What can we learn from Wolves last season

I love pre-season. We all start on a level playing field and hope that this will be OUR year.

This enthusiasm will often tempt us to pick the big new signings of the summer or pluck a gem from a newly promoted side, and why not? Wolves were a positive revelation last season, especially against top six opposition. The following three made the FFS Team Of The Year:

Raúl Jiménez – 181 points, (13 goals, 7 assists) started the season as an unknown loan from Benfica, and became an absolute must have. His price rocketed from 5.5 to 7.0 by GW37. Owned by 129,989 in GW1, the Mexican’s ownership soared to 2,448,517 in GW37.

Matt Doherty – 144 points (4 goals, 7 assists and 8 clean sheets) also unheard of, was a cheaper alternative wing back, who disrupted the early “R.A.M” trio of Robertson, Alonso and Mendy. He began FPL life as a snip at 4.5 and his value rose to 5.5 in GW 29.

Diego Jota – 139 points (9 goals, 5 assists) finished the season very strongly, including a hatrick against Leicester in GW23.

However without wishing to be too dullard, let’s have a closer look at some stats.

A Closer Look

Last summer, when I was looking at Wolves options, Jota was my pick of the bunch, top scorer in the previous promotion season with 17 goals and classified as a midfielder. Despite a relatively high price of 6.5, many of us felt he would be a great early differential. He gained an assist in the opening game against Everton, but blanked until his fortunes improved in GW15, when he partnered Jiménez up front. It was his opposite number in that opener, Richarlison, also priced at 6.5, who began with a bang, scoring three times in his first two games.

Jiménez scored in the opening game, but did not properly start motoring until GW5, where he scored the only goal against Burnley and secured 2 BP. He then assisted in the next 3 games, including a tightly fought game away at Old Trafford.

Pre-season reports showed that Barry Douglas was an assist beast and I wanted some of that action. Unfortunately he transferred to Leeds. When Man City’s Benjamin Mendy missed GWs 5-7, Doherty appeared on our radars with the first of 3 double digit hauls in GWs 5, 7, and 8. He never looked back.

Conor Coady was rumoured to be a potential BPS monster, but that Championship fantasy form did not translate to FPL.

Ruben Neves was an early bandwagon after scoring 12 points in the opening game. By GW5, he was owned by 1,433,675. His early FPL promise dipped, due to playing a deeper role and he ended up with 104 points (4 goals, 3 assists).

Promoted Assets

Many of us are tempted to pluck an early differential from the newly promoted assets from Norwich, Sheff Utd and Aston Villa. There are some potential gems to be found:

Norwich City (liv / NEW / CHE / whu / MCI / bur)

The Canaries scored a whopping 93 goals in their Championship winning season. Teemu Pukki won the Golden Boot with 29 goals (9 assists) and he’s not even on penalties. The Finnish finisher scored on his home debut, and was joint top for shots with 144. Not bad for an unknown 28 year old, on a free transfer from Danish club, Brondby. He won Sky Bet Championship player of the season award in his first season of British football. Not just about the goals, Pukki has an incredible work rate and a good first touch. Could he be the new Jiménez and the name on our FPL lips for this season’s elusive third striker?

Other runners and riders include the midfield trio of:

Emi Buendía (8 goals, 12 assists) is on corners and free kicks. This talented Argentinian, operating in right midfield, created 91 chances for Norwich last season. Interestingly, Norwich failed to win in the 8 games Buendía wasn’t featured in. Through the middle, Marco Stiepermann (9 goals, 6 assists) sits behind Pukki in the middle, with Onel Hernández (8 goals, 9 assists) stationed on the left.

Also, watch out for Mario Vrančić (10 goals, 7 assists) in only 14 starts, despite playing a deeper midfield role.

Sheffield United (bou / CRY / LEI / che / SOU / eve

Chris Wilder’s side play with two strikers. Billy Sharp (23 goals, 4 assists) spearheads the attack alongside David McGoldrick (15 goals, 4 assists), a free transfer from Ipswich Town. At 33, Sharp is fortunate that pace isn’t part of his game. He has a good goal conversion rate and promises to be a good old fashioned fox in the box, but it’s still hard to look past Pukki.

The Blades may offer some better defensive options, keeping 21 clean sheets last season, the most in the division. Intriguingly, two of their centre backs, Jack O’Connell (3 goals, 3 assists) and Chris Basham (4 goals, 1 assist) like to push forward, like a pair of David Luiz-es, and have the stats to prove it. If you catch one of them on the right day, they could be a very cheeky differential.

Aston Villa (tot / BOU / EVE / cry / WHU / ars)

Boyhood Aston Villa fan and captain, Jack Grealish (6 goals, 7 assists), is one on everybody’s radar. He is the heartbeat of the Villa side, sets the tempo, very direct and scores the odd worldly. The midfielder was also the most fouled player in the Championship by some distance with an average of 4.87 a game, making him the new Zaha, who was fouled on average 3 times a game, last season. However he might be priced too high for a fourth midfielder.

The dark horses for me would be his midfield partners:

Conor Hourihane (8 goals, 11 assists), although he plays in front of the defence, he is a dead ball specialist, who also likes to shoot from distance. He can capitalise on those fouling Grealish.

John McGinn (7 goals, 9 assists). The former Hibs player has an incredible engine and bombs forward beyond the striker. Great BPS potential, as long as he can keep his disciplinary record in check.

Conclusion

In short, it’s Norwich’s attack, Sheffield United’s defence and Aston Villa’s midfield, which seem the most attractive.

Sheffield United and Villa’s home fixtures look the most promising, but as Wolves and Jiménez proved last season, don’t write off everyone against the top six, some players raise their game for the big occasion.

Do take a punt on a promoted player, but be prepared to be patient, as it might take a few GWs to come to fruition. This may be especially true of Norwich assets, who have the toughest start, sit bottom of the season ticker for the first six matches, and start the season with a baptism of fire at home to Liverpool.