The Community Round Up

Swansea and Stoke "Janus" Appraisal

Here's the draft for the next article. As usual, any comments (especially from Stoke and Swansea fans or those that know the clubs well) will be appreciated and will be taken into account in the final revision. And if you don't want to read a long post, please skip over.

Next up for the review and preview process are Swansea and Stoke, who finished 8th and 9th in the Premier League (PL) with 56 and 54 points respectively. Both are managed by highly regarded younger managers.

Mark Hughes has built on a top level playing career to gain experience managing Wales (successfully) and Manchester City (not quite so successfully) among others. He has drawn considerable praise for the way he has overseen Stoke's evolution from the Pulis era side to a more fluid style of play over the last 2 seasons, and that without spending a large amount on transfer fees.

Gary Monk has been commended by a number of pundits for his work at Swansea over the last 18 months. Patrick Vieira said recently "I really believe he will be one of the best managers in the next few years because he knows what he wants, he knows how he wants the team to play and his man-management is really good."

Similar in terms of goals scored (Swansea 46, Stoke 48) and goals conceded (Swansea 49, Stoke 45), Stoke and Swansea are interesting for FPL managers for a number of reasons. Firstly, they have a number of good players with proven FPL pedigree that are unlikely to carry premium price tags - Sigurdsson, Fabianski and Williams of Swansea and Begovic, Walters, Shawcross and Adam of Stoke being examples. Secondly, both groups of players appear to have good team spirit - an environment that tends to allow individuals to perform at their best. And thirdly, they are likely to be a home/away rotation pair (as they were last season), potentially very useful for our defensive planning. So there should be plenty of potential here to look for the types of player that are always needed in a 15-man FPL squad.

STOKE AND SWANSEA - THE DEFENDERS

Stoke were frustrating in the first half of the season. They achieved 9 clean sheets over the campaign but only 2 before Xmas. However the apparent improvement in the second half of the season could make their defenders good options if they can maintain that form next season.

Asmir Begovic didn't have his most rewarding season but has a fairly good record over recent years and is unlikely to be priced higher than this season's 5.0; maybe 4.5 could even be possible. With Jack Butland as an able deputy, he could be a good option for FPL managers looking for a GK and backup from the same team. Ryan Shawcross didn't have his best season either and was probably over-priced at an initial 5.5. He is the linchpin of the Stoke defence, capable of the odd goal from set pieces and could also be one to consider if he comes in at 5.0 this time.

However it will probably be the lower priced defenders that FPL managers will find most interesting and Bardsley, Cameron, Pieters and Wollscheid could all come in at 4.5m with Muniesa and Wilson (who are probably less certain starters) possibly at 4.0. Of these, Geoff Cameron (an ever-present in the 2013/14 season and who has just signed a new 3-year contract) and Eric Pieters (Hughes' first signing for Stoke) might be the best options. But it will really be a matter of looking at Stoke in pre-season to get an idea of Hughes' 1st choice defensive line for the coming campaign.

Swansea are a team capable of good defensive resilience, as their excellent 13 clean sheets show. The late season 1-0 at the Emirates was a fine example of good organisation and the ability to execute a game plan. However they actually conceded more goals than Stoke despite having more clean sheets; when things went wrong they tended to go wrong in a bigger way as the 9 goals conceded in 2 games against Chelsea demonstrated.

Lukascz Fabianski was the highest scoring GK in FPL with 151 points - better than all the premium goalkeepers. He was also one of the 5 best players in the game for value with a return of 28.5 FPL points per £1m. Unfortunately he will almost certainly be priced higher this season after that kind of performance - 5.5m would seem to be the most likely mark. Many will find that expensive for a Swansea GK, even if coupled with his deputy, Tremmel.

Ashley Williams is very similar to Shawcross in some ways - the defensive linchpin and captain and a proven FPL asset. Unfortunately he could also be due for a price hike to 5.5 after a good season, at which level he may not be such good value. His central defensive partnership with Argentinian Federico Fernandez has impressed Fabianski: "I think they are right up there with the best defensive pairings in the Premier League, it has been a pleasure to play with them this season." Fernandez may be available for a more budget-friendly 5.0.

