Tracking the Fantasy Football Veterans – Gameweeks 5-7

From the start of the season I  have been tracking the progress of 50 Fantasy Premier League veterans, made up of FFScout contributors, Hall of Fame leaders and former winners. In this article we’ll see how they fared over the last three Gameweeks.

GAMEWEEK 5

Transfers

Gameweek 5 was quiet in the transfer market as half of the veterans used their Wildcard chip the week before. In addition many were keen to save a transfer to ensure they could draft Sergio Aguero back in on his return from suspension in Gameweek 6.

Those that didn’t wildcard were in the mood for a one week punt, with many deciding to use this chip in Gameweek 6. One of the most popular one week punts was Aguero’s deputy Kelechi Iheanacho, a certain starter in an easy home game aganst Bournemouth. His ownership amongst the veterans rose from 2% in Gameweek 4 to 14% in Gameweek 5 and they were duly rewarded as he scored and assisted in that game.

Wildcard Use

After so many used their wildcard in Gameweek 4, a further 38% fired it off in Gameweek 6. But which was better? Looking at Gameweek 5 it was the patient that prevailed, with early wild carders earning 55.88 points on average, while the rest of the veterans scored 57.64.

Investment in Iheanacho was a key benefit for those with patience. Two veterans even captained the young Manchester City striker in Gameweek 5. Given that the Gameweek 5 Top 10,000 average was 57.3 points this proved a canny move.

Overall rankings 

In the absence of Aguero, the most popular captain pick in Gameweek 5 amongst the veterans was Everton’s Romelu Lukaku. He was backed by 42%, while 34% opted to hand the armband to Manchester United’s Zlatan Ibrahimović.

Amongst all managers the big Swede was the overwhelming favourite and backed by 37.3% for the captaincy, with Lukaku on just 6.1%.

Meanwhile, amongst the Top 10,000 managers,  36.1% captained the Everton striker while 25.1% opted for Ibrahimovic.

Backing Lukaku proved key with the veterans averaging 56.76 points, compared to 57.3 for the Top 10,000 and only 47.9 for all FPL managers.

As a result the average overall position of all 50 veteran teams in Gameweek 5 was  407.458, up 16,274 places on the week before.

GAMEWEEK 6

Aguero came back on the field after a two game suspension with plenty of FPL managers struggling to squeeze him back in. This was not a problem for the Gameweek 4 wildcarding veterans who had his transfer in already planned for this week. In addition, 38% of veterans used their wildcard at this point to bring him back.

In the table below we wil compare veterans Gameweek 4 Wildcard templates (50% of veterans) and Gameweek 6 Wildcard templates (38% of veterans).

Eden Hazard is a major difference – in every wildcard team in Gameweek 4 but shunned by Gameweek 6.  The same happened to Ibrahimovic, whose ownership was just 15.8% among Gameweek 6 wildcarders. The same happened to his teammate Antonio Valencia, also in a mere 15.8% of  Gameweek 6 wildcard teams.

New names on the list are Watford players, most notably full back Jose Holebas and captain Troy Deeney. Also, in Gameweek 4 just one veteran who wildcarded put Roberto Firmino in his team while two weeks later, he was in nine out of ten Gameweek 6 wildcard teams.

Etienne Capoue

The Watford midfielder emerged as a key player in Gameweek 6, for all the wrong reasons. With double digit hauls in both Gameweek 4 and Gameweek 5 he was kept by Gameweek 6 wildcard managers, with only one shunning him.

By Gameweek 6 many veterans had seen enough of his points hauls on their benches so decided to bring him into their starting XI.  This also continued into Gameweek 7 (see graph), but sadly in both fixtures he failed to mirror his early season form, as eventually his unsustainable goals to shot ratio caught up with him. It remains to be seen if any veterans will bring him into their starting line ups again.

Overall Rankings 

Aguero was the top choice captain in Gameweek 6, backed by 88% of veterans. This was a far higher proportion than the 43.3% of Top 10,000 managers that gave him the armband and the 18.4% support he gained overall. This perhaps shows that while the veterans had long planned to bring him back, many others did not have such foresight.

His brace and maximum bonus proved pivotal to the veterans who had an average points tally of 56.14, compared to 52.61 for all teams and 47.1 for the Top 10,000 managers.

It was the Gameweek 6 wildcarders that really prospered though, averaging 58.68 points and marking the second week in a row where they got the better of the Gameweek 4 wild carders.

After Gameweek 6, the average overall position of all 50 veteran teams was 318,333, up 89,125 on the week before.

GAMEWEEK 7

Veterans Template

Captains

Overall Rankings

Veteran managers who wildcarded in Gameweek 6 (19 out of 50), had an average of 53.37 points. Other veterans who use their wildcard earlier (or didn’t use it at all) in Gameweek 7 had an average of 35,68 points – almost 18 points less. It is becoming clear that the wildcard was used far too soon for many of the veterans.

Among  Top 10,000 average for Gameweek 7 was 42.5 points. In the next table, I will try to compare results of Gameweek 4 and Gameweek 6 wildcards.

Both weeks wildcarded teams had an advantage in the week they used this chip. But it was those who wildcarded  in Gameweek 6 who have fared better. After Gameweek 7, the average overall position of all 50 veteran teams was 404,138, down 85,805 places on the week before.

BEAT  THE VETERANS

Teams that scored less than the worst veteran team after hits are eliminated. The safety scores were:

Gameweek 5 – 40
Gameweek 6 –  23
Gameweek 7  – 19