Sorry I haven't been active on here for a few weeks. November has turned into a very crappy month for several reasons, not least one in particular that I filled Gert in on so he knew what was going on (thanks again buddy for letting me talk with you!). Things are still not going very well and I don't see things getting much better any time soon :( But hey, I can't keep ignoring the football!
First of all I'd like to mention that tragic news regarding Brazilian club Chapecoense, who have lost so many lives in the terrible plane crash. It certainly puts things into perspective and my heart goes out to the families of everyone involved.
Not sure where to start catching up on things now... I guess I'll mention Spurs! It's been a frustrating time of things recently to say the least... Odd team selections, constantly changing formations, loss of form to key players and of course the dreaded injury list still claiming Alderweireld and Lamela.
Despite going 13 games unbeaten in the league, it's been safe to say we had been getting away with it somewhat in recent games. Pochettino has tried many different formations to try and cover injuries and form loss, but really all that's done is cause more problems as players wrestle with new roles and different players around them. Eriksen in particular has suffered this season due to not once having the 'main' 11 players who came so close to the title last season. With the introduction of Wanyama initially causing an awkwardness in central midfield without Dembele resulting in a new 4-1-4-1 formation, to thrusting the hapless Sissoko into the mix. Then we've had Harry Winks making prominent appearances and again, it's causing players to move from their comfort zones. Dembele in particular had maybe his two worst games in the past 2 seasons whilst Winks was on the pitch.
Obviously injuries must be compensated for and I still think that Pochettino is by far the best manager in the league... but that doesn't preclude me from questioning some of his decisions and selections. Take the game vs Arsenal as example: We randomly switched to 3 at the back for the first time and as it turned out, worked quite well - the best we'd played in a few games. Then instead of continuing with the system, he reverts to yet another formation and to no-ones surprise, achieves another questionable performance.
A friend of mine is keeping track of the number of different formations and systems we've played so far this season, but I've lost count!
Away from Spurs, I'd like to touch on the Mourinho incident. Do you guys have the same opinion that he seems to still think it's 2006 and is in danger of losing touch with the modern game? It's only 10 years, but compare him to the other top managers of today - Pep, Poch, Conte, Wenger not to mention the up and comers like Koeman, Bilic, Howe, etc - I would not expect a single one of them to lose their rag and boot a waterbottle with such blatant disregard. Nor do I see them trying to engage in mind games in a similar fashion to how Fergie managed to manipulate referees or other managers. The game has moved on and yet Jose seems to be stuck in a time warp. Maybe the mixed results at United are because of this?
I totally agree with Gert on his summary of Everton. After much promise they looked pretty woeful against Southampton and wonder where they will turn things around. I'm sure Koeman will sort things out, but you have to think any early season ambitions of a top 6 finish are probably out of reach now.
After some pretty shocking weeks in Fantasy Football (I'm 100% blaming my personal issues! ;) ) it was a mighty relief to see some of my players grabbing a decent haul of points. Although I'm kicking myself at the last minute switch to Coutinho as caption from Aguero - what a brilliant move that was lol. I think pretty much every one suffered in their defence this week (bar the pesky McAuley owners!) so for once seeing 5 points from 4 players didn't cause me too much damage. The decision to switch in Siggurdson for Lallana worked out very nicely as I almost plumped for Yaya Toure after his shock return to the City side. I still feel there is plenty of surgery to do on my team with Fuchs, Benteke, Lukaku, Coutinho (with his injury), Allen, and Bolasie all on my chopping block.
Rokkerr - may I ask who is the guy who got the Spurs tattoo? I think the reason we pick up a surprising number of fans is down to us nearly always having a 'maverick' type of player no matter what era you grew up in. Hoddle, Waddle, Gazza, Ginola, Bale, Van der Vaart have all claimed many a Spurs fan as they look to be a little different from the usual suspects of United, Liverpool or the other London clubs.
Gert & TheBoy's Official VNA Soccer... err Football Thread
Man United knew exactly what kind of man they signed as Mourinho's approach and/or football philosophy will never change, so therefore United are to blame as well for the fact he has been charged three (?) times already this season. The club decided to appoint someone with proven PL pedigree rather than a revolutionary manager. To be fair, though, they have been extremely unfortunate. Those four home ties at Old Trafford should've easily been won with multiple goals. They are creating enough chances; Zlatan has the most shots on target, he's just not putting them in the back of the net. Lee Grant, Tom Heaton, Darren Randolph and an incredible header from Giroud; that's basically why those matches ended in draws instead of victories. United dominated possession and opposition, but lost 8 points against Stoke, Burnley, Arsenal and West Ham. That particular frustration, along with the fact United were denied two clear penalties, has been brewing for a while and now Mourinho starts to look like the specialist in failure....
Super Saturday presents us two tasty fixtures with Man City vs Chelsea around lunchtime. It's a top of the table battle that could go either way. Sergio Aguero has scored 10 goals in 10 starts with 4 braces, while Chelsea have only conceded once since shifting to a 3-4-3 formation months ago. The numbers show that Eden Hazard usually doesn't do well away from home, but Man City hardly ever keep a clean sheet. I'd say it's pretty much impossible to predict the outcome... I think you could just flip a coin, lol.
An hour later we get to see Barca and Real kick-off for yet another El Clasico in the Camp Nou Stadium. Zinedine Zidane's team and topscorer Ronaldo are still unbeaten in the league, whereas Barcelona had to settle with a 1-1 draw away at Sociedad last Sunday night in what Luis Enrique described as Barca's worst performance since taking charge. Blaugranas have MSN available, but Real Madrid will be without one of the B's as Welsh superstar Bale faces a 4-month lay-off through injury. Messi has scored two hattricks in the CL and Ronaldo netted three goals at Atletico. Needless to say I'm very much looking forward to this game!
