The reports for our fantasy league have been missed for the past few weeks, I'm sure Tick is too busy worrying about Chelsea...so I thought I'd post a little something as the teams embark on the Domestic Cup Break.
Firstly, to address our league as a whole...
The average score this week was 45 and 7 of our 10 managers achieved or bettered that total. It is scoring such as this that has seen our league place 11,032nd out of a huge 136,330 leagues. Thats inside the top 10%, so well done to all.
There were no movers at all in our league this week and so InjuryFreeSeason defends their place at the summit for another week, as its closest competitors slide slightly off the pace.
The TF Team of the Week goes to the league leaders InjuryFreeSeason, for their impressive haul of 80 points, almost double the national average. The manager has done little more than stick with a winning formula and has watched the points come in. The move of making Lampard captain was the move of the week and many of our managers have been successful with this. He scored 14 points, contributing two goals to his teams efforts and with the captains bonus picks up 28 points. The inclusion of Dempsey must go some way to alieviate the disappointment of Chelsea drawing with Fulham, as his two goals helped him add a crucial 14 points. Other key contributors were Gallas, Berbatov and Vidic, all greatly adding to this managers total. There were even more unused points on the bench from keeper Schwarzer, who this week outscored Cech. So, congratulations on a good effort and the coveted Team of the Week award.
In second place we have ZingoBingo, who this week picked up 64 points. The side looks very balanced on paper and the points have come from throughout the team. The inclusion of Lampard as captain has aided this managers points tally this week, with other key contributions coming from Clichy, Young, Berbatov and the ever present Zaki. This manager has succeeded by sticking with his players as this week there were no transfers.
In third, UnitedForever chalk up 51 points. Red has made the error of not making Lampard his captain, choosing instead to keep faith with the blank firing Cristiano Ronaldo who didnt even pick up a bonus this week for his lacklustre performance. Switching Reina for Van der Sar this week has turned out to be a very good move and with Utd having a double week to come, may prove even more fruitful. Fullers red card cost two points, but apart from that, UnitedForever looked for key contributions again from Young, Zaki and Berbatov...who might finally start scoring some goals.
Next is SpiderPig XI, who also benefitted from captains points from Fat Frank. Apart from a clean sheet from Melchiot, the rest of the team fired blanks, with the remaining 9 players contributing 11 points. With only one transfer to speak of in the last 5 weeks, this manager has adopted the "have faith in the players" approach. Perhaps it is time for a change if this manager is to challenge the lofy heights of the TF league.
In a solid mid table position in 5th is Conservatives. A very good side, this week failed to set the world alight with a points tally of 40. Not making Lampard captain was the main error, with other big players not bringing in weighty conntributions. Young and Nasri bought in some points and Agbonlahors captaincy only yielded an extra two to compoud the disappointment for this week. This manager is clearly suffering from some injury woes when you consider the bench jam packed full of talent. Laursen, Ferdinand and Bullard are the key players to be sitting on the Conservative bench. Hopefully a bit more luck will come this teams way in the coming weeks...nothing like a domestic cup break to get some players back to league fitness.
In joint 6th place this week is Simpleman's Simplemen. Another manager suffering from selection woes, sees Torres sitting on the bench. Bringing in Ashley Young this week and making him captain paid some dividends, with 12 useful points, however, with Lampard also in the side perhaps the armband could have been deployed more usefully there. Other key contributors were Zaki and Figueroa who brought in 8 and 6 points respectively. However, the other 7 players only brought in 7 points.
The 7th place, joint 6th team....was my own side ABCDE FC. Just for once, enjoying a good week the lads have managed to drag in a hefty 73 points, so thats TF Team of the Week Runner Up!!!! Making Lampard the captain was obviously the key move and there were 3 transfers that brought about bittersweet results. Firstly the removal of spearhead Ronaldo, turned out this week to be a good move. Bringing in Ireland didnt pay dividends but the funds released allowed the inclusion of Robinho over Zaki (which levelled out) and Vidic over Traore which pulled in an extra 6. Further contributions from Carlton Cole, Figueroa and Young amounted to a pretty decent week for this team. Long may it continue...I might add with a certain bias.
Now in 8th place, we have another solid scorer in K-Class. This manager was forever tinkering in the early weeks and has now adopted either a "lets keep faith" mentality, or a "lets forget about this" mentality. Either way, it worked this week. Lampard as captain, again turned out to be the key move and the rest of the 60 point total was brought about by contributions from Zaki and Figueroa...Wigans favourite fantasy league players. With Evra on the bench, their may be more chance for points in the coming weeks when he returns from his ban. Especially with Utd not conceding in about 7 Premier League games.
In 9th we have Sharples FC. Apart from Berbatov, there are no major contributors this week. Figueroa and Barnett of Wigan and West Brom, provide booster points, but a low total consigns this team to the gloomy depths of the division. One wonders if the bottom few teams are getting a bit tired.
And spectacularly bringing up the rear is West Spam United, everyones favourite Chelsea haters. This manager has indeed lost the plot, as far as checking his team has gone and has suffered consequently. Zaki bought in a few points, but as a later joiner to the league, this team has little chance of challenging the top end. I will pass on some advice to this manager and help him rebuild the side, for perhaps a hefty points drop...but lets just see if they can put in some respectable scores over the next few weeks.
So that comes to the end of this report. I hope you will find the bit on each team interesting and again, congratulations to InjuryFreeSeason, for not only leading the league, but for the best performance this game week. Keep up the good work to all who are still actively in this and to those who arent.... come on guys, theres always my Team of the Week award to work for!!!!
(Perhaps another knockout cup is on the cards Red/Tick? We have 10 teams.... 2 leagues of 5, play everyone once. Top 2 from each go through to 2 leg knockout....Like a Champions League? That would take up a nice 8 odd gameweeks. I'll sort it out if everyone is up for it. Just a thought!!)
Home 
