End of Season Awards – Defenders

Having rolled out our take on the main Goalkeepers from a Fantasy Football perspective over 2016/17, our end of season awards continue with the chief protagonists in defence.

Once again, we’ve released a poll in the right column of the homepage to collect your votes – please remember that each person can cast four votes this time around.

2015/16 Fantasy Football Scout Team of the Season Review

Goalkeeper – Jack Butland

Defenders – Toby Alderweireld, Hector Bellerin, Christian Fuchs

Midfielders – Riyad Mahrez, Dele Alli, Dimitri Payet, Mesut Ozil

Forwards – Jamie Vardy,Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane

While Stoke City’s Jack Butland can be excused after spending the vast majority of time on the sidelines through injury, the same cannot be said for Hector Bellerin, Toby Alderweireld and Christian Fuchs, who all failed to live up to their previous season’s performances.

Bizarrely, both Bellerin and Alderweireld – the two top scoring defenders in 2015/16 – had to wait until the final day of the season to net their first goal this time around.

Bellerin’s attacking output (one goal, five assists) was near identical to the campaign beforehand (one goal, six assists) but his clean sheet count plummeted from 18 to 10, with his security of starts now also in question as a result of Arsene Wenger’s shift to 3-4-2-1. Should the Frenchman remain in charge at the Emirates, Bellerin could battle it out with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for a wing-back berth next time out.

An ever-present on his way to returning four goals and two assists in 2015/16, Alderweireld missed eight league outings due to injury this season. Like Bellerin, he failed to justify a lofty 6.5 starting price, with the likes of Kyle Walker proving a far more popular pick due to Spurs’ wing-back system. Should Mauricio Pochettino continue with the same 3-4-2-1 formation, the Belgian – despite an expected price drop – could struggle to garner attention once again.

Fuchs matched his four assists from 2015/16 and bettered his goal count by two to zero, though Leicester City’s lack of resilience proved costly. The Austrian’s clean sheets dropped from 15 to eight, while his bonus point tally more than halved, down from 25 to 10. Having started at 5.5 this term, we can surely expect a drop to 5.0 in light of his 105 points for the season.

While those three all miss out on nominations for this season’s elite XI, here are the candidates in the running….

Marcos Alonso

Arriving from Fiorentina on the penultimate day of last summer’s transfer window, little was expected of a defender who had previously served up a career-high Fantasy Premier League haul of 52 points for Sunderland back in 2013/14.

Although he failed to start the first two league matches he was available for, Alonso’s debut off the bench in a 3-0 loss to Arsenal in Gameweek 6 coincided with Antonio Conte’s decision to switch to a 3-4-3 formation.

From that point onwards, the Spaniard missed just one of the Blues’ final 32 league matches – due to illness against Manchester United in Gameweek 33. Unleashed as a raiding left wing-back, he racked up the points at both ends of the pitch, delivering six goals, five assists and 15 clean sheets on his way to 177 points.

It’s indicative of Alonso’s points potential that a price rise of 0.9 over the season was more than any defender and bettered by just one player in the game – Romelu Lukaku’s 1.1.

Runner-up to team-mate Gary Cahill for FPL defenders, Alonso claimed third spot in both the Sky Sports and the Telegraph games among backline options.

Should he remain as a defender in FPL – and avoid re-classification as a midfielder, as has been the case in games such as FanDuel – there’s no question that Alonso will move to 6.5 at least.

Yet when you consider that his average of 5.7 points per match (ppm) was more than any defensive regular and bettered by just five regular midfielders and four forwards, that could still represent excellent value if Conte opts against rotating to cope with Champions League duties next term.

If he can kick on from where he left off, it’ll be difficult to look past Alonso as our premium defender of choice when next season gets underway.

Gary Cahill

The top scoring defender in FPL, Cahill edged Alonso at the summit by just a single point as a result of John Terry’s early withdrawal against Sunderland last weekend.

Initially named as a sub in Gameweek 38, the former Bolton man emerged from the bench to replace the outgoing skipper midway through the first-half with the score 1-1 and went on to claim a clean sheet as Chelsea did not concede in his 63 minutes on the pitch.

Cahill failed to start just two league matches in Conte’s first year at the Bridge and mirrored Alonso’s six goals, bettering him for bonus (15 to 11) and clean sheets – his total of 17 was more than any goalkeeper or defender.

As with Alonso, we expect a rise to 6.5, though there’s a possibility that, as part of a back-three, he could be more immune to any possible chopping and changing.

Cesar Azpilicueta

Along with Bournemouth’s Steve Cook and Middlesbrough centre-half Ben Gibson, the Spaniard was one of only three outfield players to feature from start to finish in all 38 Gameweeks.

That security of starts meant that, despite scoring just once, Azpilicueta finished just eight points behind Cahill’s tally of 178 in FPL and topped both the Sky Sports and Telegraph games ahead of his aforementioned team-mate.

Although he was mainly utilised as a central defender, Azpilicueta still equalled last season’s tally of five assists and went on to double his clean sheet haul, up from eight to 16.

An ability to hoover up the bonus kept him near the top of the leaderboard – a total of 22 additional points was a career-high and more than any other defender.

