Mel’s Fantasy Team Selection - Week 21

Very poor week again. 40+ points and I’m almost 100 off the leader. Vert was rested by AVB, Michu was out injured, Welbeck got ahead of Chicharito. Even RVP was on the bench, but luckily he came on to score in the dying minutes. Managed to grab Lamps and Suarez before their price went up for the coming games tomorrow and Wednesday.

The team for now with 3 in the bank.

Lloris
Vert Fabio Vidic
Cazorla Michu Lamps Nolan(Suspended)
Defoe Torres Suarez

Some choice teams for Week 20 fixtures are Citeh, Spurs, Swansea, Chelsea and maybe Liverpool. No Citeh players in my team so far and I don’t think I can fit them in. Michu remains an injury doubt, Vidic and Lamps maybe be rotated after coming back from injury and playing the full 90 minutes. Lloris, Cazorla, Defoe, Torres and Suarez are definite starters I’m sure. While Vert should be back after a good rest. Nolan at 8.92 looks like good value, playing at home vs Norwich. He had disappointed 2 games ago, I believe he won’t let me down this time. (Nolan is suspended! Back to the drawing board...)

Fabio, Vidic or Lamps may make way for other players depending on team news tomorrow. Week 21 brings the busy festive fixtures to an end as the first set of 2013 matches begin. Am just glad to get a break this coming weekend.  

Happy holidays fellow managers! Remember to save your squad!

Week 20 - Mid Season Happiness

hehehe ... my colleague's getting married today ... so really very happy for her. I was so touched during the afternoon's church wedding proceedings that I teared quite a number of times. Congrats XE & JE and wish you a blissful marriage forever n eva!

Last week was again a disaster for me but fortunately, the others ain't doing any better either.

My team selection this week from:

GK
Lloris - Season keeper. Just stick to him if you have gotten him on the cheap. Elsewhere, you should be looking at Reina as Liverpool looks to bounce back from the previous match defeat. A possible clean sheet as Liverpool takes on QPR which is struggling and seldom score goals.

Def
Vert, Bassong - I have quite a number of season keepers and these 2 defenders definitely return their values based on statistics so far. So, keep them as long as they are not injured.
Fabio - I betted on Fabio playing last week and he picked up a number of points to justify his inclusion again for this week. What more can you ask for from someone who was worth only 2-ish last week?

Mid
Carzola - Season keeper and facing Newcastle this week. I really hope that he can score another hat-trick this weekend.

No more time to talk abt the forwards but I should be going for RvP, Hernandez and Benteke. Going for my colleague's wedding dinner now so good luck to all and wish everyone a Happy New Year ahead!!!

Mel’s Fantasy Team Selection - Week 20

Mel’s Fantasy Team Selection - Week 20

Poor Week 19. There were 3 non starters in my squad. SWP was selected ahead of Granero, Ferguson did not figure at all as expected and Cazorla kept due to his BD price. Michu had an off day returning -ve points and Jelly was pants. Good news is that the other managers had a bad week too, so that sort of evens out.

So its on to Week 20 and with half the season more to go, Man U is pulling ahead of Citeh with a 7 points lead. The other champions league positions are being hotly contested. Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal, Everton and WBA are all in for a shout for the remaining 2 champions league slots. Following Rodgers’ statement that Liverpool is not too far off from the top four 3 weeks ago, they are now 8 points behind the 4th placed team. They were only 4 points behind at the point of Rodgers’ proclamation. Maybe he should just keep quiet and focus on the games.

My team atm...
Lloris
Vert Vidic Fabio
Cazorla Michu Cleverly Sidwell
Defoe RVP Chicharito

Lloris, Vert, Cazorla and Michu are the permanent residents here. I have selected 4 Man U players - Vidic, Cleverly, RVP and Chicharito. I think the title is for them to lose now. Ferguson will not make the same mistake as he did last season and will be fielding a strong side at home vs WBA, as he looks to pull further away from Citeh. Vidic should be coming in for Evans to shore up the leaky defence. Cleverly was rested vs Newcastle and will most likely replace Giggs or Scholes. Rooney and Welbeck are both out, leaving the obvious 2 striking partners upfront.

