Fantasy Premier League

L'il Mikey Owen - Great Move

Fri Jul 03 04:03PM

So, you're Sir Alex and you're just coming off of a season where you've lived through three (OK, four) strikers (you have to include CRon as a striker) complaining about playing time and generally making your life miserable. Looking at their resumes, you can't really blame them. The World Player of the Year. The "Best English Striker of his Generation", The big summer acquisition, and the high profile South American with the big reputation. Throw in some up-and-coming youngsters and you really have some selection headaches.

Assuming you really didn't have a choice about CRon leaving - you can say anything you'd like about his attitude, etc. but you don't let him go for any amount of money unless you don't have a choice - and you didn't really try too hard to keep Carlito around you really have to figure that a decided change of strategy was in order.

Now, imagine further that you're pining for days gone by when you could actually compete with Real Madrid for players (or at least that's the way you remember it). You remember that you had two well-defined starting strikers (Ruud/Saha, Ruud/Rooney, Ruud/Ole, etc.) and a third striker who knew his role and wasn't going to agitate if he didn't start every match. This generally tended to be a formerly top-class striker on the downside of his career realizing that he was no longer capable of playing 90 every day. That said, these guys were still very capable of being extremely effective in spot starts plus a more regular dose of 20 or 30 minutes cameos off the bench. Sherringham, Cole, and Ole all evolved into this role. The alternative has been a young guy on the way up (see Forlan, Diego; Rossi, Guissepe).

Why do I mention this? Well, obviously because of the shock and surprise that seems to be coming from all quarters about the seemingly inevitable arrival of Michael Owen at Old Trafford. Should we be surprised? No, no more than we would be with Wenger recruiting a new continental 17 year-old attacking midfielder. This is what Sir Alex does. It's the formula that has always worked for him. He has his two de facto starting strikers - Rooney and Berbs - his up and coming options in Macheda and Welbeck and his crafty veteran available when the stage is perhaps a little to large for the youngsters to be counted on.

How does this not make all the sense in the world? It maximizes Owen's chances of being effective by not putting too much pressure on him to try to play 90 minutes on a regular basis. He can avoid the shame of lacing them up for the likes of Hull or Stoke. It fits SAF's formula. And even more importantly, the price is right which leaves SAF all that CRon money to buy an actual midfield.

Are ManYoo clearly the choice to win the Premier League now? Not at all but that has everything to do with the lack of a right wing, attacking midfielder, and holding midfielder and nothing to do with the lack of striking options. We haven't heard much about David Silva recently - might want to spend some of that extra money to give Valencia an opposite number. I'd suggest Robben but he doesn't seem like a SAF kind of guy (injured too often, moody, quiet, etc.). There are a wide variety of Dutch central midfielders available as well (Sneidjer, van der Vaart, etc.) who aren't likely to see a minute at Real this season.

If you put an improved midfield behind Rooney, Berbs, Owen, Macheda, and Welbeck then you might really have something.

What am I saying? I'm a fan of this move assuming that he can find some midfielders who want to play in England.

