 14 million pound mark after a brilliant hat trick against Burnley. His first goal was quality, just when Burnley gave him acres of space with which to work with and to slide one home past Brian Jensen. Benayoun can thank Steven Gerrard for diverting the defense away from him, as he waited at the mouth of the goal for Gerrard's give and a nice tap on goal would suffice. The third goal had Benayoun on side alone with Jensen in the box with a comfy finish. A gaudy 45 points in the Yahoo game and 24 big ones in the EPL game (48 if you made him your team's captain) from the Liverpool winger.
Darren Bent, MID, Sunderland - 2 goals (1 penalty kick goal) on 2 shots on target
The only other multiple goal scorer from the weekend was Sunderland forward, Darren Bent, and while he scored a blase 19 points in the Yahoo game, he was one of the better pure value strikers this weekend. Bent came in with a mid-9 price tag and his price had gone up rather modestly with a 2 million dollar rise just about, but he was likely your #2-3 striker (depending on how you allocated your funds) and performed to value against a dour defensive side in Hull.
Damien Duff, MID, Fulham - 1 goal (1 match winning goal) on 2 shots on target, 3 crosses and 1 foul won; 2 tackles, 2 passes intercepted, 1 blocked shot
The former Chelsea and Newcastle veteran midfielder, Damien Duff was the biggest reason for Fulham's come-from-behind victory over Everton having bagged a peach of a goal to win it for the Cottagers. Duff came in the Yahoo game with a mid-7 price tag, inflating it by nearly 3 million with a fine, workmanlike fantasy performance.
Craig Bellamy, FOR, Manchester City - 1 goal on 2 shots on target, 1 assist, 1 cross, 2 corners, 1 foul won; 3 tackles won and 3 passes intercepted
No Robinho or Carlos Tevez opened up a starting spot for Craig Bellamy and the Welshman was influential in fattening up the scoreline for Manchester City in the win against Arsenal. An unmarked Bellamy handed City a 2-1 advantage and the momentum. He also pitched with an assist of Shaun Wright-Phillips' goal on a menacing break started by his takeaway of Gael Clichy's ball. With Adebayor banned for more than a game, it seems, Bellamy will be relied on more from Sparky to put it through the onion bag for the Blues.
Week 4 Goats
Fernando Torres, FOR, Liverpool - 0 goals, 0 shots on target, 2 crosses and 2 fouls won
At the expense of Benayoun's hat-trick, Torres proved to be the biggest bust this week, as most devoted about a fifth of their team's budget for the promise of Torres making it four straight matches in which he struck the net. Liverpool's #9 has yet to do that in his Anfield career and that streak is prolonged, as he dropped deep a bit while Gerrard and Benayoun took to the fore. Nonetheless, sunk money and a near donut from El Nino in both Yahoo and EPL from the best pure matchup on paper this week.
Petr Cech, GK, Chelsea - 1 save, 1 goal allowed
Three stinking points. That's what you got for spending about 14 million of your Yahoo team's budget on a top draw keeper. Not only was he relatively inactive in front of his goal, but Cech had a howler of a decision when he came way up on a set piece for Stoke, which allowed Abdoulaye Faye a clearer sight on goal to head in a 1-0 Stoke lead. This is why I'd rather go with a cheap keeper at the risk of losing points than spend on an expensive keeper that can be prone to having just a bare minimum of points on a clean sheet (lost) and won't see a ton of shots.
Ashley Young, MID, Aston Villa - 0 goals, 0 shots on target, 3 crosses and 3 fouls won
A dismal fantasy showing against a stern Birmingham defense on derby day for "Ashley Not Cashley" Young as he was kept without a shot on target (and really that's not necessarily his main purpose) as he's mustered just two shots on target for the young season. His price tag has dwindled in Yahoo to nearly a million off, but I'm not too keen on spending high 15's on Young even with the most attractive matchup just yet.
Goal of the Week: Jermain Defoe
Even though this was against United, I admitted to enjoying this peach of a goal from Jermain Defoe within the first minute. Of course, I enjoyed his bicycle kick goal more, after the game and a United three-pointer in hand.
Sorry I couldn't find a quality clip of just Defoe's goal itself and I've taken the liberty of using the BBC Match of the Day recap of Spurs/United. Also up there is the Ryan Giggs free kick equalizer and Wayne Rooney's brilliant insurance goal later on. Have at it, lads.
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EPL Week 5 Dream Team
Just a note here: Because Yahoo doesn't have a dream team feature like the EPL game does nor can you alter your Yahoo roster to accommodate a dream team roster for display purposes, I'll only post the EPL dream team of a given gameweek (it's actually Week 5 in the EPL, but I'm using the Yahoo convention of Week 4).
This week's EPL dream team is rife with value options, which means it's feasible you could have assembled this roster yourself within your budget restraints. Outside of Benayoun, it's Andy Reid, Anderson, David Dunn, and Damien Duff scoring double digits for nabbing their respective teams' go-ahead goals, but it's only Benayoun that I see being the most sustainable fantasy option of the lot. Of course, we have our top fantasy scoring defender Glen Johnson in the mix here, as he pitched in with an assist on Benayoun's first goal to go with a clean sheet of Burnley. New Villa addition Richard Dunne had a clean sheet and a profitable fantasy game straight away, while Gary Cahill, who I said would have been a clean sheet candidate against Portsmouth, made up for his team's lack of defensive discipline with a match-winning goal. Not a host of goalkeepers who would qualify as top keeper, given the dearth of clean sheets. You can put either Wigan's Chris Kirkland or Villa's Brad Friedel in this space, but it's Kirkland getting the nod on the team. Up front, we have Darren Bent on the two-goal brace against Hull as well as Jason Roberts of Blackburn for coming up good against Wolves, although between you and me, that Roberts goal was really Gael Givet's goal.
