Score (Gameweek): Arteta-22, Drogba-20, Carew-19, Lampard-18, Malouda-17 ...... Score (Total): Rooney-216, Fabregas-212, Lampard-200, Drogba-198, Bent-166 ...... Form: Lampard-9.5, Arteta-9.2, Malouda-8.8, Torres, 8.5, Drogba-8 ...... A simple click on the ads is the best way to motivate me! Thank you.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

In Depth Pre-Season Analysis: Bolton Wanderers

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Bolton Wanderers


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Click here to view for squad statistics.

Fantasy Top Pick: Taylor (7.0), Davies (7.0)
Fantasy Good Pick: Jaaskelainen (4.5), Cahill (5.0), Steinsson (5.0), Knight (5.0)
Fantasy Gamble Pick: Elmander (5.5)

Note: The parentheses ( ) after a player name states his price.


Bolton finished 13th on last season, but their performance was not the case. They were actually better, especially in fantasy premier league where I found quite a number of worthy jewels there. Now lets have a look...


Goalkeepers and Defenders
The Bolton's defender duo - Cahill and Steinsson are very valuable for their price of 5.0 each. Especially Cahill - 3 goals, 3 assists and a respectable amount of 19 bounus points. Although Steinsson wasn't good at earning bonuses (3 only), however his goal record of 3 and assist figure of 5 was also a very good one for a defender. Their new signings from Aston Villa Knight is also a catchy figure of the team.

Jaaskelainen is also very good as a keeper, if their defenders are more resolute. With an average of almost 4 saves per game, why not to give him a chance?

Midfielders
Bolton is lucky to have a great attacking midfield like Matthew Taylor. After going through a dull 07/08 season, he revived his 08/09 campaign with a marvellous results of 10 goals and 5 assists. He deserved a credit from me to be the poor man's Gerrard - their team will suffer a lot without his presence.

Matthew Taylor

Forwards
Coincidently, Bolton do have a poor man's Torres to complement Taylor as well, and his name is Kevin Davies. Finishing seventh on the strikers table, he do deserve an eye from us. Besides that, you should not miss out Elmander as well. He didn't do well on his debut season, but after one year of experience at the premier league and the aging of Davies (33 years old), who knows what surprises that he can give?

Kevin Davies


08/09 Game Season Statistics
Top Pointers: Taylor (143)
Most Goals: Davies (11)
Most Assists: Taylor, Steinsson (5)
Most Bonus: Cahill (19)
Most Clean Sheets (Defensive Line): Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, O'Brien A, Samuel(7)
Points per Value: Cahill (24.8)
Points per Game: Taylor (4.2)

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Posted by Leo at 12:37 PM 0 comments
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Friday, July 17, 2009

In Depth Pre-Season Analysis: Blackburn Rovers

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Blackburn Rovers



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Fantasy Good Pick: Warnock (5.0), Samba (5.0), Nelsen (4.5)

Note: The parentheses ( ) after a player name states his price.


Blackburn, the only team who could interrupt the domination of Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea in getting premier league titles, had endured through a very ordinary 08/09 season. The main reason was their blow of ace forward, Roque Santa Cruz due to series of injuries. And now with him joined Manchester City, it's interesting to see how they manage to cope without him.


Goalkeepers and Defenders
Although their defenders are not good at securing clean sheets last season, they still managed to get a good amount of points from their attacks. Warnock, the top pointer of Blackburn, scored 3 goals, 3 assists and provided 14 bonus points last season while Samba provided 2 goals and 4 assists as well. Nelsen, who is cheaper than both the players above, managed to get himself to the 100 pointers club thanks to his 18 bonus points. If Blackburn managed to improve their defence this season, added with their attacking advantage, they will have the potential to become the most valuable defenders this forthcoming season.

As for keeper, Robinson is definitely not a good bargain - unless they starts to accumulate clean sheets. At the price of 4.5, we should definitely stay away from him.

Stephen Warnock

Midfielders
Blackburn's midfielders really couldn't impress me due to their low goal figures. No goals, no assists, no wins, no bonuses. Nothing really good at this area, although Gamst Pederson was significantly better than the rest of his lads last season.


Forwards
To get any striker from Blackburn is a gamble. With McCarthy the only reliable striker now, he may score a good amount of goals, but at the price of 7.0 he simply doesn't worth a place in my team. Roberts might be better, but still not catchy. Diouf? I think he had lost his boots for a very long time since his departure from Anfield.


