Blog Archives
To Know The Game: The Story So Far (Part 2)
The guys over at To Know The Game have provided Yirma with their look at the Premier League season so far.
After a look at their top three summer signings on Friday, here’s their take on the season’s three biggest surprises.
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3 BIG SURPRISES
QPR in last place: All those signings and bottom of the table! 2 points from a possible 21! A team comprising of Cesar (GK), Park Ji-Sung, Zamora, Anton Ferdinand, Granero, Nelson, Wright-Phillips, Faurlin, Fabio, Bosingwa, Hoillet, Cisse, Taarabt should do much better. They might have played Spurs, Chelsea and City in the first 7 games but they have also played West Ham, WBA, Swansea and Norwich. QPR fans should be worried as the next 6 fixtures see them play Arsenal, United and Everton.
Hopefully the team can gel together and climb to a mid-table position; such is the talent that is available to the club. However, Mark Hughes is the same manager who spent over £250 million at Man City without much success so let’s see how the next 3 months turn out for him.
Defensive issues in Manchester: United’s troubles were somewhat expected as Ferdinand and Vidic are worn down with age and injuries and Smalling and Jones are not yet ready. That being said, it’s not just the fault of the defenders; with a lack of a decent defensive minded midfield player and no first choice goal-keeper – Man U’s back line does not inspire much confidence. The attitude seems to be of the Brazilian teams of old: we’ll score more than you! Worked @Newcastle; not so vs Spurs.
Man City on the other hand had a rock solid defence… till last year. So far this year, Joe Hart is still amongst the best goalies in the league but just 1 clean sheet in 11 matches (EPL, UEFA CL and Capital One Cup) is a big issue. Their only clean sheet came last week at home to Sunderland; which hopefully will give them some confidence after the international break.
Criticized last year for being too defensive; Mancini seems to have become more attacking but at a cost. At the moment selling De Jong looks like a wrong decision but City fans are hopeful that Garcia, Rodwell, Toure and Barry will help shut out their opponents in future matches.
Role reversal on Merseyside: An 8 point gap in just 7 games. One club in 4th place the other in 14th – you could be forgiven for thinking that Liverpool are winning the race (they’re not) BUT with over seven months to go, is this the year Everton will cement their place over their Mersyside rivals or can Liverpool restore the status quo and finish ahead of Everton?
Liverpool are the club in transition with unproven players in the EPL (Borini, Sahin) and a host of youngsters coming through (Sterling, Suso, Shelvey) while Everton have a stable solid squad with a few minor tweaks (Mirallas, Naismith). The respective starts by both clubs seems to indicate that Everton will finish in front of Liverpool in consecutive seasons.
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For more great articles like this one visit the guys at toknowthegame.com, whilst you can follow them on Twitter at @toknowthegame.
To Know The Game: The Story So Far (Part 1)
With Yirma off on an international break, we thought it was a good time to let our friends over at To Know The Game take over for a few days and present you with their review of the Premier League season so far.
Over the weekend we’ll see what the guys rate as the three biggest surprises we’ve seen in the 2012/13 season, whilst they’ll also rate the title contenders and the runners and riders in the battle for fourth place.
First up though, here’s a look at who TKTG regard as the three most impressive summer signings in the opening months of the season. Enjoy!
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With 7 weeks gone is it too early to make a judgment on players and teams? Well, it may be too soon but that’s not stopping us at TKTG from using this international break to take stock of what we’ve seen in the EPL thus far. The next few months are going to be quite hectic for English clubs, which will see the fortunes of some change while others have probably set their tone for the rest of the season. In this piece, we look at the 3 signings that we feel have made the most impact, followed by our take on the big surprises of the season so far and we wrap things up with an analysis of the race for 4th place and the battle for the Premiership title.
TOP 3 SIGNINGS
Robin van Persie: He scores when he wants!! He scores when he wants!! – RvP at Arsenal or RvP at Man United – the chant remains the same. Look away Arsenal fans but van Persie has been a success at United. 7 goals and 2 assists so far (EPL and UEFA CL) backs up his impressive start to the season. Things will only get better once United learn to play to his strengths and he gels with his teammates – and make no mistake, RvP WILL gel with Kagawa and Rooney. Their only issue might be if Rooney is OK with RvP as the main striker. However, as we have already covered – Rooney is quite liking his midfield role. RVP for the Golden Boot? You bet.
