Monthly Archives: June 2013
Premier League’s potential assist makers
Guest Post:
Strikers always grab the headlines for their wonderful goals and dramatic missed opportunities, which is why they’re worth so much in the transfer market and fantasy football.
However, the most successful strikers over the years are ones that had great assistants behind them and created opportunities for others. It goes without saying that players like Gerrard, Lampard, Fabregas, Scholes (The list goes on..) all have over 100 Premier League assists. Cristiano Ronaldo amongst others proved a world-class player with his ability to find others as well as the goal.
When planning your fantasy football team for next season don’t just look at how many goals strikers and midfielders may score. Instead, focus on their contribution to the game. Here are our (affordable) picks for next season’s top providers:
Jean Beausejour:
The Wigan midfielder earned nine assists last year despite playing for a relegation-threatened team all season. Now the Latics have gone down football betting fans can hope for Beausejour to find a new club before the summer transfer window is out. He shouldn’t be too expensive and the Chilean will always offer great service.
Lukas Podolski:
The German didn’t have the best of debut seasons in the Premier League but nevertheless provided Arsenal with nine goals on top of his 11 tally. Podolski is a cheap buy in fantasy football and coming off the left will often look to hit the central striker rather than the goal, making him a decent buy especially if Arsenal land Gonzalo Higuain this summer.
Rickie Lambert:
It wasn’t just his 15 goals for Southampton last season that made Lambert so valuable. He was involved in 24 of the Saints’ 49 goals last term and is one of the best box players in the Premier League. He’s always a good punt to score with fans who bet on sport and is a good reserve to have in your fantasy football squad too.
Robert Snodgrass:
The Scot earned a reputation at Leeds United for his dead ball expertise and he’s taken to life at Norwich City with ease. Snodgrass made nine last season and can be relied upon to find the head of Grant Holt and Michael Turner. His personal tally may not be too impressive but Snodgrass will always offer a chance for the team.
Selecting a fantasy football team is a difficult task. Remember, your reserves play as much a part in earning you points as those big-money strikers. Be smart with your funds and don’t simply go for a player who grabs the headlines, for there are some decent cheap buys out there if you see past goal tallies.
About the author:
Joe is a freelance sports journalist and staff writer for FC Copenhagen. As a Leeds United season ticket holder for nine years in his youth, he’s seen the best and worst English football has to offer. A frequent fantasy football player, you may (or most probably may not) have seen his team Borussia Teeth languishing at the foot of many a league table. That trend is set to continue.
If you would like the opportunity to guest post on FantasyYIRMA.com email Ryan at FantasyYIRMA@hotmail.com
Manchester City to Juventus: Will Carlos Tevez be Missed?
Last year the term “Mancini Roulette” was used frequently by the FantasyYIRMA team. Selecting a Striker from Manchester City striker always carried an element of risk. With Tevez leaving for Juventus, new FY regular Walt provides his thoughts on the recent Transfer
Adios Carlos Tevez – A Fond FPL Farewell ?
You’ve probably read the news by now. Carlos “I don’t want to warm-up” Tevez has agreed a move to Italian giants Juventus because “they wanted him more” than AC Milan did. He leaves behind a newly reorganized Manchester City squad that drove FPL managers bonkers last year as crazy-man Roberto Mancini played musical chairs with virtually every position on the pitch.
Personally, Mancini scared me away from so many City players during #FPL season that Tevez’s move away came as a breath of fresh air to me when I heard everything was finalized. After initially admiring the work rate and tenacity Tevez showed following his move to Manchester United and the way he “stood up” to Sir Alex Ferguson when things went south and he flew the coop across town to City, it gradually dawned on me during his multiple excursions on the wrong side of sanity that it wasn’t Sir Alex who had been the problem; it was Carlos.
So seeing Tevez move away initially seemed like just the kind of move that both Manchester City and us #FPL managers needed. Freed from Mancini’s unpredictability, the offloading of Tevez seemingly reduces the rotation risk of City’s front line by a full 33% as it leaves those minutes to be filled by Sergio Aguero and/or Edin Dzeko, unless of course a third quality striker is brought in or recalled from loan who Pellegrini decides to drive us equally mad with. But that remains to be seen.
Manchester City
City’s forward rotation was great for City; don’t get me wrong. But it was an #FPL manager’s nightmare. Looking at the statistics from the 2012-2013 season, Mancini actually did a very good job of spreading the minutes around and keeping people fresh when they weren’t injured. Aguero, Tevez and Dzeko averaged 51, 63 and 48 minutes per gameweek respectively, a very even distribution, while scoring 5.6, 6.3 and 6.4 points per 90 minutes each. On the face of it, Mancini did exactly what he should have done; keeping things fresh and maintaining consistent returns.
Despite the rotation, Tevez finished the year as City’s up-front leader in both minutes played and points scored. From a statistical perspective, he scored 6.35 points per game to Aguero’s 5.60 and based on year-end values tallied 18.37 points per million pounds in price compared to Aguero’s 10.90. Financially speaking, Tevez was a bargain. At 18.84 points per million pounds in price, so was Dzeko.
Purely from a numbers standpoint – City may have let the wrong guy leave. Based purely on statistics, for what it’s worth, the Tevez and Dzeko show, based on the 2012-2013 season, is more productive and profitable than an FPL Aguero-Dzeko combination.