08/09 Game Season Statistics
Top Pointers: Warnock (125)
Most Goals: McCarthy (10)
Most Assists: Gamst Pederson (8)
Most Bonus: Nelsen (18)
Most Clean Sheets (Defensive Line): Warnock (10)
Points per Value: Warnock (25)
Points per Game: Warnock, McCarthy (3.4)


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Posted by Leo at 3:46 PM 0 comments
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In Depth Pre-Season Analysis: Birmingham City

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Birmingham City



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Click here to view for squad statistics.

Fantasy Good Pick: Ridgewell (4.0), Murphy (4.0)
Fantasy Gamble Pick: Phillips (5.0), Benitez (5.5), Larsson (5.0)

Note: The parentheses ( ) after a player name states his price.


It's not surprising to see Birmingham to back to the premier league again, but their way of doing that were. The fact is, can you believe that a football club earned its second place on the league with only an average 1.17 goals per game? Well, they did it with their resolute defending - by only conceding 37 goals last season. With such strength of the back four, I'll not be surprised if they can secured their place in the premier league next season without much fuss.


Goalkeepers and Defenders
Their defenders are very considerable - at least as subs. Among the back four, I'll choose Ridgewell and Murphy simply because they start more games than the rest of the defenders.

Whereas for their goalkeepers, there's a lot of uncertainties. The arrival of Hart makes me wonder whether their coach will deploy him or Taylor as the first choice goalkeeper. Note that Taylor made an incredible saves record - an average of almost six per game.


Midfielders
Who else other than Larsson? He started most of the games last season and contributed on both goals and assists. But still it's quite a gamble. Premiership is not the same as league championship. Not to be missed out the fact that the competition for midfield position in Birmingham is great.


Forwards
As shown in statistics, their strike force are a little bit weak. Kevin Phillips was the top goalscorer for the team last season, but with only 14 goals scored, it might take you some courage to actually pick him. Their heavy signing Benitez is also considerable if you dare to take a bet on him.



08/09 Game Season Statistics
Top Pointers: N/A
Most Goals: Phillips (14)
Most Assists: Larsson (6)
Most Bonus: N/A
Most Clean Sheets (Defensive Line): Unknown
Points per Value: N/A
Points per Game: N/A

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Posted by Leo at 1:03 PM 0 comments
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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

In Depth Pre-Season Analysis: Aston Villa

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Aston Villa


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Fantasy Top Pick: Agbonlahor (8.5), Ashley Young (8.5)
Fantasy Good Pick: Carew (8.0), Milner (7.5), Downing (7.5)

Note: The parentheses ( ) after a player name states his price.


With a wonderful kick-start of league last season, Aston Villa was seemed to have the ability to end the big four domination finally. Unfortunately, what that seemed to be remains seemed. Their pathetic form at the late stage of the season had caused a big blow on their hopes of Champions League. Still, they have a great season under Martin O'Neill and with the current squad they have, I think they will have a great 09/10 season as well.


Goalkeepers and Defenders
Nothing more left. Villa's defences looked bad since after the injury of their pillar on the back, Martin Laursen. And with him leaving now, their remaining defenders simply are unreliable. No big names, no great pointscorers.

And as the last man of Villa, Friedel's performances doesn't tally with his price tag. We can get a lot of better goalkeepers than him.

Midfielders
You simply couldn't forget about Ashley Young when you talk about Villa's midfield line-up. His speed, his dribbling, his goals and assists... a strong performance as an English player. And with Barry exited to City, I predict that he'll carry more responsibilities this year in attack - which may flow him a lot of fantasy points. Besides Young, Milner on the other side of the wing is also quite decent and not bad to be considered. Besides them, the newly joined ex-Boro winger Steward Downing should also be closely observed as well. We never know whether he can reach his peak form again at Villa.

Ashley Young

Forwards
The partnership of the strike force of Villa should be awesome - if not due to the long injury of Carew last season. Whereas the other joint top goalscorer, Gabriel Agbonlahor, maybe a nightmare for any defenses when he's good, but his fiery form can also be shutted down suddenly. Heskey is also a good striker - but not in Fantasy Premier League.


