Life without Aguero

[Le Red]

So we have one more gameweek without Aguero and then he's coming back. Most of us are scratching our heads trying to figure the best way to get him back asap, but what if not getting him back is the right thing to do for the time being?
Madness, some will say. Heresy! Others will shout. But let's give it a thought before dismissing the idea altogether.
It is known that much of Aguero's value comes from the fact that you can glue the armband on him and lay back. Not only he'll bring it home more often than not, we also don't have to mind the competition that much, since most will have him as captain anyway. Aguero simply reduces the impact the captain factor has in the game, so it's no wonder he's considered a must have.
Every season has it's story, though, and this time it seems we have more candidates for the armband than usual. Ibrahimovic, Sanchez, Hazard, Lukaku, you name then. All of them will have excellent fixtures somewhere in the next gameweeks, thus making possible for others to be captain instead of Aguero.
If you have the four I mentioned (I do), the armband could go on like this:

GW6 - Lukaku (bou)
GW7 - Ibra (STO)
GW8 - Sanchez (SWA)
GW9 - Sanchez (MID)
GW10 - Ibra (BUR)
GW11 - Hazard (EVE)
GW12 - Lukaku (SWA)
GW13 - Sanchez (BOU)

Aguero on the same period would have these fixtures:

GW6 - swa
GW7 - tot
GW8 - EVE
GW9 - SOU
GW10 - wba
GW11 - MID
GW12 - cpl
GW13 - bur

Of course, individually, Aguero is likely to outscore anyone, if fit. There's always the risk of injury, early subs, rotation etc. The fact is , except for GWs 11 and 12, I'd be really comfortable captaining the alternatives instead of him. Maybe this string of captaincy may result in more points than setting and forgetting on Aguero.
Of course, Aguero is a beast and everyone who chooses to go without will have to hide behind the sofa and is bound to be heavily punished every now and then. It all goes down to weighing the two sides of the scale.
There's also another burning question to this: if Aguero has to be rushed in, who should go? Ibra, Hazard or Sanchez? Or should all four be kept at the expense of the quality of the rest of the squad?

[Owsler]

I'm far more likely to ditch Ibra and bring in Aguero (alongside Lukaku most likely + cheap as chips 3rd striker).

[ZeroRemorse]

Aguero is facing UCL and Ibra is facing a rest during the early stage of the Europa league. I think it's still sensible to continue with both of them in your team, however, Costa or Lukaku certainly prove great alternatives and free up cash to strengthen that MF or '3rd' striker. If I were to choose one to drop, it would be Ibra, for either Costa or Lukaku.

I think it's a matter or minuscule numbers if you are smart with your decisions in either department. This season is no doubt about small margins and one thing I would not do it chase last weeks points and have faith and take calculated punts.

[Weisenwolf]

Aguero is sometimes unfit, because he doesn't rest enough. He's had a rest now and will be annoyed about it and up for the game. KDB on form to Aggy; it'll be a devestating.

You all know the first commandment......

Red go stand in the corner and think about what you've done.....

You too Zero; oh the shame

[wahine]

who ever is not producing the points will go - this week Sanchez, Hazard, Ozil and Sterling all disappointed -Payet and DeBruyne are on my wishlist, after having Ibra from the start i wildcarded him out so dont have either of the big forwards, and might just keep it that way on a week by week basis - nothing until after the midweek fixtures anyway.

[Football Hero]

OP, you're missing the fact that just because you have Aguero, you don't have to captain him 100% of the time. You will still have at least two other decent options to captain each week.

It's also not really a problem that you can't own all of Hazard, Sanchez, Aguero and Ibrahimovic, because no one else can either, so there is no relative disadvantage there.

[The Libero]

Going without Aguero for a few weeks is a reasonable calculated gamble, all the other serious players will have him and if he were to go 4 to 5 weeks without a PL goal then a lot of players would have tied up a lot of funds and captaincy on an underperforming player. Remember last year the thread "Aguero is s***" before he scored 5 against Newcastle which was a defining split in the season between those that had captained him that week and those that hadn't.

The big issue for me is how quickly will his price rise. If you plan on getting him back after a few weeks will his price jump by 0.4 to 0.6m and can you absorb that? The other issue is the price implication to the other premiums that people have to transfer out to facilitate getting him back in. If any of Ibra, Costa, Sanchez blank for a couple of weeks I'd be wary of potential falls so it may be as well to follow the herd behaviour.

[LinusGoh]

Is haven Augero, ibra and a 5mil striker a better choice
Or costa, lukaku and ibra a better choice?

Just guessing the points they can get at the end
I thinking augero (190), ibra( 180) , 5mil ( 100 or less) = 470
Lukaku (170) , costa (170), ibra (180)= 520 or more

Is an estimate 50 pt diff

[CigaretteSmokingMan]

A team with the word "Aguero" in it always looks better.

[CigaretteSmokingMan]

It's also not really a problem that you can't own all of Hazard, Sanchez, Aguero and Ibrahimovic.

Nonsense, of course you can!

[Weisenwolf]

Is haven Augero, ibra and a 5mil striker a better choice
Or costa, lukaku and ibra a better choice?

