Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead analyses the transfers and strategies of some well-known Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
‘The Great and The Good’ this season are the FPL Godfather Mark Sutherns, the BlackBox pair of Az and Andy North, Scouts FPL General, Joe and Tom, the FPL Wire trio of Pras, Lateriser and Zophar, FPL celebrities FPL Harry, Martin Baker, Pingreen, FPL Frasier and Luke Williams, Hall of Famers Ben Crellin, Fabio Borges and Tom Dollimore, and last year’s mini-league winner Huss E.
“The house always wins.”
Mid-week Gameweeks are always problematic and prone to rotation, but many of us exacerbated the situation by betting against Erling Haaland (£15.0m), as Bruno Fernandes (£9.0m) batted his Portuguese eyelashes at us.
What came to pass was several days of self-inflicted torture for Bruno captainers, awaiting their fate after Haaland’s Tuesday haul.
As anticipated, lineup roulette took place, with Bukayo Saka (£10.1m), Jurrien Timber (£6.4m) and Igor Thiago (£6.8m) starting on the sidelines. It’s just a shame that Bruno didn’t do the same.
Still, we have transfers to make now, before the AFCON top-up giveaway is upon us. I’m wondering whether Colin from Accounts will remember. I bet he captained Haaland. I hate Colin.
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
While Gameweek 13 was a sea of green, Gameweek 14 was mostly crimson – particularly for those who armbanded Fernandes.
The big winner was Ben Crellin. Having decided to play his Free Hit, a total of 79 points came in, as his gamble on a Crystal Palace defensive triple-up paid off handsomely. Those three alone contributed 36 of them, which gave him a 196,000 green arrow. Just think what might have happened if he’d captained Haaland.
The other greens belonged to former Scoutcast sparring partners, Mark and Joe. Daniel Munoz (£6.1m) was their common denominator, as Phil Foden (£8.3m) gave Mr Sutherns the edge.
TRANSFERS
There was a frenzy of transfer action due to Marcos Senesi‘s (£5.0m) suspension and Ismaila Sarr‘s (£6.5m) injury.
Yankuba Minteh (£6.3m) was a popular pick but had a disappointing debut, though the same can’t be said for Luke Williams and Mark Sutherns’ purchase of Foden. The exciting attacker accumulated 32 points over a few days.
There was a bit more uncertainty when it came to replacing Senesi. Nico O’Reilly (£5.2m) and Malick Thiaw (£5.0m) came in for some
‘THE GREAT AND THE GOOD’ TEMPLATE
Next up, the template, where there are plenty of changes as the managers start using up their remaining free transfers, and we see it revert from the Free Hit- impacted squad of Gameweek 13.
Munoz, Minteh, and Thiago are the new entrants.
Dubravka (88.9%), Raya (44.4%)
van Dijk (77.8%), Timber (55.6%), Munoz (44.4%), Rodon (44.4%), Senesi (38.9%)
Fernandes (83.3%), Saka (77.8%), Semenyo (72.2%), Minteh (55.6%), Enzo (44.4%)
Haaland (94.4%), Mateta (83.3%), Thiago (38.9%)
CHIP KING
Now let’s glance at the chip success – or otherwise – of The Great and The Good. Note that this is only up to last week, due to timings, and therefore doesn’t include Ben Crellin’s Free Hit.
It’s probably not a surprise to anyone that FPL Wire’s chief chip strategist Pras leads the way with an impressive use of his Free Hit, Triple Captain and Bench Boost.
Elsewhere, Tom Dollimore is the Free Hit king, thanks to his efforts in Gameweek 13. FPL Harry is winning the Bench Boost battle, although Joe and Luke’s are still to come, and let’s not dwell too much on when it was best to activate the Triple Captain chip (Gameweek 6, for those not paying attention).
CONCLUSION
A rapid fire run through this Gameweek, then, as we are back at it again this weekend. Let’s hope for a little rotation and a little bit more understanding from the FPL Gods.
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 or BlueSky.
