New Signings – Fantasy Premier League 2015/16. Benteke
Liverpool strikers managed a total of just eight goals between them last season, so the Merseysiders were always going to dip into the transfer market for a new striker this summer and it hardly came as a surprise that that striker turned out to be Christian Benteke. Liverpool’s transfer policy over the past 25 years has been questionable at best and one look at the signings made by Brendan Rodgers since his arrival at the helm would leave anyone scratching their head. It wouldn’t have come as a surprise had Liverpool’s owners dispatched with the services of Rodgers over the summer, and one thing is for sure, if Benteke isn’t a success over the coming season Rodgers will be sent packing next May!
Christian Benteke (Liverpool 8.5)
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The Belgian arrived in Birmingham as an unknown quantity back in August 2012 but soon made a name for himself finishing the 2012-13 season with 19 leagues goals from 34 appearances. He missed large chunks of the following two seasons through injury, but he arrives at Anfield having scored a total of 42 league goals from just 88 appearances over the three seasons. Clearly he knows where the net is but that’s not the issue, the issue is whether or not he fits into Liverpool’s style of play. Some will say that he doesn’t as he scores goals!
Villa undoubtedly played to Benteke’s strengths i.e. they got plenty of crosses into the box. As Tim Sherwood said prior to the FA Cup final, “We cross more balls into the box than any other club in the league and Christian has said he feeds of those crosses…there’s no point going to a club where they don’t cross the ball”. The stats certainly back up Sherwood, last season Benteke won more headers than any other forward in the league while the previous season he won the second most. To put this into context, Liverpool have ranked the lowest and second lowest for crosses over the last two seasons. After reading this most of you have probably decided that Benteke in no longer an FPL option, but before you make such a decision I should point out that of his 42 league goals only 13 of these have been scored with his head.
The arrival of Benteke at Anfield will undoubtedly bring comparisons with one Andy Carroll and while both are devastating in the air and have the ability to bully defences, there are differences between the two. Carroll failed because he lacked pace & movement, Benteke should have no such problems. Granted his recent injuries have probably robbed him of some pace, but compared to Carroll he is Usain Bolt. Despite this, however you look at it. something has to give, either Benteke’s style or that of the team and with the likes of Philippe Coutinho and new signing Firmino in the team I would suggest that Benteke will be asked to somewhat alter his style of play. If this is the case I would be very surprised if the Belgian can break the 20 goal barrier this season, rather he will be asked to bring others into play and thus the goals could be spread around the team. This of course will be good for Liverpool but perhaps not so good for those FPL managers with big hopes for the Belgian.
Liverpool have a mixed bag of fixtures throughout August, September & October. Home games against Bournemouth, West Ham, Norwich & Villa are counterbalanced by away games to the likes of Arsenal, United, Everton, Spurs & Chelsea. So if you’re waiting for Liverpool to have a decent run of fixtures before bringing Benteke in you’ll be waiting a while. My advice is that if you fancy Benteke jump on early to take advantage of those home games and hope that both he & Liverpool pick up a few results in those tough away games.
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So Conor Wickam moving to Crystal Palace. Does this mean Defoe is a 100 percent starter in the central role?
I would have thought he was nailed on anyway. He’s way better than Wickham.
I know he is nailed on, the question is in what role? I remember Dick Advocaat using him as a freaking back towards the end of the season. Defensive duties means less FPL points for us. You reckon he will be their main striker now with Lens there?
Unless they sign someone else then, yes certainly.
Yeah mate, the Lens signing should mean Defoe stays up front. He’s a great prospect at £5.5m.
Have been back to the drawing board and came back with the following options:
Team A (with MIngs/Francis) with nothing in the bank
Team B with 1 mill in the bank
Oh jeez… Only part of my comment posted 😛
I was wondering how these teams looked! would love for any thoughts from everyone
I have made a change, on a whim: milner –> mane. Don’t know if its worth it. Wanna do it for the first couple of weeks and see how it goes.. if things don’t look good for benteke could take him off, get milner back on, and have some mills in the bank for aguero.
thoughts?
Angel
Milner to Mane seems OK to me. :thumbup: Covers both teams.
Hey guys, how’s it going? I’ve been hearing some chatter about people maybe trying out a 3-5-2 formation due to all the midfield options and value this season. I was curious how people would set that up as no matter how I try I can’t seem to get a side I’m happy with without butchering my defense. My 3rd striker is currently 5.5, so I really can only save .5 or MAYBE 1 mil there by getting someone in who I would bench most weeks instead of a budget 5th midfielder. In a 3-5-2 formation, what would an ideal front 8 look like like? Who would you partner with Aguero up top? A premium striker or someone in the Benteke/Pelle/Lukaku price range?