Santi Cazorla: The best import of the season! Hazard who? While Hazard has certainly been impressive; Santi brings a whole new dimension to the game – he can attack; he tracks back; he has great positional play; shoots with his left; shoots with his right – and all that with a smile on his face. Arsenal fans are already calling him their favourite Spanish player ever….move over Arteta and Cesc – Santi is awesome!
Michu: while there was a case for both Kone (Wigan) and Fletcher (Sunderland); we at TKTG felt Michu is more deserving of this spot. Not only does he have the skill but his reading of the game is excellent – he is an “intelligent” footballer. The new Tim Cahill? Even most supporters of the top 4 clubs would want him in their team and that is a testament to his immense talent and massive potential.
Honorable mention: While not a new signing; Raheem Sterling at Liverpool looks like an exciting youngster. Quick, fast, direct he will hopefully continue to do better. He already has 6 starts in the league and could form an exciting partnership with Suarez and Borini.
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For more great articles like this one visit the guys at toknowthegame.com, whilst you can follow them on Twitter at @toknowthegame.
GW7: NOTHING BUT BONUS POINTS
| 06 Oct 12:45 | Man City |  |
3 – 0 |  |
Sunderland |
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| 06 Oct 15:00 | Chelsea |  |
4 – 1 |  |
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| 06 Oct 15:00 | Swansea |  |
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Reading |
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| 06 Oct 15:00 | West Brom |  |
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QPR |
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| 06 Oct 15:00 | Wigan |  |
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Everton |
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| 06 Oct 17:30 | West Ham |  |
1 – 3 |  |
Arsenal |
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| 07 Oct 13:30 | Southampton |  |
2 – 2 |  |
Fulham |
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| 07 Oct 15:00 | Liverpool |  |
0 – 0 |  |
Stoke City |
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| 07 Oct 15:00 | Tottenham |  |
2 – 0 |  |
Aston Villa |
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| 07 Oct 16:00 | Newcastle |  |
0 – 3 |  |
Man Utd |
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Gameweek 7 preview: Can Suarez repeat the trick?
Gameweek 7 preview: Can Suarez repeat the trick?
Luis Suarez likes Norwich. Norwich doesn’t like Luis Suarez.
In fact, quite a few people don’t like Luis Suárez (£9.4m), but Fantasy managers shouldn’t be amongst them in the next few weeks as the Uruguayan ace looks to provide the goals which shoot Brendan Rodgers’ Reds up the Premier League.
Being Liverpool hasn’t always been too easy whilst they’ve had Suarez around, but Rodgers’ new philosophy is designed to get the best out of the Reds’ No. 7, with last Saturday’s hat-trick at Norwich proving that it is a philosophy which is beginning to click into gear.
Saturday’s treble was Suarez’s second successive hat-trick at Carrow Road, and if you’d backed him to repeat the trick against previously wounded opponents then you might like to see who Liverpool are welcoming to Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
Suarez scored twice against Stoke in the League Cup last season and then once more against the Potters in the FA Cup, helping the Reds towards the finals of both competitions and no doubt leaving Stoke sick of the sight of him.
They’ll be coming up against him on Sunday though, and even though Tony Pulis will no doubt be drumming plans of how to stop him into his defenders’ heads as we speak, Suarez will fancy his chances against an outfit he has shone against before.
Steven Gerrard (£9.4m) managed to get on the scoresheet alongside Suarez last Saturday, but perhaps better value can be found in his fellow midfielder Nuri Sahin (£6.7m), another who found the net at Carrow Road and a gifted playmaker who is only likely to see his influence on this Liverpool team grow the longer the season goes on. The Turk is good enough to warrant Real Madrid spending big money on him last summer, whilst Arsene Wenger was desperate to bring him to Arsenal before he chose Anfield. Three goals and two assists in his last two games hint at a lot more points to come.
Away from Liverpool, Chelsea are still likely to be most Fantasy manager’s focus groups for another weekend, with the re-emergence of one player in particular surely not going unnoticed.
Juan Mata (£8.8m) might be considered old news by some following the arrivals of Eden Hazard (£10.3m) and Oscar (£7.8m) in the summer, but the Spanish magician has started to work his magic in the past week, scoring four goals in his last three games and providing the assist for Fernando Torres (£9.9m) to find the net against Arsenal.
