Podcast

Meet the Manager #12 – Aleksander Våge Nilsen

Being able to visualise future moves has been key to Aleksander Våge Nilsen’s successful Fantasy Premier League career.

Each season he creates a spreadsheet that allows him to see his best line-up in any given Gameweek.

Based around fixtures this bespoke Rate My Team tool has helped Aleksander pinpoint the optimal times to ditch players and the best replacements.

It’s clearly been a great asset in his Fantasy management armoury, with two top 500 finishes, another in the top 2,000 and two overall ranks just outside the top 10,000, to put him fifth in our Live Hall of Fame.

This season his trusty spreadsheet has been particularly fruitful, seeing him rocket to 104thin the world.

During our chat, he also reveals how following top Premier League players on Instagram gives him vital knowledge before deadlines and why having a full squad of players helps him avoid unnecessary hits.

He also explains why Norwegians, who take up 13 of the top 100 places, are so good at FPL and how being a Liverpool fan has proved costly in the past to his overall rank.

Guided by his spreadsheet he also gives a rundown of his next likely moves, with impending blank and double Gameweeks set to influence his decisions.

The chat with Aleksander is available to view on Youtube here and in the embedded video below.

Previous Meet the Manager interviews:

Mark Sutherns

Mark McGettigan

Marc Rubinstein

Kenneth Tang

Jay Egersdorff

Adam Hopcroft

Matthew Jones

Richard Clarke

Will Thomas

Philman

Triggerlips

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576 Comments Post a Comment
  1. jia you
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 2 months ago

    I love that simple Excel spread-sheet idea of Aleks!

    1. Majestic Chanka
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      For April Fools would you change your name to “Jia Me Jia You” and your grav to the chuckle brothers?

      1. The Wise Owl
        • 8 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Oh dear, oh dear.

    2. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      pen and papers still rules 😉

    3. Richd
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      He should share the spreadsheet 😉

      1. Saiz does not matter
        • 5 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Not with everyone.. maybe just you and me

  2. Sabina_S
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 2 months ago

    Good to go? 1FT 3.8 ITB

    Could do bench fodder to Jota or roll it over.

    Alisson, Hamer

    Trippier, Laporte, (Holebas), Doherty, Digne

    Sane, Salah, Pogba, (Hoejberg), (Camarasa)

    Rashford, Jiminez, Firm

    1. jia you
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      Wait until after the FA cup games and DGW announcement early next week.

  3. james 101
    • 12 Years
    5 years, 2 months ago

    Play?
    A. Eth (New a)
    B. Fab (BOU a)

    1. james 101
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      Rest of my team:

      Digne Robbo Doherty
      Salah Fanderson Pogba. Richarlison
      Firmino Rashford Aubameyang
      (Westwood AWB Zanka )

      Does the bench look right?

    2. Pinturicchio10
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Etheridge

    3. T96
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      If there is a DGW 25, is having Hazard(Tc) Higuain Sane and Rich a good option?

      Chelsea would have Hud & BHA, great time to triple captain.

      Then in following blanks and DGW's use the likes of Freehit, Wildcard, Bench boost.

      1. Holmes
        • 10 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Having hazard and sane is fine. dont know about higuain and richarlison

      2. Iceball
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Hazard TC sounds good to get it over with with great fixtures, but form a worry...

    4. Geoff
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      New Community Article from Meltens looks at Higuain:

      https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2019/01/25/higua-in-or-higua-out/

    5. FDMS All Starz
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      What would you do to this team?
      (3.7itb & 1Ft)

      Alisson
      TAA - Doherty - Digne
      Salah - Pogba - Hazard - Fanderson - Richa
      Rashford - Deeney

      Subs: Speroni - Bednarek - Wanbisa - Kamara

      A) Deeney to Higuain/Laca
      B) Save FT

      1. Andy Mac
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Get Sane? Fand or rich obv choices

        1. FDMS All Starz
          • 8 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          What if city have a blank GW before their DGW?

          1. Andy Mac
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 6 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            Then you can swap Sané for Mane or similar. I wouldn’t hold off getting points for what may or may not occur

      2. Modest Bob
        • 5 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Wildcard it.

    6. diesel001
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      Hope the Scout Picks community champion for GW24 goes very differential. Too often they are choosing too many players that the Scouts are picking. If you want to win you need to beat the Scouts by 34 or more points.

