The community has spent the two-week international break assessing some long-term transfer decisions and pondering whether there is now an established template team – and, if so, how the devil do we dismantle it? The concept of a “power three” at the back was also discussed, while an array of community tournaments rumbled on.
The Hottest Topics
The Sarjeant has been undertaking some long term planning research and come up with this handy guide to the fixtures and potential form right up until Gameweek 20’s January wildcard. This gives a fascinating look at the forthcoming 13 fixtures and the best teams to load up on. Among the most enticing sides over this period, according to The Sarjeant, are Chelsea and Aston Villa.
It’s a double mention in this week’s round up for The Sarjeant, who has also been looking at factors behind the template team that has been highlighted in our Breaking the Template articles (part one and part two). A key factor in this team, he argues, is a genuine lack of goals and increase in clean sheets compared to last year. His comparison offers a good indication as to why so few attackers are catching our eye.
The 3rdTurd has also been looking closely at our template team analysis and sparked an interesting debate about the make up of the top ten players’ teams.
Last season was all about the “power five” midfield. Could this year see the emergence of the power three defence? I Love Hits certainly thinks so and plenty agree, with the likes of John Terry, Jan Vertonghen and Leighton Baines among those vying for a place in this exclusive defensive line up.
Wakey has been on hand with his latest list of ‘falling stars’, assessing players whose price has dropped below their initial Fantasy Premier League evaluation. His Gameweek 8 falling star side includes David De Gea, Ashley Williams and Stephane Sessegnon. It also features an astonishingly discounted front line that includes Robin Van Persie and Christian Benteke. Sadly Romelu Lukaku will now have to drop off his list, as the Belgian striker finally clawed his way back to his starting price of 8.0 earlier this week.
With Manchester United and Liverpool opting for a front two formation Kostja wonders whether we are better off investing in teams with a lone striker like Everton or Aston Villa, where their frontmen are unlikely to share points. He points to the difference in shots on target offered by Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez from game to game as an example of the limitations of investing in one of a strike pairing.
D1sable has been left frustrated season after season by Theo Walcott and Leighton Baines. He always seems to miss their points hauls and transfers them in when just as their form dips. He asked the community to list their most frustrating players and Matt Tomatoe, Mayor Quimbandwagon and Get Yout Baps Out! were among those to share his frustration of jumping on the Baines-wagon just as the points dried up.
After his stunning brace in Gameweek 7 there is huge anticipation surrounding David Moyes’ latest young star Adnan Januzaj. Autobot RVP Brigade has used the commotion as a hook to investigate how Moyes’s previous teenage talents, Wayne Rooney and Ross Barkley, have fared in terms of appearances and performance under his tutelage.
Community Tournaments
In Torres Magic’s Early Bird competition just two players remain: Stephen Woods and LawnDart. TM’s Last Man Standing competition has 757 survivors after 44 failed the safety score of 24. Codes for TM’s other 5 leagues can be found here.
Meanwhile the FFS UEFA Beach Soccer Tournament team line ups will be released this week ahead of the competition’s set of friendly fixtures in Gameweek 8. For more details visit their blog here. We have also set up a dedicated article for the community to discuss the tournament here.
