Our fourth and final defender in your recently-voted “Team of the Season” is Crystal Palace’s Joel Ward. When the player price lists were published last July, the Eagles versatile full-back found his way into many Fantasy managers’ plans as a cheap fifth defender but it took a change of manager three months into the season before Ward began to pick up the points.
The Statistics
Starting the season priced at just 4.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), Ward’s security of starts made him a favourable budget option amongst the promoted clubs. By early November, though, his owners were having second thoughts as the Eagles struggled under the guidance of Ian Holloway – nine defeats in the opening 10 fixtures, with at least two goals conceded on eight occasions, saw Ward pick up just nine FPL points.
Holloway’s decision to part company with the Selhurst Park club proved the turning point. Caretaker boss Keith Millen immediately steadied the ship with back-to-back clean sheets against Everton and Hull before Tony Pulis took over in Gameweek 13 and set about steering Palace to safety.
Mainly fielded at left-back, Ward’s versatility saw him fill in on the opposite side of the back-four and also, occasionally, in central midfield as he proceeded to play every minute of the Pulis regime, missing just two league matches all season. The Palace defender eventually rose to 4.5 by the time the season came to a close, with a trio of assists, 12 clean sheets and 13 bonus points helping him to 123 points – the third best outfield player in terms of value over the entire FPL campaign.
The Prospects
The defensive impact made by Pulis won’t be overlooked by Fantasy games, with a price rise certainly to be expected. In the 26 matches under his guidance, Palace picked up 10 clean sheets – putting that into perspective, only three of the top four (Chelsea, with 14, Arsenal, with 13, and City’s 11) managed to exceed this level of resilience. In terms of goals against over that period, Palace again excelled – 27 strikes conceded is, once again, fourth most impressive in the top-flight behind Chelsea (17), City (25) and Everton (26) – defences that will all be listed in the premium bracket next time around.
A hike to 5.0 in FPL is perhaps the most realistic, though this may prove too much of a deterrent for many, with plenty of alternatives in the budget bracket to catch our attention. Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that Ward averaged 3.9 points per game upon Pulis’ installation and, if he keeps a share of corners, those defensive stats suggest Palace’s main options at the back could still be worth our consideration. Another factor in Ward’s favour is that the new Bonus Points System (BPS) favours his style of play – all 13 of those bonus points came courtesy of clean sheets and if Pulis can instill the same level of resilience, the full-back looks set to benefit once again.
Further analysis of Palace’s defensive displays under Pulis shows that their returns were, by and large, fairly predictable. Whilst they were almost as reliable on the road as they were at Selhurst Park (six shut-outs in front of their own fans, with four away), the Eagles struggled against most of the top sides. Only one of their 10 clean sheets arrived against a team inside the top eight, perhaps making the decision if/when to bench Ward and co a little more straightforward.
