Firstly, I totally get why you made your picks, and even if I didn't, they're your picks. I just think you could've gone for much better players, but anyone could say that about anyone else. About Johnson though, most of the pundits are in agreement that he's the starting RB because there's no one else. Nicky ******* Shorey was his deputy for ****'s sake. I personally think there are better options, but he's established, and there've been worse players in the NT.
My first 4 choices are all world-class, amongst the Top 5 in their position, if not the best. Ivanovic is perfect for what I want in an RB, and he can play as CB, and by that point, he was also among the best RBs left. Alex I got because a. he's a very good CB, b. he's been playing better than usual so far and I'm tipping him for a break-out season, so I didn't want to lose him and c. I thought it was an advantage to have a CB that knows my keeper, especially because pretty much Cech's only weakness is that he sometimes miscommunicates with the defense. And Zhirkov, well, I got him late, and I already explained why I got him, he's a good back-up, and he's versatile, those are the main things.
I got mainly Prem players because they all fit into the mold I'm looking for, but basically, I watch a lot of English football, and I know these players very well. I just don't feel comfortable taking a risk on a player who is more well-known but who I don't know enough. There's been a lot of picks which I'm sure were based on reputation, or a one-time watch, and all of those guys are leaving themselves open to be torn apart by anyone who has actually seen the player enough. The only player I haven't seen play like 50 times is Mathijsen, and I've watched a lot of his matches anyway.
And yeah, I have no problem admitting that I don't like watching other leagues, it's just not as enjoyable, I still watch a few matches, but footie is something to enjoy, not work at.
You can look at the first few posts or whenever I signed him to see why I signed Essien. When I wrote down what I wanted to play, and which players I'd need, the only 2 players that I thought not getting would seriously undermine me were Essien and Cole, and no one was gonna pick a defender that early so I went with Essien. If I hadn't picked him, I'd have gone for Drogs, and I wouldn't have been able to get all of Malou, Essien and Cole as well.
