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.

  1. jimmy.floyd
    • 9 Years
    8 years, 6 months ago

    Mounie to:
    A Calwert
    B Hemed
    C Niasse

  2. Davros
    • 16 Years
    8 years, 6 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, 6 months ago

      No United v Palace 8?

  3. StoneMountain
    • 10 Years
    8 years, 6 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, 6 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, 6 months ago

    Jesus captainers got lucky today

    1. Taking the Mkhitaryan
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 6 months ago

      Guy in my league had Jesus capt and morata vice

      1. F4L
        • 11 Years
        8 years, 6 months ago

        that's what I'm talking about :/

      2. Rash
        • 8 Years
        8 years, 6 months ago

        Snap

    2. Emmicson
      • 13 Years
      8 years, 6 months ago

      Me Especially Considering Morata (VC)

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

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

    1. More Tragic
      • 10 Years
      8 years, 6 months ago

      gw hasn't finished yet

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

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

    2. Fred54
      • 11 Years
      8 years, 6 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, 6 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, 6 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, 6 months ago

      UCL fantasy coming up again. Good fun

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

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

  8. Brian (Not the Messiah)
    • 16 Years
    8 years, 6 months ago

    best mid fielders roughly 4.5?

    1. Big Sum
      • 15 Years
      8 years, 6 months ago

      RLC

      1. Brian (Not the Messiah)
        • 16 Years
        8 years, 6 months ago

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

    2. Doosra - ☭DeclanMyGeniusâ…
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 16 Years
      8 years, 6 months ago

      Carroll, Cork, & Romeu.

  9. HD7
    • 9 Years
    8 years, 6 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
      • 8 Years
      8 years, 6 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, 6 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
    • 11 Years
    8 years, 6 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, 6 months ago

      shooketh are you

    2. Taking the Mkhitaryan
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 6 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, 6 months ago

        avg is 52 & 5m players.

      • diesel001
        • 9 Years
        8 years, 6 months ago

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

    4. dunas_dog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      8 years, 6 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
        • 14 Years
        8 years, 6 months ago

        Wait

      2. MTPockets
          8 years, 6 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
            • 10 Years
            8 years, 6 months ago

            Good point! Thanks

      3. LFC4EVER
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        8 years, 6 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
          • 11 Years
          8 years, 6 months ago

          Mini is Mkhitaryan...

      4. Gnu
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 16 Years
        8 years, 6 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, 6 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
            • 16 Years
            8 years, 6 months ago

            😆
            Wish there was an edit function. 😉

        2. Iceball
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          8 years, 6 months ago

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

        3. Gnu
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 16 Years
          8 years, 6 months ago

          😆 😆
          Never saw the hit ffs.

        4. Nascimento
          • 10 Years
          8 years, 6 months ago

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

        5. Hazz
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          8 years, 6 months ago

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

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

          Well, he has taken a -68...

        7. Eddie
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 13 Years
          8 years, 6 months ago

          and only 18 GW transfers

        8. Ode
          • 8 Years
          8 years, 6 months ago

          He took a -68 hit this week 😀

        9. dunas_dog
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 10 Years
          8 years, 6 months ago

          Until you see the18 transfersand - 68

        10. Red Dagger ✪
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          8 years, 6 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
          • 16 Years
          8 years, 6 months ago

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

          1. Holy See
            • 15 Years
            8 years, 6 months ago

            Hot Topic this please 😉

            1. Gnu
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 16 Years
              8 years, 6 months ago

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

              1. Doosra - ☭DeclanMyGeniusâ…
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 16 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                Now, now, lads ... 😀

        12. Emmicson
          • 13 Years
          8 years, 6 months ago

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

      5. stat
          8 years, 6 months ago

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

          1. Delph & Safety
            • 8 Years
            8 years, 6 months ago

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

            1. stat
                8 years, 6 months ago

                Think he'll outscore Lukaku for next GW?

                1. Delph & Safety
                  • 8 Years
                  8 years, 6 months ago

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

            2. Delph & Safety
              • 8 Years
              8 years, 6 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, 6 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.

              2. More Tragic
                • 10 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                doubt it

            3. Carcetti
              • 14 Years
              8 years, 6 months ago

              Vardy or Morata?

              1. Rake
                • 10 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                Morata

              2. Delph & Safety
                • 8 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                Morata but Vardy looks a great pick as well

            4. Rake
              • 10 Years
              8 years, 6 months ago

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

              1. Ode
                • 8 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                If you don't have any other problems then yes

                1. Rake
                  • 10 Years
                  8 years, 6 months ago

                  Have one more FT for emergency

              2. Prison Mike
                • 10 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                Probably

              3. Delph & Safety
                • 8 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                Probably

            5. Total Foot 5
              • 12 Years
              8 years, 6 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

            6. Ode
              • 8 Years
              8 years, 6 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, 6 months ago

                Na. All the big strikers scored

                1. Eddie
                  • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                  • 13 Years
                  8 years, 6 months ago

                  Andy Carroll blanked

                2. ENZO SZN™
                  • 8 Years
                  8 years, 6 months ago

                  Crouch blanked

              2. Pep says
                • 10 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

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

            7. The Taint Tickler
              • 10 Years
              8 years, 6 months ago

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

              1. Rake
                • 10 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                Looks good

            8. StoneMountain
              • 10 Years
              8 years, 6 months ago

              top GW score (131) with 18 transfers lol!

            9. pakornk
              • 9 Years
              8 years, 6 months ago

              WC this lot or not?

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

            10. Tim Canterbury
              • 14 Years
              8 years, 6 months ago

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

              No autosubs either. That's brutal

              1. KingOllie
                • 10 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                Welcome to my world

            11. ZeBestee
              • 11 Years
              8 years, 6 months ago

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

              1. Pep says
                • 10 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                Hits?

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

                  gw rank doesnt include hits

                2. ZeBestee
                  • 11 Years
                  8 years, 6 months ago

                  Does the OR include hits? Had -4

              2. Taking the Mkhitaryan
                • 9 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                Er because one million people scored more

            12. Pep says
              • 10 Years
              8 years, 6 months ago

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

              1. Holy See
                • 15 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                I'll open the bidding at 7

            13. Scapegoat Salah
              • 9 Years
              8 years, 6 months ago

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

              1. james 101
                • 14 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                Nice nickname.

                "Crazy T Carroll".

                Like it.

              2. Doosra - ☭DeclanMyGeniusâ…
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 16 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

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

            14. TorresMagic™
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • Has Moderation Rights
              • 16 Years
              8 years, 6 months ago

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

              1. Delph & Safety
                • 8 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                Is this open to everyone?

                1. TorresMagic™
                  • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                  • Has Moderation Rights
                  • 16 Years
                  8 years, 6 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
                    • 8 Years
                    8 years, 6 months ago

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

            15. kirwy
              • 11 Years
              8 years, 6 months ago

              Best Stephens replacement, max 4.9?

            16. Fernando Torres
              • 14 Years
              8 years, 6 months ago

              What to do with Jesus and Firmino?

              1. james 101
                • 14 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

                Worship and discard?

            17. Manumana
              • 10 Years
              8 years, 6 months ago

              That a great article

            18. Kante FC
              • 8 Years
              8 years, 6 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
                • 8 Years
                8 years, 6 months ago

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