Should we pay it for Payet?

[DonTanTilla]

Loads of talk about West Ham's Payet with 27,000 already transfering him in. Why the sudden hype?

[thesilkworm]

He was the best player on the pitch yesterday. Played just behind the strikers, seemed to like to shoot, takes set pieces.

[DonTanTilla]

Is the general consensus he'll be playing there regularly?

[twhelan22]

He should be. Fantastic player and will create a ton of chances. Pretty incredible that WH managed to sign him at that price really without much competition from other teams.
At the end of the day though I already have Sakho, no way I am going to double up on WH attack.

If you don't have Sahko and you have the cash then definitely worth considering.

[sunnO)))jihai]

He's a bit of a loose cannon though, which could explain the lack of interest from other clubs.

[Carlos Kickaball]

Was he the best player on the park? I didn't see the game but I think descriptions like that owe more to West Ham winning the game, and it being his debut, than his actual performance.

A CK who had 1 shot and 3 crosses and according to the opta stats didn't create a chance all game, okay 81% pass completion.

I think people are just wanting to rave about him because he has a reputation from the French league and has set prices. One game in and it's still a wait and see for me.

[Finisher1]

Was he the best player on the park? I didn't see the game but I think descriptions like that owe more to West Ham winning the game, and it being his debut, than his actual performance.

A CK who had 1 shot and 3 crosses and according to the opta stats didn't create a chance all game, okay 81% pass completion.

I think people are just wanting to rave about him because he has a reputation from the French league and has set prices. One game in and it's still a wait and see for me.

I saw his game. He has definitely class in terms of real football and he did some nice dribbles, but I'm not totally sure whether those will translate into FPL points.

I think the attacking stats you mentioned are going to improve in better fixtures than Arsenal away.

Wait and see. No hurry to bring him in since he is not going to rise.

[Archy]

I watched MOTD2 last night and was very impressed. He was best player on the park and the stat that he was the most creative player in all of Europe last year was also an eye opener. He was well ahead of the likes of Messi, Hazard, Fabregas in terms of chances created...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/w ... re-5945169

With 2 good home games for West Ham now he's a no-brainer for me. Whether I wildcard or not, bringing in Payet is my no 1 priority this week.

[Carlos Kickaball]

I definitely agree with you there finisher, all I'm saying is I'm not quite completely sold, though I can see the appeal for 2 reasons.

2 nice fixtures, frees up money for next transfer. I'm sure if he adapts to the pace of the league he'll do at least fairly well. That's the bit that isn't clear cut.

Why was he the best player on the park Archy, is it just because Arsenal didn't play well, and he looked technically sound? He complete 2 forward passes in the opponents half, no shots on target, and no passes completed into the box...

[sunnO)))jihai]

For a start, he looks a footballer. He got into some good positions and with better decision making & a bit of luck, could've put Sakho through twice on the counter. His ordinary stats may be partially explained by the fact that he played at the Emirates. For West Ham United. Oh, and he managed an assist from one of those set pieces. Not bad for a debut.

I'm not going to rush him in, but he's definitely on my list.

Also, judging a player from one appearance is ludicrous, but only Oxlade-Chamberlain ran him close for best performer of the match. In my humble opinion. Whether that's down to a crap day or general invisibility of the other Arsenal players or to Payet's quality, is another matter.

[Archy]

He looked technically sound, full of pace and creatvity. Reminded me of Sanchez actually. Plus he was on corners and free kicks, so a bit like the best of Sanchez and Cazorla combined really

Here is 'Payet Cam' from the game so you can make your own mind up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7g4rc6eGAE

The stats from last year are the killer for me. One game you can say was a flash in the pan, but (easily) creating the most chances in Europe last season is a concrete reason to believe he is the real deal. There is no reason to hang around with stats like those, one great showing against Arsenal, and 2 nice home games coming up.

[NoEyeDeer]

For a start, he looks a footballer. He got into some good positions and with better decision making & a bit of luck, could've put Sakho through twice on the counter. His ordinary stats may be partially explained by the fact that he played at the Emirates. For West Ham United. Oh, and he managed an assist from one of those set pieces. Not bad for a debut.

I'm not going to rush him in, but he's definitely on my list.

Also, judging a player from one appearance is ludicrous, but only Oxlade-Chamberlain ran him close for best performer of the match. In my humble opinion. Whether that's down to a crap day or general invisibility of the other Arsenal players or to Payet's quality, is another matter.

The first paragraph is probably exactly how I would describe his performance.

I was actually surprised when he didn't play Sakho through on those two occasions you described, as they were probably the two standout and obvious chances someone of his alleged quality should have created/seen. Especially considering he had the time and space to pick Sakho out.

For those reasons I will hold and watch closely for now. I think if he did pick Sakho out, that was potentially 2 goals for the striker, so maybe we would still be saying Sakho's the better option at 1mil less.

[The Dazzler]

Was he the best player on the park? I didn't see the game but I think descriptions like that owe more to West Ham winning the game, and it being his debut, than his actual performance.

