Dod's Blog

[skip]

It's a policy of mine to be proactive with my transfers rather than trying to buy last week's points. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't but it certainly makes the game more fun to play.

In all honesty I think this is what you just did with Wilson.

I think my thinking behind picking Arnautovic on my wildcard was flawed. Given his fitness issues he was a poor pick for the busy festive schedule but there were limited options at his price point. When he got injured I was left in a sticky situation. Rondon was an option but had a very short shelf life of 3 GWs. Nobody else appealed. Keeping Arnie was out of the question. Wilson has 2 good fixtures after Liverpool after which I have another decision. TOT & MNU are hardly watertight at home so I could keep him but the plan is he will most likely be upgraded to Kane in GW19. This will need some preparation though.

Wilson was about to rise in price so was a safe harbour for my funds. He's also another nailed player which my squad is somewhat lacking in. I wanted to keep my options open and Wilson seemed the least likely to eat up a transfer during a period when I will need all I have. I couldn't see an alternative. What would you suggest I should have done?

I’m not suggesting anything; I just wanted to give you my honest opinion. I think there would have come a better time in the future to bring him in looking at their next five fixtures. If I hadn’t had him, I - most probably - wouldn’t have brought him in this GW. But if you plan to keep him for three GWs only, then fair enough. LIV, wol, BRI should come good for him.

* I just had a look at your team in the previous GW and am finding it really hard to come up with a different suggestion, so you might have made the correct decision. Trying to fit Lacazette into your second striker spot is almost impossible.

I did look really hard for alternatives. I'm not happy that I have a player in my team that is not only highly owned but that I have paid 6.9m for when others bought him at 6.0m . Dammit! I bought him at 6.0m . Sometimes though you just have to bite the bullet. He was the best option with the funds I had available. Thanks for the input though .

Mitrovic is the only alternative who's not totally left field (Rondon, Rashford, anyone from West Ham, all would be). I know what you mean about buying a highly owned player for significantly more than everyone else has. I kept Mahrez out of my team for his entire breakout season for that reason, to my detriment.

[dod]

GW16 Review and GW17 Preview

GW16 was a bit of a horror show . The Wilson no-show wasn't a big deal but TAA also missing out hurt. Like everyone else who didn't own Salah this GW I was playing catch up and it seemed to be going quite well with Robertson 11pts, Kolasinac 8pts, Son 14pts and Kamara 5pts 1st on my bench. Even my captain Aubaeyang's disappointing 5pt return wasn't a disaster so despite blanks from my MCI midfield double-up I was optimistic going into the last game with Siggy and Mina to play. Unfortunately Siggy's penalty miss cost me a minimum of 10pts as Mina would have had the assist and both players registered big fat zeros .

So 53(-4) pts for the GW saw my 3rd consecutive red arrow and a big slip down to 12515 OR. It was always going to be Siggy's farewell game anyway as I had transferred him out for Anderson the previous evening. My line-up for GW17 is as follows:

Hamer (NEW)

Kolasinac (sou) Robertson (MNU) TAA (MNU)

Eriksen (BUR) Son (c) (BUR) Sane (EVE) Sterling (EVE) Anderson (ful)

Wilson (wol) Aubameyang (vc) (sou)

Bench: Fabianski (ful) Kamara (WHM) AWB (LEI) Mina (MCI)

0.9m ITB TV = 105.0m SV = 103.2m

I did the Siggy Anderson transfer early because Anderson was rising that evening and with no game midweek was low risk. It wasn't so much to make money but my plan is to save my transfer in GW18 and bring in Kane and Gibbs-White for Eriksen and Wilson in GW19. I have a 0.2m margin for this and with Kane almost certainly rising this week it's touch and go whether I will have the requisite funds. Eriksen was only ever a placeholder and with Trippier's imminent return it's time to move him on. This also allows me to shift Wilson who I only intended owning for 3 GWs. Of course I may change my mind .

The armband is currently on Son. He looked dangerous again against Barcelona in midweek and came off after 70 minutes. Wembley is a big pitch and should suit Son as hopefully should the Clarets generous defence. I don't have Kane so Son will have to do. Aubameyang gets the (vc) at leaky St. Mary's.

The team looks good for this GW although as always rotation and injuries could ruin my plans. At least my bench looks reasonable as Wilson and TAA are currently flagged.

