For a minute, we were in danger of becoming complacent. With the outside chance of Pep Guardiola picking a predictable XI at West Brom, and with Sergio Aguero surely unlikely to wrap himself around another lamppost, we needed Harry Kane’s injury to keep us on our toes. It served as another reminder that this season is likely to be anything but settled and straightforward.
Mauricio Pochettinho’s optimistic updates earlier in the week had ensured that Friday’s Kane revelation came as a shock. A throwaway comment post-match on Wednesday put us on alert but, in truth, few were prepared to go without their star striker for Gameweek 10.
I’d already committed my transfers and spent my points, reassured by his manager’s words and the theory that, even if fatigued, Kane would surely turn up at Old Trafford.
I’m fortunate on two counts. If we were selecting a fixture for Kane to miss this season, perhaps Manchester United away would be it. While I was confident he’d produce some points – he was even my captain earlier in the week – I was still torn between backing Kane and playing Phil Jones in my back four.
With Jones to come into my XI now, I had a replacement at hand – and even one that even benefits from Kane’s absence – to soften the blow.
That was enough to steer my thoughts away from exploring the Free Hit option, although I have been entertaining the idea.
We are guinea pigs for this new chip – the first generation to explore it and devise the “optimum strategy” involved.
Kane’s absence, coupled with a plum fixture for Arsenal and in particular Alexis Sanchez, appears to present some key ingredients that lend themselves to activating the new chip. Clearly, some have also arrived at this conclusion. Already, 105,000 have put it in play, more than any other Gameweek so far this season – although not significantly more: some 101,000 played it in Gameweek 7.
For me, the effectiveness of the Free Hit mirrors the Wildcard. Our squads need to warrant such an emergency measure. It’s not so much the overall score achieved by the Free Hit line-up that’s important, it’s the difference between that line-up and the one that’s scrapped.
I looked at my XI following the Kane fall-out and struggled to see enough smouldering fires to warrant the applying the hose of the one-week overhaul.
Sanchez as captain and Alexandre Lacazette in for Kane are enticing options that could pay handsomely, but equally, Mohamed Salah could deliver with my armband. Meanwhile my defence – built with the weekend fixtures in mind – may also help compensate.
The popular thinking is that we’ll need to turn to the chip for Gameweek 31, when the FA Cup Quarter Finals ravage the fixture list. That may never transpire, or the impact of those ties could be minimal.
But a reduced set of fixtures is a scenario that makes committing to the chip far more straightforward. Even if faced with an array of unfashionable teams from which to source talent, when cursed with 5-6 absentees, it’s pretty obvious that the chip can temporarily strengthen our hand.
Crucially, having the Free Hit to repair the problem will mean that our transfer and second Wildcard plans can be divorced from the task of building with Gameweek 31 in mind. That could prove a big advantage.
This is all speculative. We don’t know the scale of that problem as yet and, as mentioned, it may never get near last season’s four-match Gameweek 28 dilemma. But, together with my adequate XI, it was enough to calm any trigger-happy tendencies and leave my Free Hit in reserve.
Those who have committed, who are now turning to Sanchez and Lacazette to represent them, are in many ways pioneers. They bravely go forward to test the effectiveness of the new chip, putting it to use to solve a problem previously reserved for points hits. It will be fascinating to assess the outcome and perhaps learn from it.
While Gameweek 31 looms, I’ve no doubt that we will see further opportunites to consider the chip. One look at the Christmas schedule suggests that we are all destined to suffer injuries, suspensions and rested players at that time. And if Sanchez and company provide profit for the Free Hit pioneers, we may all follow their lead come December.
