Assessing true value of players is key to a successful campaign as evidenced by the early leaders.
Manchester United's form in the opening weeks of the Premier League season may have suffered as a result of injuries and a suspension among their forward ranks, but the club's defence has held the line remarkably well.
It is too early in the season to call the dynamic duo of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic dominant, but their performances in PlayTheGame's Defence category has been nothing short of it.
Ferdinand has a history of success here after leading the category last season (with 1372) but his hold on top spot is made even more significant by the emergence of his partner at the heart of Manchester United's defence, Nemanja Vidic. The defence category is the total of interceptions, catches, blocks, saves and successful passes, suggesting that, among other things, teammates would struggle to be among the leaders in the category by virtue of having to share a ball.
Shame that the overall value of Manchester United's dynamic duo of defence is dragged down by the paltry point totals that the club's performances have earned thus far. Strange but true.
The top 10 in the defence category are (with the total value of their contribution):
Rio Ferdinand 279
Nemanja Vidic 248
Pascal Chimbonda 213
Richard Dunne 213
Titus Bramble 203
Nyron Nosworthy 202
Ivar Ingimarrson 200
Mario Melchiot 200
Jlloyd Samuel 197
Joleon Lescott 193
Andrew Taylor 193
Managers lagging behind their league leaders in this category should note that several of these are more likely than not still available. Here is a list of the four least owned across the game and also the percentage of teams within the league that have the said players in their squad but are not starting them.
Percentage owned:
Bramble - 53.1% (15.2% starting)
Nosworthy - 12.4% (3.7%)
Melchiot - 13.9% (10.4%)
Samuel - 13.6% (5.5%)
On the other side of the ball, the seemingly ageless Paul Scholes is setting the pace in the Successful Passes category. The 32-year-old in Manchester United's central midfield is more than 100 passes ahead of his closest rival.
The top 10 successful passers also includes several unlikely standouts and is here is full (with total number of passes completed):
Paul Scholes 311
Frank Lampard 201
Julio Arca 181
Mikel Arteta 178
Michael Essien 178
El-Hadji Diouf 176
Florent Malouda 170
Phil Neville 170
Dietmar Hamann 168
John Obi Mikel 168
Comments (5)
I had Diouf and Mikel in my team for weekend of 1/2 September, but both show nil SP, even though they both started and played a significant part of their games. How can I check their actual contributions and that these have been added to my team results?
PTG: For your records, Diouf’s SP total was 36 successful passes against Everton on the weekend in question and his season-to-date total in the category is 176. Mikel's single-game tally on September 2 was 40 bringing him to a total of 168 for the season.
Posted by Anonymous | September 11, 2007 2:33 AM
Posted on September 11, 2007 02:33
It's been quite interesting that in both category, none of the players of Arsenal and Liverpool were in the top 10 positions, despite the fact that the 2 teams are currently top and third of the league with a game in hand.
My team has got 7 liverpool players and 2 Arsenal players. And I am doing pretty well having a very handsome lead (over 25 points) over the second place!
By the way, great for you to publish the names of a few "best of the rest" in both category. I have been monitoring a few "free agents" in my league as well, and guess what, I have Mario Melchiot, Jlloyd Samuel, Andrew Taylor, Julio Arca and Dietmar Hamann in the list as well! There are clearly a lot of potential points for other managers to pick up out there.
Posted by Simon | September 18, 2007 3:47 AM
Posted on September 18, 2007 03:47
Very nice this blog =)
Posted by cheapcigar | November 6, 2007 10:53 PM
Posted on November 6, 2007 22:53
WOW, so much stuff here, an excellent resource. Thanks guys!
Posted by Themestoclis | December 4, 2007 11:05 AM
Posted on December 4, 2007 11:05
Nice site!
PTG - Thanks for the compliment.
Posted by enencegitycle | October 1, 2008 11:25 AM
Posted on October 1, 2008 11:25