The Euro 2012 winner sparkled during his first season in England, but a gruelling summer both in Poland and the Ukraine and then at the Olympics affected his stock amongst Fantasy bosses at the beginning of this season. Currently only 4.3% of teams have him on their books, but that will only grow in the coming weeks.
The game of the weekend is surely Newcastle against Manchester United, which threatens to become a shootout between Demba Ba (£8.1m) and Robin van Persie (£13.5m) but could be settled by the skills of Hatem Ben Arfa (£7.9m). The Frenchman has either scored or assisted in each of Newcastle’s three games at St James’s Park (sorry Mike Ashley) this season.
Manchester City, Everton and Tottenham all have fixtures which will make their players popular with Fantasy bosses, but for our third player selection of the week we turn to an old Fantasy favourite – the player in the wrong position.
Arsenal’s Gervinho (£7.4m) may be listed as a midfielder but he certainly doesn’t play like one, and the in-form Ivorian will be looking to improve his record of five goals in his last five games when the Gunners go to West Ham.
It’s a short journey for them, but it could be a profitable one for you.
@Mark_Jones86
Everton: Whatever you do, don’t look down
There’s a curious phenomenon which involves not thinking about something, because if you do then you automatically lose.
I won’t go any further into it for fear that you’ll all join me amongst the ranks of the defeated, but the frankly quite annoying craze does raise the question of just how far you could go if you managed to keep the negatives and their consequences out of sight and out of mind.
Death, taxes and the continued popularity of Justin Bieber can’t be avoided whatever you do of course, but sometimes it is better just to not think about where your actions are taking you because of the added pressure that they create. Success breeds success, but it also breeds expectation.
Everton’s fine start to the season has got some of their supporters thinking about a Champions League place already, just weeks after those same fans were facing the prospect of potentially losing manager David Moyes to Tottenham – one of at least half of the clubs in the Premier League who are better financially equipped for a top four place than the Blues.
That’s not to say that there are at least 10 better teams than Everton in the league at the moment, because clearly there are a lot less.
Second at the start of October is a superb and deserved position for Moyes’ side to be in, with the club’s success a testament to the fine signings made by the manager in the last two transfer windows and his ability to keep hold of his key players.
Outsiders may have seen the summer sale of Jack Rodwell to Manchester City as a severe weakening of Everton’s playing resources, but offer any Goodison Park regular the choice of selling him, Marouane Fellaini, Leighton Baines or Nikica Jelavic and they’d have driven Rodwell down the East Lancs Road to Manchester themselves.
That one of those players probably needed to be sold is due to the still curiously unreported financial situation at a club which, despite the progress on the pitch, is standing still off it under the ownership of Bill Kenwright.
The theatre impresario made a cameo appearance on Coronation Street earlier this year, and the majority of Everton supporters have long since come to view his insistence that there isn’t a suitable party out there to buy the club and invest in it as a tired old act.
It is for this reason and not for anything that they are doing on the pitch that Everton should just try to keep things ticking over at the moment. Getting up to the higher reaches of the table has been one thing, but staying there will be another once the might of the usual suspects kicks in.
Of course this would be the perfect time for investment to arrive at a club with a talented playing squad, passionate fans and a committed manager determined to succeed for both, but those supporters have long since grown tired of Kenwright’s caution and aren’t expecting radical changes any time soon. In the meantime they can just enjoy the fine football their team are playing.
And they could well go on playing it.
Visits to Wigan and QPR in their next two matches either side of the international break are unlikely to faze this Everton side, and neither will the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park at the end of the month – although the Blues do seem to have a knack of coming up short against Liverpool when many consider them favourites.
That is a negative thought though, and such things should be banned from entering Everton heads. Right now they are one of the big boys of the Premier League and they should go on thinking like that.
‘Taking each game as it comes’ is one of the oldest and most useless phrases in the football handbook, but as long as those games are approached positively then there’s no reason why good runs can’t be extended to be become good seasons.
Just try not to think about what’ll happen to Moyes, the players and the club if it doesn’t though.
The GAMEWEEK 6 REVIEW (by @shots_on_target)
Here’s the round up of the 9 games played so far in GW6. Many thanks to our regular guest post writer @shots_on_target for some great analysis. You can read more of his articles at http://www.shotsontarget.co.uk/
We will have a Yirma Twitter takeover this evening from 7.30PM with football pundit @mark_jones86 taking over the @fantasyyirma account to cover the #QPR V#WESTHAM game. So contact us at fantasyyirma@hotmail.com today with any #FPL questions you have or leave a question in the comments section below.
