Week 4 - The Hillsborough Truth

The Truth after 23 years. I remember that day in 1989. Sitting in front of the TV at home and waiting for the FA Cup semi-final match to start. Just minutes into the game, the ref stopped the match. I saw that some fans were climbing over the fence and onto the pitch behind Grobbelaar.  I was still rather young then and just wanted the ref to re-start the game, thinking that it was just a minor pitch invasion kind of incident. But it was not. I sat and watched the tragedy unfold with horror. The human crush took 96 lives. It was finally acknowledged that the Liverpool fans were not, in any way, responsible for the disaster. After 23 years, it is time to lay this ghost to rest.

You can watch the 2 documentaries here by ITV and BBC, if you want to know more about the background.

Week 3 was a pretty bad week for me, as I slipped from first to fifth on 83 points. Fantasy managers who bought RVP were rewarded with 35 points from his hat-trick at St Mary’s. The Saints were 2-1 up and looking the likely winner, if not for some individual brilliance from RVP. Krul managed a miserable 6 points (and I was juggling between him and dirt cheap Jussi!!). At Swansea, Chico got the red card, Neil Taylor suffered a horrible injury early in the game and Michu did good again. Cazorla ran rings around Anfield and destroyed Liverpool, despite another eye catching display from Allen. He is going to be the pass master ala Molby. K2, Kagawa and Ba were disappointing, returning a total of 7 points. Luckily I had Ben Arfa, who scored a goal and brought me up to fifth on the group table.

Here’s a quick guide for Week 4.

Arsenal and Man U have got good home games with potential clean sheets. Its between Mannone/Szczesny (look out for team news) and DDG for me. Fulham and Schwarzer at home looks a good deal too. If you are squeezed for cash, Ruddy or Jussi may give you some good ROI.

I’m keeping Vert and Jenkinson at dirt cheap price. Gibbs is getting expensive but still affordable. I’m deciding between Riether and Vidic. I am swayed towards Vidic, given Man U’s better match up against Wigan. Heads up for Citeh’s Maicon. He’s on my barndoor list.

Carzola and Michu stays. Some injury doubts on Kagawa, but I think he should be fit this weekend. Pienaar is back to his best after some miserable bench time at Spurs last season, while Fellaini will look to add on to his 2 goals playing in a more advanced role.  I feel both players will do well against a depleted Newcastle. Get Granero if you need to spend on other areas. Good filler and playing at home against Chelsea without Terry’s leadership.

The forwards selection are obvious this week IMO. Tevez, Hazard and  Podolski. Giroud if you can’t afford Podolski. Wenger has to play him and get him to score. RVP if you had him before the hat trick and Petric who will be looking to reproduce his brilliant debut performance.

<updates>
Ok saved my team.

DDG
Jenkins Gibbs Vidic
Cazorla Michu Pienaar HBA
Hazard Podolski Tevez

I'm expecting clean sheets from my GK and defenders.
Swapped Riether with Gibbs. I think Arsenal will have a better chance for a clean sheet. Still no goals conceded so far! Would have gotten Mannone too if not for the uncertainty of having Szczesny back fit. Even DDG is a risk this week with the Champs League game coming up. Sold Kagawa for Pienaar as I am not sure if he will be starting after suffering a back injury during international week. There were news that Pienaar will be fit after a thigh injury and was left out of the South Africa friendly. So another risk there. Kept HBA. Best player for the Magpies so far.

Will be keeping an eye on a few Saints' players to barndoor (Lallana, Ramirez, Lambert, Fox, Clyne). Chelsea, Newcastle and Spurs are the other teams to pick for next week. Who will you be barndooring?