Life After Southampton – Fantasy Premier League 2014/15
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[/three_fourth]We start this week with a tip ‘o the cap to Mito (give him a follow: @TheLegendMito21) for picking up the slack last week when the regular bloke was gallivanting about in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in absurdly cold weather to watch, of all things, an American football game. Thanks mate, job well done.
And with that business out of the way, we now return to our regularly scheduled programme…
It has been a fun ride but we all knew this day would come. After a dream start to the season Southampton’s run of good fixtures had to end eventually, and we have reached that point. With tricky matchups in seven of their next nine fixtures, it may be time to look for replacements for your Soton players. We are here to examine your Southampton players, discuss their prospects going forward and offer similarly-priced alternatives should you fancy a change during Soton’s rough spell.
GOALKEEPER
With seven clean sheets in his side’s first eleven matches, we find it hard to believe we are thinking about ditching La Gran Muralla, but we are. In his next nine, Forster plays Arsenal and Manchester United twice and, say what you will about those sides, there’s no denying they score their share of goals. Add to that the likes of Manchester City, Everton and Chelsea, and we do not believe the future looks tough for the former Celtic keeper.
LUKASZ FABIANSKI, Swansea
Once (affectionately named) dubbed “Flappyhandski” by Arsenal fans, Fabianski has proven his doubters wrong after a strong start this season. While Southampton get battered about by the league’s elite, Swansea has a relatively easy set of fixtures ahead. After keeping five clean sheets out of eleven, we see no reason why the Pole in the Goal will not continue to rack up the points.
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DEFENCE
Oh how we have enjoyed the clean sheets! Thanks to a strong start, three of Southampton’s regular back four have enjoyed hefty price rises. The value in Soton’s defence is their ability to keep clean sheets, not scoring… though Bertrand and Clyne did provide their owners nice parting gifts on Monday. With a tricky fixture list until mid-January it is time to look elsewhere. It’s time to cash in and enjoy the extra spending money.
Depending on when you hopped aboard the Soton defender bandwagon, and if you wisely chose to double up, will determine how much cash you have to spend on replacements. We think these defenders can step in and do a job for your team for the right price.
NEIL TAYLOR, Swansea
Still somehow priced under £5.0, Neil Taylor represents both great value and great points potential. Swansea’s defensive discipline, paired with an in-form Fabianski, suggest a string of clean sheets could be on the horizon. Are Swansea the new Southampton? We are not ready to go that far, but we think having a few Swans in your side going forward could pay big dividends.
CESAR AZPILICUETA, Chelsea
Affectionately known as “Azpi” in the FF247 world (primarily because no one can work out how to spell his name), the cheapest starting Chelsea defender is another we recommend. With a friendly fixture list extending into January we think Azpi will keep enough clean sheets to make you forget about the Soton defender you gave up to get him. If you have the little bit extra in Ye Olde Bank Account, we think him a fine investment for the future.
PHIL JAGIELKA, Everton
With the exception of a trip to play Manchester City in two weeks, Everton’s fixture list does not look difficult until after the turn of the New Year. Jagielka offers the same prospect of clean sheets as your Southampton defenders, and will chip in with the odd bonus point as well. After collecting a career-best 19 bonus points in 2012/13, Jagielka already sits on nine and we think it a safe bet he will eclipse that total this season.
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MIDFIELD
Whether you are a Dusan Tadic man or a Morgan Schneiderlin gal, the time has arrived for you to jettison Southampton midfield coverage you have. We will, however, offer an exception in the case of Victor Wanyama. At his price point we think he still has value as a cheap rotating fourth midfielder or a fifth midfielder to man your bench in case of injury. Here are some similarly-priced alternatives:
GYLFI SIGURDSSON, Swansea
If you are one of those that sold Siggy (tisk, tisk) due to injury fears or a difficult stretch of fixtures, it is time to bring him back into your team. In their next eight, Swansea only face one team not currently in the bottom ten in the league. With Wilfried Bony starting to find form, we believe the Siggy-Bony relationship will be a productive one in the weeks to come.
NACER CHADLI, Spurs
A trip to Chelsea aside, Chadli has a friendly set of fixtures until Christmas and we think that will see him continue his good run in the coming weeks. Given Spurs’ lack of viable striker options, Chadli is given the freedom to drift inside which has seen him snipe the kind of goals Aaron Ramsey did last year.
*Caveat Emptor*: at the time of writing, Chadli is yellow-flagged with a 75% chance of playing. If you are considering Chadli, keep an eye on his injury status before transferring him in.
CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN, Spurs
The Danish midfielder has struggled since joining Spurs from Ajax but we think (Samwise Gamgee) Mauricio Pochettino has finally figured out how and where to deploy the team’s best player. With the emergence of Harry Kane and Nacer Chadli, we think Eriksen capable of filling the void left by your departing Soton players.
OSCAR, Chelsea
The young Brazilian has flourished this season under the tutelage of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and, if he continues to be deployed in the attacking midfielder role, we think this Oscar’s no grouch. With Chelsea’s friendly Christmas programme we expect Oscar to add to his three goals and three assists. A bit pricier than the other options but, if you can spare the funds, we think you will be happy with the results.
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FORWARD
We struggled for quite some time figuring out what to do with GRAZIANO PELLE, and there are two schools of thought of what to do with the talented Italian.
One camp thinks keeping him makes since – Southampton are still going to score during their rough stretch and odds are Don Pelle will be involved more often than not. That makes sense to us, and we think the Italian will continue to reward owners who keep him albeit at a lesser pace.
The other group thinks this is the perfect time to sell high and try to get whichever premium striker (Costa/Aguero) you do not have in your side. With the well-chronicled number of cheap striking options, a Costa-Aguero partnership up top is viable without sacrificing the rest of your team.
