Here’s a catch up on Evertons fantasy premier league pre-season so far including a look at form and likely lineups for our GW1 teams and the Martinez effect
Unless youve been asleep for the last month you’ll know that the 2012/13 Everton manager David Moyes is now Man Utd manager and the Everton manager is former Wigan manager Roberto Martinez.
Last year Everton played either 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-1-1. The main difference being the position of Fellaini. In 4-2-3-1 he often was part of the 2 double pivot as a CDM whereas in 4-4-1-1he played behind the striker. A typical lineup would be for 4-2-3-1 Howard – Coleman Baines Distin Jagielka – Gibson Fellaini – Mirallas Osman Pienaar – Anichebe or in 4-4-1-1 Howard – Coleman Baines Distin Jagielka – Gibson Osman Mirallas Pienaar – Fellaini – Anichebe
Since then the following has happened player wise:
Those going of note were limited to Phil Neville and Hitzlsperger
Those who have arrived are as follows:
Arouna Kone (fwd £7.0m) – former Wigan striker with 11 goals and 5 assists from 2930 minutes. A goal or assist every 183 minutes which is nothing to write home about although in a relegated team.
Antolin Alcaraz (def £4.5m) – former Wigan defender who only played 10 games last year due to injury. Had he played more Wigan may very well have survived such was his influence
Gerard Deulofeu (fwd £6.0m) – 19 year old Barcelona left footed winger/striker who played 33 games for Barca B and scored 18 goals and 6 assists in 33 games
Last year Everton were 7th in the scoring rank while finishing 6th . They were slightly below expectations with Clean sheets obtaining 11 but their defensive resolve was evident with them only conceding 40 goals which was 4th in the division, only 3 goals behind 2nd place Arsenal. Only pre-season will tell how Martinez will play vs Moyes. he will probably go for a more patient passing approach rather than the high tempo frentic game that Moyes plays. It seems that he will play 4-2-3-1 rather than the 3-4-3- or 3-5-2 that he did at Wigan and it willhave less emphasis on defence. I expect more goals scored and more goals conceded
Unfortunately Martinez has made a number of statements about flexibility and different systems etc which breed uncertainty(not good for a fantasy premier league manager wanting to predict his lineup) but instead of giving a potential line up for every system I’m going to concentrate on 4-2-3-1 where I think he will settle. Here’s what he worringly said after the Blackburn game
“I think you need to have wider options and I think the squad is ready to be pushed and to be in a position where we can be flexible and do different things,” “We have real quality players, with real experience, and when have that you can open up the door a little bit more in terms of being able to play the game in different ways.
“That is really needed in the modern game because every single game in the league and in the cup is different.
“I know Goodison Park is an incredible place to play fast, forward-thinking football and we are going to do that.
“But, at times, we will need to have another approach, another dimension and the fans will understand it.
“It is not changing everything in the way we play. We are not losing anything, but trying to add.”
“I don’t want to be a team that can only play in one way and to do that you need to experiment and try things in pre-season,” said Martinez.
“This is about making ourselves a bit more expansive in terms of how we play and that is going to be a real strength for us.
“I want the players to be flexible and take on many different systems. You can see that certain players are suited to certain systems and I think it is about picking the right time and moment to use those players in those systems.”
They’ve got reasonable starting fixures. I rate them as the 7th best fixtures out of the 20 teams. The fixtures are:
Norwich A, WBA H, Cardiff A, Chelsea H, West Ham A, Newcastle H
So far theyve played 3 pre-season games. The first losing in Vienna, the 2nd winning 4-1 at Accrington. The most recent was a 3-1 win at Blackburn with a goal from Mirallas and 2 from sub jJlavic. The first game was a sub fest in Vienna so we will ignore that and the game at lowly Accrington. Lets focus on the Blackburn game
Blackburn 1 Everton 3
Everton Line up: Howard (Joel 46), Hibbert (Coleman 46), Jagielka (Stones 46), Distin, Oviedo (Garbutt 88), Gibson, Fellaini (Heitinga 46), Barkley, (Naismith 46), Mirallas (Osman 46), Pienaar, Kone (Jelavic 46)
Substitutes unused: Anichebe, Vellios
Goals: Mirallas (25), Jelavic (54, 77
Martinez started with 4-2-3-1. A mate who went to the game thought Barkley played behind the striker. Gibson and Fellaini screened the back 4 and Kone started up front. Baines was injured as is alcaarz which made was a shame as at £4.5m Alcaraz looks good value if he nails down a place. Martinez went to 4-3-3 when a host of changes were made 2nd half. The first half team apart from Coleman and maybe Osman for Barkley looked like a first choice team for Martinez prior to the game. Barkley and Jelavic’s performances may cause a rethink and the American tour will be interesting
fantasy premier league perspective
GK and Defence
Instinctively youve got to think that the Everton defence will concede more than last year so treat it with caution. Wigan only had 5 clean sheets last year including only 1 at home and were subject to a few thrashings and Martinez’s philosophy is to pass and attack. Howard will probably start at GK and at £5.5m he’s too over priced for me. If the new acquisition of Robles can take his spot (he took over Al Habsi’s place at Wigan last year) then he is a bargain at £4.5m. He’s on the monitor list for the rest of pre-season
At the moment I expect the defence to line up as Coleman £5.0m Jagielka £5.5m Distin £5.0m/Alcaraz £4.5m Baines £7.5m . In defence Coleman is the best bet for me at the moment. He has a lot of attacking potential. He’s not too expensive either to take a punt on the Everton defence. Otherwise if Alcaraz looks like he’s going to line up then he’s great value at £4.5m and on the monitor list. Baines is one of these people that divides opionion in fantasy premier league. Personally for me I try and avoid paying premiums for attacking potential as I thnk that potential is a little unpredicatble. I prefer to purchase the cheapest secure player in the team and just settle for clean sheets. Baines in my mind is not worth paying £2.5m more than Coleman or £3.0m more than Alcaraz. I know the theory is that you get a winger for the price of a defender who also gets clean sheet points and takes free kicks and pens but to me I dont really want to rely on wingers getting points from crosses for £7.5m I want someone in “the hole” shooting and creating chances. For that reason and the uncertainty over defensive strenghth under Martinez, Baines isn’t on my radar.