When setting the City dynamic to the side and looking at Tevez strictly compared to other FPL forwards in his price bracket (9.2m at season end), he also outscored every forward in the 8.3 – 9.3m bracket quite comfortably. Of Torres, Adebayor, Podolski, Carroll and Cisse, only Podolski even comes close to Tevez’s points and value statistics.
So we’re left, as oftentimes is the case, with a double-edged sword. When looking at City coverage, Tevez’s move to Juventus simplifies things and makes both Aguero and Dzeko much more attractive investments than they were last year (Dzeko statistically would be the guy to pick up due to his points/price ratio, but I have a sneaky suspicion Aguero will have a good year assuming he doesn’t get assaulted in the 13th minute of the first fixture like he did last year). At the same time, Tevez’s outstanding performance in the mid-premium price bracket leaves a significant void to be filled by somebody. Who that person will be is anyone’s guess, as Tevez decidedly outperformed everyone else in that bracket last season.
At this point, only one thing is for sure. Carlos can show up and caddie at the British Open practice rounds all he wants, but no one will be getting any FPL points from him this time around. He’s going the way of Balotelli and Mancini, and taking all of the pointing, laughing and snickering with him.
Seeya Carlitos. Good luck.
Please follow me on Twitter: @EPLFanForLife
The North-South divide and the changing face of the Premier League.
GUEST POST from Bryn Robinson at thesefootballtimes.net
Premier League Focus
The North-South divide in England has always been an area of contention for the nation.
With London and the South typically favoured by politicians and businesses, the North is often neglected and maligned. However football is one area where the North can be seen to rule supreme, with teams from the north of the country traditionally dominating the league, winning 39 top tier titles in the last 50 years.
In the 2011/12 season there were 9 teams from the North of England in the Premier League, with Manchester City running out the eventual winners in what was essentially a two horse race with rivals Manchester United. However just 12 months on, (and with United winning on the Horses this season) teams from the south are having a resurgence. With the promotion of Cardiff City and Crystal Palace, the 2013/14 Premier League season is set to contain 9 teams from the south, including for the first time two teams from South Wales.
With Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Blackpool and now Wigan Athletic slipping into the Championship in the last 2 years, it looks that the balance of footballing power may be shifting subtly towards the south.
But just what is causing this shift in demographic? One key factor can be linked with the influx of foreign players to the Premier League, with London clubs in particular taking advantage of the city itself in order to lure players in. Clubs play on the more temperate climate, wealthy culture and cosmopolitan attitude present in the capital in order to sell their club to players from abroad when trying to complete transfers.
However the draw of certain northern clubs cannot be underestimated. Manchester United and Liverpool both make use of their wealth, historic successes and large fan bases to land big name stars. Whereas Manchester City are able to offer huge sums of money to bring in global superstars such as David Silva, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero. Clubs from the north of England still have clout when it comes to acquiring top players, yet this seems to be limited somewhat to the largest clubs, with smaller clubs receiving the raw end of the deal when compared with their southern counterparts.
Though clubs from both North and South compete at the top of the Premier League and in Europe, it seems that the North’s general dominance of the English footballing pyramid could be set to change.
With both Manchester clubs changing managers, it could be argued that each will undergo a transition season, and although they will be aiming to challenge for the title, it may not be as easy as under a settled manager and squad. This is surely the best chance for teams like Tottenham and Arsenal to try and break the northern dominance over the Premier League. With stable managers and the funds available to strengthen their squads, next season could provide an opportunity for these well positioned clubs to make a serious challenge for the title. Is this the time for southern clubs to turn their current strong position in the league into silverware?
Bryn Robinson
Writer for thesefootballtimes.net Follow on twitter @ohbryno and @thesefootytimes.
Agree/ Disagree – Drop your comments below!!
North Contenders: Manchester United, Manchester City
South Contenders: Arsenal, Chelsea
2013/2014 Premier League glory: A deep-lying midfielder away?
2013/2014 Premier League glory: A deep-lying midfielder away?
A sharp increase in TV revenues should supplement an active summer transfer window this year, and with activity already well underway, this could well be the highest spending window of all time.
The activity of England’s top four teams will naturally invite a greater sense of intrigue. Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea all have new managers who will make the changes they deem necessary, while Arsenal chief-executive Ivan Gazidis has publicly stated on multiple occasions that this will be a ‘big summer’ for the Gunners.
While every squad has its own unique strengths and weaknesses, all four of England’s top four teams arguably need to strengthen their midfield. City have already addressed this issue with the acquisition of the excellent Fernandinho, but Arsenal, Chelsea and United are still yet to make any significant moves.
The prominence of the 4-2-3-1 is perhaps the best explanation for the weakness of this zone in each respective squad. With top teams intent on playing attractive football, clubs have chosen to splash out the ‘big money’ on technically adept attacking midfielders (Cazorla, Hazard, Silva), hence neglecting the two deeper players within such a system.
Arsenal
Arsenal’s midfield combination has been relatively inconsistent this season. Injuries to Abou Diaby and Jack Wilshere have meant Tomas Rosicky and Aaron Ramsay have had more opportunities. In their excellent end of season form, they set up most frequently with Ramsey and Arteta supporting Rosicky- and the team only conceded 5 goals in their last 10 matches.
