Tony Cascarino, Times columnist and former Aston Villa, Chelsea, Millwall and Republic of Ireland forward, had seventh pick in the Times In-house League's offline allocation. Here he explains the thinking behind his choices.
What people always seem to do with fantasy teams is pick last season’s best players, and I think in the PlayTheGame system you have to have a bigger picture, a more objective idea of who might come in – for example, who has been injured and has a chance of being in the team far more regularly than they were in the previous season. And maybe some bright young talents who haven’t been out there, but will get a chance this time.
My first team is all about players who can make things happen, like Michael Essien of Chelsea. He can play at right back, but I don’t see that happening much this year. With him signing a new contract, he has got to be at the heart of Chelsea’s midfield and I expect him to be there, perhaps more than any other player.
But for the bench I’m looking slightly beyond the obvious. I’ve tried to get a mixture of people who have been very productive and others who have under-achieved at their clubs and could have more to offer than they have shown.
That could be players who have been transferred from one club where they haven’t been noticed so much to another where they will come under the spotlight. For me, Zoltan Gera, who has moved to Fulham, was very creative at West Bromwich Albion last season but because he was outside the Premier League, some people might not have paid so much attention to him.
Unlike in some Fantasy Football games, you can’t have your ideal XI, as they would be in those leagues where everybody ends up naming the same team. In this game, you want to find value in a player, and a good return from someone you don’t necessarily put at the top of your rankings. That’s why I picked Tim Cahill of Everton [in the ninth round]. He missed a lot of time through injury last year, but when he’s fit he can score goals from midfield.
And he plays for a good Everton team. Mikel Arteta missed time towards the end of the season, but I think he is a fabulous player – one of those midfield players who is extra valuable because he can chip in with goals, which is something Everton seem to have. I named Leon Osman on my bench because he’s a player who can deliver from deep midfield areas.
Gareth Bale was probably my biggest risk, along with Theo Walcott. Bale is a player I really like going forward. I think he still needs to learn a lot about his defensive duties, but hopefully with the likes of Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate around him at Spurs that will help him as he goes along.
I think Walcott’s time has come, or it should do. It is time for him to start to be a regular in the Arsenal line-up. We’ve all heard fans at the Emirates signing "Theo, Theo," calling for him to come off the bench. I think he now has to start, on a regular basis, and maybe they’ll be singing after something he’s done early in a game. He should be maturing into the player that Arsene Wenger would want. He’s been there two years and I think that is enough time for Wenger to think of him as being in his first XI – if not in every match, then certainly far more often.
No risks at goalkeeper, though. Because so many teams rotate – Edwin van Der Sar at Manchester United, for instance – I picked someone in David James who will be asked to do more at Portsmouth that Reina at Liverpool and perhaps even Almunia at Arsenal. And I think that James is one of those keepers who does an awful lot right and very little wrong. Unfortunately, the “very little” has been the monkey on his back over the course of his career.
He makes fine saves, but what has sometimes cost him dear is his judgment, not only of crosses but also coming off his line in one-on-ones. I think he has been far too ready to leave his line and try to get to a forward who is 35 yards from goal when there is still a lot for the forward to do. But while he is still making the saves, as he has always done, I think he knows his job better now. I’ve listened to him talk and I think he understands what is expected of him and what his duties are within a group of players.
My final pick was Ledley King, a player I really like. The way he played in the Carling Cup final against Chelsea was absolutely superb. It’s a pity that injury has taken so many games away from him. If he was fit on a regular basis, he would probably be one of everybody’s first picks rather than their last.
THE WISLEY BOYS - Manager: Tony Cascarino.
David James (Portsmouth) -
Lucas Neill (West Ham United), Joseph Yobo (Everton), Martin Laursen (Aston Villa), Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) -
Mikel Arteta (Everton), Michael Essien (Chelsea), Tim Cahill (Everton), Theo Walcott (Arsenal) -
Peter Crouch (Portsmouth), Obafemi Martins (Newcastle United).
Substitutes: Alex (Chelsea, defender/goalkeeper), Leon Osman (Everton, midfield), Ryan Babel (Liverpool, forward).
Bench: Shay Given (Newcastle United), Zoltan Gera (Fulham), Emile Heskey (Wigan Athletic), Salamon Kalou (Chelsea), Andre Ooijer (Blackburn Rovers), Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur)
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