Midfield
As I said I’m basing this on assuming Martnez will play 4-2-3-1 with the midfield being Gibson (£5.0m) Fellaini (£8.5m) – Mirrallas(£7.5m) Osman (£6.5m)/Barclay (£4.5m) Pienaar (£7.0m)
Fellaini for me will be a CDM this season. He showed that in the Blackburn game and he did play it at times for Moyes. Unless something drastic happens he’s off the radar for me. The real value is in Barkley at £4.5m. Last year I had my baragin punts in pre-season of Sterling and Ravel Morrison. Obviously Morrison was a total failure but Sterling was a complete sucess. Barkley has this potential and if he plays behind the striker or anywhere in the 3 he is potential fantasy premier league gold. He’s definitely on the monitor list
Mirallas is also an interesting prospect if Barkley doesnt look like he’s going to play behind the striker. Now classified as a midfielder, he suffered from injury and being played out wide last year and for that reason he was a little under the radar. However in 1827 minutes of play he scored 6 and had 5 assists which is a return every 166 minutes which for a guy shunted out wide alot of the time is a pretty good stat. Assuming the system stays and he plays in the attacking midfield 3 he has potential. I rate him at the moment slightly better than Osman or Piennar as he has the better potential. Osmans returns were every 400 minutes and Pienaars every 260 minutes last year.
If Martinez starts playing 4-3-3 however we may need to revaulate as this could change personnel and attacking potential. I still think it will be 4-2-3-1 as how he started in the Blackburn game and we will just park 4-3-3 or 3-5-2 for the moment
Forwards
Despite Jelavics heroics youve got to think the new acquisition of Kone (£7.0m) will start in 4-2-3-1 rather than Jelavic (£7.5m) or Anichebe (£4.5m) and the Blackburn game reinforced what Martinez will be thinking. His returns of 11 goals and 5 assists with 1 coming every 183 minutes is ok for being in a relegated team but its nothing special. Still his price is ok and he could be the main benificiary of a very attacking team. I would like to see him retain the central striking role and see some goals in preseason to add to that. I cant see Jelavic or Anichebe starting unless things change in pre-season.
The interesting one is the spanish left winger/striker of Deulofeu (£6.0m) who hasnt been inolved in preseason yet. At 19 and with Barcelona B as his experience to date (although very impressive experience) it will need some pre-season form and gametime to make me think he will start in GW1. If the formation changes to 4-3-3 he may have potential on the left side of the front 3.
Summary
Everton will probably be less defensively strong but will score goals under Martinez’s new passing regime. Alot of talk of flexibilty of formation which is worrying rotation and gametime security wise for players but I think he will settle on 4-2-3-1 although we need to keep a watch out for 4-3-3.
GK /Defence – Keep an eye out for GK Robles to challenge Howard at £4.5m. Coleman best bet in defence at £5.0m unless Alcaraz can claim a place at £4.5m
Midfield – Barkley (£4.5m) has huge potential if he can play behind the striker and Mirrallas (£7.0m) also if he lines up in that role
Forwards – Kone is a reasonable price at£7.0m just need to see some preseason confirmation of position and some goals to give confidence to invest in
Thats it hope that gives you something to think about up to fantasy premier league GW1
UPDATE
The other night Everton played Juventus. It was 1-1 with another goal from Mirallas. The reason for the update is that Martinez played 3-4-3 or if you like it 5-2-3 with wing backs depending on what you want to call it
Here’s the line up
EVERTON: Howard; Baines (Oviedo 64), Distin, Jagielka, Coleman; Stones, Gibson (Osman 64), Mirallas, Pienaar, Fellaini; Anichebe (Barkley 88) Subs not used: Joel, Hibbert, Jelavic, Deulofeu, Naismith
The back 3 was Jagielka, Distin and teenager John Stones who by all acoounts was the star of the game with Mirallas. Alcaraz is still injured which is why Stones started. Coleman and Baines (recovering from injury) were on the flanks with Fellaini and Gibson screening to complete the 4. The front 3 were Anichebe (just a resting of Jelavic and Kone, he wont start GW1) flanked by Mirallas and Pienaar. Pienaar interestingly had a lot of set piece work. The game was useful in that it showed Mirallas could start in the front 3 and he looks likely to start in the 3 of 4-2-3-1. Also we arent seeing anything of of the Moyes 4-4-1-1 which saw Moyes use Fellaini behind the striker and Mirallas pushed wide. Barkley only got 2 minutes which was a shame as it would have been interesting to see how he fitted in to that system. Stones isnt in fantasy premier league yet but I think Alcaraz and Distin will partner Jagielka in a back 3 anyway unless Stones continues to shine. The hope is that he is very cheap and replaces Distin who’s no spring chicken and not really known for his distribution and passing skills. That would still only be of use if Martinez played a back 3 which is not clear at the moment.
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