As usual suggestions are welcomed .

[Joccki_10]

I’d like to captain Son as well though I’m a little worried he won’t start the game.

[shmiro]

Nice team and very nice blog.

I would really like to hear why u believe Son will start (I understand that u r a Spurs fan).

I didn’t see the game vs. Barca but I heard Lucas Moura was quite good when he came in. Don’t u think it’s an ideal opportunity for him to start and for Son (who is the only midfielder that started all of the previous games) to rest a bit?
Also, how do u think the upcoming Asian games r going to affect his minutes? I can find arguments for both sides so would like to hear yours.


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[muldoon]

Also a fan of the blog, very well written, loved the backgammon stories. More tales and norm challenging analysis please .

You think Hamer is going to play?..I know if not that just effectively auto subs in Fab, but if you've got any news he may actually play, then as a Ederson and Hamer owner, a bench boost opportunity klaxon sounds anytime Hamer gets a whiff of a game

[Sutter Kane]

Nice team and very nice blog.

I would really like to hear why u believe Son will start (I understand that u r a Spurs fan).

I didn’t see the game vs. Barca but I heard Lucas Moura was quite good when he came in. Don’t u think it’s an ideal opportunity for him to start and for Son (who is the only midfielder that started all of the previous games) to rest a bit?
Also, how do u think the upcoming Asian games r going to affect his minutes? I can find arguments for both sides so would like to hear yours.


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I don't know whether it will affect league line-ups but don't Spurs have Arsenal in the league cup QF midweek? It could be seen as another reason why Son may be saved for that and the tricky Everton game afterwards. Of course that is also a reason why Kane might be benched as well.

[shmiro]

The thing is, Kane was already benched lately.




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[zipnolan]

As a Palace fan I'd like to point out that we are actually at HOME to Leicester tomorrow. It probably won't seem like that at the end, mind....

[dod]

As a Palace fan I'd like to point out that we are actually at HOME to Leicester tomorrow. It probably won't seem like that at the end, mind....

Duly noted and amended. Thanks! .

[dod]

Nice team and very nice blog.

I would really like to hear why u believe Son will start (I understand that u r a Spurs fan).

I didn’t see the game vs. Barca but I heard Lucas Moura was quite good when he came in. Don’t u think it’s an ideal opportunity for him to start and for Son (who is the only midfielder that started all of the previous games) to rest a bit?
Also, how do u think the upcoming Asian games r going to affect his minutes? I can find arguments for both sides so would like to hear yours.


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Thanks mate .

I'm not going to claim to be an expert on Pochettino's thinking as he often wrong-foots us fans with his team selection but here's my take on it:

Son is clearly ahead of Moura and Lamela in the pecking order. So long as he is fit he plays. He is usually subbed around the 75 minute mark though. This is just a fresh legs thing rather than a problem with his stamina. He has shown in the past that he can play a lot of games in a short space of time without issues. Poch doesn't do early subs unless there are injuries so if he starts he will always get 70 minutes.

The alternatives are Lamela and Moura. If Spurs are winning the game Lamela is the more likely to come on as he is more defensively minded. Lamela can't play more than once a week though. Moura is very inconsistent. At times he is brilliant but too often he is innocuous and seems to hide from the ball. Lamela always wants to be involved and puts a shift in.

To answer Joccki's question I don't know that Son will start against BUR but I suspect he will. Poch has never shown much interest in the domestic cups and even though it is against Arsenal I expect him to prioritise the Premiership and CL. The lack of silverware is becoming a bit of an issue for the fans but Daniel Levy calls the shots at Spurs and he has always prioritised the bottom line which is a top 4 finish and CL qualification. I don't expect our leopard to change his spots.

I expect Poch to use Son as much as he can before he leaves for the Asian Cup in mid-January (he misses the first two group games for S. Korea due to an agreement between the club and the federation). Son has already earned his exemption from military service so I don't expect Poch to care how knackered Son is when he gets to the Asian games and Son is a consummate professional so I don't expect him to hold back either.

As for the match against Barca. Son was very dangerous until he went off and but for excellent goalkeeping could have scored on several occasions. Moura came on and got the winning goal but apart from that wasn't great.

