Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead analyses the transfers and strategies of some well-known Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers in his series of The Great and the Good articles.
This season’s names are the BlackBox pair of Mark Sutherns and Az, Scouts Joe Lepper, Tom Freeman and 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 qualifying mini-league winner Geraint Owen.
“If I could turn back time”
Find me a Delorean, a Tardis, or even a Hot Tub Time Machine! This was the call of those managers who haven’t owned Mohamed Salah (£12.9m) over the last few weeks and also the ones who thought tripling up on Tottenham Hotspur was a good idea.
FPL managers who recently bought themselves an Erling Haaland-shaped sofa (£15.2m) when making way for the Egyptian are probably a little happier with their rank right now.
Meanwhile, everyone is now talking about Bruno.
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Return of the GOAT! Fabio Borges played his Wildcard chip to great impact and collected 90 points as a result – more on this later.
As for the top of the table, Ben Crellin and FPL Harry continue to duke it out for top spot. Sitting in the top 100k at this early stage, they looked poised to have yet another strong season. Pras continues to apply pressure on them with his third consecutive green arrow.
Interestingly, the top teams are taking slightly different approaches, reflecting the variety of options currently open to us. Ben took a boost from the rejuvenation of Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m), whilst Harry and Pras had the unlikely hero of Lukasz Fabianski (£4.0m) and everyone’s favourite Wolverhampton Wanderer Matheus Cunha (£6.8m).
One thing that the high-fliers have in common is a Salah captaincy – this was not the week to punt on other armband options like Dominic Solanke (£7.7m). The Spurs forward reverted to his expected goals (xG) type by blanking against Ipswich Town. Neither Az nor Andy North was amused.
WILDCARD
Fabio Borges – considered by many to be the all-time greatest – played a Wildcard, making 11 changes to his squad.
Headlines were made by his omission of Haaland. In fact, his team is now without any Manchester City or Arsenal players at all. Alongside that, there are twin representatives from Wolves, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United.
The money saved from Haaland allows him plenty of squad depth, with Raul Jimenez (£5.8m), Cunha and Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m) rotating for his final two attacking spots.
In defence, he has a bevvy of £4.5m options beside Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m), though the latter’s stay may be short-lived. Between the sticks, he picked the right time to go Fabianski.
A very strong Wildcard, it’s started well with a 900k green arrow.
TRANSFERS
There’s no doubt as to who the week’s transfer king was, as Az howled with delight at Wolves duo Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.7m).
Catalogue model and full-time FPL troll Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.8m) was a popular departure and Lateriser did well to pick Pras, sorry, Evanilson (£5.9m) as the replacement.
THE GREAT AND THE GOOD TEMPLATE
Gasp! Haaland has left the template, as cheaper alternatives Jimenez and Cunha now join Solanke upfront.
We also saw a slightly less exciting change of back-up goalkeeper. Fabianski comes in for Hakon Valdimarsson (£4.0m).
TARGET TRANSFERS
A look now at where The Great and The Good have focussed their transfers so far. This allows us to have a sense of where the FPL battleground is taking place.
The table below gives the percentage of moves per position and highlights that progress occurs in the centre, with the tactical shifting of midfielders a key element to success.
On the flip side, very little attention is being paid to backlines and we are yet to have a goalkeeping transfer outside of the Wildcards. I guess it’s been decided that they’re all rubbish anyway.
CONCLUSION
Hurrah, international break time!
I know, I know: it feels like there have been way too many of them this season. However, it’s a good time to have a self-imposed rest from FPL action as the swings continue to bite.
I suspect that the upcoming festive season will bring even more big moves, so you better add some green arrows to your list for Santa.
Anyway, that’s all from me for now and remember: don’t have FPL nightmares.
Those affected by any of the topics raised in the above article can find me here on Twitter.
