There are still a couple of fixtures before the official end of the game week, however I wanted to have a quick review of the first weekend.
Points scored: 57
Player by player review
Foster – after a last minute change of keeper, I was delighted to see Foster pick up a clean sheet and 7+ rating on the opening day of the season.
Valencia – another clean sheet and 7+ rating. Couldn’t have asked for much more. Little disappointed that he picked up a booking.
Matip – complete let down, Liverpool were a shambles at the back. Hopefully this can be turned around with the Champions League qualifiers. Will be replaced if not.
Baines – another clean sheet. Slight disappointment that he didn’t get a 7+ rating.
Ogbonna – I expected 0 points for the first game week, to finish on -4 was annoying. The only positive to take from this was that at least he started the game, I’m hoping this means he could be a regular for the season.
Mane – a goal and 7+ rating. Couldn’t ask for any more from a midfielder. Playing almost as a striker, very happy with his selection.
De Bruyne – disappointed that De Bruyne didn’t pick up a few more points against Brighton (who never looked a threat). A goal or a couple of assists would have been a bonus.
Salah – a goal and 7+ rating. Couldn’t ask for any more from a midfielder.
Lukaku – made the start I’d hoped for. 2 goals and 13 points.
Kane – I felt like Kane was going to make or break my weekend. He wasn’t player I overly wanted to pick but felt like I had to in case he got off to a flyer. Disappointed he didn’t get on the score sheet and got booked. Could argue that he was unfortunate not to open his account as he hit the post late on. However I’ve already got a feeling that Aguero could outscore him in terms of points this season by some margin.
Lacazette – on the score sheet within minutes, couldn’t have asked for much more.
Overall conclusion
I’d say the team has made a steady start. I’m a little surprised I’m not higher up in the league already with:
3 out of 5 defensive players picking up clean sheets
4 out of 6 attacking players grabbing a goal
After the first weekend of fixtures, I couldn’t really have asked for much more. My only real disappointments were Matip and Kane. I hadn’t expected much from Ogbonna as West Ham travelled to Old Trafford.
Areas of concern
I don’t feel the need to rush into any transfers, nothing has really made me think that my initial plan has gone out of the window. I’m still happy to keep my team as is, with the additional european fixtures coming up. However a few players did catch my eye:
– Firmino – could rack up a huge number of points over the additional qualifying games. Despite having 2 Liverpool midfielders I kind of wish I’d stuck with Firmino as my third striker (just for August).
– Aguero – he was never in my plans but I still felt uneasy about leaving him out. Having watched the Man City game, I’m now more concerned that he’s going to be one of the biggest point scorers this season.
– Kompany – at 3.5m he looks a much better option than Matip. Some Man City defensive coverage could be important this season. Should Kompany stay fit he could be a great option.
As always, share your thoughts/ideas in the comments below.
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I picked up Jesus instead of laca so I’m trailing a little already.
I wouldn’t drop kane just yet let him have another match and lest see, he is a slow starter normally but has come good the last few years.
Matip is a disastrous pick, the entire Liverpool back line was a joke, I have my eye on kompany also, may pick him up this week
Yeah I’m not going to be rushing into taking Kane out. He will have until end of August at least.
To be honest I didn’t rate Matip or Liverpool defensively before the season started and I still don’t. I got drawn into picking players from teams with extra fixtures. On paper they could have picked up a couple of clean sheets within the first few games but that doesn’t look likely now. He will be coming out once the Champions League qualifiers are over.
Hi,
First time I’ve ever done dream team and I was kind of forced into it by work mates. Just wanted to thank you for your time and effort into writing these detailed articles. I am reading all the time. Call me boring but right now I’ve used all the players you’ve used. I’m wondering if Firminio up front along with Mane/Salah would be a good transfer this month with the CL qualifiers? I see a lot of people who are doing well have quite a few players on the same team? I guess that has a negative effect too should they play a terrible game.
Thanks.
Hi Aaron, no problem at all and glad you’re enjoying the blog. I personally won’t be going for Firmino – I wish I’d started with him as originally planned. But I think it’s too late to transfer him in. If you transferred him in now, he won’t start scoring points until the weekend. That would only leave him with one additional game next week and then he would need replacing again. I’m going to try and hold on to my transfers until the end of the month so I can make some more proactive changes going into September.
I’m reasonably happy with my start. I got 62 points with only matip & ogbonna being my no point scorers.
I’m glad I went with pogba,I think he will do very well this season especially as Man Utd signed Matic which will allow pogba to play further forward.
I also think Mane is gonna be well up high in the midfield points scorers.
I’m kinda wishing I’d gone with firmino instead of Lacazette for the Qualifiers.
Ah well we can’t have them all I suppose.
Pogba looks like a good choice and also Alli and Eriksen made a strong start. Mane does look good as does Salah – they are almost playing as strikers so it’s going to be difficult to decide which one to drop. I’m thinking the same about Lacazette – it was good to see him get on the score sheet but Firmino is two points ahead of him already with two more games to play. I had him in my initial team and wish I’d stuck with this. I got a little influenced by the number of people opting for Lacazette.
57 pts my best too. 4 teams on 56pts.
Ironically as you get 10 teams for free – I did my main team (the team I document on here and submit to leagues) then put no thought into the other 9. I’ve got two teams on over 70 points – typically outperforming the team I spent hours researching and selecting.
Well you MUST have put some thought, hence why bother entering at all ! ? It’s typically the way, that there’s one of your teams, or more, that outscores your highlighted team.
Looking forward to Liverpool’s game tonight & a clean sheet from City next Monday !
