@Mark_Jones86 : Di Canio, a few wins and all will be forgotten
We hadn’t had a good one in a while had we? An English football scandal that we could all obsess over for a few days.
Luis Suarez hasn’t handled a ball against plucky FA Cup minnows in weeks, whilst Eden Hazard has probably been put off kicking cheeky Welsh ball boys for the remainder of his career.
What was the best one we’ve had recently? Callum McManaman’s tackle? Rio Ferdinand pulling out of the England squad? They were hardly scandals to get the pulses racing were they? Enter Paolo Di Canio.
Except Di Canio hasn’t just entered English football at all.
Following a season at Celtic in 1996/97 the Italian spent six years as a player in the Premier League with Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham and Charlton, achieving cult hero status at the Hammers.
Now a manager, for the past two years he’s been stationed down the divisions with Swindon Town, earning them promotion from League Two in 2012 before resigning due to an ownership row this February with the club challenging for elevation to the Championship.
All of which makes the events of the past few days a little odd.
Following Di Canio’s appointment as the new manager of Sunderland on Sunday, talk has been rife of his alleged fascist beliefs and sympathies.
Of course using the word ‘alleged’ is a bit difficult when you see some of the words that have come out of Di Canio’s mouth in the past, but the focus on his words and much-publicised act in 2005 has dominated the unveiling of the Italian, who had a tough enough job keeping Sunderland in the Premier League without all of this.
The answer to the scrutiny can of course be found in Di Canio’s change of destination, because the journey from Swindon to Sunderland didn’t just take him from south west to north east England, but it took him from the Football League to the Premier League as well. Everything looks bigger from up here.
This is in no way an attempt to defend Di Canio’s past comments, but if they didn’t seem such a big problem in Swindon then why should they be now? Of course the Robins didn’t have a figure as well known as the former Shadow Foreign Secretary David Milliband around to register his displeasure, but any opposition to his Swindon appointment received little attention and was soon forgotten once he started winning.
Under the Premier League magnifying glass everything appears bigger and more exposed though, none more so than during the last major scandals in the division which occurred within a week of each other in October 2011.
Just as there will always be those who now prefer to see Suarez and John Terry as card carrying members of the Ku Klux Klan as opposed to individuals who made a snap decision and ultimately a huge mistake – intentionally or otherwise – so now there will be others who instantly judge Di Canio without ever looking deeper into the story.
Supporters of Liverpool and Chelsea’s rivals repeatedly bring up the Suarez and Terry incidents because they like to see their opponents squirm. It is another one of the less tasteful aspects of the whole sorry business, but doesn’t often get mentioned.
The chances are that most of them and you won’t have heard of the Reading player John Mackie, who was banned for three matches for racist abuse in 2003. That occurred in the old Division One though, where headlines weren’t sought and reputations weren’t damaged as rapidly as they are in the Premier League.
Most of that is beside the point though, because Di Canio’s off-field beliefs will soon become yesterday’s story too.
A couple of wins from his early matches in charge – and given that the first two of them are away to Chelsea and then a derby match against Newcastle then he’s not entering quietly – will see the focus mercifully switch to football for Di Canio, just as it ended up doing for him at Swindon.
Even if he fails to keep the Mackems up in these final seven matches of the season then he deserves a tilt at the Championship in 2013/14, and if he achieves promotion there then you can be certain that all of the talk will be of his managerial skills and nothing else.
We’ll have had plenty of new scandals by then anyway.
Di Canio will be old news.
#FYCUP First Round Results
Here are the results of the 1st Round of the FYCUP
Are you through ?? Are you out??
Tweet us @FantasyYIRMA using #FYCUP and tell us your Cup stories!
Top Point scores for WEEK 1:
1. MLOWE CITY 83 (congratulations you have won a free FPL App courtesy of @ffmiphone)
2. HEART SHAPED BOX 82
3. BLACK MAGIC 81
From next week all fixtures will ONLY be available on FantasyYIRMA.com . The remaining fixtures on the PL.com site are now null and void as we have gone from 256 players to 128.
