5 Thoughts from Week 4

Note: This article is also published on the Stadium Astro website.

Before I start, I just want to wish everyone a belated Selamat Hari Merdeka! Hope you had a good long weekend, interspersed by football of course. 

So what happened this weekend?

1. Manchester City are not fooling around

Another game, another clean sheet. They are now the only team who have yet to concede. I also called it right (for once), Sterling took his turn to score! So the main problem we currently face in the fantasy world for Manchester City is figuring out whose turn it is to score, as Aguero blanked once again (I'm sure quite a few of us captained him). Their fixtures next month are pretty good though, and should ensure they will still be on top come October. Should you max out on their players?

2. The other big teams struggle

Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and even Spurs had a tough time at the office. Most investment in their attack was wasted. Crazily enough, out of these 5 teams, only Mata and Falcao scored goals (and come on, did anyone actually pick Falcao, seriously). Incidentally, I also don't understand Wenger not starting Giroud, who has such a great record against Newcastle (luckily I couldn't find room for him). Meanwhile, assets from the smaller teams at a fraction of the price continue to show up (Wilson, Sako, Gomis). How much longer will it take for the big guns to click?

3. Sunderland are fighting back

Dirk Advocaat is working hard at proving me wrong. They're still dodgy at the back, but their attack is definitely showing some promise. M’Villa, Lens and Defoe are all potential pick-ups for the game, depending on match-up. However, as long as they have characters like Lee Cattermole and Patrick Van Aanholt with defensive responsibilities, they will continue to leak goals. And yes, they’re still holding up the table.

4. Are Southampton assets worth considering again?

Getting kicked out of Europe definitely has its benefits as they mowed down Norwich. Obviously they were helped by a nice early red card from Steven Whittaker, but sometimes it’s actually harder to play against a 10 man team, as they typically work at shutting things down. I was lucky to still have Mane and get 9 points (I actually wanted to transfer him out of my team last week). With Bertrand coming back soon, and Rodriguez playing himself into form, things could start looking up for them.

And finally,

5. Euro players fail to turn up in August

Out of the attacking assets available on offer, only Lewandowski (2 goals 1 assist) and Rodriguez (2 goals) did anything of note to justify the outlay needed. Messi and Ronaldo were both duds, and you have to wonder whether Rodriguez is now a better option than Ronaldo after that ridiculous free kick he took. For the record, Rodriguez did not start in Real Madrid’s first match so most people probably did not go for him.

In my next article, we’ll talk more strategy, following on from my article in the previous week. I did decently enough this week, managing to jump from 1100+ to 371 thanks to 18 players contributing (well, maybe not Huth and Darmian). I'm sure a lot of you are still above me though! Nevertheless, I’ll talk you through on what I did, and some basic planning moving forward. I'll also touch on the transfer activity.

Take care!