He’s been one of the players of the season so far without question, but after a slight dip of late, is it time to jettison Manchester City midfielder David Silva?
The nominees for the PFA Player of the Year will be announced in the coming weeks and although it would be a travesty if Robin van Persie doesn’t get the nod, he can expect competition from the likes of Wayne Rooney, Demba Ba, Vincent Kompany and David Silva.
Because the votes are normally cast for the award far too early, the results can often be slightly controversial – just look at Ryan Giggs much-mocked ‘lifetime achievement’ award three years back or when David Ginola won it in 1999, the very year Manchester United picked up an unprecedented treble.
Although nobody would argue with the contenders mentioned above, Ba and Silva would hardly be nominated if the performances of the last couple of months are anything to go by, even it would be grossly unfair to overlook their contributions for the most part of the season.
Fantasy Football, though, is an unsympathetic and analytical business and though we’re huge admirers of what Silva brings to the party, the temptation to cast him aside is looking very appealing at the moment, for a few reasons.
First of all, there’s the drop in his form, or at least the drop in his stats. Silva is not exactly prolific – his main asset is providing goals – but he hasn’t scored a goal since 18 December.
He has contributed one assist in his last six games and a measly two bonus points in the same period. So central has he been to City’s success, a little fatigue and drop in form is understandable, but can you afford to hold onto a player that costs in excess of £10 million in the hope that he will come good once again?
He’s still in two of every five Fantasy teams so a lot of managers are keeping the faith, but there are a couple of alternative options on the market who are cheaper and in better form than the little Spaniard at the moment.
The main one that springs to mind is Antonio Valencia (£7.6 million). Valencia could have been forgiven for a little rustiness against Wolves on Sunday given that he had missed the previous three games, but instead he tore Stephen Ward a new one and delivered a goal, two assists and two bonus points for a 16-point total.
Better yet, while he was on the sidelines, his price fell by a barely conceivable £0.5 million in a little over three weeks so he’s now easily affordable and he’ll be going up against Fulham at home on Monday night, never the trickiest of opponents on home turf for the Red Devils.
Cheaper still is Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson, who has been a revelation since joining Swansea in January. He also scored 16 points last weekend, the third time he’s managed in excess of ten points since his debut on 15 January. Five goals, three assists and eight bonus points in nine games ain’t half bad, especially for a man who still only costs £5.2 million.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: Robin van Persie (£12.8 million). It might be predictable to pick RVP over and over again, but it’s also predictable when he hits the net time and time again. Villa at home this weekend should provide ample fodder for the flying Dutchman.
Mid-Range: Antonio Valencia (£7.6 million). If he didn’t miss such a large part of the start of the season, he’d be in the running for player of the year. His three goals and 12 assists have all come since 10 December and he hasn’t shown any signs of stopping yet.
Bargain Basement: Gylfi Sigurdsson (£5.2 million). If there was a better signing in the January transfer window, we haven’t seen him. Fits very neatly into a very neat Swansea side and, as elaborated upon above, has a habit of getting on the end of their flowing moves.
Irish Pick: Anthony Pilkington (£5.4 million). Wolves are in such a state at the moment that you half expect them to roll over and let the opposition beat them. If they do that at Carrow Road on Saturday, Pilkington could feast on the carcass.
Captain’s Pick: Wayne Rooney (£12.6 million). Hard to believe that he only came away with one assist from the trashing of Wolves on Sunday, but he was still the man of the match. Fulham at home is normally a banker for United and you’d back him to be on the scoresheet this time around.
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