Hence, its somewhat difficult to properly assess where Arsenal need to strengthen based on that 10 match run. But if Wenger has the funds Gazidis publicly states that he has, then significant investment in the link role occupied by Ramsey would be most beneficial.
While Ramsay is still young and always improving, he is perhaps the weakest of Arsenal’s midfield three. With Abou Diaby seemingly completely out of the picture with his latest long term injury, a dynamic physical player to accompany the less energetic Arteta would give Arsenal the complete midfield variety they need. Arsenal’s midfield combinations have been discussed in detail before on this blog, but its also worth remembering that Arteta is now 31 and Francis Coquelin is not the most experienced cover. The issue of Arteta has not been significant this season because the Spaniard has managed to start 34 times. Yet it is unlikely the Spaniard will be able to maintain such consistency in seasons to come, and if Arsenal seek genuine Premier League glory then perhaps a huge investment to a younger player would take them to the next level.
Marouane Fellaini has been heavily linked so far, and he would be an excellent acquisition. Fellaini has played mainly behind a striker at Everton, but would often find himself starting as a holder if Moyes wanted greater defensive cover, especially during his early years at Goodison Park. Hence, his ability to contribute to both attack and defence, as well as provide some much needed Vieira-esque muscle in midfield would make him a definite purchase.
Chelsea
Roberto Di Matteo’s controversial sacking could be put down to a number of reasons. But if the Italian made one obvious mistake, it was the way he neglected the defensive midfield area, especially when it needed to support such a fluid and defensively naive attacking quartet. Prior to the start of the 12/13 season Raul Meireles was sold and Michael Essien was sent out on loan, meaning Chelsea only had one genuine defensive midfielder- the inexperienced Oriol Romeu. Granted, John Obi Mikel is decent player, but it is often forgotten that he was naturally a number 10- that was the role he took up before he joined the Blues. Ramires and Frank Lampard are not holders, despite their individual excellence.
The key to Chelsea’s midfield is that a creative deep lying playmaker is entirely unnecessary. The intelligence and guile provided by Juan Mata, Oscar and Eden Hazard in the final third means the supporting players behind them need only be defensively adept and dynamic.
With Mr. Mourinho taking charge- primarily a defensive coach- there should be some investment here. In his debut 04/05 campaign, he guided Chelsea to the title conceding just 15 goals, an incredible feat. This season, Man City conceded the least amount of any team with 34- a clear sign that while attacking standards have improved, defensive responsibilities have been compromised. In Mourinho’s previous reigns players such as Costinho (Porto) and Esteban Cambiasso (Inter) have received considerable acclaim for their roles in excellent defensive systems. Claude Makélélé became the iconic bedrock of that Chelsea defence; Mourinho will surely be searching for another big player of that mould.
Manchester City
City’s £30m acquisition of Shaktar’s Fernandinho is the club’s acknowledgement of problems in this area of the pitch. But interestingly, the defensive midfield area had been the defining tactical issue in recent years.
At first it was an issue of creativity- Nigel de Jong, Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure lacked guile from deep, and a number of pundits recognised this as the main reason for their disappointing performances in Europe.
Mancini tried to rectify the situation with the signing of David Pizarro on loan last season, and then settled with Benfica’s Javi Garcia and Jack Rodwell last summer. Garcia, theoretically, was supposed to offer additional intelligence with the same defensive strengths, but in reality was an inferior player.
The acquisition of Fernandinho should change the complexion of City’s midfield. Based on the Brazilian’s tendency to get forward from deep, it is likely Pellegrini may adopt a ‘double pivot’ system which allows for a more flexible midfield. Instead of playing a designated holder and a designated link player, both Fernandinho and Yaya Toure would alternative in either staying back or getting forward. If they can replicate the standards of Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira operating in the same system, their midfield should finally have the variety and quality to strike a fine balance between defensive cover and attacking creativity.
Manchester United
While Arsenal, Chelsea and City all roughly play 4-2-3-1s and have reasons to strengthen in order to build upon their positions from last year, the case is quite different at Old Trafford.
For sometime now the central midfield zone has been seen as United’s weak point, with Michael Carrick in need of a either an outright playmaker or an outright destroyer next to him. But given how Ryan Giggs, Phil Jones, Anderson, Tom Cleverley and even Wayne Rooney have filled might suggest that investment is unnecessary.
How Moyes will choose to act in this market will be interesting. On one hand, investment here would stamp his authority on the team and signify a change in direction. On the other, based on Moyes’ tendency to play a similar 4-4-1-1 formation to that of Alex Ferguson, investment may again be wholly unnecessary. Also consider that there is arguably no need to change an already established winning formula, and it could be unlikely that he’ll be forced into pressure signings.
The 2013/14 season will be an intersting season, and marks the beginning of a new era. With Ferguson gone, City and Chelsea galvanised, and Arsenal financially empowered, this could well be one of the most competitive seasons of all time. Perhaps- therefore- it is not unreasonable to think that the team that invests most astutely in the defensive midfield role could be in with a genuine chance of success.
The groundbreaking, most influential signing of the 2012/13 season? Undoubtedly Javi Martinez; the Spaniard was a catalyst for Bayern’s historic treble winning season. England’s top teams will surely be looking to replicate such an inspirational piece of business.
