Fantasy Football 247 team – Fantasy Premier League 2014/15
We are delighted to announce that FF247 will be running a site team this year, which will be competing in the FF247 Classic and Manager of the Month Leagues as well as taking its bow in the Banterbury Leagues. The main objective of the team however is to give you all an insight into our thinking and planning, which we hope will not only help you with your teams but also prompt plenty of debate, banter and advice along the way. Clearly with over a fortnight still to go until the season kicks off, plenty can still happen with any of the players we have selected – injuries, new transfers in or out, hell we may even have the odd bite to contend with! Therefore please treat this very much as a provisional squad for now and allow us to talk you through it and the thinking behind what we have come up with thus far.
Goalkeepers:
Tim Krul – as soon as the visit of the Champions in GW1 is out of the way, Le Toon face a pretty attractive run of fixtures. We feel Pardew has actually spent wisely this window (that could come back to bite us) and with Captain Coloccini fit and seemingly happy, we believe Krul is great value at 4.5mln.
Vito Mannone – this is one we need to keep a close eye on due to the summer acquisition of Costel Pantilimon from City. Both Sunderland keepers are priced at 4.5mln and once we have determined who is the no.1 they will come in to rotate perfectly with Krul, with our two keepers costing a total outlay of just 9mln.
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Defenders:
Filipe Luis – but what about rotation, we hear you cry? And you’d be absolutely correct to bring it up. However, we feel Chelsea’s opening fixtures are too good to ignore, they have the strongest defence in the league and Jose will be gunning for the Premier League title that he will feel his team threw away last season, despite him maintaining all year that Chelsea couldn’t win it. Can’t fool us Jose! New recruit Felipe Luis is, alongside Cesar Azpilicueta, the cheapest of the mainstream defenders and we feel that they wouldn’t have forked out €16mln to leave Luis on the bench on a regular basis.
Luke Shaw – United’s new left back has been deployed by LVG in the left wingback role in the 3-5-2 formation that United look like they are deploying this season. Therefore, as he will be given licence to join in the attacks we feel that he could benefit from a few assists, maybe the odd goal and could be a contender for bonus points, similar to Leighton Baines. Not only that, but with LVG breathing fire into the United dressing room, we estimate that they will be a more competitive force this season and clean sheets aplenty should be forthcoming.
Rio Ferdinand – cheap, experienced defender, who alongside Steven Caulker should make the Rangers defence more solid. Some attractive looking early fixtures make Rio a good option for us.
Adrian Mariappa – Palace left back and the only likely starter priced at 4.5mln. We need to keep track of Palace’s pre-season friendlies to ensure he retains his place but given the solidity they showed under Pulis at the latter end of last season we feel they are a good bet to continue that trend.
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Midfielders:
Juan Mata – now being played in his preferred and most effective no.10 position. Sat behind Rooney and RvP and with a sumptuous list of opening fixtures, we feel we may just see the Mata of old. If we don’t then he’ll be out of there quicker than you can say Yaya Toure!
Gylfi Sigurdsson – another with potential to be fantasy gold, but with the added bonus of costing just 6mln. A return to Swansea will see increased game time and two goals on his debut makes him difficult to ignore. He showed enough on the rare occasions Spurs did venture to utilise him to suggest he’s still the player that graced the Liberty a few short seasons ago.
Alexis Sanchez – everyone loves an out-of-position fantasy prospect and Sanchez is just that. Capable of playing up top, just off the striker or on the wing we feel he is hard to ignore, despite his 10.5mln price tag. Arsenal’s opening fixtures are mixed and they do face City, Spurs and Chelsea in the first seven matches but we feel, with the Gunners attacking talent, they are more than capable of scoring in all those matches. Whether they win them or not, we don’t care!
Cesc Fabregas – another world class midfielder down at the Bridge. Can be deployed just behind the striker or even deeper but has the ability to get involved in attacks, provide assists, score and it looks like he’s on set pieces as well. At 9mln we feel he’s good value and has the advantage of not being involved much at the World Cup.
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Strikers
Wayne Rooney – seemingly happy with life under LVG at Old Trafford, we consider Rooney a must for our team. Has been in good scoring form on United’s tour of the US and LVG has already stated he sees Wazza as a no.9 or 10. With RvP having spent pre-season on the beach, we expect Rooney to hit the ground running in the league and like Mata and Shaw, will benefit from no European competition this season.
Diego Costa – Jose has been courting Costa for some time and sees the Brazilian Spaniard as the cure to his striking problem. With just Fernando “Row Z” Torres and Chelsea Pensioner Drogba as competition, Costa is the no.1 striker by a long way. With a supply line of Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Schurrle and Fabregas behind him, expect Costa to be one of the stars of the league. Now fit again and with an injury plagued World Cup behind him, Costa scored 27 times in 35 games for Atletico Madrid last season and will be eyeing a similar return this term.
