New Signings – Fantasy Premier League 2015/16. Milner, Ings, Firminho
Liverpool were poor last season, actually they were worse than that but for the sake of our younger readers let’s stick with poor! Their defenders made a catalogue of errors over the course of the season, while up front they struggled for goals. It therefore comes as no surprise that Brendan Rodgers has been busy in the transfer market, although as we’ve seen in the past this is not necessarily a good thing! They’ve replaced Brad Jones with Adam Bogdan whom unsurprisingly we won’t be covering in one of these articles, 18 year old centre back Joe Gomez has arrived from Charlton and as he’s likely to be one for the future we won’t include him either. We took a look at Nathaniel Clyne in an earlier article and today we’ll focus on James Milner, Danny Ings and Firmino.
James Milner
Liverpool
Age: 29
Signed From: Free agent (previously Manchester City)
Fee: Free[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
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Why has James Milner left Manchester City? A club with whom he won two league title and will challenge again this season, and who offered him a four year contract worth up to £165k a week. It is likely that he has been assured of his game time at Anfield, but where Brendan Rodgers will play him is not immediately obvious, although reports have suggested that he will be handed his preferred role in central midfield. One possible scenario would see him played alongside Jordan Henderson with a more defensive minded player behind them or they could form the defensive base of a midfield three with a more attacking player ahead of them. Should he be offered a somewhat attacking role from central midfield position he could prove to be an interesting fantasy option, particularly as he’s priced at just £7.0m. During his time at City he spent most of his time operating in a wide role, a position from which his influence is limited and his lack of pace exposed. However in his final season at Villa, the last season in which he was a consistent starter he chalked up 184 points thanks to seven goals, 12 assists and 35 bonus points. One thing is for sure and that is that wherever Rodgers chooses to play him Milner will give everything for his new club and while he should not be viewed as a replacement for a certain Steven Gerrard his experience will help fill the leadership gap which Gerrard’s departure has created. Finally, while Milner has been handed Liverpool’s famous no.7 jersey, I wouldn’t expect him to hit the heights of those who have worn the jersey in bygone years!
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Danny Ings
Liverpool
Age: 22
Signed From: Burnley
Fee: To be decided by tribunal[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
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Is Danny Ings the next Rickie Lambert? Liverpool fans will certainly be hoping that the answer is no! In the two seasons prior to joining Liverpool Lambert scored 28 goals in 75 Premier League appearances for Southampton, while in his only season in the Premier League Ings scored 11 in 35 games for Burnley. Both Liverpool fans and FPL managers will be hoping that Ings has more of an impact at Anfield than Lambert managed last season. I’m not going to compare the two but one big difference is that Ings is only 22 and will surely continue to develop as a player, whereas Lambert was 32 when he joined the club. So what can we expect from Ings? It will all depend on how he himself handles the move. While Liverpool can no longer be considered a top 4 club there will be still be an awful lot more pressure placed upon him at Anfield than there was at Turf Moor. Currently Liverpool have five forwards (I use the term loosely!) in Sturridge, Lambert, Borini, Balotelli & Ings himself, actually there’s six, how could I forget Divock Origi. With Lambert, Borini & Balotelli all likely to leave the club over the remainder of the transfer window and Sturridge unlikely to be fit for the start of the season, Ings could find himself as the clubs only recognised striker come August 8th. Obviously the club continue to be linked with Christian Benteke, and it seems highly unlikely that another will not be brought in before the window closes. One thing is for sure and when he is given his opportunity he will work endlessly for the good of the team. He can hold the ball up well, win aerial duels and can finish with both feet. He has the ability to link up with the midfield and wide men which would see him fit into either a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 system, both commonly used by Rodgers. Should Rodgers choose to play two up top Ings could also be effective. Just like Lambert last season Ings has been priced at £7.5m. Is this good value? I would advise you to wait & see how Ings settles into life at Anfield, this will also allow you to assess how Liverpool’s new signings gel together.
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Firmino
Liverpool
Age: 23
Signed From: Hoffenheim
Fee: £29m[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
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Let’s be honest, Firmino is one of those players who the vast majority of us had never heard of back in May. It wasn’t until the papers linked him with a move to United that most of us took any notice of him. He began his career with Figueirense in the second tier of Brazilian football before moving to Hoffenheim in 2010. It’s said that he initially struggled to adapt to foreign climes, which is good news for Liverpool, and he took three seasons for his talents to emerge. Since the start of the 2013/14 season he has weighed in with 23 goals & 21 assists, and has been one of the stand out performers in the Bundesliga. It remains to be seen where Brendan Rodgers plans to play the Brazilian, at Hoffenheim he spent most of his time playing directly behind a striker in something of a free role, although he is also capable of leading the line. He is a great dribbler, has excellent technique and as his recent stats demonstrate, he can finish. In 2013/14 Liverpool adopted a high pressing approach but the loss of Luis Suarez meant they struggled to press teams last season. Firmino is not only a flair player, he is also known for his work rate and his arrival could see Liverpool get back to playing on the front foot. Liverpool will be hoping that he and his compatriot Philippe Coutinho form an immediate understanding on the pitch and if this is the case, Firmino could very well prove to be an interesting FPL prospect, particularly if Liverpool have a striker knocking in the goals on a regular basis.
