FPL Question Time: Gameweek 1 tactics, premium defenders and the World Cup

Our panel of Fantasy Premier League managers have answered some of your pressing Gameweek 1 questions ready for the new season.

Important topics were discussed such as building flexibility into your FPL squad, how to allocate your budget and to what extent the World Cup should colour your thinking.

We had an overwhelming response to our request for questions, so we have to thank you for that. Unfortunately we can only answer a handful each week but keep your queries coming in for the rest of the season.

Here’s a reminder of who is on the panel for your Gameweek 1 Question Time:

James Egersdorff – You can’t get much more experienced than this man when it comes to FPL. After yet another season inside the top 5,000 managers in 2017/18, James now sits top of the Fantasy Football Scout ‘Hall of Fame’.

Chief #FPL Manager – This man has finished inside the top one percent six times in his career as a Fantasy manager and is one of the biggest influencers in the FPL Twitter-sphere

Lejuan Shanen Basson – Finished 24th in the world last season.

Tom from Who Got the Assist? – One half of one of the fastest growing FPL podcasts of recent times.

As we received so many questions, I will provide a few answers too.

QUESTION 1 – JAMES EGERSDORFF

As we only have a limited amount of information from pre-season, we surely have to ensure our Gameweek 1 teams are flexible enough to react to the new information gained from the first couple of gameweeks. What approach to do take to ensure your team is flexible going into Gameweek 1? Do you keep money in the bank or try to cover premium options in each price bracket?

James: “It sounds simple but my primary focus at the start of the campaign is simply to score as many points as quickly as possible! Having points on the board by nature gives you flexibility. I’ve talked in the past about reinvesting points in the form of hits to improve your squad/future points potential.

“I’m not saying this is a concrete strategy and one I’m certain to implement. I’m highlighting that the best flexibility comes from having to points on the board in the first place. FPL is a very difficult game to play catch up in.

“I also think it’s a wise move to look to carry a transfer after playing a wildcard (or at the start), again this gives you some flexibility further down the line. I try to get as much of the budget onto the pitch and don’t often keep any back; £0.5m is a lot to have sitting around at the start doing nothing.

“Likewise, I try not to worry about ‘coverage’ in each position. My goal is to get points on the board so if a player is flying I’m not going to want to sell them anyway so that strategy could quickly go out of the window.”

QUESTION 2 – CHIEF FPL MANAGER

Are you going with 1, 2 or 3 premium defenders? Who are you getting and why?

Chief: “As things stand, I only one have premium defender in my team for the simple reason that if I load up with two or even three expensive players at the back it will restrict my spending options further up the pitch.

“After all, on average, the best midfielders and forwards score far more points than their counterparts in goal and defence over the course of the season, so it makes sense not to tie up too much of my money at the back.

“This in turn has allowed me to invest in two proven premium midfielders and two must-have premium strikers.

“In addition, the opening fixtures of Gameweek 1 aren’t renowned for a plethora of clean sheets. Albeit with the exception of last season which saw eight clean sheets, the Gameweek 1 fixtures before that for the two previous seasons combined only saw seven clean sheets in total.

“I will most likely wildcard as early as Gameweek 4 and will then look at the possibility of investing in an additional premium defender based on both form and fixtures. I think this is the best way to manage the ‘premium defender’ conundrum.”

QUESTION 3 – LEJUAN SHANEN BASSON

Given the World Cup, is an early Wildcard necessary? If so, what is the reasonable planning horizon for the initial squad?

Lejuan: “I dont think planning to use your Wildcard say after Gameweek 4 is particularly important. I am definitely going to pick a solid squad that is likely to start from Gameweek 1. I believe there are enough options with good FPL records that will start from the beginning of the season, such as Aguero, Salah, Mane and Aubameyang etc.

“If you want to bring in the players who will be back late from World Cup you could still do so with your free transfers. I like the idea of having your Wildcard to use for as long as possible. So I’d say plan your squad to last you as long as possible and make adjustments week by week as the players from World Cup get back.”

QUESTION 4 – TOM FROM WGTA

Is Man United defensive cover as essential as it was last season?

Tom: “Man United opened last season with five clean sheets in a row, which saw anyone owning the likes of David De Gea and Phil Jones storming into a strong position in mini leagues across FPL.

“Twin factors of kind fixtures and large support driving ownership choice created that scenario. This season, the opening fixtures are more mediocre (LEI bha TOT bur wat) so five clean sheets in a row isn’t anticipated, but the ownership numbers will surely remain similar.

“If the United defence is a lottery, De Gea is the winning ticket. In fact, with owning him there’s a case you’re not really covering the United defence anymore: you’re covering De Gea. He’s owned by almost three in ten managers at the time of writing – which means that same amount have a United clean sheet in the bag if it happens. Risky business for non- owners of Untied defence assets.

“He had an anomalous season last year – he made 39% more saves than the prior three seasons’ combined average – but may yet be the best shout just to ensure you don’t get caught out if the Red Devils, as is their habit, are tight at the back.”

QUESTION 5 – DAVID MUNDAY

What is the most reliable route into the Machester City attack for the start of the season?

David: “After Pep Guardiola heavily rotated his squad last season, there are plenty of Fantasy managers wondering how to avoid being stung by it again.

“Thankfully, the World Cup does play into our hands a little bit on this one, with a few individuals not quite ready for first-team action.

“In my personal opinion, the most reliable route into City’s attack, and the most assured of starts, early on is midfielder Bernardo Silva (£7.5m).

“Guardiola spoke about him in glowing terms after the Community Sheild final on Sunday after his impressive performance.

“The Portuguese international has started every pre-season match for City and has accrued two goals and two assists in that time. None of his team-mates can beat that record.”

QUESTION 6 – DAVID MUNDAY

Would you consider Bench Boosting in Gameweek 1 to get off to a good start?

David: “I would never consider playing any of my Chips in Gameweek 1 and would not consider them until much later in the season.

“Not only is Bench Boost more effective in a Double Gameweek, there are too many unknown factors in Gameweek 1 to risk a chip on it.

“While we can do all the right pre-season preparation, it is very difficult to predict the outcome of Gameweek 1 with a high degree of accuracy.

“Therefore, playing a chip in those circumstances is not a sensible strategy, in my opinion. One of our Community members Rossi3245 actually wrote an insightful piece on the dangers of using chips in the early Gameweeks, so you should give that a read too.”

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