Again, a price rise to 6.5 looks imminent, yet – as evidenced by this season’s teamsheets – his security of starts should keep him in contention.

Kyle Walker

With Toby Alderweireld and Danny Rose kicking off the season at 6.5 and 6.0 respectively, Walker’s relatively kind starting price of 5.5 turned many heads as the value route into the Spurs defence.

Indeed, by Gameweek 8 he’d already climbed to 6.0 thanks to a series of displays that ultimately persuaded 1.6m FPL managers to snap up his services – more than any defender.

Another to benefit from his manager’s penchant for wing-backs, Walker doubled his assist tally from three to six this time out, which was top among defenders.

Yet with talk surrounding a possible switch to Manchester City, there’s no doubt that his form tailed off as the campaign unfolded – Walker failed to produce any attacking returns from Gameweek 23 onwards and started just one of the final five league fixtures.

A price hike to 6.5 seems inevitable, yet if that mooted move to the Etihad does indeed transpire, Walker is likely to be utilised mainly as a right-back by Pep Guardiola, possibly diminishing his appeal.

In turn, his departure will have many considering Kieran Trippier, who could find himself in pole position to claim a regular role under Pochettino. Despite starting a mere six times (with six more outings as a sub), the former Burnley man still provided five assists in 2016/17 and could well emerge as next season’s Walker, with a cost under 6.0 on the cards.

Seamus Coleman

Starting at a cost of 5.5, Everton’s right-back was a peripheral figure in our pre-season plans after ending the 2015/16 campaign with just 94 FPL points to his name.

But Ronald Koeman’s arrival at Goodison transformed Coleman’s fortunes as a potent source of Fantasy points.

Despite missing 12 of his side’s fixtures, the Irishman still finished seventh top scoring defender in FPL, courtesy of four goals, four assists, 10 clean sheets and 15 bonus points before his campaign came to an unfortunate end while on international duties against Wales back in late March.

Prior to sustaining that season-ending broken leg, Coleman had served up attacking or defensive returns in 11 of his final 14 league appearances, with an average of 5.1 ppm bettered only by Alonso’s 5.7 among regular defenders.

Certainly, he looks likely to miss the first few months of the upcoming campaign, which could potentially bring Mason Holgate into contention as a more budget-friendly route into a defence that chalked up 13 shutouts in their first season with Koeman at the helm.

Gareth McAuley

Having scored just nine times in his previous five seasons, there’s an argument that McAuley’s six-goal haul in 2016/17 – from just 16 attempts – was something of an anomaly.

Priced at just 4.5, the Irishman’s exploits in the final third helped claim ninth spot in the defender rankings, though he placed third for value (26.2) in terms of points per million. When it came to transfers in, he was second only to Walker, with 1.56m FPL managers clambering on board a bandwagon that saw his price peak at 5.3 in Gameweek 31.

Worryingly for the Baggies, though, they showed little of the resilience that typifies a Tony Pulis team – a total of six clean sheets was superior only to relegated Hull’s five.

McAuley’s attacking output will likely earn him an inevitable rise to 5.0, yet bearing in mind that he turns 38 next December, it remains to be seen whether he’ll be a regular in 2017/18, with the versatile Craig Dawson earmarked as his eventual successor at centre-half.

Looking forward, Dawson – having netted four times in back-to-back seasons – and Chris Brunt, if he remains listed as a defender in FPL, could ultimately prove stronger options at a similar price. Yet Ben Foster’s save-point potential means he could be the value pick if he continues at 4.5.

Antonio Valencia

A total of 120 points fails to tell the full story of a season where Valencia’s Fantasy potential was ultimately scuppered as a result of United’s European ambitions.

An average of 4.3 ppm matched Spurs’ Walker, for example, with one goal, three assists and 12 clean sheets from just 28 appearances.

In the second half of the season, in particular, Valencia’s raids down the right persuaded many to snap him up – from Gameweek 20 onwards, he delivered a goal, assist or clean sheet in 10 of his final 12 league outings.

Yet with United clinching a Champions League spot via last night’s success in the Europa League, the Ecuadorian played just three of their final 10 top-flight matches.

Having matched Spurs at the summit for clean sheets with 17 apiece, there’s a possibility that United’s main defenders could even rise to the 6.0 mark.

Early on at least, Valencia’s penchant for points at both ends could still prove value as the best route into the United rearguard. And should Mourinho need to prioritise domestically in the latter stages, the right-back seems far less likely to resort to bench-warming duties.

Charlie Daniels

After returning three goals and five assists in 2015/16, the Bournemouth left-back once again proved a reliable source of points at both ends of the pitch.

Daniels’ initial 5.0 price tag deterred many from initially investing, yet a total of four goals, three assists, 14 bonus points and 10 clean sheets helped him claim sixth spot in the FPL defender standings with 134 points.

Bearing in mind that he produced 130 points in the season beforehand, Daniels is favourite to remain at 5.0. A secure starter, his potential for bumper points hauls – five sets of double-figure returns was more than any of our featured defenders – suggests that he could continue to offer value for money.

If Adam Smith comes in at 4.5 again, though, he could be another Cherries option to monitor – the right-back returned five assists and bettered Daniels by 26 shots to 19, despite scoring only once.