I’m going to start this review with a note on knee-jerking before we get into the proper review. It’s important to look back at your FPL decisions and learn what you did right and what you did wrong. Sometimes its not clear what is right and what is wrong so I hope this provides a bit of help on that. And, whats worse, a lot of people in the community are making you feel bad for making transfers and chasing points (for example on Reddit). Want to genuinely know whether they were bad ideas? I’ll tell you…
Kane to Haaland – nope. Not a bad transfer. Spurs were muted in the first half against Chelsea. Kane can score against anyone but they really struggled in this game and Kane was a bit fortunate that pulling someone’s hair and throwing them to the ground isn’t a foul. Haaland got an assist and Foden should have gifted him a tap in but got selfish. City scored four goals, you are just unlucky that he didn’t get one. Good transfer.
Jesus to Mitro – yes, this was a bad transfer in isolation. Jesus looked good in pre-season and the first game. Arsenal are a great attack at the moment. You were unlucky that Mitro didn’t score. Fulham aren’t great and they don’t have great fixtures. If you made this move in full knowledge of this and in an attempt to move for someone else then maybe it wasn’t bad.
Perisic to Zinchencko – nope. Perisic played 11 minutes. He isn’t nailed so you moved him for a cheaper player who plays a similar position for a good team with good fixtures.
What’s my point? Sometimes you can make the correct decision but get the ‘wrong outcome.’
Football can be a very random game, hence Pierre Emile Hojbjerg can score a goal from outside the box. FPL can be incredibly frustrating if you don’t recognise this. I only get annoyed these days when I make the wrong decision, not the wrong outcome and it’s just a nicer way to play.
GW 2 – What have we learned?
Man U-shite-d – I don’t know whether anyone has ever had this thought, but Man United are shit considering how much money they spend. Jokes aside I can’t help but start here. Its just a ridiculous turn of events that the biggest club in the world got spanked by Brentford. They had two third of the possession but managed less than 1xG in the whole game.
Ronaldo is still selfish as exhibited by his terrible shot from outside the box (that being said, being selfish is usually a positive for FPL), Eriksen played DM so he’s firmly out of my thoughts and the defence is just woeful. Maguire, Shaw and Martinez now all on -1 after two games…
Rashford is the key question. If you are reading this he already dropped in price to 6.4. A move to Martinelli looks irresistible. If you already have Martinelli or 3 Arsenal assets it’s a tough one. Despite the crap team he had 3 touches in the box, 2 goal attempts and one of those in the box – both of which were blocked. United are such a shambles though, I think he should firmly be on the chopping block.
Mid-priced mids – We all got a little excited about this price bracket but its not been as good as hoped. City showed that you can’t trust any of their 8.0 mids. Neither Mahrez nor Foden have completed 90 mins (nor has Grealish). Gundogan was announced as club captain so he is one to watch – he’s probably available in your draft for which he could be a good fixture pick. If he gets enough minutes he could offer value at 7.5.
Mount was called out on Match of the Day for his good performance but in terms of FPL I’m not convinced. Madisson scored again but I’m struggling to get a read on Leicester’s attack. He can be lethal at times but he is such a streaky player it wouldn’t surprise me if he did nothing for the next six weeks. Kulusevski’s xGI was 0.01, but at least he stayed on the pitch when Richarlison joined the fray. Rich might actually have been brought by Conte to offer an extra attacker rather than as a rotation option which we all feared. Saka looks good but is now performing less well than Matrinelli who is currently 1.8 cheaper. Bowen showed he isn’t worth 8.5, that was bad pricing from the start. With all that said, I’d hold all but Mount and Bowen, at least the rest have showed intent.
Should we call of the title race? It’s kind of incredible that Liverpool didn’t score first against Palace but Viera’s side are no mugs. Nunez owners obviously have to move on because he will be suspended for 3 games for violent conduct. Luis Diaz did enough in the second half to stay in our teams, he came alive after the red and just ran through everyone. Robertson is the more difficult one. He’s not a bad pick but the city defence looks better so Cancelo is a choice. Or you can save money moving to James or Cucu and move elsewhere. Or you can move your non-playing 4.5 forward to Toney and get a starting defender with a little goal threat and good fixtures (DUNK!). If you have those three can you tell me how you got so wise? Salah was Salah but KDB is playing very well. Trent looked lively and ended up basically playing up front. Right now, I think it would be an over reaction to move off Trent and Salah but Robbo is an acceptable transfer.
King in the Palace – Zaha scored one and could have had a second. He barely had any opportunities and was probably the most dangerous person on the pitch from both sides.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is… That 4.0 goalkeeper isn’t working out for me. Ward flapping at the ball for third goal is making me question my decision to start the season with hime but I’m not too concerned. Arsenal are now one of the top 4 attacks in the league so its not bad enough for me to make a change. I wasn’t expecting much from Leicester defence anyway. Transfers on keepers almost always feel wasted. In a similar vein, 5.5 mids didn’t perform again. Neto was through an open goal for gods sake. Though Anthony Gordon’s offside call was marginal he doesn’t suit playing striker. Martinelli is just making me delighted I went for him over a 5.5.