I’ve signed up to a few local dream team leagues and I am following your advice as if it were from the word of God in itself haha I have however picked Pogba instead of mane as he scored ridiculously last year and this year with matic he’s more free. But basically all I wanted to say is good luck for the season fella!! Ha
Haha glad you’ve found it useful. Pogba did look good at the weekend and I think you’re right about Matic feeling him up. Good luck for the season.
Is this a good idea???
Lacazette for Rooney
Matip for Walker
Pickford for De Gea (until evertons hard fixtures are gone0
I’m trying to hold fire with my transfers. I personally wouldn’t rush into anything. I don’t think I’d be tempted to put Rooney in over Lacazette at this stage and I’m planning on sticking with Matip for the additional Champions League fixtures coming up. I know Liverpool were shocking at the back but hopefully they improve over the next few games.
TAA looks great, may get him over Matip this weekend
He does look bright but personally I’ll be moving away from Liverpool defenders (after the next Champions League qualifiers), as a result I won’t want to waste a transfer on him just for one game week.
Any more thoughts on Transfers before GW2?
Could be keeping the team as is for me, can’t see any reason to make changes just yet:
Foster – probably won’t change all season, clean sheet in game week 1
Matip – keeping until after Champions League qualifiers
Baines – keeping until after Europa League qualifiers
Ogbonna – awful start but at his price can’t see a better alternative and they have a few easier fixutres coming up.
Valencia – keeping for the foreseeable future
Mane – good start, no need to change with home game at Palace then Champions League qualifier mid week
Salah – no need to change, same reasons as Mane
De Bruyne – didn’t score well in game week 1 but he’s still one of the first names on City’s team sheet and the only player I have representing them at the moment. Happy to stick with him for now.
Lukaku – keeping for the foreseeable future
Kane – bad start from a point scoring perspective but did hit the post. Happy to see how this goes.
Lacazette – good start and travel to Stoke at the weekend. Happy to see how this fixture goes.
On paper I’ve still got confidence this is the right team for August. I can’t see me making any changes for game week 2. I’m a little uncomfortable not having Aguero but my strikers are still strong.
Had you made any plans to make changes? Or think I should be as a matter of urgency?
I am with you in the main. Kicking myself that I didnt put Firmino in. Like you, I had him from the start and changed him. Knowing that Kane tends to take a little while to find his feet, and the goal in the first few weeks of the season, I regret not putting Firmino in for August and swapping with Kane at the end of the month.
I think your team is lacking in Man City representation. After Everton’s game midweek, I would look to change Baines for Kompany I think. I would also take Matip out, as I dont see Liverpool getting many clean sheets, but I think you are right – no changes required this week
Yeah I’ve roughly got a few transfers in mind already:
For certain after additional European qualifiers:
Baines out, Kompany in
Matip out, Davies or Kolasinac in
End Aug/Early Sep:
Kane out, Aguero in (if Kane hasn’t scored by then and Aguero looks good)
De Bruyne out, Alli in (if Kane gets taken out)
But it’s very early days, this is just my impression after game week 1. Could be a completely different perspective this time next week. I’d like to see the Champions League draw before rushing into anything.
Ha ha, you are right… Its week one… maybe I should take my own advice from a couple of days ago and not panic!
Haha it was certainly an interesting first week, but I think things could quickly change. I do have a bad feeling about Kane at the moment though.
Love your blog, very interesting and intellectual thoughts. I have a very similar team to yours e with the exceptions Fosu-Mensah/Ogbonna, Pogba/De Bruyne, Mirallas/M Salah & Firmino/Lacazette. I have the feeling Kane wont be as good this year ,so may transfer him out at the end of the month. What do you think about replacing him with Alli/Ericssen to keep the Spurs presence or maybe Aguero. ?
Keep up the good work.
I was thinking along the same lines but I was going to transfer Kane out for Aguero and take De Bruyne out for Alli to keep the balance. My current plan is to try and hold onto my transfers until the end of the month as I still think I’m in a good position going into game week 2.
With Everton having man city next week baines is looking suspect, thinking about dropping him
I’m going to leave him in for one more week. Despite playing Man City they do have the return leg of their qualifier.
Reports mane could be out for the next 2 games
Pogba dele anyone ?
Or stay patient and no knee jerk reaction
Have to see before kick off tomorrow at 3pm to see if Mane is out and if it is 2 weeks?
I think this is a rumour as he wasn’t pictures in training, as far as I am aware he is good to go.
I’m with you wait till tomorrow on this one
I’ll be taking him out if he’s injured. Best place I’ve found to check for certain is http://premierinjuries.com/ – it’s a shame Man Utd are kicking off at 12:30. I’d probably have gone for Pogba but he will be locked out if I wait for team news for the Liverpool game.
No one else thinking dropping baines for
Kompany/Jones/yoshida?
I’ll be swapping him for Kompany or Davies I’d imagine. At the end of game week 2.
You don’t feel he’s problematic playing against man city?
I agree there is a good chance of a clean sheet in Europe but the same can be said for any top team defender.
What’s the thought behind keeping him?
Yeah I don’t see him picking up any points against City. Only Everton and Liverpool have the additional fixtures this week – none of the other top team defenders are playing in Europa over the next game week. He picked up 10 points last night. I’d hope Everton can keep another clean sheet in the return leg – if Baines plays. The main thinking behind it is holding back the transfers until after game week 2 – I’m fairly happy with my team based on the upcoming fixtures next week.
Ah, holding the transfer makes sense.
Loving your site mate