Here’s my take on the fantasy premier league bandwagons and sinking ships ie the 3 most transferred in and out players so far in the gameweek

The Bandwagons

Barkley

The most transferred in player with over 42k transfers in the gameweek so far.  I can hardly argue with this as I did this transfer myself yesterday evening.  Here was my reasoning in transferring out Ravel Morrison

My £4.5m gamble Morrison didn’t play at all on the weekend.  Whereas Barkely played a starring role in the draw with Norwich.  I say that although his shooting and underlying stats weren’t that good but he played well overall and Martinez was glowing in his praise afterwards.  H does look like he is one of the few players who can score from outside the box given his venomous shot

If I didn’t make the change Barkely, who already has 42000 transfers in this gameweek, could have gone up in price and I wouldn’t have had the ability to swap him direct with Morrison.

I think Morrison now has a difficult road to get in to the team. Downing, Carroll (when fit) and Jarvis will be the front 3.  Nolan will be nailed on in the midfield 3 and then Diame and Noble are the most likely partners there.  The situation is further complicated by the excellent game Joe Cole had.

However, Barkelys selection isn’t without risk either.  He played principally as Gibson was injured and to play regularly would have to oust either Gibson or Osman. I think its possible to oust Gibson as Fellaini in the deep CDM role does take on some of the work that Gibson did last year.  Barkley also showed alot of tackling energy in the game to cover that role.

Barkley is one of the few £4.5m midfielders players who has real upside and is not just a 2 point CDM bench filler.  If you want your bench filler to be a secure 2 points for any injury or a no selection then this is a bit risky for that.  If you’re rotating your 4th and 5th midfielder then maybe its a punt you can take if you have cover in the event that Barkley doesn’t play.

In summary:  Its a buy for me if you’re willing to take risk

Coleman

Scored 13 points with a goal and assist in the 2-2 draw with Norwich.  2nd most transferred in player with over 33k transfers.

I trailed Coleman in my “ones to watch” defenders in pre-season.  He was  at £5.0m my Everton defender of choice.  He does have good attacking instincts and in some ways is like getting Baines £2.5m cheaper without the free kicks and pens.  My worry in pre-season was what Martinez would do defensively and whether that would dilute the 11 clean sheets Everton had last year.  Everton at Norwich,  despite the 2 goals,  wasn’t underlying stats wise a bad start as Evertons defensive stats were actually very good.  However,  its early days to say that one of the most attacking managers,  who had one of the poorest defensive records in the league, can get enough clean sheets to make Coleman worth investing £5.0m in over Dawson and Toure.  Also you have to look at his goal in the context that in 2 seasons and 3300 minutes he hadn’t previously scored.  So although his attacking stats should improve from 5 assists last year I wouldn’t expect goals every week

Summary:  Monitor for evidence of clean sheet ability in the Everton defence

Shaw

I have  talked up the Southampton defence under Poccettino this year and they didn’t let me down this week.  Shaw and Clyne are available at £4.5m and with Collins of West ham at this price one of the best bets.  Showed good attacking instincts as well and got a good share of the ball.

Summary:  Buy

The Sinking Ships

Koscielny

Suspended for one match after being sent off in the defensive disaster that was the 3-1 loss to Villa.  Had a terrible game giving a way a penalty and was caught out time and time again by the pace of the Villa front 3.  They also had no protection from the midfield double pivot.  Arteta may not be the greatest CDM in the world but he would have helped in that game against Villa.

however the facts are that this defence got 14 clean sheets last year and Koscielny got 2 goals and an assist in 1675 minutes last year.  He also was the form defender of the last part of the season.  That hasn’t gone anywhere.  When he comes back in GW3 Arsenal will still have the 5th best set of 6 fixtures ahead.

Summarry:  Hold and don’t panic,  the defence will come right

 Snodgrass

Injured in training before the home game against Everton.  Currently has no return date against him on Physio Room.  Norwich have a reasonable run of fixtures coming up and with RVW and Hooper (when he returns from injury) they have the ability to put away chances that Snodgrass will definitely creae.  Personally at that price I think he’s one of the best players

Summary:  Hold until more knowledge of the extent of injury

Lukaku

This was always a punt on the back of the Chelsea DGW.  Mourinho lined up in 4-2-3-1  and so you’ve got 3 strikers playing for 1 place.  Although Torres did his best yesterday to secure his place for the FA Cup and the Capital one team yesterday.  Personally I think Lukaku is the best of the 3 but he will be rotated and will come on as sub so you need to be able to accept that.  I wouldn’t sell him until after the Villa game at least,  as you would feel pretty silly if he then scored a hat trick for example to secure his place as no 1 striker in the team.   However,  I do think for the money I would want to stretch to someone like Sturridge or Soldado for £1m more who’s secure in their game time

Summary:  Sell but wait to see  what the Villa game brings

That’s it hope that gives you some food for thought if you’re thinking of an early transfer

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