Nabs Kebabs RMT

[Ruth_NZ]

So with Lukaku and Sanchez returning as well as Rashford, Mata and Lingard already in the picture, there has to now be a lot of concern about Martial's spot in the team going forward. There's only 3 spots in the team for these guys if OGS continues playing the 433 (which I expect him to, as this system allows Pogba freedom to get up the pitch).

Yeah, that's how it looks to me too, dammit. Which would be tough on Martial, he has been their best player this season. But I am already preparing myself to hold my nose and swallow the 15 points missed and do Martial Pogba. Maybe not this week if I think Martial will start, but soon. You need to have the one that is nailed.

[Nabs Kebabs]

In other news, I just achieved 2 consecutive green arrows for the first time all season.

This week's was a very small one but at least it broke the up/down/up/down cycle I have had recently. I remember a time when I used to get 6 or 7 greens in a row. Ah, the good old days.

You know you've gone casual when you're celebrating your firsts consecutive green arrows halfway through the season

Onward and upwards from here mate!

What do you think about Martial? A doubt for this GW then Newcastle and Spurs away. As well as potentially losing his spot in the first team. My trigger finger is getting itchy over the transfer button.

[dod]

@ Nabs & Ruth

Thanks for the explanations. I was having trouble working it out. A combination of sleep deprivation, tequila and Tramadol seems to have dulled my faculties for some reason .

[Ruth_NZ]

What do you think about Martial? A doubt for this GW then Newcastle and Spurs away. As well as potentially losing his spot in the first team. My trigger finger is getting itchy over the transfer button.

Just posted above about this, posts crossed again.

It really is a pestilent nuisance not to know because I'd back Martial to outscore Pogba in any game when they both start. Pogba is a better pick now but just because he won't be rested/dropped; the clinching reason why Mourinho was sacked was his repetitive benching of Pogba. So, if there is a doubt I will do Martial Pogba this week with my 2nd FT and be done with it. But it's a transfer I will hate making.

[Nabs Kebabs]

@ Nabs & Ruth

Thanks for the explanations. I was having trouble working it out. A combination of sleep deprivation, tequila and Tramadol seems to have dulled my faculties for some reason .

That combo will do the trick

[Nabs Kebabs]

What do you think about Martial? A doubt for this GW then Newcastle and Spurs away. As well as potentially losing his spot in the first team. My trigger finger is getting itchy over the transfer button.

Just posted above about this, posts crossed again.

It really is a pestilent nuisance not to know because I'd back Martial to outscore Pogba in any game when they both start. Pogba is a better pick now but just because he won't be rested/dropped; the clinching reason why Mourinho was sacked was his repetitive benching of Pogba. So, if there is a doubt I will do Martial Pogba this week with my 2nd FT and be done with it. But it's a transfer I will hate making.

We're getting good at this crossing posts business

I don't think we'll be getting any further official information so it looks like there is a doubt as OGS said he was in light training and hopefully will join in today. I think I may give him one last chance. If he doesn't start he could definitely do some damage off the bench to a Bournemouth team who have completely lost form and likely will be very tired as they haven't been rotating much due to a lack of depth in their squad.

[Ruth_NZ]

OGS to MUTV:

"Loads of players have played these two games and I will probably look at making some changes now. Maybe Anthony (Martial) is back..."

"My thing now is how to use Romelu, Alexis, Anthony, Jesse, Marcus, Juan - six forwards. Will you play with more than four at a time? I’m not sure. The rotation and communication between players will be important."

Sounds to me as if Martial plays this weekend but the underlying situation is as we discussed earlier. Martial just can't be considered to be nailed now. So the only question for me is whether to do Martial Pogba now or wait a week. It will be a FT either way. I am inclined to see if Martial can rectify the balance a bit on Sunday but Pogba will likely rise again tonight. I think I'll just take my medicine and get it done.

[Aldershot Rejects]

In other news, I just achieved 2 consecutive green arrows for the first time all season.

This week's was a very small one but at least it broke the up/down/up/down cycle I have had recently. I remember a time when I used to get 6 or 7 greens in a row. Ah, the good old days.

I've just broken my run of 5 red arrows with a massive increase of 94 places.

Enjoying the chat on here at the moment.

[Nabs Kebabs]

OGS to MUTV:

"Loads of players have played these two games and I will probably look at making some changes now. Maybe Anthony (Martial) is back..."

"My thing now is how to use Romelu, Alexis, Anthony, Jesse, Marcus, Juan - six forwards. Will you play with more than four at a time? I’m not sure. The rotation and communication between players will be important."