Follow the Football Butler on Twitter, @footballbutler
Many thanks to @footballbutler for the guest post. You can read more from them at http://thefootballbutler.blogspot.co.uk/
If you would like to get involved and submit a guest post on FY please contact Ryan at FantasyYIRMA@hotmail.com
If you Play Fantasy Football don’t forget to get signed up for our free mini league for 2013/14… Free to play and as Always Cash Prize available to the winner
http://fantasy.premierleague.com/my-leagues/15005/join/?autojoin-code=44397-15005
If you have never played before you will need to register a team first.
2012-13 Fantasy Premier League Transfer Analysis
We are always happy to accept guest posts on FY. Delighted to see that #FPL superfan Walt aka @EPLFanForLife has submitted this article on his transfer journey through the 2012-13 Fantasy campaign.
Check out @EPLFanForLife on twitter. Always open to chat and discuss all things FPL.
If you would like to submit a guest post please contact Ryan at FantasyYIRMA@hotmail.com
2012-13 Fantasy Premier League Transfer Analysis
I’ve gotta level with you guys. I just can’t get the recent FPL season out of my mind. It was a year of growth for me; a year where finding an outlet to talk about the sport (EPL) and the game (FPL) on Twitter raised my appreciation and enjoyment of the FPL game to levels I had never anticipated.
I’ve learned so much just from reading what knowledgeable fans have said to one another and asked one another about, let alone the actual conversations I’ve had with people that have helped me understand and enjoy the game with a new awareness.
I’ve said before that the season ended too early for me. I didn’t want the momentum to stop. Having improved from 352,257th place in 2011-2012 to 33,058th place in 2012-2013, part of me was afraid that the momentum I carried through the end of the season and all that I learned this year would fade with the two-month gap; that I might forget what I had learned and would essentially be starting the new upcoming season from scratch again.
So without being able to keep playing the FPL game, I wanted to do the next best thing. I wanted to analyze my performance and delve further into how the knowledge I gained from talking and “listening to” so many respectable friends and fans helped me reach levels that surprised me. The logical place for me to start was to analyze my transfer activity; specifically the transfers I made throughout the season that resulted in point hits.
If you’ve played FPL for any length of time and are active on Twitter, you’ve inevitably fretted over the prospect of “paying” or “spending” 4 extra points to make a transfer that you can’t make for free. The concept is an integral part of the game, and one that often can make or break an individual gameweek and ultimately how you perform in your mini-league and overall ranking.
Respected FPL players talk about “the 4-point hit” just about every week. Is it worth it? What has to happen to make it pay off? For which positions is it worth considering and for which positions is it a guaranteed no-no? What are the odds that it will pay off?
I read and listened to many people. One of the things I remember hearing most from people that I respected highly was “Don’t take a hit if you don’t have to; they don’t pay off 80% of the time.” That scared me and had me thinking carefully about all of the things that would need to happen for a 4-point hit to pay off. Not only would the person I transferred in need to do well, but they would need to score at least 4 more points than the person I transferred out. In FPL, where every point is valuable, a 4-point hit needed to be weighed carefully.
Partly because of the fear instilled in me with the prospect of a 4-point hit, and partly because I was in a position in my mini-league towards the end of the season where every point would end up being important, I always found myself thinking long and hard about the prospect of giving up 4 points to make a transfer that I thought would pay off.
With three weeks left in the season, and hearing the old mantra of “4-point hits don’t pay off 80% of the time” from respected FPL players in the back of my mind, my mini-league rival made the surprising decision of making 5 transfers during double game week 36; a 16 point hit! I was freaking out. I had taken point hits in the 2-3 weeks leading up to double gameweek 36 to prepare and set myself up for it, but was surprised that my rival took such a risk; especially when things were so tight in our mini-league.
One of my good friends in the FPL Twitter community, knowing my mini-league was tight and probably trying to make me feel better, said “Don’t worry dude, there’s no way they’ll all pay off for him”. Well guess what; 4 of his 5 transfers DID pay off for him, and it left me questioning the “4-point hits don’t pay off 80% of the time” adage that had been ingrained in my head.
So, after the season ended, I thought I’d take a look and see just how I fared when making the decision to take transfer hits. The results actually surprised me very much.
Note: Because almost all of the transfers I made that resulted in 4-point hits were transfers that required swapping more than 1 player, I’ve analyzed my transfer hits based on each gameweek as opposed to each transfer. It was very rare that I took a 4-point hit specifically to swap one player for another; it more often required a double move to “downgrade” a player in one position to be able to “upgrade” a player in another.