      Personally would start by looking at a block defence (e.g pick two teams you hope will keep CS and load up on them)

      1. Les Bleus
        • 12 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Agreed! They need to think outside the box. I’d rather lose by 30 while aiming to win than win by 5 and going conservative (if that makes sense)

    7. Andy Mac
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      Bit of a dilemma would welcome your help pls chaps....got 1FT, 1.3itb. Considering the following, welcome your thoughts please!

      A) Cam > Jota (exact funds but could create benching headache with rest of team...would move Jimmy on in future weeks)
      B) Shaw > Mendy (risk he’s not fully back yet but could be good differential)
      C) Save FT (head says this as can use for blanks but heart says A!)

      Team is:
      Etheridge - Guaita
      Digne - Shaw - Doherty - WB - Bednerak
      Salah - Sane - Pogba - Hazard - Camarasa
      Aguero - Rashford - Jiminez

      1. Bucket Man
        • 5 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        C for sure this week.

        1. Andy Mac
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Thanks Jam. Need to take my finger off the trigger.....!

          1. Bucket Man
            • 5 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            Think if nothing pressing next week and Jota looks better value you can do Jim and Cam to Jota and someone.

            1. Andy Mac
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 6 Years
              5 years, 2 months ago

              Yeah good advice. Cheers jam!

      2. HamezMace
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        C

        1. Andy Mac
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Cheers Ham!

    8. Lisboa 1967
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      Current : Rashford Jimenez Kamara

      5.5m itb

      A) Jimenez -> Aubameyang
      B) Kamara -> lacazete / firmino
      (if b comment which)

      1. james 101
        • 12 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        a

      2. Andy Mac
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        A

      3. Phil's Stamps
        • 13 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        B firmino

    9. james 101
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      Play?
      A. Eth (ARS a)
      B. Fab (WOL a)

      1. james 101
        • 12 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Rest of my team:

        Digne Robbo Doherty
        Salah Fanderson Pogba. Richarlison
        Firmino Rashford Aubameyang
        (Westwood AWB Zanka )

      2. Andy Mac
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        B and play WB instead of Doh

        1. james 101
          • 12 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          thanks mate

    10. Meet The Manager Musings
      WesMantooth
      • 13 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      MTM with Aleksander Våge Nilsen
      Trying to make HT's after MTM-videos a "thing". Would be nice to try and collect people's thoughts on what he videos are offering us in terms of insight.

      Some things I found interesting with this video:
      - Aleksander "doesn't care" what formation he plays. He likes to rotate both defenders, mids and forwards based on fixtures.

      How many people are looking in to these possibilities each season?

      - He like's to have 14-15 players that he would be "happy" to play from time to time.

      Is "he's playing" (benchfodder) enough for a player to be considered worthy of a place in your squad? Or should you actually have aims to play even the cheap players you bring in?

      - He relies heavily on using his own spreadsheet for his planning

      Anyone else making their own spreadsheets? Whats most important to include in these spreadsheets? How detailed should they be?

      1. Geoff
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 11 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Thanks for doing this. Certainly this is the kind of stuff I'm happy to HT from the community - it's something I, or the mods can write as well, but if anyone ever thinks a HT is needed (for an article, for a topic we aren't covering, anything you find interesting) write something up and flag it, so that the mods can see it. Flags aren't just for bad content!

        In terms of 14-15 players I'm happy to start I'm beginning to come around to it. I have Robertson, Doherty, Digne, Shaw, and AWB in defence and although it creates a weekly benching problem it's a problem I'm happy enough to have, as the options are cheap. Spreading the cash across 8 attackers is still something I'm hesitant to do though because there are big hitters I want to have. Hojbjerg as a 5th midfielder or someone similar has worked well for me

        1. WesMantooth
          • 13 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Cheers Geoff!

          Looking at your team, my suspicion would be that a player like AVN would look at that Højbjerg spot, and start looking for a cheap playable mid that could fill the gaps the weeks where your 4 cheap defs don't cover bad fixtures of either Jimenez, Rich og Robertson.

          I dont know. It's something ive tired to put more attention to this year, and do believe there's some points to be made.

          1. Geoff
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • Has Moderation Rights
            • 11 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            I do too to be honest but I also think that the potential points gain is a bit hit and miss, and the money saved feels like a safer route.

