This week’s star performers in the career Hall of Fame (HoF) Top Five were undoubtedly Mark Sutherns (aka Mark) and Jay Egersdorff.
Current Live Hall of Fame leader Jay continued his stellar start to the season as he became the first of our Top Five to enter the top 10,000.
While Gameweek 9’s highest scorer Mark climbed 782,739 places to 404,709 as he broke into the top 1m for the first time, leapfrogging Peter Kouwenberg (aka My Pretty Pony) and Graeme Sumner (aka Gregor) in the process.
Matthew Jones (aka Numb) gained his fourth green arrow in a row as continues to recover from a Gameweek 5 low of 2,993,511. After Mark’s strong Gameweek Matthew is now the only Top Five manager outside the top 1m.
This article focuses on the moves and strategies employed by the five elite managers who grace the upper echelons of this site’s Career Hall of Fame. Between them these managers have achieved nine top 1,000 finishes in the past three seasons and have ended up in the top 10,000 a whopping 37 times over the course of their FPL careers.
To help out I have also deployed Fusen’s FPL Statistico tool to gain an extra insight into their thinking.
Points and rank
| Manager | Peter | Graeme | Jay | Matthew | Mark |
| GW9 points | 54 | 55 | 81 | 56 | 83 |
| Total points | 483 | 484 | 565 | 465 | 505 |
| FPL rank | 931,437 | 897,732 | 8,010 | 1,498,430 | 404,709 |
| FPL ID | 36298 | 345 | 175574 | 97282 | 370 |
Mark and Jay both scored more than 80 points in part thanks to a 32 point haul from their captain Tottenham’s Harry Kane. In addition Mark gained a double digit return from Manchester City’s Nicolas Otamendi, whereas Jay’s patience in Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey was rewarded with 12 points.
The graph below shows the ranks of the Top Five managers over the nine Gameweeks so far. The vertical scale is from rank 1 to 3m. The distance between the ranks corresponds to the number of points separating them. For instance there are 138pts between rank 1 and rank 100k but only 51pts between 100k and 1m. The graph gives an idea of how difficult it is to move up the ranks as you near the summit.
| Rank | 1 | 10 | 100 | 1,000 | 10,000 | 100k | 1m | 2m | 3m |
| Points Difference to First | 0 | 40 | 60 | 82 | 106 | 138 | 189 | 218 | 248 |
As the graph above shows Gameweek 4 proved pivotal for Jay. He was the only manager not to play his wildcard ahead of that week, and he was rewarded for keeping faith in his early season charges with a notable jump up the rankings. Jay did eventually wildcard in Gameweek 6.
But Peter, Graeme, Matthew and Mark need not be too downcast. Not only is there a relatively narrow band of points separating them from the top 100k but in last season’s Top Five we witnessed a remarkable recovery from Steve Poulsom. After 17 gameweeks Steve was just inside the top 1m at 845,911, however, he ended up overtaking fellow Career HoF top 5 managers Ville Ronka and Marlen Rattiner to finish just outside the top 10,000. With so many matches left this season a top 1,000 finish is not beyond the capabilities of these elite managers.
Captain and Vice-Captain
Two captaincy pie charts this week; the first before vice-captains came into play:
The second after Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling’s no show:
| Manager | Peter | Graeme | Jay | Matthew | Mark | Ave. (c) points | As % of score |
| GW (c) Points | 10 | 2 | 32 | 10 | 32 | 17 | 24 |
| Total (c) Points | 106 | 108 | 142 | 110 | 132 | 120 | 24 |
Kudos to Mark for being the only manager to pick Kane as his captain, and well done to Jay for making him his vice-captain.
After kicking himself for not picking Raheem Sterling as his captain in Gameweek 8 for his 15 point haul, Graeme was one of three managers to hand the England winger the armband this week. Unfortunately for Graeme he made Sterling’s teammate Gabriel Jesus his vice-captain, and endured the nightmare scenario of the Brazilian emerging from the City bench for the last 14 minutes against Burnley without managing any attacking returns.
So far this season Kane is the most popular captain having been chosen 44% of the time, followed by Lukaku on 40%. However, the Belgian has proved the more reliable choice averaging a 15.1 point return when chosen as captain compared to Kane’s 10.6 points.
The graphic below displays this information for the four most popular captains:
Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero and Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette are the other two popular captain choices. They have both been chosen 7% of the time, averaging 22 and 12 points respectively.
Transfer’s Gameweek 9
| Manager | Peter | Graeme | Jay | Matthew | Mark |
| Players In | David Silva, Zaha | – | – | Sterling | Hazard |
| Players Out | Alli, Brady | – | – | Alli | Alli |
Transfer success
| Manager | Peter | Graeme | Jay | Matthew | Mark | Average |
| GW9 Transfers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| GW9 Points Hits | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| GW9 Immediate Points Gained from Transfers | -5 | 0 | 0 | -9 | -4 | -4 |
| Minus Points Hits | -9 | 0 | 0 | -9 | -4 | -4 |
Sometimes the best thing you can do is nothing.
And so it proved as transfer success took a knock in Gameweek 9. Tottenham’s Dele Alli exacted revenge on those who dared to sell him – despite playing in a deeper role for Spurs against Liverpool, the attack minded midfielder managed a nine point return thanks to a goal and two bonus points.
