It was a long fantasy week, with a few catch-up fixtures played in midweek, as some of the usual suspects took a backseat while Fernando Torres finally delivered for those who kept the faith.
Star Players
Clint Dempsey – Fulham – midfielder – 14m; 16 points The American international midfielder continues to deliver for the Cottagers along with the wise 6% of fantasy coaches who own him services. Dempsey has tallied up 137 points this fantasy season and his double in Fulham’s 3-0 win over Bolton showed his quality. Almost a must-have as he’s so consistent at such good value.
Maxi Rodriguez – Liverpool – midfielder – 17.1m; 17 points It would be remiss of me not to mention the Reds Argentine midfielder despite the fact this seems a rare outing for him. Maxi, playing in a more advanced role, hit a hat-trick in Liverpool’s 5-0 thrashing of Birmingham City. It was a good effort but I probably wouldn’t recommend buying him on that performance alone.
Kenwyne Jones – Stoke City – striker – 16.4m; 14 points Stoke’s big striker is a rather enigmatic footballer who is still grappling for consistency but when he delivers, he delivers good. Jones has managed 117 points for the season which is quite good at his value. The Trinidad striker scored twice this week, in the 1-1 draw at Villa and the 3-0 win over Wolves.
Disappointments
Samir Nasri – Arsenal – striker – 18m; 2 points The French midfielder has had a fine season for the Gunners and was recently nominated for the PFA player of the season award. After the first-half of the season he would’ve been a firm favourite for that thus inspiring plenty of fantasy coaches to sign him up. He’s still owned by 7% of coaches but they’d have been frustrated by his showing as Arsenal lost 2-1 at Bolton on Sunday.
Gareth Bale – Tottenham – defender – 7.1m; 1 point Speaking of the PFA player of the season, here’s the winner, but he’s another who failed to fire on the weekend. In fact, Bale – owned by 23% of fantasy coaches – has failed to fire for some time and is beginning to become a burden in the fantasy world. Spurs poor form doesn’t help his case.
Liam Ridgewell – Birmingham City> – defender – 6m; -3 points I don’t mean to pick on Ridgewell given he’s only owned by 2% of fantasy coaches, but conceding five goals is never any good. Ridgewell, of course, wasn’t solely responsible for Birmingham’s 5-0 loss at Liverpool but anyone who had him would’ve felt rather disappointed in that score.
Special mentions
Goalkeepers
Mark Schwarzer – Fulham – 7.6m; 8 points (conceded one goal in two games, solid)
Joe Hart – Manchester City – 9.5m; 7 points (the best fantasy goalkeeper, end of story)
Jose Reina – Liverpool – 10.6m; 7 points (clean sheet in big win)
Defenders
Ryan Shawcross – Stoke City – 6.0m; 11 points (scored, kept a clean sheet, as Stoke won and drew)
Brede Hangeland – Fulham – 6.1m; 11 points (scored, kept a clean sheet, as Cottagers won and drew)
Ashley Cole – Chelsea – 7.5m; 9 points (grabbed an assist in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Hammers, consistently good)
Midfielders
Florent Malouda – Chelsea – 18.2m; 9 points (goals are flowing now)
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