            There isn't anyone just above the Højbjerg price point that I would really ever play over Jimenez or Richarlison I don't think. Then having 4 (or 5) decent defenders also means that the Hoj replacement would also have to compete with that player to start.

            1. WesMantooth
              • 13 Years
              5 years, 2 months ago

              True.
              Sure you would'nt play brooks, camarasa or March over those guys from time to time?

              1. WesMantooth
                • 13 Years
                5 years, 2 months ago

                Would also improve the level of your firstt sub any given week (i'm assuming Hojbjerg is allways placed 3rd)

                1. Geoff
                  • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                  • Has Moderation Rights
                  • 11 Years
                  5 years, 2 months ago

                  Well wouldn't necessarily improve the first sub - a sub though yeah for sure.

                  It depends on the price really. Is having Brooks worth the sacrifice? How often would I need to play him to make it worthwhile? Something I should think about really.

                  I guess the other factor is rotation through December, as well as double and blanks

                  1. WesMantooth
                    • 13 Years
                    5 years, 2 months ago

                    Yeah. Not every week. Every other perhaps. Still might prove valuable though.

                    I agree that price is essential to this Kind of strategy. If, you're Benching players 5.5-7.0 every other week like Aleks did in the start of the season, then its prob not viable longterm. But if its sub 5.5 and not every week, and the rotation is strong. Then yeah. I can see it amount to a substantial number of points.

                    It'll probably also save you from a couple of "forced" transfer when injuries kick in.

      2. diesel001
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        1) Too many people are afraid of benching higher priced players. This season, I've benched Alonso, Anderson, Richarlison at various GWs for £4.5m / 5.0m mids and defenders and it has paid off (Camarasa and Digne in particular).

        2) The only spreadsheet I think you need is one which shows fixtures so you can plan who you will bench over the next 5/6 GWs (i.e. medium term)

        1. diesel001
          • 7 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          1 free tip for fixtures. Have a look at CPL / NEW rotation....

          1. Scholes Out For Summer
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 10 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            NEW fixtures are delicious after the next two games, especially defensively

        2. WesMantooth
          • 13 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Yeah. I agree, the spreadsheet should probably be simple, but still give good indications of how your team will look the coming weeks.

          I honestly cringe everytime I hear "Alonso's to expensive to bench"

          1. Mysterion
            • 6 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            and also "always play the attacker"

            1. WesMantooth
              • 13 Years
              5 years, 2 months ago

              Yeah.
              This is such a flawed logic. So many benched points because a lot of us are benching players that are more likely to get a CS, than a mid or striker has to get a goal/assist.

        3. Jealous Viper
          • 5 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          I agree with this even though it could come back to bite you occasionally. People say why would you have Alonso at 7m and ever bench him or things like that. Well if Alonso is going up against City away and i have the likes of Wan Bissaka or Benett with more favourable fixtures, its an easy benching for me.
          Its a bit different with attackers however as even if their team gets trashed, the premium ones can always pop up with a goal or an assist

          1. WesMantooth
            • 13 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            "Can allways". I get what you mean, but in theory anybody can do anything. The question is, is A more likely to keep a cs than b is to score/assist?

            Many dont bother asking themselves this question and play the attacking player with little thoughts as to why.

      3. Differential C (Mark)
        • 8 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Even the cheapest players in the squad should be playing some mins in the season, even if as a sub (ie Isaac Success). The fact that we are blessed with AwB, Bennett, Bednarek, etc makes this season one of the best times for that particular strategy. I agree with Aleks on several other points, including the spreadsheets.

        To be honest, not the most instructive as Sutherns, Tang or Hopcroft, but still a very good installment in the series.

        1. WesMantooth
          • 13 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Some good stuff in this vid, as with all the others. But yeah, agree with the 3 you mentioned, as perhaps the most "informative" ones. Kind of why I want a regular HT going.

          The vids are'nt being discussed enough :/

      4. timPgoodwin
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Excellent hot topic. Would anyone have a blank excel (or google docs) template I could use? I think planning ahead is essential but a novice with Spreadsheets.

        1. WesMantooth
          • 13 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Yup!
          Would love it if someone who had a simple "template" could share it.

          What i'm currently doing is updating my team with a 6 week schedule, adding new fixtures each week.

          I'm basically to lazy to do it properly and add it all.

          Also, very unhappy with my design 😛

          1. timPgoodwin
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 9 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            I've made something really simple which works, added in to it Ben Crellin's blanks and (potential) DGW's etc

            Looks OK but laborious transferring in fixture difficulties...

