I’m from www.fantasyfootballassistance.com; a website that gives free advice from a team of experts on the popular game of fantasy football. We’re back for a new season and in the build up to the start of the Premier League, our experts have picked a couple of players in each position for us to share with you, starting with their goalkeeping pick today.
Shay Given was regarded to be one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League for a very long time when Roberto Mancini made the decision to choose youth over experience in Joe Hart. From this point we haven’t really seen much of the goalkeeping great who made his name at Newcastle United as his talents have been wasted week in week out on the most expensive bench in football. When Manchester City finally indicated then that they would allow Given to leave there must have been a whole host of clubs eager to take on the almost forgotten star with the struggling Aston Villa eventually securing his services to replace the outgoing Brad Friedel.
A late surge from Villa went some way to mask a disappointing season of managerial turmoil but it was not enough to prevent them from finishing three places lower than the previous season in a disappointing 9th place. With five managers taking the reigns over the course of last season Villa suffered badly at the back; conceding an additional twenty goals on the season before with over third of the goals they conceded coming in the last fifteen minutes of the game – more than twice as many as they scored in the same period.
To say that Alex McLeish was not the most popular appointment amongst the Villa fans would be an understatement given the club that he arrived from (rivals Birmingham City). But if McLeish is given a chance and can bring some much needed stability to a club that no more than a year ago dreamed of champions league football, there is no reason why Villa defenders shouldn’t once again become a viable option. Although two of Villa’s most promising players have been sold this summer in Ashley Young and Stewart Downing; they have already begun to re-build their squad with the signing of the promising Wigan winger Charles N’Zogbia (who could also be an option for your team). Villa have a relatively easy start to the season – travelling to Craven Cottage to face Fulham on the opening day before two home fixtures against last year’s relegation survivors Wolves and Blackburn.
There is virtually no doubt that Shay Given will be the first name on the team sheet each week meaning that at the very least you get a guaranteed starter. His price is also a very important factor in determining whether to include him in your team. With a generous price tag of 5m on the official game he presents a very viable option to save yourself some money whilst bagging an exceptional goalkeeper playing for a decent top half side.
We will be back soon with the first of our defensive picks but if you need any more help before then, or if you want to access the other features of our website, please visit us at www.fantasyfootballassistance.com.