Putting the armband on Son is definitely not risk free. I think he's most likely to start and play about 75 minutes. If he doesn't start I think he'll only come on if Spurs need to score and the last 20 minutes against BUR could be productive. It makes no sense to bring Son on if Spurs are winning and are just managing the game but Poch has been known to make the occasional baffling tactical decision so there's always a risk . There's no doubt though that from an FPL standpoint Son's 35 pts over the last 4 games since he has been fully fit and returned to the starting XI has far outstripped any other Spurs option (Kane 25/ Dele 24/ Eriksen 23).

[dod]

Also a fan of the blog, very well written, loved the backgammon stories. More tales and norm challenging analysis please .

You think Hamer is going to play?..I know if not that just effectively auto subs in Fab, but if you've got any news he may actually play, then as a Ederson and Hamer owner, a bench boost opportunity klaxon sounds anytime Hamer gets a whiff of a game

Thanks . I've definitely got more theory posts in the pipeline and will try to crowbar a few backgammon stories into them as well .

I definitely do not think Hamer is going to play but if he did I prefer his CS chances to Fabianski's. As they play for different teams it isn't that important but if I owned two GKs from the same team I would always start the understudy as one of the ways he would play would be if the regular starting GK was sent off.

[jacksosi]

...if I owned two GKs from the same team I would always start the understudy as one of the ways he would play would be if the regular starting GK was sent off.

But what if the primary keeper went off injured at 61-90 with a CS intact...isn’t that more likely an occurrence?
Even if the primary did get sent off, it would likely be after 30 mins so only one point for the reserve.

[Sutter Kane]

I'm with Dod on this one.

@jacksosi - Is it more likely that being injured in the first 30 minutes so your reserve keeper gets 60+ minutes or even worse, being sent off before 30 minutes? If it is, what about the sending off points factored in too, whatever minute it is?

The only realistic circumstance where you could lose out is the one you suggest and even that is close because the primary keeper would have to have kept a clean sheet!

I have always played Button over Ryan this season. Although Button has been injured so it's been irrelevant recently.

[dod]

...if I owned two GKs from the same team I would always start the understudy as one of the ways he would play would be if the regular starting GK was sent off.

But what if the primary keeper went off injured at 61-90 with a CS intact...isn’t that more likely an occurrence?
Even if the primary did get sent off, it would likely be after 30 mins so only one point for the reserve.

What if the primary keeper was went off injured between 0-29? That would allow the secondary to get CS points. It's the same either way (or a tiny difference given that there tend to be more goals scored later in the game but there are also more save pts earned). Gks don't get sent off for 2Ys, it's always a straight red and that can happen at any time. If a GK gets sent off that's -2pts and they are still liable for any goals that go in but can't score save pts. Avoiding the -2 for a red is the prime reason you play the secondary.

[Joccki_10]

Cheers mate. I’m with you. The armband is on Son.

[shmiro]

Nice team and very nice blog.

I would really like to hear why u believe Son will start (I understand that u r a Spurs fan).

I didn’t see the game vs. Barca but I heard Lucas Moura was quite good when he came in. Don’t u think it’s an ideal opportunity for him to start and for Son (who is the only midfielder that started all of the previous games) to rest a bit?
Also, how do u think the upcoming Asian games r going to affect his minutes? I can find arguments for both sides so would like to hear yours.


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Thanks mate .

I'm not going to claim to be an expert on Pochettino's thinking as he often wrong-foots us fans with his team selection but here's my take on it:

Son is clearly ahead of Moura and Lamela in the pecking order. So long as he is fit he plays. He is usually subbed around the 75 minute mark though. This is just a fresh legs thing rather than a problem with his stamina. He has shown in the past that he can play a lot of games in a short space of time without issues. Poch doesn't do early subs unless there are injuries so if he starts he will always get 70 minutes.

The alternatives are Lamela and Moura. If Spurs are winning the game Lamela is the more likely to come on as he is more defensively minded. Lamela can't play more than once a week though. Moura is very inconsistent. At times he is brilliant but too often he is innocuous and seems to hide from the ball. Lamela always wants to be involved and puts a shift in.

To answer Joccki's question I don't know that Son will start against BUR but I suspect he will. Poch has never shown much interest in the domestic cups and even though it is against Arsenal I expect him to prioritise the Premiership and CL. The lack of silverware is becoming a bit of an issue for the fans but Daniel Levy calls the shots at Spurs and he has always prioritised the bottom line which is a top 4 finish and CL qualification. I don't expect our leopard to change his spots.

