Last minute changes, the search for under the radar differentials and formation strategies were among the key issues being discussed in the Fantasy Football Scout community this week, as the first Gameweek deadline approaches.
In this, our regular round-up, we revisit all the eleventh hour deliberations amongst the community articles and comment Hot Topics. We also bring news of the winner of July’s Community Article of the Month competition, showcase the launch of a new dedicated Rate My Team section and catch up on some of the community competitions taking place over the 2014/15 season.
The Community Articles
Our July Community Article of the Month competition proved to be a landslide, with Billy Gilmore’s impressive bonus point analysis gaining every single vote. Billy wins £20 Amazon voucher as a result. Well deserved recognition for an outstanding contribution.
There are already some early contenders for August’s prize, with Applebonkers’ look back at some of the Fantasy Football’s great â€disaster defying defendersâ€, one notable candidate. A superb article for the seasoned Fantasy campaigner, Applebonkers singles out those occasions where a defender has, against the odds, pulled off a points haul to snatch victory from the yawning jaws of defeat. Lovely stuff.
Forza Inter was also back this week with part two of his guide to his unique rotation strategy, based around using cheap players to supplement heavy-hitting defenders. Krosan was another to focus on rotation, bringing news of the launch of his free app to help Fantasy managers find the best combination of cheap defenders and goalkeepers.
Other technical wizards penning community articles this week included Sjrhutchinson, who with the aid of his calculator, has concluded that the best Fantasy Premier League formation this season may well be 4-5-1. Elsewhere, The Puntmaster’s excellent series of articles looking at new players to the Premier League continued with a focus on his player comparison tool.
Defence was the focus of posts from Daniel Levy16 and Diego Costa Lot, who looked at the budget options available for just four million in the FPL and Arsenal’s backline, respectively.
This week also saw the launch of a dedicated home for Rate My Team posts, which are increasing at a steady pace as the deadline for the first Gameweek of the season approaches. The first of these, in which I laid my team out to start the discussion, can be found here.
Don’t forget, if you’ve got some pre-season analysis or features to help Fantasy managers finalise their squads, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.
The Hottest Topics
With just days to go before the launch of the new Premier League season, the community is embroiled in deliberations over tweaks and tinkering, quizzing the merits of formations and deciding how and where to allocate funds.
Our discussion on last minute changes found that a number of players are hokey-cokeying their way in and out of our squads at an alarming rate.
After a torrid season at Tottenham, Gylfi Sigurdsson could be one of those players. Handed a chance for redemption back at Swansea this season, he’s already earning template status among the community. But Irish Madrista wonders whether his growing popularity could prove costly should he fail to deliver.
Chelsea defenders are also amongst the emerging team template, but with rotation sure to bite, Chris White’s excellent round-up of the London side’s back line assets proved useful reading. Chelsea’s defence is proving so popular that some Fantasy managers are even considering doubling up. Demi’s Hot Topic on defensive strategy revealed that Gargamel, among others, is toying with such a tactic.
Investing in Chelsea comes at a hefty price and will require budget players elsewhere to free up cash. With that in mind, The Fantasy Freak handed us a heads-up that Swansea could present a new option in FPL’s 4.0 bracket in the form of Kyle Bartley – a potential regular starter following Chico’s departure from the Liberty and a short-term solution to help find funds. Donald Duck Snr was another to look at budget players, in this handy round up here.
Cheap strikers, such as Stoke’s Bojan Krkic, have also caught the eye for those looking to maximise heavy-hitters in their side, as our discussion on the pros and cons of a 3-5-2 formation demonstrated. Stoke players have also come to the attention of Asquishy Potato, who took a look at their likely starting XI this season.
Saving money through rotating cheap goalkeepers continues to be one of the most popular strategies. Sinik’s discussion about the best 4.5m rotating goalkeeping pairs will prove vital reading for those opting for this approach.
Finally, next week will see the first podcast of the season and the community was on hand to help our hosts Mark and Granville with their Scoutcast Team feature. Among those with ideas for how to construct their team was 50 Shades of O’Shea who wants a one player per team limit in place. Another idea was 16Shimic16’s notion of only selecting ex-La Liga players.
The Community Tournaments
We’ve another couple of community tournaments to announce this week – tailored for those who have allegiances outside of the Premier League.
This weekend saw the launch of the Football League. For those who have a team selected in the Football League Manager Fantasy game The Puntmaster informs us he has set up a league. The password to join his Fantasy Football Scout league is ffs.
For those that support a non-Premier League side, whether it be AC Milan or Macclesfield, Billy Ketsu is once again running his Another World league in the FPL game. The code to join in 31650-266089.
