September the 11th, 2020
BUYING POLICY CITTÀ DI PALERMO
- The spend on goalkeepers is £9.0M maximum, preferably £8.5M.
- All defenders need to carry some kind of attacking threat, unless the defender is a £4.0M fodder.
- There should at least be one bench fodder priced at £4.5M in the front eight, because there should be as much money on the pitch as possible.
- Each >£9.4M player needs to and/or should be captained every once in a while.
- Every player should be nailed on to start GW1 and have a very decent chance to at least start the first couple of GWs even when not performing.
SELEZIONE DELLA SQUADRA
As per rule a:
The spend on goalkeepers is £9.0M maximum, preferably £8.5M.
Which causes every goalkeeper priced at £5.5M or over to be ruled out. No Pope, no Lloris, etc. The cheaper bunch has quickly been reduced to five names: Pickford, McCarthy, Ryan, Meslier and Martínez. Judging their potential on post lockdown form brings McCarthy top of the list.
- £4.5M McCarthy kept three clean sheets in nine and conceded eight goals. Southampton seemed to be on the up at the end of last season and in preseason and have pretty favorable fixtures to begin with.
- £5.0M Pickford kept three clean sheets, conceded eight goals in easier games and is of course £0.5M more expensive.
- £4.5M Ryan also kept three clean sheets, but conceded 14 goals and Brighton do not look like having a watertight defence.
- £4.5M Meslier plays for a promoted team, albeit producing excellent defensive numbers in the Championship, and Leeds have pretty hard fixtures at the start of the season.
- £4.5M Martínez did a brilliant job at Arsenal, but rumours over a possible move to another PL club doesn't make him nailed on to play for any club.
£4.0M Steer is going to be chosen as the backup, which makes the goalkeeper combination a preferable £8.5M. Selected by only 5.4% shouldn't see him fall in price early in the season.
As per rule b:
All defenders need to carry some kind of attacking threat, unless the defender is a £4.0M fodder.
The Sicilian board has decided to heavily invest in defence. Palermo has been dealing with defensive issues for years now and therefore the general consensus is that in defence the side can improve the most. In addition, thoughts go that defenders are the best value players of the game.
- £7.5M Alexander-Arnold doesn't even require an explanation.
- £7.0M Robertson doesn't either, but here goes. @BigManBakar: Robertson has outdone Alexander-Arnold in terms of underlying stats post restart. [...] On set pieces now too, Robertson has become a completely different beast which was helped by the fact that he took 24 of Liverpool's 72 corners post restart. If Alexander-Arnold is non-negotiable, Robertson for £0.5M less certainly is too.
- £5.0M James was also never in doubt. @BigManBakar: James is the defender this season who has the biggest potential out of all defenders to make a mockery out of his price tag. Priced at just £5.0M, he was second only to Robertson for big chances created post restart. His numbers whenever he plays are very encouraging and he's an explosive defender to own. In addition James started eight of Chelsea's last nine games of the season (in which Azpilicueta featured a lot as well). Chelsea have a couple of very tasty fixtures at the start of the season.
- £4.5M Ayling plays for a Leeds United side who have kept 22 clean sheets in the Championship and conceded just 35 goals. That's six goals less than Sheffield United in the year before and the best defensive record in the Championship in ten years. Furthermore, a Leeds defender should be a perfect fit for the GWs where it's better to bench James. For this slot, Ayling, who likes to push up high as a full back, won the coin toss against £4.5M Dallas.
- £4.0M Ferguson is considered to be the most nailed on bench fodder when fit. The board doesn't think they need the player in this slot to play in the first couple of GWs.
Other considerations:
£6.0M Laporte starts with a blank and a couple of tricky fixtures after.
£6.0M Digne is too expensive. The board doesn't want to pay six million for an Everton defender of any kind.
£5.5M Tierney is expected to play in a back three and therefore doesn't carry enough threat for that price.
£5.0M Bellerín is rumoured to be on the move and didn't fulfill 60 minutes in Arsenal's first competitive fixture (Arsenal-Liverpool, red.).
£5.0M Saïss is too dependable on set-piece threat and starts with two tricky fixtures.
£4.5M Vinagre is rumoured to be on the move and has never been nailed on to play in a Nuno side.
£4.5M Justin plays for a Leicester side who were utter dross post lockdown and are without Evans in the first two fixtures.
£4.5M C.Taylor starts with a blank, doesn't carry enough attacking threat and can't replace James in GW2 & GW6.
£4.5M Lewis is a new player at Newcastle United, so should be a wait and see.
£4.5M Walker-Peters plays for the same team as McCarthy and their fixtures are not that appealing to double up.
