Pages

Sunday, September 9, 2012

The Surgeon - The Richmonds

Source: Yusni Blog

The Father-and-son radio DJ team Brian and Mark Richmond will test their managerial mettle in the TODAY Fantasy League. Let's see how does the Singapore's resident football experts team selection fare under the diagnosis of the Surgeon?


Brian Richmond's Richmond Rovers
Note: I'm unable to find the team's ID, hence I'm analysing the team that was published on 7th Sep.

Brian Richmond employs a 4-4-2 formation for his team, utilizing only £52.8mil and leaving £2.2mil on the table.

The Diagnosis
  • I have no issues with the Midfield nor Attack. Fletcher is capable to ending with 15 goals this season, and Sunderland will have a double-game gameweek soon, due to the postponed game against Reading. The rest of the attackers are pretty self-explanatory.

  • Brian Richmond has chosen to double-up on Arsenal defence by picking Vermaelen & Gibbs. Vermaelen has more attacking potential among the duo, based on his scoring records in the past few season.

  • Aaron Hughes' scoring record of 1 goal in 161 games meant that Brian Richmond will only be selecting him based on Fulham's clean sheet capabilities.

  • Having £2.2mil on the table is pretty hefty. I usually recommend leaving only £0.5mil, unless there is an absolute need of funds for future usage.

The Treatment
If a team needs to make 5 or more changes, I'll recommend the manager to revamp the entire team instead.

Richmond Rovers is pretty solid in the attacking departments, hence I'll be making recommendations on defence instead:
  • Transfer out Michael Vorm, Kieran Gibbs & Aaron Hughes, leaving the team with (2.2+3.2+3.5+4.2) =  £13.1m
  • I'm assuming he chose Hughes for Fulham's defensive capabilities, hence I'll swap him for another Fulham's centreback, Brede Hangeland (3.7), who possess better attacking capability.

  • With 9.4mil to spare, there's plenty of cash left for a top-notch keeper [Joe Hart (4.8m)] and fullback [Leighton Baines (4.5)]

Summary: M.Vorm, K.Gibbs, A.Hughes OUT -> J.Hart, L.Baines, B.Hangeland IN

Formation (4-4-2): Hart, Ivanovic, Baines, Vermaelen, Hangeland, Michu, Y.Toure, Ben Arfa, Bale, RVP, Fletcher.



Mark Richmond's PR4ThisLot
Despite what the papers said, Mark Richmond chose a 4-3-3 formation (In TFL, Hazard is set as a STRIKER..see, even the reporters are confused on about Hazard's position. :P). £54.1mil was spent on the team, leaving £0.9mil on the table.

The Diagnosis
  • The (new) holy trinity of RVP, Tevez & Hazard has been selected by Mark Richmond. Dammit, thought I was the only one who thought of this...looks like Mark really does know his Fantasy Football.

  • No issues with Midfielders either, though Mark should take note of Moyes' tactics: if Naismith starts, Fellaini might be pushed into a deeper role.

  • Guy Demel sustained a knock in the 3-0 win over Fulham which saw him replaced on 78 minutes, while Liam Ridgewell could shift to centreback with the arrival of Goran Popov, hence negating his attacking potential.

The Treatment
Despite leaving £0.9mil on the table. I can see that Mark really knows his Fantasy Football. Demel & Ridgewell are chosen likely due to the easy fixtures ahead, and the remaining cash will be utilized once West Ham & WBA fixtures becomes tougher.

Hence, I have no recommendations to make, and barring any injuries, suspensions or loss of form, he is likely to be one of the top managers of the season.

Good luck to both Brian and Mark Richmond!



Click here to sign up for Today Fantasy League. Hurry, 5 more days to go!!!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Internationals: When Fantasy Managers Worry

There's almost a week left before Today Fantasy League starts, and you might think "Ah, it's the international week, time for a break." Actually, this does throw a huge spanner in our decision for Week 1.

Premier League has provided a great guide on the fixtures in which Barclays Premier League players will be involved, though they didn't state the players who are involved. This is where fantasy managers will have to do their research.

