This week has seen the re-emergence of rotating defender strategies, a concept long thought lost, as premium defenders dominated the scoring in the first few weeks of the season.  The community has also been taking a look at potential improvements to the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game and its bonus points system, as well as airing their ongoing frustrations surrounding those pesky Yaya Toure- and Aaron Ramsey-owning casuals. We catch up with the week’s discussions, along with the very latest in our community tournaments.

The Hottest Topics

Among our most popular posts this week was Maxi’s soapbox-style discussion about team value and his criticism of those placing too much emphasis on how much their Fantasy squad is worth. He ponders whether money made on a player that is a season keeper really matters.

The structure and rules of the FPL game also came under discussion this week, courtesy of Evs. Among ideas to improve the game was Stinkfly’s suggestion that managers be restricted to just two players per team. Also, Gimli Son Of Gloin wants keepers to be given more points for a clean sheet, while Ryan called for defensive midfielders to get rewarded for their hard work protecting the backline.

Granville was also on hand to say his piece, aiming his ire specifically the Bonus Points System (BPS). He was concerned that a whopping seven players gained bonus points during Crystal Palace’s largely drab 1-0 victory over West Ham. Could the BPS be improved? Champ certainly thinks so, with his call to “bring back the man in the stands”.

With premium midfielders starting to pick up points, those who sing at the church of cheap defensive rotation were in good voice this week. Innsie’s post looking at the best options was particularly good, particularly for those already with a Crystal Palace defender. Bankst was another looking at rotation options, this time focusing on goalkeepers. A blend of Cardiff stopper David Marshall and Palace’s Julián Speroni was picked out as particularly enticing.

Talking of keepers, Evs was one of many in the unenviable predicament of having both his stoppers, Southampton’s Artur Boruc and Kelvin Davis, injured going into Gameweek 14. During his discussion about what his fellow sufferers plan to do he talked up (and ended up drafting in) Manchester City’s goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon, while Hamerstergod was eyeing up Cardiff’s Marshall.

Boruc’s injury will have come as a blow to many a “casual manager” – those who put their trust in the bandwagons and adopt a fire-and-forget policy. On that front, HVT had a go at creating the the definitive ‘casual’ team. True to form this season, it turns out that he created a pretty impressive lineup.

And finally, ahead of Gameweek 14, Konig Luther provided this interesting post about how many points are needed to reach key ranking achievements. Giggs Boson was among those pleased to discover he was just a whisker away from the top 10,000 at the time.

Community Leagues & Cups

Torres Magic’s Last Man Standing League has lost another 62 managers across Gameweeks 13 and 14, leaving 488 to continue on.

Evs, Bootsy, Athletico Timbo, Crouch Potato, Chazza and Koneheads currently lead In Tommy We Trust’s All Things leagues.  Meanwhile, his cup competition has reached the quarter finals stage with La Roja among the community names still involved.

In Fifa Las Vegas’s ‘Championship style’ competition, Somebody’s Gonna Get Lit Up and Champ are currently embroiled in the final, which is taking place over Gameweek 15.

A reminder that the FFS Paddy Power Cup Third Round was played out over this weekned’s matches – we’ll bring you a full run-down of the results and the draw for the next round on Tuesday.