Comments61 - 90 of 127
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Any tips for the opening weekend ? The game is up on Yahoo
From shrivathsaiyengar on Fri Jul 17 12:01PM
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Good article and I hope MO shows all the doubters and make them choke on their words. He's still a legend as far as I'm concerned.
From tamsmum82 on Fri Jul 17 02:42PM
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are you going to make the "challenge the bloggers" group this year?
From flurry725 on Fri Jul 17 04:59PM
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@65:
-looks like a double week on the cards for the first YFF week, BUT looks like only half of the teams have a double, if that is true then pick your players according to the teams with 2 games instead of teams like Citeh, Arsenal, Bolton, Wigan and the others who have 1 game
-as much as I dislike United, any Manchester players look great in the first YFF week with 2 games vs Burnley and Birmmingham. United has the best opening schedule and I have picked up a bunch including Obertan (will wait to see if he starts) and Valencia, Roony wouldn't be a bad idea either
From kellz_86 on Fri Jul 17 05:25PM
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I'm a toon fan and can't understand why some of our so called fans are slating owen so much. He had some real bad luck while he was with us and also had hardly any service up front which is something he needs to thrive. He still scored on a regular basis for us and celebrated like he meant it. I think the move to move to manu is perfect for him. He'll score a lot of goals with that team behind him. Good luck Owen.
From hercules.hindle on Sat Jul 18 07:42AM
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Its been some time since I last posted...I just CAN'T wait for new season to begin.
@68 kellz, Obertan is out with injury, a lengthy one I think, three months! I'm just not sure Owen will get his first team chance just yet (anyway, I hope he does). Knowing SAF "policy" about putting youth on his starting 11, I think even Valencia is not a sure starter. Maybe Nani is a bet worth taking. And Rooney, I love him (of course, being a Reds' fan that means only for Fantasy purposes, I hope it didn't come out wrong :P).
Any suggestions on defensive line: Chelsea, Liverpool, ManU being two-gamers, but not the cheapest choices AT ALL!!!
And the biggest question of all...GOALKEEPER??? Cech, Reina, VdS, Given, Shwarz...so hard to decide, specially in these early stages.
Hope to see you more often now.
Best of luck!
From fidan_recica on Sat Jul 18 10:07AM
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newly promoted teams usually do well first few games,so look for value there
From lawrencemoyseuk on Sat Jul 18 11:15AM
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donv08 check ur facts mate, hes on a performance related deal
From geaniejojo on Sat Jul 18 05:02PM
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@70: thanks for the update on Obertan, I hadno idea, I have a tenative team put together but once the squads are set closer to Aug 15th i'll make my true formation.
I like Cech for keeper in the two gamer vs Hull and Sunderland, BUT Reina only scored 2 pts less than Cech last season and could be a bet slightly cheaper vs Spurs/Stoke. I might go for Reina to have more cash for frontmen.
From kellz_86 on Sat Jul 18 09:44PM
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Owen will score goals, as he is a goalhanger like Gary Lineker was!
Fergie on the otherhand, has over 20 years as manager and knows his stuff.
He signed Owen for a reason, knowing that all he needs is the delivery.
people forget that, 'It's not about skill, it's about scoring the most goals. United will stay at the top. Maybe a rocky start again though......
From gary1brookes on Sat Jul 18 11:30PM
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A rocky start against newly promoted Birmingham and Burnley? I would love it to happen but come on, you and I both know United won't drop points to those teams
From kellz_86 on Sun Jul 19 01:10AM
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Too early looking for "The Week Ahead"?!..........
From b_wyne on Sun Jul 19 02:51AM
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does anyone know what happened to the STARTING11.COM fantasy game? It was alot of fun as well as having up to date info on injuries and suspentions.
From geobfree33 on Sun Jul 19 05:12AM
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@ kellz. You're welcome. Thnx for your tip too. Putting Reina in goal,couple of good reliable defenders, Gerr and Lamps in mid, it really doesn't give you much options for attacking line. Apart from Blake (I'm not sure about him either) I still have no clue about front line. Come August...(God, it seems it's universe away!!!)
From fidan_recica on Sun Jul 19 11:36AM
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You have this one really close. But there's a problem here - injury. Rooney is injured far more than any Man Utd fan would like and we all know about Owen's penchant for a sick note. Even in this reduced role, theres a good chance of him getting injured in training or on the field. Suppose Rooney and Owen go down with injuries. The strike force suddenly becomes tiny. And now, without ronaldo on the wing and with Giggs on his last legs, the midfield's scoring threat has been diminished immensely. I agree - Man Utd are almost as strong as ever when the strike force is healthy, but without one or two of them, they're in trouble this year. 3rd place I'm afraid.
From j.grigsby on Sun Jul 19 04:33PM
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@everyone: all very good comments
- I gotta say the hardest thing for a fantasy manager to do is to lay down allegences with their team and pick the players who have the best match-ups. This being Chelsea and United for week 1.
- But I fight myself to keep/drop Torres/Reina. They don't have the easiest starting games, but Spurs/Stoke are completely winnable. Something just tells me that Liverpool will have the desire after last season to put the pressure on their rivals early with some big wins.
- Pure sense says just take Chelsea and United this week and BD Torres next week, oh dear, so many decisions!
- BTW go check out the newly promoted teams stats for last year, its a great way to find those diamonds in the ruff. Wolves don't have an impossible double week either, home to West Ham and away to Wigan, I wouldn't bet on defense, but there could be points to be had from middie and striker options.