I'm completely hooked on FPL, so thanks again for introducing me to it, lol. Not gonna reveal much about my team for the weekend except that I can confirm Wes Morgan is OUT! I got him on my wildcard for the home fixtures against Palace, WBA and Boro as Leicester had shown they could still keep cleanies at the King Power. However, they've shipped 5 goals and Morgan only delivered a cheeky assist. Ron-Robert Zieler is such a bad goalkeeper. The German rarely makes a save and the back four clearly miss Schmeichel between the posts. From now on I'm staying far away from Leicester defenders.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
We've been treated to a shocking turn of events at the Etihad and Vitality Stadium. Guardiola's decision of lining up in 3-4-3 to counter Conte's successful formation proved to be working until well in the second half. However, when Kevin De Bruyne hit the crossbar from VERY close range, Chelsea's main men Costa and Hazard took over to secure Chelsea's 8th consecutive victory. Sergio Aguero had at least two clear opportunities to score, but his efforts were blocked by Blues defenders. People playing fantasy football used to ride the waves of Aguero's double figure hauls and be wary of Costa's mental breakdowns. This season it is the other way around as Costa behaves like the ideal son-in-law while Aguero tormented David Luiz with a horrendous tackle. Drew, what do you think of Pep constantly changing his starting XI? Do you feel it is affecting City or just bad luck that they can't convert the chances?
Bournemouth left Liverpool drowning their sorrows as Howe's side put four past an awful keeper in a spectacular display with fireworks until the last second. The Reds completely dominated first half with Bournemouth having no shot on target, though literally the whole game turned around from the moment Ryan Fraser replaced the injured Junior Stanislas. Emre Can's fabulous goal had put Liverpool in the driving seat once again, but Bournemouth exposed Klopp's defence in a nightmarish way with goalkeeper Karius in particular looking like an amateur and I can also understand why they reportedly want Virgil Van Dijk in the heart of defence. The hard-fought victory was totally deserved and the passion Howe showed on the touchline had football fans cheering for the Cherries. They wanted 3 points and were willing to dig deep physically whilst Liverpool thought they could take their foot off the gas pedal and defend a two-goal lead. There's nothing wrong as long as you score more than the opposition, but when you concede FOUR goals at Bournemouth, it is time to address the problem.
Swansea and West Ham confirmed their whipping boys status with both teams lacking any form or security at the back. Tottenham finally scored plenty of goals, though the opener came from an unfairly awarded penalty. Still, a Harry Kane double and Eriksen brace raises the pressure on Bradley, who will most likely shuffle the pack yet again, lol. West Ham, meanwhile, fell victim to an absolutely brilliant Alexis Sanchez and definitely check out his third goal if you haven't seen it! The Chilean ran riot at the London Stadium and I can't believe Wenger hasn't used him as striker before cause this way Sanchez is gonna get 20-25 goals at least and is close to being essential in FPL. Will Slaven Bilic survive Christmas or can we add him to the list of managerial sackings?
Man United fail to keep a clean sheet, Evertonians Jagielka and Barkley were dropped to the bench and West Bromwich Albion move up to seventh in the league!
Bournemouth left Liverpool drowning their sorrows as Howe's side put four past an awful keeper in a spectacular display with fireworks until the last second. The Reds completely dominated first half with Bournemouth having no shot on target, though literally the whole game turned around from the moment Ryan Fraser replaced the injured Junior Stanislas. Emre Can's fabulous goal had put Liverpool in the driving seat once again, but Bournemouth exposed Klopp's defence in a nightmarish way with goalkeeper Karius in particular looking like an amateur and I can also understand why they reportedly want Virgil Van Dijk in the heart of defence. The hard-fought victory was totally deserved and the passion Howe showed on the touchline had football fans cheering for the Cherries. They wanted 3 points and were willing to dig deep physically whilst Liverpool thought they could take their foot off the gas pedal and defend a two-goal lead. There's nothing wrong as long as you score more than the opposition, but when you concede FOUR goals at Bournemouth, it is time to address the problem.
Swansea and West Ham confirmed their whipping boys status with both teams lacking any form or security at the back. Tottenham finally scored plenty of goals, though the opener came from an unfairly awarded penalty. Still, a Harry Kane double and Eriksen brace raises the pressure on Bradley, who will most likely shuffle the pack yet again, lol. West Ham, meanwhile, fell victim to an absolutely brilliant Alexis Sanchez and definitely check out his third goal if you haven't seen it! The Chilean ran riot at the London Stadium and I can't believe Wenger hasn't used him as striker before cause this way Sanchez is gonna get 20-25 goals at least and is close to being essential in FPL. Will Slaven Bilic survive Christmas or can we add him to the list of managerial sackings?
Man United fail to keep a clean sheet, Evertonians Jagielka and Barkley were dropped to the bench and West Bromwich Albion move up to seventh in the league!
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
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rokkerr
- Army Chief of Staff "Number One"
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I was thrilled with 75 points but then I saw Drew's eye popping 89 and I was brought back to reality...
I did pick up Mane which was great but Manchester United keep on giving up stupid goals... not sure if De Gea in net as amazing as he is ... is a waste of money that can be spent elsewhere...
I caught that game and it was shocking to me how boring United were. 2 shots on goal with all that talent. Why is Rashford coming in with 10 minutes to play?
Mourinho after the game whined that United were the better team... not from my armchair. They lacked fluidity.
... I enjoy this league but they don't have a ''draft'' to stop teams having the same players. Is that by design? Curious...
In the vna nfl league a player can only be on one team.
I did pick up Mane which was great but Manchester United keep on giving up stupid goals... not sure if De Gea in net as amazing as he is ... is a waste of money that can be spent elsewhere...
I caught that game and it was shocking to me how boring United were. 2 shots on goal with all that talent. Why is Rashford coming in with 10 minutes to play?
Mourinho after the game whined that United were the better team... not from my armchair. They lacked fluidity.
... I enjoy this league but they don't have a ''draft'' to stop teams having the same players. Is that by design? Curious...
In the vna nfl league a player can only be on one team.
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wearing my cockring 24 hours a day
If you keep this up, I'm gonna have to start worrying about dropping to fourth place as opposed to moving up, haha. I noticed you went from 1.7m in the world to 968k within the last four weeks. Great job! Middlesbrough defender Ben Gibson gave me 8 points from Monday night's game, so I picked up 49 points in total.
The draft concept is more an American thing, cause as far as know none of the European fantasy games work like that. I always try to look for a couple differentials; players with form and good upcoming fixtures yet still a bit under the radar. For example, Tottenham's Christian Eriksen - 4.4% ownership when I got him in last week - instantly rewarded me with 18 points! Another one is Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso who plays left wing-back and only sits in 6.7% of squads. I think he'll rack up a massive amount of points this busy month and his price could skyrocket very quickly.