      5. Make Arrows Green Again
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Nice idea for a HT. Most of the discussion on these passes us by.

        To recycle some comments of mine on the first page, he seems to favour a balanced team, and he appears to tend to go for two (no more than three) big hitters, including the preferred captain choices at any any given time, presumably so that he can hedge the points missed by selecting the 'wrong' captain.

        I've long thought this strategy to be the best in theory, but it requires excellent discipline, knowledge of which of the mid-tier players are going to outscore their delta, and courage not to try and cram your team full of the 'big name' players who you are scared might 'haul' in any given gameweek.

      6. Make Arrows Green Again
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        I find it really irritating that you can't see, on the official FPL site, just how your team would line up beyond the coming GW, in terms of fixtures etc. It makes transfer and rotation planning that much harder. I hope they implement this sooner rather than later/

        1. Geoff
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 11 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Maybe this is something we could try to get on FFS for next season, do others feel the same way?

          1. Make Arrows Green Again
            • 7 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            I'd love that, personally. Cheers for the suggestion Geoff - I just hope we get enough takers!

          2. WesMantooth
            • 13 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            Veeeeery much so.
            Would prob give FFS a huge bump in members if you added this feature.

          3. jtreble
            • 7 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            Yup.

          4. Captain Kakaroto (I blame R…
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 6 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            It will be very beneficial

          5. Smurf
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 14 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            This would without a doubt be the best tool on FFS if it could be implemented.

            I’d pay double membership for a good interactive version of this.

            1. Make Arrows Green Again
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 2 months ago

              Yeah, ideally you could do dummy transfers in for a future gameweek several weeks away, assuming that your TV stays the same too. That would be really cool.

          6. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
            • 14 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            This would be superb Geoff - make it so

          7. Geoff
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • Has Moderation Rights
            • 11 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            Pretty unanimous, I'll look into it

            1. Make Arrows Green Again
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 2 months ago

              Thanks Geoff 🙂

          8. Deulofail
            • 8 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            Like dissss?https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/comment/18832987 😀
            Yes please!

            1. Deulofail
              • 8 Years
              5 years, 2 months ago

              Wonder how possible it would be to collaborate with a price prediction site to give us flags for when someone is nearing a rise or fall. I guess there are sites that already do this, but I've never really looked into them.

        2. diesel001
          • 7 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          You don't need fancy tools. Just write down your squad on a piece of paper and then have a column for each GW. Then look through the fixtures and put a 'x' against any that you don't like the fixtures for. Will take you 15 mins at most.

          1. HamezMace
            • 9 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            This is my method too.

          2. Make Arrows Green Again
            • 7 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            I understand your point, and I'm not lazy when it comes to FPL, and I spend enough time on these forums ( 🙂 ) but I don't think in this day and age that we should have to resort to writing stuff down on a bit of paper and manually amending. It's still hard to account for injuries and DGW/blank announcements this way and you need to keep hold of the bit of papeer.

            The simple piece of coding FPL uses to display 'next' fixtures could easily be extended across multiple fixtures with corresponding buttons added. That way, if I wanted to see exactly who my team is due to face in, say, GW 38 then I could.

            1. Make Arrows Green Again
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 2 months ago

              "Papeer" being the, what, Dutch word for paper? XD

        3. Pep Pig
          • 7 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Download the app Fantasy Football Manager. I've always used it ahead of the official app. I think it's superb. When viewing your team, it shows the next 3 games under each player and highlights them in difficulty. If it helps, the download icon you are looking for is a green background with a football on. Hope this helps

          1. Make Arrows Green Again
            • 7 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            Very much! Thank you, Sideshow Megnuts 🙂

            1. Pep Pig
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 2 months ago

              I should really change my Grav,,, I don't know what I was thinking 🙂
              Glad to hear mate... do you prefer it?
              You cal also add your favourite FPL teams so you can keep tabs on their scores and transfers made.
              If you need any help with it give me a shout

              1. Make Arrows Green Again
                • 7 Years
                5 years, 2 months ago

                Yeah it takes a bit of getting used to but it's looking pretty 'snazzy' 🙂

                I should be able to work out the basics by playing around but I'll shout if I need anything. It will be good to see just how completely my ML rivals are smashing me* by adding favourites so I will definitely do that.