How'd I do? (EPL)
I usually put a bit of myself into these blogs and so, why not put up how my fantasy teams are doing? I'm going to start off with my Fantasy Premier League (EPL) team. It also gives me room to brag when I have a fantastic week or mope when I have just one of those weeks.
This weekend in particular, was perhaps my best of the young campaign with 75 points, not counting the 4 point penalty I took in selling Ben Foster for Joe Hart to make room for selling Nenad Milijas for buying low on Bolton's Matty Taylor. The gamble paid off some, as Taylor had a fine day with his first goal and really, it should have been a two-goal day. There were five goals in the side this week (Rooney, Defoe, Bent (2), Taylor) and I could have had six if I started Abdoulaye Faye in place of Fulham's Brede Hangeland, who has yet to notch a clean sheet five games in. So much for Fulham being the fantasy clean sheet goldmine they were last term, but again, it's early days.
As far as moves I'm mulling over go, I'm tempted to sell Hangeland for a junk defender and rely on Faye/Figueroa/Turner as my backline, but I'm a bit dumbfounded as to how I'd use the 1.5m in funds. I love the fact I have a tremendous three-man strike force of Rooney, Defoe, and Bent while being able to afford Gerrard and Lampard. One of the moves I wanted to make involved selling Lamps who hasn't been quite up to value for Arshavin at about 2m cheaper and then to upgrade from Koumas or perhaps to use the spare cash on upgrading Hangeland to Glen Johnson. As you know, Arshavin is out a while, which sullies my plan and I'm not really keen on settling on the next most expensive option in Cesc Fabregas.
As far as the leagues go, I'm atop a few of the points standings leagues. My misfortune in the H2H World Series has carried over to the Rotodatabase H2H league (that would be "RDB Prem 09-10" in the screen) as my team has the second-highest points tally in the league, but sits midtable with WR's team at six points, six back of Paul's Leicester Tigers team. I'm placing well in the Football Media League, in the top 40, but I'd like to make a move in the EPLTalk league, currently rated #1 amongst all leagues in the entire EPL game.
How'd I do? (Yahoo)
It has been the Yahoo leagues where I've made the most noise. Yours truly just happens to be in the top 1% of Yahoo, or the top 1000 of Yahoo players and I'm in the top 10 of each of the two blog challenge leagues I'm in. Obviously, I'm in great position to contend to take down all three bloggers (Yahoo Fantasy Football Assistant and Thurman/Spitzberg who used to work for Yahoo, BTW).
This was my best single-game scoring gameweek with 103.50, as I've come close to the 100 point mark the last several weeks and I had that monster 189.50 on the opening double-dip week of the term. As you can see, I spend most of my team in attack and then, go to Goodwill or the 99 Cent Store for my defense. I'm thrilled to have Rooney and Drogba on discount, especially Drogba who has been a fantastic bargain since Day 1. The funny thing was, I got suckered into getting Tuncay for 1.00 million so I could afford to buy Lampard. I wound up selling Darren Bent for Tuncay while upgrading Stephen Ireland to Lampard. The other option I was mulling over instead of Lamps was Matty Taylor for about 3-4m cheaper. So, DBent and Taylor combined for 35.5 points whereas Tuncay didn't pick up a single point and Lamps was just good for 13 points. Not that I'm mad or kicking myself for it; the net gain would have otherwise put me top 3-5 in the YFF Blog Assistant League and the same for the Beat the Bloggers League, which makes me think that I got a howler of my own. Here's hoping Lamps plays up to value this coming week for the move to be worth it...
Week 5 Preview
Speaking of next week, we have another massive week on our hands, even though I'd contend that the last weekend was a bigger one. Once again, I'm calling this week, "Week 5" like Yahoo is, even though this is basically the 6th round we're looking at.
Anyhow, this is a massive weekend due in large part to the Manchester Derby at Old Trafford. Remember, no Robinho, no Tevez, and likely no Adebayor for this one, which means Bellamy gets a spot on the starting XI, so does Martin Petrov, and SWP could play as a third striker again as he did for Arsenal. I don't think you should be playing Rio/Vidic/O'Shea/Foster for United just yet because I happen to think City can bag a goal. However, Wayne Rooney is on a roll and so, keep tossing him in there. The other big game this week takes place at Stamford Bridge, where Spurs look to dust off their first setback of the new term by looking to topple another giant, their neighbors in West London, Chelsea. Yet another acid test for Spurs and I believe you should start Jermain Defoe again while he's on his pomp, but I don't think this game will suit Spurs as it did against United and like I said, Tottenham couldn't play United's game. This one will have to be more a structured plan from 'arry's lads.
Just a quick glance at the fixtures, I believe you should pay attention to Arsenal v Wigan. Robin van Persie had another terrific game and he could feast on a Wigan side who had previously conceded five goals to United already this term. There's also potential for fireworks if Aston Villa can be more clinical in their chances, otherwise Portsmouth look like a promising fixture for them. For possibly cheap clean sheets, I'm looking at Hull/Birmingham, as these are two teams who don't quite have a legitimate scoring threat in their ranks.
Check back Tuesday for this week's Diving in the Box. I know a bit too early for my usual, but I'll be heading out to Vegas in about a little over 24 hours from now and while I'll be carrying my laptop and checking in from time to time, I can't guarantee anything. No recap column next Monday. We'll get back to normal on the following Friday when Diving in the Box returns to the same box time, same box channel. Alright, I'll see you lads later and hopefully I'll come home with some winnings, but until then, keep your clothes on...
-Ray
