Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead analyses the Gameweek 3 transfers and strategies of some well-known Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers in his ‘The Great and the Good’ series.
The Great and The Good this season are the BlackBox pair of Mark Sutherns and Az, Scouts Joe Lepper and Tom Freeman, Scoutcaster Andy North, Pro Pundits FPL General, Pras, Zophar, FPL Harry and Lateriser, FPL “celebrities” Ben Crellin, Luke Williams and FPL Fran, Hall of Famers Fabio Borges, Jan Kepski, Markku Olaja and Seb Wassell, plus last year’s mini-league winner Geraint Owen.
“Some might say”
Some might say that Erling Haaland (£15.2m) and Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) aren’t essential. Go tell that to the manager whose arrow cannot shine.
Yes, after a champagne supernova of a start to the season, we now have an oasis of calm over the international break. Don’t worry, that’s the end of the Gallagher brothers-related puns.
The big question over the break will be: do we have to concede that bringing the band back together of Mo and Erling is worth the cost?
There are other dilemmas to chew over. Was playing Joao Pedro (£5.7m) against Arsenal suboptimal? Will Morgan Rogers (£5.1m) ever deliver the points suggested by his price rise? Dare we wait to board the Bryan Mbeumo (£7.1m) train? And how did Eberechi Eze’s price fall to £6.9m?
Whatever the answer to those questions, we can expect the activation of multiple Wildcards and erratic price rises as managers respond in varying degrees of panic to the start of the season.
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Our very own heavy hitter FPL Harry rose to the top with 89 points, thanks to his faith in Eze and Alexander Isak (£8.5m), the customary Haaland haul, and he probably got Wood when the £6.1m striker bagged his second goal in three games.
FPL Fran equalled Harry’s score, except he had Joao Pedro as his cut-price striker; expect his price to rise with two more decent games before Gameweek 6, when some will Wildcard. Fran also had Rico Lewis (£4.6m), who already looks a bargain after an assist this week. This was his third 90-minute showing, while there was some adulation from Pep Guardiola in the post-match comments.
Pras was not far behind with 85 points and moved into second. Remember that he was the only one of The Great and The Good to go with Salah and Haaland. I suspect many of us will soon be following suit.
The ranks are still modest as you would expect at this point, with only eight of the 18 in the top million.
TRANSFERS
It was a stampede to get rid of Christopher Nkunku (£6.3m), with ten of them kicking him out. The preferred option was Rogers but perhaps the best choice was Mbeumo, who Geraint Owen picked – to celebrate I’ve even got his surname right this week!
Mark’s move for Yoane Wissa (£6.1m) is worthy of note. He scored on his debut for him and will be very popular come Gameweek 6 now that Ivan Toney (£7.3m) has gone on his Saudi adventure.
TEMPLATE
Just a little shudder in the template, with more seismic shifts to come, as Nkunku is replaced by Rogers and Emile Smith-Rowe (£5.6m) edges past Diogo Jota (£7.6m). I fear for Bruno Fernandes’ (£8.4m) place in the squad, although with Southampton up next he may get a stay of execution.
SEASON STATS
With a pause in proceedings, it’s worth looking at the season stats. The range in team values is most intriguing. Mark continues his maniacal focus on price with an overall squad total of £100.8m; compare that to poor old Fabio Borges who sits on £99.9m. Will this lead Mr Sutherns to make more early moves over the initial few days of the break?
Captaincy points also bring Mark into focus. He has only managed a poor 42 so far, the situation exacerbated by his Bukayo Saka (£10.1m) armband this weekend whilst Salah made a mockery of the United defence. Haaland’s no.1 fan, Andy North, sits atop this metric so far.
As for transfers, well, it’s too early to draw any real conclusions – although the race is on between Pras and Seb to find out who can roll enough to get up to the mythical five free transfers.
CONCLUSION
The opening salvo is over, and although the Premier League transfer window is shut, the FPL transfer window is very much open.
Expect continued price rises and falls. Now is the time to determine whether you want to chase that value with early moves and Wildcards or wait for information, knowing that you might end up being priced out. Can those cheaper options cover the heavy hitters this season?
Anyway, that’s all from me for now, and remember: don’t have FPL nightmares.
For those affected by any of the topics raised above, you can find me here on Twitter.
