Things aren’t going quite the way you’d hoped if you, like myself, are a ‘Fantasy Football’ lover. Armchair experts across the UK have been shouting at their televisions on Saturday night as results have gone somewhat wrong. We sit in front of Match of the Day and avoid reality by cheering on members of our dream team, so disappointed are we with the hapless hoofing of their favourite real-life squad. And usually it’s fun. But so far this season, the Premier League has been ruining Fantasy Football. And why? Because the players that are meant to be good, the ones that cost the most to pick – the ones you have scrimped and saved on every couple of thousand pretend pounds to afford… are crap.
Don’t get me wrong, it makes for a very interesting start to the Premier League season, but it’s more than a little infuriating! Liverpool losing twice, Man United struggling twice in their opening 3 games, one of last year’s tightest defences Everton letting in a goal a minute, and the debut of Blackburn’s £7m Kalinic making ‘the future of Croatian football’ look very bleak indeed. Ok, so I knew that last one was a long shot. But you get my point.
And, after they made it 3 points from 9, equalled last season’s tally of defeats, and, er, got stuffed at home (losing for the first time in 32 matches) Liverpool’s 1-3 defeat to Aston Villa is this week’s Premier League spotlight.
Despite an action-packed first couple of minutes, Liverpool’s midfield looked nowhere near as inventive and incisive as Villa’s in the first half, with a surprisingly bold and confident first 45 from Martin O’Neill’s men, who until Monday had won only twice in 18 competitive matches (Newcastle & Hull). Woeful defending from set-pieces cost the Reds dearly, with first Lucas nodding into the wrong onion bag and then Curtis Davies heading home unmarked, seconds before the whistle. And while the second half improved for Liverpool, as they besieged the goal of their former ‘keeper Brad Friedel to yield a Torres goal, they could not haul the game back. Captain Wonder Stevie Gerrard to blame as, in his attempts to do everything, he proceeded to dump Nigel Reo-Coker on his backside in the box. A clinical Ashley Young put the game, but not the talking points, to bed.
Though the talk of titles lost is far too premature, (Man Utd having looked equally poor at the start of several of their Championship winning seasons) there are some major problems with this Liverpool side. The main one being how do you solve a problem like Alonso? Xabi left for the Galacticos, but the metronomic midfield maestro has not been replaced. Alberto Aquilani was signed to fill the void, but aside from being an entirely different type of player, the Italian is injured. As he has been much of his young career to date.
The difficulty is, that without another striker, the Reds cannot risk Gerrard in midfield. But without Alonso, there is nobody in the Liverpool midfield that can pass. So the captain, red-and-yellow ‘G’ on his blue lycra undergarment just visible, has to charge around the pitch for the ball, unable to do that dove-tailing trick that worked so nicely last season.
It is a dilemma for Benitez, who, as the subs bench has been screaming recently, has precious few options. With only Voronin, or N’Gog (Babel never is, never was, and never will be a proper striker) to fill the striking berths, the Spanish tactician may well be regretting spending £18m on Glen Johnson. Not that he isn’t good – ironically he has been Liverpool’s star performer thus far – but because, even if Aquilani can somehow answer the Alonso question, Liverpool are still going to be where they were last season – one striker short of a picnic.
Results elsewhere saw Ancelotti’s Chelsea train continue to chug towards the title, his formation stuck on ‘diamond’ mode. Drogba and Anelka have formed a good partnership at its pinnacle, both scoring in the 2-0 win at Fulham, but it remains to be seen if Ancelotti can change his tactics if needed…
Manchester United finally stopped their run of woeful performances with a 5-0 rout at Wigan, although it was the least convincing hammering Footie Frog has seen, as Utd really struggled in the opening 45. Goals from Rooney (2) Berbatov, Owen and Nani proved that the Champions flow when the floodgates are opened, it’s just a matter of opening them with a team lacking in creativity.
Abou Diaby netted two fine goals as Arsenal romped past visiting Portsmouth 4-1. Kaboul nodded a reply that could have been added to, had Utaka not tripped over his own feet, but Gallas and Ramsey both scored to seal the win, as Arsene’s fluid 433 oozed through Portsmouth’s hole-ridden side. Worryingly for Pompey, David James had to be in superb form just to keep it at four…
City’s spending continued to pay dividends, as an Emmanuel Adebayor goal was enough to dispatch plucky Wolves at Eastlands. The Togo international linked well with Tevez throughout, but City struggled to turn a wealth of chances into goals, and it nearly cost them. They need to be more ruthless for a top 4 spot.
Also challenging for that Champions League place is Spurs, who continue to defy the odds by failing to play like Spurs. A masterstroke on the part of Harry Redknapp, who evidently saw that it had never worked for them in the past, and proceeded to shake things up – actually making the most of the wealth of talent available. Their perfect start was threatened as Carlton Cole pretended he was England class again, firing the Hammers in front in from long range in front of Capello, but goals from fellow Lions hopefuls Defoe and Lennon burst the West Ham bubble.
Burnley won. Yup, again. Anyone who took a risk on a couple of them in the Fantasy side has done ok. I doubt this dream will last, but if Bikey can play as he did on Sunday, and if they can play the hapless Everton every week, then it just might. Oh – it helps if people like Wade Elliot continue to nab a goal.
A Kenwyne Jones double gave Sunderland victory over Blackburn after Gael Givet had netted for Rovers in the first half, proving that the power and options in the Black Cats’ strikeforce should be enough to propel them up the league this season.
Goals look hard to come by for Bolton however, as their defeat at the hands of Kamel Ghilas of Hull leaves them pointless and goalless after their opening couple of games. If they fail to bring in another striker this week, they, along with Pompey and Wigan, may not be able to secure the goals to keep them out of the danger zone.
Birmingham are fast proving to be the most boring side in the League, and, despite the ridiculously expensive signing of 'Chucho' Benitez, they are similarly goal-starved up front. Their striking woes are shared by Stoke, whose key man, James Beattie, went off injured in the St Andrews stalemate.
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