Scout Notes – Gameweek 4 – Saturday

Dimitar Berbatov dazzles on his home debut as Fulham see off West Brom at the Cottage. Robin Van Persie is handed a late second-half sub role as United hammer Wigan, Gervinho moves up front and scores twice against Southampton, while West Ham rack up another clean sheet in a goalless draw at Norwich…

Dimitar Berbatov
In a Gameweek that has so far failed dismally for many, the Bulgarian delivered big time. Handed his first start for the Cottagers alongside Hugo Rodallega up front, Berbatov bagged a double as Fulham swept aside previously unbeaten West Brom. He has huge mid-price appeal across the Fantasy games and with spot-kicks also in his locker, Berbatov looks a strong candidate for the cheaper third striker slot in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, where his price climbed by 0.1 back to 7.0 overnight.

Certainly, Berbatov appeared at ease on his Fulham debut and, speaking post-match, he emphasised the importance of being assured starts…

“It was my first performance at home and I felt good because I was on the pitch playing. When I’m happy great things happen, like today. I scored and played with a smile on my face. Most important for me is playing every game and when I can do that I give my best performances.”

Martin Jol followed up with his own glowing praise of Berbatov, admitting he was in no way surprised at the Bulgarian’s immediate impact…

“I feel that he [Berbatov] is no different from when he was scoring goals at Spurs and Manchester United. Luckily enough he did the same for us today….Dimitar was top scorer even when he was not playing at Manchester United. Wherever he has played he has been one of the top scorers in England. Even last year when he didn’t play all the games he had 20 or 21 goals.”

A happy and confident Berbatov is a clear prospect and, at his current price, the deal looks exceptionally strong. The only issue is whether Fulham can pick up on their away form under Jol – they scored just 12 times on their travels last season, suggesting Berbatov’s returns could well be restricted to home games in the main; if he continues in the same vein as yesterday, though, it’s hardly likely to deter his Fantasy suitors.

Alex Kacaniklic also served a reminder of his cut-price potential with a pair of assists in the 3-0 win but with Jol admitting post-match he had nine injured players with few options available, it still remains to be seen as to whether the Swede can nail down a regular role for the Cottagers this term.

Mladen Petric’s absence from the matchday 18 remains unexplained, although we can presume an injury given the list of nine absent players that Jol’s mentioned post-match. We can only await details on Petric ahead of the trip to Wigan next weekend.

United Rotation
Fantasy managers went from relief to despair in little over 24-hours after Robin Van Persie was afforded just 20 minutes off the bench yesterday. Sir Alex Ferguson’s Friday lunchtime press conference filled us all with confidence after he revealed the Dutchman was fit to play Wigan – huge numbers of Fantasy managers handed Van Persie the armband as a result only for his manager’s tactics to return them a two point armband haul.

With the Champions League kicking off next midweek, Ferguson was clearly looking to utilise his squad and keep his main men fresh as he seeks to avoid a repeat of last term’s Group stage exit – Shinji Kagawa and Antonio Valencia were unused subs, with Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck selected up top in the 4-0 win. As the fixture list kicks into overdrive, it’s a real worry from a Fantasy perspective – while there’s obviously no doubting his explosive potential, the very idea that Van Persie could suffer from rotation (something we never had to consider last season at Arsenal) may even see some reassess his position in their squads should the situation be repeated with any sort of regularity.

While the aforementioned trio can expect to return to the side in midweek, Patrice Evra looks to have plenty to worry about. Alexander Buttner’s superb debut display at left-back returned a goal and assist, in addition to a clean sheet, for his Fantasy owners – at 5.5 in FPL, he looks a bargain if he can oust the Frenchman as a first-team regular. David De Gea’s owners will now be eyeing up a replacement after the Spaniard was left out for the second game running; Ferguson had alluded to a return for the Wigan game but decided to stick with Anders Lindegaard. With United claiming their first clean sheet of the season, Lindegaard looks to be in a strong position now. Fantasy managers have an array of cut-price options available, such as Jussi Jaaskelainen, who continues to rack up the clean sheets and saves: shedding De Gea could now be a priority for many.

Gervinho Through the Middle
Arsene Wenger made the surprise decision to field Gervinho as the lone frontman in Arsenal’s 6-1 win over Southampton yesterday. The Arsenal boss admitted he dropped Olivier Giroud after he felt the forward was under too much pressure, having failed to score in his first three matches. Gervinho boosted his chances of continuing in the role after bagging a brace in the rout before making way for the Frenchman late in the second-half – bearing in mind the Ivorian is classified as a midfielder in FPL, his mid-price acquisition looks an intriguing one. Wenger singled out Gervinho in his post-match analysis, explaining his decision to move him to a central attacking role…

“You know we transform all wingers into central strikers and all the strikers into wingers! I decided that during our tour of Asia when I tried to play Gervinho there against Man City in that position. I liked what he did and it was in the back of my mind. It is interesting because he is such a great mover and he is so quick so when he is central, once he gets ahead of the central defender it is difficult to catch him back.”