Oh, and you hit the nail on the head regarding keepers... DeGea is one of the best in the league, but he's useless from fantasy point of view. Keepers receive extra points for making saves, which doesn't happen in DeGea's case. The fact United keep conceding the odd goal makes the Spaniard way too expensive, hence most people pick two cheapies between the posts.
December is fully packed! There's an extra round of matches on Dec 13-14 and there are matches on Boxing Day, New Year's Eve as well as New Year's Day.
The draft concept is more an American thing, cause as far as know none of the European fantasy games work like that. I always try to look for a couple differentials; players with form and good upcoming fixtures yet still a bit under the radar. For example, Tottenham's Christian Eriksen - 4.4% ownership when I got him in last week - instantly rewarded me with 18 points! Another one is Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso who plays left wing-back and only sits in 6.7% of squads. I think he'll rack up a massive amount of points this busy month and his price could skyrocket very quickly.
Oh, and you hit the nail on the head regarding keepers... DeGea is one of the best in the league, but he's useless from fantasy point of view. Keepers receive extra points for making saves, which doesn't happen in DeGea's case. The fact United keep conceding the odd goal makes the Spaniard way too expensive, hence most people pick two cheapies between the posts.
December is fully packed! There's an extra round of matches on Dec 13-14 and there are matches on Boxing Day, New Year's Eve as well as New Year's Day.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
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TheBoy
- Sergeant First Class
- Posts: 645
- Joined: November 23rd, 2010, 10:42 am
- Location: Derbyshire, England
I was looking at Rokkerr's team the other day and thinking I wouldn't mind having that squad... It's looking very strong especially the 'first choice' starting 11 and you've had Costa through a sublime patch. After a couple of pretty horrendous weeks, I have to be very happy with a return of 89 points. The only downers of course was Aguero getting a 4 game ban and then having that followed up by the unfortunate injury to Bolasie which suggest he will miss the rest of this season. So I'm having to take a minus 4 just on those two and quite frankly if any of my current defenders + goalkeepers get me any points at all this week, I'll consider it good going. I desperately wanted to get shot of Fuchs (for Alonso!) but not sure I want to take another 4 point hit. But then I'm certain to lose value on Fuchs whilst Alonso is heading towards a price increase... Big decisions to be made!
As much as it pains me, I have to give big credit to Sanchez's performance v West Ham. He absolutely destroyed them and showed just the kind of player he can be.
Spurs were excellent against Swansea, although you have to have big fears for them staying in the league. They looked pretty dreadful!
Leicester continue to struggle - could they really be relegation candidates this season? I'd still say no, but then you look at other teams who should be near the drop zone and they are all playing much better and getting results. Even Sunderland are starting to turn things around and with Defoe looking like he's ten years younger, Moyes could end up doing a good job there.
A rather anticlimax to Tottenham's Champions League season tonight :( Obviously I never want us to lose... but I can't help thinking it wouldn't be the worst thing to happen tonight and avoid the dreaded Europa League. We've seen how having now European football is helping Chelsea and Liverpool massively this season. Meanwhile, we've already shown we are struggling to keep a strong squad fit and so having just the league (and the FA Cup I suppose) to concentrate on wouldn't be such a bad thing...
I forgot to mention last week that Gareth Southgate has now been given the England managers job full time. It's not a huge surprise and tbh, I think after the signs shown in his 4 game audition, maybe it won't be such a bad thing. He's happy to introduce youth and there were signs particularly in the game v Spain that we can potentially have a bit of excitement!
As much as it pains me, I have to give big credit to Sanchez's performance v West Ham. He absolutely destroyed them and showed just the kind of player he can be.
Spurs were excellent against Swansea, although you have to have big fears for them staying in the league. They looked pretty dreadful!
Leicester continue to struggle - could they really be relegation candidates this season? I'd still say no, but then you look at other teams who should be near the drop zone and they are all playing much better and getting results. Even Sunderland are starting to turn things around and with Defoe looking like he's ten years younger, Moyes could end up doing a good job there.
A rather anticlimax to Tottenham's Champions League season tonight :( Obviously I never want us to lose... but I can't help thinking it wouldn't be the worst thing to happen tonight and avoid the dreaded Europa League. We've seen how having now European football is helping Chelsea and Liverpool massively this season. Meanwhile, we've already shown we are struggling to keep a strong squad fit and so having just the league (and the FA Cup I suppose) to concentrate on wouldn't be such a bad thing...
I forgot to mention last week that Gareth Southgate has now been given the England managers job full time. It's not a huge surprise and tbh, I think after the signs shown in his 4 game audition, maybe it won't be such a bad thing. He's happy to introduce youth and there were signs particularly in the game v Spain that we can potentially have a bit of excitement!
Word is that Jamie Vardy is still having a party after netting his first ever Premier League hattrick this weekend against a rubbish Man City side. The Foxes exploited the opposition's defensive issues perfectly as Leicester were 3-0 up after barely 20 minutes! It was pouring at the King Power Stadium and Guardiola's desire to implement revolutionary football (3-2-4-1) backfired again as Kolarov, Sagna, Stones and Zabaleta looked absolutely awful. However, whenever being confronted with the issues, Pep claims that it's not about the players or the system. Man City did get a few chances early in the second half, but they're not clinical enough in the box and the continuous changes in Guardiola's lineup suggest that he doesn't know his best XI either. I wonder what Gabriel Jesus will bring to this team? As for Leicester, great victory and important three points. Now they have got to keep the momentum going against Bournemouth and Stoke.
Tony Pulis loves playing the big teams and his stubborn West Brom side held on for a long time until a tremendous Costa strike, his 12th goal of the season, gave Chelsea their 9th consecutive league win! The resemblances with Antonio Conte's Juventus are there for everyone to see and you have to wonder who could possibly stop this blue machine. If you keep clean sheets and have top quality up front with Costa, Hazard and Pedro, the title is theirs to lose, isn't it?
