When Laurent Koscielny scores a last minute hand ball goal to make him the best scoring player of the gameweek you know something crazy went down. We need to look at this further. Let the post-mortem begin. One word keeps going round and round in my head. Patience. When the world is crumbling around you and even Zlatan has lost his magic touch, do not despair. This is the time. We must stay in control. We must have Patience. It wasn’t just Zlatan though. Sanchez and Aguero were also out of form. This meant that the captain picks for 35 of the Top 50 failed. If you listen carefully even now you can hear the mutterings of discontent from fellow FFUKers. But do not despair. Patience. Breathe. It will come good. Well, it can’t get any worse than the week just gone can it?
It was a great weekend for Spurs and Liverpool fans. Chelsea won too. But for those who support the Manchester teams it was not so rosy. United are stuttering even without Rooney and whilst City had previously looked imperious they clearly missed KDB. But it was City’s defence that looked vulnerable and definitely needs adjustment. Kolarov is not a centre back. He is a left back, Pep is not looking quite so clever now. Oh yeah and Arsenal got lucky again.
Firmino (12) and Milner (10) were the ones to go for from Liverpool this time round but it looks like a real challenge to work out which mid to pick each week from the scousers. Danny Rose (10) was the star man for Spurs in their win although Bravo (11) with a penalty save actually scored the highest in that game. For Chelsea it was Willian (10) and Costa (12) who did the damage to Hull.
The aforementioned Koscielny (15), courtesy of his late hand ball goal, clean sheet and the inevitable bonus hoovered up the points at Turf Moor. Gutted for Burnley and their fans, including our very own Ben Beill (54th). Do we have any more Burnley fans amongst us? I’m just thankful that Sanchez didn’t get involved. Payet (10) scored a wonder goal at the Taxpayers Stadium to remind us of his talents. Deeney (9) continued his fantastic recent form with a goal and maximum bonus and looks a real option for the next few games. New WBA boy Chadli (10) also continued to impress with another goal and max bonus. Clean sheets were a little easier to come by in Gameweek 7. Chelsea, Leicester, Spurs, Southampton and Arsenal were the defences to be on. My Sunderland, Everton, Man City, Swansea, Liverpool combo wasn’t quite as effective.
Be Patient. Clean sheets will come and I will keep telling myself that for now. You may find it easier to relax with a game of scrabble or you might be more the type who likes to get down to Nas & Damian Marley. Perhaps you like to unwind with a bit of Take That? Patience is the key word. Don’t worry if you prefer something more Jazzy, there is even something from Bootie Brown and Berenice van Leer to sort you out- check out the videos at the bottom! Having said all of this I must confess I have already made my transfers for the next gameweek. 2 of them. My patience wore thin. And now I have to sit through an uncomfortable international break.
Enough of all that though. Lets take a look at the Top 50 in the FFUK league:
Congratulations to Lester Deeble (1st) who takes top spot this week. I hope you can handle the pressure better than I did. Lester’s 59 points this week were achieved despite captaining Aguero. A double spurs defence of Walker (6) and Vertonghen (6) was ballsy to say the least. Last season’s runner up Lester had big Wes Morgan (6) at the back too. Firmino (12), Lukaku (8) and Deeney (9) got the attacking points. Capoue (2) did nothing 😉
Stuart Newton (5th) was the best scorer in the Top 10 with 65. Everything is a lot easier when you captain turns up and Bobby Firmino (24) was a shrewd choice. Great pick. Costa (12), Payet (10) and Son (6) were on hand to ensure Stuart was sitting pretty by the end.
Top scorers this week goes to Clifford Fox (23rd) and John McHugh (29th) who both scored 75, particularly impressive with the scarcity of points available. Clifford captained Costa (24) and also could rely on Cech (6), Bellerin (6), Firmino (12), Payet (10) and Deeney (9). John McHugh went with captain Koscielney (30). Incredible pick sir, we bow to your fantasy knowledge. Who are you going for next time? Van Dijk (9), Milner (10) and Deeney (9) provided the support.
On the flip side there were a few horror stories. Do you wanna hear some?
Lee Hopkins (36th) look away now. I’ll keep this as brief as I can. His 26 points was a real horror show. Captain Zlatan (2) flunked big time as I know only too well. It was left to Benteke (5) to score any attacking points but that was it. Ouch.
Last week’s leader Neil Stewart (5th) could only muster 33 points. His captain Sanchez (6) wasn’t ideal but then there was only Lukaku (8) and Pickford (6) who put up any sort of fight.
Haroon Rashid (47th) also had a weekend to forget only managing 34 points. Captain Zlatan (2) failed – are you keeping the big Swede or shipping him out? Pickford (6), Walker (6) & Lukaku (8) were the only rays of hope.
My own performance wasn’t much better and I ended up with 38 points, falling to 12th position. The average score for this gameweek was 42. If you are below the weekly average then there are issues. Something needs to change. Forget patience. Surgery is needed isn’t it? I had faith in my team but there is not a lot of it left now. Zlatan & Antonio have gone already. Who is next? My whole team resembles a last chance saloon at the moment.
For those in despair all is not lost for we are about to get into Cup Qualification. Recent form goes out of the window. Check out Pete’s post on the cups and how they will both work and please remember that qualification starts in Gameweek 8! Yes that means the next gameweek!
Look out for Pete’s next post during the International Break. I’m away the next couple of weeks so I leave you in his very capable hands. Remember folks – Have a little Patience!
FFUK 