Fabio is in because he is cheap and playing at home vs Liverpool. I got a sneaky feeling that Harry will turn up the heat and turn this into another disaster for Liverpool. Sidwell, in Duff’s absence, will be pulling the strings for Fulham. Was kept quiet in the last away game, but I will be expecting more from him at home. Defoe and Spurs travel to Sunderland on red hot form. Bale is at crazy price but Defoe, still scoring and getting the points, is only 15-ish.  

Random players that you may consider.

Guzan - Conceded 12 goals in the last 2 games. But managed to maintain his price at 5-ish, probably due to the many number of saves he had. He may finally get some +ve points at home vs Wigan.

Senderos - Back in the Fulham team and playing at home. May chip in with a goal at set pieces. 

Taarabt - Best player for QPR by far. Shoots from anywhere and revels in his free role. How Liverpool will be tormented. If you have the extra funds, he should be in your team.

Benteke - Must win for Villa vs Wigan. And I think they will ,with Benteke the most probable scorer.
 
This will be the last week of 2012. Let's hope it will end on a good note for all managers, as we welcome a brand new 2013.

Happy New Year all!

Mel's Fantasy Team Selection - Week 19

After Week 18 and 90 points, I’m still 30 points behind the leader and pulling away from the 3rd placed team. Nolan, Defoe and Aguero did poorly, giving me less than 10 points between them. Totally not justifying their heavy price tags. Was glad that I kept my faith with Gerrard, as he was the top performer this week. Here he is in his festive costume LOL.

 

I will be keeping almost half the squad for Boxing Day, Week 19.
Lloris
Vert Ferguson Fabio
Cazorla Michu Pienaar Granero
Defoe Jelly RVP

Other than Lloris, I can see value in either Schwarzer or Green. Fulham, on the back of a 4-0 loss, will be too strong at home for the Saints. QPR will be at home too vs WBA. ‘Arry is working his magic and you better believe it!

Dropped B Jones and took Fabio back for this week. He had 5 points last week. Damn good return for a 2-ish defender and he seemed to have stolen a step ahead of Traore. Oviedo may come in for this week ,since Heitinga played the full 90 mins in the previous game. Check the late team news on who will be starting.

Arsenal won’t be playing this week. But I will be crazy to drop Cazorla at BD price. Don’t see too many affordable midfielders this week. Grabbed Pienaar on the BD last week. He will be the main creator for Everton with both Fellaini and Mirallas out. Had wanted Taarabt, but quite impossible at his price. Settled on Granero instead - a poor man’s Taarabt really. Mackie, playing higher up, could be an option at 6-ish too. Sidwell comes back from suspension, and with Duff still out, Fulham will be depending on his distribution for the goals.

RVP was not at his best vs Swansea. Playing at home vs Newcastle will be a different story. He will be determined to put on his scoring boots again and add on to his 12 league goals so far. Defoe has been quiet for the past 2-3 games. Will be hoping that he can grab a few goals, especially since its Villa this time. Jelly, without Fellaini and Mirallas, hasn’t really been in free scoring form. But this is vs Wigan at home and I do not want to miss out on a Jelly feast. Berbs will be a pricier option, and the most likely to get a goal for Fulham, against weak travelers Southampton.

Remember fellow managers, the deadline is TODAY 20:00 SGT. Its just 4 hours away. SAVE your squad!

Week 19 - Boxing day

Christmas period is always an exciting period for me, not only because of the holidays, but the fixtures are packed. We get an overdoes of games! So come boxing day another round of games, have you changed your team yet?

My team is largely unchanged, except I have recruited H. Lloris as my goal keeper, as Spurs visits low morale Aston Villa, I am not expecting much goal mouth activity. Hopefully J. Defoe will get a few against them as well.

I have dropped Long and replaced him with N. Jelavic. Everton takes on Wigan at home, Everton's home form is pretty decent.

Arsenal is not playing this week, seems like S. Cazorla is dead weight this week, no way I am going to drop him, I got him for 5+, and he is 15+ now!

