Picks of the Week (5)

DISCLAIMER: I always refuse to identify myself as any sort of FPL 'guru' or 'mentor' or 'expert'. And I have previously on this blog expressed my reluctance to share many details of my own selections, or to make very specific player recommendations.

However, in addition to occasionally critiquing common 'sheep picks' of the moment (not all necessarily outright bad, but ridiculously over-popular selections), I thought I would start occasionally trying to highlight one or two players who seem not yet to be very widely owned but are starting to look very tempting prospects.

I will generally try to come up with at least 2 options per week - so that it doesn't look like I'm making a sole recommendation. And these suggestions are intended to be simply 'worth thinking about', not at all 'must-haves'. (And some weeks, I'll have nothing.....)

And darn, I haven't attempted one of these for over a month now! (Although I did slip in a couple of 'pseudo-episodes', on the most promising winter signings, and the likeliest picks for the recent Everton/Liverpool Double Gameweek.)  Oh well, here goes....

First up, we have Arsenal's Spanish midfielder, Mikel Merino. I've always fancied him as a potential 'fix', at least in the short-term, for Arsenal's goalscoring problem, especially if Kai Havertz should get injured (oops!). He's big, strong, likes to get in the opposition box, is an assured finisher - he looks to have all the attributes to do decent service as a centre-forward. And I've been saying this for a while, not just since he demonstrated this potential so emphatically in his match-saving appearance off the bench in last week's game against Leicester. However, I do still have all sorts of misgivings about how this might work out. For one thing, it was only Leicester - currently the worst team in the League (and one of the worst we've ever seen in the League). Also, he's never been a really prolific goalscorer in his career so far; he's had a few seasons where he's come up with 5 or 6 - hardly earth-shattering. But most of all, I fret that his boss, the chronic over-thinker, Snr Arteta, will not be so easily convinced of his possible aptitude for this role as the great mass of the football-watching public are: the other Mikel is a bit of an intellectual snob, I believe - inclined to disdain any commonly-held view, to suspect that an 'obvious' solution cannot possibly be the right one. But Sterling is looking past it; and Trossard, although lively and skillful and an excellent finisher, just doesn't have the physical presence to play a central striker role. Merino looks a ready-made replacement for Havertz; and you must suspect this was the thinking behind acquiring him last summer. The popular - currently more popular, with over 3% ownership, to Merino's still paltry 0.5% - alternative is, of course, young Ethan Nwaneri. But, given that he doesn't turn 18 for another month, and has already broken down with injury once, you must suspect that Arteta will treat him a little cautiously, ration his minutes from time to time. And while he's likely to produce a lot of showy performances, and maybe contribute quite a few assists, I can't see him becoming a primary goalscorer for the team just yet. Ideally, I'd wait a week or three, or a game or three (we have 3 matches in the next 10 days!!), to see if Merino is now going to start regularly, and is going to be deployed as a No. 9 or a 'false 9' - and assess how well he settles into that role. But if you're the gambling type, you might want to roll the dice on him early - to take advantage of a likely rise in his price, if he does score again this weekend.

Next, I proffer for your consideration, Marco Asensio (yep, goalscoring Spanish midfielders are my 'theme of the week'!).  He's experienced (turning 29 tomorrow), has done everything with Real Madrid, and has been a pretty reliable goalscorer throughout his career (particularly in his last two years with the Spanish giants, where he's notched 12 each season). It's a bit early to judge (I haven't been able to watch a full Villa game with him yet), but highlights and match reports suggest that in his three outings for Villa so far, he has already looked much the most promising of their recent signings. That was certainly my impression: every time you saw him on the ball, you felt that he was going to make something happen. There is a lot of positive sentiment towards the club's new British arrival, Marcus Rashford; and he has perhaps made a showier start to his time there, notching an assist in the match against Ipswich last weekend. But my feeling is that Asensio has more class, more consistency, and more versatility - is far more likely to become a regular starter... and, if he does, hopefully, a frequent producer of attacking contributions. But at the moment, he'd be an even more speculative pick than Merino, because I fear all of Villa's winter signings were really brought in as occasional rotation options to ease the burden of Champions League football, rather than likely mainstays of the preferred starting eleven. But we shall see.

And a wild third to throw into the mix: Carlos Alcaraz. Yep, the young Argentinian (only just turned 22) on loan at Everton from Flamengo, is a bit of an unknown quantity, but... he was absolutely oustanding in their win over Palace last week. I don't know if he's necessarily going to be coming up with that many attacking contributions, but I do have a very strong feeling that he's going to play a pivotal role in their ongoing recovery over the final third of the season. So far, his ownership is only down around 100,000 - so, if you like betting on 'penny shares', he could be your man! (I was tempted to go for Beto instead. I've always fancied his potential: he looks a proper centre-forward. And now that he's found his goal touch at last, he's started playing with a swaggering confidence. But there's a lot of competition in the cheap striker space; and I worry that his and Everton's recent form may prove precarious. So, for me, he's still a wait-and-see for now.)

Wot - no Omar Marmoush?  NO!  Like Mikel Arteta, I disdain the obvious.