@ryano83
ARSENAL 1-2 CHELSEA
Arsenal dominated the attacking play in this game, trebling the number of shooting opportunities in the box to that of Chelsea, but failing to hit the target with any regularity. Chelsea on the other other proved to be very ruthless when presented with a chance in the box, particularly scorer of the first goal, Fernando Torres. Arsenal continue to struggle to finish off their creative play. Chelsea are a tough nut to crack though (ask Messi) and owners of Cazorla should remain confident with him creating 4 Key Passes and getting himself into the box for 4 shots. For Chelsea, Hazard, despite his obvious quality, did sweet f.a. in this game from a fantasy point of view, whilst Mata stepped to finally replicate some of last season’s FPL form.
READING2- 2 NEWCASTLE
Demba Ba will grab the fantasy headlines from this one. He represents a clear threat in comparison to team mate Cisse, and is a great player to own in FPL. The rest of the magpies are falling to produce on a reliable basis. Sure, Ben Arfa still has the odd moment of magic in him but on this evidence he is overpriced, he didn’t even take a shot in this game. For Reading, this was their best game so far from both an offensive and defensive point of view, creating more chances this 90 minutes in their previous 2 games put together and limiting Newcastle to just a handful of chances. Unfortunately for the Royals though, the fell to Ba.
EVERTON 3- 1 SOUTHAMPTON
Despite an early scare Everton racked up the chances and the goals they deserved. 15 shots in the box, and 8 on target is really what you’d expect of United or City, and in Nikica Jelavic they have a man to score them. Fellaini continued in his up-front role supported by the impressive Mirallas, who is really hitting the ground running after his summer move from Olympiakos. Both were unlucky not to get more than an assist between them. Not so for Pienaar who did very little in FPL terms, despite such a dominant Everton display. For the Saints, Lambert was kept pretty quiet with just one shot but it was Gaston Ramirez who stood out, not just for his goal, but for his overall involvement in the visitor’s attacking play. They created a fair amount of chances too, there are goals in both these teams.
NORWICH 2 – 5 LIVERPOOL
This was the Luis Suarez show. The Uruguayan absolutely dominates Liverpool’s forward play and has always had the quality to find the back of the net. With some juicy fixtures on the horizon FPL interest in Suarez is rightly set to explode. Elsewhere, Sahin showed what he’s about playing in the support role in Shelvey’s absence. If he can make this position his own he could be a great fantasy asset. Norwich were almost as creative as Liverpool in this game, and the scoreline flatters Liverpool a little. They are yet to settle on a front man but if Holt or perhaps Snodgrass can find their shooting boots they could start to pick up both real and fantasy points.
STOKE 2-0 SWANSEA
This was exactly the scoreline that many people expected. Swansea’s bubble has burst up against the drilled quality of teams like Everton and now Stoke. To be fair, Laudrup’s men are not built for a day out in Staffodshire and have plenty to offer the fantasy manager over the next couple of fixtures. Stoke were impressive in their game plan and Tony Pulis knows exactly how to play the way he does. Peter Crouch is a threat in the box and players like Adam know how to find him.
MAN UTD 2 – TOTTENHAM 3
This game was everything that the Premiership is about. Under-pressure Villas-Boas got his early game tactics spot on as Spurs went straight for the jugular at Old Trafford, leaving the likes of Giggs a mere spectator. Gareth Bale was a geniune menace and his form is key to Tottenham, and he is in some great form right now. United piled the pressure late on, with Spurs forced to drop deep and defend. Van Persie, Nani, and Rooney all stood out for the Red Devils despite Rooney just getting a 45 minute run out.
FULHAM 1-2 MAN CITY
Fulham’s recent results have gotten people talking but they came up against a solid City side here who controlled the game well and really limited the attacking nous of the home team. Berbatov’s unfortunate injury means he will miss up to 3 games and he will be missed, although the front Ruiz and Petric did well as the the focal point up front. For City, Tevez place in the starting XI settled the biggest fantasy question of the day but he did not do all that much and was predictably subbed off just over the hour mark. Aguero played the full 90, as did Silva, and these two are the real starts of City’s attack.