Have a happy holiday people, may the feasting continue!

Week 18 - pre Christmas

Just when one thinks that Liverpool is on track with a string of good results, they take on Aston Villa at Anfield and lost 1-3. While being disappointed, deep down I was thinking that this might be a good lesson, to bring the team back down to Earth.

This loss has shown that there are lots to work on. Surely the team now has achieved to be able to pass better, keep possession. But they need to know, perhaps Brendon, and the owners need to know that having lots of possession without scoring is useless. The team cannot be overly dependent on L. Suárez. I hope that this a lesson that the owners would consider spending some $$ for a proven goal scorer come the January transfer window!

Back to this week's team, I did bandoor C. Benteke, however I decided to let him go, this is because, I feel that the performance that Villa put up against Liverpool is once off.

In view of J. Defoe's form now, I added him along side S. Long and my resident strike L. Suárez.

The only change in the midfield department was A. Taarabt, I got a feeling under Harry Redknapp, he will start to shine! Lets do hope he scores more against a not so in-form Newcastle side.

With huge amounts spent on A. Taarabt, I am only left with  money for Fabio and Piscu. They may be lowly priced, but their price per points will be pretty good if they put in a good shift!

Have a great Christmas and happy holidays! 

Week 18 - Post Doomsday

... and we are still alive!!

Rumours ... myth ... whatsoever. The end of the Mayan 'Long Count' calendar on 21 Dec was thought by many to herald the apocalypse, with the end expected by many at 11.11 GMT. However, thousands of people around the world anxiously awaiting the end of the world on Friday have seen the predicted time of the world's end come and go without incident.

So when's doomsday?

Week 17 was an average week for me even though I made it past the 100 points mark, just like some others did. Some picks were again spot-on picking up great fantasy points while some others like Suarez (WTF!?!?) played like shit.

Week 18. The last game before the calendar turns 2013. Will this be a change in fortunes for me, at least?

The standout fixture IMHO is Man City vs Reading. I have a keen liking for statistics and everything certainly points towards a thrashing of the visitors. Currently, I am on 4 Man City players (e.g. Tevez, Silva) but I might go heavier, depending on my hunch.

Alright, let's do a quick run through of the various positions.

In the goalkeeping department, Lloris is definitely there to stay for good for 3 plain reasons: he's effective, quality and cheap hahaha. But if you are not on him, you might want to consider getting Reina at 7-ish. Liverpool playing vs Fulham this week and really, Fulham seldom scores away from home and Liverpool is raring to bounce back after the embarrassing loss to Aston Villa last week.

Defence. Vert and Bassong will stay in my team for as long as the season goes. The final slot in the defence? I am really split between three enablers: Toure, Ferguson and Fabio. Not sure if any of the three is starting. Coin-tossing just before the fantasy dateline? We will just have to await further news update. If you have some cash to spend, probably you might want to risk on Dawson who is preferred over Gallas.

Midfield. Santi is playing vs Wigan this weekend and I bet everyone else has him on their team. Nothing else needs to be said. Just keep him. Apart from the Man City midfielders, you should be looking at Gaston Ramirez who will step up as the main threat from the centre of the field, in place of Lallana who is out injured. If you have Sterling and Michu, keep them please. I regretted. I was foolish.

The Attackers. You should have either / both of the Argentinians in your squad. I reckon that one of them will at least pick up 30 points. Elsewhere, Lambert is always a threat and this week, he is playing against Sunderland which are in recent days disappointing in general. Defoe has a decent chance vs Stoke too and he should be quiet for long. Same goes for Suarez who is playing Fulham but because I have dumped him from my team, he will not score!

Good luck and a Merry Christmas everyone!

Mel’s Fantasy Team Selection - Week 18

Had a glorious Week 17. Lloris, Vert, Cazorla, Gerrard, Taarabt and Snodgrass contributed hugely to my 148.50 pts total. Just about 30 points from the leader now. Utterly disappointed with Liverpool though. Losing 3-1 to 17th place Villa at Anfield. Just when I thought that they could go on a good 4-5 games winning streak, before meeting the Mancs in mid Jan. Lets hope they start with a win vs Fulham over the busy festive period.

