Got a team I am happy with apart from one position. I need a 6.5 million midfielder...who would you go for?

Current lineup is...

Ronaldo
Fabregas
Arteta
Bentley
?

Yakubu
RVP

McSheffrey at £6.5m or Koumas at £6m.

Both are a gamble but probably the best prospects at that price range.

If you just want someone to collect points, Hargreaves might be worth a punt; he'll play most games, get a few bonus points and score the occasional goal.

And a second problem ...



All miss GW2

My initial reaction at 6.5 is to chance McSheffrey (benched GW1). However by going for a cheapie eg Carlos Edwards 5mil - rotate with 3rd striker/4th defender according to fixtures, you've got an extra 1.5 mil to strengthen defence. That turns a cheapie into a 6 mil big four defender (Clichy, Neville - is he fit?, or chance Chelsea right back), scrape another 0.5 togehter and you're in line for Evra, Finnan ect.

Flyman often suggests comparing value for a "pairs of players" rather than just an individual slot in your squad eg: x+y vs w+z

A less adventurous option would be to take advantage of Bolton's opening fixtures and plump for Speed / Campo. Both are now "getting on a bit" and are unlikely to repeat performances of last season. However either could be a safer bet before value from the promoted sides is revealed.

If you can scrape together that 0.5 then there are a few more attractive options in the 7mil range eg: Downing, Jenas (esp first 3GW's), ect

Prob best posted in the RMT forum as you're full squad / formation will help with suggestions

Is there any more information on Flyman's pairing theory? Such as a breakdown of which pairs work well together due to fixtures or whatever? I've seen something on the GK thread which was really interesting but nothing elsewhere.

For 6.5mil I would get McSheffrey, Parker, Reo Coker...

Depends on the rest of your team though and whether you might need balance elsewhere so it would be better to spend less than 6.5mil on the 5th midfielder. Post the full squad on RMT

Sorry at work and no time but has there been another game postponed from GW2? I see Blackburn are not playing, who were they meant to be playing?

I cannot believe that everyone is overlooking Milner. Yes, he misses week 2, but if you have adequate cover from the bench, it's not a problem. In week 1, Newcastle go to Bolton. Big Sam will want to win there, and with the array of attacking options at Newcastle + the potential frailty of Bolton's defence, it's a gold ticket to the chocolate factory!

You dont know this

Not so much a theory, more just putting things in perspective. By looking at players in isolation, you neglect the impact that money will have invested elsewhere.

Using the example I mentioned above:

4.5mil Defender + 6.5 Midfielder vs 6mil Defender + 5mil Midfielder

Which pair will accumulate the most points over the course of the season?

Ingimarsson & Milner (there you go Bert )

or

Clichy & Edwards

or

Richards & Parker

I do now! It was a spur of the moment post. Dont worry Im in good shape folks to shoot you all down

Nothing wrong with the old men early season... they are fresh, and time between games to recover. So Speed worth looking at - will he take penalties still? Think he started last season quite well (so too Campo) but ended up at his usual price as his points dropped away.

Not Arteta, surely? Blackburn and Villa are out for GW2 now, but not Everton - or have I missed something?

... just testing

Tightened my sphincter reading that Everton is out too--it's a mistake we're saying, right? Christ that, Lamps' toe, and the Blackburn nonsense would suddenly have me with half a field.

Why not gamble on Martin Petrov? He had a decent Euro 2004 if i recall right

welcome to the forum, larrionda.
short answer is coz he involves the word bolded above.
he's an unproven 'carlos kick-a-ball' till he puts the points on the board in a league he's not played before.

actually, i was just thinking today 'stilian petrov' is my favourite player but i wouldn't pick him, ff-wise.

While Speed will manage some attacking points, I think Campo, on the evidence of last season, no longer has the legs for the Premiership.

I'm going with Speed because I can see a lot of Bolton's games being a bit more physical and he's the PK

Speed for the start.

{edited}

Speed it is then.

Okay I am going to plug that Pompey newcomer Muntari again, he is going to gain some bonus points in the middle of the park and in spite of their first 6 fixtures I can see the Ghanian becoming their Essien...