Here are my 2012-2013 season statistics/details with regard to point hits and transfers:
|
GAMEWEEK |
PLAYERS OUT |
PLAYERS IN |
|
GW2 |
Mata, Aguero |
Hazard, Tevez |
|
Pts Hit: -4 |
Net Pts: +18
|
|
|
GW5 |
Federici, Petric |
Davis, Berbatov |
|
Pts Hit: -4 |
Net Pts: +4
|
|
|
GW6 |
Torres, DeGuzman |
Fletcher, Fellaini |
|
Pts Hit: -4 |
Net Pts: -5
|
|
|
GW7 |
Davis, Lescott, Kagawa, Berbatov |
Begovic, Gibbs, Cazorla, Jelavic |
|
Pts Hit: -12 |
Net Pts: +5
|
|
|
GW11 |
WILDCARD USED
|
|
|
GW16 |
RVP, Silva, Bale |
LeFondre, Sessegnon, Michu |
|
Pts Hit: -8 |
Net Pts: +10
|
|
|
GW18 |
Britton, Rafael, Fletcher, Fellaini |
Walcott, Nastasic, Ba, Toure |
|
Pts Hit: -12 |
Net Pts: -5
|
|
|
GW22 |
WILDCARD USED
|
|
|
GW27 |
Suarez, Michu |
Giroud, Bale |
|
Pts Hit: -4 |
Net Pts: +13
|
|
|
GW29 |
Fellaini, Cameron, Giroud |
Snodgrass, Garrido, Benteke |
|
Pts Hit: -8 |
Net Pts: +7
|
|
|
GW31 |
Benteke, Puncheon, Garrido |
Berbatov, Cazorla, Monreal |
|
Pts Hit: -4 |
Net Pts: +13
|
|
|
GW32 |
Sturridge, Bale |
Lambert, Hazard |
|
Pts Hit: -4 |
Net Pts: +3
|
|
|
GW33 |
Hazard, Davies |
Fellaini, Baines |
|
Pts Hit: -4 |
Net Pts: +7
|
|
|
GW34 |
Fellaini, Cazorla, Suarez |
Michu, Maloney, RVP |
|
Pts Hit: -8 |
Net Pts: -2
|
|
|
GW35 |
Monreal, Lambert, Snodgrass, Johnson |
Dawson, Lukaku, Bale, Figueroa |
|
Pts Hit: -12 |
Net Pts: +7
|
|
|
GW37 |
Defoe, Michu |
Sturridge, Lampard |
|
Pts Hit: -4 |
Net Pts: +18
|
|
Well there you have it. All told, I spent 92 points on 23 transfers during the 2012-2013 FPL season. Of the 14 gameweeks in which I took hits, I achieved net gains on 11 of them (78.5%) and had net losses on 3 of them (21.5%).
In summary, I gave up 91 points scored by the players I transferred out, spent 92 points to transfer in other players, and those players that I transferred in earned 276 points in the week I brought them in; for a net overall season gain of 93 points.
Here is something that I found fascinating… check this out:
- The points scored by the players I transferred out = 91
- The number of points I spent on the 23 extra transfers = 92
- The NET OVERALL GAIN I made through these transfers during the season = 93
Pretty crazy, huh!?!
I am so glad I took the time to put this information together and look back on my transfer dealings throughout the course of the season. It taught me that depending on the situation, taking hits on additional transfers can work out rather well if done carefully.
As a fairly conservative FPL player, after the initial and necessary early season adjustments accounting for players who no longer started, fell out of form, were injured, etc., the majority of my point hits were taken to offload players who were either suspended, injured, had blank game weeks, etc.; or to bring in players with upcoming double game weeks.
In hindsight, this is perfectly normal and to be expected. What I was surprised about was the percentage of times that point hits actually worked out for me. Had you asked me that question throughout the season I would have said that it seemed like point hits worked out for me roughly half of the time.
My decisions look better in hindsight than they felt at the time, although obviously what’s not accounted for here are the players I DIDN’T pick who went nuts on certain gameweeks, like giving up Benteke to see him nail a hat trick a few weeks later. But that’s FPL for ya.
If you would like to put together analysis like this for yourself based on last season’s statistics, PLEASE PRINT OUT YOUR GAMEWEEK DETAIL TODAY! Next year’s EPL fixtures have already been released so it will only be a matter of time before the site is reset. They do not store gameweek detail from prior seasons so once they reset the site it’s gone for good.
Sorry for being so long winded, but I hope you enjoyed seeing the stats of my transfers and how those transfer dealings affected the overall season points as a whole. I improved my overall ranking considerably this year compared to last, and looking back now, these 93 extra points played a very large factor in that.
Cheers guys!
Walt
Please follow me on Twitter: @EPLFanForLife
About Walt
An American who would not be able to enjoy the EPL and FPL scene without the connection afforded by Twitter and great accounts like @FantasyYIRMA. I’ve learned a lot through the FPL connection and the discussions that continue 24/7 throughout the season and look forward to continuing to learn as I’m getting ready for my third season in FPL.
I am an avid football (soccer) fan who enjoys talking football and connecting with others for discussion, banter, news, and anything that increases our enjoyment and appreciation for the sport that we love.
I’ve just started a blog that I welcome you to check out if you get a chance: http://whatiwantmykidstoknowaboutfootball.blogspot.com/
Please also follow me on Twitter: @EPLFanForLife
Gheorghe Hagi Junior- check this FREE KICK out!
The apple does not fall far from the tree is this video is anything to go by. Watch as Ianis takes a free kick his Dad would have been proud of!!
If you Play Fantasy Football don’t forget to get signed up for our free mini league for 2013/14… Free to play and as Always Cash Prize available to the winner
http://fantasy.premierleague.com/my-leagues/15005/join/?autojoin-code=44397-15005
If you have never played before you will need to register a team first.
https://twitter.com/FantasyYirma/status/343350693635174402
Tale of a Fantasy Premier League Champion!!
It is with great pleasure that we welcome FPL World Number 2 and the FantasyYIRMA.com mini league WINNER Kelvin Travers.