Just guessing the points they can get at the end
I thinking augero (190), ibra( 180) , 5mil ( 100 or less) = 470
Lukaku (170) , costa (170), ibra (180)= 520 or more

Is an estimate 50 pt diff

Trouble with this equation is that the £5M may well be a £4.5M who doesn't play and the £1.5M or so difference is spent elsewhere. (Option 1 is about £1M cheaper plus the downgrade)

[gallus]

I'm getting rid of Ibra once Aguero is fit. Ibra and Aguero is not an optimal setup imo, and I think I can take Ibra on with Lukaku/Benteke and improved midfield.

[Aldershot Rejects]

Looking at going Ibra to Aguero in GW8. Going without Aguero for 2 weeks is a calculated risk especially against Swansea but unless I wildcard I am committed to one or the other and Ibra is the man in possession.

[Stemania]

The big issue for me is how quickly will his price rise. If you plan on getting him back after a few weeks will his price jump by 0.4 to 0.6m and can you absorb that?

I actually don't think that's so likely this time round. He should go from red flag to clear (rather than his usual orange/yellow injury to clear), which should come with 8 days of price protection covering the big GW6 influx and the Swansea game completely. If he scores well in that game then I would imagine he's rise a bit during the following weeks, but I think 0.4-0.6 numbers are fairly unlikely. At the start of the season he scored 3 in 2 games and only rose 0.1m and I'd expect his GW6 ownership won't be a million miles off his GW1 ownership of 1.3m. He's gone from 1.9m to 0.9m owners in a just over one gameweek (dropping only by that 0.1m so far, disappointingly) and it's pretty plausible he'll gain half of that loss back before GW6 kickoff.

I'm actually on the fence on this whole issue. I don't think an Aguero-less future is advisable (certainly from GW9 it looks dangerous not to own him to me), but depending on individual team circumstances I can see some credance in waiting an extra 1 or 2 weeks to put him back in.

I'll most likely be wildcarding Aguero immediately in GW6, but I could delay till GW8 and keep say Kane (mid) instead for GW6, using free transfers elsewhere for short term gains. Those with Ibra have a good game in GW7 as the OP describes.

[TheoRiginal]

Pep said in his "we need to improve" interview yesterday that one of the critical areas for attention was Aguero's historic failure to fire in the CL.

I might be setting up an Aunt Sally, and although Kun might have the same "must play every game for all the game" attitude which also drives Alexis, but I would have thought that one way in which Pep could channel the little maestro's energies is by resting him for the less challenging Premier League fixtures.

This would put the cat among the pigeons, especially if City go into the market for another top striker at Christmas, which I would think more than likely.

Me, I am intent on keeping him as one of a strong front three so I can field at least two hit men, plus a better-than-really-necessary twelfth man to come off the bench.

[CBN]

I will bring him back as soon as he returns. My plan for my forwards for the rest of the season is:

Aguero + two from three of Lukaku, Benteke and Bony.

[The Username]

Straight back in here, nothing to price or protection, its just because he scores loads of points.

[Notned]

I will bring him back as soon as he returns. My plan for my forwards for the rest of the season is:

Aguero + two from three of Lukaku, Benteke and Bony.

This. I'm wilcarding next week, and my planned frontline is Aguero/Lukaku/Benteke which still allows for a strong midfield.

[bigcliff2]

I've left money in the bank to switch Kane to him as soon as he's back but if Kane starts scoring this weekend, I could be tempted to swap Ibra out instead. Either way, Aguero is coming straight back in

[Turd Ferguson]

Looking at going Ibra to Aguero in GW8.

+1. United are home to Stoke in week 7, City are away to Spurs. Plan is to captain Ibra that week then bring in Aguero for him. Unless of course Aguero scores a brace against Swansea and I have to jump on the bandwagon.

[Klaren]

In my opinion, Ibrahimovic is slightly underestimated by some in this forum. The way man utd is playing right now, he is the focal point of offence and I doubt that Aguero will score many more goals than him this season.

Thus, personally for me, with the 1.5m difference (I got Ibra when he was 11.5m), choosing Aguero over Ibra doesn't really make sense. However obviously getting both is an option as well, especially if cheap midfield alternatives like capoue and fer keep up their performance.

[Le Red]

OP, you're missing the fact that just because you have Aguero, you don't have to captain him 100% of the time. You will still have at least two other decent options to captain each week.

It's also not really a problem that you can't own all of Hazard, Sanchez, Aguero and Ibrahimovic, because no one else can either, so there is no relative disadvantage there.

I agree with you, you don't have to captain Aguero every week, but not only taking the armband off him diminishes his true value (we pay £13.0 for solid captain material), there's also a certain "fear factor" when you have him on your squad. We don't really want to take the armband off him and miss one of his huge hauls.
Also it's true that virtually anyone will have the "big 4", but the main question is if it's really worth to get rid of one of the other three for Aguero, for the time being.

[Gambit]

Pep said in his "we need to improve" interview yesterday that one of the critical areas for attention was Aguero's historic failure to fire in the CL.

