Welcome to the gameweek 21 review. What a weekend it was. Was it a happy one for you? Normally my score of 67 would be respectable but on this weekend in particular it was distinctly average, consequently I’m not exactly Mr Happy right now. But there were some of you who managed some really impressive scores. Well done to you all, did that sound sincere?
It all started on Friday afternoon as news of a bust up between Conte and Costa came through on the wireless. The most owned player in the game missing out was always going to create a stir. The rumours were right for once as he failed to make the matchday squad for Chelsea on Saturday. Whether Costa was injured or is more interested in a rumoured move to China, well none of us can be sure on that one but what I do know is that if anyone was working overseas and someone came along and offered us 5 times what we were already earning for the doing our job then we would, at the very least, be interested in and explore the option further. Isn’t this what the Premier League have been doing for years now? Having said all of this I have been impressed with the way Conte has handled the situation so far.
Is Costa currently Mr Happy ? I am not naive enough to expect him to be a Chelsea fan, and I don’t really expect much loyalty in football any more. However I am also confident that many of the press reports were blown out of all proportion and as you can see from the photo below, he is now training once again. If a Chinese team wants to pay £80m for the services of a 28 year old then I’m with Yannick Bolasie in thinking it suits both parties to sell, we certainly don’t want to keep a player that doesn’t want to play for the club, I have watched him last season when his heart wasn’t in it and playing like that I would prefer someone else. It would be nice if he could finish this season with us then re-assess. Anyway all of this certainly provided plenty of conjecture on the WhatsApp group 0n Friday evening, ending in a blur of oasis songs. Fortunately from an FPL point of view I don’t own Diego anymore having upgraded !?!?!? to what I thought was going to be the ever reliable Sergio – What the FFUK is going on with him? That is a whole different subject matter which may have to wait for another time!
Will Costa return for the next round of Fixtures? With Chelsea at home to Hull the centre forward would normally be in firm captaincy territory but many owners will be waiting with baited breath for more news this week, lets hope there are no further Chinese whispers. Another spanner in the works of this season, we should be getting used to these by now.
But there was actually some football that took place. Lets quickly look at the highlights. First up Spurs decimated West Brom in a hugely impressive performance. One of these days I might have to admit that Spurs have a chance of a title challenge. On Saturday new Daddy Kane (17) added the match ball to his already rather successful week with his hatrick. Eriksen (10) was on hand with a couple of assists and man of the moment Alli (5) even picked up a cheeky assist to keep his score ticking over. Clean sheets too for those with Tottenham defensive assets.
In the evening game a Costa-less Chelsea triumphed over last season champions Leicester. 3-0. Step forward Marcos Alonso (21) with a brace, clean sheet and max bonus taking him to 21 points for the gameweek. making him the top defender in the game and top scoring player for GW21. Felicidades! As an owner and Chelsea fan I can assure you I enjoyed those goals very much and nearly spilt my pint as a 2nd half effort for his 3rd whistled past the post. A hat-trick from a defender is the stuff of legends. I’m not sure Marcos Alonso is ready to go down in history with Steve Watson just yet.
On Sunday Sky Sports rather lazily billed the double header as Merseyside vs Manchester. The Man Utd vs Liverpool game took up most of the column inches but, from an FPL point of view, it was a fairly irrelevant 1-1 draw, although of course Zlatan (7) continued his scoring streak. Performance of the weekend though goes to Everton who ripped to shreds a sorry Man City 4-0 with a string of fine performances from in particular a trio of Toffees youngsters. Holgate (5) at 4.1 could be a great option if he can cement a place or if Koeman continues with 3 at the back. In the middle Tom Davies (8) scored a lovely deft flick and at 4.3 could also be a great option as a 5th mid dependent on starts. Finally new boy Lookman (6) made everyone take notice with a great finish from a tight angle, not bad as he only got 6 minutes to show his worth. Everton now have some tasty fixtures on the horizon too.
