Anthony Martial

[Multiple Scorgasms]

Not sure Martial (WBA) to Lukaku (whu) makes sense this week. Unless the value swing is huge of course. GW12 would make much more sense.

Got a feeling it will be. Martial close to a drop and lukaku close to a rise before today. Can see it being at least 0.4 diff by next GW. That makes a big diff if u are looking to get aguero back in

[Rich2086]

Man Utd arnt even creating many chances if they were peppering the opposition week in week out then it wouldnt be so bad but they arnt. He's been pushed out wide anyway i shipped him out a couple of weeks back

[Mav3rick]

Not sure Martial (WBA) to Lukaku (whu) makes sense this week. Unless the value swing is huge of course. GW12 would make much more sense.

Got a feeling it will be. Martial close to a drop and lukaku close to a rise before today. Can see it being at least 0.4 diff by next GW. That makes a big diff if u are looking to get aguero back in

Yes, even if like me you jumped on board at 8.0 I think the swing will be 0.3 at least in buy/sell price. That's a big difference between a capable defender or a Sunderland one for me in my Aguero teams. I'm quite torn though because I do prefer Benteke as a pick, even if Lukaku makes a bit more sense right now, and I'd rather give Martial one more week to see if Benteke starts and if Martial goes to number 9 against WBA.

Sadly though, I think I'll be forced by market forces into a move tonight. I'm not that worried though as I'd always half expected Lukaku to be in my team anyway, so maybe I'll find a way to get Benteke in for Pelle en route to Aguero.

[Razzler]

I am the same, looking at Martial for another week/check on Benteke starting

I was looking at the Pelle out for Lukaku in a few weeks. The whole Martial thing hasn't worked out great :/

I have no other transfer planned but I left him this week as I planned to wait until after this Palace game, at least so I'd be annoyed to make the move now knowing I could have got someone else in last week as a better option going forward

See how the midweek CL game goes too before deciding, I think

[Hogmeister]

I'm out of here! Trigger pulled last night before price rise/fall, Martial Lukaku

[First Sub Podcast]

I've been holding Mata for a while, one last chance of WBA home before selling?

[Curmudgeon]

And here is a premonition of Thursday's news: LvG's shock decision to change formation to 3-4-1-2 against CSKA, with both Martial and Rooney up front and Mata in the hole, reaped massive benefits in a 7-0 thrashing (Martial 3, Rooney 2, Mata 4 assists) for the astonished Russians who came to England expecting a quiet evening playing out a scoreless draw with possession football. In his after-match interview LvG stated that he believed that the result was an aberration, and felt WBA would offer more of an attacking threat at Old Trafford the following weekend, so he would be dropping Mata and reverting to 4-5-1 and matching the focus of Pulis on keeping a clean sheet, even if it meant annoying everybody on the FISO forums except those with WBA defenders.

[blahblah]

United look poor as an attacking force. Can't see any of their attackers being viable picks at this stage. I do think the defence is worthy of investment though, particularly with the upcoming run. May bring Rojo in this week, if no other issues arise.

Tbh, I thought this even when they were scoring. It just seemed weird\wrong, and the points were spread about.....

[Aar0n_28]

Martial in the forward role tonight with Rooney sat behind. They look poor in the final third though and i'm questioning whether to stick with Martial for one more week as initially planned is wise after all.

[Aar0n_28]

Taken off for Fellaini on 65mins. Lunacy.

[blahblah]

Did he contribute to the second half?

Mata leaves the right touchline and creates something in the inside left channel - Rooney misses a howler.....

[Aar0n_28]

Did he contribute to the second half?

Mata leaves the right touchline and creates something in the inside left channel - Rooney misses a howler.....

Not really tbh. Really tempted to shift him barring any injuries to the rest of my squad.

[blahblah]

Anyone for Rooney?

[Mav3rick]

Did he contribute to the second half?

Mata leaves the right touchline and creates something in the inside left channel - Rooney misses a howler.....

Not really tbh. Really tempted to shift him barring any injuries to the rest of my squad.

He went off for Fellaini I hear? Doesn't sound great for his prospects of a number 9 position in the near future?

I've sold him on already but will keep a check on him. He could be back in for Pelle if Aguero has any set backs.