SUNDERLAND 1-0 WIGAN
Steven Fletcher and Sunderland do it again, score from their only shot on target. Can they continue to do this for much longer. To be frank, if Steven Fletcher was capable of scoring with every shot he takes he would not have been playing for Wolves last year and Sunderland this, no offence Mackams! He is a quality finisher though, no doubt about it, but he’s not Superman, Wigan should feel hard done by, they probably did enough to score, but O’Neil has his Black Cats as well-drilled as his reputation.
ASTON VILLA 1- 1 WEST BROM
Two surprising omissions in the starting line-ups here, with Bent and Lukaku both missing out. Shane Long was the main threat for the Baggies early on a grabbed a goal with Gera providing most of the threat from midfield. For Villa, Benteke was plenty involved but is still adjusting to the style and pace of the Premiership and failed to find the target with any of his 6 efforts. Bent and Lukaku’s introductions from the bench livened up the encounter with both heavily involved as the game opened up, with Holman also impressing for the Villains.
GW6 NOTHING BUT BONUS POINTS!!
Due to the fact that Carlos Tevez is still in my team, I’m not going to even try and work out how he got two bonus points this week… but he did and this pleases me – as it will please a large percentage of #FPL players!
Anyway.. here are the Bonus points in Full.
@ryano83
| 29 Sep 12:45 | Arsenal | |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Everton | |
3 – 1 | |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Fulham | |
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Man City |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Norwich | |
2 – 5 | |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Reading | |
2 – 2 | |
Newcastle |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Stoke City | |
2 – 0 | |
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| 29 Sep 15:00 | Sunderland | |
1 – 0 | |
Wigan |
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| 29 Sep 17:30 | Man Utd | |
2 – 3 | |
Tottenham |
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| 30 Sep 16:00 | Aston Villa | |
1 – 1 | |
West Brom |
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| 01 Oct 20:00TBC | QPR | |
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West Ham |
Gameweek 6 preview: Hair today, goals tomorrow?
The trouble with pesky competitions like the Capital One Cup – which still sounds like an employee of the month award – is that they can easily get in the way of your Fantasy Premier League team’s progress.
They can affect the mood of teams in the real thing too, and as such Everton’s week suddenly doesn’t look as rosy as it did when Marouane Fellaini (£7.2m) headed in the third of their three goals in the convincing win at Swansea last Saturday.
The cup loss to Leeds in midweek saw the chances of David Moyes making this the season that he picks up a first trophy at Everton effectively reduced by 50%, and the question now has to be whether or not that’ll affect the Blues’ fine league form which has taken them to third in the table after five games.
All eyes will be on Goodison Park on Saturday then, as Everton seek to bounce back at the first time of asking by welcoming Southampton.
As fixtures go it is a pretty decent one to make your recovery from midweek misery, and if you can see them getting over the Elland Road loss quickly then expect the Blues to be flying come Saturday afternoon. With fixtures against Wigan and QPR to come in the immediate future too, it could be a good time to put your faith in Moyes’s boys to earn you points, with Fellaini the man most likely.
That said, Nikica Jelavic (£8.4m) is also primed to return here after missing the Swansea game and only appearing as a substitute against Leeds, whilst those who can afford Leighton Baines (£7.2m) will be getting a severely underrated defender who has already contributed a goal, two assists and two clean sheets this season. He could well be set to add to that tally at the weekend.
Across Stanley Park at Liverpool, things could just be about to change for the better.
Last weekend’s unfortunate loss to Manchester United brought an end to a tricky run of fixtures for Brendan Rodgers’ side, and although the midweek Capital One Cup win at West Bromwich Albion was achieved with a smattering of youngsters, it might just have restored somewhat of a feelgood factor amongst those at the club.
Norwich await in the Premier League at Carrow Road on Saturday, and with the Canaries having only found the net twice in their five league games this season – plus with winnable home games against Stoke and Reading on the horizon – it might just be the time to put your faith in Rodgers’ rearguard.
Injury and rotation issues mean that the only two defenders certain to start for Liverpool at the weekend are Glen Johnson (£6.4m) and Martin Skrtel (£6.0m), and with the pair offering the potential for assist and goal points respectively then either could be good additions. It is further forward where Liverpool could make their mark this weekend though, with Raheem Sterling (£4.6m) still an astute cheap choice and Luis Suarez (£9.4m) ready to fire back at a ground where he scored a hat-trick last season. Those now debating whether or not to stick with Carlos Tevez (£9.9m) could decide to switch to the Uruguayan.