I expect Poch to use Son as much as he can before he leaves for the Asian Cup in mid-January (he misses the first two group games for S. Korea due to an agreement between the club and the federation). Son has already earned his exemption from military service so I don't expect Poch to care how knackered Son is when he gets to the Asian games and Son is a consummate professional so I don't expect him to hold back either.

As for the match against Barca. Son was very dangerous until he went off and but for excellent goalkeeping could have scored on several occasions. Moura came on and got the winning goal but apart from that wasn't great.

Putting the armband on Son is definitely not risk free. I think he's most likely to start and play about 75 minutes. If he doesn't start I think he'll only come on if Spurs need to score and the last 20 minutes against BUR could be productive. It makes no sense to bring Son on if Spurs are winning and are just managing the game but Poch has been known to make the occasional baffling tactical decision so there's always a risk . There's no doubt though that from an FPL standpoint Son's 35 pts over the last 4 games since he has been fully fit and returned to the starting XI has far outstripped any other Spurs option (Kane 25/ Dele 24/ Eriksen 23).

Interesting stuff.

I just don’t get why u think Son is unlikely to come on as a sub if Spurs are winning. Didn’t he feature as a sub many times this season? (Regardless of the score)


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[dod]

Nice team and very nice blog.

I would really like to hear why u believe Son will start (I understand that u r a Spurs fan).

I didn’t see the game vs. Barca but I heard Lucas Moura was quite good when he came in. Don’t u think it’s an ideal opportunity for him to start and for Son (who is the only midfielder that started all of the previous games) to rest a bit?
Also, how do u think the upcoming Asian games r going to affect his minutes? I can find arguments for both sides so would like to hear yours.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks mate .

I'm not going to claim to be an expert on Pochettino's thinking as he often wrong-foots us fans with his team selection but here's my take on it:

Son is clearly ahead of Moura and Lamela in the pecking order. So long as he is fit he plays. He is usually subbed around the 75 minute mark though. This is just a fresh legs thing rather than a problem with his stamina. He has shown in the past that he can play a lot of games in a short space of time without issues. Poch doesn't do early subs unless there are injuries so if he starts he will always get 70 minutes.

The alternatives are Lamela and Moura. If Spurs are winning the game Lamela is the more likely to come on as he is more defensively minded. Lamela can't play more than once a week though. Moura is very inconsistent. At times he is brilliant but too often he is innocuous and seems to hide from the ball. Lamela always wants to be involved and puts a shift in.

To answer Joccki's question I don't know that Son will start against BUR but I suspect he will. Poch has never shown much interest in the domestic cups and even though it is against Arsenal I expect him to prioritise the Premiership and CL. The lack of silverware is becoming a bit of an issue for the fans but Daniel Levy calls the shots at Spurs and he has always prioritised the bottom line which is a top 4 finish and CL qualification. I don't expect our leopard to change his spots.

I expect Poch to use Son as much as he can before he leaves for the Asian Cup in mid-January (he misses the first two group games for S. Korea due to an agreement between the club and the federation). Son has already earned his exemption from military service so I don't expect Poch to care how knackered Son is when he gets to the Asian games and Son is a consummate professional so I don't expect him to hold back either.

As for the match against Barca. Son was very dangerous until he went off and but for excellent goalkeeping could have scored on several occasions. Moura came on and got the winning goal but apart from that wasn't great.

Putting the armband on Son is definitely not risk free. I think he's most likely to start and play about 75 minutes. If he doesn't start I think he'll only come on if Spurs need to score and the last 20 minutes against BUR could be productive. It makes no sense to bring Son on if Spurs are winning and are just managing the game but Poch has been known to make the occasional baffling tactical decision so there's always a risk . There's no doubt though that from an FPL standpoint Son's 35 pts over the last 4 games since he has been fully fit and returned to the starting XI has far outstripped any other Spurs option (Kane 25/ Dele 24/ Eriksen 23).

Interesting stuff.

