Fantasy Premier League

Mon Oct 09 05:55PM by FantasyFootball Blogger

In an article brilliantly titled "Ballack to end career at Bridge" Michael Ballack has been quoted as saying that "...Chelsea could be the last club I will play for."

Some, fantasy managers included, would argue that Ballack may already have ended his career the second he arrived at the Bridge. His partnership with Lamps in the center of midfield looks to be as ill-conceived as the Gerrard/Lamps partnership for England. All three players are unquestionably talented when left alone in the hole behind the strikers but none has shown the flexibility to alter their game to fit the talents of the other. As long as Lampard is "the man" in Chelsea's midfield Ballack is going to have trouble making the impact his wages indicate he should. He won't be taking many free kicks, his presence in the line-up will minimize the use of wide players which will minimize his greatest remaining value which is on the end of crosses.

If you ask me, Ballack's biggest value to Chelsea is that his presence on the roster and in the line-up means that he isn't playing for Manchester United. That's it and that's all. A midfield of Giggs, Carrick, Ballack, and Ronaldo behind Rooney and Saha would pull United on par with Chelsea and represent a threat to Chelsea's third consecutive Premiership crown. His presence would move O'Shea, Scholes, and Fletcher to the bench roles that are probably what they should be doing on a team that is contending for European and Premiership honors.

There really isn't much of a fantasy slant to this posting other than to remind managers as Ballack gets ready to end his suspension that he's STILL not worth including in your line-up until he proves all of the above to be wrong (or Lampard is injured/suspended).

Next up...did Sheva end his career by moving to the Bridge too?

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