Now that they’re over their early season wobble, Swansea are a very attractive proposition both for fans and for Fantasy Football managers.
Gameweek 14 review
You may have heard about the guy who made transfers worth 48 points to assemble a team entirely from the four teams playing on Tuesday night, but he must have known something everyone else didn’t because three of those players – Simon Mignolet (8 points), Matthew Kilgallon (9) and Christian Benteke (9) –made the Dream Team this week.
Those three aside, plenty of the big hitters delivered the goods in midweek and managers must have been licking their lips early on Wednesday evening when the likes of Gareth Bale, Robin van Persie and Marouane Fellaini had all got on the scoresheet before half-time.
Fellaini (10) and Bale (10) made the Dream Team while Robin van Persie (9) didn’t because of the performances of the likes of Wayne Routledge (15), Cameron Jerome (11), Gareth Barry (10), Robert Snodgrass (10), Pablo Zabaleta (8) and John Arne Riise (8).
All in all, with a decent mixture of goals and clean sheets thrown in there was plenty of scope for totals of 50-60 points plus, not bad for one of the few midweek Gameweeks there will be this season.
J-League
Solid but unspectacular was the order of the day in the J-League this week, with all the top five posting scores within an eight point range. As a result, Barry McCabe’s Breffni Blues are still hanging tough in top spot, with himself and Darren McCann’s Dazzleros opening up a bit of a gap between themselves and the rest of the field.
Still, while at a safe distance for now, the chasing pack, led by Derek Dickenson’s Haven’t Got a Kalou are well within reach, with Neil Cullen’s Riggins’ Rovers and Mickey Hanrahan’s Shawn Michaels Babes making up the rest of the top five.
J-League Top 5:
- Breffni Blues – Barry McCabe: 860 points
- Dazzleros – Darren McCann: 851 points
- Haven’t Got a Kalou – Derek Dickenson: 836 points
- Riggins’ Rovers – Neil Cullen: 832 points
- Shawn Michaels Babes – Mickey Hanrahan: 830 points
It’s all going swimmingly for the Swans
When the pundits were making their predictions about how this season would pan out back in August, Swansea featured fairly highly in the list of relegation candidates. Second season syndrome was bound to be a factor, as was the departure of their manager and probably their best player last season to Liverpool in the summer.
Instead, Swansea have brought in a manager who appears to be as progressive and Rodgers and Martinez before him and have added to the squad with a couple of imports from La Liga who have surprised many with how quickly they have made an impact in the Premier League.
After a great start and subsequent wobble, it’s all plain sailing for Swansea again, with Laudrup’s men now only a point behind Arsenal ahead of the meeting between the sides at the Emirates this weekend.
Michu’s scoring record for a none too prolific Rayo Vallecano in Spain last season was an indicator of his quality but few would have expected him to make the impact he has made so far, with only Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie managing more than his eight goals.
The good thing at the moment for fantasy managers with Michu (£7.9 million) in their team is that with Danny Graham currently sidelined, Swansea play without a recognised striker and rely on their midfielders to do the damage in front of goal. And they have obliged.
Pablo Hernandez (£6.1 million) has been particularly impressive in recent weeks and has contributed to the cause with two goals and three assists. After two goals in midweek, Wayne Routledge (£5.4 million) is not far behind Michu as one of the top scoring midfielders, while Nathan Dyer (£5.3 million) and Jonathan de Guzman (£5.7 million) aren’t bad options either.
While Swansea’s strength lies in their midfield, Angel Rangel (£4.8 million) loves to get forward from defence and it is a surprise he has only a goal and no assists to his name this season, while with Michel Vorm out for the foreseeable future, at £4.0 million, Gerhard Tremmel is very cheap for a ‘keeper who’s going to play a lot of games between now and the new year.
There’s a lot to like about Swansea in terms of the way they play football and with an affordable squad that are racking up the points at the moment, there’s a lot to like from a Fantasy Football perspective as well.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: Gareth Bale (£9.7 million). Bale is flying at the moment with a goal in each of his last three games and no, that doesn’t include the one that rebounded hilariously off his face into his own net against Liverpool. With six goals and four assists so far, he’s now the highest points scoring midfielder in the league.
Mid-Range: Theo Walcott (£8.7 million). For how long more he’ll be a Gunner remains to be seen, but he’s certainly reminded Arsene Wenger of his quality with two goals, three assists, three bonus points and 28 points in total in his last three games.
Bargain Basement: Jose Enrique (£5.9 million). Looked like he had fallen out of favour completely after a big slump in form towards the end of last season, but he has been reborn as a makeshift left-winger in recent weeks and scored 24 points in two games before a blank against Spurs on Wednesday night.
Irish Pick: Wes Hoolahan (£5.5 million). His points return doesn’t reflect his brilliant form of late but hopefully he’ll get his just rewards against a Sunderland side that are struggling badly at the moment.
Captain’s Pick: Luis Suarez (£10.4 million). Hasn’t scored in his last two games but has still looked full of confidence. A repeat of his double against Wigan a couple of his weeks back would make everyone who makes him skipper very happy.
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