Kelvin had an unbelievable season and is a genuine fan of FPL. Having led the overall game for large parts of the year the league was decided on bonus points following the final gameweek of the season.
Take nothing away from this man – what he displayed this year in terms of judgement and consistency was extremely impressive!
We are proud to say the FY mini- league was won by an extremely deserving winner! Kelvin has been kind enough to put together an overview of his FPL journey this year – Enjoy!
*R
Season Review
By @K3lviN
Having had time to get over the disappointment of missing out by just two points on winning the 2012/13 Barclays Fantasy Premier League, I’ve been invited by @FantasyYIRMA to explain some of the highs and lows of my season, and my thoughts for next year.
Lows
I may as well start with the lows, and to be honest they don’t come any lower than finishing second having lead for most of the season – infact, having lead for most of the final day, right up until bonus points were added. Seeing Lukaku grinning at me from my bench with a hat trick and 16 points, knowing my decision to play Fellaini over him has ultimately cost me the chance to achieve the impossible and be no.1 in the world at the end of the season.
Hindsight’s a wonderful thing, who would have predicted West Brom scoring 5 past Man Utd and a Lukaku hat trick?! But, the season is played over 38 gameweeks and the guy who finishes top deserves the accolade.
Some other lows from my season that stick out – my decision to bench Berbatov in gameweek 11 when he scored two against Arsenal. Transferring in Dzeko in gameweek 27, he played 0 mins and I ended up transferring him straight back out the following week, a waste of two transfers and probably a handful of points.
I’d imagine to some people those aren’t exactly lows – finishing second in the world, benching the wrong player a couple of times, and wasting a transfer; but at the time, to me they were.
Highs
I can easily say what was the high point of the season for me – gameweek 19. It was Boxing Day and I was in my local with some friends having some festive beers. Van Persie had already scored and assisted in the afternoon kick off and everybody has giving me grief for not captaining him, as at that point I was 26th in the world and had chosen to captain Bale – it was 0-0 at half time in the Aston Villa vs Tottenham game. Then came the 45 minutes that completely changed my season, a Gareth Bale hat trick, 42 points as captain and when I woke up the next morning I was World no.1 for the first time. An incredible feeling, and unbelievable achievement, and one I thought would only last until the following gameweek and I’d never see again.
I was partly right, by the following gameweek I’d dropped to 9th, but over the second half of the season I never dropped out of the top 10, and went back to world no.1 for a further 6 weeks. In the last 16 weeks of the season, I only dropped out of the top 2 on three occasions – hence why I said earlier I was so disappointed with second place overall.
The other high point of my season was taking to Twitter to talk to people about fantasy football and becoming part of the wider fantasy football community. I was completely taken aback by the amount of support and encouragement I received from people over the course of the season, and even afterwards the messages I received after finishing second. I tried to reply to as many messages as possible, so if there was anybody who congratulated me and hasn’t already seen a reply, then I’d like to say thank you for your support.
thank you for your support
FantasyYIRMA league
I joined the FantasyYIRMA league around the end of January. At the time a guy called Des was at the top, so I got in touch with him on Twitter to check he was ok with me joining as I would be knocking him off top spot. I didn’t want to just join and spoil it for those who’d been top through the Autumn, but as I was chatting with everybody on Twitter I wanted to get involved in the league. Luckily Des said he was ok with me joining, so I have to say thanks to him otherwise I wouldn’t have been in the league.
When I joined though, I never had any intention of claiming the prize money if I’d won – I joined because of Twitter and the fantasy football community, not money. So, I decided at that point if I made it to the end of the season and won the league, I’d donate the prize money to charity. From that point onwards I felt I was playing for charity, and at one point I was overtaken at the top and wanted to fight back to win the money back for charity.
The charity I wanted to support is a local one to me, called the Candlelighters. They do some absolutely amazing work for kids who are growing up with cancer, and if anybody is ever looking for a charity to support I would really recommend you consider helping them.
Next Season
I wasn’t sure if I’d play next season after coming so close. I can’t see how I can ever do better than I have this year, but after a few weeks off I’m already missing football so can’t see how I can sit a season out.
I’m going to enjoy a couple of months off fantasy football, probably not as much as my girlfriend will enjoy me taking a couple of months off fantasy football, but I’ll definitely be coming back next year to play again.
I’ll be getting into the pre-season games and stats, doing some research on new signings, and I’ll share a few of my ideas and plans for the new season on Twitter.
Aside from joining the FantasyYIRMA league again next year, I also want to make an offer to anybody who wants to try and beat me. I’m going to setup a league of my own, free to join, and for every person who can finish above me I’ll donate £5 to charity. For every person I can finish above, I’d ask those people to donate something of any winnings they make over the season to charity, as little or as much as they can afford.
I’ll setup the league once the new season starts and post the code on Twitter, I thought it might be a fun way to play directly against some of my adversaries from this year, people on Twitter, and hopefully some new players – all whilst trying to raise a few pounds for charity. I hope a few people will want to join me alongside their existing leagues.
See you next season,
Kelvin (@K3lviN)
Many Thanks from the #FY team to Kelvin for taking the time to provide this guest post – Drop him a follow on twitter.
Crystal Palace FC: The Road To The Premier League
With the Premier League finished for the season FantasyYIRMA.com will be featuring a number of guest posts.
