In the latest article from our team of Hall of Famers and guest contributors, FPL General reflects on Gameweek 20 and reveals his big team decisions for Gameweek 21 and beyond.
GAMEWEEK 20 REVIEW
The first Wildcard was finally deployed in Gameweek 20, resulting in a small green arrow from 70k to 65k. In the past, I’ve had a lot more red arrows than green ones straight after wildcarding, so it was a big win to simply maintain rank.
As for the changes, Newcastle United’s Kieran Trippier (£6.7m) and Anthony Gordon (£6.1m) duo made way for Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.5m) and Jarrod Bowen (£8.1m), both of whom are now injured, quickly summing up this FPL season of firefighting. My front three remained the same but changes were made in defence and bench depth was improved.
I dropped Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.0m) and opted for team-mate David Raya (£4.9m) instead, opening the door for Pervis Estupinan (£5.0m) to return to this squad. And it was very satisfying to benefit from Brighton and Hove Albion’s first clean sheet of the season. Initially excited about the prospect of having him as a differential while other managers made transfers in midfield, the Trent injury will only increase Estupinan’s ownership. Grrr!
Meanwhile, the big Wildcard decisions revolved around what to do with Mohamed Salah (£13.2m) and Son Heung-min (£9.8m). In the end, Son departed but Salah stayed and got the armband, which proved to be a good decision. I was very close to picking Phil Foden (£7.9m) over Salah and in that case would’ve captained Julian Alvarez (£7.0m). Perhaps there is a slight regret about not going heavier on Manchester City assets but that can be rectified with upcoming free transfers.
However, it’s always frustrating when your benched goalkeeper outscores the starter. I was never going to play Alphonse Areola (£4.2m) against Brighton and I only selected him instead of Matt Turner (£3.9m) because West Ham host Burnley in Gameweek 28, when Raya can’t face his parent club Brentford.
Areola is also a solid backup if Aaron Ramsdale (£4.6m) ever displaces Raya but relying on Turner to keep his place in the Nottingham Forest team after a few shaky performances wasn’t something I wanted to do.
GAMEWEEK 21 BUS TEAM
Best of luck for this weekend, everyone!
Check out this week’s episode of ‘General’s Orders’ and the latest 59th Minute Podcast if you get a chance pre-deadline.
