Ok, so our decision to try something new last week didn’t work out so well. In fact, pretty much all of the players we selected were on the losing side, played terrible, or got injured. The net result was a dropped out of the top 500, although we remain in the top 1% of all players.
So it’s back to our tried and true 3-5-2 and bring back some of our favorite picks from the season so far.
Up front:
Van Nistlerooy and Darren Bent. Ruud is an automatic choice, while Charlton are up against a weak Pompey team and in what should be a relatively open match with plenty of chances.
Midfield: Moving back to our original policy of picking as many set-piece takers as possible.
D. Murphy: Easy choice, in form, takes set pieces, pops up with the odd goal. Again Charlton are up against Pompey so there should be bad defending aplenty for Murphy to pick apart.
M. Essien: Incredibly in form midfielder, will hopefully play and not fall prey to any sort of rotation. It’s only a matter of time before he starts popping up with goals as he gets forward quite a lot. Playing the bottom club should help too, even if they did start the season in the Champions League.
M. Gamst Pedersen: Another set piece taker as well as a goal threat from open play. Blackburn are gaining confidence and form and are up against a weak Birmingham side.
B. Emre: Just returning from fitness, but we’re a big fan of him as a player and should prove to be a fine Premiership player. Did well last week despite the loss, and is relatively cheap.
J. Gray: The last player we picked from the 11 and is just filler, to be honest. Needed someone who was likely to play and was cheap enough.
Defense:
G. Clichy: Replaces Ashley Cole, attacking full back. Will get forward much more effectively on the left flank now that Henry is back.
A. Del Horno: Goal threat from set pieces. Chelsea generally win.
S. Taylor: We reckon Newcastle could turn it around in the Teeside derby this weekend, and Taylor is getting to play because every other defender is injured.
Goalkeeper:
P. Robinson: Must stay with Robbo. Even with Spurs playing Man Utd, even if they lose he will have plenty of saves to make and rack up the points.
So there you have it. As always, the midfield is the key. By picking as many set piece takers as possible we should be guaranteed a good base number of points for crosses and shots on target alone. The midfielders we selected are also goal threats and should they chip in with one or two, we should find ourselves pushing up the league table once again.