As with Stoke, however, it will probably be amongst the lower priced defenders that many FPL managers will look. Neil Taylor had a good season and has just signed a new 4-year contract with the Swans. Could 4.5 be possible? Maybe, though 5.0 seems more likely. Perhaps the best chance for a starting 4.5 defender will be Kyle Naughton, who nailed the RB spot after arriving in January before succumbing to injury. But as he played so little over the season as a whole, 4.5 could well be possible and he'd look like a good short list option if so.

THE MIDFIELDERS

Swansea and Stoke have good midfielders in the low/medium price bracket which many FPL managers need to utilise for the awkward 4th spot in a 4-man midfield. They tend to deliver good value in terms of points per £1m (value), in fact 3 of them fell inside the top ten midfielders in 2015/15 by that measure - Ki (25.3 points/£1m) was 3rd, Walters (24.5 points/£1m) was 6th and Sigurdsson (23.7 points/£1m) was 9th.

Gylfi Sigurdsson was obviously a stand out option last season. He was heavily owned from Gameweek 1 when he began with a kind price of 6.0m after his move from Spurs; many FPL managers could remember how well he had done in a previous spell at Swansea. And he maintained a good level of returns all season; his 4.8 points per game (PPG) when playing 60 minutes or more (see Ludo's article) was comparable to much more expensive midfielders like Cazorla, Eriksen, Mata and Ozil. He will surely start this season priced accordingly though - 7.5m at a guess. At that level he is no longer in 4th midfielder territory really. But his good career goalscoring record and importance to Swansea will still gain him plenty of support.

The other midfielders I will break down into central/defensive midfielders and attacking midfielders. Ki, Shelvey, and Cork mainly occupied the central midfield positions for Swansea (4-3-3) whilst N'zonzi and Adam cemented those positions as the season wore on at Stoke (4-2-3-1). Of these, Charlie Adam led his counterparts by a huge margin both for creativity and shooting. A proven FPL asset (remember his Blackpool days?), he should be available at 5.5 or so next season and could be an excellent option if holding down his place long-term. Ki Sung-Yeung demonstrated an ability to time his arrival in the box, scoring 8 goals during the campaign, but seems due for a price hike to around 6.0 and may not offer great value at that level. Jack Cork will also probably find his way into a number of FPL squads as a starting midfielder who seems unlikely to be priced above 4.5.

Of the attacking midfielders, Montero, Routledge and Dyer were vying for the remaining attacking midfield spot alongside Sigurdsson at Swansea whilst for Stoke, Walters, Arnautovic and Moses (due to return to Chelsea) were the preferred options. Until it becomes clear which of the Swansea players is likely to be a regular it is difficult to recommend any of them; in any case they lagged behind their Stoke counterparts by quite a way on creativity and shooting stats. The Stoke options look better, especially Moses if he were to stay at Stoke and (as important) stay fit. But recent reports suggest that Stoke may sign Ukrainian Yevhen Konopylanka on a free transfer from Dnipro. An attacking winger that scores a lot of goals, Konopylanka was previously linked with Arsenal and Liverpool and could be a great addition to Stoke's ranks. He'd clearly be one to keep an eye on in the early stages of next season although his price may be in a similar range to the proven Sigurdsson.

THE STRIKERS

For Stoke, Mame Biram Diouf had a decent season with 128 FPL points. Very pacy, he could certainly be an option in the 6.0/6.5 3rd striker range, especially as Peter Crouch seems now mainly used as an impact substitute rather than a starter. After joining Stoke in the summer of 2014, Diouf improved as a goalscorer as the season went on (7 of his12 goals came in the last 13 games) and it may be that next season will be when we see what he is really made of.

For Swansea, Bafetimbi Gomis also signed in the summer of 2014 and improved as the season went on, especially after Bony left and he became 1st choice striker. Lagging behind Diouf on chance creation, Gomis was well ahead of him for shots taken per game, both from inside and outside the box, and scored 5 of his 7 goals in his last 6 appearances of the season. He is also likely to be priced in the 6.0/6.5 range and, like Diouf, could represent a very interesting option at that level.