I just don’t get why u think Son is unlikely to come on as a sub if Spurs are winning. Didn’t he feature as a sub many times this season? (Regardless of the score)


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Yes he did but that was because he wasn't match fit. Poch always reintroduces players slowly when they are not yet up to speed (except for Kane who plays on crutches ). On those occasions he was just getting a run out to build up his match fitness. If Son is fully fit and doesn't start in the PL history shows that he is very unlikely to come on unless we need a goal or he's the only option due to injuries. He did make a couple of cameos in winning positions last season but it's a rare event. It's Sod's Law that it will happen this GW now .

[shmiro]

Got it.
All week I said that if I knew Son was starting then I would captain him without second thought (got Auba and Sterling as well).
Now I’m super tempted to pull the trigger. At least I will have someone to blame if it fails


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[Jameselaprendi]

So dod, our squads are now only 3 players different I see (I have Son now too)

And I’ve managed to edge 8 points ahead, worth almost 4000 places so just shows it’s tight in the top 10k...

Flexing your volatility with a Son captaincy! You’ve almost convinced me to join you... Let me ask, if you had Kane, who would you captain?

[Turd Ferguson]

I own Kane and Son. I respect the courage to captain Son. I think given 90 minutes, his expected points right now would be higher than Kane. However, Kane had a rest against Leicester last weekend so he should be nailed for 90 mins. Son has started the last 4 games in a row, and there's a big risk he doesn't start. Even if he does, almost certainly he'll be off after 70 mins. Kane gets the armband.

[dod]

So dod, our squads are now only 3 players different I see (I have Son now too)

And I’ve managed to edge 8 points ahead, worth almost 4000 places so just shows it’s tight in the top 10k...

Flexing your volatility with a Son captaincy! You’ve almost convinced me to join you... Let me ask, if you had Kane, who would you captain?

If I owned Kane I'd captain Kane but only because BUR concede a lot late in the game and I expect Son to get hauled off around the 75 minute mark as usual.

Just had a look at your team and I had to look twice before I realised it wasn't mine . I think I'd better wish you good luck this week .

[Joccki_10]

Son on the bench.

[dod]

Son on the bench.

I know . Worse there's no way he's going to stay there with that line-up unless Spurs wrap the match up early. I've got Eriksen missing as well . The best hope is for an injury (which I wouldn't wish on anybody let alone my own team - well maybe Jack Wilshere ) or BUR to hold out for the first half which might see Son at least get a decent run out.

My Spurs forum is in shock. Nobody predicted that line-up except the "special" poster who likes Trump and is never right about anything. Every dog has it's day I guess .

[dod]

GW17 Review

Fabianski 9pts

AWB 6pts Robertson 2pts Mina 1pt

Eriksen 7pts Son (c) 2pts Sane 10pts Sterling 6pts Anderson 6pts

Aubameyang 2pts Wilson 1pt

Bench: Hamer 0pts Kamara 2pts Kolasinac 0pts TAA 0pts

GW pts = 52 GW rank = 1398340 Total pts = 1072 OR = 13161

I went into this GW with high hopes of a good score. With 2 of my 3 first choice defenders out injured and 4 of my front 7 benched those hopes were quickly dashed .

Particularly disappointing was the 1pt cameo by my captain Son. Many will no doubt point out that this was a self-inflicted wound and Son was always a rotation risk. To be honest I was very surprised he didn't start . I actually thought after Son was hauled off after 70 minutes against Barcelona that he was being saved for this match and may well have been played upfront and Kane rested. It looks like contrary to all previous evidence Pochettino is taking the Carabao Cup seriously . In the past Poch has always treated the domestic cups as little more than an inconvenience. Perhaps the lack of silverware has begun to get to him or maybe he's just pissed that we got turned over by Arsenal in the Premiership and wants revenge. The outcome was predictable. Without Son and Eriksen Spurs were toothless in attack with only Lamela looking like he might score. It was only when the pair were introduced off the bench that TOT came alive and Son could well have had a goal and an assist from his 15 minutes on the pitch. In the end Eriksen salvaged the win in injury time - I did mention that BUR had a habit of conceding late goals (insert smug smiley here).

Somehow I managed to scrape together 52 pts from my cameos and autosubs so this GW was a bit of a bullet dodged but not the points bonanza I had anticipated . A small red arrow (my 4th in a row ) sees me drop to the 13k mark overall.

