After a great Gameweek 1 for many, Gameweek 2 brought a lot of us back down to earth with a bang.
So much so, that quite a few managers are activating their first Wildcard already, after just two weeks.
We spend months pulling our hair out building a Gameweek 1 squad only to rip it up before September has even arrived. That’s FPL. Things change so quickly.
It’s going to be a very interesting few weeks ahead to see how the early Wildcarders perform against those who are taking a more patient approach.
The beauty of FPL is that there is no right or wrong way to play it. You play the game the way you want to. If you care about what others think about your decision to Wildcard/not Wildcard, you need to take a step back and reassess things.
Do what’s right for your squad and ignore everything else. Don’t let the ‘noise’ influence your decision and that goes for any transfer
Early transfers have been a hot topic this week too. I have always been a very patient FPL manager and it has served me well in the past, but I find with each new season, it is getting more and more difficult to play the waiting game, particularly in these early weeks when the transfer market is crazy.
I made rare early moves on Monday night as I had £0.0m to play with for my intended targets.
It is easier to move early at this stage of the campaign as there is less chance of issues arising during the week with no cup/European matches (apart from Wolves – stay safe Diogo!), and also the fact that the Wildcard is always there to fall back on if disaster does strike before the weekend.
As often as I can this season, I will continue to wait until Friday night to gather all the information possible before pulling the trigger, but as we’ve seen this week, sometimes you’ve got no choice but to act fast. Teemu Pukki (£6.8m) better act fast in Saturday’s early kick-off!
Double Liverpool defence is likely to be abandoned by most Wildcarders this week and by those looking to free up funds for the likes of Kevin De Bruyne (£9.6m) and Harry Kane (£11.0m).
The Liverpool defence has disappointed thus far but if it wasn’t for Adrian’s (£4.5m) howler against Southampton, and Danny Ings‘ (£6.0m) miss, the narrative would be very different this week.
Looking past the Arsenal fixture this weekend, Jurgen Klopp’s side
Patience could well be rewarded with the likes of Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m), Andrew Robertson (£7.0m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m).
A clean sheet against Arsenal this weekend could see Wildcarders scrambling to get their ditched Liverpool defenders back in ahead of Gameweek 4.
There was a tweet doing the rounds on Wednesday about Benjamin Mendy (£6.0m) being back in training which will have Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.5m) owners slightly worried about his place in the City team.
Pep Guardiola has been quoted recently saying he wants to see Mendy train well for a month before considering him for selection, but it’s Pep, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Mendy make an appearance sooner than expected.
If you own Zinchenko, it’s an easy one though, you just keep him until Mendy does reappear. On a Wildcard though, it might be worth trying to find the extra £1.0m for Aymeric Laporte (£6.5m) for peace of mind.
The forgotten man of FPL, Son Heung-min (£9.5m) is likely to make a return to action at home to Newcastle this weekend. Owned by less than 2% of managers, he could be the ultimate differential in Gameweek 3.
There is no guarantee that he goes straight back into the starting XI though, so it does feel like a risky move. Fortune favours the brave!
Good news and bad news now. The good news is Callum Wilson (£7.9m) is gone! Watch him wipe out my Zinchenko clean sheet on Sunday and doing his salute celebration to rub it in.
The bad news is my wife beat me again in Gameweek 2 in our head to head league. She’s six points ahead already and mentions that fact every single day.
Martial was her hero last weekend and I have a feeling he could be my downfall again this weekend. Hopefully, I can claw back three points.
Good luck all in Gameweek 3 and have great weekend.
