Football

Havent joined yet, but will do.

Joined! Thanks M*

Picked my team of ridiculous misfits. I can't say I have much confidence. And my Anti-Manyoo policy might count against me again this season considering how cheap some of their players are. Gawd! at least Chicarito is 10m though, which helps to a degree.

^Rafael looks a sound investment if you're willing to relax the no-Man Utd policy - at £5.5m, he's pretty darn cheap for a player almost certain to start every week in a side that concede few goals. Should bag you a few assists, too.

Now we are four - high fives all round!

So who are going to be the bargain buys this year?

^These four in particular caught my eye, though there are probably more where that came from...

Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea, £6.5m) - Razor-sharp in pre-season so far, wouldn't be at all surprised if he starts ahead of Drogba and perhaps even Torres.

Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal, £5.5m) - Should become Wenger's first choice left-back in the absence of Clichy. You can always flog him when the Arsenal curse strikes and he gets injured.

Victor Moses (Wigan, £4.5m) - Tipped by Martinez to fill the Nzogbia-shaped void at Wigan this year. Could be a good option for your bench.

Shay Given (Aston Villa, £5.5m) - Favourable opening fixtures for Villa should see him rack up clean sheets like nobody's business in the early going.

Noble Steed.

^These four in particular caught my eye, though there are probably more where that came from...

Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea, £6.5m) - Razor-sharp in pre-season so far, wouldn't be at all surprised if he starts ahead of Drogba and perhaps even Torres.

Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal, £5.5m) - Should become Wenger's first choice left-back in the absence of Clichy. You can always flog him when the Arsenal curse strikes and he gets injured.

Victor Moses (Wigan, £4.5m) - Tipped by Martinez to fill the Nzogbia-shaped void at Wigan this year. Could be a good option for your bench.

Shay Given (Aston Villa, £5.5m) - Favourable opening fixtures for Villa should see him rack up clean sheets like nobody's business in the early going.

If Sturridge stays, just dont see him getting many games, but if he goes out on loan, and there will be plenty of clubs that will take him, he will be a great buy.

Good call on Gibbs.

Moses, not sure he will cut it in the Premiership.

Given & Villa tend to be pretty tight at the back.

Villa tend to be pretty tight at the back.

^Rafael looks a sound investment if you're willing to relax the no-Man Utd policy - at £5.5m, he's pretty darn cheap for a player almost certain to start every week in a side that concede few goals. Should bag you a few assists, too.

Now we are four - high fives all round!

I saw that and I thought it was a bargain. Doesn't Rafael have to compete with Evra on the left though? Fabio is one that plays on the right. Also, Manyoo's stars are all relatively cheap compared to other teams - Nani, Young and Chicarito are all 10.0m, very useful to have. I'm not sure I could live with myself if I broke my non-Manyoo ploicy though. I've been using it since I started playing fantasy nearly 8 seasons ago.

And good picks. I thought Given was a steal (but I still went with Hart) and Sturridge looks good but I can't be sure how often he will play so I'd rather buy him the season starts.

It's really hard to pick a good team

Joined the classic league!

Come on, let's hit ten teams like the old SPL!

I saw that and I thought it was a bargain. Doesn't Rafael have to compete with Evra on the left though? Fabio is one that plays on the right. Also, Manyoo's stars are all relatively cheap compared to other teams - Nani, Young and Chicarito are all 10.0m, very useful to have. I'm not sure I could live with myself if I broke my non-Manyoo ploicy though. I've been using it since I started playing fantasy nearly 8 seasons ago.

And good picks. I thought Given was a steal (but I still went with Hart) and Sturridge looks good but I can't be sure how often he will play so I'd rather buy him the season starts.

It's really hard to pick a good team

Could well be completely wrong on this but Fabio I think is quite adept in both full-back positions, whereas Rafael is very one-footed and usually operates down the right. Fabio is a little cheaper than Rafael though, so if he's likely to play more games than his brother he's even more of a bargain. That being said, Chris Smalling has started at right-back in today's Community Shield game - so you never know, the Da Silvas could both end up warming the bench come opening day.

It wouldn't be worth picking Sturridge just yet anyway as apparently, he's suspended for a red card received while playing for Bolton on the final day of last season. In general though, Villas Boas does seem to rate him and I still see him as a good bet to start a fair share of games this year.

Especially if Torres keeps his blistering strike rate of 1 goal in 18 games up

Fabio is out with an injury in preseason isn't he? Don't know how long he's out for though.

I have to replace half my fantasy team now cause, surprise surprise, I have Arsenal players and apparently they can't go through preseason without an injury <_<

It wouldn't be a Premier League season unless the Arsenal curse struck at least half a dozen times. Wenger's kind of lucky in a way - if Van Persie wasn't generally thought of as an injury prone player, one of Europe's top clubs would have whisked him away years ago.

I feel your pain though - logged in yesterday to find half my first team listed as doubtful for the opening day.

I'm starting to post here, I am a football fan. I am Brazilian, I'm a fan of São Paulo FC (3x world champion - 1992.1993 and 2005) here is a great opportunity to talk with fans worldwide.

In 2014 the World Cup will be in my country due to corruption of the direction of the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation), juntamnte with some members of FIFA who are responsible for organizing this event and some leaders of some Brazilian clubs, the works are long overdue and this cost is very high in areas of the country where the priority should be health, education and not in the construction of football stadiums.

Well sorry my English is perhaps not perfect, but I hope to talk to everyone and if someone has facts about the country or football here just ask I'll answer all.

Please, more people join the fantasy league!

Rumor has it the Cesc deal is finally going to happen.

Arsenal would get 30 million euros straight up, another 5 million based on the amount of appearances Cesc has for Barça and another 5 million that is supposedly coming off Cesc own wages...

So it could total 40 million euros anyway in the end. Though they will only get the last of the money at the very end of Cesc deal.

Please, more people join the fantasy league!

Will be joining today.

Bid accepted. Contract to be signed sooner rather than later. Saga ended.

Possible Arsenal compared to last season: No Eboue, Clichy, Denilson, Cesc, Nasri...who else am I missing? That's not far from a complete turnover. Beginning of the season is likely to be a disaster.