I'm actually quite happy with the plan I set up on my wildcard to have my bench cover my rotation risks and not worry too much about not being able to field a full XI. Kamara as predicted is getting plenty of minutes under Ranieri and even though I feel I have not had the rub of the green with benchings and injuries the system hasn't cracked yet . I have a lot of rotation risks in my team but 3 subs are more than you think .

I am regretting getting rid of Hazard on my wildcard. His replacement Son has done very well (until this GW at least) but with Siggy flopping I have had to spend a transfer removing him and I will spend another transfer bringing Hazard back in at a price 0.4m more than I originally paid.

Talking of getting Hazard back ... yesterday I was messing about with my squad and experimenting with options. One of these was taking a hit to do Eriksen + TAA Hazard + Schindler. Lowe was also a possibility for the makeweight. Obviously as Hazard was flagged I was going to wait at least until this was confirmed not to be an issue. I say, "obviously" ... . It turns out that I confirmed those transfers. I don't remember doing it but then I don't remember killing all those people either .

Note to self: Don't say or do anything when you've only had two hours sleep.

[TheRumourMill]

I had a very similar gameweek to you and also suffered the Son captaincy fail. Hopefully he will be back to starting for the coming games, in particular the Bournemouth home game. I must admit though that his benching may put me off going as far as captaining him in future

I think you'll be ok with Hazard, Sarri said today he just needs 2 days rest and will likley be fine. In a way its fortunate that the injury occurred in a week with no league games to come midweek.

[dod]

I had a very similar gameweek to you and also suffered the Son captaincy fail. Hopefully he will be back to starting for the coming games, in particular the Bournemouth home game. I must admit though that his benching may put me off going as far as captaining him in future

I think you'll be ok with Hazard, Sarri said today he just needs 2 days rest and will likley be fine. In a way its fortunate that the injury occurred in a week with no league games to come midweek.

Son is still a strong option for me. Maybe even ahead of Kane who I may also bring in after the EVE game. I can't see him not starting many more games before he goes to the Asian Cup. I'm expecting Hazard to be fine as well but still annoyed at myself .

[Pirlo's Beard]

I don't remember doing it but then I don't remember killing all those people either

And Bill Clinton doesn't remember having sexual relations with that woman.

[Turd Ferguson]

Particularly disappointing was the 1pt cameo by my captain Son. Many will no doubt point out that this was a self-inflicted wound and Son was always a rotation risk. To be honest I was very surprised he didn't start . I actually thought after Son was hauled off after 70 minutes against Barcelona that he was being saved for this match and may well have been played upfront and Kane rested. It looks like contrary to all previous evidence Pochettino is taking the Carabao Cup seriously .

I say this not to rub it in, but because it's useful to assess your thinking to improve future decisions. It was pretty clear before the fact that Son was a greater rotation risk than Kane. Kane had his rest against Leicester the weekend before. Rest/rotation isn't just about keeping a player fresh for a specific game, it's also about alleviating the accumulation of minutes over a short period of time. Once Kane got his rest, he was very likely to start against Barcelona and Burnley. Imagine if Son had started and Kane had been benched as you expected. That would have meant 5 starts in a row for Son and a second rest for Kane within 3 games, including back to back premier league games - a highly unlikely scenario.

My view of Son is that when he gets minutes, he scores FPL points. But he will always be a rotation risk because of Spurs' depth at attacking mid. That position seems to be the one that Poch most likes to rotate and/or sub off during the game (probably not unrelated to their depth there).

At a cost of less than 9, he doesn't need to be a captain option, which is why I'm very tolerant of his rotation risk. However, for me, he's only a captain option if he was rested in the game immediately prior. Maybe two games prior. If he has started 2 or more games in a row, he's a rotation risk, and that risk increases with each consecutive start.

[dod]

Particularly disappointing was the 1pt cameo by my captain Son. Many will no doubt point out that this was a self-inflicted wound and Son was always a rotation risk. To be honest I was very surprised he didn't start . I actually thought after Son was hauled off after 70 minutes against Barcelona that he was being saved for this match and may well have been played upfront and Kane rested. It looks like contrary to all previous evidence Pochettino is taking the Carabao Cup seriously .