                It's not been a great season so far.

          2. Smurf
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 14 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            Thanks for the tip. Great app.

            1. Pep Pig
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 2 months ago

              Great stuff

      7. Eze Really?
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        I make my own spreadheets when it comes to future transfers and I have a spreadheet for transfer history too. I can work out very accurately the impact of a transfer or hit rather than "I got him out for -4 and my replacement failed"
        They are extremely detailed and is great for information history. When SGW and DGW arrive it is more important to make your own "plan"
        I also play with a minimum of 14 players I would have little difficulty in playing.
        My team after 23 hits admittedly with 107.7 in the bank gives me options.
        My team with 1.7 ITB
        Patricio/Fab
        Digne/Doherty/Robbo/Alders/WanB
        Hazard/Salah/Pogba/Lamrela/Sane
        Ings/Jimi/Rashford
        I can play anyone and not worried if points end up on the bench.

      8. Runaway
        • 12 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Some years ago I did my own spreadsheet and finished in top1K (first and only time). It was including fixture and price information for my team and my possible moves for next 5-6 GWs, simple one but makes you see it clearer. I have never done that again because of time issues though. I genuinely believe it was one of the biggest factors that pushed me into the top1K that season comparing to what I did in other seasons. At those times, ticker was much more useful though, you were able to drag and drop fixtures of teams and it was possible to copy it in an excel sheet to make your owns'.

      9. the Penman
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        I’ve got a spreadsheet this year, it’s really helped my first wildcard planning. Got the whole season fixtures on one tab, then a VLOOKUP to my squad so I can track their upcoming fixtures, and a price calculator so I can plan ahead for if I can afford next week’s move(s). Only started using one for DGW planning two seasons ago; using it for the whole season has really boosted my planning and stopped my knee jerking.

      10. The Rumour Mill
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Great idea for a hot topic. Wish I'd thought of this myself after the first one!

        I agree with AVN about having 15 playing players where possible. I personally wouldn't go with so much money on my bench though, it appears inefficient to me. I think its down to the particular specific shape this season has taken that its worked especially well for him. For vast parts of the season we had few, if any mid priced mids performing, which created a strong opportunity to carry a "fatter" bench. It was also possible to go without Salah for a long time, which further freed up budget.

        I think in a season where there was more budget pressure this tactic would not work so well. Credit to him for exploiting the opportunity so well though.

      11. Daft Bob
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        If it wasn't for my spreadsheet that compares players effectively and forecast fixtures for any combination of players, I don't think I could be bothered to do anything other than the eye test, which is the most important thing for me. I'd spend too much time time trying to see the woods for the trees without a comprehensive yet quick analysis presented in a user friendly format with conditional formatting.

      12. mikess
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Is the RMT tool not doing exactly the same thing as thing as this elusive spreadsheet? Simply used in conjunction with open the season ticker

        1. Johnny 8
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 10 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Just what I was thinking Mikess.

        2. Rostah
          • 9 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          On a low level of functionality yes. But that’s kind of like asking what’s the benefit of owning a smartphone when they first came out when an old school Nokia, a digital camera & an MP3 player can do most of the same things (I know, very much an over simplification)

          Spreadsheets are extremely powerful and can do a lot more than just showing you your team and upcoming fixtures. Beyond the obvious benefit of having all the info on one page as opposed to opening the season ticker & RMT on separate pages, a spreadsheet can allow you to visualize your transfer as you plan them.

          For instance, on RMT if I plan on owning Sterling this week, but transferring him out in 2 weeks, I can’t easily display this. One option of course is to just add the additional player and mentally ignore Sterling after that 2 weeks. But what about if I have a transfer planned for the next 4 weeks? Should I now add on the four extra players, and do the mental gymnastics of what my team will look like week to week? A spreadsheet eliminates this and makes everything very neat and tidy. There are numerous other benefits and possibilities.

          The more you use them, the more possibilities you can find and figure out. The joy of spreadsheets is you can expand their functionality to meet your needs.

        3. WesMantooth
          • 13 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          I really loathe doing that. I dont feel like I'm getting the big picture. My brains capacity is prob not the best 😛

      13. Smurf
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Excellent HT as these videos are some of the best bits of content about for FPL. It’s been a really impressive series from FFS so far. Joe has done a great job of hosting and getting plenty of interesting information from the managers.