Sounds to me as if Martial plays this weekend but the underlying situation is as we discussed earlier. Martial just can't be considered to be nailed now. So the only question for me is whether to do Martial Pogba now or wait a week. It will be a FT either way. I am inclined to see if Martial can rectify the balance a bit on Sunday but Pogba will likely rise again tonight. I think I'll just take my medicine and get it done.

Thanks for that additional piece of information. I think my mind is made to hold onto him for this GW. But yeah, long term, he's clearly going to be a rotation risk. The main issue is Sanchez imo. Both of him and Martial heavily favour playing on the left flank so they cut onto their favoured right foots and shoot.

In other news, I just achieved 2 consecutive green arrows for the first time all season.

This week's was a very small one but at least it broke the up/down/up/down cycle I have had recently. I remember a time when I used to get 6 or 7 greens in a row. Ah, the good old days.

I've just broken my run of 5 red arrows with a massive increase of 94 places.

Enjoying the chat on here at the moment.

A green arrow is a green arrow

And it's great to hear that. A lot of discussion been going on

[Nabs Kebabs]

GW20 PREVIEW

Well, now that I've had a bit of time to calm down my knee has stopped jerking.

Button
Alonso VVD Doherty
Salah(c) Hazard Martial Richarlison
Kane(vc) Wilson Kamara

Ryan AWB Hojbjerg Bellerin

1FT, 0.3m.

I'm actually just going to roll my FT. The OGS comments sound like Martial is a decent chance to start so I'll just hold onto him and hope he repays the faith. I've got quite a few transfer options in mind but none of them are urgent so I'd rather have 2FT for next GW where I may consider bringing in 2 of Siggy, Digne, Aubameyang to name a few on my watchlist.

I'm not expecting a great GW as I've got some dodgy selections in there such as Kamara aswell as Wilson and Doherty in tough away games. Would anyone play AWB or Hojbjerg? Interested to hear opinions on that.

The one area I am expecting to do well is captaincy. The FFS captain poll has Kane on 35% and Salah on just 13%. When in reality, Salah looks a far superior captain pick. Arsenal have conceded more goals than Wolves and Wolves are actually one of the tightest teams in the league according to defensive team statistics. Furthermore, Arsenal will likely play a high line with some slow defenders such as Lichsteiner and I fully expect Salah to have a field day. I'm honestly expecting Liverpool to put 3 or 4 past us. Meanwhile, Wolves will sit back and Kane may not get a lot chances. I also think he'll continue to play a deep lying role in order to try and drag some of the defenders in that back 5 out of position.

[stevewba]

AWB was outstanding at City last week , he never gave Sane a kick all game , so even though Palace have a tough home game I wouldn't overlook him , however Doherty is always good value in an attacking sense to rack a few little points up , not much to choose between the two of them

[Joccki_10]

If your eye is on Digne anyway I’d honestly do Bellerín Digne this GW and play the latter over Doherty.

[Ruth_NZ]

You're not going to like this, Nabs, but Martial dropped to 7.3m again.

I did Martial Pogba just to get the thing over with. Though I imagine Martial may well outscore Pogba this week. But it was a transfer that had to be done this week or next as far as I could see.

[Nabs Kebabs]

AWB was outstanding at City last week , he never gave Sane a kick all game , so even though Palace have a tough home game I wouldn't overlook him , however Doherty is always good value in an attacking sense to rack a few little points up , not much to choose between the two of them

Interesting comment, I didn't have a chance to watch much of that game but I did have a feeling that AWB could do a job on Sane. Sane is heavily reliant on beating his man for pace. I think I'll go with Doherty for the potential attacking returns but AWB isn't a bad first sub.

If your eye is on Digne anyway I’d honestly do Bellerín Digne this GW and play the latter over Doherty.

Thanks for the suggestion Joccki. This is the move I've actually been closest to doing. I've decided to hold off because the latest Arsenal team news is that Bellerin is actually being assessed and faces a late fitness test to play this GW against Liverpool. I wouldn't be surprised if he plays because Arsenal have clearly missed his pace on the right and have looked very vulnerable on that side of the pitch when he's been out. Also, he then has Fulham at home so I'd like to have him for that. And regarding Digne, he has a very tough game away at Brighton. I think people underestimate how tough this fixture really is. Brighton seem to always score at home and are very, very tight at the back aswell (although that hasn't translated into too many CS's this season). And if I do that move this GW, it could easily have a knock on effect in taking a hit or two next GW.

You're not going to like this, Nabs, but Martial dropped to 7.3m again.

I did Martial Pogba just to get the thing over with. Though I imagine Martial may well outscore Pogba this week. But it was a transfer that had to be done this week or next as far as I could see.

