He's as big a goal threat as any CB in the Premier League. He just scored a lot last season because of Stevie G's beautiful set-plays.

I think it's more to do with baps than goal threat

I have always said BAPs is the reason for Skrtel.

Could be a bit rusty, not match fit.

😯

Cheers Zasa +1

Tu Meke Zasa, Tu Meke!

Dammit Mane!

Oh, ffs!

😯 Odin's raven!

Now that would be a differential punt and a half. Anyone dare?

Knowing Mourinho, I think there's only a 20% chance he'll start at the Emirates.

*Check his price in FPL*

Surely he won't start. Sub role perhaps?

DOubt he'll play but definitely casts more doubts over the fitness of the other strikers

Dominic in

Lollllllllllllllllllllll

He's the back up for whatever striker does start.

Maybe

Lol

tl;dr

Spot on. Wish I had a wildcard, but haven't so I'm making the most of what I've got.

Good post Ruth. As a non-WC I can't really add any input but your points do seem valid. That said, If I was on WC I'd definitely keep Silva and Aguero.

Good point, but both Silva and Aguero are keepers for me.

Its still risky to be without highly owned players who have done so well this season. It could go either way.

The issue here is you can do a 5gw mini season from gws 1-5 pre wildcard.

Doing so 34-38 has some advantages (DGW in this case) but also disadvantages... You don't know which teams will start rotating. Gw38 is also a random gw with crazy selections.

Also an early wildcard doesn't have instant value like a dgw, but you can pick long-term picks to bring you through all the way to January. It is a slowerz steadier improvement to your team

good point, it's a short term punts now., time to sell aguero and kane 👿

Always like your posts ruth keep them up

They are some interesting points Ruth, and you are dead right in that a WC right now is an opportunity to plan for 2-3 gameweek's time and finish the season with some differentials that will score big.

However, I think the risk is that if you don't "cover" yourself with the same players that non-WCers have that they may fall behind ... i.e. "What if Aguero and Silva share 20 points this week, what if Southampton keep a clean sheet, etc."

The problem is that looking back is a stark reminder of what can happen when you don't board the bandwagons ... look at those (myself included) who took 4-5 weeks to bring Kane in, missing out on a bundle of points and a cheap, reliable striker. If he were to score this weekend you'd have to keep him for the rest of the season, surely. If he blanks then most will lose him ... it's still a coin toss.

Nice post, and fully agree.

I'm on a WC and the only single GWers (over the 5 weeks) I'm keeping are Aguero (explosive, in form and decent fixtures), Kane (still crazy value), and probably Silva (AVL and QPR in the next 3 being the main reason).

Other than them it's 3 CHE, 3 LIV, 2 LEI, 2 SUN, 1 HUL & 1 ARS

2 ARS to come in with freebies before GW37 and 1 spare to sort out any injuries/messes that come along.

i think this actually makes be feel better as a Non- WC owner. I think Im well set up for the remaining GWs. It's just this one Im worried about 😆

Yeah. Get rid of Aguero and Silva before a home match against Villa. For who? I'm a non-WC manager, and I will have 3 Chelsea and 3 Liverpool for the DGW. On top of Aguero, Silva....and Kane, provided there isn't some news about an injury to keep one of them out. Who in God's name are WC'ers going to replace such hitters with? Vardy? N'Doye? You can have it both ways if you want. You don't have to lose big hitters just to load up on WC players. You might have a point about the Southampton defenders, but that's about it. A long post that, if I'm being honest, doesn't really say much of value.

Agree in essence - but it's important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Players like Silva and Aguero are proven FPL point scorers. Southampton defence still offers some value in players like Alde and Davis. Kane is still fighting for golden boot and is so highly owned...dropping him for Vardy/N'Doye is a disaster waiting to happen.

More importantly for me, the WC is a tremendous opportunity to consolidate leads for MLs or set themselves up with enough differentials to make one last push. I think this is the main advantage for GW WCers.

Excellent post, totally agree. Wild carders have such a great advantage it's painful to see so many with such poor teams. Come on people, get a grip.

Agree with a lot there Ruth. For us non wc holders a little planning was neded, ie last week used 2fts to get Fab and Huth.

Im currently-

Ming
Huth Ivan Alderw
Haz Fab Sterling Silva
Aguero Kane Giroud

Myhill Boyd PVA Hadria achieved with a -4

Actually happy with this and if on a wc would only be looking at Kane and Alderw in the starting 11.

What the WC gives is a chance to set Hadria to an ARS defence or Boyd to ARS mid getting you nice and set up for the next 5, as you said.

Achiving a good team this week is fairly easy for all, you wc holders can now have your squad set for the next 5 with transfers to deal with injuries etc.

Agree for the most part, WC holders have a distinct advantage right now but it will only benefit those who use it properly, keeping the rest of the season in mind, instead of just this DGW as you stated.

Also, I wanted to let you know I always appreciate a comprehensive and introspective post. Even if they are a bit controversial. They are quite rare around these parts. Hope you don't get dissuaded by some of the clowns that lurk around here and keep sharing your thoughts.