Remember – even if you have been put out in the first round there is still a bonus prize available to the best individual weekly score across the 8 weeks of the competition regardless if you are still in the cup or not. All original 256 players are eligible for this prize.
MLOWE City currently leads the way with 83. Can this be beat?
Fantasy Football GW31: Nothing but Bonus Points!!
With no afternoon kick off today the good folk at PL.com have decided to release the bonus points early today.
It’s another 3 for Van Persie, and Bale continues his great recent form to take another maximum.
Reading through the Bonus points it’s impossible to not feel a but sympathetic towards Gervinho, a goal and two assists yesterday and somehow Arteta manages to get the maximum for Arsenal yesterday.
Suarez managed to get a solitary bonus point for his role in the Sunday game. Liverpool took all 3 points today but Luis may be scratching his head wondering how he didn’t manage to score today with 8 attempts on goal for the in form Uruguayan in the first half alone!!
Meanwhile for City, Silva did a fantastic impersonation of himself from last season with a decisive performance against Newcastle.
Andy Carroll reminded us that he still can score goals and rightly takes the 3 bonus points for West Ham this week. Kone scores again for Wigan and although Wigan’s Double Gameweek 36 seems miles away – he is already shaping up to be a potential mini league decider if he can maintain form for the run in.
Mirallas also gets 3pts from the Bonus committee and rightly so! If you haven’t already seen his goal yesterday – check it out!!
@Ryano83
| 30 Mar 12:45 | Sunderland |  |
0 – 1 |  |
Man Utd |
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| 30 Mar 15:00 | Arsenal |  |
4 – 1 |  |
Reading |
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| 30 Mar 15:00 | Man City |  |
4 – 0 |  |
Newcastle |
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| 30 Mar 15:00 | Southampton |  |
2 – 1 |  |
Chelsea |
| 30 Mar 15:00 | Swansea |  |
1 – 2 |  |
Tottenham |
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| 30 Mar 15:00 | West Ham |  |
3 – 1 |  |
West Brom |
| 30 Mar 15:00 | Wigan |  |
1 – 0 |  |
Norwich |
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| 30 Mar 17:30 | Everton |  |
1 – 0 |  |
Stoke City |
| 31 Mar 13:30 | Aston Villa |  |
1 – 2 |  |
Liverpool |
| 01 Apr 20:00 | Fulham |  |
3 – 2 |  |
QPR |
#FYCUP fixtures released !
The draw has been made ….
Good luck to everyone playing! Get involved either here on the comments or on twitter using #FYCUP
@FantasyYIRMA
FantasyYIRMA CUP kicks off tomorrow!!
Firstly – If you are in the #FYCUP congrats – there was a huge demand to be one of the 256 entries. Apologies if you missed out on taking part this time but there will be more in the future.
Best of luck to the teams playing in the competition! Please use #FYCUP throughout and I will retweet as much as possible on twitter. Thanks for your continued support!
Ryan
OK so… down to business. One team per person only. To try and keep it as fair as possible the 1st week matches will be drawn automatically by the Premier League website.
The draw will be made after 11.30am on Saturday 30th of March. Check on www.FantasyYIRMA.com for your official source for #FYCUP information and Fixtures.
After the first week the participants in the Cup go from 256 to 128. From this point on (GW32) I will have to draw the cup matches manually (This is because the PL website would treat it as an 8 Week long Head-to-Head league, and with 256 teams this would clearly not work.)
Each team still in the #FYCUP after the first Knock-out round will be allocated a number 1-128 and we will use a randomiser program online. Fixtures will be released at least 48 hours before the gameweek starts (GW32-28 Only)
Big thanks to both @StanJames and @FFMiphone for putting up the prizes for the #FYCUP
PRIZES
In addition to the already generous prize pot the highest Gameweek score (For teams still in the Cup) will receive a FREE copy of the Fantasy Football Manager app from @FFMiphone
*If the winner cannot use the app prize they can pass it on or ask for us to draw another prize winner.