Tevez and his Manchester City team-mates go to Fulham on Saturday, and with City far from certain to get a result there and clashes between Arsenal and Chelsea and Manchester United and Tottenham proving somewhat unpredictable, it might pay to look elsewhere for some points.
With apologies to Steven Fletcher (£7.2m) his goalscoring run has become impossible to ignore, and whilst climbing on board the Fletcher bandwagon has to come with the warning that Sunderland face City away next, this weekend’s fixture at home to Wigan could be the perfect one to see the Scot continue his scoring run.
Liverpool: The kids are alright, but is that enough?
As symbolism goes the image was a pretty stark one.
On a chilly Sunday afternoon when there were many more serious issues than football to ponder at Anfield it seems wrong to pay so much attention to the mere matters that were going on at pitch level, but just seconds into the second half there was a moment that spoke volumes for just where Liverpool are heading under Brendan Rodgers.
The 18-year-old Jesús Joaquín Fernández Sáez de la Torre – or ‘Suso’ to his mates and now the millions worldwide who watched his Premier League debut on Sunday – picked the ball up on the left corner of the penalty area and was suddenly face-to-face with the man he’d entered the pitch with seconds earlier.
Whilst Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson had turned to Paul Scholes, 37, at half-time as his side sought to gain control of midfield now that Liverpool were down to 10 men, Rodgers had opted for Suso to replace the injured Fabio Borini.
Undeterred by the sense of occasion, the fact that this was his first act as a Premier League footballer nor that his side had seen a man sent off, Suso faced up to Scholes on the corner of the box, showed him the ball and then quick as a flash burst past a man more than twice his age. At that moment the great Scholes could probably feel his old bones creaking.
That Suso’s cross was only half-cleared and eventually – via the good work of Glen Johnson – resulted in Steven Gerrard firing Liverpool into a deserved lead only crystallised the moment more. These young Liverpool players, regardless of who they are facing and how many players they are facing them with, are fearless.
At 18 Suso wasn’t even the youngest Reds player on the pitch at the time, with that honour going to the 17-year-old Raheem Sterling. Jonjo Shelvey, 20, had somewhat harshly been sent off by then, whilst the injury suffered by the 22-year-old Martin Kelly would leave Liverpool with just nine men by full-time. Borini, 21, and Joe Allen, 22, were playing in their third Anfield league game since big summer moves to Merseyside, a switch made by 22-year-old second half substitute Jordan Henderson last year. The 19-year-old Andre Wisdom scored in the Europa League last week and could now be set for more appearances given that Kelly is out for the foreseeable future with an ACL injury. Many more young players at set to feature in the Capital One Cup at West Brom on Wednesday night.
The omnipresence of Gerrard and a late cameo from Jamie Carragher reminded everyone that this isn’t a total revolution just yet, but it is hard to think of a club operating at the levels Liverpool are that is currently putting so much faith in youth. As admirable as it is, the worry has to be that it is too much too soon.
The club’s failings in the transfer market have a lot to do with it of course, but Rodgers is on record extolling the virtues of his young charges.
As he and Ferguson have said in the past, young players will rarely let you down when called upon, but at a time when the club are coming to terms with a new style of play as well as new personnel with which to play it, the potential for errors has crept in. At this level such mistakes can and will be capitalised on, as United showed in coming back to win on Sunday.
The next three Premier League fixtures – away at Norwich and then at home to Stoke and Reading – have already been identified as crucial to Liverpool following their tough start, and the youngsters in the team are likely to have to grow up quickly if success is to be achieved in all of them.
There is no doubt that a great excitement builds when the likes of Suso and Sterling get the ball, but it is up to Gerrard and Luis Suarez to show seniority and help guide them. Allen, the excellent Johnson and the still acclimatising Nuri Sahin will prove important in this regard too.
Is it too much too young for some of these Liverpool players? That remains to be seen, but one thing that they are certainly not lacking in is confidence. If Suso can do that to Scholes, then anything is possible.
The kids aren’t United, they’re Liverpool, and this could just be the start of something special if it is given time.