I say this not to rub it in, but because it's useful to assess your thinking to improve future decisions. It was pretty clear before the fact that Son was a greater rotation risk than Kane. Kane had his rest against Leicester the weekend before. Rest/rotation isn't just about keeping a player fresh for a specific game, it's also about alleviating the accumulation of minutes over a short period of time. Once Kane got his rest, he was very likely to start against Barcelona and Burnley. Imagine if Son had started and Kane had been benched as you expected. That would have meant 5 starts in a row for Son and a second rest for Kane within 3 games, including back to back premier league games - a highly unlikely scenario.

My view of Son is that when he gets minutes, he scores FPL points. But he will always be a rotation risk because of Spurs' depth at attacking mid. That position seems to be the one that Poch most likes to rotate and/or sub off during the game (probably not unrelated to their depth there).

At a cost of less than 9, he doesn't need to be a captain option, which is why I'm very tolerant of his rotation risk. However, for me, he's only a captain option if he was rested in the game immediately prior. Maybe two games prior. If he has started 2 or more games in a row, he's a rotation risk, and that risk increases with each consecutive start.

I appreciate the input TF and you may well be right. Certainly what you say is generally applicable. However I do think that every case has to be looked at individually. From the beginning of December last season Son started 13 premiership matches in a row (he also played in several other games) so for Son to be match fit and and not start a premiership game is extremely unusual. Even Kane was rested for 1 premiership match over the same period and missed more of the other games as well. Personally I doubt that Son will miss another premiership start before he leaves for the Asian Cup unless he gets injured.

You can only go with the evidence and no-one is immune to rotation but I think in Son's case (like Sterling last weekend) this was just an anomaly. It certainly won't put me off captaining him.

[dod]

GW18 Preview

Fabianski (WAT)

Kolasinac (BUR) Robertson (wol) Schindler (SOU)

Hazard (LEI) Sterling (C) (CRY) Sane (VC) (CRY) Anderson (WAT) Son (eve)

Aubameyang (BUR) Wilson (BHA)

Hamer (SOU) Kamara (new) Mina (TOT) AWB (mci)

0.0m ITB Total pts = 1072 OR = 13161 TV = 105.4 SV = 103.6

My "accidental" early confirmation of my transfers this GW appears to have worked out in my favour. I am normally an advocate of early transfers to build budget anyway because I think the risk is often overstated but I honestly intended to wait this GW as it didn't make that much difference to me if I had 4.4m to spend on Schindler, or 4.3m to spend on Jonny. As it happens, with Hazard rising and TAA falling, I would have only been able to afford a 4.2m defender such as Bennett which I would have been less happy about.

My provisional plan for GW19 is to do Aubameyang + Wilson Kane + Ings (-4). I'm not blown away with Kane's form or deeper role in the team this season but Spurs have such fantastic fixtures that I could easily see me holding an asset bought now until the end of the season. The options are limited though. Son is great of course, but off to the Asian Cup in mid-January but the major obstacle to bringing him in is the fact that I already own him . Eriksen and Dele are options but my midfield is already stacked. The defence is liable to get rotated more often than a Rubik's Cube and I'm not a big fan of expensive GKs. That leaves Kane. The downside is the price and the fact that he hasn't shone as brightly so far this season as in seasons past. The upside is he's an explosive player who seems to be working his way back to form and is nailed and fixture-proof. We also know that he will be desperate to win the Golden Boot again.

Aubameyang by contrast isn't nailed or fixture-proof. After this GW, trips to BRI and LIV don't look that appealing and he could be benched for BRI. I am keen to get rid of Wilson at least until his fixtures turn in GW30 and although Ings' fixtures aren't great at his price, he's easily benchable and I think he's perfect for SOU's new manager's style.

I could just bring in Ings and do Aubs Kane for free the next GW but I'd rather take the hit and get Kane for the home match vs BOU. I'll get the transfer back down the line anyway. It is quite likely that I will only have the exact money to do these moves. It's quite a good example of a sweet-spot that I wrote about in my Budget (parts II & III) theory posts.

Back to the current GW. My bench order seems fairly obvious. The captaincy is an issue. I considered Aubameyang but I'm not certain he will start after playing 90 minutes yesterday. Hazard is also an option but LEI have been good after playing in midweek cup games. CRY meanwhile face a trip to the Etihad and they usually don't travel well. At the moment the armband is on Sterling as I fear Sane could see his minutes managed but who really can anticipate what Pep will do?