Gameweek 6 review – Fantasy Premier League FIX

I can smell a scandal.

It involves; David Silva, James Milner and the fantasy premier league bonus point committee.

Here is a link to the piece I wrote for www.footyplace.com on the latest fantasy premier league controversy.

Gameweek 6 – Is fantasy premier league the new championship manager?

I couldn’t get to sleep the other night.  After; counting all the countries I had been to, producing my all time Arsenal XI and recreating magical @mjmaxwell goals I turned to Championship Manager.  What is my all time Championship Manager XI?

For me Champ and fantasy premier league are incredibly similar.  They are essentially databases of Premiership footballers whose statistics and figures change throughout the season.  They are both incredibly addictive and simple to play.

I owe my love of fantasy premier league to a misspent youth playing Championship Manager.  It was given to me as a gift from my mate Bev (in the Tommy Svindal Larsson and Brian Laudrup  years), then cost me decent grades at GCSE – in the TonTon Zola Moukoko years.  My Champ playing days hit their peak in the 2001-2 season which for me was when Champ was at its prime.  So here is my team based on that season.

Formation:  4-1-2-1-2

Style:  Direct

Pressing:  Yes

GK:  Andreas Isaksson – Sweden’s number 1, Sweden’s, Sweden’s number 1.

DL:  Ashley Cole – it pains me to put him in but for the life of me I can’t think of anyone who was better.  The only other left beft I can remember is Gareth Jellyman.  Have you got a good suggestion?

DR:  Mike Duff – now playing his trade for Burnley, Duff was a championship manager legend.  A £30k summer signing from Cheltenham did not fail to disappoint.

DC:  Rio Ferdinand – I know this is boring choice but @rioferdy5 was ridiculously good on Champ.

DC:  Taribo West – my 1st action as manager of any team I managed was to sign Taribo West on a free.  7.78 average rating guaranteed.  Taribo was the man.

DMC: Radoslaw Kaluzny – the bruising Pole was always available on a free at the end of the 1st season and his stats were chocker with 20’s.

MC:  Mads Jorgensen – versatile and Scandinavian – the perfect  combination!!  Mads could play anywhere along the midfield.

MC:  Kennedy Bakircioglü – WHAT.A.GUY.  Kennedy is in the Championship Manager hall of fame with Peter Prospar, Tommy Svindal and TonTon Zola Moukoko.  Get him in your team, playing on the right side and you have a superstar on your hands.  He did the business for me when I was Barnet manager.  The fans at Underhill will never forget him.

AMC / FC:  Ronaldinho – the Brazilian superstar’s stats bring a tear to my eye.  Play him behind the front two and there are; goals, assists, average ratings to die for. Ronaldinho was the difference between a good and a world class team.

FC:  Arkadiusz Bak – now I can not take the credit for this one.  The goal scoring Pole was spotted on a scouting mission by @adamd8 and delivered.  He had great stats and a good goal rate.  Probably better behind the  front two but with Ronaldinho in your team he could do a job up front.

FC:  Michalis Konstantinou – another great stats man.  He did the business for me as Valencia.  The tough Cypriot took to La Liga like a duck to water.  His average rating was always high and he got his fair share of goals.  A decent signing from the Greek league and as an English speaker adapted well to the Premiership.

So there it is – my 2001/2 Championship Manager top team – of which only Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand are options for fantasy premier league.  Would I get either of them in?  No.

Let me know what you think of my team or if I have missed anyone else through the comments section or on my twitter: @mjmaxwell.

Gameweek 5 – The Chocolate Leg

Gameweek 5 of fantasy premier league pits the man with the chocolate leg – Robin Van Persie against the team he loves to score against, Blackburn.

RvP is a fantasy premier league galactico.  Last season in 1770 minutes for Arsenal (just under 20 games), the Arsenal captain scored 18 goals, with 7 assists and 27 bonus points.  All in 20 games.  20 games! That is just ridiculous.

This season has not however been so peachy.  Arsenal have not had an easy start to the season and things have difficult for Van Persie who has had to adjust in a number of ways.  He now has the added responsibility of being club captain and with Cesc and Nasri moving on his supply has been seriously limited.  So far this season, in the league, RvP has only 1 goal and 1 bonus point to his name.  Somewhat ironically that bonus point was in the 8-2 defeat to Manchester United.

But could this week be the start of something?  RvP just loves scoring against Blackburn.  As OptaJoe says;

“8 – @Persie_Official has scored eight goals in 10 Premier League games against Blackburn Rovers. Thorn.”

With Gervinho back from suspension to provide some added creativity in midfield it is time for Robin Van Persie to wrap his chocolate leg back into action.

You can subscribe to “about the bonus points” at the bottom of the home page to get a weekly email to your inbox and follow me on twitter @mjmaxwell.

Gameweek 4 – Transfer Deadline Day

The transfer window has been and gone but who are the must have buys for fantasy premier league gameweek 4?

English Premier League clubs spent £485m in the summer transfer window, up 33% from last year – giving plenty of opportunity for mixing up your fantasy premier league team in gameweek 4.

Emmanuel Adebayor
The lanky striker always starts well.  On 4 February 2006, Adebayor made his Arsenal debut  at Birmingham City and scored after 21 minutes.  For Man City, he scored a goal on his debut against Blackburn Rovers past Paul Robinson in the third minute.  At £8million Adebayor is a fantasy premier league bargain – at least for the first few months when he’s got something to prove.  I predict another debut goal at Wolves.  #buy

Nicholas Bendtner
Big time Bendtner could be a good punt at £6.4million.  Is he as good as he thinks he is?  No.  Will he score goals if he plays up front.  Yes.  At Sunderland Bendtner has something he never had at Arsenal.  He will be starting – every week – and as a striker not on the wing.  Like Adebayor he could be a good punt whilst he has still got something to prove.  #buy

Mikel Arteta
The silky Spaniard  is fantasy premier league royalty.  For the past 5 seasons Arteta has scored over 17 bonus points / season and in 2006/7 scored a whopping 27 bonus points (as well as 9 goals and 10 assists).  Even last season when Arteta struggled with injuries he got 3 goals, 4 assists and 18 bonus points.  For Arsenal we don’t yet know if he will be playing behind the striker or as a deeper centre midfielder but with RvP ahead of him and Theo Walcott on the wings against Swansea you would like to think there are points to be had.  #buy

You can subscribe to “about the bonus points” at the bottom of the home page to get a weekly email to your inbox and follow me on twitter @mjmaxwell.