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Podcast September 25

Scoutcast Episode 302 – Rollercoaster

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This rollercoaster of a season continues. There were some dramatic highs and lows in Gameweek 6 and plenty more predicted for the weeks ahead.

Those that captained the non-playing Raheem Sterling and vice-captained the hauling Kevin De Bruyne last weekend certainly experienced the ups and downs of Fantasy management.

This week’s crew of Joe, David and Az wonder whether such decisions are down to luck or skill as they look in detail at this season’s evolving captaincy tactics.

The tale of three Fantasy managers – FPL Chef, deputy editor Neale and Scoutcaster Andy – take centre stage in the Scoutcast’s Rough with the Smooth round-up. The highs and lows of playing the game could not be any starker for this trio, who saw their FPL teams hacked, removed, then eventually returned this week.

Elsewhere, patience is running thin with Everton’s Lucas Digne and the crew reveal their strategies for tackling Chelsea and Leicester’s forthcoming favourable fixture run.

A legend of FPL in recent years is Az’s latest differential pick. Considering his last selection was Norwich striker Teemu Pukki, he has set the bar high already.

Clean sheets over the next six Gameweeks, the West Ham defence, a few pots of jam and Az’s aunt, or is it uncle, also make an appearance.

This Scoutcast was first beamed live via our YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe to get notified of future live episodes.

In addition, the Scoutcast and all our other podcasts are now also available via our Soundcloud channel.

If you’re a traditional type, you can acquire the mp3 audio version via this link or the first player below. Or you can take in the full visual experience via the second player below.

Lessons learned from Gameweek 6:

J0E Podcaster and writer. Tweets stats and stuff via @FFScout_Joe Follow them on Twitter

662 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Cak Juris
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Best option for 4.5 defender:
    A. Tomori
    B. WHU Defenders (if yes, who?)

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    1. Ze_Austin
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Best? Lowton

      If you already have Pope... Lowton

      If you already have Lowton/Pieters... Guilbert

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  2. aircraft1
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    What are everyone's thoughts on Alonso at the moment. looks to be back in favour and nice fixtures coming up.

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    1. Pinturicchio10
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Watch from afar.

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      • Ask Yourself
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Not in favour he gets two games until Emerson is back

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        1. aircraft1
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 12 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          When is Emerson back?

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          1. Ask Yourself
            • 7 Years
            4 years, 7 months ago

            4 weeks. Next two games then international break

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            1. aircraft1
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 12 Years
              4 years, 7 months ago

              Digne is pissing me off so might put Alonso in for 2 games ;-))

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              1. Ask Yourself
                • 7 Years
                4 years, 7 months ago

                Azpi mate

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      • grumpyman
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Prefer Azpi. So consistent with attacking returns and bonus, plus won't need replacing in 2 weeks like Alonso.

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        1. aircraft1
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 12 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          Azpi 12 points in 540 mins
          Alonso 6 points in 166 mins

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    2. bigdip
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Ryan (Button)
      Otamendi, TAA, *** (VVD, DIGNE LUNDSTRAM)
      Mount Salah, Sterling, Cantwell (Dendocker)
      Abraham (C) Haller, Pukki

      With Ota and TAA starting, should I go for:
      A) VVD (double up LIV defence)
      B) Digne
      C) Lundstram

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    3. bigdip
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Captain Choice:
      A) Salah
      B) Sterling
      C) Abraham
      D) Pukki

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      1. Ask Yourself
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        A

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    4. Ask Yourself
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Anyone else punting on the great bargain I’m FPL right now? Everyone wanted him at one point and now he’s way cheaper. Ayoze Perez’s role is becoming more involved last couple games it’s his time to shine at 6.1m. At home vs old club Newcastle next will want to prove himself x

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      1. Ze_Austin
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        I've learnt to get players after they prove themselves. I miss the first haul or two and then buy if fixtures and stats mean the hauls are sustainable. Until then, it's a lot of IFs

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        1. Ask Yourself
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          I’m desperate for a James replacement that can work out long term otherwise he’s a Trossard placeholder

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          1. Markus
            • 14 Years
            4 years, 7 months ago

            Not got the fixtures, but redmond another interesting prospect at around that price. Playing upfront/part of front 3 - looked reasonable before got injured...

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          2. Ze_Austin
            • 5 Years
            4 years, 7 months ago

            You just described Yarmo x

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    5. Ze_Austin
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      That Guilbert - Lund - Soy rotation for 3rd defender (3 ATB) and bench order... Wow. Stretches until DGWs

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    6. Letsgo!
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Between mane son and sterling who will you capt?

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    7. DaveCZ
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Is FPL a game of skill or luck?

      On a luck-skill scale of 0 to 1, where 0 is a coin toss (i.e. complete luck) and 1 is a 100m sprint (as close to pure skill always winning as possible), where do you rank the sport of football, and, perhaps more pertinently, FPL?

      Thankfully some clever academics have crunched the numbers for us and from a legal perspective (in the US at least) fantasy sports are a game of skill. Using over two years worth of data from FanDuel* across four sports* (NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB) they found that in terms of 'real' sports, "basketball rewards skill the most, hockey rewards skill the least." This is because of the large number of games in basketball and also "one lucky shot in basketball doesn’t matter very much. Whereas one lucky shot in hockey can matter a lot."

      Football is more similar in this respect to hockey (which is at 0.55 on their skill-luck spectrum) than basketball (0.85) and therefore is likely to sit in a similar place on the skill-luck spectrum*, so somewhere around 0.6. meaning football is more skill based than luck-based where the more skillful team will win more often than not. So what about the fantasy equivalents?

      "The fantasy sports are closely tied to where the real sports sit."

      In other words fantasy sports are a game of skill 🙂

      *Caveats:
      Football / Soccer was not one of the sports studied, I am extrapolating.
      The study used FanDuel data mainly involving one-off head-to-head for money matches rather than the season-long FPL game we play.

      Sources
      I came across this listening to the Freakonomics podcast http://freakonomics.com/podcast/sports-gambling/
      And here is the study https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/119466

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