To kick things off we have @FNW_Blogs with their overview of Crystal Palace’s road to the Premier League.
Guest Post: Crystal Palace FC: The Road To The Premier League
By @FNW_Blogs
The Eagles had a shaky start to the season. They had a small squad and an inexperienced but loved manager. (Dougie Freedman) Having lost their first 3 Npower Championship games, they were sitting at the bottom of the table and looking like favourites for relegation. (During this period they also lost 4-1 to league 1 side Preston in the League Cup.)
Dougie Freedman left Selhurst Park half way through the season
It looked like Palace were going to have a difficult season, but Dougie made some intriguing signings. He brought in a young skilful player: Yannick Bolasie. He bulked up the defence with an attacking fullback: Joel Ward. He also brought in attacking technicians like Andre Moritz. This immediately helped Palace and they went into their 4th game of the season hoping to get a win against Sheffield Wednesday, a side just promoted from league 1. Dougie’s signings seemed to have paid off because Palace came away from that game with a 2-1 win and the first points of the season.
Bolasie sparkled in his first season at Palace
Crystal Palace built on this win and went on an astonishing 14 game undefeated streak, which saw them have a period at the top of the table. During this run, the Palace players and fans were shocked by the news that their manager and former Palace hero Dougie Freedman had left the club to manage Bolton. His move was baffling for the fans. At the time Palace were at the top of the table and Bolton were in the middle. Freedman said that it was based on the fact that Bolton had a better chance of getting to the Premier League and staying there, however fans believed it was for the money. The big question was who would replace him? This probably surprised fans even more. The result was Ian Holloway. The fans were delighted with the decision. Holloway had a lot of experience in getting teams promoted to the Premier League and this made Palace’s push for promotion seem even more possible. He started his reign with an easy 5-0 win over Ipswich.
Holloway becomes Manager
Their run was ended in late November, away to Leeds. Holloway’s boys did not buckle under the loss however. Two games later, they thrashed their main rivals Brighton 3-0.
In January, Holloway brought in a couple of players. One being veteran Kevin Phillips and the other Stephen Dobbie who helped in Palace’s push for promotion.
Super Kevin” Phillips showing that he could still produce great goals at the age of 39
Palace continued to pick up points in most games and come March it seemed like Palace would easily get Play-Off position. However these words might have been muttered too early. Palace’s form started to dip at the worse time possible. They travelled to their rivals Brighton and the Seagulls got payback for the result earlier in the season by beating the Eagles 3-0. After this game Palace were at home to Birmingham. Before this game, Palace had only lost once at home, and that was the first game of the season. This statistic was demolished. Birmingham defeated Palace 4-0. The fans and players were devastated. Surely Palace wouldn’t lose their play-off place this close to the end of the season?
This abysmal run continued, Palace had seven games left. In these seven games Palace lost 2, drew 4 and won 1. Their one win was on the last day of the season against relegation battling Peterborough. Palace needed the 3 points to be 5th in the league and gain a play-off place. There were 4 teams battling for 5th and 6th, (including Dougie Freedman’s Bolton). The game against Peterborough was not easily won, Palace edging the game 3-2 and Crystal Palace’s Player of the Year Mile Jedinak scoring the winner in the 89th minute. Bolton missed out on Play-offs by goal difference.
Jedinak secures a play-off position for Palace and sends Peterborough down
(Crystal Palace’s striker Glen Murray was top goal scorer in the League, reaching a tally of 30 goals.)
The Eagles had stumbled, but they reached the Play-Offs, only to find out that their 2 legged Semi Finals would be against bitter rivals Brighton. Brighton came to Palace for the first leg. The game was a battle; however Brighton seemed the better team. They had very good chances but they didn’t capitalise and the game ended 0-0. Palace would not have been the happiest with the result but at the time they were more worried about their top goal scorer, Glen Murray, who had to be taken off in the second half. It turned out that Murray would be out for 6 months.
The 2nd leg had arrived and Brighton were labelled as the favourites. Both teams were pumped for the game and tensions were high. It seemed like experience had pulled through. In the first half, Brighton had more possession but Palace were pressurising and all the Seagulls could do was pass it around the back and try and find an opportunity. Very few came and Palace were trying to counter, but again both teams cancelled each other out.
Half Time came and for one team this would be their last game of the season, for the other, it would be their route to Wembley and hopefully the Premier League. In the first game and the first half of the 2nd game both teams seemed very nervous because of what was at stake. However this all changed in the 2nd half. The game was end-to-end. Good chances coming from both teams. Then Holloway changed tactics. He brought on Yannick Bolasie for Williams and Andre Moritz for Garvan. Brighton also brought on attacker Barnes, who straight away had a chance, but Julian Speroni made an excellent save which tipped the ball onto the crossbar. Then at the resulting corner, Dean Moxey cleared the ball off the line. These moments proved to be key. The game carried on and in the 69th minute, Mile Jedinak played a lofted through ball from the half way line to the corner flag. Bolasie was on the end of it, and after a bit of trickery, he played in a perfect cross into the box. Wilbraham was at the near post and the ball flew over into the middle of the box. It looked like the chance was lost. However Zaha had a different idea as he ran into the middle of the box and headed the ball into the top corner. The fans, players, and managers were ecstatic! Palace had taken the lead! Now all they had to do was hold on.
