Fantasy Premier League

Matchday Open Thread

Sat Feb 23 06:32AM by Jeremy

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney celebrates scoring a goal against Middlesbrough during their English Premier League football match at Old Trafford in Manchester

The best laid plans. 

Two weeks ago (it seems longer ago than that, doesn't it?) I put K2, Koumas, and Benjani on the barn door.  To afford that I've been living with a big red "In order to receive scoring for this week's matches, you must have selected a player for all 11 positions." hanging over my head.

[aside:  Getting drunk on Friday night and passing out with less than your full complement of players is known as "pulling a Spealman".  Be sure to look for that in the upcoming blog dictionary.  Seriously.] 

[one more aside:  All the thanks in the world to my sister for getting married over the FA Cup semifinal weekend rather than forcing me to beg, borrow, and steal internet access on the road.] 

Where were we?  Oh, yeah... sitting with too much money invested in too few players.  So I've worked out my line-up.  Cutting here.  Trimming there.  I need to keep K2.  He's been in incredible form.  Probably one of the best streaks we ever seen from a striker not initialed TH or RVN.  Then the news comes out of N London that Adebayor is doubtful with a stiff neck.  Now we know he's stubborn, but that's ridiculous.  Just what I didn't need.  Granted he's likely to start.  And he's likely to do well against a stuggling Birmingham side.  But I can too easily see the other side.  He needs a break after the CL match (and miss).  Brm kept Arsenal in check at Highbury, sorry Emirates, last month.  Arsenal are showing a fragile streak and traveling to Birmingham might be the last thing they need.  And I just remember their trip to Sheffield United last season where even with Jagielka in net, RvP skying their best chance when he was my sure thing that week...

So K2 is gone.  I hope I can sleep better with Rooney in the team, but I probably won't.  In last month's demolition of NUFC, ManU scored six and Rooney only collected a booking.  I could drop from Rooney to Torres... home to Boro, two matches next week, always scores at Anfield, even if he only plays twenty minutes of the match.  That gives me the money to upgrade the Mok to a real defender.  But he's home to goal-shy Bolton and could be in line for a sub cs [again, look for the upcoming dictionary].  

So here's hoping that Rooney can break out of what seems like a prolonged slump.  Here's hoping that Tevez and Ronaldo can pitch in.  And that Muntari and Defoe put a hurting on Sunderland with with added bonus of Gordon getting cheaper before their trip to Derby.

What are you hoping for?  Let us know in this, your matchday open thread. 

(105 user comments)

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  • (51)

    Wow, guess we all should have gotten on the torres bandwagon a week early. The first of his two was opportunistic but the second was very nice. Apparently this is the weekend of braces...

    Posted by: neal_thurman on Sat Feb 23 03:31PM | Report abuse
  • (52)

    Not dropped Torres since his October injury - fabulous value for money this season. Will have to make a decision whether to drop Fabregas or Bentley next week for Gerrard, with the other going for a cheaper midfielder and Kirkland for Reina. Any thoughts?

    Posted by: peterransom on Sat Feb 23 03:35PM | Report abuse
  • (53)

    Thank god I've stuck with Torres, now hopefully Stevie G. won't get too productive, so I can get him for the doubleweek.

    Posted by: janlolkehibma on Sat Feb 23 03:36PM | Report abuse
  • (54)

    I dumped Torres last nite in an effort to pair rooney with K2...Rooney better go off now, or I made am oopsie....ALready re-picked up Torres for next week before $$ goes UP

    Posted by: sulldaddy on Sat Feb 23 03:42PM | Report abuse
  • (55)

    Really need Yahoo to update prices (and hopefully free up some cash) from the first game.

    Posted by: the_burning_pen on Sat Feb 23 03:59PM | Report abuse
  • (56)

    wow! Yahoo just updated their prices and Theo up +6.74. Literally seconds after i've picked him up. Just did the same with Torres i guess he's skyrocketing very soon. keep it up!

    Posted by: vitali_oiltrade on Sat Feb 23 04:03PM | Report abuse
  • (57)

    The Barn Door on the Ars/Brm players slammed shut very quick this week. No Theo temptations for me...

    Posted by: krokodil_g on Sat Feb 23 04:30PM | Report abuse
  • (58)

    kroko: go for Torres, he's on the hat-trick and he's on double gameweek next!

    Posted by: vitali_oiltrade on Sat Feb 23 04:36PM | Report abuse
  • (59)

    I think this was brought up before, but Torres is owned by about 50% of teams. Seems that you need to have Torres in the line-up not to get ahead, but to stay with the pack.

    Posted by: krokodil_g on Sat Feb 23 04:38PM | Report abuse
  • (60)

    Aliadiere Red Card means that Alves is pretty much guaranteed a start at home against Reading next weekend...

    Posted by: neal_thurman on Sat Feb 23 04:46PM | Report abuse