Opinion
23 September 2017 4244 comments
Mark Mark
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Quite simply, we can’t have them all.

On a day that began with us fixated on the fortunes of Sergio Aguero, it was perhaps fitting that almost every other big striker produced their own bid to steal his thunder.

Aguero was a slow starter but eventually found his gear to take his turn in Manchester City’s mauling of Crystal Palace.

A goal and an assist were his reward, with two bonus points ensuring that the Argentine avoided being dwarfed by the double-figure blitz from Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane from midfield.

Again, there was evidence that Pep Guardiola’s attacking riches border on the ridiculous. Just ask Gabriel Jesus.

The Brazilian sat unused on the bench, forcing his 678,000 owners – not least the 183,000 who acquired him with Palace in mind – to choke on a bitter pill.

Pep’s Jesus decision was perhaps signposted by 90 minutes in midweek. But it’s no less confusing for us Fantasy managers, who must now wonder if Guardiola will toy with ongoing rotation of his strikers, with Sterling and Sane building compelling claims for regular starts.

Chelsea in Gameweek 6 will tell us more, although it’s City’s meeting with a beleaguered Stoke City defence that we really care about now.

We can, of course, opt out completely. It’s not as if our options are limited.

Harry Kane’s brace at the London Stadium offered a reminder that he will not surrender the Golden Boot, or his place in squads.

Sold by 196,000, with 141,000 of those swapping to Aguero, the Spurs striker set the bar for the City man with a 13-point return in the early kick-off.

Kane remains a force of nature, with the talent to circumvent Spurs’ woes on the Wembley turf – he now has 11 goals from his last five away matches.

Romelu Lukaku wasn’t to be put in the corner. He picked off his sixth goal in as many Gameweeks, as Manchester United endured a hard-fought victory at St Mary’s.

But Chelsea’s Alvaro Morata won today’s battle.

He ruthlessly exploited an ailing Stoke City defence to punish the 148,000 who had disposed of his services amid the clamour for Aguero.

Chelsea and Morata won’t play against a centre-back pairing of Darren Fletcher and Glen Johnson every week, but the Spaniard’s haul was nonetheless telling.

It offered a reminder that this is a season awash with goal scoring riches.

Our midfield firepower may have stalled – thanks in no small part to the absence of Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez. But that’s allowed the strikers to roll back the years and reinstate themselves as the critical position in our squad.

This could have a marked impact on our squad construction, particularly for those still with Wildcards to play. Funds in midfield will surely be scrutinised, monies in defence squeezed.

This could be a season where the big-hitting forwards take turns to dominate. Restricting ourselves to just two may no longer cut it.

Mark Mark created the beast. He's now looking to tame it.

4,244 Comments Login to Post a Comment
  1. jimmy.floyd
    • 10 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Mounie to:
    A Calwert
    B Hemed
    C Niasse

  2. Davros
    • 17 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Bottom’d at end of last post
    My knee is jerking and thinking of wildcarding. Thoughts on this lot?

    Foster
    Otamendi Jones Lascelles Mee
    Silva Coutinho Ritchie
    Kane Aguero Morata
    Subs: Elliot Naughton Davis Carroll

    1. Ghost Gooner
      • 12 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      No United v Palace 8?

  3. StoneMountain
    • 11 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Luckily Morata and Alli to Aguero and Silva only cost me 3 points. Problem is I want Morata back!

  4. Effendi007
    • 9 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Fix this team please gonna wildcard this week
    Foster Elliot
    Kola Otamendi Davies Naughton Mee
    Salah Sanchez Mkhi Atsu Carroll
    Lukaku Vardy Quaner

  5. F4L
    • 11 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Jesus captainers got lucky today

    1. Taking the Mkhitaryan
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Guy in my league had Jesus capt and morata vice

      1. F4L
        • 11 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        that's what I'm talking about :/

      2. Rash
        • 9 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        Snap

    2. Emmicson
      • 13 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Me Especially Considering Morata (VC)

  6. Sims
    • 9 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    5th 7-digit GW Rank of the season out of 6 weeks.

    1. More Tragic
      • 11 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      gw hasn't finished yet

      1. Sims
        • 9 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        yeah but i won't get the chance to say that after tomorrow

    2. Fred54
      • 11 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Tough aint it.

      All 7 digits GW ranks here, although only 40K away from an elusive 6 digit rank in GW1!

      My own fault really made some utterly shocking decisions. Twice in a row if I left my team alone would have scored 70+ points.

      1. Sims
        • 9 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        i should be in the top 600k by the end of this gameweek (or even tonight) so cant complain too much

  7. Pierce34
    • 10 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    One thing I've got right is the Man City rotation. Have Aguero in my FPL team and Jesus in my Fantasy UCL team.

