Ronaldo Ramblings

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After two more miserable performances from Ronaldo over the Christmas period, many owners are getting close to dumping Ronaldo and the net transfers for the week are in a small outflow position. I myself was considering dumping him for Gerrard until Gerrard's off the field antics cast doubt over his future for the coming weeks. Three points need raising though before any rash decisions are made:

1. Ronaldo still leads all fantasy players with 6.67 points per game (PPG) which equates to a Points Per Million Spent (PPMS) of 0.457, which is ahead of Deco (o.444) and Fabregas (0.424) among others. If you have captained Ronaldo every week (or even just a few of his 15 point+ performances) then his PPMS will be up with anyone else in the league. It is also important to remember that value for money (ie PPMS) will only carry your team a certain distance and it is actual points (PPG) that really matters.

2. United have two double gameweeks in the next 5 and then have a 3 game run of green rated attacking games (taking us through to gameweek 28). Over this period United have 6 home games as well as road visits to Bolton, WBA, West Ham and Newcastle, all of which are far from top level fixtures. Indeed, only two fixtures in this period are classed as red, and even then both of them are at home (Chelsea and Fulham).

3. Is it really wise to sell Ronaldo now having sat through this barren run and off week? Ashley Young had a similar run of 5 games (gameweek 11 - 15) in which he only notched a single assist, Lampard went 6 games with a solo assist (gameweek 13-18) and Gerrard had just a single assist between weeks 3 and 9. What this shows is that even the best players have poor runs and also that each of the aforementioned three players have rewarded loyal owners with explosions of points over the next 3 or 4 weeks.

My strategy and advice to others is hold Ronaldo for at least the next 5 gameweeks as not having him over 2 double gameweeks is asking for trouble, whether you are leading or chasing the pack. Unless he has drawn a total blank over this period, has been sold or has gotten himself sent off again I would then advise holding him for a further 3 games based on the fixtures. United's final 10 games are not the easiest, featuring just 2 green rated games and so it may be worth moving your team around at that stage for a final push.

A final note of warning though is who you will replace Ronaldo with. I recommend holding at least 2 of Ronaldo, Lampard, Gerrard and Young which means your options are limited in replacing any of them. I, for example, have Ronaldo, Lampard and Young so I can only get Gerrard without having 6 or 7 million sat on my bench. Therefore think hard about a long term strategy in replacing Ronaldo if you decide that this is the best course of action.

Comments

Unknown said…
Arteta seems to be back in top form, so he'd be a very good (and pretty cheap) option as well. Or Torres up front.
January 2, 2009 at 6:59 AM
Chris said…
I hadn't thought of Torres up front, that's a good idea. Torres iw owned by 16% of players, who I assume are mainly those not paying attention, so Torres becomes a decent differenetiator. The same applies to Drogba though Anelka's presence is a concern here.
January 2, 2009 at 11:51 AM
TD Ocho said…
If Ronaldo doesn't pick up his game in the next 4 weeks I like the idea of bringing in one of your "big four" and upgrading to Torres. Drogba has impressed me also, he looks better than I thought he would, but as you said it remains to be seen how many minutes he will be getting.
January 2, 2009 at 12:26 PM
Nujra said…
did you copy this straight off never captain nicky butt?
January 3, 2009 at 2:38 AM
Chris said…
no, although now i have checked their site I realise it is a pretty similar theme. apologies and i assure you i did not rip this off. that is a great site though.
January 4, 2009 at 12:30 PM
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