Today's analysis will be on Fullbacks. In the modern era, Fullbacks/Wingbacks are tasked to support both defence and attack when in need. Similarly, when choosing the fullbacks in our fantasy team, we are to look for players with clean sheet potentials, in addition to possible attacking results.
No matter which formation fantasy managers choose (4-4-2, 4-3-3, 5-3-2), 2 fullbacks will have to be chosen for each team.
2011/12 Season - Top Fullbacks
* It is ASSUMED that Defenders Games Played = # of starts, and Clean Sheets is based on another website statistics. Goalkeepers are easy, as very few are substituted during a game, but trawling through all the data to determine if a defender played 75 minutes, was he on the pitch when a goal is conceded, etc. isn't my cuppa tea...
Taking a glance through the table, Patrick Evra justifies his £5.0mil by being the top scoring fullback last season. Even though he didn't score any goals, but 4 assists combined with 19 clean sheets meant that he's the only Fullback who scored more than 100pts*.
Leighton Baines, who is currently the most selected player in the game (31%), is the top scoring fullback last season with 4 goals, while Ashley Cole & Micah Richards (despite the low minutes played) are the top assisting fullbacks with 5 each.
Basically, the best fullbacks are from teams from the top half (with the exception of Swansea) & contribute a few goals (with the exception of Danny Simpson).
So, who should I select?
I'll split the selections into the following tiers: $$$$ (4.5 and above), $$$ (4.0 - 4.4), $$ (3.5 - 3.9) and $ (3.4 and below)
i) $$$$ (4.5 and above) aka Wah, so Ex?
This section is made up of fullbacks Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea & the ever-favorite Baines. However, only Evra (5.0), Ashley Cole (4.9) & Baines (4.5) are assured of their places in the starting 11.
Barnislav Ivanovic (4.7) seems like an attractive pick, especially with his 2 goals last week, but Chelsea has been shopping for a rightback for a while, and they finally managed to get Cesar Azpilicueta during the week. If Ivanovic performs poorly in the weeks to come, his place could come under threat.
As for Man City, manager Mancini has tinkered with his championship winning team, and opted for 3-4-1-2 in recent matches, prefering Kolarov (4.7) as the wingback. If he opted for 4-4-2 instead, Clichy (4.9) would be used as the leftback role instead. Rotations aplenty, I feel....
ii) $$$ (4.0 - 4.4) aka Reasonably Priced
12 fullbacks, comprising of Champions League hopefuls Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, and fringe players from Chelsea form this tier.
With AVB's penchant in playing a high defensive line, Tottenham's Kyle Walker (4.2) and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (4.1) looks to be the best options in the group. I consider Glen Johnson (4.2) to be a gamble, as he has never played more than 30 games in a season. Only 30 transfers allowed in the entire season, and I rather consider Jose Enrique (4.1) to be a more viable option, even though he missed last week's game due to a knee injury.
iii) $$ (3.5-3.9) aka Possible Bargains
Next, we have the possible Europa hopeful teams (Everton, Newcastle, Sunderland, Stoke) that form this tier. The 2 picks which stands out, John Arne Riise (3.7) & Phil Bardsley (3.6), are currently out with injury, while Newcastle's fullbacks aren't much of an attacking threat.
I'll steer clear of Stoke players for now, till their schedule gets easier.
iv) $ (3.4 and below) aka Scraping the Barrel
Lastly, the 'cheapies', including last season surprise package Swansea (Angel Rangel & Neil Taylor (3.4)). WBA may have the next best defensive record, but none of the fullback selections are nailed on starters.
Besides the Swansea duo, other picks I would recommend in this tier are Fabio (3.3, offensive-minded but QPR isn't defensive sound), McCartney (3.2, West Ham player of last season, Big Sam) & Danny Fox (3.2, 9 assists last season, corner kick taker, but same issues as QPR).
We're done with the Fullbacks, and will proceed to the next group of defenders: Centrebacks.
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