To clarify :
1. you are still eligible for the one off @StanJames Bonus Prize even if you get knocked out in the first round. I will be tracking scores of all 256 teams throughout the competition.The bonus prize is given to the best individual GW score across all 8 weeks regardless if you are knocked out. Only the 256 original cup entrants are eligible for this prize.
2. The app prize from @FFMiphone is only applicable to the top point scorer who is still in the competition. If the same person wins more than once the prize automatically goes to the 2nd place point score from that gameweek.
Here are all of the teams competing for the #FYCUP title!! Are YOU in???
Tweet me @FantasyYIRMA with your twitter name if you are one of the teams below.
| #Topallyear | Downing Syndrome | Liverpool Red Soxs | SheenArmy #winning |
| #wembleytwice | Dream2Win | Lontong Garasi FC | Siltamäen Pallo |
| @FPLHints (Twitter) | Drubbin United | Los Cogoteros | Slave Feet |
| @Gemmabaggies | Duff & Duffer | Machu Picchu | sliveDdeR |
| 11 Men 1 Cup | Duncan United | Magical 15 | Soggy Busquets |
| A game of Jones | Dynamo Dan Dan | Man Red | Solopsism FC |
| Adonteng FC | EAsoccer | Manchester | Spartonz |
| Alice in Hangeland | Eggys 11 Poachers | Markin Don’t Play Fc | spherebuilders |
| All That Ales You | El Carnero Sagrado | MATTLEE FC | spicy mchaggis |
| AM FC | eL TOrNaDO | McCarthy Dundon Gang | Sporting Lesbian |
| Anural FC | England | Mlowe City | Sporting Lesbian |
| ApacheCommunications | FC Bull Mtn. | Mogganaut Express | Sultans from Sharm |
| Ässad | FC ClumsyWolfsburg | MoneyBull | Super fox, Mr? |
| ATeamOfGaryBreens | FC GRU WWA | MoreSkillThanLuck | Supershri United |
| Babaji | FC Mansås | Moves like Dejagah | Tankilopes |
| BADGEGONE | fc matthews | Mr Sitter | Tastes like FIsh |
| Baldy Rovers | FC Olim | Multiple Scorgasms | Taylan |
| Bamboo XI | FC Siltamäki | nadeem | Team Baba |
| Banana Skin Warriors | Feldinho utd | Nameless XI | Team Elite |
| Banderaši | ffmiphone | Never give up 11 | Team Webb |
| Barcaspoona | Finger Puppet Mafia | New Jack City | Terminaylor |
| Belo Horizonte | Four skins are back | Nice To Michu | TFC XV |
| Benjies Bombers | FourFourTweet | Nico’s Newbies | That’ll Do Pig |
| Bennie and The Jets | fratpack | Norfolk & Hope Again | thatWallace |
| BENTEKKERS! | FreeBar Utd | Norfolk n’ Way | The Agueroplane |
| berbatov-blagoevgrad | Garrens FC | Not obsessed fc | The Ansu Tables |
| Bernie, the bolt! | Gervinhos4head | NOVRISINA PRAJOGO | The Bookies Favorite |
| Bigo1 | GoalkeeperUNION | Numero Uno | The Choc Ice’s |
| Black Magic | Gob’s Chicken Dance | NwcoVictoriousSecret | The Devil’s Stars |
| Black Magic | Golfies 11 | Nyamasville AFC | The Dice Men |
| Blaugrana | goonerdhanus | Oceansx11 | The Dogknobbers |
| Blisters paw | Graham Rix U16s | O-dot | The Doomed United |
| Blueheaven | Gunner Galacticos | oh hewwo stwanger*** | The Entertainers |
| Bongo XI | HappyAnkit | Ollie’sFearlessFinns | The Midget Wrestlers |