Man United have probably one of the most favorable schedules over the festive period and I can totally see them creeping into the top 4 by the end of 2016 as long as they don't concede sloppy goals anymore. It took the Mancunians 78 days to get another victory at Old Trafford and the Spurs win must have felt sweet after a frustrating time for Mourinho's men. Both centre-backs Jones and Rojo were surprisingly impressive keeping Kane at bay. Armenian midfielder Mikhitaryan's decisive output in both PL and EFL Cup matches underlines his potential for the club and it remembered me of why he was crowned assist king in Dortmund and Donetsk. Micky is one hell of a player! As for Spurs... well, tweets about Eric Dier make it seem Drew was somewhat fuming at Pochettino for his decision to play Dembele as holding midfielder and let Wanyama bomb forward, lol.
Liverpool have a goalkeeper problem yet Jurgen Klopp is defending this former Mainz man as if he's the best in the world. Klopp needs to realize that if Karius fails to improve, his side could drop out of the title race very quicky, especially if Chelsea keep racking up the points. They did well against West Ham, but with Coutinho, Can and Sturridge all out injured, Klopp was left without any other attacking options on the bench. The loss of Coutinho has already had a major impact as Sunday's 2-2 draw was the second time Liverpool dropped points after the capitulation last week away to Bournemouth. Some tough upcoming fixtures for the Reds with Boro and the Merseyside Derby, but the clash with Man City on New Year's Eve should definitely be a spectacular one with lots of goals.
Tony Pulis loves playing the big teams and his stubborn West Brom side held on for a long time until a tremendous Costa strike, his 12th goal of the season, gave Chelsea their 9th consecutive league win! The resemblances with Antonio Conte's Juventus are there for everyone to see and you have to wonder who could possibly stop this blue machine. If you keep clean sheets and have top quality up front with Costa, Hazard and Pedro, the title is theirs to lose, isn't it?
Man United have probably one of the most favorable schedules over the festive period and I can totally see them creeping into the top 4 by the end of 2016 as long as they don't concede sloppy goals anymore. It took the Mancunians 78 days to get another victory at Old Trafford and the Spurs win must have felt sweet after a frustrating time for Mourinho's men. Both centre-backs Jones and Rojo were surprisingly impressive keeping Kane at bay. Armenian midfielder Mikhitaryan's decisive output in both PL and EFL Cup matches underlines his potential for the club and it remembered me of why he was crowned assist king in Dortmund and Donetsk. Micky is one hell of a player! As for Spurs... well, tweets about Eric Dier make it seem Drew was somewhat fuming at Pochettino for his decision to play Dembele as holding midfielder and let Wanyama bomb forward, lol.
Liverpool have a goalkeeper problem yet Jurgen Klopp is defending this former Mainz man as if he's the best in the world. Klopp needs to realize that if Karius fails to improve, his side could drop out of the title race very quicky, especially if Chelsea keep racking up the points. They did well against West Ham, but with Coutinho, Can and Sturridge all out injured, Klopp was left without any other attacking options on the bench. The loss of Coutinho has already had a major impact as Sunday's 2-2 draw was the second time Liverpool dropped points after the capitulation last week away to Bournemouth. Some tough upcoming fixtures for the Reds with Boro and the Merseyside Derby, but the clash with Man City on New Year's Eve should definitely be a spectacular one with lots of goals.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
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rokkerr
- Army Chief of Staff "Number One"
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Careful Gert... I am creeping up on your ass... 
Drew must be in mourning for the Man United game... but Drew you are #1 again!
Drew must be in mourning for the Man United game... but Drew you are #1 again!
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wearing my cockring 24 hours a day
Wrong captain picks week after week and not having Diego Costa in my team has cost me big time.... 
I kinda feel like Man United and Mourinho right now, looking at the table and thinking "How on earth am I gonna get to the top spot now?!"
I kinda feel like Man United and Mourinho right now, looking at the table and thinking "How on earth am I gonna get to the top spot now?!"
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
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TheBoy
- Sergeant First Class
- Posts: 645
- Joined: November 23rd, 2010, 10:42 am
- Location: Derbyshire, England
Hardly time to take stock of the weekend's activity before another full round of fixtures starting last night and continuing tonight. As it turned out, Leicester couldn't take any momentum from the City destruction and whimpered to a pretty disastrous defeat to Bournemouth. I genuinely can't work out what's wrong with Leicester this season. Sure, teams have maybe started to work them out (bar Pep, lol) but there seems something else lost. Maybe it's the players themselves not able to get themselves motivated, knowing that whatever they achieve this season it simply won't match winning the league?
My thought for Spurs before the Man United game was this: I didn't particularly fear United, but I did fear Spurs. By that I mean compare the United players man for man and there's possibly only Micky (I don't think I'll ever remember how to spell his name correctly haha) who would seem a genuine upgrade on the Tottenham players. Ok Ibra isn't bad lol, but I'm happy with Harry ;) But the fear I had was Tottenham simply not turning up and playing to their full potential. As it turned out, this was exactly the case. Such a lethargic display and although we had a couple of chances, plus a penalty shout we never looked like salvaging anything from the game.
I'm going to put my tactics hat on now and elaborate on Gert's mention of my aggrieved Tweets regarding the deployment of Wanyama/Dembele. When we brought Wanyama, it was widely suggested he would be backup/rotate to Dier and cover for Dembele when required. As it turned out, he's been pretty beastly in midfield to the point that he's now picked ahead of Dier. Which is fine... but not when we have the issue as highlighted in the United game where we find the supposedly defensive midfielder constantly playing 15-20 yards further forward than Dembele. This leaves our most potent asset to drive at stubborn defences watching on from the half way line whilst our 4 attacking players look desperate for another man to use.
Taking this further, it's having a wider impact on both the defence and full backs. What Dier offers so brilliantly is the ability to drop into a 3 man central defence. This has two knock on effects: It allows Walker and Rose to bomb forward with much more freedom and as we have seen, turned them into some of the best full backs in world football. It also means Alderweireld and Vertonghen can 'split' allowing them to play attacking long diagonal passes with which Toby in particular was incredible at providing last season.
