Goalscorers will still hog all the attention, but some of the greats take equal pleasure in laying on the last pass as going for glory themselves.
Gameweek 9 review
It’s bit hard to believe that given the feast of football served up at the weekend, particularly Sunday, that the highest points for a single player was a measly 12 points, but them’s the breaks sometimes.
The honour went to Manchester United’s Robin van Persie, who had the rather odd combination of his own right foot and David Luiz’s backside to thank for his goal, assist and three bonus points.
Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta, Fulham’s Bryan Ruiz and Norwich’s Michael Turner were a point adrift of RVP on 11, while new Dad Gareth Bale notched 10 points for a goal against his old club at St. Mary’s.
After that, there were a whole host of players who scored nine points – Gael Clichy, Ryan Shawcross, James McArthur, Mike Leigertwood and Steven Naismith, while Simon Mignolet was the top stopper with eight points.
J-League
The cutthroat nature of life at the top of the J-League was again evident as Barry McCabe’s Breffni Blues wrestled top spot back from Stephen Ruth’s Man Red after a solid 60 points this week.
Having topped the overall charts a few weeks back, Barry is now seventh in the world, 18 points off top spot, which explains his rather commanding lead over everybody apart from Stephen in the J-League.
The chasing pack are still fighting the good fight, however, led by Gavin Gingles’ Meath Lovers Pizza in third, with James Kelleher’s The Aristocrats and Darren McCann’s Dazzleros hot on his heels in fourth and fifth place.
J-League Top 5:
- Breffni Blues – Barry McCabe: 617 points
- Man Red – Stephen Ruth: 610 points
- Meath Lovers Pizza – Gavin Gingles: 583 points
- The Aristocrats – James Kelleher: 581 points
- Dazzleros – Darren McCann: 580 points
Glad to be of service
As far as lot of people are concerned, an assist in football didn’t exist until the dawn of Fantasy Football a few years back.
And while that sentence isn’t entirely true, the identity of the provider of the last pass means a whole lot more now than it used to, helped in no small part by the three points on offer for said provider in the Fantasy Premier League.
It’s still early days in the current campaign, but already there are signs as to who is going to finish at the upper end of the assists column come the end of the season. Many of them have been there before while others are making fresh attempts to claim credit for their unselfishness, ironic and all as that might sound.
It should come as no surprise, for example, that the likes of Juan Mata (5), Antonio Valencia (4), Carlos Tevez (6) and Steven Pienaar (4) have a handful of assists to their names already. All of them have excellent records as providers and some, Valencia in particular, seem happier laying on the ball for a colleague rather than taking the shot on themselves.
Wayne Rooney (4) is gradually making his way towards the top and expect him to remain there until the end of the campaign because he has a pretty remarkable 57 assists to his name in the last six seasons.
The players mentioned above all have a well-earned reputation for setting up goals, but what about some new faces?
Towering above everyone so far is the brilliant Eden Hazard (9), who has averaged an assist a game so far, including three in his last two games after none in the previous four. The problem with Hazard is that, like everyone mentioned above bar Pienaar, he costs a fair whack and if you don’t have him already, chances are you’ll have to do a bit of shuffling to get him in.
Thankfully, there are cheaper alternatives. Reading midfielder Jobi McAnuff has five to his name so far and is just a touch over £5 million. Southampton’s Adam Lalana is a bit pricier at £6.0 million but he has laid on four goals for a Saints side second from bottom in the table.
Swansea’s Wayne Routledge and Fulham defender John Arne Riise also have four assists and both are available for less than £6million, while, perhaps surprisingly for such a direct striker, our own Shane Long has three.
Goals, of course, are the most prominent factor when it comes to transfer policy, but a glance at the assists column is always worth a look too. Scoring is not all that matters after all.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: Robin van Persie (£13.4 million). He’s playing against his old club, but the identity of the opposition has rarely affected RVP in the past and he’s on fire at the moment with two goals, four assists and five bonus points in the last four games.
Mid-Range: John Arne Riise (£5.7 million). The aforementioned Riise is flying with four assists and three clean sheets in a Fulham team that have settled in seventh spot without anybody really noticing. Everton will be no easy task but the Cottagers are formidable on home turf.
Bargain Basement: Carlos Cuellar (£4.5 million). Sunderland are about as exciting as Father Stone at the moment, but they’re fairly tight at the back and are nearly certain not to concede many at home to a very mediocre Villa side. Cuellar has played every minute of the last three games and Martin O’Neill doesn’t like changing his teams a lot.
Irish Pick: Wes Hoolahan (£5.5 million). The former Shels man has been outstanding in the Canaries’ last two games and will hopefully mark his Irish call-up with another excellent display at home to Stoke.
Captain’s Pick: Gareth Bale (£9.6 million). He’s scored twice this week already and will no doubt be praying for the opportunity to perform that outdated ‘rocking the baby’ celebration he did at Carrow Road in front of the home crowd against Wigan on Saturday.
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