Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead presents his series of The Great and the Good articles, analysing the transfers and strategies of some well-known Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
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.
“What the hell just happened!”
It’s not necessarily about how many players you have in the Blank Gameweek, it’s whether you have the right ones. Gameweek 29 was the case in point with FPL hero/villain – depending on which weeks you own him – Bruno Fernandes (£8.6m) proving to be the key difference maker. Some people even captained him, so well done to Andy North and Az, who I know will wearing their special gloating pants.
This was also a turning point in the season with some daring to sell the game’s record scorer Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) for a… pause for dramatic effect… hit! Gameweek 30, when it arrives after a traitorously long international break and FA Cup delay, will cause plenty of anxiety now for those without the Egyptian as Liverpool face Everton.
The chip path of Wildcard in Gameweek 31, Triple Captain in Gameweek 32 and Bench Boost in Gameweek 33 was one that the majority seem to be sleepwalking towards. However, there were a couple of exceptions amongst The Great and The Good, with Seb Wassell taking the Free Hit pill and Geraint Owen and Luke Williams playing their Wildcards.
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Luke Williams will be very happy with his early gains as he moves into the top 500,000 for the first time this season. Just think if he had captained Bruno.
It was a bold overhaul as he has tripled up on the Arsenal defence (which went well), tripled up on Bournemouth (which didn’t go as well), and has tripled up on Newcastle players, who sat on his bench for this weekend as they were off winning a trophy. Ant and Dec were at Wembley, in case you didn’t notice from the television coverage. If you don’t know who Ant and Dec are then well done, you are winning at life!
In a fit of inspiration, he also has Anthony Elanga (£5.3m), which proved genius. He has also gone Mo-less, which may be less genius depending on how the next few weeks play out.
Geraint Owen’s overhaul was not as spectacular but deservedly brought him a green arrow with Mikel Merino (£6.0m) a real differential. He has gone with a trio of Trees with three Forest lads in his team plus he has kept Salah whilst also bringing in Erling Haaland (£14.8m) – clever lad!
Seb Wassell’s Free Hit came out well with Diogo Dalot (£5.0m), as well as Bruno, proving to be an unlikely hero. This gives the Leeds fan a sixth green arrow in a row; could he avoid relegation from The Great and The Good?
Elsewhere, Andy and Az made big Bruno gains but they may have mentioned that already. Joe was left regretting his Wood, while Ben Crellin went top of the table – just as his beloved Geordies won some silverware.
TRANSFERS
After last week’s tranquillity, it all kicked off this time around when it came to transfers.
With hits flying around, Az was definitely the top trader as he gained 25 points from the minus four to bring in Bruno and Omar Marmoush (£7.3m). The latter may prove better value than a certain Norwegian.
FPL General also fared well in the transfer market and without a hit this time but it was the other Man City forward who came in for him, alongside the mentioned too-often-in-this-article Bruno.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.4m) was the most sold player with Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) the popular backfill. A note here to Joe Lepper, who went with Nikola Milenkovic (£4.9m) and gained his monster haul.
THE GREAT AND THE GOOD TEMPLATE
The template had a seismic shift with Salah leaving the squad for the first time in, like, forever. It was carnage everywhere with Trent dispatched for Gvardiol, Alexander Isak (£9.3m) kicked out for Haaland and Matheus Cunha (£6.9m) predictably moved on after his indiscretions.
WHAT IF?
With time on our side, it’s a good opportunity to pick the bones of the season.
Ben and Joe made the biggest gains from their transfers and captain picks over the season, whereas it may have been just as well if Seb and Jan had left teams alone at times over the campaign.
CONCLUSION
The break is here and as mentioned it’s a long one, so go out and smell the flowers as chip season will be here once we return.
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 or BlueSky.
