Here’s the fantasy premier league news catch up including Romeu, Balotelli/Tevez, Diame, Kompany, Enrique and price rises and falls
Romeu
Although Mikel signed a new 5 year contract Romeu’s far more athletic style may have had a positive influence on the Chelsea defence as well as working his way to a very cheap £4.2m regular in the midfield. All that is out the window and his season is over with a cruciate knee ligament injury. For what its worth Mikel now should be a guaranteed starter when he returns from his ban.
Ballotelli/Tevez
Ballotelli’s ineffectual performance and Tevez’s transformation of the game as well as Agueros chances should help Tevez get more game time especially as the pressure will mount up with city out of the Champs league and now 6 points behind Utd. Fantasy premier league managers should keep the faith
Here’s what Mancini said in the Daily Mail
‘I love Mario but it is important for him to start to think about his job,’ said Mancini.
‘He has everything to play well but he can’t continue to play like today. We wanted more from him.
‘When you have a player that has Mario’s quality, you cannot understand why he continues to throw it out of the window. It is incredible.
‘I have seen players in my life with fantastic quality. But in the end, they did nothing.
‘I don’t want Mario to finish like these players. It would be bad for him.’
Not exactly a glowing recommendation or a show of faith
Diame
£4.8m cheapie and driving force in the West Ham midfield Diame is out for up to 12 weeks with a hamstring injury. It could mean more playing time for an even cheaper player in the midfield of O’Neill at £4.3m although he’s no replacement. there are better options such as Puncheon and Robson Kanu.
Here’s Big Sam in the Daily Mail
‘Not good, it does not take a medical expert to know it is a serious hamstring tear when he falls and stopped the way he did,’ he said.
‘I would expect, in medical terms, for it to be a grade 3 (injury) and that could be anything up to eight, 10 or 12 weeks.’
‘For us he is about the start and build-up of most of the creative side of our game – he runs at them (defenders) with pace and ability that puts them on the back foot,’ he said.
‘That is what we have lost and what we will be missing for a number of weeks so we are going to have to be a bit more dogged and resilient with the players we have got available, rather than have the more creative side we have had from Mo.’
Kompany
No news yet on the only safe defensive option apart from Joe Hart in the City defence (which you’re probably sick of me saying is the best in the league). Kompany had to come off after 20 minutes and was replaced by Toure which is another nail in the Lescott Man City coffin. It will be interesting to see how they line up away to Newcastle if he remains injured. If he does £5.6m Nastasic becomes a real cheap option in to the defence. Whether the defence will be the same without their captain is a another matter though.
Enrique
Went off against West ham with a hamstring injury although with Wisdom not on the bench, Downing went to LB. Hard to find any info on the seroiusness of the injury although fantasy premier league managers should be a little wary of selling Wisdom in case Rodgers reverts to the Johnson LB and Wisdom RB scenario. With johnson in such good form its hard to imagine he will but Downing isn’t the most natural LB in the world (although he may be one of the most expensive) so its not out of the question
Price rises and falls
3 goals in a row have given Bassong the only £0.2m rise to £4.9m. Despite conceding 3 the Norwich defence have looked strong and one of the better cheap defensive options. Its hard to pick the cheapest option though between Martin and Whittaker s its a little unsure who will start. Watch the line ups for a couple of weeks before jumping for better value although home Wigan would be a good time to take a risk. 12 other players rose £0.1m including Rooney
As usual there’s a multitude of £0.1m falls including Suarez, Berba, Hazard, Bale and Ivanovic.