    1. F4L
      • 11 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      UCL fantasy coming up again. Good fun

      1. Pierce34
        • 10 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        It is, way less stressful with the captain system there.

  8. Brian (Not the Messiah)
    • 16 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    best mid fielders roughly 4.5?

    1. Big Sum
      • 16 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      RLC

      1. Brian (Not the Messiah)
        • 16 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        I've got him at Tom Carrol already! looking for a third! 😉

    2. Doosra - ☭BowenOfRice☭
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 16 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Carroll, Cork, & Romeu.

  9. HD7
    • 9 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    A) Switch back from Kun to Kaku and C him vs Palace.
    B) Save and C Kane and have two transfers for the internationals

    1. Yozzer
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      I'm doing A reluctantly . Then it's good bye lukaku after the IB. Hopefully for a while

      1. HD7
        • 9 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        Want to make Firmino Miki Ramsey to Morata Salah Atsu only for -4 in the IB so maybe I will hope Kaku doesnt score 3

  10. The Man Pastore
    • 12 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    I am shocked, 53pts and 2.4m GW rank... I didn't expect it to be so bad...

    1. F4L
      • 11 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      shooketh are you

    2. Taking the Mkhitaryan
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      All the big players got pts. High scores all round
      66 for me 999,000 rank
      3 to play

    3. MTPockets
      8 years, 11 months ago

      avg is 52 & 5m players.

    4. diesel001
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      52 pts is the GW average. 5m players in the game so maths works

  11. dunas_dog
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    I could afford Hegazi to Jones tonight but should I do it? Could still do Bertrand to Jones later in week and wait to see how Hegazi does Monday (or benched)

    1. Tommy Tynans Left Shin Pad
      • 15 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Wait

    2. MTPockets
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Jones has liv, TOT, che in next 5. Not sure it needs to be a hurry unless rotatable.

      1. dunas_dog
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        Good point! Thanks

  12. LFC4EVER
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    I have 2 FT for next week.
    Foster - Elliott
    Jones - B Davies - Moreno - Naughton - Mbemba
    Mini - Salah - D Silva - Brady - Carroll
    Firmino - Kane - Lukaku

    What do you think of
    Firmono -> Morata
    Salah-> Coutinho
    B Davies -> Chilwell/Suttner/other 4.4 mil
    For a (-4) hit?

    1. LFC4EVER
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Mini is Mkhitaryan...

  13. Gnu
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 17 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Usually the No1 GW rank is some wannabe looking for their 24 hours of fame.
    However this is quite impressive.

    https://fantasy.premierleague.com/a/team/373258/event/6

    1. Sims
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      he made 18 transfers for this week

      what confuses me is he made all those transfer to get a top gw score then triple captained a player who on paper had a worse fix than kane aguero etc.

      1. Gnu
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 17 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        😆
        Wish there was an edit function. 😉

    2. Iceball
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Well he made 18 transfer(-68) and clearly wannabe aiming just for high GW score.

    3. Gnu
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 17 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      😆 😆
      Never saw the hit ffs.

    4. Nascimento
      • 11 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Total transfers 26 GNU - I think he's still one of them

    5. Hazz
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Did you see the massive -68 he took, though?

    6. Pierce34
      • 10 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Well, he has taken a -68...

    7. Eddie
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      and only 18 GW transfers

    8. Ode
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      He took a -68 hit this week 😀

    9. dunas_dog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Until you see the18 transfersand - 68

    10. Red Dagger ✪
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Probably he was going to wildcard made a bunch of changes and then hit the triple captain button first.

    11. Gnu
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 17 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      delete....delete...DELETE...D.E.L.E.T.E....
      😳

      1. Holy See
        • 16 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        Hot Topic this please 😉

        1. Gnu
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 17 Years
          8 years, 11 months ago

          😆
          Headline it with
          "Big steaming turd of a post"

          1. Doosra - ☭BowenOfRice☭
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 16 Years
            8 years, 11 months ago

            Now, now, lads ... 😀

    12. Emmicson
      • 13 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      What kind of stupid team with 18 Transfers and minus -68 points

  14. stat
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Lukakuless Aguero owners, are you doing Aguero -> Lukaku for next GW?

    1. Delph & Safety
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      No aguero loves a big game and I can see him scoring at the bridge.

      1. stat
        8 years, 11 months ago

        Think he'll outscore Lukaku for next GW?

        1. Delph & Safety
          • 9 Years
          8 years, 11 months ago

          No but I'm confident he can return points his arch rival David luiz is suspended too.

