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GW4 Review: Posted After The Final Whistle

GW4 Review: Written by @JackAGoodwin

Much like James Bond’s No Time To Die, or Black Sabbath’s album “13”, I’ve delayed this long enough, haven’t I. The inevitable write-up of a horrendous GW for my beloved Manchester United only slightly less salty due to Liverpool’s arguably worse performance in GW4.

Needless to say the past week I have been shaken AND stirred by friends and family about how hilariously bad United are, to which my damaged soul is only just coming to terms with it (deep, I know – t’was the only way I could shove a Black Sabbath track from 13 into the sentence).

With that, let’s review GW4 – Let’s get this over with shall we…

Chelsea 4-0 Crystal Palace

Business is back at Stamford Bridge, Abramovich likely standing down some of the assassins he has positioned near some of the Chelsea players houses after this vote of confidence of a game.

It did take a 4-goal second half for the Blues to turn it up a notch after a pretty dull affair for the first 45 in which Palace were right in the game.

Chilwell & Zouma opened the scoring within 15 mins of the restart, the game then signed sealed & delivered from the spot with 2 penalties by Jorginho.

In FPL Chilwell stole the show, with a goal, assist and 3bps he took home a cool 18 points on his Chelsea debut (insert Conor McGregor swag walk gif here). Jorginho delivered 15 points, Zouma 13, and is time nearly up for Werner owners? He took home a lonely 2 points.

As Shakira would likely say if she changed her lyrics a little bit, the Stats Don’t Lie. Chelsea had 71% possession, 17 shots and were deserved winners (even if 2 goals were PK’s) …. (get it…PK…. Pique…. Shakira…Oh forget it!).

Everton 4-2 Brighton

OK everybody calm down, calm…down. Everton, sure, 4 wins out of 4 and looking fantastic, are on quite a run. It’s 4 games, only one of which against “big” hitters when they rocked Spurs 1-0 in the opening game of the season.

They DO look good, Ancelotti (yet to smile) pretty much won the transfer window with his acquisitions who are already rewarding him, none more so than Caitlyn Jenner lookalike James Rodriguez. An 18-point return from 2 goals, an assist and all the bonus points rounded off another successful day on the pitch for the guy known the world over for one lovely volley in that World Cup that one time.

Also unstoppable is Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who scored his 6^th Premier League goal and 9^th of the season (remember we’re only 4 games in!) and is so high with confidence there’s really no betting against him scoring this coming weekend against rivals Liverpool. Especially with the unfortunate injury that took off Richarlison in the 1^st half, DCL needs to now more than ever be the star of the team.

Pickford is naff, let’s get that straight. Everton landed a GK in the transfer window which may see Picky both dropped from the Toffee’s lineup but importantly then Euro2020/1 next year. Brighton did get 2 past him, Maupay with his 4^th of the season (a bright light in a very foggy Brighton outfit) and Bissouma with a 90-minute consolation.

Everton this coming weekend are like a bunch of 17 year old’s beaming with confidence rocking up to Anfield with their fake I.D’s. Could go two ways: 1) the bouncers let them in and they have a blast inside (even Pickford hooks-up) OR 2) the bouncers aren’t fooled, let them in knowing they’re going to get battered inside by the much bigger group (Liverpool) inside. Poor analogy, I know, let’s move on.

Leeds 1-1 Manchester City

Aww this was nice, wasn’t it? Didn’t we all enjoy this? Leeds (5^th in the League now!) came from behind to earn a point from a City side lacking in confidence.

It was of course City on the attack from the outset, 23 shots in total, but this is quite deceiving. Of those 23, only 2 were on target, whereas Leeds registered a much less 12 shots but higher 7 on target. Leeds also had more possession in a game which saw them looking rather comfortable in what was their biggest test in the Prem so far. They passed with flying colours, sticking to their attacking mentality themselves regardless of the opponents.

Rodrigo scored for Leeds, who interestingly scored in the Premier League nearly 10 years ago for Bolton (the 2^nd biggest gap between goals scored, only Andy Johnson betters that “record”).

For City it was flappy-hands Sterling who scored his 1^st of the season and for all the world looked like he would go on to score more, but the Leeds defence was solid.