Is a better option going with something like Ritchie/Deeney or Abdi/Wilson and switching from a 3-4-3 to a 3-5-2 depending on fixtures?
Red
Hello mate. Hope you are well today.
I’m not saying this IS the way to go (many will disagree) but for the time being I have
Ruddy (Butland)
Cedric Azpilicueta Jenkinson (Francis Matthews)
Mane Sterling Hazard Cazorla Payet
Rooney Deeney (Wilson)
Rooney to Aguero (with Sterling to Cabaye) IF necessary.
Hey Gallant, I’m doing well thanks. Hope things are going well with you too and that you’ve got enough time to work on your own team in between the pre-season summaries and building the site team!
Thanks again for all your hard work on those two projects!
So that draft is interesting. I see you’ve got two budget strikers that rotate well, so there’s some big savings to invest in midfield. I like that actually. I was thinking people with only 2 starters up top in a 3-5-2 might go for two fairly premium strikers and I just couldn’t figure out where the money was coming from!
I’ll have to keep playing around and see what I can come up with. Luckily the season will be starting soon so I can pick a side and stop tinkering, at this stage I’m getting frazzled with all the options tbh, lol.
RedVT
I’m experimenting with a 3-5-2 formation at the moment…. so far I’ve got to this stage???
—————————Schmeichel————
Azpil———————-Fonte—————-Clyne
Schweinsteiger–Hazard–Coquelin–Caz–Mane
——–Rooney———————Benteke
Subs: Fabianski, Deeney, Francis, Alderweireld
Hey twinkle, thanks for the reply. With all the value in midfield it’s definitely tempting to try and get 5 strong midfielders in there and play them most weeks. That’s a strong defense you’ve got there, but I’m wondering how many points Schweinsteiger and Coquelin will get you over the course of the season. Will you rotate Deeney in and play a 3-4-3 some weeks depending on his fixture? Also, are you thinking about getting Aguero in once he’s starting?
Appreciate your thoughts, best of luck getting your team ready for next weekend!
Hi RedVT
Schweinsteiger is an unknown so a bit of a risk…. he may go when Aguero or Sanchez are fit. Coquelin will rotate but I’ve included him not for goals or assists but for succesful tackles and succesful pass rate ie: Bonus points, and at £4.5m he’s a bargain. midfielder. Deeney will be brought in to a 3-4-3 when he has easier games. Good luck mate
Howdy Red. I usually have a preseason flirt with the 3-5-2 but this season i’m not seeing a way to get a setup that i’m happy with, much like yourself. I think it’s much easier to achieve good balance with the tried and trusted 3-4-3. I wouldn’t be happy playing two up front unless it was a beast two, which is countered by the mid’s prices.
Hey NIN, thanks for the response. Just got back from running some errands so I apologize for the slow reply. Yeah, I’m finding the same thing when I play around with 5 in midfield. I either have to steal money from my defense or from my forwards to pull it off and I think it ends up unbalancing everything. The best I could probably come up with is having a 5th midfielder that’s not too shite and rotating him with a budget 3rd striker, as in the Ritchie/Deeney example in my original post. Problem with that is kicking myself when one of them inevitably has a great week and he’s sat on my bench! Probably end up with the standard 3-4-3 when all is said and done, but I’ve still got a week to keep farting around with it.
Haha
I wish it all started tomorrow and not next week! Yeah, attacking rotations can be very frustrating, more-so than the old benched CS scenarios. GW1 last season was the prime example.
Just read this on Falcao
“He does make great runs – I mean when he was at United, 70 per cent of the time when he came on, they were chasing the game, which means the other team are sitting 10 men behind the ball.
But when he comes on at Chelsea, the other team are going to be chasing the game, and that means there are going to be open spaces, and so I could see him scoring a lot of goals”
Veer
Who said that?
Jose I’ll bet 😉
Nope! Sky sports pundit, paul merson
Even worse. Merse is an awful donkey :noshake:
Paul Merson said that. I’ll be keeping an eye on Falcao
How many teams has Paul Merson managed?
Oh Merson is awful and don’t know what he’s talking about half the time. Falcao could be finished after that knee operation but he was a quality player so could still come back to that form
Kun back in training since yesterday!
He will probably at least make the bench then
GW1 brace, incoming 😉
Costa is no longer flaged yellow, thoughts on having him for gw1?