I've not joined a league yet but most are played on the official Prem League site (same as we used for the Euros) so you can always set your team up now and join a league closer to the time. It's the same set-up, 100m with unlimited transfers up till the first deadline. players will obviously change as transfers take place but you can at least work on building some kind of spine to your team. Good luck.

http://fantasy.premierleague.com

thanks man. i'll take some time to study this at some point-- not sure i can keep the year-long commitment, but i just might. i barely know the teams-- you got some favorites i should look into? (teams, not players, that is. i only know the 2 manchesters + chelsea really).

Some teams/players you might want to consider:

I imagine most points will come from Man City and based on last season I imagine lots of people will pick some variation of Hart, Aguero, Silva and Kompany, although slightly cheaper but very high scoring last year were Ya Ya Toure and Lescott.

Man U are difficult because their midfield was crap last season but they pick up lots of clean sheets so any regular starting defender should be a good steady bet. Jones might be a good affordable option and when he's fit Johnny Evans. Up front, Rooney always gets points but at 12m he's not cheap, and can go through periods when he does nothing (FF wise).

Arsenal seems to be losing all its best players but they've just signed Podolski which might be interesting. But for me things are too unsettled there and most of their players are too expensive to justify the gamble. At this stage anyway. I generally feel the same about Spurs players right now, too, and for similar reasons Liverpool's (although they've still got some bargain defenders like Jose Enrique).

Chelsea are another one that could be good for clean sheets. Terry's expensive but a solid bet to start (assuming he's not banned by the FA) and gets the odd goal which bumps up his FF score. Cahill's another decent bet in defence.

One team that may have flown under your radar is Newcastle, who have some great defenders that're still quite cheap. Simpson, R Taylor and Collicini are particular bargains you might want to consider. And Krul is an excellent keeper. They were good up front too but their strike force now isn't the bargain it was last season.

Some players from other teams who had great seasons last year are Clint Dempsey for Fulhum. Immense. Maybe my favourite player last season. Liverpool and Man U want him and he's expensive but he plays a lot and can score like a striker (while gaining the extra points as a midfielder). Love Love Love him. Also, from the newly promoted teams (and therefore exceptionally cheap) Mark Noble isn't even West Ham's best player but he takes 99% of their penalties and is lethal at them so could potentially pick up a lot of points that way. Also, if you're running out of money, Kembe for Reading is another solid cheap midfielder while Ricky Lambert for Southampton is a good cheap standby up front.

But it's all guesswork. Players you've never heard of suddenly emerge as must haves after a few weeks, while plenty of last season's bankers inevitably fall by the wayside.

Damn! After such a great cheat sheet, how can I say no.

I didn't know your favorite player is an American. What has the world come to!

Cool man, thanks. Some names there I like, but I don't know the teams (wtf is a "west ham"? ha!). But I'll put it together.

Many thanks.

I'm convinced that if Dempsey came from Europe instead of America he'd be far more highly regarded. Great player.

Haha, West Ham are the team I support. They're pretty dreadful and i wouldn't touch any of their defenders if you're looking for clean sheets but you know, they're cheap and they've got a player whose head steams up when it's cold. Not even Barcelona can claim they've got one of those.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F7bUrZstyg

UAU

i used to be like that in high school, but from the shoulders... except we didn't get cold weather. buw WOW. looks awesome! he should make train noises.

He should score more goals is what he should do, but yeah.

I watched some of the olympic football but it's pretty hard to really care about it. Brazil look awesome but they're about the only major team there with a really credible squad. That Neymar fella looks pretty decent, though. Can't be long before the uber-European clubs start offering him blank cheques.