As per rule c:
There should at least be one bench fodder priced at £4.5M in the front eight, because there should be as much money on the pitch as possible.
As per rule d:
Each >£9.4M player needs to and/or should be captained every once in a while.
The cheapest pick is of course the least important one.
- £4.5M Bissouma should be pretty nailed on to start for Brighton after a steady post lockdown form. A secure place in the first eleven and a very occasional goal or assist is what is expected from the fodder.
Other considerations:
£4.5M Burke is a new player at Sheffield United and will probably be rotated with three, maybe even four other strikers.
£4.5M Brewster is rumoured to be on the move, but would still block a Liverpool slot. Would be a very interesting bench fodder if he gets a move to another PL club though.
- £12.0M Salah his numbers are head and shoulders above anyone else's. @BigManBakar: Salah had the best minutes per expected goal involvement ratio of all midfielders last season and averaged ~9.33 points at home against the promoted sides. Salah is the preferred captain in GW1.
Other consideration:
£12.0M Aubameyang is only a slight consideration. Salah is the preferred captain in GW1, a Manchester United player is the preferred captain in GW2 and Arsenal's fixtures take a pretty nasty turn after GW2. So the £12.0M spend on Aubameyang can not be tolerated. Zamparini admits he has never been fond of Aubameyang as a Fantasy asset: "Yes, he is an exceptional finisher. He plays too wide though and plays for a side that I feel cannot be trusted with the captaincy just yet." Aubameyang furthermore has an expected minutes per goal involvement of 200 minutes in away games under Arteta.
- £8.5M Havertz has very favorable fixtures to begin with at Chelsea. @BigManBakar: Havertz, over his last three seasons, his non-penalty xG+xA per 90 numbers have been getting better every year. He averages a goal involvement almost every game and has consistently outperformed his xG over the past three seasons. Because of several injuries at Chelsea, he is also expected to start for them. Long term this slot should be occupied by £8.5M Pulisic.
- £8.0M Alli is more of a punt for the first couple of weeks. Spurs start with very appealing fixtures and Alli should be very driven with a brand new chance to shine under Mourinho.
- £9.5M Werner is considered to be an absolute steal given his pedigree and the amount of chances Chelsea create. @BigManBakar: A stat that might surprise is that Chelsea had the second highest xG and big chances to Man City post restart. [...] An xG per game of 0.75 in the Bundesliga (Werner, red.) is very impressive and the fact that his numbers are backed up by a high volume of shots/big chances means that he could be a recipe for success. Werner is a captaincy option as well.
- £7.0M Calvert-Lewin seems underpriced if he can replicate his pre lockdown form from last season. Everton have done well in the transfer market which should help better his end product. Everton start with tasty fixtures as well.
- £6.0M Adams ended last season pretty well and has had a good preseason in which he seems to have secured his place in the starting eleven. @BigManBakar: Only City, Chelsea and Man United registered more big chances away from home than Southampton post restart. During this period, Palace were ranked second worst for big chances conceded per game. [...] In the games that both Ings and Adams started together post lockdown, Adams accumulated 26 points at 6.50 points per game.
Other considerations:
£10.0M Vardy can only be bought if Salah leaves the team. That is because of squad structure and other plans. Salah gets the preference.
£6.5M Wilson is a new player at Newcastle United, whose fixtures take a nasty turn after GW2.
£6.5M Antonio hasn't had the best preseason whilst
£6.5M Haller also seems to have fully recovered from injury. Haller is a big threat to his centre forward spot.
The board then has eight million left for the last player. Zamparini however likes to keep cash in the bank because of earlier financial issues. See also:
May the 13th, 2019
FIGC wrote:PALERMO RELEGATED DUE TO FINANCIAL ISSUES
Palermo have been relegated to Serie C due to financial irregularities, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has confirmed. [...] It said the Sicilian club were sanctioned "for a series of management irregularities by some former directors".
Which makes...
- £5.0M Souček the final pick of the front eight. Souček seems to be a fixture-proof player who is certain to start and carries a big threat, especially from set-pieces, for a small price. Post restart he produced a shot in the box every 58 minutes.
Other consideration:
If it wasn't for the financial irregularities,
£8.0M Willian would have been the final pick. The board expressed their interest in preseason and came close to picking him up as a free agent, but pulled out of the deal just minutes before kickoff. However, if interest in the Brazilian remains, a bigger transfer fee will need to be paid. Withholding the £3.0M could prove to be costly.
The board would like to give his permission to fully invest the amount of 100 million when the season gets underway. Il valore è importante.