    2. Delph & Safety
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      You will want him back after that game for stoke and Burnley so it seems quite stupid to transfer him out.

      1. stat
        8 years, 11 months ago

        True. I don't want to get caught in a game of Lukaku -> Aguero -> Lukaku -> Aguero and continuously switching them seems like a good way to potentially miss out on hauls and damage my team value. I guess I'll stick with Aguero.

    3. More Tragic
      • 11 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      doubt it

  15. Carcetti
    • 14 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Vardy or Morata?

    1. Rake
      • 11 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Morata

    2. Delph & Safety
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Morata but Vardy looks a great pick as well

  16. Rake
    • 11 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Firmino to Vardy the best move if you have no change?

    1. Ode
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      If you don't have any other problems then yes

      1. Rake
        • 11 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        Have one more FT for emergency

    2. Prison Mike
      • 10 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Probably

    3. Delph & Safety
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Probably

  17. Total Foot 5
    • 13 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    best 3 player combination to have via Trades? thnx
    already have: Silva - Mikh - Carroll // Aguero

    1 (-4) Kane / Ritchie / Richarlison
    2 (-4) Jesus - Salah - 5.3 (Davis-cant do atsu)
    3 (-4) Jesus - 8.3Mid (Ramsey/Cesc) - Richarlison
    4 (-8) Jesus - Sterling - RLC

  18. Ode
    • 9 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Do you think Aguero will rise 0.2 before next gw?

    If I sell Firmino now before he drops I have 0.2 itb, so I could do Kaku to Kun next week, if his price doesn't go over 11.8.

    1. Tim Canterbury
      • 14 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Na. All the big strikers scored

      1. Eddie
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        Andy Carroll blanked

      2. ENZO SZN™
        • 9 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        Crouch blanked

    2. Pep says
      • 11 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Don't think Aguerro will rise 0.2m. Most traffic will be Jesus to Morata

  19. The Taint Tickler
    • 11 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Zanka/Mkhi/Firmino to Otamendi/Coutinho/Hernandez?

    1. Rake
      • 11 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Looks good

  20. StoneMountain
    • 11 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    top GW score (131) with 18 transfers lol!

  21. pakornk
    • 9 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    WC this lot or not?

    Elliot, Foster
    Bavies, Kolasinac, Bertrand, Dawson, Rangel
    Alli, Salah, Mhkitaryan, Gross, Carroll
    Kane, Kun, Quaner

  22. Tim Canterbury
    • 14 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Did Alonso Mendy Davies really just get 1 point...

    No autosubs either. That's brutal

    1. KingOllie
      • 10 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Welcome to my world

  23. ZeBestee
    • 12 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    I got 65 and 1m + rank.. how does that work out?

    1. Pep says
      • 11 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Hits?

      1. Sims
        • 9 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        gw rank doesnt include hits

      2. ZeBestee
        • 12 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        Does the OR include hits? Had -4

    2. Taking the Mkhitaryan
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Er because one million people scored more

  24. Pep says
    • 11 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    How many questions you reckon will be asked about this week's GW leader?

    1. Holy See
      • 16 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      I'll open the bidding at 7

  25. KAPTAIN KANE SERVES THE PAI…
    • 9 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Crazy, T.Carroll nearly got a bonus point today!

    1. james 101
      • 14 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Nice nickname.

      "Crazy T Carroll".

      Like it.

    2. Doosra - ☭BowenOfRice☭
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 16 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      It is not crazy. He is performing a real function for that team.

  26. TorresMagic™
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 17 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    At most 41 is safe in LMS.
    Still need the full update to get 200 scores missing.

    1. Delph & Safety
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Is this open to everyone?

      1. TorresMagic™
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 17 Years
        8 years, 11 months ago

        Pretty much.
        http://torresmagic.webs.com/lmsupdate.htm has the 5 scores needed after hits.
        I'll open it up when it updates later.

        1. Impossibility
          • 9 Years
          8 years, 11 months ago

          Can you let us know when you open it back up TM? I keep missing the window. Thanks.

  27. kirwy
    • 12 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Best Stephens replacement, max 4.9?

  28. Fernando Torres
    • 15 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    What to do with Jesus and Firmino?

    1. james 101
      • 14 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Worship and discard?

  29. Manumana
    • 10 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    That a great article

  30. Kante FC
    • 9 Years
    8 years, 11 months ago

    Kane, Lukaku and Vardy is a good enough strikeforce isn't it?

    Could downgrade one of Silva, Eriksen or Mkhitaryan to get Morata?

    1. Delph & Safety
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 11 months ago

      Looks good to me. I wouldn't want to get rid of Eriksen/silva.