It's annoying but that's just how price changes have been this season. I've never seen a season with such volatile price changes. I think a higher % of manager are more active these days. Just watch him go back up if he scores vs Bournemouth

[Nabs Kebabs]

As I said, Salah clearly a better captain pick than Kane. Kane had 0 touches inside the box. And as I said Liverpool will put 3 or 4 past us...I did think that would be at FT though...not looking forward to the second half as an Arsenal supporter...this could get a lot more embarrassing than it already is.

[Nabs Kebabs]

Regarding the Kane Auba move I've been considering, I'm probably going to hold off on that. This has nothing to do with Arsenal's perfomance against Liverpool. What actually has caught my attention is Ranieri and Fulham. They're playing a lot better and keeping it tight. In the last 3 matches, they've only conceded 1 big chance and 1 goal. They also will play a low block against Arsenal meaning Aubameyang will struggle to find space. This means that I'd probably rather have Hazard captain against Southampton. Soton's new manager seems to play a higher press and I expect someone like Hazard to really punish them.

I may revisit the potential Kane Auba move in a few GW's but for now I'll probably hold off, despite Kane's deep role.

[pokeface]

I’d agree with your analysis Re: Fulham and Auba.

I haven’t seen the highlights of today, but against Wolves they defended tight/loaded the box and forced them into crosses or taking shots from outside the box, so if they do that well then Auba will struggle.

Only thing I will say is that Fulham are very nervous, especially when they concede or even when ahead, so if Arsenal were to score early, I think they could potentially fall apart. I don’t know about the Ozil injury but if he were available to play I think he’ll get a hell of alot more chances.

I think there is also a small chance Auba won’t start, but he has done well when he’s come off the bench.

I won’t be captaining him and opting for Hazard.

[Nabs Kebabs]

I’d agree with your analysis Re: Fulham and Auba.

I haven’t seen the highlights of today, but against Wolves they defended tight/loaded the box and forced them into crosses or taking shots from outside the box, so if they do that well then Auba will struggle.

Only thing I will say is that Fulham are very nervous, especially when they concede or even when ahead, so if Arsenal were to score early, I think they could potentially fall apart. I don’t know about the Ozil injury but if he were available to play I think he’ll get a hell of alot more chances.

I think there is also a small chance Auba won’t start, but he has done well when he’s come off the bench.

I won’t be captaining him and opting for Hazard.

Yep, if Arsenal can score early I can definitely see them carving Fulham up but we can't be too sure on how likely that is to happen. Regarding Ozil, nobody knows. One minute he has the flu, the next minute he has back problems from playing too many video games and now he apparently has a knee injury. Sometimes Emery seems to not have much faith in him, then the next game he starts and wears the armband. It's a circus.

I do hink Auba will definitely start though since Arsenal won't play for another 11 days after the game against Fulham.

Edit: Actually Arsenal play in the FA Cup on the 6/1 but you wouldn't really be expecting him to play since it's against Blackpool.

[Stena Bib]

As I said, Salah clearly a better captain pick than Kane. Kane had 0 touches inside the box. And as I said Liverpool will put 3 or 4 past us...I did think that would be at FT though...not looking forward to the second half as an Arsenal supporter...this could get a lot more embarrassing than it already is.

That was a great shout.....Had Captain on Kane all week then changed to Salah.

[fred1266]

Regarding the Kane Auba move I've been considering, I'm probably going to hold off on that. This has nothing to do with Arsenal's perfomance against Liverpool. What actually has caught my attention is Ranieri and Fulham. They're playing a lot better and keeping it tight. In the last 3 matches, they've only conceded 1 big chance and 1 goal. They also will play a low block against Arsenal meaning Aubameyang will struggle to find space. This means that I'd probably rather have Hazard captain against Southampton. Soton's new manager seems to play a higher press and I expect someone like Hazard to really punish them.

I may revisit the potential Kane Auba move in a few GW's but for now I'll probably hold off, despite Kane's deep role.

Woudn't Kane be the better Captain Option?

[Nabs Kebabs]

As I said, Salah clearly a better captain pick than Kane. Kane had 0 touches inside the box. And as I said Liverpool will put 3 or 4 past us...I did think that would be at FT though...not looking forward to the second half as an Arsenal supporter...this could get a lot more embarrassing than it already is.

That was a great shout.....Had Captain on Kane all week then changed to Salah.

Glad I could help...unfortunately at the expense of the team that I support

Woudn't Kane be the better Captain Option?

I'm not tempted to captain Kane in the slightest. This is the same Kane who got 0 touches in the box in a game where they had over 60% possession. His current role is to play as a link man, not an out and out #9. I may even consider selling him.

[Ruth_NZ]

You know you've gone casual when you're celebrating your firsts consecutive green arrows halfway through the season.

Three in a row now. Nosebleed territory.