Remove Dier from this system and you've got Dembele now playing as the holding midfielder. He cannot play in defence, simple as that. So it prevents the central defenders splitting and means that as the full backs still attack, there is zero cover for them. Also, last season Dembele earned rave reviews for his defensive stats which actually outshone Dier. This cannot be coincidence that he was winning the ball higher up the pitch during less dangerous stages of attack. This was also helped by opposing teams having less options to pass past him due to there being Dier, Toby and Jan all behind and in position to cut out dangerous runs or passes.
Finally, with Wanyama taking part in the attacks, he simply doesn't have the passing range, dribbling skills or intelligence of Dembele with which to do anything productive. And as we've seen a few times this season, when finding himself in goalscoring positions, he doesn't know how to finish.
It's really infuriating me and I fear that Pochettino's stubbornness will prevent him from taking any action knowing that Wanyama is a player he has desired since arriving at Spurs. But as I think I've pointed out quite well is that it's more than just one player. I actually think Wanyama could do the 'Dier role' to a certain extent, but he has to be instructed to stay behind Dembele, otherwise it's effecting the entire team. It cannot be a coincidence that Wanyama has been a key player this season and yet all our attacking players have found life hard and the goals we've conceded have tended to be ones where players have escaped beyond our defence.
One final thought on this and to highlight the effect it's had on the overall team: The last good game Dembele had for Spurs was against Arsenal - where we played 3 at the back, which is in effect exactly what we end up with when Dier is in the team.
I'm not sure how long my Fantasy Football luck will keep up, but I'm happy to take it all for now! Siggy and Benteke have been on good runs, whilst Lallana was a nice bonus to get a goal too. Big pressure on Kane for me tonight to get a hat trick with the armband on him ahead of Costa an Sanchez! I'm also quite happy about this quick round of games as it didn't give me any time to panic into making a transfer lol. So I can hopefully do something productive with two free transfers before the weekend... Joe Allen, start packing your bags ;)
My thought for Spurs before the Man United game was this: I didn't particularly fear United, but I did fear Spurs. By that I mean compare the United players man for man and there's possibly only Micky (I don't think I'll ever remember how to spell his name correctly haha) who would seem a genuine upgrade on the Tottenham players. Ok Ibra isn't bad lol, but I'm happy with Harry ;) But the fear I had was Tottenham simply not turning up and playing to their full potential. As it turned out, this was exactly the case. Such a lethargic display and although we had a couple of chances, plus a penalty shout we never looked like salvaging anything from the game.
I'm going to put my tactics hat on now and elaborate on Gert's mention of my aggrieved Tweets regarding the deployment of Wanyama/Dembele. When we brought Wanyama, it was widely suggested he would be backup/rotate to Dier and cover for Dembele when required. As it turned out, he's been pretty beastly in midfield to the point that he's now picked ahead of Dier. Which is fine... but not when we have the issue as highlighted in the United game where we find the supposedly defensive midfielder constantly playing 15-20 yards further forward than Dembele. This leaves our most potent asset to drive at stubborn defences watching on from the half way line whilst our 4 attacking players look desperate for another man to use.
Taking this further, it's having a wider impact on both the defence and full backs. What Dier offers so brilliantly is the ability to drop into a 3 man central defence. This has two knock on effects: It allows Walker and Rose to bomb forward with much more freedom and as we have seen, turned them into some of the best full backs in world football. It also means Alderweireld and Vertonghen can 'split' allowing them to play attacking long diagonal passes with which Toby in particular was incredible at providing last season.
Remove Dier from this system and you've got Dembele now playing as the holding midfielder. He cannot play in defence, simple as that. So it prevents the central defenders splitting and means that as the full backs still attack, there is zero cover for them. Also, last season Dembele earned rave reviews for his defensive stats which actually outshone Dier. This cannot be coincidence that he was winning the ball higher up the pitch during less dangerous stages of attack. This was also helped by opposing teams having less options to pass past him due to there being Dier, Toby and Jan all behind and in position to cut out dangerous runs or passes.
Finally, with Wanyama taking part in the attacks, he simply doesn't have the passing range, dribbling skills or intelligence of Dembele with which to do anything productive. And as we've seen a few times this season, when finding himself in goalscoring positions, he doesn't know how to finish.
It's really infuriating me and I fear that Pochettino's stubbornness will prevent him from taking any action knowing that Wanyama is a player he has desired since arriving at Spurs. But as I think I've pointed out quite well is that it's more than just one player. I actually think Wanyama could do the 'Dier role' to a certain extent, but he has to be instructed to stay behind Dembele, otherwise it's effecting the entire team. It cannot be a coincidence that Wanyama has been a key player this season and yet all our attacking players have found life hard and the goals we've conceded have tended to be ones where players have escaped beyond our defence.
One final thought on this and to highlight the effect it's had on the overall team: The last good game Dembele had for Spurs was against Arsenal - where we played 3 at the back, which is in effect exactly what we end up with when Dier is in the team.
I'm not sure how long my Fantasy Football luck will keep up, but I'm happy to take it all for now! Siggy and Benteke have been on good runs, whilst Lallana was a nice bonus to get a goal too. Big pressure on Kane for me tonight to get a hat trick with the armband on him ahead of Costa an Sanchez! I'm also quite happy about this quick round of games as it didn't give me any time to panic into making a transfer lol. So I can hopefully do something productive with two free transfers before the weekend... Joe Allen, start packing your bags ;)
Great write-up about Spurs and last night's home match against Hull was much better already. In fact, it almost seems like you've had contact with Pochettino as the things mentioned here were perfectly executed by the players, lol. Dier started for the injured Dembele and dropped in between the centre-backs to allow both Walker and Rose to shine and provide assists for Eriksen's two goals. Very dominant display and I personally expect the same level against Burnley.
Not many surprising results in the midweek craziness with all the big sides collecting wins, apart from Arsenal though. Wenger couldn't help complaining about refereeing decisions, but truth is Everton started being more aggressive after having gone a goal down in the early stages of the match and Wenger's eleven male divas just couldn't cope with that and certainly didn't feel like battling for a victory. The outburst of enthusiasm revealed Koeman had been feeling some pressure with the Merseyside Derby looming around the corner.
