If there are any Fantasy rules etched in stone beyond the obvious ‘N’Golo Kante is that cheap for a reason’ and ‘Dusan Tadic is a troll’, then ‘don’t spend any more than you have to on keepers’ is one of the timeless classics.
Goalkeepers are the runts in the scoring litter, frequently used as financial pawns in transfer transactions much further up the pitch, with only the occasional penalty save or a wild and one-off performance bringing in a tally close to double-figures.
If free-scoring forwards and attacking midfielders are Fantasy royalty, keepers are the lowest and least acknowledged subjects of them all.
This season, however, there is a sniff of revolution in the air.
Man United’s David De Gea has not so much bucked all the trends as completely re-fashioned them. Only four Fantasy Premier League players are currently outscoring him and, despite being the most expensive stopper in the game, just two players (both fellow keepers) offer better value.
Have we too easily dismissed De Gea based on price and if so, is it not time we reconsidered and elevated his status as a key target?
Mark joins Career Hall of Fame luminaries Jay Egersdorff and Peter Kouwenberg and last season’s top two FPL managers Ben Crabtree and Uwais Ahmed in answering our latest Burning Question: Is it wrong to overlook David De Gea?
Uwais Says…
The Manchester United stopper is atop the goalkeeper rankings for points and second in the rankings for saves made for the season, with 70.
To put that second figure into context, you have to go all the way down to 12th to find the next goalkeeper from the ‘big six’ Premier League teams – Thibaut Courtois, on 39 saves.
It’s rare to find a goalkeeper from one of the bigger teams so high in the saves category.
However, if you consider that as a basic rule you want coverage from all teams with good clean sheet potential as well as those with possible attacking returns, I cannot see how opting for De Gea is the wrong move.
His value for the season sees him sit in the top three for all goalkeepers.
Man United do not have consistent attacking returns from anybody other than Romelu Lukaku (and possibly recently Jesse Lingard), so your faith in Man United will be restricted to their defence, maybe even doubling up on their assets at the back.
With assurance of starts and saves potential, as we saw in the match at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal, De Gea can be potentially fielded in every single fixture.
That means you can opt for the cheapest possible second goalkeeper, giving you greater freedom when putting the rest of your defence together.
Peter Says…
David De Gea epitomises my poor judgement this season.
Nineteen points in his first three matches were not enough to save him from my early Wildcard chop and, though Phil Jones garnished points for a time, Ben Foster and Rob Elliot proved perpetual paupers to the Spanish prince.
Defensive cover from a United team which has already shut out their opponents ten times is vital.
De Gea’s reliability of starts is a huge advantage, but his save tally of 70 (just two short of Lukasz Fabianski) is a surprising cherry on the cake and one which implies a defensive frailty which must be the stuff of José Mourinho’s nightmares.
The Spaniard still trails Fabianski and Nick Pope for value, virtually the only black mark against his name and at 5.4, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling should both come close to matching their keeper’s score.
One could also argue that a Nick Pope & Jones combination has as much potential as, say, de Gea & James Tomkins at the same price of 10.2.
But overall, installing De Gea as the ultimate “fire and forget” stopper is a superb move, either in combination with another United backline member or alongside one of the ever-growing list of emerging budget defenders.
Jay Says…
I’ve gone full circle on my goalkeeper strategy with the form this guy has been showing this season.
Usually, I look at having two budget-priced keepers but with De Gea’s certainty of pitch-time in an otherwise rotation-threatened Man United defence, coupled with his amazing form, I took the decision last week to bring him into my team.
He’s also got some brilliant short/medium-term fixtures too.
The most attractive feature is his amazing value for money – he has more points than Harry Kane yet comes at a fraction of the price.
With the injury to Antonio Valencia, uncertainty over Jones’ fitness reliability and question marks over the certainty of the remaining slots in the Man United defence, the fact that De Gea is nailed-on suggests to me that it makes sense to have him in your squad.
And if that troubles your budget, consider a cheaper yet in-form defender to balance the books. One of the Burnley guys could be a great makeweight.
Ben Says…
At the start of an FPL season, I don’t even entertain the idea of spending more than 5.0 on a goalkeeper.
Ninety-nine De Gea points later and it’s clear this was the season to figure out that stingy Mourinho defence + the brilliant De Gea > 4.5 + 4.0.
I did come close to rectifying this mistake two Gameweeks ago when I had the luxury of two free transfers and money in my back pocket.
As has happened before, an Alvaro Morata injury threw my initial plans and I decided to jump on the Pope-mobile, whilst using the rest of my pennies to switch Morata to Lukaku.
In the two Gameweeks since Pope has been between the sticks, he’s outscored De Gea – 17 to 14 points. Short-term success!
Despite Elliot’s quick return to the starting line-up, Newcastle are starting to look like Sunderland, so an upgrade to Adrian will allow me to continue ignoring De Gea.
An Adrian and Pope combo looks good for the short term, but there could be an issue when Tom Heaton comes back from injury.
Phil Jones might be my ‘no Man Utd defence’ remedy, but I’m not sure he’ll play all of the next matches and feel his injury record always makes him a shortish-term option.
For now though, if it is wrong to overlook De Gea then I’m stubbornly sticking with being wrong.
Mark Says…
In terms of talent and Fantasy Premier League points, there seems no argument – De Gea is the best solution in goal.
However, that only tells half the story.
Burnley’s Pope’s is the key factor. He matches De Gea for points per match (5.5) and betters him for points per million (17.1 vs 16.8). That’s vital in this position.
There are also other variables to consider, not least the worrying defensive statistics that United are logging.
In the last four Gameweeks, Jose Mourinho’s defence has conceded more shots on target (33) than any other side. Yes, they’ve played rivals City in that period, but even if you extend things out to six matches (when other sides also have City as an opponent), United still rank second from bottom.
De Gea isn’t getting protected. That’s helping him produce save points and even bonus but, if that continues, the clean sheets will carry on taking a dent.
United have kept just two in eight Gameweeks, so covering their defence doesn’t appear “essential”, particularly if, as anticipated, Mourinho’s first choice centre-backs will be rotated at this time.
Then we have to consider that, come Gameweek 22, we will likely want Adrian for cover of West Ham’s two fixtures.
If you already own De Gea, that means that your total spend on a keeper at that time will be around the 10.0+ (currently 10.2).
By contrast, Pope and Adrian as a pair – who rotate superbly to better even De Gea’s fixtures – will set you back 9.1 right now. Interestingly, that duo are ranked first and third for save percentage, with the United man the meat in the sandwich.
So with Pope and Adrian, we can save a million, have stronger fixtures, cover the double Gameweek and, based on current data, you’d have two keepers getting better protection but matching De Gea’s potential for saves when called upon.
We just need Tom Heaton to bide his time with his recovery.