On the other hand… Pereira looked good again. Definitely for 4.5. It turns out Josh da Silva was the 4.5 based on points total, or was he? As I said above, you can make the right call but end up with the wrong outcome. Da Silva’s xG for the first two games is 0.06xG so its basically ridiculous he has two goals. And now he has competition for his spot from Damsgaard. Williams was getting in good positions but still not convinced you can start any of them and I’d certainly not prioritise transfer for any of them.
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Going Cucu – I don’t think we really learned anything from Chelsea vs. Spurs, other than than VAR doesn’t solve bad refereeing. Kane is good and can score at any time. Chelsea are bad at and the goals are distributed across the team (bad for FPL). Cucurella is interesting at 5.0 with seven crosses and an assist. But does he keep his place with Chilwell waiting in the wings. Reece James played RCB to counter Sons pace, I don’t expect that to happen as much against weaker teams. He was on corners and even before he switched to RWB he was making his way forward. He scored a goal when Lloris dived out the way of his shot and could have been awarded an own goal. What a crazy day for his owners. I still like him as an option. Kante injury means I’m not interested in a double up here until we have more information. I love Connor Gallagher and he played as an excellent DM for West Brom two years ago so he can fill in but Kante is obviously a beast so those are big shoes to fill.
Jesus, What a goal! – well Gabriel Jesus showed what he could do didn’t he? That first goal was ridiculous and he could have had a hat trick in the first half. Of course he should have got one in the second half… I think Zinchencko looked okay but minutes still make me nervvy after he was taken off for Tierney on the 77th minute.
Danny IN-gs? He played well and got a goal but a bad run of fixtures so I don’t think so. And they were playing one of the worst team in the league. If Bailey is in your team, he has to go. Emi Buendia showing Gerrard why he needs to start but until that happens more consistently I don’t trust him.
Leeds not U-shite-d – I like Harrison as a draft pick depending upon how deep you need to stretch into free agency but Rodrigo might be just good. For 6.1mn you could do a lot worse. Can’t believe Leeds aren’t super defensive this year.
Brighton did Brighton things – They looked good but no end product. Good run of fixtures but not many fantasy options there. Gross stands out.
Aleksandar Miss-trovic – Mitro, woof, so happy with that penalty miss (sorry owners). I would have happily sent him off too. Yellow for foul and yellow for reaction. Fulham defence looked rubbish. Wolves attack were somehow even worse.
A-Won-iyi – Yeah, that’s not even really a pun is it… Not sure how Forest won really. Terrible goal. Lingard’s shot was laughable. But congrats to them and their fans. Antonio’s bodycheck was absolutely hilarious. Declan Rice is too defensive to ever be an option, annoying he is on pens and not someone more interesting.
What’s twitter saying?
- Everyone is debating James and Cucu.
- Some argue to sell James because he played RCB.
- FPL banger noting he’s up against KWP next week so you should keep.
- Andy at Let’s Talk FPL says Cucu is a reasonable short term punt with Chilwell fitness problems but doesn’t see why you would change from James to Cucu.
- A good round up by Holly Shand of the best players of the week.
- A funny take on Man United because I can’t help it.
- Official FPL enjoying Conte and Tuchel.
- FPL meets in London is back!
Transfer corner
The transfer window is still open so who is coming in that could be of interest to us?
Nottingham Forest
- Dennis – 6.0 – Forward
- Freuler – 5.0 – Forward
- Kouyate – 4.5 – Defender
Not interested in Forest. Maybe when their fixtures turn. They’ve been very busy!
Brentford
- Damsgaard – 5.5 – Midfielder
Wait and see. Could be the new Eriksen and take Da Silva’s spot.
Leeds
- Robles – 4.0 – Goalkeeper
Not interested. Not going to start.
Everton
- Onana – 5.0 – Midfielder
- Coady – 5.0 – Defender
I like Coady but I still hate Everton defence because Frank can’t coach defending.
Bournemouth
- Senesi – 4.5 – Defender
Not interested in Bournemouth right now.
Wolves
- Guedes – 6.0 – Midfielder
Not interested until they can sort out their attack. Need another striker.
Turns out none of them are interesting…
GW 2 – what next?
Don’t forget the mini wildcard idea, see the Gameweek 2 preview for an explanation
I looked at my options on Saturday night and considered moving Trips to James, Mount to Da Silva and Greenwood to Toney. Couldn’t bring myself to do it without seeing Chelsea play… I said I would take James regardless of whether he plays centre or right for these next five and still think I will but will wait until forced by price changes (see the predictor tool). Think a mini wildcard with James and Toney in remains my best move. I’m not too I missed out on Da Silva after his price rise. He would be on my bench anyway and I already said my piece above.