Wildcard fever has taken grip of the community over the past week. While some are currently brandishing the chip in anticipation of a boost in value and points, others are clinging to it and are all too happy to rain on their parade.
Our community discussions also took in transfer deadline day antics, the search for value in midfield and whether Harry Kane will ever find the net.
The Spurs striker’s underlying figures came under scrutiny in our Members’ tables summary, and we finish off our round-up with a look at those who have no need to Wildcard from their vantage point at the top of our community leagues.
The Community Articles
Today saw the launch of our latest community writer of the month vote, where we ask you to name your favourite scribe during August. The winner of your vote will receive a £20 Amazon voucher.
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 Topic
Mark’s decision to activate his Wildcard sparked a flurry of discussions over the optimum time to use this valuable chip and which players to target.
The timing of his move, during the first international break, received a mixed response from the community and even shock from one of our fold.
Some who had endured a tough Gameweek – as detailed in our latest rough with the smooth Hot Topic – were among those who felt the time was right to wipe the slate clean with their team.
But Mlexer believes Wildcarding this early can be fraught with problems, with price rises stalling and too many issues still left unresvolved around team selection, rotation and form.
Your Mum’s Athletic has also noticed a slow down in the FPL transfer market and is pessimistic that the sort of dramatic valuation changes seen in 2016/17 will be replicated over the new season.
The transfer window is a key issue to take into account over the coming weeks. Dreams dropped by ahead of yesterday’s deadline to canvass the community’s views on the ideal moves they would like to see take place. As transfer deals unfolded Andre94PT gave us a detailed scouting report on Swansea’s new loan signing Renato Sanches.
But during the morning after the night before the community began to realise that the deals which failed to materialise could prove to be the most significant, with Pirlo’s Pen particularly jubilant about Marcos Alonso’s starting prospects following Chelsea’s failure to capture another left wing-back.
Another issue for Wildcarders to ponder is whether Harry Kane can live up to his 12.5 price tag, considering he has yet to score this season, despite breaking goal attempt records. Dino believes poor quality shooting is the reason behind his failure to find the net, while Poodle thinks the Spurs forward is lacking confidence.
Chris White added to the debate to highlight how the England striker is at the centre of a ‘casuals versus veterans’ battle due to his poor returns from such stunning underlying statistics.
Champions League rotation and Swansea City’s line-up are among other outstanding issues highlighted where more evidence may be required before Wildcarding, according to our discussion.
The community is far more certain about the ability of Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino to offer value following his reclassification from midfielder to forward over the summer. A19 asked for your views on how he can be best used – as part of a premium packed forward line, or as a replacement for a heavy hitter such as Kane?
Red Lightning is among those pondering whether an expensive three-man frontline can offer genuine value for money.
The fate of Kevin De Bruyne appears to be another certainty after adopting a deep midfield role and failing to produce points for his hefty fee. FC5750HC delivered the news that even the Belgian himself admits that he is now a defensive midfielder – a change of role that has already prompted 156,000+ FPL managers to part company with him this week and force his price to dip to 9.9.
There were further defensive problems and solutions provided in our discussion on the favoured backlines, while Jac the Cat asked for views on the best budget midfield options.
Value was also on the mind of Marcus, who has been highlighting some strong Fantasy options to suffer a price loss.
To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page.
The Members’ Tables
Ambergambler has taken a look at the most successful set-piece takers, with some additional useful statistics thrown in recgarding crossing.
Elsewhere, G-whizz has been examining the underlying statistics of strikers, with a certain Spurs forward producing some particularly eye-catching underlying numbers.
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
In the FFScout Moderators and Contributors league Greenwindmill has taken top spot off Evs. Meanwhile, in the Moderators and Contributors FPL Draft league, I remain top after victory over Az, but face a stern test in Gameweek 4 when I take on our resident draft expert, second placed Andy.
QPRUTD is top of his own FFS Frequent Summers Posters league with a score of 197 after the first three Gameweeks. He is hotly pursued by Jallegre in second on 192.
Meanwhile, the Elite64 “who’s who of Fantasy Football” league has a new leader, with Don Tierney snatching top spot.
Dave Hughes has taken the lead in both Red Lightning’s Top 10k Any Season mini-league and PDM’s Top 1,000 Any Season contest. With a rank of 2,981, he looks on course to notch his third top 300 finish across his 12-season FPL career
In TorresMagic‘s Last Man Standing competition, Shaps hit the top score in Gameweek 3 with 86. There are over 3,700 teams left after 235 were eliminated when the safety score was set at 32.
If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-ups, please email us summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head to head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.