Have you ever posted on FantasyPL subreddit? There are thousands of people in that community who would value your insight.

I don't have a WC and I'm most probably not hanging on to Kane for this specific reason. Neither am I getting any Saints defensive cover(Yes, I still own Forster...lol)at this late stage.

I'm happy not to own a WC at this stage.

Mods... How is this a *Hot Topic* for discussion?

6 paragraphs to effectively say:

WC teams can get a fresh set of players to best take advantage of the final 5 weeks of the season.

What's up for debate here?

Slow news day I guess?

I don't know about you but I'd be glad to see the competition "waste" wildcards, not sure why it bothers you how others choose to construct their teams for the run in.

Would non-wildcarders love a wildcard now, of course. Does having one guarantee great scores gw 34-38? Course not.

The major point here is, truth be told the dgw hasnt turned out to be the massive dgw people were hoping for, and most serious players would have planned sufficient to have/get in 6-7 key dgwers.

Highly doubt that non-wildcarders are losing any sleep over being short a lei and/or a hull player vs a Silva/Kane/Giroud/Clyne.

Usually enjoy your posts, but this one....much ado about nothing imho of course.

Of course it's good having a wildcard to play now, but I think the point some have been making is that it seems wildcarders' heads have been turned by the DGW fixtures and they've lost sight of both player form and the 5 week stretch you refer to (*cough* Granville? *cough*). The question is whether the DGW will be fools gold and some wildcarders will be sat here this time next week contemplating taking hits to ship out their Liverpool and Leicester players (and, if Chelsea have wrapped up the title, possibly Chelsea players).

Makes me feel better about dumping Silva. I too see this week as the start of a five gameweek season - unfortunately not with a wildcard - so taking a few hits instead to set myself up for a fun final five.

As regards to my own team, I'm setting it up nicely for the final 5 games and all it will cost me is a maximum of 12 points. I'm not sure if had a WC my team would be that different so I have effectively bought one on the cheap. I've covered the main players needed and accept I could be down by approximately 12 points (hopefully) on my closest rivals by the end of the GW. I'm happy with that because I made about 40-50 points on them by playing it in GW30 when no-one else did!
That's right, I'm a bloody genius 😀

However if it does go tits up you won't see me till August so best of luck everyone and have a nice summer. 😉

Gawd, there are some donuts on here. 😡

Ruth, this is a fine observation and you should be congratulated for your analysis. Both informative and perceptive in equal measure.

I have long argued the point that the tail end of the season is a time to "free ride." By this I mean, a chance to climb the rankings by getting in differentials or "one offs" as there is little to be gained from playing fixtures three or four times ahead of you. Although this season, there is the dwg in 37, which can not be ignored imo.

The wildcarders have a massive advantage in my opinion. They can stack up on the dgwers and position their teams for remainder of the season. For those of us looking to climb the rankings, this is our time and we be make or break for many.

Good work, girlfriend.

So True!

Great post and I totally agree... just really wish I had one!

@Mods :

I think you should do a better job protecting Ruth on discussions like this. Commenters like Acquafresca add nothing to this conversation, usually take a quick jibe at the poster and then disappear. Sure Acqua might have a history of posting long articles on other websites, but just because he has a recognizable username, he gets away with / upvoted on useless comments. I know you can't remove such comments because they don't violate your T&C's, but you could at least comment on the same thread showing some support for the OP.

I understand that a lot of people here think that Ruth should lighten up a bit and not respond to criticism, I agree with this to some extent. However, the guy has posted some thought provoking topics lately and broken up the monotony of multiple repetitive RMWCTs. As a community, we might be in danger of losing posters like him if the mods just sit by and watch once-respected members of the community reply with "Cry me a river.." / tl;dr and get ghost upvotes

Good stuff Ruth!

Excellent artice. I'm on a wildcard and struggling to resist the temptation to throw in 3 Leicester and a token Hull player just because I can. This doesn't really make sense if you take a 5 game approach.

I've mapped my team for GW34 (with an eye on GW37) then plotted forward to see what 3 transfers can give me in GW37 and whether the timing works.

I'm definately holding Kun, Sanchez and Kane. Silva is a big issue for me. I shipped him out earlier this week, but may bring him back tonight as I do think over 5 gameweeks he still has appeal.

Thanks.
At the start of this week my TV was 107.4.
It's now 105.8... yikes.
Said goodbye to Clyne, Silva & Kane amongst others, it's time to be brave.

Superb post

I wholeheartedly agree and approve

The only SGWer in my team is likely to be Kun, and I can get 3 or 4 for 37

Most keen managers not on a WC will have prepared their teams for this DGW and DGW 37 and will be prepared to take a couple of hits. It would be interesting to see how many of the top 1K have a wildcard left.

The only thing us non WCs have is the fact that the DGWs are playing each other a lot in upcoming fixtures so there should be some cancelling out.

To do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in FPL, the most difficult and the most productive at times.