| Boo Boys | Hardly Athletic | One Girl, Two Cups | The MLN’s |
| BOO BOYZ | Haynes’s tweeters | Only a Mata of time | The Real Mata |
| Bouf, mange mon but! | He Who Dares Wins | Paling Menangan Dewe | The Special Juan |
| bOUNCEBACKABILITY | Heart Shaped-Box | PANZER | The Team Tinkerer |
| Bridgehill United | High Flying Birds | Papa Fleming | The Untouchables |
| Brown Star Belgrade | Hmmmmee _—/ | Parpy United | Theo Theo Theooo!! |
| Burnley Reserves | Holly George Rovers | Pathetico Madrid | Thunderous Rack |
| CanIgetawhoopwhoop! | I havent a Kalou | patrickdrd | TLB United |
| CANYOUSKORDIS | I Michu Already x | paul26cfc | TobyCats |
| Casterly Rock Rovers | Ice Cream “Kone” | Phil Dowd’s Shroud | TOKNOWTHEGAME.COM |
| Champ19ns | Inter Minaan Bread | Phil Rolex | TOKNOWTHEGAME.COM |
| Champions of Europe! | Iraqi lobster 11 | Pistolero’s | TOKNOWTHEGAME.com |
| Champs | iRed Boys | Postmen Never Learn | Toon Raiders |
| Champs in Champs* | It’s the ball ox | Premier Tykes | Trendy |
| CHANGE NAME | Jenko’s FC | Prosp7r Utd | Trumpton 2nd XI |
| Chirag Sucks | Jimmys pocket rocket | pt96 | Tycho Rovers |
| Chrisy ’63 | Jingle Bale | PunkUndertaker | United > City |
| Cleveland Browns | Jol-ly Good Fellows | Raith Ravers | Vision 2013 |
| Cow Tipping Dwarfs | JT’s Black Stars | Real Ale Madrid | Wareing’s XI |
| Damage limitation | Jumpersforgoalposts | Real Gs Playaz Club | Wayne’s Worldies |
| darc | justalittlebit | Real Mattrid | Waynesidiotsfc |
| Davy Jones’ Locker | Juventarse | Real SoSoBAD | Werder Beertent? |
| Debbie Does Gallas | KAkUNi F.C [GAhEy] | Rebel Rabble Utd | WeWonTheDouble |
| Decos Champs | Katzmajik | Red’s Riders | White Walkers |
| Delstroopers | KTBFFH | robbo | Whoventus? |
| despool | Kucking Funtz | Russells-Rangers | WhyAlwaysTeamMe#DH5 |
| Dirty Jersey FC | Lamb County | school of science | Wonderful Wizards |
| DisLackofSikElephnts | Le Crazy Derps | Scribbles FC | World greatest team |
| Dodgy Dazzlers | Ledge Utd | Seaside Utd | Yourmissusisinmybed |
| Doris FC | lionstroop | Shawlands Rangers | yu_LEO FC |
Gameweek 31 preview: Has Robin van Persie rediscovered Dutch courage?
How long was that international break? About three years?
It certainly seemed that way anyway, but as Fantasy Premier League finally returns those internationals might well have helped one of its star men to rediscover his form.
A run of just one goal in his last six league matches has seen Manchester United’s Robin van Persie (£13.7m) lose plenty of support from Fantasy bosses, with his once seemingly unbeatable ownership percentage dwindling and now surpassed by Luis Suarez (£11.2m), who has also taken over as the Premier League’s top scorer.
Sir Alex Ferguson has notoriously been loathe to lose his players to international football over the years, but on this occasion he might just have welcomed Van Persie joining up with the Dutch team for two World Cup qualifiers in the past week, a week that saw the forward return to form.