A CK who had 1 shot and 3 crosses and according to the opta stats didn't create a chance all game, okay 81% pass completion.

I think people are just wanting to rave about him because he has a reputation from the French league and has set prices. One game in and it's still a wait and see for me.

"I didn't see the game but I think.......{blah, blah, blah}.........."

Carlsberg don't do 'opinions of Fantasy players it is safe to ignore' but if they did, they would look like this.
He looks excellent.

[Rich2086]

He in the same list as Wijnaldum for me Looks a good player and playing in the right position to pick up points. Will keep an eye on him but not going to get him in off the back of one game

[wizardoffire]

He looks very skillful, can play with both feet, has a good delivery from set pieces
bit more chemistry with his team mates... case in point the couple of times he should have played Sakho in, would have produced a greater return

[Stemania]

Payet was great, looked extremely classy all game - awkward price though as it doesn't free up quite as much as I'd like for Aguero. The next two games are the real litmus test to see wheter he's the type to only raise his game for the big sides - and at that price point he's going to have to be quite consistent to keep up with Southampton's 0.5m cheaper set piece merchant Tadic, who has the added bonus of being on pens. Mane at 8.0m looks decent too (and Coutinho might when he's fully match fit if he stays in the hole) which muddies the waters further.

But, Payet is well up on my watchlist - wouldn't have any complaints over anybody taking a punt on him for the next two nice fixtures. It's a nice range that 7-7.5m band with some good performers (Tadic, Payet, Ayew, Wijnaldum) even though the Liverpool pair (Hendo, Milner) looked terrible. Much better choice than in the 6-6.5m range for me anyway (who separately suffer at the value hands of Mahrez), and look worth the extra money when directly compared imo.

[Mav3rick]

I agree with the general sentiment in this thread that he's well worth consideration given the team responsibilities and fixtures.

I would slightly temper the comments about the most creative player in Europe stats by pointing out that I think Leighton Baines was similarly praised at some point last season, whilst Eriksen and Tadic also came into the league with a reputation as exceptional chance creators in lesser leagues (ok the French league is probably better quality than the Eredivisie, but it is still only the sixth best league in Europe according to UEFA and some distance behind the top 4). I think he's probably up there more as a consequence on monopolising creativity in a lesser team.

I may still pick him though and thought he looked great (said so in TRK), especially if Aguero doesn't look ready tonight.

[Le Red]

I definitely agree with you there finisher, all I'm saying is I'm not quite completely sold, though I can see the appeal for 2 reasons.

2 nice fixtures, frees up money for next transfer. I'm sure if he adapts to the pace of the league he'll do at least fairly well. That's the bit that isn't clear cut.

Why was he the best player on the park Archy, is it just because Arsenal didn't play well, and he looked technically sound? He complete 2 forward passes in the opponents half, no shots on target, and no passes completed into the box...

You didn't even have to say you didn't watch the game, it's pretty clear judging from the comments that followed. The guy bossed Arsenal and looked very dangerous almost all of the time. Of course, he and West Ham won't have the same form every match, but he seems a great pick now at 7.5 and has amazing fixtures between GW2-5.
Btw, if those stats are real they are very misleading and don't reflect his actual performance.

[SuperGrover]

I watched a couple West Ham friendlies and he is very good. He has also taken every free kick and corner, without exception. I think he will be very good.

Challenge I have is that I already have Sakho and Payet is just expensive enough to be out of the budget range. Came down to Mane or Payet for me and I went Mane.

[SuperGrover]

(ok the French league is probably better quality than the Eredivisie, but it is still only the sixth best league in Europe according to UEFA and some distance behind the top 4)

The UEFA coefficient is driven by the quality of the best teams in the league, not overall league quality. This includes only teams that qualify for Europe. It's a really awful way to judge a league, especially for fantasy purposes.

I would put Ligue 1 near Portugal in a fight for 5th. La Liga #1 with EPL and Bundesliga close to tied at #2. Italy clearly #4. France is pretty clearly better than Eredivisie, which is behind Russia IMO.

[Notned]

You can read the stats whichever way you like. Figures are there to be manipulated, and can be done so to whatever effect you desire; I prefer to judge a player (at least in 'real life' terms) on what I see on the pitch, and the fact is he was superb and will be a huge asset to them this season.

Echo some prior comments though in that I don't really have a space for him at the moment at that awkward price-point; he is too pricey to act as an Aguero fund-freer for me, and I opted for the relative safety of Mane as an alternative in the most suitable slot. That's not to say jumping off one onto the other might not be an option at some point, although their good fixtures do run in tandem, and any transfers I do make will have to be an immediate part of the Aguero plan for now. Plus I have Sakho.

Anyone who can fit him in though, especially given the next few fixtures, could definitely do far worse.

[Carlos Kickaball]

I definitely agree with you there finisher, all I'm saying is I'm not quite completely sold, though I can see the appeal for 2 reasons.

2 nice fixtures, frees up money for next transfer. I'm sure if he adapts to the pace of the league he'll do at least fairly well. That's the bit that isn't clear cut.

