Monthly Archives: September 2017
David de Gea on top of Fantasy Football Rankings in the Premier League
Manchester United’s David de Gea has been widely considered as the best in the English Premier League despite strong competition from Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris, Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois, and a few years earlier Arsenal’s Petr Cech. Continue reading
Manchester midfielders dominate the Premier League in early weeks
Both Manchester clubs are currently dominating the league table, and that reflects in our list of top midfielders in Premier League.
The Citizens and the Red Devils are the only undefeated sides left in the Premier League. They have both accumulated 16 points from their opening six games and occupy the top two spots in the league. Continue reading
Serie A Champions Juventus: From rising star Dybala to hardworking Mandzukic
We took the opportunity to interview Rav Gopal, founder and editor-in-chief of the popular site JuveFC.com. Factoring in his in-depth knowledge, we decided to pose a series of questions and Mr. Gopal did not disappoint as he offered his insightful views on everything pertaining to Serie A champions Juventus.
Here is Part One of our Q & A with Rav:
Q1) Gianluigi Buffon is considered by many as the best goalkeeper over the last 20 years, and is perhaps the all-time goalkeeper. Much has been said about him, but if you had to describe him in one statement what would you say?
Buffon has been the most consistently brilliant goalkeeper in world football, year in year out. He is a leader, a captain and a role model at Juventus and for 17 years, he has been the epitome of loyalty and class.
Q2) Where do you rank Massimiliano Allegri among active Italian coaches? How about among coaches worldwide?
Allegri is the best Italian coach for me. Antonio Conte is doing well at Chelsea but I feel he still has things to learn. Allegri is adaptable and flexible in his approach – he works the players hard, but not to the point of exhaustion.
He has no ceiling at present. He grows with each season, plays across the attack and now has a maturity to him that was lacking before. The club has entrusted him with the #10 shirt and he has accepted the responsibility to be a leader of sorts, dragging Juve over the finish line and being at the heart of almost every league victory so far this season.
I would like to add the inevitable links to Barcelona are annoying as it is better to simply appreciate him for the Juventus player that he is – his great touch, finishing, dribbling, passing….all of it ! He will only get better with time and I think we have only seen a fraction of his true potential.
Mattia Caldara is a superb talent, very composed in his character and playing style. Rarely troubled by the occasion, he is showing real consistency for Atalanta and it is exciting to watch him, considering he has already developed into a hell of a player, despite his young age.
Make sure to check back again in the next few days for the remainder of our interview. You can challenge some of the best Serie A fantasy football managers at www.fantasyseriea.com
Samir Handanovic a key reason behind Inter Milan’s bright start to the new season?
Napoli and Juventus currently occupy the top two spots in the Serie A table with maximum points from their opening six games. Continue reading
Can Dries Mertens lead Napoli to the Serie A title?
After six weeks into the new season, it appears that it will be Napoli who will challenge Juventus for the league title this season. Continue reading
Montella already facing a critical juncture of the season
Milan have won all Europa League games so far and four out of six in Serie A: some would call it an excellent start, but the two losses, against Sampdoria and Lazio, did show some worrisome signs and the coach Vincenzo Montella is under heavy fire. The two slip-ups arrived in the toughest games they have faced and on Thursday they blew a 2-0 lead against Rijeka before Patrick Cutrone put them back on top in the final minutes.
They had an impressive reinforcement campaign, but it is now up to the coach to accelerate the adaptation process and make the players jell, because Serie A waits for nobody. They tend to play down to the level of the competition: the European fixtures have been extremely easy so far, while in the domestic league they have defeated Crotone, Cagliari, Udinese and Spal. The only game where they had truly a great showing was the opener at Ezio Scida, but there they were helped by a penalty and red card against the Sharks after five minutes. They were never too convincing in the remaining games, even in wins.
With so many turnover in the summer, you can chalk most of the problems up to lack of chemistry, but there might be some deeper issues underneath. At Olimpico against Lazio, they crumbled after Biancocelesti found the first goal and the more they tried to attack, the more Ciro Immobile and teammates punished them with counters. At Marassi against Genoa, it was a no show: they let the opponent control the ball and the pace and they inevitably conceded two goals. At times, they look too disorganized from the belt up and so they are forced to improvise a lot.
While the attack has always produced, but never too explosively in Serie A, the defence is holding them down. The switch to a three-man backline has not had the expected results: Leonardo Bonucci has not been able to recapture his Juventus form and Alessio Romagnoli has made some silly mistakes. Mateo Musacchio has been their best centre-back so far, but he was inexplicably benched for Cristian Zapata in the Sampdoria game and he literally gifted two goals to Blucerchiati’s Duvan Zapata.
If something does not work, it is up to the coach to figure out the next move, because the 3-5-2 has damaging effects in other areas: Suso has not been the same in a more central position. Furthermore, it is not an easy task, but Montella needs to find a way to have all his best players on the pitch at the same time, at least in the key games. He has alternated Giacomo Bonaventura and Hakan Calhanoglu, who needs to play as consistently as possible after being sidelined for half a season, and the three strikers Nikola Kalinic, André Silva and Patrick Cutrone. It could be helpful to establish a hierarchy upfront.
In a weird move, the coach has let go his long-time assistant Emanuele Marra because they were not on the same page regarding the physical preparation of the team. After the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti, who is always in play when it comes to the Milan bench, the sporting director Massimiliano Mirabelli reassured Montella about the stability of his job. Two tough games await Rossoneri: Roma on Sunday and the Derby after the international break. Since they have been struggling against the better squads, they need to redeem themselves in the upcoming massive tilts. Or some changes could be forthcoming.
Battle the best players at www.fantasyseriea.com
Falcao the Top Fantasy Player in France’s Ligue 1
Radamel Falcao’s incredible start to the 2017-18 season has seen him top the Fantasy rankings for all players in France’s Ligue 1. Continue reading
Lionel Messi racing away as the best striker in La Liga
Barcelona have made a spectacular start to the new season, and their talisman striker Lionel Messi has been a huge reason behind their early success. Continue reading
Atletico midfielders dominate the La Liga
The La Liga is already six game weeks old, and the league table has begun to take a normal order. The biggest surprise this season has been Real Madrid’s poor start Continue reading