Van Persie scored in the Netherlands’ 3-0 win over Estonia last Friday before following that up with two goals in the 4-0 win over Romania, and with those two matches both played at home the lack of travel time will mean that he’ll return fresh for the champions-elect in their early game at Sunderland on Saturday.
With Martin O’Neill’s side struggling and no doubt looking over their shoulders at the teams down below them – and now doing so without the injured Steven Fletcher, an early season Fantasy favourite who is now out for the rest of the campaign through injury – then the visit of Manchester United to Wearside isn’t likely to go down well with the locals.
The selection of Manchester United and Chelsea players should come with a warning this weekend given that the pair will meet in the FA Cup quarter-final replay at Stamford Bridge early on Monday afternoon, but Van Persie’s timely return to goalscoring form could come in handy here, and he’s likely to lead the line as United go for another win.
As for Chelsea, they make a tricky trip to Southampton from which it could be difficult to emerge with a victory.
The Saints have impressively beaten Manchester City and Liverpool at St Mary’s recently, and so Chelsea will know that a tough contest awaits them on the south coast. Having said that Demba Ba (£7.8m) has happy memories of the venue given that he scored there twice on his Chelsea debut in the FA Cup, and the Senegalese forward could be the man to back.
Arsenal could have things a little easier at home to Nigel Adkins’ Reading side, even without the injured Theo Walcott (£9.0m).
The absence of the Englishman could open the door for Olivier Giroud (£7.5m) to shine, but with Arsene Wenger confirming the fitness of Lukas Podolski (£8.1m) before the game then it could well be the German who impresses for the hosts in a game they’ll expect to win easily.
Elsewhere, Wigan’s usual end of season renaissance may have kickstarted with their late victory over Newcastle two weeks ago, and Roberto Martinez’s side offer some useful midfield options in Shaun Maloney (£4.9m), Jean Beausejour (£5.3m) and James McCarthy (£4.8m) ahead of their home match against Norwich.
Everton and Fulham will expect home wins against Stoke and QPR respectively, and that could spell more points for Fantasy favourites Leighton Baines (£7.6m) and Dimitar Berbatov (£7.0m). It is however worth noting that the Blues will be without the suspended Marouane Fellaini and Steven Pienaar for the next two games due to suspension.
Pienaar’s old club Tottenham go to Swansea, where defender Jan Vertonghen (£6.3m) stands on the verge of surpassing 100 points this season, whilst Sunday’s game will see the usual interest in Suarez as Liverpool go to Aston Villa.
It could be a South American teammate of his who shines though, as after scoring twice and assisting two more in his brief career in England so far, the Brazilian Philippe Coutinho (£6.8m) has found plenty of admirers.
Against a Villa side who haven’t kept a clean sheet in 14 games he could make even more friends.
The #FYCUP starts on GW31 follow @FantasyYIRMA on twitter for updates and fixture announcements on Saturday Morning!
The Mark Jones Column: Tottenham’s slip ups have Arsenal fans checking calendars
For much of the season, Arsenal fans have been living in fear of missing out on one of their favourite days of the year.
When Tottenham Hotspur beat the Gunners 2-1 in the North London derby at White Hart Lane just three-and-a-half short weeks ago, Spurs moved seven points ahead of their local rivals and looked to be sailing towards a top four place at the expense of Arsene Wenger’s side.
Plans for Arsenal supporters’ annual ‘St. Totteringham’s Day’ – a mickey-taking celebration they hold on the day that it becomes impossible for Spurs to catch and surpass the Gunners in the league table, something that they haven’t done for 18 years – were in danger of being shelved.
The repercussions of a club not just missing out on a Champions League place that they take great pride in clinging on to, but missing out on it to their biggest rivals was impossible not to discuss, but suddenly it looks a lot less certain that it will be Tottenham who finish in that all important fourth spot. Things are now a lot less clear.
