Last year’s pool of 34 veteran Hall of Famers and FFScout contributors and moderators has been extended this year to include more experienced and high ranking managers from this community. Now 50 strong the group involved can be found here.
As with last season I’m hoping that the wider contingent of Fantasy Premier League managers can learn a lot from this group. The veterans may have started badly in 2015/16 but their savvy use of chips ensured they finished on a high. This term they could finish even higher, as many have already had a great start.
CHIPS
One veteran used his all out attack chip, which brought him an extra seven points this Gameweek. This is not one of the most lucrative chips so represents a fairly good return.
VETERANS’ TEMPLATE
These are players with the highest ownership amongst the veterans:
Unsurprisingly Sergio Aguero is the most popular player. Only one veteran, FFScout’s resident Leicester expert Andy, decided to go without him at the start of the season. Also, 98% (49 out of 50) veterans gave the armband to the Manchester City striker. In the absence of the Argentine, Andy choose Chelsea’s Diego Costa instead.
NOTABLE PLAYERS OWNERSHIP
Ben Foster from West Brom is the goalkeeper with the highest ownership amongst the veterans, on 88%. But in terms of overall ownership he is something of a differential, with just 5.4% owning him. With Foster being only one of two keepers to register a clean sheet in Gameweek 1 and with a strong set of fixtures to come this looks to be an example where the veterans are already ahead of the curve.
Two players from the Arsenal defence Hector Bellerin and Petr Cech are among the top owned players overall but none of the veterans have them. With four goals shipped against Liverpool, once again the veterans look to have out foxed the masses already.
When we look at midfielders, Nathan Redmond from Southampton is the second most popular player amongst the veterans, appearing in 35 of their teams. With an overall ownership of just 6% and a goal on his competitive debut for Southampton last weekend, this is another example where the veterans’ ability to spot a good differential came to the fore.
However, the same can’t be said of their selection of Burnley’s Andy Gray. He sits in eight out of ten of the veterans’ teams but failed to score against Swansea at home. With tough fixtures to come it may well be that the nine out of ten managers overall that shunned Gray have the upper hand over the veterans.
TOP STARTING PLAYERS
Étienne Capoue was picked by six out of ten veterans. With a goal against Southampton this was another shrewd buy but with none fielding him in their starting line up they sadly missed out on the spoils from this savvy selection. Even those who had an autosub come in failed to enjoy the Frenchman’s points.
OVERALL RANKINGS
– Maximum points: 80
After Gameweek 1, the average overall position of all 50 veteran teams is 384,791. In addition, the veterans’ average Gameweek 1 score was 60.06 points, way up on the overall average (47 points).
BEAT THE VETERANS
Everyone in the “Beat the Veterans” mini league with 41 points or less are eliminated. More than 1,500 managers survive Gameweek 1. Siddhant Bhardwaj had the highest score in the first gameweek – 83 points.
If you think you are better than the Veterans, you can find out by joining the FPL mini league “Beat the Veterans” (3987-32519 ). Rules can be found here. Of course, everyone who joins the league now must have minimum of 41 points in Gameweek 1. The league will be closed on Friday, one hour before the Gameweek 2 deadline. You still have time to join.
7 years, 8 months agoSolid start for the veterans, lots of savvy picks. As a Gray owner I think the masses may be right on him. He has the dodgy Liverpool defence up next to convince me otherwise.