Not much FPL return, with KDB, Jesus & Mahrez not even in the top 10 in the FPL BPS ranking – does this concern you? Are you worried not only the Pep-Roulette, but now actual form may cause you to change FPL strategy? Does anyone even like Kyle Walker? Am I asking too many questions?

Newcastle 3-1 Burnley

Callum Wilson, that one from Bournemouth, scored his 3^rd & 4^th goal of the campaign in a match against a worryingly bad Burnley side short of any impact players.

FPL’s favourite man, Allan Saint-Maximin came back from injury, scored a goal, grabbed an assist, took all 3 bonus points, and then got injured again – picture Grandpa from the Simpson’s walking into Mo’s Tavern, taking his hat off, turning around, putting his hat on and leaving. That, but instead of Grandpa it’s Allan, and instead of a hat, it’s a Gucci headband.

Wilson (& now ASM) aside, Newcastle despite their position in the table and recent results, don’t have many more attacking outlets – Joelinton is absolutely useless, Shelvey isn’t consistent enough and Fraser hasn’t hit his 18/19 Bournemouth form just yet. With United, Wolves, Everton & Chelsea on the horizon, the sunny start may get rather dark soon for the Toon.

Dyche’s lads are a mess, without a point for the season (still, only 3 away from Man United lol) and not knowing where they will win their first match. West Brom are up next, so there’s a chance, but for FPL managers the world over you’re likely avoiding all Burnley assets for now unless you set-n’-forgot Nick Pope.

Southampton 2-0 West Brom

It wasn’t Ings this time, it was FPL outcasts (3% and 0.2% owned) Romeu & Djenepo with the goals that saw the Saints go marching on. With Chelsea and Everton up next it’ll likely be on Ings shoulders once again – he was quiet in this one.

After his brace against Chelsea, West Brom’s Callum Robinson not only blanked, but got subbed at the 59-minute mark! Johnstone had to make 6 saves, and as the GK was the most active player for them unfortunately. Southampton were better in every way, and that’s not because they were playing fantastic football, it was more the lack of it from Bilic’s side.

Fun fact, Johnstone is only the second goalkeeper to concede 13+ goals in his first four Premier League games, after Fraser Digby for Swindon in 1993-94 (Swindon’s only ever season in the top league). Funner fact, Twitter ITK superstar & Norwegian striker Jan Åge Fjørtoft scored 12 for Swindon in this campaign.

Leicester 0-3 West Ham

The Bluebells were singing Young At Heart, Indecent Proposal just hit the cinemas and Hulk Hogan had just pinned Yokozuna after dodging some salt at WrestleMania 9. April 1993 also saw the last time West Ham beat Leicester 3-0 (David Speedie with a brace and Kevin Keen with the other!).

We now have Cardi B literally talking about her woman bits, cinemas are closing down, and wrestling ratings have plummeted to record lows – take us back to 1993!

I digress, Moyes’less (covid) West Ham ended Leicester’s 100% record with a display mirroring Leicester’s own dominant display against City just a week prior. West Ham countered with confidence and looked totally in control throughout. Antonio bagged his 2^nd goal of the campaign, Bowen his 3^rd in only an 8-minute cameo appearance, Fornals with the other goal in this game.

Interesting, FPL darling Cresswell is picking up form, a double assist in this game saw him take all the bonus points, however, be warned that the next 3 games for West Ham are Spurs, Man City & Liverpool so I can’t imagine clean sheet points will be as available as they were here.

Worryingly Leicester did not register one shot on target, a quiet day for the almost always present Vardy who after his hattrick over Man City was nowhere to be seen. Villa next, so don’t panic.

Wolves 1-0 Fulham

Not nearly as fun as above, the last time Wolves beat Fulham 1-0 was about 4 months ago.

A 4^th straight defeat for Fulham see’s them hand in hand with Sheffield and Burnley at the bottom of the League – all crying on each other’s shoulders. Fulham’s Mitrovic still the only outlet, still very much on a dry run and looking destined to fail (& grab plenty of yellow cards on his way).

Wolves bounced back after getting thrashed by West Ham, Neto scoring the only goal here in a match short of much chances for either side. Jiminez now 2 games barren after a strong start is causing over 190k managers transfer him OUT, but with Leeds, Newcastle and Palace next there still might be something for Jimmy to grab.