Week 17 team atm...

Lloris
Vert Piscu Fabio
Cazorla Michu Gerrard Nolan
Suarez Defoe Aguero

Season keeper Keeper Lloris, won’t be going anywhere. WBA and Southampton are playing at home. Myhill and Boruc can offer dirt cheap rates with winnable games, possible clean sheets and many saves for you. WBA plays on-form Norwich and is due a win at home, while the Saints host Sunderland without the influential Lallana. Reina at 7-ish, playing at home, and vs Fulham seems like another potential clean sheet, for the Reds faithful at least.

I’m still on the cheap defenders trail. Piscu and Fabio fit in nicely for now. Will be looking out for the Citeh team news to see if Kolo Toure makes it into the first 11. Will also be checking out late news on Bertrand or Romeu(looks like he is out). You never know with Mr Tinker around. Nobody should be selling Vert.

Oscar, along with Lampard, has the most SOTs in the Chelsea midfield group. He has yet to score a goal, but with Villa visiting he will look to register his first and more. With Lallana out, Ramirez will be the main set piece taker and creative link behind the Saints attack. Bale is back in contention, but his price is still too high for me. Lennon seems to be on some sort of a revival recently and is reasonably priced for the home game. Nolan will be facing Fellaini-less Everton. Everytime I pick Nolan, he will not disappoint. Gera is finally free from his injury prone days and has cemented his place in WBA’s midfield. He is also looking the most likely to score. I have Gerrard in my team, but may replace him if Sterling makes it to the team. Age is catching up, and I don’t see Gerrard performing in two consecutive games (ok not that great vs Villa, but he scored a goal). I’m stuck with Cazorla and Michu.

Citeh will be going on a long long winning streak after defeating Newcastle 3-1 away last week. I think the lost to Man U 2 weeks ago have woken them up. Reading will be training ground practice, so grab either Aguero or Tevez. I would prefer the cheaper option. Long, Cole and the pricier Lambert are all good for a goal. And if you think Villa will crumble at Stamford Bridge, (like how I thought they would at Anfield last week), Torres or Hazard should be in your team. Suarez was disappointing last week, but he is seldom quiet for 2 games straight. I’m expecting him to silence Fulham. Defoe to be in my team for a while.

With 2 in the bank, I’m thinking of replacing either one of Piscu or Fabio, and maybe Gerrard too. Quite comfortable with the rest. Here’s to another glorious week!

Mel’s Fantasy Team Selection - Week 17

Week 16 started poorly with only 50+ points after the weekend games. Most of the double gamers didn’t do well, and I had 7 of them! Fletcher was left out of the team and Lloris returned with -2. Luckily for me, the Wednesday game between Sunderland and Reading pumped up the points to 114.5. It turned out to be a worthwhile risk in the end. I’m now 2nd in the league and about 50 pts behind the leader.

I’ll be keeping Lloris for Week 17 since I had him on the cheap. His current price tag at 6-ish is still reasonable. As I’d mentioned before, Spurs are picking up their form and will be going on a string of easy and winnable games from this weekend through Christmas and to the New Year - a flurry of 5 games in 2 weeks! That will be Swansea, Stoke, Villa, Sunderland, Reading and QPR in mid Jan. If for some crazy reason you decide not to pick Lloris, you may want to consider Bunn and Myhill. Norwich lost in the previous game and will be looking to bounce back at home vs Wigan. High flying WBA started the season brightly, but seemed to be losing steam. Clarke will be plotting to turn things around this week at home vs West Ham and I believe they will get their 3 points after their 3 games losing streak.

Vidic at 6.24 or Jones at 4.70 with Man U at home vs Sunderland, are 2 great defensive options. Other cheap alternatives - Toure at 4-ish, Piscu at 3-ish, Popov at 3-ish or Fabio at 2 if you are really cash strapped like me. And Vert.