The Gameweek 5 review, by @shots_on_target
After advising that you should take a look at Leighton Baines (11 points this Gameweek), Demba Ba (nine), Dimitar Berbatov, Kevin Nolan (both eight) and Glen Johnson (five) on Friday, Yirma’s favourite stats man @shots_on_target is back, not to gloat, but instead to provide a thorough review of Gameweek 5.
Swansea 0 – 3 Everton
Although the Swans had their moments in this game, Everton bossed throughout with an incredible 22 shots with 11 on target, a figure more reminiscent of City at home to Wolves last year than a team away at the Liberty. The star fantasy performers from Everton’s point of view were the goal scorers Mirallas, Anichebe, and The Great Fellaini TM, with a combined 23 shots between them, 11 on target. Good value for their 3 goals, in fact they should have scored more. Anichebe is a great one week punt for the Toffees next home game against Southampton but you will have to fancy Jelavic’s chance of regaining the striker role on return from injury (1-2 weeks). Fellaini, Mirallas are established in the side, as are Pienaar and Leighton ‘9 Points’ Baines. All are strongly expected to pick up point further points and Mirallas would be an excellent differential choice.
Swansea to their credit almost scored – with 18 shots in total but just 4 on target. Their failure to score is perhaps due to Everton’s well-drilled defence rather than Swansea’s poor attack and I wouldn’t give up on Swansea’s offensive or defensive options given their immediate fixtures – STO (A) RDG (H) WIG (H) – except for Nathan Dyer.
Fantasy Force: Everton’s Attack and Defence.
Fantasy Flops: No-one.
West Ham 1 – 1 Sunderland
West Ham peppered Sunderland’s goal here with 24 shots, 4 on target, compared the visitors 5 with just 1 on target. Sunderland as is their style, scored from their only shot on target. These stats are actually similar to Sunderland’s goalless draw at the Emirates on the opening day (ARS 23 shots, 3 on target, SUN 5 shots, 2 on target) indicating that Sunderland have the ability to weather a storm quite nicely and West Ham should not feel too disappointed, getting more out of this fixture than Arsenal did. Steven Fletcher provided more evidence of his finishing ability with 1 goal from only shot on target (3 shots in total). This kind of form cannot continue however and Sunderland really do not create enough chances for to warrant buying their forwards at the moment. They have two fixtures in the next 8 that attract attention (Home games against Wigan and Villa) but other than those it’s not so good and I can’t really see Fletcher get more than 2-3 goals over the month or two. Kevin Nolan’s goal for Wet Ham was just reward for his display, he really is a good prospect and West Ham’s main source of fantasy points.
Fantasy Force: West Ham’s Attack (Nolan), Sunderland’s Defence.
Fantasy Flops: Sunderland’s Attack (despite Fletcher)
Southampton 4 – 1 Aston Villa
Villa are in trouble. They can’t defend and it’s going to take a while for Paul Lambert to get this team playing the way he wants, and by then it could be too late. Stephen Ireland looks like he’s broken his arm and could be out for a while and has been one of their most creative players so far, albeit not creating that much. Southampton on the other hand seem to have no problem finding the back of the net with Rickie Lambert the chief threat, They managed 6 shots on target so 4 goals is slightly flattering scoreline, but if you want a £6.1m forward then you could not do much better and with upcoming fixtures home against Fulham and Tottenham and away at Everton and West Ham you’d be disappointed if he didn’t get 2-3 goals over this period.
Fantasy Force: Southampton Attack
Fantasy Flops: Aston Villa – attack and defence.
Wigan 1 – 2 Fulham
A pretty even game this one with both team’s creating plenty of chances, Wigan with 19 shots , 5 on target, and Fulham doing better with 12 shots and 7 on target )on target is best!). Dimitar Berbatov was again at the sharp end and this results, as well as the 2 goals at Old Trafford, demonstrates Fulham’s new found capacity to score goals away from home. Wigan failed to turn majority of both possession and scoring chances into anything more than 1 goal which need not be a major worry to fantasy managers given the budget price tags attached to their forward players. Defensively, this was a good result for Fulham and a bad one for Wigan. Allowing 7 shots on target from 12 attempts is not indicative a tight defence.
Fantasy Force: Fulham Attack & Defence
Fantasy Flops: Wigan’s Defence.
