Dugout Discussion – Swansea vs Southampton

Really enjoyed this season for the most part. Maybe the actual part I enjoy is seeing so many people complain.

I think the Free Hit chip has shaken it up a bit - but can see that adding to the sense of malaise over the years - means will be used by most around double and blank Gameweeks so the same template and predictability will emerge.

There's a good article over in the community section looking at how Scandinavian versions of FPL are shaking up the game.

For me the key element of change that is needed is first and second half chips - forces people to play some in single gameweeks.

I don't think there's any way veterans will not play their chips around double and blank gameweeks but would be good to have other places in the season where they have to be played too.

I've enjoyed this season as a whole - been lots of chance to get some nice differential points - eg Milivojevic and Cedric. But must admit have wanted it to end for the last few weeks.

Agree! Only been playing a few years but this years been the worst by far

I've nothing to add really to what you said but I agree on all points. I hope fpl change it up a bit for next season, like a new bonus point system and new chips. Something

Peculiar hulk.

No, it's been fascinating, unwielding, complex, unravelling, thought provoking, mind altering, creative, a wake up call, a bed of thorns, bloodthirsty, arctic, merciless, addictive, anticlimactic, joyful, pitiless....

I don't think this season is more boring than before. I'm having fun in this game since the very first fantasy season 06/07. Each season is more and more challenging to me, as the data analysis and prediction model are doing better and better by FFS and some other sites. Everybody can use them so conveniently now. It forces me to do a lot more study to beat the crowd nowadays. I have been in top 200 OR in 3 out of my first 4 seasons, and I would say those years were much more boring than now.

I think the fact that I've had a dreadful season (coupled with the worst bench boost this week ever for me) has made it painful, which is a bit shallow. But things do seem stale.

I will carry on next season but might look to base my ML around Sky or something...

I think the 3rd striker market being pretty much a non-starter hasn't helped. Normally you get a few options down there but its been such slim pickings. I think I'm going to start with a 3-5-2 next season

I did only 30 transfers till GW36, so yeah, it was boring, very boring! 😮

If only they could restrict chips to first half OR launch something around 5-10 different chips out of which only 3 chips can be used, will add lil bit of variety I guess

I found the first half of the season really fun, the second half was a little more dull but I still always enjoy it.

During the first half I feel there was more scope for calculated differentials (Hazard and Alonso for me, Coutinho etc for others).

Second half the template developed, which has made it difficult to do well and try and find value-adds over the template. Since I haven't seen better options than the template during the second half, I've pretty much had to pick the template which has actually performed pretty poorly.

Boring, no. Did it suit a dullard playing style based around a core of season keepers? Yes.

Owning Salah, Sterling, Kane, Otamendi, Azpilicueta, De Gea, Burnley def/pope, Firmino, Eriksen for most of the season would have got you a high rank I believe.

If you look at the articles by TopMarx on the HOF top 5, their transfer success rate is pitiful. And these are guys with some of the best judgement in the game! Jumping off and on players this season was very difficult to judge, time correctly, and be successful with.

If this season were boring then I can't w8 till the next begins!

This is my first season, and I had a great deal of fun - still am.
The part I liked the most is how my rank improved by the week due to the GW32 & 33 WC template.
I used TC in GW34, WC in 35 and BB this GW. That has really paid off by a mile compared to those with the template doing WC32/33, BB 34 and TC 37.

Would it be boring if you'd ignored the template WC team and gone a little more left wing at the end of the season. Getting Zaha and PVA in on gw32 would WC would have made the end of the season much more exciting instead so many of us went for players that weren't even nailed on in the squad just because their team had 2 dgws so I think we ourselves to this boring finale.

The guy in 2nd place captaining Auba for example, I'm sure he thinks this season has been very exciting.

WC'ing the likes of Son, Mahrez, Morgan, Alonso, DeGea and Willian into teams was obviously a fail and will lean people towards saying this season was boring but it was their decisions that made it boring. If they'd all have delivered in the doubles like we'd hoped, maybe people wouldn't have this outlook on the season.

That season where Nani finished top ff scorer on like 190 pts was pretty boring. Was it 10/11?

Probably worth saying this has been my most successful year for the most part, but mainly through playing like a dullard

This is my first year and I have really enjoyed it. I suspect the novelty factor plays a large part in that.

lack of decent strikers has been a pain. had a bad season but can only blame myself for that 🙂

Yer worse season in 11 years of playing. Although I got bored the last 2 also near the end. It's the chips they have killed a lot of the enjoyment for me and also the inconsistencies of FPL. They not even hard decisions they are getting wrong.

I'll definatly play next season but I'm not spending much time on it. Not worth it because it's a lottery as soon as gw31 arrives

I agree that it was the most boring season ever for me but I think it is not because of the chips. Just look at the EOs of GW37 (for top 10K), it tells a lot:

Manu defender: %119
Kane: %171 (%137 without TC effect)
Jesus: %116 (%104 without TC effect)
Sterling: %103.5 (%98 without TC effect)

This practically leaves you with just 7 players (most of which are template again). Assuming you captain one of those above, you should expect 3 of your players to fail to climb in the rankings. This is not fun! It has never happened before. Maybe 1 or at most 2 players in the same time would exceed the %100 EO, you would captain one of them and wait for the other to fail which is more acceptable.