08/09 Game Season Statistics
Top Pointers: A. Young (153)
Most Goals: Agbonlahor, Carew (11)
Most Assists: A. Young, Milner, Agbonlahor (9)
Most Bonus: A. Young (20)
Most Clean Sheets (Defensive Line): Friedel (13)
Points per Value: Friedel (25.3)
Points per Game: Carew, A. Young (4.2)


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Posted by Leo at 11:01 PM 0 comments
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In Depth Pre-Season Analysis: Arsenal

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Arsenal


Click here to view for team statistics.
Click here to view for squad statistics.

Fantasy Premium Pick: Arshavin (11.0, click here for player statistics)
Fantasy Top Pick: Van Persie (10.0)
Fantasy Good Pick: Fabregas (10.5), Nasri (8.0), Eduardo (8.0)
Fantasy Gamble Pick: Rosicky (7.0), Bendtner (6.5)

Note: The parentheses ( ) after a player name states his price.


As one of the big four of the Premier League, the gunners are well-known for their emphasis on the youth players. Therefore it is not surprising that the average age of their whole squad is only somewhere around 23 years old, and that is the main reason why they can only secured the fourth position last season.
Now lets look for their good players according to their positions...


Goalkeepers and Defenders
Arsenal defences weren't that bad, but they were quite a distance compared to the rest of the big four family. Why? Because they were lack of toughness. Moreover, other than Clichy, Sagna, Gallas and Toure, the rest of the pack frequently makes mistakes, which made them easily conceded goals last season, especially during the absence of the main CBs which forced Wenger to introduce to slow and old Silvestre. The youth of the squad also was proven a double edge for them, allowing them to produce great results against big clubs, yet giving some "surprising" results while playing against the likes such as Stoke and Hull. I'll vote no for Arsenal's defenders, mainly due to their inconsistency. With the values of them, I can get better defenders yet cheaper than them.
Whereas for the keeper part, Almunia (6.0) is indeed good, but still a level below of Cech, Reina and Van der Sar. And don't forget you can even save 0.5 million pounds by getting Schwarzer - the champion of goalkeepers last season.

Midfielders
With the likes like Fabregas, Walcott, Arshavin and Nasri (out for 3 months unfortunately), Arsenal's midfield is the only line which is on par with the rest of the league leaders. With the speed of Walcott, the creativity of Fabregas and the lethal shots of Arshavin, the gunners can crush any defence line of the Premier League. And not to be forgotten also the finally recovered Rosicky who had proven his value seasons ago. Arshavin is a must if you are an Arsenal fans. Remember how he scored four goals with just four shots at Anfield? And he is a midfielder now which means you will earn one more point for every goal he scored!!!

Andrei Arshavin

Forwards
If you really wanted to choose Arsenal's forwards, you simply got no choice other than Robin Van Persie (10.0). Being the most consistent scorer in Arsenal (other than Arshavin), he's quite a decent deal to be considered. His most possible partner, Eduardo Da Silva (8.0), might be a good choice for his low price as a big four's main striker. Bendtner (6.5), on the other hand, worth to be gambled if Van Persie or Dudu is injured. The rest of the striking force are still not matured enough and thus, better say no to them.



08/09 Game Season Statistics
Top Pointers: Van Persie (149)
Most Goals: Van Persie (11)
Most Assists: Van Persie, Fabregas (10)
Most Bonus: Van Persie (20)
Most Clean Sheets (Defensive Line): Almunia (15)
Points per Value: Denilson (18.3)
Points per Game: Arshavin (7.2)

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Posted by Leo at 10:19 PM 0 comments
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In Depth Pre-Season Analysis: Main


Alright, the detailed analysis is going to be released soon! But before that, I would like to give some brief directions first...

First of all, as it is detailed, I'll release posts team by team instead of one which covers 20 for easy navigation. All the links will be included in this page so don't worry. =)

Then, for each team, I'll include some guides and details for key players, a link to team's and players' statistics and also the following lists:
  1. Fantasy Premium Pick: The players that I ultimately recommend to be in your team captain your team as well.
  2. Fantasy Top Pick: The players that I strongly recommend to be in your team.
  3. Fantasy Good Pick: The players that I think will provide a consistent flow of points, but not much.
  4. Fantasy Gamble Pick: The players that worth a gamble who I think may perform very well.

More details may be included. Of course, opinions are very subjective, feel free to give comments. Enjoy~

Posted by Leo at 1:15 PM 5 comments
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