da betsson： They say you should never look at the Premier League table until after the first six games, when there’s a chunk of results to look at, rather than making a snap judgement about the first ones.
da brwin： And that’s where we are now: six games deep, we’re a long way from opening day.
The biggest fixture of the first weekend was Arsenal’s capitulation at home to Liverpool, and in the final 20 minutes, Liverpool almost returned the favour. It was an entertaining game, but they usually are when defenders have days bad enough to ruin their careers. Alberto Moreno, it seems, had one such day.
It had been bubbling along for a while, the criticism of Moreno, but that game proved it. And since then, James Milner has made Liverpool’s left-back slot his own. Milner is one of the old heads of the Premier League at this point. At 30-years-old, Milner has been somewhat typecast as the Jack of all trades, the man you call upon in a crisis. The truth is, he’s quite a bit better than that.
Given how comprehensive the stats are on FanDuel -the week-by-week comprehensive fantasy football game (who will match your first deposit all the way up to £400) where players win points for a huge array of different parts of their performances – Milner is one of the highest ranked players over the first six weeks with 30.35 points on average. The perception of Milner as consistent, at least, is accurate.
Playing at left back for Liverpool helps, however. The reason Milner seems typecast in such a way has a lot to do with the fact that he is so disciplined, carrying out his tasks just as the manager asks. That makes him defensively solid as a left back, even if he may not be the best tackler in the world – full-back is as much about positioning as it is about tackling in a defensive sense. But one of the reasons that Milner does so well statistically is because he’s a good attacker, too.
It’s almost incredible that it’s taken so long for Milner to become a full-back, when you think about it. He has the rare blend of tactical discipline and technical attacking ability that the modern full back needs. Perhaps his pace is the only drawback.
So, on FanDuel, he wins points for passing (he’s good enough to play as a tidy central midfielder, remember); he wins points for defensive contributions (tackles, interceptions, blocks, clearances) because of the position he finds himself in; and he wins points for his attacking contribution, he’s a great crosser, creates chances and has played in every position across the front line, too. His versatility and technical ability is perhaps best harnessed from full back.
And compare him to some of the younger models making waves in the Premier League this season. Ross Barkley may not be in the best form of his career, but playing for Everton who are flying high under Ronald Koeman this season means that he’s scoring his fair share of points on FanDuel.
His average, though, of 19.25 isn’t bad, but it’s not Milner. That should maybe be suffixed with the fact that Barkley has made an extra appearance, which lowers the score somewhat, but Milner’s is hard to beat.
In fact, only six players in the league can better Milner’s average, and if you take away the players who have played fewer than four of the six games so far, then the Liverpool left back sits fifth. Only behind the likes of Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku. The other is Etienne Capoue, who is having an incredible season so far.
The most interesting part, though, is that these players – apart from Capoue – are all considered goalscorers in their teams, and even Capoue is his team’s top scorer so far this season. Milner is a left back who creates chances, and that’s what wins him points – he can supplement that with his penalties, though.
So whilst goalscorers are always a bonus for your FanDuel team, Milner is a man who can win you points for everything. If your attacking midfielders and strikers have off-days, they’ll win you few points. If Milner doesn’t score, he’ll at least win you points for tackles and blocks, maybe even for chances created.
When you think about what he wins points for, he’s a must really.
Think you know football? Prove it and win big money: http://po.st/signup_ed