      14. Deulofail
        • 8 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Could I take this opportunity to suggest that the Youtube account managers start to organise the content, so we can efficiently find the MTM content vs Team News vs Members tutorials etc. And also request more in the way of Members area tips and tricks. Preferably inserting these into the relevant tabs in the members area, or having a tutorials tab for them all. 🙂

        1. Fitzy.
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 12 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Open Youtube, type 'fantasy football scout meet the manager' into the search box. 5 seconds work and you have them all...

    11. TRIPOS TOPPER
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      One of Watford and Newcastle becomes a good option for BGW after this weekend
      Maybe Holebas or Pererya, or Newcastle defender

    12. NoName
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      If unscathed from the cup games. Pereira to Mendy FT, yay or nay?

      1. avfc82
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        May be a little too soon for Mendy, can see him being eased back in.

        1. Bucket Man
          • 5 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Agree with this.

        2. HamezMace
          • 9 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Agree, won't be considering Mendy until after the BGW27.

      2. NoName
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Cheers all. I'll keep the itchy finger at bay. He was so much fun to own at the beginning of the season.

      3. TRIPOS TOPPER
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        You’ll want pereira back in 3 weeks - not worth it

    13. Bucket Man
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      Wilson to Rashford the obvious move. 1FT, will leave me with 0.8 ITB
      Button
      VVD, Doherty, Digne
      Salah, Sane, Anderson, Martial
      Auba, Wilson, Jiminez
      Fab, Bednarek, AWB, Obiang

      1. RustyBz
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Do it

        1. Bucket Man
          • 5 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Thanks 🙂

    14. avfc82
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      Eden Hazard on Gonzo Higuaín: “We needed a goalscorer. He could be that player. A player who scores & creates pockets of space. Not only for him, but also for us. I hope we will see the best Higuaín. But we already know that he’s a top player.”

      Looking forward to seeing these two link up.

      1. HamezMace
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Good post.
        Also looking forward to this, as someone who has stuck with Hazard, time to see him back to his best.

      2. FPL price manipulators are …
        • 10 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Hazard should have no excuse now

        1. FPL price manipulators are …
          • 10 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          GW25 captaincy option even it is SGW

    15. ArgyllArgyle
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      I wanted to post something about ‘chasing differential captains’...

      I’ve now watched two FFS videos in which Az has taken a bit of stick for picking Sterling as his captain last week (GW23). A game in which Man City were playing manager-less Huddersfield and a gameweek in which Liverpool played Crystal Palace, who have at times performed well away from home.

      There is so much luck and chance at play that to ‘ridicule’ with the benefit of hindsight is a bit much.

      Salah is awesome, and part of his skill is being in the right place at the time. He claimed the second goal with about an inch in it, and many think he avoided a yellow card for diving. This could be deemed lucky.

      For managers higher up the league to warn against and discourage others from straying away from picking the same captain as the vast majority of other players could be interpreted as protecting their own rank, and should be taken with a pinch of salt in my opinion. The captaincy is one of the biggest ways to effect your points relative to others and occasionally picking a different player could have big benefits over time.

      Picking a Man City player who starts against Huddersfield is hardly a maverick move. (I went for Aguero- disappointing, and by definition not the right choice in retrospect, but not a wholly risky decision at the time I’d say). (I picked Hazard in gameweek 5 and it worked out that time).

      To take it to its extreme I compared the FFS Captain poll winners with the actual highest scoring player each game week (because that is actually who we should been captaining in hindsight ideally).

      In 23 gameweeks, the FFS poll has only matched the actual top scorer once - Aguero - Gameweek 2.

      Salah has never been the actual top scoring player in a gameweek when he has also been top of the FFS poll. In the one gameweek in which Salah was actually the top scoring player (Gameweek 16) the FFS Scout poll winner was Aubameyang.

      So far this season, the overall difference between selecting the actual top scorer as their captain each game week against the winner of the FFS poll is 438 points. (If my sums are right).

      We don’t have a crystal ball to free transfer in a Schär and captain him each week, but a lot of the actual top scorers in the past gameweeks haven’t been that poorly owned.

      I’m just saying let’s have some fun, go with our guts, including playing ‘safe’ if that’s what our gut says, and a bit less of the ’told ya so’ in a game which mixes skill with luck.

