FPL Family’s Sam: Wildcard reflections + long-term plans

With the next Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline nearing, we’re getting insight and team reveals from our panel of Hall of Famers and guest writers. Here, FPL Family’s Sam reflects on her Gameweek 11 Wildcard choices and talks through her long-term plans.

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From July, pretty much throughout these early months, I planned to have my Wildcard active right now. But as most of you will know from my previous article, I activated it slightly earlier in the run-up to Gameweek 11.

This isn’t something that I regret. After all, it gave me an immediate green arrow and finally saw my overall rank be inside the top million for the first time this season. So, what now?

SUCCESSES

The Wildcard went well. Buying Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) was a great decision, as was playing Lucas Fabianski (£4.0m) over David Raya (£5.6m). Heading into Gameweek 12, I like my team.

Though I do have some decisions to make. For example, benching Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.6m) isn’t something that I love. Fulham are yet to keep a clean sheet at home, conceding the majority of their total at Craven Cottage.

With a hat-trick on international duty, I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Chris Wood (£6.6m) wipe out Raya’s clean sheet from my bench. Plus, having Dominic Solanke (£7.7m) up against Josko Gvardiol (£6.3m) isn’t enjoyable, perhaps I could rectify that this week.

REGRETS

This season, I’m really trying not to dwell on the disappointments. I feel like that became my Achilles heel last time. Decisions that I was happy with at the time but played on my mind when they didn’t go well. So much so that I became fixated on trying to correct them.

Such chasing behaviour led to one of my worst final finishes in a long time. So although I’m aiming to be more positive for 2024/25, there are already a few things I would have done slightly differently.

Not that captaining Solanke is one of them. The decision made sense, even though it didn’t pay off. A home fixture against Ipswich Town meant he looked like a great armband option. Only Brennan Johnson (£6.8m) had more expected goals (xG) for Spurs in Gameweek 11 and the England forward was unlucky not to return points. He had the ball in the back of the net once and missed a further golden opportunity.

Josko Gvardiol

Meanwhile, I love the security of owning a premium player in every position. It makes me feel happier about having flexibility, meaning I can move players on without hits if needed.

Heading into Gameweek 11, I was very conscious about not having a premium forward, also selling the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m) and Pedro Porro (£5.5m). Holding onto one expensive defender alongside the others made sense. I wasn’t confident about picking a second Arsenal defensive name alongside Raya, with them not keeping a clean sheet since Gameweek 4.

With that in mind, Gvardiol felt like a sensible hold, having delivered three goals and a clean sheet since Gameweek 6. If he’d scored that late chance at Brighton and Hove Albion, I wouldn’t even be thinking about moving him on now. How fickle of me!

However, with Spurs and Liverpool up next, maybe holding Gvardiol was a bit short-sighted. On reflection, the premium defender could’ve been Virgil van Dijk (£6.3m) or even Liverpool team-mate Ibrihima Konate (£5.4m), to save money.

Instead, Gvardiol will stay for Gameweek 12. Manchester City are at home against Spurs and, whilst I fully expect my lot to score, this has potential for another one of his attacking returns. He’s had six attempts from set pieces this season – four of them headers – and this is where Ange Postecoglou’s side are at their most vulnerable.

After that, I can decide whether to move him to another Arsenal or someone from Liverpool. If the latter, I will bench them for their immediate Man City trip.

Chris Wood

I don’t regret the decision to pick Wood as he rotates perfectly with Morgan Rogers (£5.4m). This means I never really have a benching headache. However, owning him meant I didn’t go with Yoane Wissa (£6.1m), an individual who I really wanted.

I justified it by saying I didn’t fancy a Brentford double-up alongside Bryan Mbeumo (£7.9m). This backfired in Gameweek 11 and we’ll find out soon whether it was the right call. Thankfully, there are plenty of good budget forwards should I ditch Wood.

Dominic Solanke

No way was I going to sell Solanke before Ipswich at home. Especially on the back of a 16-point haul during Gameweek 10. Yet he wasn’t ever likely to be part of my long-term plans.

That would’ve been for him to become Wissa or Joao Pedro (£5.4m), giving me the budget to upgrade Mbeumo to Bukayo Saka (£10.1m) if I decided to hold Fernandes longer than originally planned. This is looking like it might be the case.

However, I also could upgrade him to Alexander Isak (£8.5m) who – I’ll be totally honest – I didn’t consider enough when Wildcarding. I simply knew I wanted Solanke and didn’t have the money for another forward to be Isak.

Looking ahead, I’ve kept money to upgrade Fernandes to Saka but won’t be making that transfer right now. So there is a choice to be made here. Do nothing and roll the transfer, or use some of that money to move Solanke to Isak.

That would leave me without any Spurs players – not something that I enjoy doing. I always keep a Spurs asset, even if it’s in a burner slot with the likes of Harry Winks (£4.5m).

LONG-TERM PLANS

It feels difficult to make long-term plans this season. One minute you think you’re buying someone for the future and then, the next, they are an immediate sell. But this team was built with the intention of going as far as possible into 2025 without needing to touch my second Wildcard.

With the unknowns of what this Mystery Chip will be, having flexibility around the next activation feels like the best idea.

Without Saka, this squad has £2.3m in the bank. That means I have the money to upgrade someone like Wood, Strand Larsen and Solanke, whilst moving Gvardiol down to Konate would maintain the cash needed for Saka.

More than ever, flexibility is key to this season. I want Fernandes and Diogo Dalot (£5.2m) for Manchester United’s opening matches under Ruben Amorim but maybe the correct answer is choosing one of their cheaper defender plus either Rasmus Hojlund (£6.9m) or Alejandro Garnacho (£6.4m). In that case, there’d be even more budget to play with elsewhere.

Therefore, to conclude, this week I think I will likely roll my transfer but Solanke to Isak is very tempting. Especially given the upcoming fixtures for each player.

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