The Community Round-Up

Transfer speculation and a feast of new Members Area statistics took centre-stage in this week’s community discussions, which also considered Fantasy Premier League’s bonus point allocation and the power of shirt sales.

Our members’ table constructors are already getting their teeth into the new information available to them, while our community article and tournament sections assess the latest league positions and transfer targets in the Fantasy competitions taking place over the summer.

The Community Articles

Norwegian top-flight game Eliterserien Fantasy continues this weekend when Gameweek 14’s action gets underway. Niemi dropped by to consider some key transfer targets and players to avoid for this next set of fixtures.

Elsewhere, Giggs Boson was back to offer his analysis of last season’s clean sheets. This excellent article builds on his Hot Topic a year ago and provides a breakdown of where the shut-outs were owned. If you’re a member, it also provides you with a ready-made set of team ratings to enable you to create Giggs Boson’s definitive Fixture Ticker for clean sheets.

Don’t forget, if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.

The Hottest Topics

Cristiano Ronaldo’s rumoured reunion with Manchester United was among the most eye-catching transfer rumours this week. However, opinion was mixed on whether his mooted return – given he was an essential asset for much of his time in the English top flight – would help or hinder Fantasy managers.

Should he return, his transfer fee, as well as his Fantasy price, is likely to range between the eye-popping and the astronomical. But, pondered ZoumasBloomers, are the transfer fees commanded by football’s ‘galacticos’ justified considering the marketing revenue they can generate?

ZoumasBloomers was back during the week to canvass your views on overrated players, a category that few would place the Portuguese forward in given his stellar career so far.

A more water tight transfer involved the move that brought former Chelsea winger Mohamed Salah from Fiorentina to Liverpool. Now that the deal is done, Fantasy managers will face an even trickier task in selecting the best option among their midfield, according to our discussion.

Liverpool players such as Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho were among a raft of midfielders who offered excellent value in the 8m to 8.5m price bracket last season. However, with a hike in value likely for the Brazilian pair, we asked for your views on who next season’s best options will be in this price category.

The issue of price rises was also discussed by Shawcus, who is intrigued to know how Fantasy price-setters decide players’ value.

After his Golden Boot winning campaign, Harry Kane is among those likely to succumb to inflation in 2016/17. But the community has mixed feelings about starting next season with the Spurs striker, according to White Lightning’s hot topic.

An increase in value is also expected for Manchester City midfielder Leroy Sane. But will rotation threaten to curtail interest in the German and the rest of Pep Guardiola’s troops? Kuntheman – Silva has been examining the extent to which the Spaniard likes to freshen up his starting XI. This was a theme also addressed by Ludo later in the week.

According to Witty Pun, focusing on midfielders in a 3-5-2 formation could be key to success next term, with his research on third strikers revealing that the days of 3-4-3 may be over. There was further argument against investing in budget strikers, even if they have a good pre-season, in Wild Rover‘s canvassing of the best and worst summer bandwagons of all time.

Elsewhere, we revealed a raft of new statistics added to the Members Area armoury, including figures on creating big chances and being tackled – both important factors in calculating FPL bonus points. This prompted us to ask whether FPL has got it right when allocating extra points by penalising players who are targeted by tough tacklers

Among defenders, Harry Maguire could prove a lucrative option next term following his move from Hull City to Leicester City, thinks Mark. However, bonus points may be hard to come by for the towering centre-back after he secured extra points on just two occasions last season, in spite of some resolute rearguard displays and ranking second for shots inside the box among defenders.

Pairing up cheap defenders and goalkeepers was once again a hot topic, with Brighton’s capture of Australian keeper Mat Ryan from Valencia sparking a discussion later in the week on budget match-ups at the back.

Finally, Friday delivered a stickied comment that demands your attention. Following the appointment of Mauricio Pellegrino as Southampton manager, Foozeball offered their in-depth analysis of the Argentinian manager. Given Southampton’s fixtures, Pellegrino’s tactics and team selection look set to be key to our early Fantasy fortunes.

To view all our discussions, please visit our Hot Topics page. We are also still keen to hear from you about how this can be further developed.

The Members Tables

Mr Emre-Can-Pie has been examining wing-backs and attack minded full-backs who completed at least 100 successful passes in the final third of the pitch last season.

To add to the aforementioned Hot Topic on players who get frequently tackled, I’ve created a table to showcase the attackers who struggle to keep hold of the ball and may find themselves missing out on FPL bonus points as a result.

Sticking with the Members Area’s latest statistics, the newly-added ‘big chances created’ figure is the focus of another table I’ve made.

Meanwhile, Giggs Boson returned to scout midfielders who could be due a goal next season after registering a high number of close range efforts but rarely finding the net in 2016/17.

If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how they work. Also, remember to tag them so that people can find the tables with ease.

The Community Tournaments

Congratulations to all those taking part in the Fantasy Euro Under 21 FFScout league, which was ranked first in the competition’s league of leagues during the week.

In the Norwegian Eliterserien Fantasy game, Colmans Mustard remains top of the community’s main league, while Dutch Warrors continues to lead the H2H competition.

If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-Ups, please email me a brief summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head-to-head competition at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.