The Analysis
Tim - Despite paying loads for Ljungberg, Tim has an annoyingly strong midfield and attack - mostly consistent proven points-getters. Him only having one good defender may not be a problem.
Tall Mark - Has the all-time fantasy god in Thierry Henry and the new one in Petr Cech (plus another Chelsea defender guaranteed to play) but fuck all else. There could be 250-300 points in those three so he may only need bits and bobs from the others. Hard to see how Bobby Zamora and Lua Lua are going to help a team to glory though.
Ben - Lots of 'maybe' players (Morientes, Drogba, Bergkamp) who will get some, but not loads of points. Difficult to see where his surge to glory is going to come from. In fact, had Ben not saved my skin when he put me up after I missed my train home after the auction, I'd be tempted to say his team was shit.
Mark B - One decent striker, two midfielders and two defenders (provided Wenger doesn't tire of Lauren). Could Mark be the MarketingNot Blackburn?
Lozza - Lots and lots of desperately uninspiring strikers and a bitty defence take the edge off a really quite good (if thin) midfield.
Jon - If the likes of Lehmann and Hyypia can avoid getting dropped, Jon has a good squad. Should be lots of points from his midfield and, shit though he is, Heskey should provide good back-up to Defoe, though Crespo's fortunes are at the mercy of The Special One's selection policy.
Dave - My eyes scanned down the squad, waiting to fall upon a good player. Before I knew it I was staring at my keyboard :-) A monumentally bad team. Hleb will have to be the new Frank Lampard (with the old Frank Lampard doing this as well) for him to have any chance. Eight midfielders? I sense Dave's going to be quite busy at 5pm on a Friday for the next few weeks...
Brian - OK, so Brian got stung with Alan Stubbs and Robben has picked up an injury but he's got some solid defenders, strikers who can score points and Emre looked quite tasty for Newcastle last night - could be alright.
Adam - Double-bubble Chelsea defenders (plus an ARS and a MU) means it's tight at the back for the Geckos (ironic seeing as one of those defender's names looks like Homo). A few good midfielders will take some pressure off his lightweight strike force.
And finally, Me - Having two Aston Villa defenders is a decision best described as 'brave', though if I were to select one of my players to be out for 3 months at the start of the season, I'd take Richard Dunne, rather than the Robben I had last year. I hope Hleb turns out to be shit, so Pires keeps his place, but I'm quite happy with my midfield and attack - particularly Van Nistlerooy, who will turn out to be the bargain of the season.
Predictions: 1st - Tim, 2nd - Me, 3rd - Adam/Jon. Last - Dave
posted by Andrew @ 10:38 pm
5 comments
5 Comments:
"(plus another Chelsea defender guaranteed to play)" - you must mean Gallas. Is he guaranteed to play? I don't believe he was always a first-choice last season and they have more defenders now.
Gallas played most games last season. Admittedly a lot of them were at full back covering for injuries, but I'd say he'd get in ahead of Carvalho?
You seem to like talking out of your ass! Reyes & Hasselbaink (combined) got more points than Henry last year, which isn't too bad. My defence is a bit cheap tho I admit.
ben said....
Van Nistelroy, bargain of the season. We'll see about that if Drogba plays as well as he did today. Knowing my luck though he'll start with a hat-trick against Wigan, break his leg and then score tonnes of points for someone else after a miraculous recovery.
Tim - Decent midfield (providing they play) though not familiar wirth Windy Miller's footballing skills, One defender of note. Interesting force of attackers well assembled on a budget. Each could be good (as they have been previously) or could disappoint (as they has done previously) .
prediction: 2nd
Andrew - 2 defenders of note, pretty experimental midfield, 1 top drawer striker. If Andrew's prediction of coming second turns out to be true then I don't understand how so many people are going to squeeze in above him, but they are.
prediction: 7th
Mark S - As Andrew said, Henry, Cech and Galles. Nice trio. A scattering of possible average players throughout the team means Mark is relying heavily on Chelsea keeping as many clean sheets as last year. Personally I don't think they will. Could do with a bit more in midfield and attack. With the right tweaking could salavage his seaosn. Full marks for gung ho though.
prediction: 5th
Ben - Ben's get a lovely pair of centrebacks (come on sing along!). It's hard to see where he wasted the rest of his money though. Drogba looked handy at the weekend so could suprise a few.
prediction: 6th
Mark B - Still falling into the 2 villa defenders trap ;-) Well it might pay off one year. Might be this year, probably not ;-) Pool goalie (is that good or bad?). Couple of handy midfielders with a couple of possibles and the most talented player in England (Not Harewood but Rooney). Baros could do well if he goes to another team. not so well if it's abroad though.
prediction: 9th
Lozza - Would have said 1 decent defender but based on community shield I would be had up for slander. So that leaves midfield and attack. Gerrard will have a handy total of points this year. Diouf and Garcia possibly too. With 6 strikers Loz wa obviously focusing on his attack. Should have gone to specsavers Loz. JFH might put in a typical solid year.
prediction: 8th
Jon - Interesting defence. Quite a few gambles on players playing but when you have bugger all cash left you gotta scrape the barrel a bit. Taht said Lehmann could well start as 1st choice and was pleasing to hear that Traore is a regular now for pool. If Rafa fails to sign a new Centreback then Hyypia might pick up a few points (does he get extra for using a zimmerframe?). Rio quell's the monkeys fears by signing up. Pretty solid midifeld with potential for some good points scoring. Hopefully Jose will like SWP enough to play him. Ronado to have blinder. Some quality up front but a bit light on the numbers. Another striker would round the squad off nicely.
prediction: 1st
Dave - Where did all Dave's budget go? Ah yes there it is - in the form of class act midfielder Lampard. Though he will do well to match last year's feats. Neveille and *cough* Crouch make up the decent players. If Crouch playes enough he could end up season's top scorer. What a shocking thought. Not enough to save the current wooden spoon holders though I fear. 2 boro defenders. worth a gamble (if you're desperate). They always promise much but fail to deliver. Will it be the same this year?
prediction: 10th
Brian - Better defence than most. Robben should do well in the 7 games he avoids injury. Dyer could be (is) a masterstroke(r) if Souness fails to sign another attacker. Bellamy to do well and my old chum Earnshaw would get good points if only Robson liked him.
prediction: 4th
Adam - Best defence by miles. Too good for the rest of the team by miles too.
prediction: 3rd
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