With four goals in six games and a new-found taste for spectacular free-kicks, Yaya Toure is proving to be excellent value for money for Fantasy Football managers so far this season.
Gameweek 6 review
This week’s Dream Team was made in Merseyside, or at least the strikeforce was, with the triumvirate of Romelu Lukaku, Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez returning a very impressive 43 points between them.
Lukaku was top dog with two goals, an assist and three bonus points for a 16-point tally, Sturridge returned to form with a goal and two assists for 14 points, while obviously aware he had to deliver after he was the focus of last week’s Fantasy Insider column, Luis Suarez bagged a brace on his return for 13 points.
Thirteen points was also the total scored by man of the moment Aaron Ramsey after another goal, assist and maximum bonus point allocation against Swansea, with West Brom’s Morgan Amalfitano and Aston Villa’s Leandro Bacuna following closely behind on 12 points.
For the second week in a row John Terry managed to reach double figures and he was one of three members of the Dream Team to manage 11 points this week along with Jonny Howson and Steven Caulker, with Scottish duo Allan McGregor and Russell Martin filling the remaining two spots in the XI with nine and eight points respectively.
J-League
Finally, a bit of consistency in a J-League gone mad as Martin McMahon this week became the first manager this season to retain his place at the top of what has been an ultra-competitive league so far.
Martin’s Accent Centric scored a not too shabby 78 points this week to keep him at the top of the pile ahead of John Joe Finn’s JJ O’Kocha FC in second and Brian Doherty’s Dynamo Dodos in third.
Paul McInaw’s brilliantly named Poppycock Wednesday are two points further back in fourth while Paul Monahan’s not so imaginatively named side Enter Your Name are four points further adrift in fifth place.
Special mention must go to Stuart McGoldrick’s Champions 2013/14 side after a whopping 98 points this week, owing to the presence of Aaron Ramsey, Yaya Toure, Ross Barkley, Luis Suarez, Romelu Lukaku (captain) in his side this week. Oh, and he also had Simon Mignolet, Branislav Ivanovic and Oscar on the bench.
J-League Top 5:
- Accent Centic – Martin McMahon: 428 points
- JJ O’Kockha FC – John Joe Finn: 425 points
- Dynamo Dodos – Brian Doherty: 421 points
- Poppycock Wednesday – Paul McInaw: 419 points
- Enter Your Name – Paul Monahan: 415 points
Yaya’s going gaga for goals
If you were in search of a model of efficiency in the Premier League this season, then look no further than Yaya Toure, the heartbeat of Manchester City and arguably the pound for pound best player in the Premier League.
While Toure’s qualities as a player have always been obvious, his quality hasn’t always been reflected in his Fantasy Football points tally and he wouldn’t be the only top player of whom that can be said to be fair.
Under Roberto Mancini, Toure used to often sit deep in the City midfield and initiate moves rather than get on the end of them but under Manuel Pellegrini he appears to have been encouraged to go forward, a policy that has been rewarded with four goals in six games so far. From just five shots on target.
Because of his record to date, there have been only two games in which Toure has failed to score less than eight points and only two games in which he has failed to collect bonus points, of which he has picked up eight in six games so far.
As a result, only Aaron Ramsey (46) and Daniel Sturridge (45) have more points than Toure (43) and while he is unlikely to maintain his remarkable conversion rate for the rest of the season, it would be a huge shock if he didn’t score significantly more than the six goals he has managed in every season he has spent in the Premier League to date.
At £9.3 million (up from £8.9 million at the start of the season), Toure is hardly cheap but is more affordable than many of the midfield options available to the top clubs and as long as he’s fit, he’s pretty much guaranteed to play every game.
Over one-third of Fantasy managers have Toure in their team at present, and it’s hard to argue the case against the Ivory Coast powerhouse at the moment.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: Yaya Toure (£9.3 million). Having spent so long talking him up above, we might as well prolong the Yaya love-in for a little longer, but if he keeps up his current form in front of goal, he would be represent a shrewd investment indeed.
Mid-Range: Romelu Lukaku (£7.5 million). Man City away is no easy fixture but it’s hard to ignore the claims of a man with three goals, an assist, five bonus points and 23 points in total in his last two games.
Bargain Basement: Morgan Amalfitano (£5.0 million). In his last two starts he’s managed two goals, an assist and five bonus points and on current form seems a snip for just five million quid.
Irish Pick: James McCarthy (£5.3 million). With Robbie Brady out for the next month, it’s slim enough pickings as far as the Boys in Green are concerned, but McCarthy played his first 90 minutes against Newcastle and looks set to be a fixture in Roberto Martinez’s side for the rest of the season.
Captain’s Pick: Luis Suarez (£11.1 million). Showed little signs of rustiness on his return against Sunderland last weekend and will fancy his chances of hitting the net at home to a Crystal Palace side who have conceded ten goals already this season.