[Red Eye]

I wouldn't worry too much about the fact he went off - I expect that just would have been tactical/Van Gaal using Fellaini for an expected late onslaught. Main thing is he got his position back at no.9 and United looked much brighter, albeit I have only seen the first half so far. I've sold him too but he's on the watchlist.

[blahblah]

I only saw the second, and the old 1980's Anfield "Attack, Attack, Attack...." was rather loud.

I sense performance-wise it was a game of two halves, as I saw nothing of the type of play from the first half highlights.

[Curmudgeon]

Looking at the touch map [ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/34717701 ] LvG obviously listened to his critics - and Manchester United certainly looked much more aggressive in the first half when I was watching the game (helped by Rojo ignoring his defensive duties and CSKA hardly venturing over the half way line) so perhaps there is some prospect of Martial playing in front of Rooney against sides where LvG's pessismism doesn't require a defensive low risk formation and attitude. That doesn't bode well for Martial as an FPL selection however, as it would probably require him to be benched a considerable amount of the time against sides who set up to counter attack, which seems to be an increasing trend, as suggested in the thread on clean sheets.

[swadd1er]

Left Wembley tonight on crutches and a strapped up ankle.

[Fuzzy]

They shouldn't have too much trouble identifying the dodgy bloke who snatched his bag though.

[Carlos Kickaball]

Wonder if FPL will just list him as a midfielder next season, would make him a much more attractive option.

[Red Eye]

Wonder if FPL will just list him as a midfielder next season, would make him a much more attractive option.

Can't see there's much chance of that - I would consider him OOP if they did.

Rooney might be decent value though if re-classified and in the 8-8.5 bracket?

[Carlos Kickaball]

Doesn't he mostly play as a winger at the moment, as he has done for most of his career?

Sánchez for example is listed as a midfielder. Unless Martial is playing upfront, I struggle to see how he will justify a striker spot in people's FPL squads.

[Red Eye]

I agree - its a subtle distinction. I'd describe him as a wide-striker and wouldn't classify Neymar as a midfielder either.

But you're right, make him a midfielder and he's probably a must, make him a forward and he's not likely to be viable.

[thesilkworm]

For what it's worth, most other fantasy games class Sanchez as a forward I believe (have never seen Martial listed as a midfielder).

It is a bit of a grey area and hard to know where to draw the line. For me I generally consider wide players in a 4-3-3 forwards, but wide players in 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 midfielders. Although it's not as simple as that, as teams don't play the same formation/system all season. Also, some wide players in 4-2-3-1 do more defensive work than others (Lingard v Martial being a good example from the games where they've started in the wide positions). I guess average position should probably be taken into account when deciding classifications, but even with that there would still be some very close calls.

[MoSe]

But you're right, make him a midfielder and he's probably a must, make him a forward and he's not likely to be viable.

Besides considerations about your squad structure, and price ranges by position, which alone can make him more appealing as a Mid,
don't forget he scored 11 goals and kept 14 CS, which as a Mid would have granted him 25 more FPL Pts
He'd have tallied 166p, like Alli, 14th in FPL and 8th in Mids, instead of 141p

[tarkens]

For what it's worth, most other fantasy games class Sanchez as a forward I believe (have never seen Martial listed as a midfielder).

It is a bit of a grey area and hard to know where to draw the line. For me I generally consider wide players in a 4-3-3 forwards, but wide players in 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 midfielders. Although it's not as simple as that, as teams don't play the same formation/system all season. Also, some wide players in 4-2-3-1 do more defensive work than others (Lingard v Martial being a good example from the games where they've started in the wide positions). I guess average position should probably be taken into account when deciding classifications, but even with that there would still be some very close calls.

Martial is listed as a midfielder in EURO 2016 fantasy game

[From4corners]

Wonder if FPL will just list him as a midfielder next season, would make him a much more attractive option.

And Antonio as a defender.

[Calvin1979]

Wonder if FPL will just list him as a midfielder next season, would make him a much more attractive option.

And Antonio as a defender.

And Rooney as a 4.5 bench fodder midfielder

[Ruth_NZ]

Wonder if FPL will just list him as a midfielder next season, would make him a much more attractive option.

And Antonio as a defender.

And Rooney as a 4.5 bench fodder midfielder

Really? Rooney will be high up my shortlist if he's a mid and listed at anything around 9.0.

[Willij5]

Personally think Rooney will be mid listed at 8m.

On pens, some set pieces. Yes please.