Chelsea 1 – 0 Stoke
Despite the pressure Chelsea heaped on the Stoke defence the Potters held firm and gave a good account of themselves, creating a few chances too with 13 shots, 3 shots on target compared to Chelsea’s 19 shots and 4 on target.. Big players such as Hazard and Torres failed to impress (zero shots on target between them) and with just one promising fixture on the horizon (Nor (H) GW7) it’s perhaps time to re-evaluate their place in your teams. Stoke are doing well. Despite a torrid run of fixtures so far they have defended resolutely and have only conceded 2 goals in games vs. City, Arsenal and now the European Champions Chelsea. Their fixtures don’t let up for a little while but take a look in GW9 after their game with Manchester United.
Fantasy Force: Stoke Defence
Fantasy Flops: Chelsea Attack
West Brom 1 – 0 Reading
A fair result from two teams who are not going to be atop of the scoring charts at the end of the season. Albion’s 4 shots on target from 11 attempts yielding the game’s only goal. With Reading managing just the solitary shot on target all game there’s no wonder they didn’t score, and bearing in mind they only hit the target against Tottenham in their last home game the prospects do not look good for Reading’s attacking players like Pogrebnyak and Guthrie. Lukaku grabbed the game’s only game and the immediate fixture list offers hope of a few more – AVL (A) QPR (H) – but I would not hold out too much hope on them ripping it up.
Fantasy Force: No-one
Fantasy Flops: Reading’s attack.
Liverpool 1 – 2 Man Utd
Many people’s highlight match-up of the weekend, Liverpool managed to dominate the scoring chances in this game despite Shelvey dismissal late in the first half, almost doubling United’s chances created (14 attempts, 6 on target to 8 attempts, 3 on target). I think Liverpool can take some optimism from this game and their fixture list should offer hope – (Nor (A) Sto (H) Rdg (H) – however long-term injuries to Agger and Kelly, a niggle for Borini, plus Shelvey suspension throw this into doubt somewhat. United looked poor but, as always, put away the chances they got to win the game. The team is yet to gel though and with Rooney’s return imminent and rotation around Champions Leagues games a concern it’s going to be a risk owning their attacking players this season methinks.
Fantasy Force: Liverpool’s Defence
Fantasy Flops: No-one
Man City 1 – 1 Arsenal
Arsenal controlled the game in large spells and their customary possession game melded with a new-found defensive resolution means their defensive players are arguably the best of all fantasy assets right now, particularly with Gibbs and Metesacker coming in at £5.6m and £5.1m respectively. The omission of Carlos Tevez would have caused heartache to over 1 million FPL managers this weekend and, with City’s available attacking options plus probable rotation for Champion’s League games, owning elite options from the blue half of Manchester could prove a tad frustrating at times. Santi Cazorla and David Silva were the stand out players from an attacking point of view, and Aguero showed what he’s about too.
Fantasy Force: Arsenal’s Defence
Fantasy Flops: No-one
Tottenham 2 – 1 QPR
Tottenham have been very creative in all their matches so far this season, with this one proving no different, with 20 attempts on goal, yielding 8 shots on target and two goals not a bad result at the end of the day. However, they don’t fill you with confidence. Does anyone else think AVB does not know what he’s doing? Does he think he is still playing Championship Manager in his bedroom? QPR did really well and are staring to play for Hughes now after the opening day calamity against Swansea. They mustered 4 shots on target from 9 attempts which is not bad going for a team away at one of last season’s Top 4. Whilst home games against West Ham and Reading in the next 6 offer potential it’s probably too early to get excited about anyone. As for Spurs, Gareth Bale and Jermaine Defoe (as long as he’s in the team) maintain their promising form.
Fantasy Force: Tottenham and QPR attack – maybe
Fantasy Flops: None.
Newcastle 1 – 0 Norwich
Newcastle have been a very “efficient” team under Pardew, not requiring a lot of the ball or many chances to score their goals. That they managed good but not great 6 shots on target against Norwich from 18 chances created. There should have been more goals but the best chances, including a penalty, fell to Cisse and he’s clearly struggling at the moment, perhaps feeling a bit poorly! Demba Ba took his chance well and continues to be a good option up front, as does Ben Arfa, with game away against Reading the next fixture. Following this though games at home against United, and a solid West Brom plus an away match at local rivals Sunderland aren’t the best in the short term. As for Norwich, it’s hard to call as to whether Newcastle just misfired up front or Norwich defended well. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and opt for the latter but they aren’t a strong defensive option yet.
Fantasy Force: No-one
Fantasy Flops: No-one
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