They say it’s a young man’s game, but there are a few Premier League veterans that would beg to disagree. They’ve got the stats to prove it too.
Following last week’s thriller at Stamford Bridge, the headlines were shared by a number of the different protagonists on show: Javier Hernandez for heading the late equaliser, Juan Mata for his sumptuous volleyed strike, Wayne Rooney for emphatically dispatching two penalties and Howard Webb for his somewhat generous awarding of at least one of those spot kicks.
All were equally deserving of attention, but perhaps the man most worthy of praise was the oldest man on the field, the soon-to-be silver fox himself, Ryan Giggs. Plenty have mentioned that Paul Scholes made a huge difference when he came on and although he did, 38-year old Giggs was a constant threat throughout the 90 minutes and the provider of an inch-perfect cross for Hernandez’s equaliser.
It was a trick he had pulled off against Arsenal a few weeks earlier and if you look through the stats, his cross for Hernandez was his eighth assist of the season, the same total as both Juan Mata and Gareth Bale and beaten by only five other players in the Premier League. Considering that Giggs is far from a regular these days, it is an incredible return, especially for a man who has been written off time and again in recent seasons.
Because he doesn’t play all the time, it’s a risk putting Giggs in your squad, but he plays nearly all the big games. He’ll probably start against Liverpool this weekend and, as he showed against Arsenal and Chelsea, he has a habit of making an impact against the big guns. At £6.8 million, he’s not the worst option around.
Giggs’ compatriot Craig Bellamy is another man contradicting accepted wisdom and playing some of his finest football in what should be his twilight years. Despite starting only a handful of games this season, Bellamy has been accounted for nearly a quarter of Liverpool’s goals (six) and also collects quite an amount of bonus points. Like Giggs, Bellamy cannot be relied upon for a regular points haul but at £7.5 million, we’d take him ahead of the £9.1 million Andy Carroll for instance.
One man older than both Giggs and Bellamy and still doing the business is Brad Friedel, who hasn’t missed a single minute of Premier League action this season. Third highest-ranked of all the goalkeepers this season and with only three ‘keepers having made more saves, the American is a risk-free buy at £5.7 million and looks like he could keep going for years yet.
The bones might be getting weary and the half a yard of pace might be gone, but the minds of these old stagers are sharper than ever and they’re not quite ready to be put out to stud (where Giggs would no doubt run riot) just yet.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: Robin van Persie (£13.4 million). Sunderland away is a tough proposition for the Gunners, but the Dutchman will be buzzing after his hat-trick against Blackburn and eh, after reaching more than a million Twitter followers during the week.
Mid-Range: Clint Dempsey (£9.0 million). Stoke are in a horrendous run of form with one win in their last eight and Dempsey can inflict further punishment at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
Bargain Basement: Gylfi Sigurdsson (£5.0 million). He certainly wasn’t the most high profile acquisition in January, but in four appearances to date, the Icelandic midfielder on loan from Hoffenheim has contributed a goal and three assists for Swansea, including a goal and an assist in his first 90 minutes against West Brom last weekend.
Irish Pick: Kevin Doyle (£5.7 million). Could last week have been the pre-Euro 2012 transformation in fortunes for Kevin Doyle that we’ve all been waiting for? Let’s hope he can produce the goods again against West Brom this weekend.
Captain’s Pick: Gareth Bale (£9.6 million). Incredibly difficult choice this weekend, but we’re going to plump for Bale who’ll want to make an impression after a lacklustre showing against Liverpool on Monday night.
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