In this week’s fantasy football insider, JOE warns about the perils of picking flavours of the month for long-term success.
Anyone who had either Andy Carroll or Theo Walcott, or both, in their fantasy league selections last week is more than likely sitting pretty at the top of their respective mini-leagues after Gameweek 2. Johan Elmander too, yielded a profitable return, as did Gareth Bale and Chelsea trio Florent Malouda, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.
But while the latter four can be relied on for a consistent supply of points throughout the season, managers should avoid rushing to introduce either of last week’s hat-trick heroes, or indeed Elmander into their starting eleven at the drop of a hat.
The value of Theo Walcott has already been the subject of much debate and it is not something we are going to go into here. The bottom line is that Walcott is not consistent enough to have in a fantasy XI, even though as a midfielder, he is decent value at £7.1 million. When Arsenal are at full strength, however, Walcott is in no way guaranteed a starting berth and unfortunately for him and Gooners everywhere, they can’t play Blackpool every week.
Elmander and Carroll are far likelier to start regularly for Bolton and Newcastle respectively, but unlike Walcott, they are both part of teams that are likely to spend most of the season in the bottom half of the table and won’t always find goals and assists easy to come by.
Elmander has been at Bolton for two years now, and has done nothing to convince us that he’s going to become a prolific goalscorer overnight. More likely is that there will come a time later in the season when Elmander will net two goals in a game again before disappointing into obscurity…again.
Andy Carroll could be well worth having in your squad
Carroll, however, is a different story. Sure, he’s not going to score hat-tricks every week but he is Newcastle’s main man this season and at £5.1 million, it might be worth getting Carroll into your squad as a striker who can be rotated depending on the difficulty of Newcastle’s fixtures every week.
What to look out for this week
The big two, Chelsea and Manchester United both have what look like home bankers against Stoke City and West Ham respectively and players from both of those sides will dominate selections this week. The aforementioned Malouda (£9.7 million), Anelka (£9 million) and Drogba (£12.8 million) are in super form, while big hitters Ashley Cole (£7.6 million) and Frank Lampard (£13 million) will rarely let you down.
With Wayne Rooney off colour, United will be looking to Dimitar Berbatov (£8.6 million) for goals, while in current form, Paul Scholes (£6.2 million) is hard to ignore. With West Ham struggling for form at the moment, Fergie’s men look good value to keep a clean sheet and Jonny Evans and John O’Shea, who have started both of United’s opening fixtures, are decent value at £5.5 million.
Elsewhere Spurs take on Wigan at White Hart Lane and will be looking for a repeat of the emphatic 9-0 scoreline of last season. In-form Gareth Bale and Peter Crouch are worth a look, while Tom Huddlestone, who is good for an assist or a long-range screamer, is decent value at £6 million.
Finally, Liverpool, without a win this season, should pick up three points against West Brom at Anfield. Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres (both £11.5 million) are the obvious choices, but if you’re looking for a little extra value, David N’Gog (£5.5 million) has already scored against Arsenal this season and will probably start alongside Torres in attack.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks
Top Dollar: We’re beginning to sound like a broken record at this stage, but once again it has to be Didier Drogba (£12.8 million). 30 points already this season and a home tie this weekend against Stoke, the team that Chelsea beat 7-0 last season. If you haven’t him in your team already, get him in now.
Alternatively, Fernando Torres (£11.5 million) might be worth a punt. The Spaniard was spared the rigours of a trip to Turkey for the clash with Trabzonspor and got some much needed game time under his belt against Arsenal and Manchester City in the last two weeks. Liverpool are playing West Brom at Anfield this weekend, and Torres looks a good bet to break his duck for this season against the Baggies.
Mid-range: Following their qualification for the Champions League proper after the defeat of Young Boys on Wednesday night, Spurs are bound to be buzzing going into the weekend and their opponents, Wigan, could be in for a trashing similar to the 9-0 collapse at White Hart Lane last season. Hat-trick hero against Young Boys, Peter Crouch (£7 million) and player of the season so far Gareth Bale (£6.7 million) both represent excellent value.
Elsewhere, Man United have a home banker against West Ham on Saturday and with the form he’s in, Paul Scholes is a good man to have in your side for the perfectly reasonable price of £6.2 million.
Bargain Basement: Andy Carroll (£5.1 million). Carroll showed against Villa that the responsibility of the famous Newcastle number nine shirt is something that could help, rather than hinder him this season.
Irish Pick: Kevin Doyle (£5.5 million). Doyle grabbed an assist against Everton last weekend and is good value to hit the net at home to newly-promoted Newcastle.
Captain’s pick: For the third week running, it’s a Chelsea player, but can you blame us after twelve goals for the Blues in two matches. It has to be Didier Drogba.
