fantasy premier league tips – new player profile West Ham midfielder Dimitri Payet

 fantasy premier league tips – new player profile West Ham midfielder Dimitri Payet

Statistics

Prospects

His stats are impressive although very assist biased.  His assists though were the most in France in 14/15 and the 4th best in any major league in Europe.  He also created more chances than any player in Europe by some distance.  In terms of returns his last year minutes per goal or assist and his last 3 year average are better than the 2 leading midfielders of last year in Hazard and Sanchez.  As I said in previous articles Hazard and Sanchez as the 2 premier midfielders in the premier league last season Hazard scored 14 goals and 10 assists at a goal or assist every 140 minutes.  Sanchez scored 16 goals and 8 assists for a goal/assist every 123 minutes.  Looking at David Silva who until last year was a more assist based midfielder his returns last season were 12 goals and 11 assists in 32 games at a goal or assist every 115 minutes.  Lastly Stuart Downing who played in the CAM position in spells for West Ham  returned 6 goals and 8 assists in 37 games at a goal/assist every 237 minutes.  However again it’s hard to compare the French League and the premier league.  The premier league has far more depth. Eden Hazard may have hit the ground running from Lille but the struggles of Remy Cabella last season for Newcastle who was also from Marseille were at the other extreme.

Payet can play on either flank and that is where he prinipally played in the 2 seasons before last season.  However last year he was principally a CAM.  He’s a very hardworking creative player.

New West Ham manager Bilic was known for playing 4-4-2 and a midfield diamond at Besiktas but has also played 4-2-3-1 which is where at the CAM middle of the 3 would be his best position.  Given the fee which is alot for West Ham it’s hard not to see him being used in a central attacking position.  With West Ham having Valencia, Sakho and Carroll as strikers though he maybe tempted to play 2 strikers which could see him withdrawn more.  Pre-season will be crucial to see his position.  One advantage of the Europa League with West Ham is that there are 3 qualifying rounds prior to the start of the premier league season.

A couple of watchouts in addition to position is rotation through the Europa League which could see him missing starts through rotation.  Payet did not feature either in the starting or on the bench for West Ham against the Andorran side last night.  That was no surprise given the transfer just happening and the fact that a number of young players started in the easy 3-0 win.  The other watchout is that assist based players can struggle in sides not in top 4 challenging teams.  Downing last year did it in fits and starts.  Payet looks like a player that could be introduced in runs of good fixtures for West Ham.  You’ll remember in articles on the top 10 managers I follow that very few players outside of top 4 challenging teams amke it into their FPL teams.

There should be no question over his FPL classification as a midfielder.

Here’s West Hams fixtures to start the season

Arsenal (A)
Leicester (H)
Bournemouth (H)
Liverpool (A)
Newcastle United (H)
Man City (A)

3 excellent home games make him an interesting prospect.  The main competition for a West Ham FPL player will probably be limited to forwards Sakho and Valencia.  It’s hard to see Downing playing CAM with Payet here.  There are also rumours of Downing leaving

UPDATED 11/7:  Payet is classified as a midfielder although seems quite expensive at £7.5m.  By the way don’t get confused with Poyet in the West Ham team who’s also a midfielder but £4.5m)

Summary

• Great stats if a little assist based
• Should line up as a CAM although pre-season Europa League should give certainty
• Europa League rotation and adjustment to the premier league will be the risks
• Should be classified as a midfielder (he is although £7.5m)