Player Profile: Michael Ballack

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A few fantasy owners (including me) have grown increasingly frustrated by the 8m midfield talent on offer, namely Wright-Phillips, Young, Cahill and Benayoun. Aside from Lennon (who himself is out of form a bit) no players in this price bracket have been consistent with huge weeks (Benayoun week 5) followed by several weeks of mediocre production.

Another option, held by just 5% of owners, is Michael Ballack (8.0) who traditionally has been an inconsistent fantasy performer during his time at Chelsea due to rotation and injury. This year though, Ballack has missed just one game (week 7) and has contributed 36 points in the other 7 games. His three goals are encouraging while his lack of assists (zero) does concern me a bit.

I like Ballack to score 10 goals for the season, adding a couple of assists and bonus points along the way. This kind of production isn't outstanding for a 8m midfielder but so long as he is playing every week he should average out at about 6 points, which is better than many of his fellow 8m players right now.

Chelsea's fixtures are very up and down over the coming weeks with a tough trip to Villa this week followed by tricky ties in weeks 12 (MNU), 14(@Ars) and 15(@MNC). That being said, in Chelsea's two toughest games this year (Tot, Liv) Ballack has averaged 5.5 points so we should not be totally put off by these tough games.

Comments

Jay Horrey said…
Chris,
Rooney is out for the Bolton game. You might want to re-do your captain picks.

Here is a link:
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_5630807,00.html
October 16, 2009 at 9:39 AM
Jay Horrey said…
Quick follow-up --

Should I replace hime with Drogba, Van Persie, or Adebayor?

Thanks
October 16, 2009 at 9:43 AM
Jay Horrey said…
And the hits keep coming....

Gerrard and Torres are both out. Looks like I will be taking an 8 point hit to have two healthy strikers on the pitch.

Ouch....
October 16, 2009 at 9:56 AM
Unknown said…
Can you link where it says Torres is out please
October 16, 2009 at 2:08 PM
Unknown said…
Well... Rooney, Torres, and Bent are my three forwards. It looks like I'm going to have to do some shuffling. I might finally bring in Van Persie after all your hype. I hope he performs.
October 16, 2009 at 2:10 PM
Unknown said…
I flirted with the idea of bringing in Ballack but a trip to the chalkboards persuaded me to stay away. He doesn't venture forward enough, hence the lack of assists. Plus there's the ever present danger of rotation.

I do agree there's slim pickings in 8m bracket though, Lennon probably the safest bet.
October 16, 2009 at 2:43 PM
Unknown said…
A girlis not just Reading about football, a girl is reading about fantasy football - way more profound.
October 17, 2009 at 4:22 AM
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