Arsenal 2-1 Sheffield United

Yay, Sheffield finally scored in the 2020/21 season! Boo, they still haven’t won a game!

The Gunners did take 60 minutes to get going, Saka heading a Bellerin cross to open the game which Bellerin again provided a lively Pepe to score his first of the season after a 19-pass phase which apparently is impressive?

McGoldrick scored a consolation for the Blades who are yet to find any remnants of their impressive 19/20 campaign. The hope, the little tiny glimmer for Sheffield is Rhian Brewster, who has transferred in from Liverpool and will make his debut next against a poor Fulham side. At 4.5m he could instantly reward those with him.

Aubameyang blanked. Again. Worrying times for the high-priced, now injured “midfielder” in our FPL teams if at all you still have him in there. Nearly 300k of you removed him this GW alone, but weirdly 20k of you brought him IN…what do you guys know? Lacazette didn’t even feature in this match, after scoring in every one of his last 3 appearances – so will Aubameyang’s absence be a blessing for the Frenchman? Read Niall’s GW5 preview, he’ll likely have a better idea on that…

Manchester United 1-6 Tottenham

And now this. Bloody this. Man United lost 6-1 to not only Spurs, but to Mourinho. Kane (2) & Son (2) ran United riot in a game which could’ve very easily been different with a different referee. VAR ruled correctly to give Martial a red card but didn’t punish Lamela who, all TV pundits agreed should have also seen red for his involvement. Yes, I am bitter, but I do think since that moment United looked shellshocked and Spurs pounced.

A fantastic day for Spurs after an impressive transfer window which will only boost the team more once Bale hits the pitch. A window which Cavani, Telles and a couple of kids joined United maybe a little too late with reinforcements needed sooner.

Fixtures are fantastic now for Spurs, FPL managers a’plenty should be investing in not only front line but defensive players with a couple of clean sheets likely. For United, fixtures are tough. Newcastle this coming weekend is a tame starter which leads into a main course of Chelsea, Arsenal then Everton – I do hope Ole is hungry as there’s going to be shed loads thrown at them!

Martial’s red card couldn’t come at a worse time, 3-match ban imminent sees Rashford & Greenwood the focal point of United as Cavani will have to wait to make his debut after Newcastle due to not being an elite athlete or something like that (cracking hairdo though, nonetheless).

Aston Villa 7-2 Liverpool

And finally, like finding a £20 note after being mugged, a small victory was then watching this shipwreck of a performance by Liverpool moments later.

Aston Villa of 1982 in the flesh! Jack Grealish aka Peter Withe with 3 assists, 2 goals and the smallest pair of socks you’ll ever see bossed the game from start to finish. 24 FPL points for the lad. McGinn with another 10 points after his performance at Fulham and Ollie Watkins finally scoring not one but THREE goals in a match even the bookies wouldn’t have taken bets on a 7-2 Villa finish.

The Salah brace truly was the icing on the cake, rewarding many (inc. me) with 13 points in a match no Liverpool players should have registered anything to be honest. A tidy return in the untidiest of matches for Klopp’s men. Weirdly, this won’t impact FPL in the slightest, Liverpool will move on from this and your FPL assets will be as secure as a box of dishwasher tablets – those buggers are a pain to open aren’t they?

For the ballsy amongst us, Villa are intriguing now – proving they will attack versus the bigger teams, quite exciting right? The international break is a bugger for them, form is everything and this break will have stalled or perhaps reset the form they had. Teams such as Man United, Leicester and of course Liverpool will have all their players fresh from International performances and all very eager to kickstart their domestic form once again.

T’was a GW to forget for Manchester United & Liverpool fans, but in London there’s celebrations all-round with the cockney teams stealing all the limelight with impressive wins (apart from Palace & Fulham, lol).

Now let’s all see if Niall’s GW5 review is as upbeat and cheery as that! *passes pen*.

FPL GW4 Review

FOLLOW JACK ON TWITTER @JACKAGOODWIN

Written by Jack A. Goodwin -Follow him on Twitter @JackAGoodwin

Jack is an “alternative FPL writer” (Who knew, right?) looking for hidden tales behind the most obscure players, dark humour in the game and the creative storytelling to the most mundane of GameWeeks!He’s played the official game for over 7 years, running leagues throughout the offices of his day job.