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Evening all anyone fitting Ivan in or do we thk he is to much ?
Only 5 players outscored him last season. If he were a 7.0 mid or forward we all would buy him. Having said that CFC usually take a bit to get it going defensively. In the last two seasons under Jose
13/14: 3 CS in the first 16 and then 14 in the next 22 games.
14/15: 3 CS in the first 11 and then 14 in the next 27 games.
I just think Ivan is too much money for a defender that could be used to buy up front or in midfield
I don’t disagree. I look to Ivan and others after I have built up the bank a bit. That’s why I threw in that little warning on how he started the last two seasons.
Ah right. That’s what I try and do but it doesn’t always work out.
Still stuck on Caz or Ozil which & why
Get Ramsey instead
Looks like Lloris has a fractured wrist, if this is the case, Vorm is 4.5 and Spurs has good fixtures.
This is good news will save me @ least .5m so I can get 5th Def can we get it confirmed
Im always avoid spurs defender….and newcastle defender
So now that Raineiri is the Leicester manager does this mean the likes of Morgan, Mahrez and Vardy are too risky to have in the starting team??
Can’t say I find any Leicester player attractive, especially now that Pearson is gone.
I thought Leicester would be alright this year but don’t really like Ranieri so don’t know any more.
I was thinking the same thing earlier Matt. AT brought up Morgan’s captaincy which is a good point, so if he keeps the armband he’s likely to feature every week I’d think. No idea about the rest though. Can’t believe they went for Ranieri, was thinking that O’Neill and Keane could have really done a job there.
Ye hopefully Morgan will stay captain. Can we really gauge whether he’ll stay captain during preseason games or will Ranieri be switching it around to see who’s best?
I’m really surprised by the appointment his name was never mentioned and just popped up out of nowhere. Don’t think it’ll work to be honest.
Morgan is unlikely to feature in many pre season games as he’s been on international duty all summer. I’d suggest he’s a doubt to start the season!
Ah crap. Back to the drawing board I suppose. Best replacement for him then??
Don’t know
Haven’t looked at the FPL site since I hit auto complete last week!
Cool mate
I’d certainly ignore the Leicester defence now that Ranieri is in charge!
Matt, how about Micah? Decent fixtures to start off with and priced the same.
Do Villa have good fixtures? I haven’t really looked to be honest.
Bournemouth – away
ManU – home
Palace – away
Sunderland – home
Leicester – away
West Brom – home
Before it start to get a bit harder.
Ye there not bad actually so might have a look at Richards.
Evening!!
Team is gradually getting there, on “The Goonies” Mk13
You’ll probably kill me Mitro but I don’t like Giroud in there and not too sure about Bellerin. Differently should sell Cabaye they have some difficult fixtures.
Matt – don’t worry giroud will be swapped for Benzema 😉
That’s a good move
didn’t realise you’d bought Fifa 16 already 😛 haha
@Mitro, so let us pretend you cropped the picture wrong and I can’t see your bench. I like the defenders because of their fixtures ( the starting ones, mind you ) I will trust that Bellerin is a sure starter since you put him in. Saints and Norwich have good fixtures so good there.
Palace have the shittiest fixture list (GW1-6) around, with the possible exception of Everton. So Cabaye seems a hard buy for me. Sterling will have to adjust to his new mates and they start with a trip to the land of Pulis, immediately followed by a visit from CFC. So Sterling could be a wait and see more than a right away.
Giroud…. :whatever:
Costa and Cesc better jump out of the gates flying again to offset not having Kun or Haz. It could work though, as Costa got 41 points in the first 4 GWs and Cesc 31 last season.
Yo everyone.
Can’t wait to get started
Luving the new token thingys this year
Thanks to the site bosses & regs for great articles so far…
Ok so I know it’s a bit early but can’t help myself
I suppose this isn’t really gunna be my team, I just wanted to prove that the 4 Big Hitters can be in the same team…ok you’d probly want a lil’ more balance …but hay-ho!
So go RMT…..!
Yo Big Popz, How you doing mate?
Think Rangel is behind Naughton in the depth chart. Not sure you even care about that part yet, but I thought I mention it. Rumours have it that Morgan may not start the season and when I say rumours, I mean Kop who just said it a moment ago. Thinking the rest looks fine for now, assuming Schneiderlin starts and actually is worth a crap from a fantasy perspective. 😉