For Fantasy purposes, if you end up looking for a medium-priced player when you finaly want to transfer someone, take a look at Sunderland.
They were mid-table last year, after a poor start. They sacked the coach, and brought Martin O'Neil, who helped them a lot.
He's a manager who doesn't rotate his teams as much as Man City (or Man U at the back their last season), and he did really well with Aston Villa in the past.
Keep an eye on their results, it could be good.

they have been doing for a while, but a consequence of Brazil being a growing economy is their clubs can afford to keep their superstar players for longer. He will likely end up in Europe eventually though

yeah but for the first time ever you didnt win the league this year so why should we follow your advice :p

As a Spurs fan im well excited about AVB, even if Modric goes. If Van Persie leaves Arsenal and we dont finish above them next season that will be a colossal failure

Modric really needs to get fucked off. You can't have a player who is clearly desperate to go and expect things to be harmonious in the changing room. I think he'd be nothing but a drag for morale.

Take the 30mil and buy someone else.

Well there was the same speculation last summer and he ended up playing superbly last season. He was a professional about it and didnt sulk or moan, which i certainly respect alot. The problem is losing him will mean a TOTAL overhaul of the system, i dont think people really appreciate how fantastic he is at virtually every aspect of midfield play, his skill is exceptional and he works hard too.

If we can hold onto him i reckon he will still give his best over the season, he seems to be someone with that kind of hard working attitude to his craft, and thats what makes him such an attractive buy. Chelsea might go and win the league if he was in their squad.

Ouch!

There's no doubting Modric's quality or Levy's desire to keep him, but I wonder how keen AVB is. As you say, replacinging Modric would require a total overhaul, but I imagine that's precisely what AVB wants, even if he could never say that publicly, or even to Levy. His "angry" comments strike me as being those of a man who'd secretly love to see Modric go. I'll bet he's privately gutted that Bale renewed his contract, too.

avb did try to sign modric at chelsea so i think he'd want to keep him.

Pelé has been hyping him up as the greatest player in the universe for some time now, but what I've seen of him is a big fucking pussy. Maybe it's the young age but the moment someone puts a foot on him he disappears. Compare vs. the tiny but indestructible Messi, Neymar would get eaten alive in Yoorop. But we'll see...


Thanks! You gonna play? I still don't know if I can play. I got me a side job and I'm fucking swamped these days. Sucks, but the money is nice. Anyway, maybe I can just copy your team. Hmmmm....

If there's a SYG league I'd prolly join though. Just becuz I'd already know everyone. Could you start one?

I forgot about that. You're right. Although the way he talked about him in the press hardly sounds like its from someone wanting to keep him. That may be that's just the way that AVB communicates, though. Uncertain times ahead for Spurs fans, I think.


I like him. He's looked good during the Olympics and his record in Brazil speaks for itself. He goes down easily but i wouldn't mistake that for fragility. Drogba used to go down at the first hint of a breeze and he's not exactly delicate. We'll have a better idea in the World Cup, assuming he's not already a well known quantity by then, playing at one of Europe's mega-clubs. But as Ikari Cult says, the days of Brazilian clubs financially unable to compete with Europe may be over.

It's all irrelevant, obviously, compared with the vague possibility that Andy Carroll could be a West Ham player by the end of the month. He has his critics but I love the fella and I honestly can't think of any manager in the Prem right now more suited to Carroll's style than Big Sam. It won't happen because Carroll doesn't want it to but fuck, I'd love to see him in claret and blue.

This is the ongoing feud:
http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/145861.html

Anyway I saw Neymar puss out big time last year during the Copa América as some comentator predicted he would. Kinda like Gomez. Then again, he's only 20.

Pele's argument is obviously more fueled by national pride than common sense. No disrespect to the Brazilian league but unless he has an absolutely blinding World Cup he'll have to compete in a top European league before we can even start to compare him with the likes of Messi or CRonaldo. Right now he's just an exciting prospect - something Brazil has a habit of producing, then hyping to the hilt only to see them struggle when they try and establish themselves in Europe. I remember Pele declaring Robinho his heir apparent a few years ago, but he's had a really patchy career outside of Brazil. (Not to say the hype always falls flat: Ronaldo; Ronaldinho, etc.)

Just saying, maybe the England team should consider swapping footballs for boats and bicycles. We seem to be rather good with those.

And Hope Solo for the women's USA football team. A resounding "good God yes!"



EDIT: Incase Paulybee doesn't revive his Fantasy Football league this season, I set one up on the usual Premier league site.

Entry code is: 247166-167937