Posted on 13 Oct 2020 | Image

All or Nothing: Manchester City – Review (Amazon Prime)

All or Nothing: Manchester City (Amazon Prime)

Written by @JamesMartin013

There’s no football of any description – fantasy or otherwise – for at least the next few weeks, which leaves a desperate need for a sports fix. Belarusian league aside, most people are finding the best option to be sports books and documentaries. In the first of a new mini-series, James Martin suggests ‘All or Nothing: Manchester City’ might not be the answer…

There was much understandable excitement when Amazon Prime promised a behind-the-scenes look at Premier League champions Manchester City, but viewers were instead subjected to an eight-hour PR video.

The unrivalled access proved to be the only real draw of an otherwise drab eight-part series, which left a profound sense of dissatisfaction. While the footage did capture areas not usually open to the public, every shot seemed carefully curated to cultivate an image acceptable to the powers-that-be at The Etihad.

Some of this blandness undoubtedly derived from the relatively routine manner of much of City’s on-pitch success in the 2017/18 season, but even when things went wrong for the super-club the documentary failed to engross.

After the transfer team missed out on top target Virgil van Dijk to rivals Liverpool, the programme cut to the sporting director Txiki Begiristain ‘candidly’ musing that the eventual price paid was far too high to be good business. The episode entitled ‘Welcome to Hell’, dedicated to their Champions League exit at the hands of Klopp’s side, promised more. Even this was used to push the club’s agenda, however, placing huge focus on the bottles thrown at the team bus rather than the ultimate shortcomings on the pitch.

It is an inevitability that behaviours will be to some extent altered when cameras are pointed, but in a world where everyone is used to constant scrutiny it was reasonable to expect that the documentary would at least manage to give a relatively genuine and insightful portrayal of players and staff. Instead, I was constantly half-expecting manager Pep Guardiola to turn to camera, The Office-style, and deliver a well-worn cliché.

That is not to question his managerial talents, which shone through even in the sub-par production, but everybody choosing to watch this would have already been well aware of the gifted personnel lured to Manchester City following the 2008 takeover. The fundamental question about All or Nothing duly remains, even after eight long hours: what was the point?

The answer to that question may well lurk under the tailored veneer, and it is a worryingly insidious one. Miguel Delaney of The Independent has written at length on Manchester City’s so-called ‘sports-washing’. This is defined by Kate Allen, Director of Amnesty International UK, as: “wealthy regimes… [using] sport as a means to polish up their own tarnished images.”

Sheikh Mansour, City’s owner, is an Emirati royal prince. Nobody will watch the documentary and instantaneously forget that numerous human rights organisations have roundly condemned the UAE, but that is not the point of sports-washing. Rather the viewers are presented with a team that is forward-thinking in all aspects of its day-to-day running, and over time begin to associate this with Mansour and his family instead of what Human Rights Watch describes as ‘arbitrary detention’ and ‘forcible disappearances’.

The programme even depicts a progressive coach who stands up for political freedoms. Pep Guardiola can be seen wearing a yellow ribbon in protest at the denial of a Catalonian independence referendum – on a subconscious level, those watching start to doubt whether the people from whom he takes his salary can really be that bad when it comes to human rights.

https://soundcloud.com/user-36523528/week-30-loofer-lockdown

All or Nothing was never going to delve into such waters. This does not automatically make it a failure, and precious few football clubs in the modern game can boast immunity from moral criticism, but soft propaganda rarely makes for enthralling television. There is only so long that viewers can be blinded by the veil being drawn back on the operations of a Premier League club – eventually they will notice that there is precious little substance.

This has only become more obvious in the time since the series was released. It did at least re-emphasise the strong appetite for sports documentaries, and Netflix went on to produce Sunderland ‘Til I Die: this was a truly compelling, raw insight into the heart and soul of a football club. The contrast to All or Nothing could hardly be more stark – true emotions were captured as viewers felt the anguish of Sunderland’s fans and saw it contrasted with the relative indifference of some of the senior professionals.