Made one transfer in FPL last night and got rid of Austin. I still stand behind the decision to bring him in as Southampton have a hard time scoring goals and he almost had 50% goal involvement. I've decided to now get Origi as his price was going up again and picking Rondon would just be a case of chasing points, but it's evident the low/mid-price bracket really doesn't have many appealing options. Players are either not nailed on or they have tough fixtures. The decision to double up on Chelsea's defence is a result of me not wanting Costa. I feel that ship has sailed and his price has gone up to £11m, so I'm hoping that an extra Chelsea defender will cover Costa's points as the striker is consistent but not very explosive. *knocks on wood*
Oh, and about Leicester, I think it's all down to the loss of N'Golo Kante....
Did you hear about Oscar moving to Andre Villas-Boas' Shanghai SIPG?!
Not many surprising results in the midweek craziness with all the big sides collecting wins, apart from Arsenal though. Wenger couldn't help complaining about refereeing decisions, but truth is Everton started being more aggressive after having gone a goal down in the early stages of the match and Wenger's eleven male divas just couldn't cope with that and certainly didn't feel like battling for a victory. The outburst of enthusiasm revealed Koeman had been feeling some pressure with the Merseyside Derby looming around the corner.
Made one transfer in FPL last night and got rid of Austin. I still stand behind the decision to bring him in as Southampton have a hard time scoring goals and he almost had 50% goal involvement. I've decided to now get Origi as his price was going up again and picking Rondon would just be a case of chasing points, but it's evident the low/mid-price bracket really doesn't have many appealing options. Players are either not nailed on or they have tough fixtures. The decision to double up on Chelsea's defence is a result of me not wanting Costa. I feel that ship has sailed and his price has gone up to £11m, so I'm hoping that an extra Chelsea defender will cover Costa's points as the striker is consistent but not very explosive. *knocks on wood*
Oh, and about Leicester, I think it's all down to the loss of N'Golo Kante....
Did you hear about Oscar moving to Andre Villas-Boas' Shanghai SIPG?!
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
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TheBoy
- Sergeant First Class
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Haha, yes I think Poch must secretly follow me on Twitter 
Walker created 5 chances last night which just goes to show the difference it makes to the team. My worry is that with Dembele injured for the game last night, what will Pochettino do for the Burnley game if he's back fit? I'm not convinced he will stick with the formation from last night and may see Dier once again dropped to the bench.
I'm glad you mentioned Arsenal Gert. Of the top 8 teams, they were the only one not to win in this round of fixtures. Sure, they probably had the most difficult game, but highlights just how strong the top teams are this season that they were the only ones to drop points. It will be a big game for them v City this coming weekend.
I did indeed hear about the potential Oscar move - staggering amounts of money involved! A frustrating thought: Why is it always teams like Chelsea who manage to get these monstrous transfer fees for fairly average players? I mean, Oscar is a good player, but £52m - that's nuts. And when Chelsea already have sacks full of money to play with, the thought of a Chinese club with more money than sense throwing even more at them annoys me!
You could be right that Leicester's current misfortune is down to the loss of Kante... Or maybe it's captain Wes Morgan and his latest promotional deal: They have to be the most bizarre, hilarious and stunningly brilliant contract clauses ever!
Walker created 5 chances last night which just goes to show the difference it makes to the team. My worry is that with Dembele injured for the game last night, what will Pochettino do for the Burnley game if he's back fit? I'm not convinced he will stick with the formation from last night and may see Dier once again dropped to the bench.I'm glad you mentioned Arsenal Gert. Of the top 8 teams, they were the only one not to win in this round of fixtures. Sure, they probably had the most difficult game, but highlights just how strong the top teams are this season that they were the only ones to drop points. It will be a big game for them v City this coming weekend.
I did indeed hear about the potential Oscar move - staggering amounts of money involved! A frustrating thought: Why is it always teams like Chelsea who manage to get these monstrous transfer fees for fairly average players? I mean, Oscar is a good player, but £52m - that's nuts. And when Chelsea already have sacks full of money to play with, the thought of a Chinese club with more money than sense throwing even more at them annoys me!
You could be right that Leicester's current misfortune is down to the loss of Kante... Or maybe it's captain Wes Morgan and his latest promotional deal: They have to be the most bizarre, hilarious and stunningly brilliant contract clauses ever!
Thankfully Ronaldo and Messi brightened the day, but I think this weekend's PL fixtures can be summarized as depressing football. Saturday's action saw two big teams line up and both put in awfully dull performances. First, a moment of brilliance from Costa - or was it a lack of communication between Hennessey and Dann? - put Chelsea in the lead and the Blues racked up their 11th successive victory and 9th clean sheet. It was the only highlight bar Alonso's free-kick and Crystal Palace did a good job restraining Hazard from breaking through by actually putting in a decent defensive display for a change. Then, in the evening, two Ibrahimovic goals handed Man United three points on a silver platter, but their overall performance was United unworthy IMO. 
Nothing spectacular happened in Sunday's south coast derby Bournemouth vs Southampton, unless Jay Rodriguez netting twice is the kind of stuff that floats your boat, lol. Arsenal's bad week continued at the Etihad as Walcott converted a lovely Sanchez through-ball just before the match turned into a copy of their midweek tie at Everton. A not fully fit Sanchez was let down by another uninspired display from Ozil in the second half as the German wandered over the pitch clueless as to what the hell he was doing in Manchester. Arsenal's number 10 has got some nerve playing like this in the mid of contract negotiations. Meanwhile, his colleague in blue, Kevin De Bruyne, was pivotal to City's comeback with crosses of which Sterling put one in the back of the net. I still think Iheanacho would've converted more than Sterling, but Guardiola and strikers is not a happy marriage.
Last night's Liverpool derby didn't live up to the high expectations either. It's almost like the managers and players were tired as well after three rounds of matches within 8 days, which, I guess, is pretty understandable. One of the greatest Liverpool mysteries is Firmino's sudden goal drought. He could've scored a couple yet remains without goal or assist since they lost Coutinho to injury. The new position on the left wing forces him to put in more defensive work and he's shooting from long range rather than swiftly penetrating the penalty area to finish chances. Sadio Mane is definitely on fire, though. How will the Reds cope with his absence in January due to the Africa Cup of Nations?
Merry Xmas!
