West Ham, after an uncertain start, are currently one of the
biggest talking points of the opening 2017/18 transfer window. After the early bosman
transfer of Pablo Zabaleta there was a lull until the last few days, where the
Hammers have signed Javier Hernández, Marko Arnautović on permanent deals as well as
England’s current number one, Joe Hart on a loan deal from Manchester City. On
paper, these are strong signings – Chicharito in particular being touted as a
bargain in the current transfer climate, especially when you compare Middlesbrough
paying just £1 million less for Britt Assombalonga. Ultimately though, fantasy
football isn’t played on paper but rather your computer screens and the
football pitch. Will these players be worth the money when the season starts? FFSpy
aims to find out.
Joe Hart – Value: 4.5 – Previous season score (15/16): 134
Joe Hart arrives at West Ham with a chip on his shoulder.
Ousted by Pep soon after the manager joining Manchester City due to his
perceived lack of ability to play out from the back, Hart was shipped off to
Torino for the 16/17 season, where statistically he struggled, keeping only 5
clean sheets with an average save rate of 2.53 a game. This from a fantasy
football perspective is not great, but Hart had a very successful six seasons
at the Citizens and his last season in the Premier League kept 15 clean sheets
in 35 games with an average save rate of 1.91 a game.
You could read this and feel sympathy for Hart, clearly
playing behind a weaker defence than he did in Torino than he did Manchester,
with his shot interaction being significantly higher. However, he was just as
much a problem as he was a solution at Torino, with 5 errors leading to goals
and 7 to shots. This doesn’t bode well and it could be evidence that his
infamous mistake against Iceland at Euro 2016 followed him to Italy.
Nonetheless, you are here to decide whether he should go in
your squad or not. I personally believe at this time, Joe Hart isn’t worth it.
West Ham’s opening three are tricky – three away games was never going to be
easy, but take into account the fact that they are playing a revitalised
Manchester United if pre-season is to go by, a fairly uniform Southampton team
and a Rafa Benitez lead Newcastle squad and there is every reason to doubt.
Will he keep a clean sheet in any of those games? Against Southampton or
Newcastle there is a chance and if he does, he certainly would have earnt it.
The verdict:
Fixture wise, there is better available but Hart has a very strong record in
the league that is much more impressive than many of the 4.5 picks.
Marko Arnautović – Value: 7.0 – Previous season score (16/17): 117
Last season, the former Stoke playmaker would have
disappointed many a fantasy football pundit: 117 points from his final value of
7.1 isn’t the greatest return when you look back at previous bargains from
yesteryear. 15/16 was a fairly decent haul with 11 goals and 6 assists and the
Hammers will be hoping for these kind of numbers or more from their record
signing.
Statistically, Arnautovic isn’t too bad. In comparison to
Tadic, Willian and Zaha he doesn’t top anything, but he isn’t bottom of
anything except passing accuracy. You can view this in a number of ways: He isn’t a good passer of the ball, he passes less/more than
his counterparts or he tries numerous risky passes (hence a key pass
rate per game of 1.6)
 |
| Fails to top any statistic, but isn't particular bad in any either. Source: whoscored.com |
In spite of these mediocre stats, there is potential for
Arnautovic to slot into your team this season. The 7.0 million range is a
strange one this year, nobody really stands out for me so far in pre-season bar
Willian, who could be a great pick up with Hazard nursing an ankle injury and
Pedro currently being treated for multiple facial fractures. As record signings
go, they tend to start and with an increasingly exciting West Ham strike force
forming with Arnautovic, Lanzini and Antonio in behind Hernández, Arnautovic
could be a unique way into this forward line, with I believe many people
looking at the Chicarito and Lanzini as potential West Ham picks. Don’t count
him out just yet.
The verdict: See
how he performs pre-season and in the first few games. Realistically, Lanzini
is a better pick to start as he will be the focal point of the Hammers attack,
so I would avoid for now.
Javier Hernández – Value: 7.0 – Highest previous season score (10/11): 110
Seven million. Seven. Million. FPL have thrown a massive
curveball into the player valuations by potentially overpricing many strikers
in the mid-tier teams but little pea represents real value for money initially.
The Mexican leaves Leverkusen with a 1 in 2 record, and it only gets better –
Chicharito has the seventh highest goals per minutes ratio in Premier League
history. So what’s the catch?
I don’t think there is one! At the moment, I can’t see why
most people wouldn’t choose him barring budgets. If anything, he could even be
your second choice striker, allowing your budget to spread across much stronger
players in midfield or defence. Competition in the price range is minimal, I believe
currently it will be between him, one of the Southampton forwards Gabbiadini or
Austin and then maybe Deeney. Dwight Gayle is a popular pick in this price
range too, but unproven in the top tier.
In summary, I would say he is a must pick right now. If you
can fit him in as your third striker, you are very top heavy, but would have a
lethal three. As a second pick striker, he opens up a great amount of budget
for the rest of your team. He has a proven record in the Premier League and he
is joining a team that looks fantastic on paper. The only downfalls are that
everyone should have him, so he is certainly not a differential at this stage
and that initial fixtures could be seen as tricky, but a debut against his
former club screams 90th minute winner.
The verdict: Get
the Mexican straight into your team if you can.
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