It was not different before GW37 either. Salah, Kane and ManU defence have been around/above %100, Sterling around %80, Chelsea defence %70, Otamendi %60 sometimes etc. It was more or less like this through the second half of the season.

I think that the biggest reason of this happening is the increasing awareness of fantasy players not the nature of the season. I believe that there were some seasons providing more limited group of players that guides you a more template team such as the season of Suarez (C), Ramsey, Yaya.

I disagree that chips are killing the game. They are even making it more fun. Only excitement of this season (2nd half though) was planning DGWs, BGWs with all of those chips first deciding between FH31-FH35 then WC32-WC33-WC36 or BB34-BB37. It was much more straightforward last year: most of the people made WC36, BB37 and that worked perfectly for everybody.

Absolutely. This season has been awful; floundering between the 150-300k mark pretty much the entire season. Any risks to try and break into the top 100k inevitably backfires and you lose more ground, meaning you then go to the boring template to try and claw it back. (Speaking of which, this season has been more template than ever before).

DGWs have been horrendous too, saving chips all season and planning for them, only for them to be pretty terrible points-wise. Meanwhile, 'casuals' or ML rivals lump their chips on random weeks and get rewarded with TC Salah hat tricks or whatever.

Awful season, can't end quick enough.

the final third has been the most boring by a mile. i admit. I blame the stockpiling of the chips and largely rubbish double gameweeks for this.

but still, it's been better than the season when suarez, ramsey and sterling smashed it and everyone could basically afford the same team for like 95m

I think the most telling stat this season is my current rank is 53k and I really haven't, at any stage, felt I've had a good year

it has become easier than ever to get into the top 100k thanks to sites likes this and the chips - even when they don't work that well as they have this year!

I won't be using this site next year - which is meant as no disrespect to anything here - I just want to not be swayed by templates etc anymore and pick my own team each week - might not do as well, but it makes it a lot more fun

I love a top heavy 4-3-3 so no third cheapy worked to my advantage. Generally hasn't been thrilling IMO.

I haven't enjoyed this season that much, can't really put my finger on why though. As I've said on Top Marx's article I'm actually considering whether to stop playing FPL next season to concentrate on Sky and TFF. Not sure yet.

Not really since the most expensive player has been on and off throughout the season
Salah reaching incredible heights
Going from Premium performing defenders to a cheap backline
Free Hit giving real boost to ranks
People who caught those Aguero and Hazard hauls and early Mahrez and Arnie hauls really did well

We get the same complaint every year, that all teams are the same after Christmas. But it isn't really true - very few of them are identical; they may contain a core of popular players in common, but there are always alternatives for the rest of the squad, and they don't all make the same transfers and captaincy and benching choices.

Double game-weeks have always been a feature of the game that experienced players take advantage of, even before the advent of second wildcards and the newer chips.

And it isn't essential to stick to the FFS template in order to be successful.
For example, Bharat Dhody (long-time world number one) rejected the standard 3-4-3 and spent more on defence, using formations with 4 at the back and a non-playing third forward.
And Shirin Nizar (long-time leader of the January to May League, back up to 2nd in Jay's The home stretch and currently 78th overall) ignored the standard chip strategy and instead played FH in GW31, TC in GW34, WC in GW35 and BB in GW37.

I've quite enjoyed it but then I've gone through a huge cycle of mids and third forwards and rarely get swayed by the template (Gross one I've never owned). And as Jonty says above its those little differentials you remember for better or worse.

I've fielded midfielders from 15 different clubs and forwards from 12 so far this season. Of the non premium players Arnie, Zaha, Shaq, Ramsey, Richarlison, JRod, Tammy & Wilson all roll off the tongue as relatively differential players I've had at different points of the season.

Add into this I chose to avoid BB34 and playedy free hit in the double instead, you get out what you put in if you're looking for excitement.

Yes

Yes they have been good. Even had a cheeeky bet on them against Spurs which turned out quite wonderfully.

Who is getting Palace players in anyway?

I think it's easy to say yes, CPL at home, how could they not win.

But don't WBA have one of the longest unbeaten runs right now? WBA have a lot of momentum and will want to play for Moore I suspect and I always fancy relegated teams to have a decent final game

Palace will smash WBA 4-0.

WBA may not have the same motivation... they looked driven by defying the odds and fighting their way to survival. Going down takes that away

This is the reason I got Arnie over Zaha last week. Stoke was always going to be a right game and West Brom are like 3rd in the table since Moore took charge. He isn't gonna send them into the field with anything but a final win in mind.

West Brom are the reason I didn't TC Harry Kane and are the reason I won't be getting any Palace players in for the final gameweek

Scoutcast mentioned Harry Kane was facing the worst side in the league last weekend. That was not the case at all. Beat United, drew with Pool. Why were they suddenly gonna get beaten by Spurs? They won't roll over for Palace and they'll definetly want to win the final game of the season

Totally agree with this. WBA have been relegated effectively for a long time already, dont think the official relegation really changes much. Palace in good form also though, but dont see them score more than 1 or maybe 2 goals. I'll aviod.

We can trust them with all the gold in Fort bloody Knox.

PVA and Zaha. Wowzers.