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Sitting here writing this article with just over a week to go, I’m far from deciding where my team will be when the Gameweek 1 deadline arrives. That is down to one man and one man only: Mohamed Salah (£12.5m).
What I do with Salah has an impact on at least five positions in my team and right now, I’m just sitting uncomfortably having not made up my mind. I’ve spoken about him in my previous article and I really like the idea of captaining him in Gameweek 2 as a potential opportunity to get ahead of the pack. This idea has stuck with me for a few weeks now and as things stand, I currently have two drafts in my head: one with Salah and one without.
The draft without Salah just makes life incredibly easy as there are very few FPL decisions to make and it’s straightforward to get to some of the best picks in the game (why am I not reading this again). But I’m going to wait to see the weekend’s friendlies unfold and then see if I find a route to a Salah team that doesn’t lead to unreasonable amounts of compromise.
90-MINUTE MEN
One thought I had was that it seems to me like Diogo Jota (£8.0m) has a heightened chance of minutes given his versatility and ability to play wide left as well as centre-forward. Klopp always mentions the key to being in the front three is being a ‘press monster’ and being involved in the defending from the front process.
That said, in a world where the Premier League are looking to increase stoppage time to reflect actual time lost, the value of Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m), Salah, Ollie Watkins (£8.0m) and Bukayo Saka (£8.5m) – who are likelier to play 90 minutes – just goes higher. There is also a subconscious notion in my head that if I have to captain a Liverpool player in Gameweek 2, it has to be Salah because he is likelier to play 90 minutes than any of his four team-mates up top. The 90-minute men generally get a lot of goals in the last 15-odd minutes (game-state dependent) and I want in on that action. It should influence your thinking to some extent, as well.
While talking you through my dilemma, let me take you through the draft that I’m fairly comfortable with if I go with Salah in my team.
THE SALAH DRAFT – AND THE NEED TO CUT CORNERS
Some of the spots in this team, I’m fairly sure about, whether I go with Mo or no Mo.
Erling Haaland (£14.0m) needs no explanation. Ben Chilwell (£5.5m) was in my squad even before his recent upsurge in the community. He reminds me of Leighton Baines in that he’s built to attack. He’s also on corners, has a sweet shot and cross on him, gets forward at any chance and is just a beautiful footballing specimen. You guessed it, I love him.
The above draft looks great to me and I’d be very happy to go in with that Gameweek 1 – but the big problem with that is it is one million over budget! And I’m struggling to cut corners.
Every time I’m looking to save money, I feel like John Stones (£5.5m) to a £4.5m defender is a short-term option. But when the fixtures first came out, my first thought is those Manchester City clean sheets are available to us for free. I want two of their defenders if I can help it but it only looks like Ruben Dias (£5.5m) and Stones are secure, at least as things stand. There might be an option to go Manuel Akanji (£5.0m) there but Kyle Walker (£5.0m) remains at the club for now to offer competition.
£6.5m MIDFIELDERS
Eberechi Eze is someone I see as a steady pick in that £6.5m bracket. He looked incredible in the highlights against Sevilla. He’s playing almost like a number 10/second striker, is on set pieces and possibly penalties, and is just an incredible player. Palace’s fixtures at the start are fine, in my opinion, and Eze is the definition of a ‘glue guy’ (ie someone you stick with for a while). I still haven’t ruled out Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) and Moussa Diaby (£6.5m), though. These three are my pick of the £6.5m bracket and I’m not as hot on Bryan Mbuemo (£6.5m) as things stand; I wonder if losing David Raya (£5.0m) and Ivan Toney (£8.0m) will have a negative effect on that Brentford team.
Speaking of Mitoma, going down from Gabriel Martinelli (£8.0m) to the Japanese winger is one way to cut corners (which leaves me with £0.5m to upgrade any other position, should I feel like it) but then it is almost criminal to go without double Arsenal at the start of the season given they face Nottingham Forest and Fulham at home in the first two weeks. Maybe I get creative with Leandro Trossard (£7.0m) but Mitoma is just much more secure for minutes and can he match Martinelli in the first three weeks with two juicy home games of his own against Luton Town and West Ham? It certainly is an option.
Marcus Rashford (£9.0m) and Saka are non-negotiables for me, just like Chilwell and Haaland. If you’re looking to save £0.5m and going Bruno Fernandes instead of Rashford, you’re falling into the trap of ‘coverage picks’, in my opinion. Rashford is by far the best FPL option in our team and is hungrier for more goals.
A VOTE FOR PEDRO
Joao Pedro (£5.5m), aka ‘Joao Ladro’ (as famously coined by my favorite podcasters, FMLFPL), is an indulgence that I’m willing to gamble on early doors given those fixtures for Brighton. He’s looked like their best player in pre-season and I rate him a lot as an FPL pick. If it doesn’t work, I’ll have Salah money to play with in Gameweek 3 and I can buy pretty much anyone I want once I decide to sell the Egyptian.
This isn’t a stat-heavy or a reasoning-heavy article. Just a confused, in-dilemma FPL manager giving his dubious reasoning to you’ll. I’ve thought tons and tons with the above and have these dilemmas in my head.
I’ve seen all the pre-season games, looked at all the quotes, and judged every movement of Salah in pre-season (he’s so selfless these days but he was getting in good positions) but I have to be wary that the ‘compromises’ for a Salah captaincy in Gameweek 2 need to be worth it. If I was given a £101.0m by FPL, I’d gladly do it as I’m comfortable with the squad above.
I’m hoping the last eight days give me some answers, otherwise, we’ll just drop this idea, won’t we? I know you’ll say Salah is a declining asset, etc etc. I get it, but I just feel like taking a shot. Towards the end of 2022/23, you didn’t really need to play FPL – FPL made the moves for you (ie the blanks and doubles). I realised that I absolutely hated playing with fear and want to just back myself this season. But, it needs to be reasonable.
THE ‘NO SALAH’ DRAFT
This is what I’d look to do, if I was to go without Salah:
If you have ideas to cut corners, let me know. I’m happy to listen. Good luck and enjoy the game.
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