The unique opportunity to watch John Stones singing Wonderwall just doesn’t quite stack up in comparison.

Review written by James Martin

James is a sports journalist with a focus on football. He began writing for LFC Fans Corner over seven years ago, and has since been featured on the club website and The Independent among others. He graduated from Oxford in 2019, and holds the Gold Standard NCTJ Diploma in Journalism.

His portfolio can be found at http://jamesmartin013.journoportfolio.com

Posted on 13 Apr 2020 | Image

Gameweek 38: And Now, The End is Near

GW38 Preview by @NiallHawthorne

there’s a Preview here somewhere…

And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain

I’ve lived a season that’s full
I’ve endured each and every game week
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Regrets, I’ve had quite a few
But then again, too many to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption

I planned each captain pick
Each power chip along the season
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When I wanted to throttle my motley crew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I stared at my phone, and I did shout
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it my way

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried
I’ve had my fill, my weeks of losing
And now, as tears subside
I find it all, all so amusing

To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a wise way
Oh no, no, not me
I did it my way

For what is man, what has he got?
If not FPL, then he has naught
To play the players he truly rates
And not the players of his best mates
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way

And did it my way

Defender: Aymeric Laporte, Manchester City

On the back of four clean sheets, a cheeky assist in GW37 and maximum bonus points for three weeks running, Laporte heads to the Amex to face Brighton & Hove Albion with it all on the line. As a Liverpool fan (I’m now happy to make this stunning revelation to you all) I know how this game will go. Brighton will camp on the edge of their box from minute one, hoping to hold out. Duffy and Dunk will spend 90 minutes flinging their bodies in the way of every one of the 374 shots that will be aimed at Ryan in the game. City will score early, will then keep their foot on the throttle, and will probably score four to secure the title. All the while, Brighton will forget that they too could attack, so Laporte’s average position for his clean sheet will be 5 yards inside the Brighton half. Easy defensive points, innit?

Midfielder: Eden Hazard, Chelsea

Eden Hazard will say farewell to Chelsea this Sunday before he departs for pastures new, and he’s going to want to put on a show. Chelsea are away to Leicester City and I reckon this game could finish 3-3 at least. Brendan Rodgers has a unique relationship with the final day of the season, as he once led Liverpool to a five-goal shellacking at Stoke City. I back Hazard to net and assist and then wave goodbye as he heads off into a new and even more lucrative life.

Forward: Sergio Aguero, Manchester City

He’s already scored a league winning goal deep in injury time, and he has 90 full minutes to do the same this weekend. Which he will do. Probably more than once. What a Kun….

Captain: Mo Salah, Liverpool

While Liverpool will end the season empty-handed, Mo Salah will be gunning to retain his Golden Boot award, and a home game to Wolves will offer him the opportunity to do just that. He’ll be fresh from not having faced Barca, and I reckon he’ll notch twice to seal the deal. Unless my Aguero tip turns out to be even more on the money than I fear…

Outsider: Ryan Fredericks, West Ham United

You know that thing a lot of customer service departments do to retain customer loyalty? They treat you shoddily for ages and ages and ages. You feel annoyed, then angry, then hopeless, then angry again, then you’re right on the verge of giving up, and THAT is when someone swoops in, does something they should have done at the very start, but it’s such a bloody relief that you feel happy it’s over, and you forget all about the crap that went before it, and you go on your merry way.

That’s West Ham United, that is. Ropey all season long, but they’ve now won a couple of games on the spin, and their fans will head into the summer feeling chipper and with hope in their hearts.

But who are we to complain? Ryan Fredericks is getting a game, is owned by 0.2% of FPL players, has two clean sheets and a goal in his last two appearances, and is facing a Watford team that will have both eyes on an FA Cup final and are going to dial it in.

Draft: Alexander Mitrovic, Fulham

He’s probably been dumped or traded by anyone who had him, as his recent form has been rank. However, he’s facing his former team, Fulham are showing a bit of form, and you just know how this goes, right?

Right, that’s me done for the season. Thanks to everyone who read this FPL/Brexit/Trump analysis piece each week, and for those who followed me and interacted with me on Twitter. To those of you who didn’t, you’re all miserable ungrateful b*stards.

Have a nice summer!

Niall