How about that Oscars show?  Is it over yet?  Is it still February?  Time does fly amazingly.  It is hard to believe that it was just one year ago that we all found out that the rumors were true and we were granted a MLS team for Philadelphia.  What an incredible week that was!  It will be hard to match the joy and excitement that existed in the first few days of the club’s life but I am sure my fellow SoB’s will die trying to though,

As usual; our “Fantasy Zolo” league code is 694916-134116 to join our private league.  Select “Leagues” under your Fantasy Menu and then enter the code and you are good to go.

Thoughts on last week

Another low scoring, defensive week for the Premiership with eight clean sheets across England.  Injuries and fixture congestion are really playing a factor in teams’ performance and starting lineups.  Manchester United were fortunate to win and Liverpool were moments away from effectively conceding the title race before rescuing a draw against City.  The one thing the matches had in common were juggled lineups.

Players going to or coming back from the trainers room ( physio ) were the major stories of last week.  Let’s see how this plays out this week.

This week (Gameweek 27)

Well the FA Cup replay matches are out of the way.  Remember to put that in your thinking if you are dealing with Fulham, Hull City, West Ham, Middlesbrough, or Blackburn players.  Also this will be a very strange Gameweek for us game players. 

There are only eight fixtures for this Gameweek.  ManU & Spurs are off for the Carling Cup and Sunderland & Portsmouth had their related matches with them rescheduled accordingly. 

Another complicating factor will be a full slate of ten matches starting Tuesday that make up Gameweek 28.  This type of fixture congestion could test some starting lineups in the next seven days but we will worry about that after this Sunday.

Three of the 4 Premiership Champions League teams return to action this weekend.  On a related note, Inter Milan doesn’t score at home against ManU in the first leg of Champions League but “the Special One” and Inter still has the upper hand going into the second leg.  Makes one wonder how he does it?  He must truly be “fantastic”!

Players to watch:

Let’s focus on players who hopefully will play this week

• Matt Taylor:  Everyone is looking for the cheap replacement for the popular Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta now that he is out for the season.  Taylor is a good as you can get for a medium value replacement.  He is a regular starter and has put up 24 points in the last 4 weeks.  Jump on this guy before his value shoots up next week.
• Scott Parker:  The West Ham midfielder is really cheap alternative to Arteta at 5£m.  He had a big week last week and should in ink to start this weekend.
• Tim Cahill:  This Everton midfielder could become more popular due to his teammates injury but I wouldn’t give him a strong recommendation.  This one is only for the gamblers.  The reason why is that I think he is overvalued at 7.9£m. 
• Usual suspects:  That of course would be solid midfield performers like Ashley Young & Gareth Barry of Aston Villa & ManCity’s Stephen Ireland.  These are great players but their price tags may bust some manager’s budgets.  Surely Lampard, Ronaldo, and Gerrard (whenever he gets truly healthy) are even better choices but their prices put them in a different Galaxy (MLS pun intended).

Players to drop/sit:

·        Mikel Arteta:  Obviously since he is out for the season but I think over two hundred thousand players may have beat you to it. 

·        Stephen Gerrard:  I know he came on for a curtain call appearance later in the CL match vs. Real Madrid.  However, I just don’t trust Rafa to play him in league matches before they play Madrid again.  If you must put him in, remember to have a solid midfielder who could be an automatic sub for him in the game in case Gerrard doesn’t play. 

·        Any ManU, Tottenham, Sunderland, or Portsmouth players:  See the explanation of Gameweek fixtures above.  This just goes without saying.  If you are happy with them, just bench them as they should play this next midweek on Tuesday when we have a full ten matches again.  I guess that would qualify as a full slate of “business person” specials for us in America to use a baseball phrase.

My Moves:

My team is SoBphillyHarchester*. You can search for my team and take a look at it, I don’t mind, and see if you can find some ideas that may help your club.

• I know, I know.  I don’t listen to my own advice.  I had already gone negative with 2 changes this week when I heard about how serious the injury to Mikel Arteta was.  So 3 changes for me this week to try and extend my lead while sacrificing 8 points.  Mido goes to be replaced by striker Jim Beattie of Stoke City to free up some cash.  West Ham’s Scott Parker comes in at midfield for Hayden Mullins who will be off this week for Portsmouth.  Finally Mikel Arteta goes away for the season & I take my own advice and pickup Matt Taylor of Bolton to help run the midfield.
• Cech starts because Fulham played midweek, Turner comes in for Vidic who is off, Beattie replaces Mido in attack, Taylor starts in place of the dropped Arteta.  Finally, I will hold my nose and start Gerrard but have Parker as my number one sub to replace him because I just don’t trust Rafa.
• As requested, my starting XI is Cech, Turner Jagielka Clichy Konchesky, Gerrard Taylor Lampard(C), Beattie Agbonnlahor Cole

Next week:

Next week?  Next week my eye!  I gotta throw something together in time for Tuesday.  Who knows what you’ll see…hopefully it will be a pleasant surprise.  Thanks for reading…Be good.