Anyone knows the situation of ManUtd defense? For how long are McNair and Blackett going to hold their places in the first team?
Currently thinking on a WC and debating between having 2 of:
1. Wisdom
2. Dummet
3. McNair/Blacket
Wisdom and McNair/Blackett for me.
personally id definately have dummet considering newcastle’s form, but in two gw’s id probably transfer him out…
I’d have Blackett too i think…
Did Bartley cross your mind? He’s started to last two games and is excellent value at 3.9 mil if he continues to start which i think he will!!
Bart competes with Amat and is also a short term guy. I am looking to have someone from Swansea at the back who can last 6 GWs straight in my first 11.
okay then – i’d probably stick with the tried and tested.
not sure B – It seems to change like the weather at the moment!
I would think they’d both be nailed at the moment, but I think Blackett is van gall’s favorite since he got the earliest call up…
You might have to make a transfer soon though as the trend of utd defenders getting injured is becoming increasingly popular lol
Wisdom & Dummet for me. I don’t trust United right now
Me neither, but at 4.2M and home to Hull, it does seem tempting.
Afternoon chaps and chappettes, how are we all doing? Saw this on FF Fix earlier and really enjoyed it Mito, cheers, great stuff as always.
Wait – hang on a minute – I mean cheers Lawdogg! Got confused as t’was Mito who got a shoutout at the start #stoopid
ooooohhhhhhh now i get it! lol
i was confused too
Thanks James, but…..it wasn’t me.
Thanks James. Mito wrote to equally great effort for Fix the week before when I was on vacation, maybe that’s what you’re thinking of. Appreciate you heading over to the Fix website & checking out the blog. Cheers!
Nice write up Lawdogg, I’ve just brought in Fab & Naylor for Mannone & Alderweireld so i believe in Swansea being the new Sunderland (for the next few games at least)
Interesting atricle – sonton’s fixtures are torrid from now onwards! 😮
looks like it’s time to say goodbye to clyne…
looks like im having a bit of an injury crysis…
on physio room it says many of them could make it to late fitness tests, but im not sure what to do.
got one ft but i might have to take a hit.
thanks again for the articles – class as always!
Not hearing good news for Krul, Sakho and Chadli. Too much uncertainty flying around.
No Spurs presser today but the man himself tweeted….
Phew!
thanks innit – one less problem to worry about hopefully!
Excellent news !!
Tnx Chicken 😉 !!
yea – my thought’s were to take a -4 to get fabianski and dummet for krul and peiters, but i’m not pleased with sacko atm either…
I was lucky to ride the wave whilst it happened with sacko, but now it’s over it could be very hard to regain steam – let alone his back injury!
He does have some good fixtures tho, and im not sure there’s anyone better for the price range… Don’t really want to downgrade elsewhere too…
Hey Bob
that screenshot’s making me feel dizzy haha, definitely wait for Cookie’s legendary Team Talk, but Im fairly sure that Krul’s crocked. Sakho, Chadli, Duff all unlikely and Pieters is deadwood really. Hopefully you can field 11 without too much trouble!
yea – dont know why that happened actually… :/ I was just trying to show the list of injurys!
You’re right – the news on krul looks bleak…
not 100% on Sacko either as i said in my reply above…
It could be a problem feilding 11 – i didn’t last week!
a -4 or maybe even -8 seems like a possibility but i don’t want to make any decisions i’ll regret.
Do you think The fabianski & dummet move looks alright?
oh and I’m not sure wether there’s any 5-6 mil striker options there are – do you think Sacko to Kane is worth it? I’m not sure since ive already got chadli…
Bob – not sure on Dummett as Newcastle’s fixtures soon take a turn for the worse… Kane is a great differential and offers even better value, but, will he always start over Soldado? You’d hope so, but I don’t know, it’s a risk. Austin would be my preference.
Yeah – it’s funny how good of an option Dummett looked just a moment ago…
Now in Krul’s absence – he looks a very weak link …even for his price…
Bob, have you considered Austin for a cheapo 3rd striker to replace Sakho? I have him and would prefer him to Kane all day long. He’s go Leicester and Burnley both at home in the next 3 matches.
right-o will cond=se=ide austin!
im off for now – good luck this week if im not back later!
Thanks for all the information and articles across both sides really enjoyed reading them.
I was going to hang fire with my Southampton players but reading this and seeing the prices drop may have changed my mind! Have been sitting tight all week for updates on Baines and Downing, does anyone have an update?
Thanks.
Thanks for the article Lawdogg, well done my friend! The last Southampton player I have is Alderweireld and he’s getting the chop this week. The plan is to bring in Yun this week for him, and possible upgrade Downing to Siggy for a -4. Then next week I can upgrade Wisdom to Taylor.
How’s everyone’s transfer plans going, did you make any moves yet? Anything new on Baines? I’m waiting for Cookies Team Talk article on tenterhooks!
I hit the WC button just right now, so have to make several decisions.
I’m jealous you’ve got your WC activated B! Nothing more fun than having totally free reign on transfers- but kind of stressful too. You’re in for a busy evening I imagine! Good luck with it.
Those look like good moves to me redVT!!
Swansea cover should be good for the coming weeks.
Physio room Said Baines should have a late fitness test last time i checked… I’m keeping him for now i think…
also that football highlights extension for chrome i remember we talked about a long time ago is called 365 scores – It’s really good since there are only ads about their app – no pop ups!
Thanks Bob! I’m hoping Baines will be OK for this weekend, it’s killing me not having my best defender on the field. Thanks for the reminder about the football highlights extension, I’ll get that going right now!!
+1!!!