Blanks!
You will have noticed that we have left three spaces blank – one defender, one midfielder and one striker. This is where you, our community, come in. We have 14.5mln left in the bank to fill these spots and would appreciate your thoughts and ideas as to who should be added to the FF247 squad. Do we fill them according to what we have left as of now or do we sacrifice a big name elsewhere to provide more balance? These are the questions we will be asking ourselves over the coming days and weeks ahead of the season and hope you will help us decide as you continue to discuss your own teams on the boards too.
Pellegrini has confirmed that Frank Lampard will start training with Manchester City on Monday.
sacrilege
Liverpool Team to Face AC Milan
Liverpool team: Mignolet, Kelly, Toure, Coates, Robinson, Lucas, Henderson, Allen, Lambert, Ibe, Sterling.
Substitutes: Jones, Johnson, Enrique, Gerrard, Coutinho, Sakho, Can, Suso, Coady, Skrtel, Peterson.
Mitos at the game so I’m expecting a full report later!
That’s along as he isn’t blinded by our kit’
Not seen it Kop is it horrific?!
Let’s just say that it’s very yellow
Look at that team. Thats why pre-season aint ideal
Only 3 definite starters from the first XI
Kop – you would like a little bit of structure kicking in at this stage.
who is your first 11? everyone fit and assuming Alberto Moreno and Javier Manquillo join.
Milan are shite though, hehe.
United wins with 3 goals to 1.
1-0 Goal Young, Assist Wellbeck
1-1 Penalty goal Bale, no assist
2-1 Goal Young, no assist
3-1 Goal Hernandez, Kagawa assist
Raz -anything you take from that game?
Don’t listen to Cantona, he’s a bit… off. 😉
United dominated the first half, had most possession and great passing. Also the speed of Young was really useful. Once they lost the ball they immediately tried winning it back. Real did nothing. Reals first chance was actually the penalty goal. Keane (def) fouled Bale and he grew himself to the ground. Penalty and goal.
A lot of subs and in the second half Real dominated the first 10-25 minutes. Jones with 22 years old was the senior defender. Kagawa showed some great skills, also the new right wingback that came on in the second half was awesome. Forgot his name. What Young did in the first half he did in the second.
Best players on pitch: Young, Jones and the guys whoms name I forgot. 😉
Commentary said Shaw did well but Young freaking outplayed him and it’s not even close.
Lol Raz…tots agree. But not on me being off haha! Think the guy you looking for is Lingard. Him and Kagawa were good together. And special mention to Fletcher as well. He did real good and played the full game. Who needs VIdal!??
Lingard, indeed. He was awesome. Is he a rightback?
Fletcher was awesome, not the same role as Vidic though. And United do need an experienced defender in this team, Hummels would be awesome. Think the midfield is good but Vidic or Strootman could make United unstoppable. Also a Di Maria on the right wingback positions could destroy other teams.
Raz you confuse me haha. You mean Vidal and Strootman right? Not Vidic? Haha! And Lingard is actually an attacking winger so it was strange to see him deployed wingback. LVG is moulding this United team quite well until now….Wish I was dutch so I could see him more on the telly and interviews haha!
Naah, everything he does now will be in English. Watching van Gaal is always funny. Will come a time that the media turns against. That’s when he’s at his best, haha. He’s crazy. But a great manager/coach.
Owww shite, you actually said who needs Vidal (not Vidic)? LMAO. United do. United need either him or Strootman. That I know for sure. Sooner or later they need one or the other. They actually don’t need both.
Haha I know I was only kidding. Fletcher can only take us so far. But with only the Premier League to play for I guess LVG could turn this lot into a top 4 contender. If he gets Vidal then perhaps a bit higher. Waiting to see a lot of LVG antics! Him and Mourinho will be the showmen this year but LVG is not like a boss…he is the boss! Mourinho you are warned! haha.
Lingard?
TheDreamers…as in Jesse Lingard if you were wondering. If you answered Raz’ question then ignore my post 😛
ya he aint bad is he. Been on loan in lower divisions. Prob could do with loan in premier league
Agreed TheDreamers. Don’t think he will get too much game time if he stays but he has a point to prove so a loan in the PL would do him good. Fergie rated him. Think he was named reserve player of the year before Januzaj if I am not mistaken.
Zaha really doesn’t look that good. He really needs to go.
Zaha needs to find another daughter he can bang. He tried a few dribbles today and failed them all. He is a better winger than attacker. But LVG does not need a winger like him. So probs he will feature mainly in the league cup.