As Peter, Matthew, and Mark discovered to their cost this was considerably better than anything from David Silva or the non-playing Raheem Sterling, and four points better than Chelsea’s Eden Hazard. Graeme and Jay were the two managers who saved a transfer this week, in hindsight the most sensible move.
| Manager | Peter | Graeme | Jay | Matthew | Mark | Average |
| Total Transfers | 11 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 8 |
| Total Points Hits | 16 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 9 |
| Total Immediate Points Gained from Transfers | 24 | 54 | 51 | -32 | 19 | 23 |
| Minus Points Hits | 8 | 42 | 47 | -36 | 11 | 14 |
| £ Value (GW9) | 100.9 | 101.9 | 101.9 | 101.6 | 101.8 | 101.6 |
| Total Benched Points | 52 | 76 | 68 | 32 | 62 | 58 |
Jay’s success in the overall rankings is reflected in his immediate transfer points. While this table provides an interesting look at how our Elite Quintet are performing, there are a couple of caveats to mention:
Transfers aren’t made with only one fixture in mind. In Gameweek 8 Mark did a triple move, taking a four point hit, with Otamendi one of the new players he drafted in. Against Stoke in Gameweek 8 the Argentine international gained a solitary point, not helping Mark in his immediate transfer success. However, as we know in Gameweek 9 the former Valencia centre back redeemed himself with a 15 point return thanks to a goal, clean sheet and all three bonus points. These points are not reflected in the Immediate Transfer Success table.
Patience – when keeping faith in an underperforming player pays off. For instance after the first three gameweeks of this season Jay must have felt some pressure to dispense with City’s Kevin De Bruyne, especially after the midfield maestro admitted he was often playing in a deeper position. However he kept faith with the Belgian for another two Gameweeks and was rewarded with three assists.
Selling an underperforming asset who then does well is reflected in the table, as we saw this week with Dele Alli’s nine points damaging the totals of Peter, Matthew and Mark.
Template – Gameweek 9
Players in Bold are in 3 teams or more
Elliot, Foster / Krul
Naughton, Cédric, Davies, Jones, Mee
Sterling, Salah, David Silva, Carroll, Loftus-Cheek
Kane, Lukaku, A.N. Other
Players – Gameweek 9
| Players in 5 teams | Kane, Lukaku, Sterling, Elliot |
| Players in 4 teams | Naughton |
| Players in 3 teams | Salah, David Silva, Carroll, Loftus-Cheek, Jones, Mee, Cédric, Davies |
| Magic Beans – Attacking players 6m and under | Carroll x3, Loftus-Cheek x3, Ritchie x2, Abraham, Calvert-Lewin, Choupo-Moting, Gross, Chalobah |
Average Cost Per Player
*based on GW1 prices
Goalkeeper – £4.2m
Defender – £5.0m
Midfielder – £6.8m
Forward – £10.5m
In The Bank (ITB) – £0.9
Matthew’s transfer this week Raheem Sterling joins Kane, Lukaku, and Elliot with 100% ownership. Alli drops out of the template and is replaced by David Silva as the two City midfielders prove the most popular route into the City attack.
The template still includes two £4.5m midfielders in the shape of Swansea’s Tom Carroll and Crystal Palace’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Carroll proved his worth in Gameweek 8 as he came off the bench in Matthew’s team and added eight points to his total. Ruben Loftus-Cheek was one of the few players to put in a good performance in Palace’s midweek defeat to Bristol City, providing an assist and was unlucky not to get his first Palace goal after a brilliant save by Robins’ keeper Luke Steele. After displaying such attacking potential, Fantasy managers will be hoping he makes an appearance in the Palace first team this weekend.
Despite unanimous agreement on Kane and Lukaku, each of the Top Five have a different third striker. As Peter indicated in his This Much We Know article he will be keeping faith in Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy for another week after Everton’s poor display against Arsenal. Instead he will be looking to sort out his bench with the injured Nathaniel Chalobah and inconsistent starter Mason Holgate set to depart.
Formation
| Manager | Peter | Graeme | Jay | Matthew | Mark |
| GW Formation | 3-4-3 | 4-3-3 | 3-4-3 | 3-4-3 | 3-4-3 |
3-4-3 was again the most popular formation this week. So far this season it has been chosen 71% of the time with 4-3-3 second most popular on 27%.
Those managers with two 4.5m mids (Graeme, Matthew, and Mark) look set to alternate between 3-4-3 and 4-3-3 depending who has the better fixture between fourth defender and fourth midfielder.
A formation change is on the cards for Mark. As revealed on this week’s Scoutcast, he is set to use his £1.3m in the bank to help upgrade one of his £4.5m midfielders – Swansea’s Tom Carroll – to Watford’s Richarlison. Additional funds will be coming from the sale of Southampton’s Cédric Soares to Brighton’s Lewis Dunk.
Mark’s move reflecting Peter’s feeling that four or even five man midfields could be back in favour.
Gameweek 10 – Captain Kane?
There is a theory emerging, that was mentioned on this week’s Scoutcast, that it is against teams who sit back and defend that Harry Kane doesn’t do well. Peter has found this out to his cost having handed Kane the armband for the enticing home fixtures against Burnley, Swansea, and Bournemouth. As Peter noted in his article this week – Liverpool’s attacking ambition appeared to play into the hands of Spurs and Kane.
What are we to make of Kane’s encounter with Manchester United?
Mark has already revealed he will be trusting the Spurs hitman with the armband for a third week running, and YMA’s captaincy article points to Kane being a favourable pick. If memory serves YMA’s articles prove more accurate in the first half of the season with the wisdom of the community (FFS captain poll) proving more reliable later on.
As last season’s FPL runner-up Uwais Ahmed noted in an article last season:
It makes sense to select captains from bigger teams in certain away matches. They are much more suited for explosive returns in those away matches than when faced with well-organised defensive set-ups at home.
It might seem counter intuitive to hand anyone playing against Manchester United away the armband. However, if we’ve learned nothing else from Gameweek 9 it is that Kane should at least be vice-captain.
