Yes, he’s expensive and he hardly had the most ideal pre-season but in this sort of form and with his reputation, should Fantasy managers be considering the selection of Wayne Rooney?
Gameweek 4 review
It’s a while ago now but back in his Swansea days Gylfi Sigurddson was something of a Fantasy Football legend.
With the raft of new midfield arrivals at Spurs during the transfer window one might have thought his place was under threat but AVB will find it hard to drop him after an excellent showing against Norwich, during which scored twice and picked up an impressive 16 points.
Celebrities would usually be running for cover whenever Aaron Ramsey scores but his goals are becoming so commonplace at this stage that unless a meteor hits Hollywood and takes out dozens of A-listers we can pretty much put that myth to bed.
Two more strikes against Sunderland earned Ramsey 15 points this week, two more than Hatem Ben Arfa (13) and three more than Jonjo Shelvey (12), who was unlucky not to be given two extra assists for giving his old club a hand on Monday night.
Like Ramsey, Olivier Giroud can’t stop scoring and he notched 11 points after a goal and an assist against the Black Cats, a point more than Fulham’s Steve Sidwell after his goal against West Brom.
Making up the rest of the Dream Team were five players with nine points from last weekend, West Ham ‘keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, Rio Ferdinand, Jose Fonte, Gareth McAuley and Everton’s Steven Naismith after his winner against Chelsea at Goodison Park.
J-League
The top of the J-League table is still being hit with the merry-go-round effect, with no one team quite able to establish themselves as the driving force in the early stages.
This week, it’s Gerard Kelly’s Retro Mullets who occupy top spot after a solid 71 points, which leaves him four points ahead of Dan Delaney’s FC Hooter, who went one better with a score of 72.
Last week’s leaders, Brian Emmet’s The Dutch Rudders, are still well in the hunt three points further back as are Jennifer Sinclair’s Dilligaf FC in fourth and Niall Bourke’s Toon Army and Patrick Donoghue’s The Dons tied in fifth.
J-League Top 5:
- Retro Mullets – Gerard Kelly: 297 points
- FC Hooter – Dan Delaney: 293 points
- The Dutch Rudders – Brian Emmet: 290 points
- Dilligaf FC – Jennifer Sinclair – 288 points
- Toon Army – Niall Bourke, The Dons – Patrick Donoghue: 287 points
Is all well in Wayne’s World once again?
For a man with Wayne Rooney’s reputation and his record in real and Fantasy Football terms, it is something of a surprise that only 3.5 per cent of managers have selected him in their sides at the time of writing. There are a number of reasons, of course.
At the start of the season, the uncertainty about whether or not he would join Chelsea would have put many managers off, then when it was certain that he would stay he got injured and last season, Robin van Persie appeared to have taken over as the main man in the United attack.
After what’s gone on in the last week, however, there is enough evidence to think that Rooney (£10.5 million) could return to somewhere close to his best form and reap the dividends for Fantasy managers while he’s at it.
For starters, with Marouane Fellaini now bolstering the United midfield, there is less onus on Rooney to drop back to help out and he admitted himself during the week that his combination with Van Persie is very much a striking partnership and that they take it in turns between who drops off and who leads the line up front.
In two and a bit games in the league so far this season, Rooney has scored a goal, registered two assists and collected four bonus points while against Leverkusen he scored twice, set up another, missed an absolute sitter and was clearly the best player on the pitch.
Anyone that has played Fantasy Football for a number of years will know that Rooney veers close to must-have territory when he’s hot and, despite all that went on in the summer, he appears to be in his best form for quite some time. He’s certainly looking a lot leaner and a lot sharper… and a lot like LeBron James with that remarkable piece of headgear he’s sporting at the moment.
Rooney’s reputation as a hot and cold player is illustrated in his stats over the last five seasons, when one good season is followed by a mediocre one, and if he maintains that sort of topsy turvy form this season then he’s due a good one.
2008/09 (Cristiano Ronaldo’s last season at Old Trafford): 12 goals, 11 assists
2009/10: 26 goals, 6 assists
2010/11: 11 goals, 11 assists
2011/12: 27 goals, 8 assists
2012/13: 12 goals, 10 assists
Rooney isn’t cheap and managers will obviously be wary about getting him in ahead of the derby with Man City this weekend, but following that game United have five very winnable games (West Brom, Sunderland, Southampton, Stoke and Fulham) on the bounce and besides, Rooney has scored more goals against City (10) than any other club apart from Aston Villa and Fulham, including two at the Etihad in the corresponding fixture last season.
He might not be entirely happy at United and the Old Trafford faithful might not love him as much as they once did, but as long as he keeps doing the business all parties will be happy, as will Fantasy Football managers.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: Daniel Sturridge (£9.3 million). Four games, four goals, five bonus points and with 29 points, the second highest scoring striker behind Olivier Giroud in the entire league. You’d fancy him to make it five in five at home to Southampton.
Mid-Range: Christian Eriksen (£8.1 million). It’s early days, but in two games the Dane has already showed that he could be some player for AVB’s men. Scored his first for the club on Thursday night and will be hungry for more against Cardiff this weekend.
Bargain Basement: Aaron Ramsey (£5.9 million). How long he can keep on scoring is another matter but Ramsey has gone goal crazy so far this season and one of the golden rules of Fantasy Football is that you should shamelessly hop aboard a bandwagon before it’s too late. Ramsey has history with Stoke and would love nothing more than to bang in a goal against them on Sunday.
Irish Pick: Seamus Coleman (£5.6 million). Yes, we’re going with Coleman again, but only Olivier Giroud in the entire league has scored more than the Donegal man, who is clearly flourishing under the tutelage of Roberto Martinez.
Captain’s Pick: Olivier Giroud (£9.0 million). Like Sturridge, he’s scored in every league game so far and he’s also collected an extra assist and four more bonus points (9 in total, at least 2 in every game) for good measure. In this sort of form, it’s hard to look past the big Frenchman.
