The FPL Winter Wildcard Discussion – Part 4

With January Wildcards now active we wanted to offer the community a regular article to look at the key strategies, players and teams we should be considering. This piece will focus on the thoughts of one of the Fantasy Football Scout team on their winter Wildcard progress. Feel free to help them with any deliberations they have and use this article to post your Wildcard thoughts or Rate My Wildcard Teams (RMWT). Our first article featured Jonty’s deliberations over a mid-price striker, which was followed by Spencer’s thoughts on doubling up in defence, then D1sable’s use of Newcastle’s cheap assets to build a dream midfield. Next up I look to create a balanced side with a good spread of heavy hitters and cheap assets.

My RMWT

Pantilimon – Mannone
Terry-  Koscielny – Fonte – van Aanholt – Baird
Sanchez –  Hazard –  Fabregas – Chadli –  Boyd
Aguero – Giroud – Kane

Goalkeepers

I’ve decided to opt for a strategy of two keepers from the same side for my goalkeepers. For me Sunderland’s number one Costel Pantilimon and his deputy Vito Mannone give me the security of backup with minimum investment.  If I find I need more cash before the deadline I would even consider swapping Mannone for a cheap non-starter and take the risk such is my faith in Pantilimon, who brings in plenty of save points even if Sunderland concede.

Defenders

Chelsea’s John Terry has been in my team since Gameweek 1 and has recently redeemed himself for his poor early-season form. As it stands he seems the safest choice for a Chelsea defender.

I’ve been persuaded of the merits of Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny and Southampton’s Jose Fonte by Innsie‘s excellent recent BPS article. Both served me well last season and look very well priced for their points potential. Along with Terry they should form the basis of my defence most weeks.

Sunderland Patrick van Aanholt and West Brom’s Chris Baird are present mainly for their price, although there’s reason to hope they can deliver some decent point returns too.  Van Aanholt’s home fixtures look great for the rest of the season and he definitely carries some mild attacking threat. West Brom look a little sketchier from a fixture point of view but we saw last season at Crystal Palace what the Baggies’ new boss Tony Pulis is capable of doing to a team’s defensive solidity in half a season. Baird seems worth the gamble of retaining a starting place at 3.9.

Midfielders

I have a fair bit of value tied up in Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard. Unless there is a serious drop in form, or injury strikes, I’m likely to keep both for the long haul. Cesc Fabregas is less secure in my Wildcard team. I’m a big fan of the Chelsea midfielder and as long as he keeps churning out points in the manner he has so far this season he’ll be drafted in.  However, having no value tied up in him means he’s more disposable and there have been some good discussions on the boards about his potential to fade away post-Christmas.

Tottenham’s Nacer Chadli is my current pick of the mid-price midfielders as Spurs seem to be gradually clicking into gear and he has already shown a fine eye for goal. If West Ham’s Stewart Downing’s fixtures were better I’d stick with him but I’ll take the points and run on this occasion. I’m definitely open to suggestions on this spot, though.

Hull’s George Boyd is in by default more than anything. I don’t expect to pick him very often at all given the fixture list but with pickings so slim at the budget end of the market I’m happy to let him stay in my squad for now.

Forwards

Sergio Aguero is more or less a must in my eyes. The Manchester City forward scores bucketloads of points. That’s all there is to it.

Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud may be a figure of fun amongst some Fantasy managers here but his returns are good and the fixtures are kind. Arsenal must be full of confidence at the moment and I expect him to benefit from that. With Harry Kane the key word is ‘value’. Even if he tails off a little, at that price I just can’t ignore him.

Overall Thoughts

I guess what I’ve gone for is pretty traditional in terms of structure with a spread of price ranges across all positions. Hopefully this gives me the flexibility to adapt to any significant shifts in form and fixture. One thing which is of concern is the League Cup final – depending on how things go in the semi-finals I could be short of a couple of players that week so I’m keeping a close eye on that. I know I have various double-ups present in this draft which would concern many people but that doesn’t really bother me.

An alternative draft has Angel Di Maria and Charlie Austin instead of Chadli and Giroud but at the moment I’m leaning towards the above. Another consideration is whether to buy Aguero now accepting that he has his toughest fixture all season or take a one-week punt on anyone else and have my free transfer already committed next week.