Significantly, Lukas Podolski started wide left once again, with Wenger revealing that he had considered playing him through the middle but feels the team shape is better with the German on the flank…

“He is physically strong and he is a fantastic finisher. I had a little hesitation today to play him at centre forward because I had played him only once there. He gives us a balance on the left and I didn’t want to destroy that because he did well at Liverpool.”

It’s not clear how long Gervinho can maintain this new attacking role but, certainly, it’s providing a tempting proposition for Fantasy managers. Olivier Giroud can obviously be expected to return to the fray soon but Wenger stressed post-match that, right now, he is looking to protect the Frenchman…

“I felt that he is under much pressure at the moment and sometimes to get a little breather is good. What I will do on Tuesday I honestly don’t know. I just felt that the time has come for him to not be under too much pressure.”

The Gunners boss also indicated that he is considering Theo Walcott, scorer from the bench in the 6-1 rout, in a central attacking role…

“Walcott can play up front as well. We work on it with him. He was sick the whole week, he only had one training session.”

The West Ham Defence
Four games, three clean sheets. While Man City’s costly defence stuttered once again yesterday, Sam Allardyce’s side continued their series of resilient defensive displays with a goalless draw at Norwich. Jussi Jaaskelainen’s save points have boosted his FPL tally to eight points in each of his last two; coming in at 4.5 he is picking up plenty of new owners with a price rise likely over the next few days, while Guy Demel’s cost of 4.1 is also looking a real bargain, with game time at right-back seemingly guaranteed. The Hammers now square up to (SUN, qpr, ARS, SOT, wig) in the next five and with four of those fixtures offering appeal, plenty more of their assets will be coming under consideration prior to next weekend’s deadline.

Crucially, there is little doubt that Allardyce is setting his side out with a strong emphasis on keeping things tight at the back. Once again the Hammers’ boss emphasised this in his post-match comments…

“We started with a clean sheet and ended up with it and you have to build a platform to be a successful side. Resilience is very important in this league and we showed some really good resilience and determined defending and showed some quality football apart from the final pass, cross or shot…The platform to build any successful side on is to concede fewer goals than anyone else and if you do that then one goal wins you three points. Generally, if you know you have a solid defence then you will end up winning games two or three-nil because you are so confident about your defending that the opposition open themselves up to try to break you down and you punish them even more.”

Peter Crouch and Jon Walters
Walters provided the assist for Crouch’s opener in the 1-1 draw with City to continue the champions’ poor defensive form. Crouch is now up to third top scoring forward in FPL with 24 pre-bonus points but with (che, SWA, liv, mun) to follow, he may struggle to maintain his impressive start. Walters has also been quick off the mark, with 22 points accrued – just two less than Santi Cazorla. When the Potters’ fixtures clear around Gameweek 9, the pair could well be ones to watch, given their form so far. Bearing in mind Michael Owen was handed a minute’s game time off the bench, it’s clear Tony Pulis will utilise the free agent as an impact sub until his match fitness is up to scratch.

Steven Fletcher
Three goals in two games sums up the summer signing’s impact at Sunderland. Chances were few and far between for the Black Cats but the former Wolves man needed little opportunity to continue his impressive form with the opener in the home draw with Liverpool. While a Gameweek 6 home match with Wigan appeals, Fletcher also has trips to West Ham and City in the next three, however. Martin O’Neill’s side may struggle to supply Fletcher with opportunities – the return of Adam Johnson will be crucial to their chances of a result at Upton Park next Saturday. Significantly, O’Neill took time to lament the loss of Johnson to injury in his post-match comments…

“Adam was a major loss to us…At the moment we can’t afford to have real quality players out of the team…We missed his trickery and his ability to go past players and eke out an opening at times when we had good possession of the ball.”

O’Neill lost Carlos Cuellar to a hamstring problem, withdrawing him at half-time. The Sunderland boss gave little indication post-match on his prognosis…

“I’m not sure how bad he is but I thought the best thing to do was take him off when we did.”

The Villa Defence
A first clean sheet of the season saw Brad Guzan once again take his place between the posts at Shay Given’s expense. Clearly, Paul Lambert has no qualms over freshening up the Villa backline after a disappointing start and Guzan could offer us a cut-price goalkeeper options should he maintain his starting role. Matt Lowton was the star of the show for the hosts, with the right-back racking up 11 FPL point thanks to a goal and clean sheet return – again, he comes in cheaper than many of his defensive team mates and has played every minute of the season under Lambert. With a trip to Southampton and home clash against West Brom to come, the midlands look to have a chance to continue their upturn in resilience at the back.

Christian Benteke also introduced himself to the Premier League in style, claiming a smart second goal which was, admittedly, somewhat gifted to him by an Ashley Williams error. Benteke’s manager was full of praise for his new striker, indicating that he could well work his way into the starting lineup before long…

“I thought Christian was unplayable, he was an absolute threat. The great thing is he’s only 21, only a kid and still learning. He had a really good game for the national team, if you’re holding your own in that company you’re doing alright. Everything is a culture shock for him at the minute but he was excellent. The goal will give him confidence. The crowd will go with him. You heard the crowd’s reaction when he came on.”