The Community Round Up

The international fixture break gave our community writers and posters a chance to reflect on their Fantasy squads, rue early transfer moves and consider the key factors that drive them to invest in certain players. Statistics also came under the microscope, both in our Members tables and hot topics, and we also take a look back at our latest Community league leaders.

The Community Articles

With Arsenal and Everton among those sides set to benefit from a kind schedules in the coming weeks, many of the community are looking to refresh their teams.

In Everton’s ranks, Leighton Baines is a proven performer but with a price tag of 7.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), many Fantasy managers face a tough task squeezing him into their squads. Luckily, two of our community writers were on hand to analyse our options. Alimnator offered a nuts and bolts guide to squeezing Baines in with as little fuss as possible. Meanwhile, Robinho looked specifically at which midfielder to ditch to free up funds for the pricey defender.

Elsewhere, goal attempts came under the microscope of community writer Banana Shaquiri, who rolled out an excellent comparison between foxes in the box that shoot from close range and those players who tend to fire from distance.

Among the sharpest players from close-range this season is Diego Costa, but as Tiggsy pointed out in his article on life without the Chelsea forward, perhaps he is not as essential as many Fantasy managers think.

Don’t forget, if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.

The Hottest Topics

Although foxes in the box may be more effective in Fantasy terms, there’s no denying the attractiveness and excitement of a well executed, spectacular long range effort. There were plenty of these out-of-the-box howitzers mentioned in Kerz’s discussion on the best ever goal. Wakey, for example, went misty-eyed recalling Matt Le Tissier’s 1994 goal for Southampton against his beloved Blackburn Rovers.

Another player to make football fans weak at the knees is Manchester City’s David Silva. But as Kurren pointed out, from a Fantasy Premier League perspective Silva’s attractive play is less than impressive as it is failing to rack up bonus points. He wonders whether there is still a case to bring back the man in the stand style bonus system to better reward easy on the eye midfield maestros like Silva.

Goalkeepers are another group that the FPL bonus point system is failing to reward, argued Evs. He was left flabbergasted that Manchester United’s David De Gea received no bonus despite his penalty save.

However, there is no sense of injustice among Sergio Aguero owners. The Manchester City forward is among those favoured by the FPL bonus allocation and has received at least one bonus point every time he has scored this season. Nevertheless Rickardinho pondered whether Aguero is still worth his £12.2m price tag and if Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck may offer similar rewards for better value.

An injury to Mesut Ozil this week, which will rule the midfielder out for around 10 to 12 weeks, may still have an effect on Arsenal’s attacking output. In our discussion on The Gunners’ injury situation Moin believes that there is enough creativity in the midfield, most notably from Santi Cazorla, to ensure Welbeck prospers over the coming weeks without the German’s assists.

Meanwhile, for those Fantasy managers praying their players do not follow in Ozil’s injured footsteps, Honeybadger offered up this handy list of international fixtures.

Ozil’s injury also offered a painful reminder to the 5,000 FPL managers who drafted him in this week of the perils of an early transfer during an international break. Earlier this week, Granville wondered whether such early moves have any merit unless slender budgets and price rises are a factor.

As if to rub salt into the wounds of those unlucky 5,000 new Ozil owners, RoysCallerAnne sparked this discussion on lucky Fantasy Football moments. For Waldez, his luckiest moment came when Hull’s James Chester and his 15 FPL points came off the bench in the first match of this season for Chelsea’s Filipe Luis, who failed to start away at Burnley. For Ginkeroo, it was a snow-ravaged week some years back when Everton’s Tim Cahill emerged as the only player to rack up a decent points haul.

Some may say that luck plays a part in our community writer Puntmaster’s startling success in predicting high scoring differentials. Turns out quite a bit if skill is also involved as he revealed in his step by step guide to successful punting.

Analysing the data available in our Members area plays a big part in the Puntmaster’s success. But RoysCallerAnne is not as convinced in the value of statistics. While he admits that his post questioning the value of statistics may have started in unnecessarily controversial fashion, the ensuing discussion offered a fascinating insight into the community’s transfer decision-making process.

On a similar theme, we asked how much does ownership % and the transfer market effects our decisions around squad selection.

Finally, Beseoulbadger has been listening to our most recent Scoutcast and started up this discussion on potential changes the community would like to see.

The Members Tables

Gigging Order has been looking at the Arsenal Midfield to take advantage of their kind run – particularly useful for Ozil owners looking to retain investment in the Gunners’ asset in the centre of the park.

Arsenal were also the focus of Arvination’s look at the best attacking and creative players in teams with a kind forthcoming fixture list. He also took time out to cast an eye over Everton’s main men.

To supplement his Foxes in the Box versus Long Rangers article, Banana Shaquiri has created a pair of handy tables. His first looks at the chief exponents of goal attempts from inside and outside of the box, while his second looks at where teams are conceding goal attempts, to help find out where the foxes and long rangers will have the happiest hunting ground.

Intrigued by the increasing number of budget options among West Brom’s ranks, I’ve been looking at the Baggies’ main close-threats.

If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how they work. Also, remember to tag them so that people can find the tables with ease.

The Community Tournaments

Dusan Citizen won AZ’s Early Bird Cup, defeating DT42 in the final by eight points. His transfer in of Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria proved crucial.

Tinkerman retains top place in the Fantasy Football Scout moderators and contributors league, closely followed by our injuries expert Facer. Paul is another to keep his eye firmly on the prize, with an 11 point lead over Anorak in the moderators and contributors Ultimate Fantasy Premier League mini-league.