Endless Interlull: Comfortably Numb

Hello?

Is there anybody in there?

Just nod if you can hear us…

OK, we should probably stop there before their lawyers ring us up...

These days it seems like the only things the 'Interlull' is good for is fattening the pockets of Sepp Blatter, providing extra opportunities for Arsenal players to pick up additional/more bizarre injuries and making fantasy football managers second guess their teams from top to bottom.

If you’ve somehow managed to make it this far with your wildcard then you’re rarer than a Bojan sighting in a Stoke match, and this Interlull issue is easier for you to deal with. For the rest of us though, we’re left with two weeks of trying to get every hot player into our squad without taking a massive points hit to do so.

As this Interlull enters its second week, let’s take a look at a few players and issues that have been dominating the conversations in chat rooms around the fantasy footie blogosphere.

“Must-Have” Players

There are a few players every season that are considered so essential to success that ignoring them will cost you in the long-run. These players are so good that they are, for the most part, fixture proof and can be expected to perform week in and week out.

With the transfer deadline now well behind us, and the new recruits having had time to settle in, the question we see over and over again at this point in the season is “Who must I have going forward?” In our opinion, there are four players that are performing so well this season, or have historically performed so well, that you should be nervous not having them in your side.

Diego Costa, (Chelsea)

It seems only fair to start with the league’s top scoring player who has already amassed 54 points from just 7 games. There are a lot of options up front this season – and we’ll examine those in next week’s article – but this season’s most popular player (a whopping 67% ownership) needs to be in your side if you’re in the minority that don’t already have him. With 9 goals from his first 7 games he’s off to a blazing start, and his Jedi-like connection with Cesc Fabregas has us thinking the sky’s the limit for him this season. Get him in your team and he’ll be an option for your squad’s captain’s armband every week.

Angel Di Maria, (Man United)

Those that hopped on this bandwagon have enjoyed a cracking start (3 goals, 3 assists) to his Premier League career. The hot start has also seen his price rise a whopping 0.6m, from 9.5m to 10.1m, and if you don’t get him in soon then you might not be able to afford him without performing major surgery on your team. With the exception of GWs 9&10 and 15&16, Manchester United don’t have consecutive-week fixtures against top teams until GW29. That doesn’t mean United will win all those games – their defence at the moment is more porous than John Terry’s tear ducts after a Champions League Final – but it means ADM’s form shouldn’t dip due tricky fixtures for quite some time. Grab him while you can.

Gylfi Sigurdsson, (Swansea)

“Siggy”, as he’s affectionately known in the FF247 world, represents something of a rarity in fantasy footie: good value and good return. For this reason it’s a wonder why he isn’t included in more “must-have” or “essential” discussions. Contributing a goal and 6 assists in his first seven has seen his price rise from 6.0m to 6.7m, but we think even at 6.7m he represents incredible value. He’s averaged 5 goals in his three previous EPL campaigns and he’s already surpassed his high for assists. Put him in your side and you have a fourth midfielder that will consistently deliver. Enjoy him while you can: his price won’t be this low next season.

Leighton Baines, (Everton)

I know some will debate whether a defensive player can ever be considered “must-have” but Baines’ consistency in the Premier League is the reason he makes the list. More on him below…

Goalkeeping Conundrum

Picking the right goalkeeper, for us, has always been tricky. Our approach has been to pick the best, cheapest keeper and invest money elsewhere. With clean sheets being difficult to predict, our philosophy in choosing a keeper is this: a great ‘keeper isn’t going to win you the league but you can definitely lose out on a significant number of points by making the wrong choice.

For this reason, the trendy goalkeeping choice at the start of the season was a rotation of Tim Krul and Vito Mannone. With both priced at only 4.5m it allowed you a decent matchup most weeks at a bargain price. At least that was the plan. With Pardew routinely reminding Toon fans that it can always get worse, Krul should no longer be considered a viable choice for your starting GK. Mannone is a quality choice, but with his upcoming fixtures – his next eight include Southampton, Arsenal, Everton, Chelsea, City and Liverpool - we feel it is time to look elsewhere for a starter.

The obvious choice is Brad Guzan at Villa. At 4.6m you can probably get him into your team with a straight swap and he’s had a fantastic start despite tricky fixtures. Villa’s schedule gets easier starting this week and we think he represents great value while not sacrificing points.

The other two GKs we like are Lukasz Fabianski (5.1) and Fraser Forster (5.1). Opting for Forster in your squad rather than Fabianski sees the likes of Everton, Arsenal and City in GWs 10-12 but, fixtures aside, we honestly don’t see much difference between the two. They both have above-average defences, and thus clean sheet potential, and we think they’ll both end the season on a comparable number of points.

This Week’s Bandwagon

Leighton Baines (Everton)

It seems the popular transfer this round is shipping Ivanovic out to make room for one Leighton Baines. Fantasy football managers are a fickle bunch, and it’s “what have you done for us lately, Ivan?” That clean sheet last week was nice but we fancy someone who’ll venture forward more often if we’re going to pay this much for a defender.

In truth, Baines has always been the apple of our eye. But for Everton’s nightmarish schedule to start the season he would have been the pick from the beginning. He’s averaged 5 goals, 6 assists and 22 bonus points per season over the last 4 campaigns (not to mention 10.5 clean sheets), and there’s no reason to think he won’t hit these numbers again. The smoke has cleared, the ghouls have gone home and it’s time to bring the Everton man into your team. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this article. We welcome your comments and suggestions, and invite you to join us for friendly, and occasionally funny, banter at Fantasy Football 247. If you’ve enjoyed the read I'd appreciate your dropping a line to my bosses in the FF247 Towers – at present they only let me out of my dungeon just long enough to write this blog. It’s cold and dark down here, and the only channel my TV gets is the Man-Getting-Hit-in-Groin-by-Football channel. Pray for me.

Till next time… Cheers!

@PlanoGooner

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