Nothing spectacular happened in Sunday's south coast derby Bournemouth vs Southampton, unless Jay Rodriguez netting twice is the kind of stuff that floats your boat, lol. Arsenal's bad week continued at the Etihad as Walcott converted a lovely Sanchez through-ball just before the match turned into a copy of their midweek tie at Everton. A not fully fit Sanchez was let down by another uninspired display from Ozil in the second half as the German wandered over the pitch clueless as to what the hell he was doing in Manchester. Arsenal's number 10 has got some nerve playing like this in the mid of contract negotiations. Meanwhile, his colleague in blue, Kevin De Bruyne, was pivotal to City's comeback with crosses of which Sterling put one in the back of the net. I still think Iheanacho would've converted more than Sterling, but Guardiola and strikers is not a happy marriage.
Last night's Liverpool derby didn't live up to the high expectations either. It's almost like the managers and players were tired as well after three rounds of matches within 8 days, which, I guess, is pretty understandable. One of the greatest Liverpool mysteries is Firmino's sudden goal drought. He could've scored a couple yet remains without goal or assist since they lost Coutinho to injury. The new position on the left wing forces him to put in more defensive work and he's shooting from long range rather than swiftly penetrating the penalty area to finish chances. Sadio Mane is definitely on fire, though. How will the Reds cope with his absence in January due to the Africa Cup of Nations?
Merry Xmas!
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Shanghai SIPG pay Chelsea an astonishing £60m transfer fee and Oscar instantly becomes one of the highest paid footballers in the world with wages up to almost half a million... per week! Last summer China already announced plans to become a football powerhouse with the World Cup title in 2050 being their ultimate goal. I'm convinced we will see many more big names move to Asia in the upcoming years. Oscar isn't the first and he certainly won't be the last. Carlos Tevez could be next...
Crystal Palace sacked Alan Pardew yesterday after a run of one win in the last 11 matches. It's harsh to fire someone few days before Xmas, but I personally think it was the right call. The Eagles are actually the worst-performing team in the top four divisions of English football, averaging less than a point per game (0.72), and Palace have been leaking goals throughout an abysmal 2016 campaign. I do think it would've been better if chairman Pardish had made this decision after the 5-4 defeat at Swansea as that performance seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back. So, who you gonna call when trying to avoid relegation? Big Sam! Former England boss Allardyce has just been appointed on a 2.5-year deal.
Crystal Palace sacked Alan Pardew yesterday after a run of one win in the last 11 matches. It's harsh to fire someone few days before Xmas, but I personally think it was the right call. The Eagles are actually the worst-performing team in the top four divisions of English football, averaging less than a point per game (0.72), and Palace have been leaking goals throughout an abysmal 2016 campaign. I do think it would've been better if chairman Pardish had made this decision after the 5-4 defeat at Swansea as that performance seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back. So, who you gonna call when trying to avoid relegation? Big Sam! Former England boss Allardyce has just been appointed on a 2.5-year deal.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
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TheBoy
- Sergeant First Class
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With hardly a gap between games over the festive period, it's been hard to find time to keep up with them all! With Premier League teams playing 3 games in a very short space of time, the action and events have been plentiful.
We've had another managerial change with Hull sacking Mike Phelan and replacing him with 'the new Jose Mourinho' Marco Silva. At the risk of feeling the need to bang my head against a brick wall, I have to say this seems like utter madness and shows that clubs simply don't learn any lessons! Sila may indeed be another Mourinho but there's a slight difference between Mourinho coming to the Premier League to join Chelsea and activate the infinite money cheat, to coming into a team bottom of the league and looking an utter shambles!
Swansea also have gone down the head scratching route by appointing Paul Clement, whisking him away from the comfort of his Bayern Munich assistant managers job. Considering Clement has failed pretty badly in both of his previous attempts at management, you would have to say that once again coming into a team mid-season when battling relegation is not the time for a coach like Clement to join.
On the actual football field, you would have to say it's certainly been a great one for Spurs. 5 wins on the bounce culminating in the perfect performance against top of the table Chelsea in a superb 2-0 win. The win also stopped Chelsea from taking the most consecutive Premier League wins after previously notching up an incredible 13. The game itself was probably pretty even, but it was Spurs who edged all the key battles. Wanyama and Dembele had Kante and Matic looking like puppy dogs such was their superiority in the middle. And it was the trio of Dier, Alderweireld and Vertonghen who handled the Chelsea attackers much better than they did Alli, Eriksen and the disappointing Kane.
Meanwhile, Man City and United find themselves both outside of the top 4 and look to be facing an uphill battle for either to get back inside. For City, Pep seems to be discovering pretty starkly just how competitive and tough the Premier League truly is. Something we touched on at the start of the season. Guardiola is no stranger to putting incredible thought and time into getting his team to win the games that matter in Spain and Germany. But his problem is that he needs to do that for 38 games and not 8! He needs to have the same mindset in trying to beat Burnley as he does Arsenal and for someone as intense as Pep, it possibly seems like that could prove too much. His post match reaction after the Burnley game is something we are not used to seeing and will be interesting to see over the next few games how his demeanour develops.
A few transfer rumours seeing as we are now in January. Chelsea's big money summer signing Michy Batshuayi is being touted as a loan option for Swansea with Chelsea asking for Llorente in return. Meanwhile the clown club of the Premier League, West Ham continue to make everyone laugh by bidding a farcical £5m for Jermain Defoe and even more comical, £3m for Snodgrass from Hull. Apparently West Ham haven't got the memo that this is the year 2017, not 2007 with such low offers for players. West Ham are obviously desperate for a striker though and have not been exactly private about making bids for a couple of other strikers.
We've had another managerial change with Hull sacking Mike Phelan and replacing him with 'the new Jose Mourinho' Marco Silva. At the risk of feeling the need to bang my head against a brick wall, I have to say this seems like utter madness and shows that clubs simply don't learn any lessons! Sila may indeed be another Mourinho but there's a slight difference between Mourinho coming to the Premier League to join Chelsea and activate the infinite money cheat, to coming into a team bottom of the league and looking an utter shambles!
Swansea also have gone down the head scratching route by appointing Paul Clement, whisking him away from the comfort of his Bayern Munich assistant managers job. Considering Clement has failed pretty badly in both of his previous attempts at management, you would have to say that once again coming into a team mid-season when battling relegation is not the time for a coach like Clement to join.
