Does Team Structure Even Matter in FPL This Year?

As a massive Fantasy Premier League (FPL) nerd, I am one of those many sad people who writes about meta-things like team structure.

I even wrote a piece last year about How to Maximise Squad Flexibility in FPL

To be fair to me, even the BBC is in on the structure question these days so maybe I am just mainstream?

Well, hear is my new contrarian view: Team structure doesn’t matter that much this year.

This is another one of my views that comes in reaction to the content creators and their wildcard discussions.

The Traditional View of Team Structure

For years, FPL managers have leaned heavily on the idea of maintaining a well-balanced team structure. 

The traditional wisdom goes something like this: you pick players at different price points in each position so you can easily swap in and out the best options in that price range throughout the season. 

In other words, you might have a premium forward, a mid-priced forward, and a budget forward, and that makes it straightforward to jump from one in-form player to another in the same price bracket as fixtures change.

This Season Might Be Different

That approach still makes sense and it might not be outdated. 

But this season, with the way the game is structured, I have a growing feeling that we can be a bit more relaxed about team structure than we’ve been in the past.

Five Free Transfers + AFCON + Free Hit

The big game-changer is the number of free transfers we have at our disposal. 

We get more free transfers than ever. We have a first half of the season free hit, five free transfers for AFCON and we can build up five free transfers just like last year.

That means you don’t necessarily have to keep your squad locked into a rigid price structure just to avoid taking hits. 

Instead, you can roll transfers and make those bigger, more flexible moves when you need to. 

For example, if you started the season with a certain formation – say a 4-3-3 or a 3-4-3 – you can easily adapt and move funds around over a couple of weeks without feeling like you’re boxed in by needing a certain price-point player.

No Mo

Another factor is that money just isn’t as tight this year for a lot of managers. 

With Salah not being as essential and plenty of value options around, you might find yourself with a bit of cash just sitting in the bank. 

That makes it even easier to move between premium and mid-priced assets without major surgery on your squad.

How I Am Using This Information

I am looking at my squad with a lot more of a medium term perspective.

I am trying to build up to four or five transfers so that I can make big structural changes when I want and when the fixtures dictate.

I currently have A LOT of money up top with Haaland, Gyokeres and Joao Pedro. But I don’t mind that because in a few weeks I will sell Gyok and move the money about with my four free transfers.

That’s It. How Are You Approaching The Game?

I think this makes sense but I’d love to hear from you all about how you are approaching the game.