Zaha celebrates after his second goal
The last 20 minutes were tense. Brighton were trying their best to attack and Palace were trying to keep their solid defence. In the 89th minute, a ball was played into the box to Zaha, he took an amazing touch which moved the ball away from the defender and smashed the ball into the net. It was basically over! Brighton fans were leaving while the Palace fans were singing. The referee blew the whistle and Crystal Palace, who had come into the game as underdogs, were delighted. They had done it! They won the semi-final and are now going to Wembley!
Every Palace player on the pitch played a superb game, everyone played their best and Brighton could not handle it.
Holloway celebrates with the players after their victory over Brighton
Crystal Palace have nearly reached the end of their journey. They have had many highs and lows and are now training for a chance to be in the Premier league next season. They have faced many opponents but now they are just left with one more. Watford. Will they be able to beat them in the Play-Off Final? Only time can tell.
The 120 million pound game had arrived on a sunny bank holiday Monday. The fans seemed happy and nervous at the same time. As the players warmed up, the atmosphere grew.
The game was not the best, there were many opportunities but they all came to nothing.
The game went to extra time with the score being 0-0. In the second half of normal time, Palace were on top and looked to continue their momentum into extra time, and they did. On the stroke of the first half in extra time, the young superstar Wilfried Zaha got tripped up stupidly in the box! The Palace fans cheered, this was their chance! The veteran Kevin Phillips immediately nominated himself to take the penalty. He lined himself up, and was somehow very calm, even though the Watford fans were right in front of him and booing to their hearts content. Phillips smashed the ball into the top left corner of the net, it was unbeatable. The Palace fans could not believe it, they were ecstatic! All they had to do was defend this lead and they would be in the Premier League next season.
They successfully held their lead and when the referee blew his whistle a massive cheer came from the Palace supporters. Crystal Palace were back in the Premier League!
Crystal Palace celebrate their promotion
This season has been a great one for Palace, bearing in mind that just over two years ago, they went into administration and were battling to survive in the Championship. They did make it difficult for themselves, but as the fans say, “if they did it the easy way then they would not really be Crystal Palace.”
Now we wait to see who Palace will sign in the summer and who will replace Zaha (who is now a Manchester United player) and Glen Murray, who is out for 9 months with a cruciate ligament injury. Next season will be a challenge for the Eagles but it will also be an enjoyable one. The fans just hope that they do not bounce back to the Championship after one season. They want to make themselves a strong team which can stay in the Premier League.
Many thanks to @FNW_Blogs for the guest post. You can read more from them at http://footballingnewsweekly.blogspot.co.uk/
If you would like to get involved and submit a guest post on FY please contact Ryan at FantasyYIRMA@hotmail.com
Fantasy Football Mini-League Round up
Get the beers in @K3LVIN… You’ve won… 🙂
It was a cold night in January when I received a text asking “Have you seen the Premier League website… check the status page”
Curiosity got the better of me and I had a look. The FantasyYIRMA.com mini-league was ranked 5th in the world! When the curtain came down on gameweek 38 we were delighted to see that the FY league had finished in 3rd place globally!
This is a million miles away from when we started a mini-league with a couple of friends a few years back. This wouldn’t be possible without the great support that everyone has given the both the FantasyYIRMA.com site and twitter account this season.
It also would not have been possible without the exceptional players we had in the league this year.
Massive congratulations to Kelvin Travers @K3LVIN who won the £ 50 Cash prize on offer from the FY mini-league.
Kelvin had a fantastic season and finished 2nd in the World!! A superb accomplishment I am sure you will all agree.
Kelvin led the way for large parts of the season and missed out on the top spot by only 2pts.
Below is the top 10 from the FY mini-league – some ridiculously good performances this year and many thanks to the 1000+ players who signed up to play this season.
The prize for the mini-league is £50 cash. When we confirmed @K3LVIN had finished 1st he has generously asked us if we could donate the prize money to a charity of his choice. An extremely kind gesture from Kelvin and one we were happy to be part of.
We spoke to Candlelighters and are delighted to help raise awareness for a great cause.
Every penny helps. If you would like more information please visit our website www.candlelighters.org.uk
#FYCUP Prize Winner Announcement!
With the football season over, the FY team has resigned themselves to building a scoring model for Fantasy Lawn Bowls – the up side to this is that the Premier League starts back in 78 days.
We have run multiple competitions this season and gave away some great prizes already. The inaugural FantasyYIRMA.com Cup was a great success and many thanks to those who got involved
256 players signed up to take part in a Knock Out style tournament. The tournament itself filled up within a matter of hours and if you missed out on playing this time there will be more opportunities next season.
Special thanks go to Cup sponsors @StanJames and @AdvertisingWeek
Incredible support from both this season
Huge Congratulations to Glenn Quilter who wins the first place prize of £100 in Free Bets from @StanJames in addition to £25 from @AdvertisingWeek
An excellent cup run from @evertoniandy sees him pick up £50 in Free Bets from Big Stan and the bonus prize of £50 in free bets goes to @Strooger with his excellent individual gameweek score of 109 enough to beat off the rest of the competition.
Unbelievably – We have yet to hear from Glenn Quilter to claim his prize!!! Get in touch Glenn!
Roll on next season….
*R
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