With Fantasy Premier League (FPL) live for 2024/25, we’ll be welcoming back our team of guest writers for the new campaign. Here, Hall of Fame number 16 FPL Milanista shares his first draft team reveal.
FPL is back! So too is all the research and tinkering needed to get the best out of the £100m budget that is handed to us ahead of the new season.
As a manager who has played FPL since 2006/07, I’m happy to see the number of premium assets coming close to the old days of Messrs Henry, van Persie, Gerrard, Lampard etc. I think FPL have been successful with their pricing this season, which should add to the enjoyment of the campaign.
NEW RULE CHANGES
Although this is meant to be a first-draft team reveal from me, I’d just like to revisit the changes implemented by FPL this season and give my honest view on them.
FIVE TRANSFERS
First of all, the five-transfer rolling-up rule. This has probably been the most discussed alteration of the summer. Yet, the part that really got my attention is the fact that using a Wildcard no longer wipes the saved transfers.
In my opinion, this is the change that will have the biggest impact on our strategies and the way we think. It will most likely lead to a divergence in chip usage among the community.
I wonder how many of us will even reach five transfers over the course of the season but at least it’s a good option to have!
MYSTERY CHIP
Let’s get the Mystery Chip out of the way before discussing the changes to the Bonus Points System (BPS).
I’m against having no clarity of it before the season starts. Although I’m sure that FPL Towers are clever enough not to adversely affect the engaged FPL managers, the ambiguity around it is slightly annoying. But this was their decision and it shouldn’t be significant enough to alter our excitement and love for the game!
BONUS POINTS SYSTEM
Back into the BPS changes, and to re-iterate what my colleagues have already covered (thanks to Mark Sutherns who also provided examples on the FPL Blackbox podcast), I believe the -4 BPS that defenders will suffer upon conceding each goal is a killer to their potential.
Attacking wing-backs like Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m), Kieran Trippier (£6.0m), Pedro Porro (£5.5m) etc had a huge appeal for their attacking output. One assist was almost always enough to get them in contention for bonus, regardless of whether they kept a clean sheet or not.
Now, I think it will be a very rare instance where a defender will get any bonus points if their clean sheet is gone. Additional BPS for shots on target and fouls won will only increase the gap, as it’s forwards and attacking midfielders who will likely benefit from the change.
FIRST DRAFT TEAM REVEAL