With desperate QPR playing at home, you can always count on Taarabt to provide the SOTs. Granero at half Taarabt’s price if you need the funds elsewhere. Sterling has been creating havoc down the flanks for Liverpool this season, and if you had him on the BD last week keep him for this week vs Villa. Valencia’s price seemed to have dropped by quite a bit after coming back from injury. Man U will be counting on his dangerous runs and crosses into the box from the right. Cazorla and Michu forms the spine of my team.

What a game by Snodgrass on week 16. 37 points! Grabbed him before his price went up last week. Will be hoping that he can reproduce the same performance at home this week vs Wigan. Not much funds for Rooney or RVP, even though I think they will get a good run vs Sunderland. Got Defoe instead. Will be keeping him till Jan if possible. Suarez...oh Suarez! He’s back after the  suspension and will be hungry. Very hungry. Villa playing at Anfield should be easy pickings.

So my team atm with 6 more in the bank to splurge...
Lloris
Vert Piscu Fabio
Cazorla Michu Sterling Taarabt
Suarez Defoe Snodgrass

Mel’s Fantasy Team Selection - Week 16

Sorry guys not much time to post this week.

Focus will be on the double gamers, Sunderland and Reading.
Wanted Mignolet but since I had Lloris on the cheap, I think I'll just skip. Things may just change if Fletcher can't make the team. Wickham at 2-ish will release much needed funds for Cuellar and the Sunderland keeper.

ATM...

Lloris
Vert Shorey Bardsley/Cuellar
Cazorla Michu Sess A.Johnson Kanu/McAnuff
Fletcher/Wickham Fondre

Secretly hoping that Fletcher stays out, so Wickham starts, and the rest of my plan to fall in.

Week 16 - Double Trouble

Apologies that I have been missing for a couple of weeks due to many reasons (or excuses). But I must say that it was partly because of poor performing fantasy team and I really don't have that wee bit of motivation to write a post. Seems like almost every player that I picked ... is dead! Why? Why always me?

I saw this quote by  Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture and he said this ...

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

Hmmmm ... if I was going through hell, I will make sure that I will get out from it.

Look forward .. not back.

Week 16 ... my new start.

Reading and Sunderland will be playing two games this week so it is definitely wise to have some of their players in your team. Sunderland will be playing two home games while Reading will be playing two away games. Statistically, home teams do perform better than away teams so it will make more sense to go slightly heavier on Sunderland players but fingers crossed that things don't go otherwise.

Sunderland:
Simon Mignolet: if you have not gotten Lloris on the cheap or you decided that he isn't the season keeper sort of player
Carlos Cuellar: definitely a threat during set pieces / corners and some chance of clean sheets for this week
Adam Johnson: a player with quality and potential if given the room to roam
Stephane Sessegnon: has always been playing behind the striker and as we have seen in past seasons, definitely able to rack up fantasy points
Steven Fletcher: if he is fit ... so i am now awaiting team news.

Reading:
Nicky Shorey: must be in your team. plentiful of attacking points via his excellent crosses and set pieces
Adam Le Fondre: definitely starting compared to Fletcher and he has been repaying his owners with goals recently

For me, I am holding on to Lloris, Vert, Bassong, Carzola on the cheap and they will probably stay for as long as the season. The rest of the team should probably be my suggestions above.

Week 16 - Doubles

Week 15 could have been another disastrous week if not for 3 players. Jussi Jääskeläinen, Michu and Santiago Cazorla scored a total of 53.5 points. Looking at the games they are playing this weekend, It would be wise to keep them.

This week is a week of double game for Reading and Sunderland. No surprises for which players will make the majority of my squad this week. Besides the usual keepers and last week's high scorers, I have added S. Fletcher, S. Sessegnon and S. Morrison from Sunderland and Reading in hope they slaughter each other during their midweek game.

Another addition worthy of mentioning is S. Long, he's been a constant thorn in defenses he plays against. And in view of Arsenal's poor form, I think Long is going to further add to their misery.

L. Suárez is suspended this weekend due to his fifth yellow card for a handball. The dilemma is to keep or let go. I got him at 17, now he is at 22, is 5 worth saving for 1 week?

Mel’s Fantasy Team Selection - Week 15

Mel’s Fantasy Team Selection - Week 15

Only did a quick scan of the fixtures and players as I’m preparing for my sis wedding this weekend. My saved team...
 
