Selling Beckham

Those of you who have been reading the blog in its various guises over the years know that we have certain rules. These shape our strategy and help us pick our teams week-to-week. One of those rules is "Sell Beckham". The rule is based on a running joke where we,

try to convince our friends to "sell Beckham" when it comes to the "do I hold the best guy in the league even though he's eating up 25% of my salary cap?" question.

Today, "Beckham" is clearly Robin van Persie. He's a stunning fantasy player, leading this years game in both total and average points. He is also priced accordingly. Some early-adopters got him around 20, but many more - including myself - came on board at 28.

So the struggle we are going to face each and every week, is "is RvP the best use of my money or can I do better by spreading that sum around?".

This week Arsenal are at home to Everton. That's an okay matchup at best. Meanwhile Manchester United host Wolves, and Liverpool host QPR. There are also other good home games for Bolton against Aston Villa and West Brom who face Wigan.

I'm able to afford Robin van Persie because of Hatem Ben Arfa in midfield. But HBA "Has Been Awful". Has that been a quirk of the schedule, or does he need yet more playing time? With Newcastle's schedule easing up, do I give him more time?

Or...

Do I sell Robin van Persie?

For instance, I am considering selling RvP/HBA and buying Morison/Nani. The latter pairing has the better match-ups on paper. Morison has been scoring regularly for Norwich, and Newcastle are down to a converted fullback (who wasn't any good at that position) and the grounds keeper as their first choice center backs. Nani is starting to return to form and gets a Wolves team that is all over the map defensively.

But that means selling the best player in the game. Whom, in all likelihood, I will not be able to get back into my team.

Do I break the rules? Do I sell "Beckham"?