That win over Arsenal represents the last points that Andre Villas-Boas’ side have picked up, given that in their following matches they threw away a lead to lose a thriller to Liverpool at Anfield and then somewhat inexplicably lost 1-0 at home to Fulham.
They are defeats which have let Arsenal – a club apparently always on the verge of a crisis – firmly back into the race for a status which they have always been able to cling on to through their past eight trophyless years.
Now four points behind Spurs with a crucial game in hand, the fixture list should also be a source of comfort of Arsenal and those supporters who are so keen to celebrate that day they hold so dear.
Tottenham go to Swansea on Saturday, whilst they also face tough matches against Everton, Chelsea and Manchester City before the end of April.
With seven of Arsenal’s nine remaining matches coming against teams in eighth place or lower, the opportunities for Wenger’s side to pick up points should be there for all to see – most notably of course Tottenham.
Already unfortunate to miss out on a return to the top European stage following Chelsea’s remarkable Champions League win last season, another narrow failure for Spurs would be tough to take for their supporters – supporters who are sick and tired of hearing the gloating coming from across North London.
The frequently thrilling performances from Gareth Bale have lit up Tottenham’s season, but even the Welshman has off days such as he did in the Fulham loss. There is an argument that Arsenal are currently the stronger outfit because they can rely upon more of their stars to perform.
The Gunners have won five of their last seven Premier League games, with that narrow loss at Spurs and a draw at home to Liverpool in which they came from two down their only failures to pick up three points.
Given that there is often so much hysteria surrounding the club it is often difficult to ascertain just when Arsenal are doing well, but they might just be coming into form at just the right time.
Of course Chelsea’s top four position isn’t set in stone just yet and so there remains a chance that both North London clubs could find themselves in the Champions League next season, but the overwhelming belief has to be that it will be the presence or not of a special day in 2013 which will determine just which of these two great rivals are smiling come the end of the season.
With Spurs stalling it could just be that Arsenal take their customary place in the top four after all, sparking St Totteringham’s Day celebrations like never before.
Who do YOU think will finish higher?? Spurs or Arsenal. Drop your response in the comment section below.
The new @FourFourTweet site has finally arrived! #44T
We are delighted to introduce the new FourFourTweet site to you all. #44T have been a great support to us at FantasyYIRMA in our first season and their new site looks fantastic! Check it out at www.FourFourTweet.com
Ryan
FourFourTweet.co.uk has officially launched. Football fans across the world will now be able to read articles, enter competitions as well as receive free tips courtesy of the #44T team. The new slick lay out, coupled with the use of ‘#’ gives it a real Football/Twitter feel.
From Temuri Ketsbaia’s hoarding bashing to Calton Palmer in the bath, we cover everything Football. We are home of Guess the Footballer and our Twitter account is @FourFourTweet . We started off in the Summer of 2012, properly in June. Our aim is to talk about everything Football and communicate it with our followers in a variety of different ways, be it competitions, announcements, games or written articles.
#44T Articles.
Written content by aspiring journos from the Twitter World. Articles that are current and relevant.
#44T Scout
Our scout will be searching far and wide on a continual basis to bring you up to date with Europe’s hottest up and coming talent.
Fantastic Four
Allows visitors to enter a competition to win a £50 FREE bet thanks to @StanJames. All you have to do is Tweet about the competition and follow @FourFourTweet to enter
Transfers
All the best transfer gossip in one place. Three of Twitter’s best accounts have agreed to keep you up to date throughout the transfer window.
Featured Media
Plain and simple, sites we like, including FantasyYIRMA.com!!
#44T tips
Our writers give #Team44T FREE tips on a weekly basis to try and help you make some £££. If you think your tips are better than ours, get in touch.
For more information on the site/@FourFourTweet please email info@fourfourtweet.co.uk
FPL: GW30 Match Stats
GW30 Match Centre
Stats from all the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) GW30 matches. You can see the Top Ranked players from this week, the last 6, and full season on the Top Players page.