Lloris
Vert Ferguson Piscu
Cazorla Michu Taarabt Sterling
Giroud Suarez Ba

Keeping Lloris since I got him off a discount and it looks like Spurs will be going on a string of fairly easy games till they meet Man U end January. Had to cut the funds from the defenders to grab the forwards that I want, so Ferguson and Piscu comes in, both around 2-ish. Again, Ferguson may get the chance to start in midfield. ‘Arry’s QPR will be going for their elusive first win of the season. Decided to grab Taarabt. Selfish and always willing to take a shot anywhere - a fantasy manager’s dream, at least for this week. Sterling has been improving every week and has picked up invaluable experience since the start of the season. Liverpool will be depending on his tricky wing play to provide the assists for Suarez. Cazorla and Michu makes up my midfield. My forwards are quite straightforward, with Giroud, Suarez and Ba. Had to let go of RVP since I can’t be sure if he will be rested this week.

Week 15 - Depending on Smaller Teams

I missed out making changes to the games played during mid-week, however I did so badly in week 13 that even without making changes, I clocked a higher score for week 14! As such, I decided to wake up early and make sure I get to select my team for this weekend's games.

I have been placing my faith in Demba Ba and Fernando Torres despite advise from my fellow members that they are "dead". With a sneaking suspicion that they are going to score big this weekend, I have dropped them in place of smaller team forwards. Its time to let these forward carry the front line. I have added Holt and Fletcher as Norwich takes on Sunderland, both seems likely to score, hoping for a high score game.

Taarabt was added to boost my mid field, with a Harry coming as the new manager for QPR, I hope he pulls off some Harry Houdini magic! The rest of the teams being unchanged except for the inclusion of Vermaelen which I could afford with the remainder funds.

Mel’s Fantasy Team Selection - Week 14

Week 14 happens mid-week, so please remember to change your team by tonight 20:00 SGT.

Dismal week 13 for me. My midfield returned an astonishing 7.50 points. Valencia didn’t even make it to the bench. Everton only managed a 1-1 draw at home to Norwich, with Jelly doing absolutely nothing. Ppppppffffff. QPR did surprisingly well in the first half, but finally crumbled at the end. RVP was kept relatively quiet throughout the game, so no great points from him too. The only saving grace was Defoe with his 2 goals. All this adds up to 56 points for me. Bad bad week.

I have decided to keep Lloris for week 14 since I got him on the cheap last week. The other option was Guzan. But I have really exhausted my funds and could not afford the bargain of 3.98 for him.

Shotton should continue with Wilkinson still out. 8.50 points last week at 3-ish price and playing at home again means he is doing something right. Vert stays as usual. I have very minimal funds left for the third defender. Its a toss up between Fabio and Lichaj. Both are not really in the 1st 11  for their respective teams. Swayed towards Lichaj since Villa will be playing at home and Vlaar is an injury doubt.

At his BD price of 7-ish, its hard to find a player like Michu. He is playing very high up for Swansea and they are playing at home. Just in case you are thinking of dropping him, I think its about time for him to start scoring again. The premium for Lallana was too much and had to settle for Ramirez, who is not a bad choice too. Southampton plays fellow promoter Norwich at home and are on a good run of form. I guess like everyone else, I am jumping on the “other team” vs QPR bandwagon. I doubt Harry will be able to save QPR from the drop. Sunderland should have an easy time, so Sess will be in. Cazorla had a poor week 13 by his standards. Arsenal visits Everton, and with Fellaini back, they can expect a tough tough match. Will be sticking with Cazorla though, he’s too good and too expensive to sell now.

RVP will be looking to put the QPR game behind him and put on his scoring boots vs West Ham. The Hammers are bad travellers and their defending was pretty awful last week vs Spurs. Last chance for newly appointed Benitez to get a win before he gets the boot haha. Torres still looks dead to me and Mata is too pricey. Hazard seems a good choice for now. The Sunderland vs QPR bandwagon will be completed with Fletcher. I’m expecting great things from him in this game.