On the actual football field, you would have to say it's certainly been a great one for Spurs. 5 wins on the bounce culminating in the perfect performance against top of the table Chelsea in a superb 2-0 win. The win also stopped Chelsea from taking the most consecutive Premier League wins after previously notching up an incredible 13. The game itself was probably pretty even, but it was Spurs who edged all the key battles. Wanyama and Dembele had Kante and Matic looking like puppy dogs such was their superiority in the middle. And it was the trio of Dier, Alderweireld and Vertonghen who handled the Chelsea attackers much better than they did Alli, Eriksen and the disappointing Kane.
Meanwhile, Man City and United find themselves both outside of the top 4 and look to be facing an uphill battle for either to get back inside. For City, Pep seems to be discovering pretty starkly just how competitive and tough the Premier League truly is. Something we touched on at the start of the season. Guardiola is no stranger to putting incredible thought and time into getting his team to win the games that matter in Spain and Germany. But his problem is that he needs to do that for 38 games and not 8! He needs to have the same mindset in trying to beat Burnley as he does Arsenal and for someone as intense as Pep, it possibly seems like that could prove too much. His post match reaction after the Burnley game is something we are not used to seeing and will be interesting to see over the next few games how his demeanour develops.
A few transfer rumours seeing as we are now in January. Chelsea's big money summer signing Michy Batshuayi is being touted as a loan option for Swansea with Chelsea asking for Llorente in return. Meanwhile the clown club of the Premier League, West Ham continue to make everyone laugh by bidding a farcical £5m for Jermain Defoe and even more comical, £3m for Snodgrass from Hull. Apparently West Ham haven't got the memo that this is the year 2017, not 2007 with such low offers for players. West Ham are obviously desperate for a striker though and have not been exactly private about making bids for a couple of other strikers.
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rokkerr
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I figured since it was a week until the next premiere league games I'd post the standings... my thoughts...
1. If United scored more goals.... they would have been a threat to win the titled
2. Leceister is in a relegation zone but only 3 points from mid table? No one is safe this year if they get on a losing streak
3. Chelsea's loss probably just a blip, the real race is top 4 - I don't think they will be caught
4. Liverpool's loss to Bournmouth.... what a difference those 3 points would have made
5. My choices for relegation - Swansea, Hull... and Crystal Palace...
6. Bournmouth amaze me...
... as for the Fantasy League... Drew is kicking ass. Can he hold on?
I remain committed to catching 3rd :)
Predictions on the league winner and relegation teams anyone?
1. If United scored more goals.... they would have been a threat to win the titled
2. Leceister is in a relegation zone but only 3 points from mid table? No one is safe this year if they get on a losing streak
3. Chelsea's loss probably just a blip, the real race is top 4 - I don't think they will be caught
4. Liverpool's loss to Bournmouth.... what a difference those 3 points would have made
5. My choices for relegation - Swansea, Hull... and Crystal Palace...
6. Bournmouth amaze me...
... as for the Fantasy League... Drew is kicking ass. Can he hold on?
I remain committed to catching 3rd :)
Predictions on the league winner and relegation teams anyone?
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TheBoy
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I think the way Spurs played to beat Chelsea will probably show to prove Rokkerr is right come the end of the season. We had to deliver perhaps the most perfect performance of the season so far to beat them. And bar the odd slip of concentration or freak result, it's hard to see there being many other teams who can copy Spurs' performance. The fact that Chelsea had notched up 13 straight wins previously would back that theory up.
Leicester are in for an interesting next few weeks as they have lost 3 big players to the African Cup of Nations - Slimani who has pitched in with some goals, Amartey who had been a regular in midfield and of course Mahrez who even with below par games this season, is still a huge miss. I'm sure they will be ok for the season though...
Bournemouth are indeed a great success story and long may it continue. Eddie Howe is a terrific young manager and one that I'm sure will be in control of the England team some day.
If I had my picks for relegation from this point (I can't remember who I picked back in the summer - Gert, who were they?) I'd go Hull and Swansea nailed on due to the managerial appointments mentioned in my previous post. For a third, I'm tempted to say Watford. I think Big Sam will get Palace out of it and if Sunderland keep Defoe firing I think they will be ok too. Boro will be in the mix, but I think they will scrape by. Watford meanwhile are putting in some horrible performances and are shipping goals. Deeney and Ighalo aren't scoring the goals up front and it's all starting to look a little sour there. So I think they would be my third favourites to go down at this point.
I'm trying not to get carried away with my Fantasy Football team lol. I made two rash transfers even though there's a full set of FA Cup fixtures to get through first and now matters are further complicated by my bargain Bournemouth defender Ake being recalled by Chelsea today. As there are no particular injuries for him to cover, it's looking likely he won't be involved in the league much at all and thus I will need to ship him out ASAP.
Leicester are in for an interesting next few weeks as they have lost 3 big players to the African Cup of Nations - Slimani who has pitched in with some goals, Amartey who had been a regular in midfield and of course Mahrez who even with below par games this season, is still a huge miss. I'm sure they will be ok for the season though...
Bournemouth are indeed a great success story and long may it continue. Eddie Howe is a terrific young manager and one that I'm sure will be in control of the England team some day.
If I had my picks for relegation from this point (I can't remember who I picked back in the summer - Gert, who were they?) I'd go Hull and Swansea nailed on due to the managerial appointments mentioned in my previous post. For a third, I'm tempted to say Watford. I think Big Sam will get Palace out of it and if Sunderland keep Defoe firing I think they will be ok too. Boro will be in the mix, but I think they will scrape by. Watford meanwhile are putting in some horrible performances and are shipping goals. Deeney and Ighalo aren't scoring the goals up front and it's all starting to look a little sour there. So I think they would be my third favourites to go down at this point.
I'm trying not to get carried away with my Fantasy Football team lol. I made two rash transfers even though there's a full set of FA Cup fixtures to get through first and now matters are further complicated by my bargain Bournemouth defender Ake being recalled by Chelsea today. As there are no particular injuries for him to cover, it's looking likely he won't be involved in the league much at all and thus I will need to ship him out ASAP.
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