THE HIGHS
Eden Hazard & Chelsea
The top ranked player overall Hazard created 4 chances and had 4 shots from within West Ham’s penalty box, all on target, scoring 14 points from a goal, assist, clean sheet and 3BP.
Aston Villa & QPR
Despite the defeat for Rangers both teams went for it, the stats will tell you registered decent shot numbers and goals were deserved. Weimann and Benteke Villa’s main output, Remy and Jenas looked likely for the away team.
Southampton
The Saints made Liverpool look very ordinary indeed and will have deflated a lot of the mounting hyperbole around the visitor’s form. Rodriguez is starting to look a nice alternative to Lambert at £5.1m but truth be told it’s probably a little late to go for a player like him, especially with upcoming fixtures. Lallana is back in his stride after injury.
Arsenal and Monreal (15pts) deserves a quick nod of appreciation too.
THE LOWS
Swansea Failing to register a single SoT at home is something I am always keen to castigate. Fair enough Reading didn’t manage to hit the target away at United but even against a top club like Arsenal you’d expect a team to make the ‘keeper work, at least a little. It’s bad news for Michu owners whose had 9 shots in his last 3 games without any on target. A blank GW33 has people selling already.
Also worth a mention: The Stoke attack, but what’s new.
Guest Post: EPL club rankings from FootballTop.com
With the Premier League making way for International fixtures this week we are pleased to bring you a Guest Post from FootballTop.com
Footballtop.com is an International football rating site based on the fans’ voting that indicates public rankings of footballers, clubs, leagues, national football teams and much more. Latest football news and user blogs cover most football events in the world. Footballtop.com – Your vote can make a difference!
EPL football clubs rankings according to supporters
Latest EPL news have not had significant impact on current rankings of the clubs. The most powerful sides stay in the top of the list. Let’s take a look at fans’ attitude towards EPL clubs according to FootballTop.com – international football rating based on the fans voting.
Chelsea are the leaders of the chart with their 5036 votes. Chelsea reaches first place among EPL fans with their skillful roster of young players. The total value of the team is defined as sixth in the world, so it’s no wonder supporters gave 5036 votes for the club. The other source is believed to be the new interim manager Rafael Benitez, who took over Roberto Di Matteo. The players have already proven the glorious status in tough Champions League final, where they outlasted Bayern Munich at Allianz-Arena.
Going almost heel to heel with the leader, Manchester United gets the premium second place with 4938 votes. This glorious club has already proven to be an English football powerhouse, lately due to the distinctive work of Alex Ferguson. After an epic win of the European Cup in 1999, the club has been a favorite of any competition. That success was followed by a number of domestic titles, as well as another Champions League title in 2008. Wayne Rooney is fans’ favorite with his impressive 2550 votes. He is also one of the most popular football players in January 2013.
Liverpool rating is almost twice as low and amounts to 2567 points. Five victories in the Champions League (the European Cup) as well as three successful UEFA Cups have proven the quality of the Reds. The main power of the team these days is their manager Brendan Rodgers who is doing his best at improving the team’s performance. Despite broad criticism for diving, the Uruguaian forward Luis Suarez has found his predatory striking force. Veteran Steven Gerrard keeps inspiring his less-experienced teammates.
Despite struggling to reach the Champions League spot for the next season Arsenal remain in the 4th place among English clubs according to FootballTop ranking (1468 votes). Quite astonishingly, Andrey Arshavin with his 764 votes appears to be the great source of team’s popularity. Despite lacking silverware in the recent years Arsene Wenger still enjoys the Arsenal Board’s trust and faith of supporters.
The last but not the least on the list is Manchester City with its 367 points. The rating of the club has been quite steady over the recent months. However despite a last-gasp win of the Premier League in 2012 Manchester City still have a lot to prove to football fans. The English champion has been humiliated on European arena for two consecutive years.
FantasyYIRMA - Fantasy Football FPL 