The timing of winter Wildcards is proving crucial right now. While many in the Fantasy Football Scout community are hanging on until the bitter end of the transfer window, some of those who drafted in Sergio Aguero last week are perhaps regretting the decision to bring him in so soon. Our community writers were full of advice this week on Wildcard squads, ways to climb up the rankings and which Chelsea assets to select. The week’s hot topics examined defensive line ups and expensive forward lines, while the Members Tables took a cheeky look at Gameweek 22’s penalty-gate, which left Leighton Baines owners heartbroken. We take time out to revisit all this and, as ever, catch up on the latest ups and downs in our community tournaments.
The Community Articles
As Wildcards continue to be dealt, the current leader of the FFScout moderators and contributors league, Greenwindmill, took his turn to mull over the options, in the latest in our regular Rate My Wildcard Team series. Getting the right balance of heavy hitters, mid price punts and cheap bench players is proving key to his decision.
Selecting the right Chelsea players is a tricky task – not only are there numerous options, there’s also the threat of a possible blank Gameweek 27 looming large, should they progress to the Capital One Cup final. Thankfully Ruccells was on hand to look over the key Chelsea contenders. Meanwhile, Jaffalicious‘s focus was on getting the best cheap defensive rotation out of your wildcard as well as the pitch time and value of Chelsea’s key midfield trio of Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard and Oscar.
Another consideration for wildcarders is current rank, says Triggerlips. His excellent article on the best strategies for the remainder of the season has a strong focus on matching the best tactics to your current overall ranking. The ensuing discussion also spilled out into the main article comment section, where the community offered further rank-climbing tips.
Sergio Aguero is a player many are hoping will propel them up the rankings, but Ruth_NZ offers up some analysis to suggest he may not be the saviour some believe.
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
Defenders are proving tough to pick for those on a Wildcard. Among the most popular picks, according to (Charlie) Austin 3:16’s discussion on the latest must haves, are Chelsea and Southampton defenders.
Toaster’s look at the Arsenal options in defence will also prove crucial reading for those looking to assemble the best back lines, as will Ludo’s rankings of the Premier League’s best defences so far. This offers another strong argument in favour of drafting in Southampton and Chelsea defenders. Meanwhile, Ice thinks that Arsenal’s cut price defender Hector Bellerin looks primed for points, after seemingly wrestling the right back berth off Calum Chambers.
In midfield, the search for differentials continues. Southampton’s Eljero Elia is among the latest crop of names being considered but our resident Bundesliga expert Portsmouth Bubblejet, urges caution. The winger, who is on loan from Werder Bremen, had mixed fortunes in Germany, where his bursts of good form have proved short lived.
Another increasingly popular midfield differential is Crystal Palace’s Jason Puncheon, who looks revitalised under the watchful eye of new Eagles boss Alan Pardew. Walsh’s excellent look at how Pardew is utilising Puncheon in different ways offers hope to his new owners as well as some seeds of doubt.
Sticking with midfield options, we revisited Kroos Kontrol’s early January article on fourth midfielders, which looked at those who fall between heavy hitter and bench fodder status. In our discussion New Head Coach is For Kinnear believes Manchester City and Arsenal offer the best locations to find these potentially lucrative players.
Whether or not to draft in Chelsea’s 17-goal hero Diego Costa was the key issue being asked by Rozzo, as the community turned its attention to their forward lines this week. In the ensuing debate Granville argued having Fabregas provides enough cover for Costa’s goals, whereas Debauchy was among those looking to bring him back in on their wildcard.
For some, shoe-horning in Costa and Aguero is an option, despite both coming with weighty price tags. Rupert The Horse was on hand to look at the type of midfield Fantasy managers would be left with if they opted for this pricey pair.
It is not just winter Wildcards that some of the community are hanging onto, some still have their initial Wildcard at their disposal. Patio Kev was on hand this week with a word of warning for those holding back in anticipation of a raft of double Gameweeks later in the season.
Finally, Fiona B launched a Monday Morning Miffed discussion, with Aguero’s single point among the many grumblings. This looks like it could be a good regular hot topic in the frustrating Gameweeks ahead.
The Members Tables
When Kevin Mirallas took the ball off Everton’s usual penalty taker Leighton Baines and promptly missed against the Baggies last Monday, the Belgian became public enemy number one among the England defender’s 632,000 FPL owners. To lighten the mood Dub has constructed this cheeky table on the Mirallas Effect on Baines.
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
As a testament to the success of the Scout Picks this season, which are compiled with help from a Community Champion, our picks now top @OFCProdigy’s Scout Picks Challenge. Following Gameweek 21 we leapt into first place with Mookie in second and Sticky Mockwell in third.
While Greenwindmill continues to top the FFScout moderators and contributors league he faces a new rival in Mark, who has leapt into second with an impressive Gameweek 22 score of 79.
In TorresMagic’s Last Man Standing competition, 508 teams survived after 48 were eliminated when the safety score was set at 33.
In Red Lightning’s FFS January Wildcard League (352700-723212), Andy in Asia is the new leader despite not having played his winter wildcard yet. Entry remains open during the winter transfer window.
Meanwhile, in another of Red Lightning’s leagues, Aaron Thorburn still leads the Top 10k Any Season League and following Gameweek 22’s matches moved up to 32nd in the world.