Supposedly you select Shinji Kagawa in your fantasy team, and you're considering of captaining him as Man Utd is playing Wigan at Old Trafford. After some research, you realized that Kagawa has been called up by Japan for Asia 2014 World Cup Qualifier, and will be playing on 11th Sep. After which, he have to fly from Japan to England (most likely on the 12th), have 2-3 days of rest/training before the match on Saturday (15th Sep)

Taking this into consideration, is Ferguson likely to start him in the game, or are there any ready-made replacement who didn't play any international games (e.g. Scholes) or traveled within Europe?

And it's not uncommon for players to return to their clubs with minor niggles or season-ending injuries while on international duty. With the deadline for captaincy on Friday night, Today Fantasy League managers will be crossing their fingers, hoping their selection will be 100% fit during the international week.

Here's the list of internationals fixtures that contains BPL players, from Premierleague.com

FRIENDLIES

5th September
Jordan v Iran
Cambodia v Philippines
6th September
Sweden v China
Japan v UAE
Lebanon v Australia
7th September
Brazil v South Africa
Singapore v Philippines
Spain v Saudi Arabia
Egypt v Benin
10th September
Brazil v China
Laos v Philippines
11th September
Czech Republic v Finland
Republic of Ireland v Oman
Liberia v Ghana
South Africa v Mozambique
Egypt v Cameroon

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS QUALIFIERS

8th September
Zambia v Uganda
Ivory Coast v Senegal
Mali v Botswana
Ghana v Malawi
Liberia v Nigeria
Cape Verde Islands v Cameroon
9th September
Mozambique v Morocco
Congo DR v Equatorial Guinea

EUROPEAN WORLD CUP 2014 QUALIFYING

7th September
Russia v Northern Ireland
Azerbaijan v Israel
Kazakhstan v Republic of Ireland
Liechtenstein v Bosnia-H
Croatia v Macedonia
Lithuania v Slovakia
Andorra v Hungary
Finland v France
Latvia v Greece
Montenegro v Poland
Netherlands v Turkey
Slovenia v Switzerland
Bulgaria v Italy
Germany v Faroe Islands
Iceland v Norway
Luxembourg v Portugal
Moldova v England
Wales v Belgium
8th September
Scotland v Serbia
Denmark v Czech Republic          
11th September
Cyprus v Iceland
Israel v Russia
Georgia v Spain
Bosnia-H v Latvia
Norway v Slovenia
Turkey v Estonia
Slovakia v Liechtenstein
Austria v Germany
Hungary v Netherlands
Serbia v Wales
Sweden v Kazakhstan
Switzerland v Albania
Belgium v Croatia
Greece v Lithuania
Italy v Malta
Northern Ireland v Luxembourg
Poland v Moldova
England v Ukraine
France v Belarus
Scotland v Macedonia
Portugal v Azerbaijan

ASIAN WORLD CUP 2014 QUALIFIERS

11th September
Lebanon v Iran
Uzbekistan v Korea Republic
Jordan v Australia
Japan v Iraq

OCEANIA WORLD CUP 2014 QUALIFIERS

7th September
New Caledonia v New Zealand
11th September
New Zealand v Solomon Islands

SOUTH AMERICAN WORLD CUP 2014 QUALIFIERS

7th September
Colombia v Uruguay
Ecuador v Bolivia
Argentina v Paraguay
Peru v Venezuela
11th September
Chile v Colombia
Uruguay v Ecuador
Peru v Argentina

CONCACAF WORLD CUP 2014 QUALIFIERS

7th September
Jamaica v United States
Costa Rica  v Mexico
Cuba v Honduras
11th September
United States  v Jamaica
Mexico  v Costa Rica
Honduras  v Cuba

Tick tock tick tock...7 more days till the Today Fantasy League starts....go sign up now if you have yet to do so! :)

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

D'OH!!!

While creating my earlier posts, I made a slight boo-boo: From the database which I've retrieved 11/12 data, I've mistook the Starts columns as the Total Appearances column, hence some players points were under-calculated, such as Dzeko & Holt (>10 sub appearances).

There isn't much major movements: most of the top players from the previous season remained, with the exception of 2-3 movers in each position. If you wish to view the the 2011/12 tables update, please select below for the following postitions:

Apologies for any confusion caused.


Sidetrack: It's interesting to note that out of the top 10 midfielders from 2011/12 season, only Lampard have scored, while Nani assisted. The rest (Dempsey, Silva, Bale, VdV, Mata, Walcott, Sessegnon, Sinclair) have  either left the league, or haven't been great so far... will this trend continue?