I might be setting up an Aunt Sally, and although Kun might have the same "must play every game for all the game" attitude which also drives Alexis, but I would have thought that one way in which Pep could channel the little maestro's energies is by resting him for the less challenging Premier League fixtures.

This would put the cat among the pigeons, especially if City go into the market for another top striker at Christmas, which I would think more than likely.

Me, I am intent on keeping him as one of a strong front three so I can field at least two hit men, plus a better-than-really-necessary twelfth man to come off the bench.

This has been mentioned a bit on Blue Moon - and the fact that they have just beaten the team who will most likely challenge them for the title, while Aguero was banned, shows perhaps that previous managers didn't need to run him into the ground so much.

Seeing is believing and I'm not convinced as yet, but I do think there is a chance Aguero may be rested a little more than under the previous manager. Doesn't make him a bad pick but would be an annoyance to see him benched against West Brom on 29th Oct because they have Barca on 1st Nov (for example).

What will be interesting is if Lukaku and Kane fire up, Ibra keeps getting a goal a game, and Benteke/Bony also show their true form, then you could have a very strong attack - with good captain potential, and without the 13m investment.

Still, I expect him to be back in my team sooner rather that later.

[Football Hero]

OP, you're missing the fact that just because you have Aguero, you don't have to captain him 100% of the time. You will still have at least two other decent options to captain each week.

It's also not really a problem that you can't own all of Hazard, Sanchez, Aguero and Ibrahimovic, because no one else can either, so there is no relative disadvantage there.

I agree with you, you don't have to captain Aguero every week, but not only taking the armband off him diminishes his true value (we pay £13.0 for solid captain material), there's also a certain "fear factor" when you have him on your squad. We don't really want to take the armband off him and miss one of his huge hauls.
Also it's true that virtually anyone will have the "big 4", but the main question is if it's really worth to get rid of one of the other three for Aguero, for the time being.

But you'd only be taking the armband off him when he has a bad fixture, (20% to 40% of the time depending on personal opinion etc.). On those occasions he wouldn't be truly worth the standard 13.0 or whatever, because his points potential will be decreased in that tough fixture, (as it would be for any player, so this is not a unique 'problem' to Aguero either).

''We don't really want to take the armband off him and miss one of his huge hauls.'' - You would take the armband off him so that you can catch another player's huge haul instead. Taking the armband off Aguero should always make sense and be a calculated move where you would be unlikely to miss one of his huge hauls, and instead would have an increased change of getting one of Sanchez's, Ibra's or Hazard's hauls, so there is no problem here. Essentially you take the armband off Aguero when it makes sense to, you don't just randomly take the armband off him willy-nilly, as in that case yes you could miss one of his huge hauls.

[Resonare]

This. I'm wilcarding next week, and my planned frontline is Aguero/Lukaku/Benteke which still allows for a strong midfield.

Your defence must be ****.

[tarkens]

Not necessarily, I had a quick look at it and this is what I came up with:

Pickford/Jakupovic
Amat/McAuley/Williams/Stones/Valencia
Hazard/Ozil/Mane/Capoue/Snodgrass
Aguero/Lukaku/Benteke

I think it's pretty solid team when playing 3-4-3 and rotating Capoue and Snodgrass

[Roope]

Not necessarily, I had a quick look at it and this is what I came up with:

Pickford/Jakupovic
Amat/McAuley/Williams/Stones/Valencia
Hazard/Ozil/Mane/Capoue/Snodgrass
Aguero/Lukaku/Benteke

I think it's pretty solid team when playing 3-4-3 and rotating Capoue and Snodgrass

With Capoue's fixtures from GW6 being bur, BOU, mid, swa, HUL I'd advise against rotating him. Which would leave extra assets for your defence. Anyways, that's a fairly balanced squad!

[tarkens]

Good point

So Carrick instead of Snodgrass and Williams -> Baines, Pickford/Jakupovic -> Foster (for example)

Also, didn't Mourinho say that Rashford will start now? He could be a good shout, 6.8 for Man Utd attacking asset is a bargain plus he's 0.7 cheaper than Benteke, so there's more money to spend elsewhere

[Resonare]

Not necessarily, I had a quick look at it and this is what I came up with:

Pickford/Jakupovic
Amat/McAuley/Williams/Stones/Valencia
Hazard/Ozil/Mane/Capoue/Snodgrass
Aguero/Lukaku/Benteke

I think it's pretty solid team when playing 3-4-3 and rotating Capoue and Snodgrass

Misread, thought he said Aguero/Lukaku/Ibra for some reason.

[Weisenwolf]

Good point

So Carrick instead of Snodgrass and Williams -> Baines, Pickford/Jakupovic -> Foster (for example)

Also, didn't Mourinho say that Rashford will start now? He could be a good shout, 6.8 for Man Utd attacking asset is a bargain plus he's 0.7 cheaper than Benteke, so there's more money to spend elsewhere

"The next big game is against Feyenoord and he is going to play," Mourinho said. "I trust him completely. I know his future will be absolutely brilliant.

"He is mainly a No 9 and if you want to play him in different positions, we need to work him, we need to improve him, but his big personality is there"


So yes he may start but it may just be cup games