From kellz_86 on Sun Jul 19 05:09PM
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Wake up blogger . Yahoo Fantasy is up and no comment from you ??
I will be waiting for the groups to join :P
From kavedas7 on Sun Jul 19 05:31PM
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Well said kellz...BUT...which one of Wolves middie or striker, I have no clue wich one is good, specially for fantasy pursposes (apart from Blake of course)...Any advice?
From fidan_recica on Sun Jul 19 09:29PM
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@fidan: not to alert everyone to the stats, but Knightly for Wolves scored roungly 8 goals, 30 SOT, and over 15 assists last season in the Championship and is only 5.54mil. If you wondered where all of Blakes goals came from it was probably Knightly setting him up Burnley's McCann is another to look for at 5.54mil.
From kellz_86 on Sun Jul 19 10:30PM
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Berbs, ManYoo, SAF, CRon ???? Who's writing this tripe ? Miley Cyrus ? or a six year old Yank?
From phil.okeeffe on Mon Jul 20 11:57AM
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Was not this guy bashing SAF for getting Owen?
I think i am done reading yahoo sports! So much Hypocrisy!
From justin_3d on Mon Jul 20 03:23PM
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@ kellz. Thnx a lot for the tip. I also have an eye on Zubar of Wolves, we'll see. Shame that WHam is a one-gamer, I really like Jimenez of Inter, guy has good eye of goal. You know, it makes sense why you know so much about football, after all you're a Liverpool's fan, am I right. Some people just happen to have a really GOOD taste...Thnx God we're going to enjoy a Ronaldo-free season, at last. That crying baby!!! It's Gerrard's Era, finally.
Hope to hear to see you all more often now!!!
From fidan_recica on Mon Jul 20 04:02PM
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@84 ye knightly had 8 goals and 18 assists,you just have to wonder how my goals will come against premierleague defences..
@85..they're shorthand terms for players used in the blog. but i for one think they should dropped.
From phonetowinsome on Mon Jul 20 05:05PM
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@84 ye knightly had 8 goals and 18 assists,you just have to wonder how my goals will come against premierleague defences..
@85..they're shorthand terms for players used in the blog. but i for one think they should dropped.
From phonetowinsome on Mon Jul 20 05:06PM
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(80) Unless Macheda is for real. Ditto Wellbeck. I think they have some depth up front, and some money come transfer time to fill the crags. I am hoping Everton can start strong and get to the top 4. After last season's performance, they deserve it. If they can get $20 million for Lescott, they should sell. If they can get $30 million, it's the biggest heist of the season - as much as I like Lescott at Everton. Good luck one and all this season! Very much looking forward to the banter.
From donegal08 on Mon Jul 20 10:08PM
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hi iread all these comments wit a smile on my face. They all proved to mamifest the power of MANUTD and the wisdom of SAF.Its clear dat any player who put on the utd shirt is no only a threat to LVPOOL but to the entire football fraternity but UTD. So talk and comment , MANUTD ahall eva remain UTD and thats da spirit, secret and strength behind MANUTD.
From harunasanyang on Tue Jul 21 01:33PM
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4.Everyone is lambasting Owen for this move but what other option did he have? Hull? Stoke? No way. He did the right thing. Forget about Liverpool, they cashed in on him. And he was a boyhood Everton fan so what's the problem? If anything he sold out bu going to Liverpool in the first place
Errrrrrrrrrr actually Villa were intrested and you realy think he will get first team football at United. We did not cash in for him we only got 8 million and Nunez for him. He was an Everton fan when he was very very young than when was was 8/9 Liverpool gave him a chance and he took it. The Liverpool acaedmy nutured him created him and what has he done stabbed them in the back. What about all those snide little comments to the press in his last season about a lack of service. He made sure he ran down his contract so he could leave on a cheap by his standards. He has betrayed Liverpool time after time in recent years and what about his role at Newcastle he just robbed them.
His hamstrings means he has no pace Owen Owen. he wants to play for bacon face Owen Owen, He left the reds for sunny Spain he barely even got a game, Michel Owen he has got a massive head.
to the tune of the Torres song.
From redboychris26 on Tue Jul 21 03:14PM
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30.The 'shame' of playing for Hull or Stoke, I find this attitude appalling. It's journalists using this kind of language that allows footballers to be as arrogant and self-interested as they are, and encourages supporters of the alleged 'big' clubs to have a superiority complex for what is essentially glory hunting. Any footballer should be proud and glad to be paid a ludicrous amount of money, by any club, to play a game they should love. And I would remind you that a player who has just played for a club that was relegated (so how good can he have been) should be absolutely delighted to be back in the Premier League, full stop.
I will second that. Owen is devious little ****
From redboychris26 on Tue Jul 21 03:17PM
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Some players may look better at other clubs or certain strikers might bang them in from all directions but an underlining fact is that Manchester United have for years been all about a team performance not reliant on one or two players,Owen will become a team player,like Sheringham,Yorke,Cole,Forlan,Rooney,Tevez before him,as for Newcastle Owen simply didnt get the service hence very little return ,how many United forward players down the years have left to go on to better things??,Tevez scored single figures for Utd last season he was loved for his workrate but at end of day if Owen gets 10-15 goals in season hes paid his wages and justified Fergie signing him!!
From dazmondo on Tue Jul 21 04:01PM
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The shame of playing Stoke & Hull..? Anywere apart from championship surely??
From ellzbellz_2 on Tue Jul 21 05:10PM
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