Why was he the best player on the park Archy, is it just because Arsenal didn't play well, and he looked technically sound? He complete 2 forward passes in the opponents half, no shots on target, and no passes completed into the box...

You didn't even have to say you didn't watch the game, it's pretty clear judging from the comments that followed. The guy bossed Arsenal and looked very dangerous almost all of the time. Of course, he and West Ham won't have the same form every match, but he seems a great pick now at 7.5 and has amazing fixtures between GW2-5.
Btw, if those stats are real they are very misleading and don't reflect his actual performance.

You can find them here.

All I'm saying is that from his in depth stats the performance doesn't look like one quite as good as some made out. Okay it was against Arsenal, but when I looked at the game on Squawka it did not match up to some of the hyperbole about one players performance in one match. Yes of course you can manipulate numbers, but if you look at the detail on those sites, they really give you a great overview of the game. If you watch a match it's quite easy to have a selective memory and be biased towards technical players or ones you are excited about.

You can read the stats whichever way you like. Figures are there to be manipulated, and can be done so to whatever effect you desire; I prefer to judge a player (at least in 'real life' terms) on what I see on the pitch, and the fact is he was superb and will be a huge asset to them this season.

You can watch a football match and say whatever you like.

Perhaps technically the performance was excellent and looked fantastic, and shows us that he's got great potential as an FPL prospect; I'm looking forward to watching MOTD later. I apologise for giving some data and information, rather than just hyperbole. Fact is, he's a technical player who is unproven in the league. No point getting overexcited just yet, it was a good performance from West Ham and Payet clearly, but I'm just not sure about best player on the park/get him in your team now stuff.

[Mav3rick]

(ok the French league is probably better quality than the Eredivisie, but it is still only the sixth best league in Europe according to UEFA and some distance behind the top 4)

The UEFA coefficient is driven by the quality of the best teams in the league, not overall league quality. This includes only teams that qualify for Europe. It's a really awful way to judge a league, especially for fantasy purposes.

I would put Ligue 1 near Portugal in a fight for 5th. La Liga #1 with EPL and Bundesliga close to tied at #2. Italy clearly #4. France is pretty clearly better than Eredivisie, which is behind Russia IMO.

Interesting that you would say that the UEFA coefficient is a bad way of ranking the leagues, but then list them in exactly the same order

http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/ ... index.html

I've never thought hard enough about the coefficients to decide if they are a good or bad way of representing the leagues though.

[Stemania]

I apologise for giving some data and information, rather than just hyperbole. Fact is, he's a technical player who is unproven in the league. No point getting overexcited just yet, it was a good performance from West Ham and Payet clearly, but I'm just not sure about best player on the park/get him in your team now stuff.

Can you please give some 'data and information' to support the existence of this ''get him in your team now stuff''. Having read this thread I've counted about 10 ''he's worth watching''s and Archy saying he's his personal first priority, but that's it - no hyperbole you say?

I think the following is pretty much what everyone else is saying too:

(Perhaps)* technically the performance was excellent and looked fantastic, and shows us that he's got great potential as an FPL prospect

*Parenthesis only not applicable to Carlos, who will decide when he watches the highlights.

[Carlos Kickaball]

I think the following is pretty much what everyone else is saying too:

technically the performance was excellent and looked fantastic, and shows us that he's got great potential as an FPL prospect

You just removed the perhaps from the start of my sentence, changing the meaning. The Daily Mail might have a job for you.

I was indeed summing up what everyone was saying, but with a perhaps in front. I'm glad you think it's an accurate portrayal.

[Stemania]

The perhaps isn't applicable to everyone else. What I quoted is imo essentially what other posters have been saying. You think it is perhaps true, seems like a vague agreement to me. Edited for (unrequired ) clarity.

Anyways, if Sterling bombs tonight I can see a price rise or two coming for the 7-7.5m lot as the masses jump ship, Payet included.

[Corroded Soul]

He was the best player on the pitch yesterday. Played just behind the strikers, seemed to like to shoot, takes set pieces.

Agreed, on the basis that IMO nobody stood out for the Gooners. To me it looked as they believed the media hype of the real deal and things would just fall into their laps. Really impressed with Payet and glad I made a good choice, hope he continues playing like that.

[Gambit]

had a great game, think he boosts sakho too, can see them both getting points in the next two home games

[...]

Think it's safe to say that everyone who watched the full 90 minutes is keeping a keen eye on him. Question is, does he justify costing 500k more than Ayew? I think he does - although I only watched the highlights of the Swansea game so it's tougher to judge.

[muldoon]

Was he the best player on the park? I didn't see the game but I think descriptions like that owe more to West Ham winning the game, and it being his debut, than his actual performance.

A CK who had 1 shot and 3 crosses and according to the opta stats didn't create a chance all game, okay 81% pass completion.

I think people are just wanting to rave about him because he has a reputation from the French league and has set prices. One game in and it's still a wait and see for me.

"I didn't see the game but I think.......{blah, blah, blah}.........."

Carlsberg don't do 'opinions of Fantasy players it is safe to ignore' but if they did, they would look like this.
He looks excellent.