Quite an impressive run-out for City. They attacked with intent from the off and Newcastle never stood a chance. Aguero was a surprise starter and got the most points but Dzeko looked menacing and is a top transfer recommendation this week.
Man City's Style and Key Players
- Silva dropped inside from a default left wing position to link up play with Yaya and Fernandinho. The point of attack from here was to try and find Aguero or Dzeko centrally who would create something between them, or release Navas down the right wing to whip in a cross
- Despite goals for Silva and Yaya (free-kick) both were part of a dynamic midfield with Fernandinho. None stood out as being the single creator in chief or a constant goal threat with runs into the box.
- Aguero is perhaps the only player who can offer an alternative to Van Persie as a super-elite fantasy option for your team. Unlike Van Persie though, Aguero is not the focal point of an attack. That role falls to Dzeko who had 8 shots to Aguero's 3 and much greater presence in the box. Van Persie had 7 shots against Swansea.
- Defensively the team was solid and Zabaleta and Clichy both get into positions to score or create. Zabaleta's partnership with Navas looks the more potent though and a deliberate facet of City's gameplan.
- In Conclusion: Long-term rotation still threatens Dzeko but at £7.5m he's worth that risk. Highly recommend transfer. Zabaleta too is probably going to be a great player.
Newcastle's Woe
- Cabaye's exit to Arsenal looks very likely. He's almost the complete midfielder. His passing and goals have been highlighted in past seasons but his recoveries and interceptions during defensive phases of the game are stand out too. An already weak team will miss him, a lot.
- A home game with West Ham offers an immediate test of Newcastle's resolve but with Taylor suspended and new-signing Yanga-Mbiwa out of his depth in an albeit difficult debut prospects don't look good.
You'll be pleased to know that this is our final selection headache of the week, after this it's all plain sailing to GW1 (yeah, right!). Previously banging on dustbin lids outside our bedroom window have been Daniel Sturridge, Romelu Lukaku, Nicolas Anelka and Kevin Mirallas. All but Anelka are so very close to our own team for Saturday, so what about Dzeko?
You know we like a stat or two around here so let's start off with Dzeko's FPL history. In his two full season's he's scored a points per game (PPG) of 6.4 last year and 8.1 the year before, averaging 7.2 overall. The cream of the crop in FPL net you around 7.5, e.g RVP, so Dzeko has to be considered amongst a group of player capable of hitting the maximum FPL has to offer.
The problem has been his minute played each season. He's only played about half the available games in both seasons and this is no good for your FPL teams. With this level of rotation built into his 7PPG with 2 PPG from some random auto-sub across a season he (and his sub) would score you 4.5PPG, or 171 points. Not bad. Would have placed him 4th forward overall last season.
This doesn't sound like an all too squad-friendly strategy though. What we're considering is starting Dzeko in GW1 and keeping him for as long as he looks like he'll be in the team. Pellegrini has been quoted describing Dzeko as his "main striker" and used him prominently in pre-season, where he scored plenty. As manager of Malaga, Pellegrini was also fond of a penalty box striker (Van Nisterlrooy/Saviola) in front of a more mobile attacking trio. There are good indications that Dzeko will be given a chance to prove his point that he's not just a 'supersub'.
As we write this we're pleased to see that Negredo has travelled with the Spain squad to Ecuador. We're not pleased to see that he just scored though (Silva assist), but Ecuador is a long way from Manchester and we're pretty sure Dzeko will start in GW1 vs. Newcastle. The real fretting will start with next game against Cardiff. And then the next.
The good news is he's cheap so doesn't unbalance your whole team, and there are some great similarly priced players like Berbatov/Lambert available as a direct exit strategy.
Verdict
Judged solely on his own merit he's worth it, but with similar issues with gametime security attached to players like Lukaku around Chelsea's DGW it starts to stack up pretty quickly into a major risk/reward situation. This last headache might last a while, but at the moment Daniel Sturridge's fitness boost might edge Dzeko out of our team.
Related headaches:
