FPL Gameweek 29 opinion: Is Bruno Fernandes worth buying?

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Here, Burning Questions co-host Sonaldo (aka Andy) talks about chip strategy, Bruno Fernandes and his Double Gameweek 29 transfer plan.

It’s good to be back, feeling fresh from the international break and looking forward to the final nine Gameweeks of the season. There is something special about being in love with this game we call Fantasy Premier League and this season has been no different.

It’s been a rollercoaster for me but I’ve always enjoyed the game no matter which emotions come out. Maybe it’s because there are generally more lows than highs, so it hits differently when you get some calls correct. Anyway, I’m hoping for a strong finish to the season as I’m still in reach of the elusive top 10k club.

BENCH BOOST AND FREE HIT

With the biggest Double Gameweek of the season, many managers will be hoping to gain rank with a Bench Boost. However, with the recent Double Gameweek 34 announcement, some may consider the alternative strategy of Bench Boost 34.

I initially thought that it would be more appealing than Gameweek 29 because Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Brighton and Hove Albion all have a solid pair of fixtures. However, upon closer inspection, I soon realised that going heavy on their players would force a lot of money into the starting XI and the boosted bench would be weak. So if you’re set on the path of Wildcard in Gameweek 26 and Bench Boost in Gameweek 29, I would stick to the initial plan.

An obvious strategy is obvious for obvious reasons. Most of us are likely to Free Hit in Gameweek 32. Simply put, if you own multiple players from Brighton, Man United and Chelsea plus Erling Haaland (£12.0m), that is already seven or eight players that will blank in Gameweek 32. In particular, having at least two Chelsea assets when Gameweek 30 comes around makes it a firm decision to Free Hit soon after.

Yes, you could still find a way to navigate Blank Gameweek 32 with a few of those names but the fixtures surrounding it make it sensible to just use the chip then. For example, some of us will be cautiously unloading Arsenal players for Man United players this week, due to the Gunners only having singles from now while United have three doubles plus good fixtures in between.

This strategy allows your optimal Arsenal players in Gameweek 32 while hopefully gaining rank with Man United players before and after.

FERNANDES FOR DOUBLE GAMEWEEK 29

There is much talk about whether Casemiro‘s (£4.9m) suspension will reduce Bruno Fernandes‘ (£9.6m) impact in Double Gameweek 29. My opinion is that he’s a solid transfer for this week but the trade-off is that midfield spots are so scarce that there might not then be space to fit Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) in later.

Firstly, if fit, we must remember to bring Haaland back for Gameweek 30. Recent sellers could have enough money to fund this but having Fernandes likely involves selling Bukayo Saka (£8.6m) or your second Arsenal midfielder for him, therefore meaning Harry Kane (£11.8m) would have to make way for Haaland.

Another alternative option would be to keep Saka, switch another player to James Maddison (£8.2m) and then still buy Haaland next week.

Regardless of what transfer decision you make, I still think Fernandes is a good buy. With three Double Gameweeks left, the 28-year-old may not be as explosive as Salah but he can still do the damage.

As for the tactics involved with Casemiro’s three-match ban, I think him playing a defensive midfield role is not so straightforward. It could be a more tactical game-state decision by Erik ten Hag. Most likely I still see him playing as an advanced number ten.

These are my observations from the FA Cup game versus Fulham:

• The team has generally been very tired since the World Cup, as they’ve basically continued to play midweek matches. It’s important to keep this fatigue in mind.
• Fulham kept sending long balls to Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.6m), who’d easily beat Lisandro Martinez (£4.5m) and Harry Maguire (£4.7m).
• Midfield teammates like Andreas Pereira (£4.3m) and Willian (£5.5m) would come up and win the second ball that came off Mitrovic. Simple tactics that worked because of this tiredness.
• So there’s no Casemiro, the team is tired and, on top of this, they can’t break the high line through Fernandes at number ten.
• They’re losing the midfield battle, forcing ten Hag to change tactics in the second half by using Luke Shaw (£5.2m) to play the long ball to Wout Weghorst (£5.6m).
• Weghorst wins the balls, before giving them to either Fernandes or Marcus Rashford (£7.3m).
• Furthermore, ten Hag removes Scott McTominay (£4.9m) for Antony (£7.3m) in the 58th minute. The Brazilian goes to the right side, Jadon Sancho (£7.1m) moves left, Rashford goes up front and Weghorst plays just off him.
• Fernandes starts coming deep to play in central midfield, receive the ball and hit it accurately long towards Weghorst and Marcel Sabitzer (£4.7m).

Essentially, ten Hag admitted they lost the midfield fight without Casemiro, so he made a simple game plan that ignored that area by hitting the ball long. It worked.

The point of this is to show that Fernandes won’t just be playing in midfield for the sake of it, he’ll still be heavily involved. I still think we will see him in many attacking positions and, if the game works in their favour when he’s closer to the forward, he could remain there for most of the game.

THE GOALKEEPER SITUATION

It’s really unfortunate for Danny Ward (£4.0m), Robert Sanchez (£4.6m) and Nick Pope (£5.4m) owners. Simply put, having Kepa Arrizabalaga (£4.7m) or David Raya (£4.9m) is the solution, with David De Gea (£5.0m) as an alternative option. The only issue with the latter is that you will likely have to choose between Shaw or Fernandes by the time Double Gameweek 34 rolls around and you might want both.

Ederson (£5.4m) is also a decent shout when preparing in advance. Man City assets are hard to predict starts for, so you may as well pick the two safest ones in Ederson and Haaland.

MY GAMEWEEK 29 PLANS