There was more but i think now is the time to look at the top 50 in the FFUK league. There were some mammoth scores for all to see…
Nick Johns (1st) remains at the summit and extends his lead courtesy of 86 points. Nick was 1 of 74 FFUKers who gave the armband to Sanchez (22), by far the most popular selection and a solid pick. Kane (17) was of course the star plus Eriksen (10), Alli (5), Ibra (7), Hazard (6) even his budget defenders Holebas (6) and Friend (6) picked up vital clean sheet points. Well played Nick – we are all trying to provide at least some competition for you, please dont run away with the league just yet!
Top scorer in the top 10 goes to our newest poster Matt Reid (6th) with 98 points. Just 2 points from fantasy dreamland but still a very impressive score. Matt used his AOA, also captaining Sanchez (22) but was thankful for the mass of points from Alonso (21), Heaton (10) and Antonio (15). I noticed another -4 hit there Matt – was this just because of Costa or is this becoming a habit now? Either way it seems to be working. Keep up the good work.
There were a few managers who did achieve the dream. Treble figures. The 100 club. Wow. However you say it, it sounds FFUKing good. Top of the pile for GW21 was Andrew Roberts (37th) with an eye watering 110 points. I have had an email from Andrew today notifying me of his best gw score. I have now updated the BEST GW SCORE tab accordingly. This is the one to beat right now. But how did he manage it? Captain Kane (34) was the best possible start. Andrew was 1 of 26 to give the Spurs main man the armband in what turned out to be a master stroke. Heaton (10), Alonso (21), Walker (11), Sanchez (11) plus even Baines (6), Defoe (6) and even Snoddy (5) all chipped in too. In fact only Siggy (2), Lallana (2) and Rondon (2) didnt achieve extra points. Incredible effort Mr Roberts we bow to your excellence!
Well done to all the following who all achieved the holy grail of being in the hundred club. In order of next best scorer… 106 points Sean Griffin (13th) then down to 103 points for Dan Calabrese (74th) and Lee Macnamara (141st). Rich Harrison (48th) managed a huge 102. Next along was another Macnamara, James (85th) with 100 points. All massively impressive scores. Big Respect to all of you I am guessing you all went to work on Monday looking like Mr Happy.
Before we go its only right that we look at the other side of the coin, those at the bottom of the pile.
The unwanted award for lowest score in the top 50 this week goes to John Harper (24th) with just 39 points. Where did it go wrong? Well the problems started with Aguero (4) captain and didnt really improve. I wont even mention the 8 point hit to get rid of Costa. At least Hazard (6), Ozil (6) and Zlatan (7) offered crumbs of comfort. Not sure how to make you feel better about it John… at least Arsenal won I guess.
Sorry Richard Green (27th) there is no escaping it either as he managed just 43 points. Another with Aguero (4) captain. I am sensing a theme here, 23 FFUKers made that very same mistake. Ouch. MacAuley (-3) certainly didnt help matters especially with Holebas (6) sitting smugly on his bench. Richard, when you have regained your composure, I have a question – is the Aguero experiment going to continue? I’d like to know as I am in a similar predicament.
That’s it for another gameweek review. 21 down, 17 to go. The top 50 is, like the rest of the FFUK league, still incredibly competitive and with a couple of good gameweeks back to back you can really see progress climbing the league. However conversely the opposite is true meaning that if you take your eye off the ball or suffer from one of the rollercoaster’s all too regular downs then you can soon see your side slipping away. No-one ever said this was going to be easy.
What else? Oh Yeah we have a new Last Man Standing Competition starting this week courtesy of our very own Tim McEwan (89th). If you have played before you know the score sign up using this LINK. However if you are new to this business then below are the rules. But the basis is mind blowingly simple, just pick one team to win each week, last man standing wins. Sign up by Saturday lunchtime and join the fun. Last time the £90 prize was scooped by a non-FFUKer. We don’t want that to continue so sign up and lets show Tim’s mates we know best. Any questions give us a shout.
That is that then, thanks for reading, and I didnt even have time to mention Andy Carroll’s goal against Palace which, whilst being a thing of absolute beauty is also one of the best examples of the technique I have ever seen… FFUKers – can you think of a better bicycle kick?
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