What a game that was!! United dominated the entire match (except for maybe 10 minutes). Even Cleverley played decent haha. But Young in his new position might actually provide quite some competition for Shaw! Really wonder who LVG prefers? (might depend on opposition)
Chicharito was quality up front linking very well with Kagawa.
At the back they were solid as a team but Keane made a few mistakes and caused the penalty. Other than that as to who would be in the starting 11 is quite hard to predict. Mata and Rooney also linked well together even though Rooney did not have his aiming boots today.
Man of the match: Messi!
Ummm, Madrid dominated like the first 25 minutes in the second half. 😉
United starter will be:
DDG
Smalling (if MU buy no one else) – Jones – Evans
Rafael (Valencia) Hererra – Fletcher – Young (Shaw)
Mata
RvP – Rooney
That’s as it stands now though. They should buy another mid and another defender.
Yeah okay they did put a bit of pressure…nothing United couldn’t handle haha! The Young/Shaw situation will be interesting to follow…especially for those who have Shaw in their team! Valencia is preferred to Rafael I guess at the moment. But….time will tell and Raz you better call LVG once in a while to get insider tips! 😉
remember Kuyt wing back at world cup…
can anyone please take the time out to RMT!?
tried to balance out the entire team. and also take players from each of the top teams last season (except everton due to difficult fixtures)
bojan and siggy to rotate every week!
Can’t say anything bad about the team. Just hope your defense works out, looks hella risky. I think you have 3 4m defenders? So everybody seems to be sure Wisdom will start every game. If that doens’t happen you have a hell of a problem since the other defs won’t start.
i am worried about the same raz. but as i hope to play de gea, debuchy and luis every week, even if one of my other 3 play, i am cool with it.
just can’t make myself downgrade anyone else.
lads – anyone thinking Chris Baird will play?
no idea, dreamers.
Hi Jasprit, looking good mate. Not a fan of Bojan at this stage as he’ll likely be used in a wide role and he’s been pants recently! You need to keep an eye on the Wisdom situation as they’ve signed a full back for about £2m who I think will be ahead of him.
i hope to play siggy much more than bojan in a 3-5-2. have given bojan just a few weeks, if he doesn’t live up to the expectations, will just ship him out for some other cheap 3rd forward who has been playing well.
and as i was telling raz, i am worried about the defence situation too, but just need one of my three cheap defenders to play as debuchy and luis will be quiet fixed in my starting line up.
Totally get that and I’m not saying its wrong I just don’t fancy him but he could hit the ground running and happy days for you! Your defence points to Raz are spot on, those 3 will start and hopefully 1 other each week but it’s just so difficult to tell at the moment. I got stung with 3 non starters who actually played all pre-season last year!
Same Innit. I would rather play Siggy every week than rotate the 2, to be honest.
thanks a lot for the replies init and raz,
you guys think it will be a wise option to then downgrade bojan to a 4.5 3rd striker who never plays? and invest 0.5 each in 2 playing defenders?
or will keeping bojan (or nay other 5.5 i transfer in later on) be better as it will offer me more attacking rotating options?
I can only speak for myself mate. If I were your position I would downgrade him to Zamora and ummm up the defense with that money. 3-5-2 all day. Can’t say it will work out. I saw a lot of Bojan past season at Ajax and he really didn’t look that good. He only looks good when he is used as striker but they usually let him play wide. Don’t think Stoke are capable of playing like Barca or are they? Mwa.
Tough one, maybe stick for now and see how it pans out. Someone may emerge in the next week or so but hey Bojan may be the answer. Assuming he starts I’d take him over a non-player anyway.
thanks a lot guys. you both have been really helpful with this.
still pondering over my two options though… maybe i’ll be sure before the season starts.
cheers :beer:
Brentford 3-2 Crystal Palace
Murray Goal – Assist Bolasie
Chamakh Goal – No Assist
Crystal Palace: Hennessey (Speroni, H-T); Ward, Delaney, Dann, Mariappa; Bolasie, Ledley, Jedinak, Puncheon, Chamakh, Murray.
Thanks Jeet, great info, keep em coming 😉
Manchester United’s Robin van Persie OUT for start of Premier League season says Van Gaal
“Robin will begin training on Monday, but he won’t play in the friendly against Valencia on August 12, definitely not.
“And he won’t play in the Premier League at the start either, I think. People can criticise me for that decision but I know what you have to do with players who have had three weeks’ holiday.
“Hopefully, Robin will get his fitness back very fast. But at this moment, he won’t be playing.”
that actually helps me a lot. just couldn’t make myself take RvP out till i heard of this.
Oh no, I’ve now got another 2 million spare to work into my team somehow.
u poor bastard Andy
Van Gaal just worked that out? RvP has been out of my team for weeks.