PS. As you are a FISO poster now, maybe you'd want to join the FISO league? 64901-14226

[Nabs Kebabs]

You know you've gone casual when you're celebrating your firsts consecutive green arrows halfway through the season.

Three in a row now. Nosebleed territory.

PS. As you are a FISO poster now, maybe you'd want to join the FISO league? 64901-14226

Up to 40k now from 138k a few weeks ago

Nice work!

Great idea to join the FISO league. I've just done that.

[Nabs Kebabs]

GW 20 REVIEW

Points: 62
GW Rank: 1.2m
OR: 5,518 4,330

Quite a solid GW and a green arrow. The size of the green arrow was looking a lot better before Pogba and Rashford ran riot (they were both owned by over 30% of the top 10k) but can't complain too much.

I've gone ahead and used my 2FT already. I've seen enough to know that I want Pogba, he's just playing with so much freedom. So to fund him I've actually gone ahead and done the Kane Aubameyang move I've been going on about. I haven't been able to find many differentials recently, so perhaps not having Kane is the differential I need to have more volatility in my rank changes. He was owned by around 65% of the top 10k at the start of GW20. My other transfer was Martial Pogba. My patience has simply just run out with Martial and as Ruth and I discussed, Pogba is the better long term pick anyway. Very well done to Joccki for picking Pogba ahead of the curve.

[Ruth_NZ]

Kane seems to be more threatening away from home than at Wembley against teams that pack their defence like Burnley recently. I should look further back than the last 2 games to see if that’s a trend, but could it be the case that Cardiff and Fulham away are the ones to really want him for?

In the PL last season, Kane got 15 goals at home and 15 away.

Just had a quick look, most of Kane's hauls have been away from home this year. He has 7ppg away and 5ppg in homes. He's obviously a great pick in the next 2 against Bournemouth and Wolves, but I think it's a false economy to expect the 'easy' home games to be the ones where he scores a lot of points. Son on the other hand...

I had a look at Spurs' recent games last night and the tendency for Kane to drop deep is clearly more pronounced in home games. In away games Spurs sit a bit deeper and the tendency for the wingers to get beyond Kane is reduced. Usually I don't hold with any "better away than at home" idea because in most cases it is purely a result of short-term variance. But in this case I think there may be something to it.

[Nabs Kebabs]

I had a look at Spurs' recent games last night and the tendency for Kane to drop deep is clearly more pronounced in home games. In away games Spurs sit a bit deeper and the tendency for the wingers to get beyond Kane is reduced. Usually I don't hold with any "better away than at home" idea because in most cases it is purely a result of short-term variance. But in this case I think there may be something to it.

I think you are correct, Spurs overall do look a bit better away from home. In the outcome that he hauls this GW, I don't think it will hurt me too much since it doesn't look like a lot will captain him. Overall, I'm still quite happy that I've gotten rid as I just find it very hard to see him justifying his huge price tag.

[Nabs Kebabs]

GW21 PREVIEW

Happy new year all. Currently set up like this:

Button
Alonso VVD Bellerin Doherty
Salah Hazard(c) Pogba Richarlison
Aubameyang(vc) Wilson

Ryan AWB Kamara Hojbjerg

0.6m ITB

Hopefully Bellerin will be back with the great fixture at home to Fulham. If not, AWB is a very decent sub to come in.

[Ruth_NZ]

I had a look at Spurs' recent games last night and the tendency for Kane to drop deep is clearly more pronounced in home games. In away games Spurs sit a bit deeper and the tendency for the wingers to get beyond Kane is reduced. Usually I don't hold with any "better away than at home" idea because in most cases it is purely a result of short-term variance. But in this case I think there may be something to it.

I think you are correct, Spurs overall do look a bit better away from home. In the outcome that he hauls this GW, I don't think it will hurt me too much since it doesn't look like a lot will captain him. Overall, I'm still quite happy that I've gotten rid as I just find it very hard to see him justifying his huge price tag.

Yeah, I am going to be facing a series of decisions like that; losing Salah this week makes that inevitable. Fundamentally I agree with you about Kane but the problem is that there is sometimes a tension between fundamentals and timings. I am itching to get Kane out but the fixtures are very good, so it becomes a question of 'when' rather than 'if'. And getting Salah back is now a 'when' rather than an 'if' for me too.

[Joccki_10]

Saw your preview just in time to play Van Dijk over Wan-Bissaka. Looked more sensible to me.

[Nabs Kebabs]

Saw your preview just in time to play Van Dijk over Wan-Bissaka. Looked more sensible to me.

Yeah I think so. I mean, Liverpool have conceded just 8 goals this season. I'll have AWB coming on for Bellerin anyway though.