      1. Differential C (Mark)
        • 8 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Have to agree. Went Sane, which turned out okay last GW, simply becoz the fixture made much more sense than The Pool Palace game.
        But I.understand the Salah permacaptain strategy, it is simply to stop the bleeding. Im facing 4 consecutive reds, so may be forced to eat humble pie and finally go Salah cap.

        1. ArgyllArgyle
          • 5 Years
          5 years, 1 month ago

          Shouldn't be about any humble pie, pick the player in your team you think will score most points that week.

      2. diesel001
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        The key to FPL success is captaincy IMO. I play TFF and with no (c) in that game it is easier because you just choose the good players and let them score the points.

        Captaincy introduces significant variance into distribution of the GW scores. If I were only able to produce one algorithm for FPL it would be focused on captaincy. It would probably be complex (upwards of 20 variables), but if it provided even a 5% edge over the masses it would be significant.

        1. ArgyllArgyle
          • 5 Years
          5 years, 1 month ago

          I agree.

      3. RustyBz
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        So... Salah(C) this GW?

        1. ArgyllArgyle
          • 5 Years
          5 years, 1 month ago

          Yep, thought he would be the player in my team who would score most point this week.

      4. Amey
        • 5 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        You have pumped me up 😀
        Auba Captain over Salah locked IN !!!

        1. ArgyllArgyle
          • 5 Years
          5 years, 1 month ago

          Nice one!

      5. GREEN IS GOOD
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        "In 23 gameweeks, the FFS poll has only matched the actual top scorer once - Aguero - Gameweek 2."

        That's because the person topping the poll is competing with about 200 other players for gw points, so they're unlikely to come top of the points in any given week.

        1. ArgyllArgyle
          • 5 Years
          5 years, 1 month ago

          That is true. And is one of the flaws in what I said. I was trying to make the point that when you have to choose between players of similar levels of ownership, or say above 20% (or simply the best handful of footballers in the game) then even if they don't top the poll, or will be the most captained, there still is a very good chance that they could well outscore any other player that week. It isn't being maverick or going out on a limb to give a great player the armband in a week you reckon he'll do well.

    16. dee_top
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      Bench one:
      A) Deeney v Tot (A)
      B) AWB v Sou (H)

      Also have Speroni

      1. RustyBz
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Trick question? Has to be A

      2. Goat
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Speroni won’t be playing. B

        1. dee_top
          • 6 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          100% info?

          1. Goat
            • 6 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            Well they signed a new GK yesterday because speroni is crap

      3. dee_top
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Oops, AWB away

    17. George James
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      If you went into a game week with 2 FT and used free hit you lose you go back to having 1FT the following week?

      1. Gregor
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Yeah, same as wildcarding I believe.

    18. ZeBestee
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      I know this is probably a foolish question, but my head has been a bit turned around by Higuain. The guy has the ability to be a goal machine in the EPL, very quick in attacking transition, quite clinical as well and his goal scoring history is there for everyone to see.

      My target was to bring in Auba for Mitro, but Higuain is luring me a bit. Chelsea have Bou away, Hudds and Brighton at home in the next 4.

      Give him time and analyze? or get him in early for Mitro in the hope he does well?

      1. HamezMace
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        His price has tempted me, I really thought he'd be £10.5m, although as a Hazard owner I want to see how Higuain benefits Hazard first. I don't see myself having them both, so I'll probably give it until after the BGW27 to decide if I stick with Hazard, or swap him out and bring Higuain in somehow.

      2. Gregor
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Presumably gets some minutes on Sunday so see how he gets on.

      3. Dybala10
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Will be tempted to downgrade Auba to him if he flops again this next GW.

    19. Sting in the Tail
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      Is it fair to say it's pointless asking for or giving any advice on transfers until we know if there is going to be a double game week 25?

      1. FPL price manipulators are …
        • 10 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Yes. Posting on FFS should be suspended for a couple of days

        1. HamezMace
          • 9 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Or we could talk about something else?

          I'll start, the weather, brrrrr it's cold.

    20. james 101
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      Play 3:

      A Digne HUD A
      B Robertson LEI H
      C WanB SOU A
      D Doh WHM H
      E Zanka EVE H

      1. RustyBz
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        A, B & C

      2. Athletic Nasherbo
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        ABD

      3. Volley127
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Abd

      4. Gizzachance
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        A B D

      5. avfc82
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        A, B, D

      6. Gregor
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Doherty, Digne and Robbo.

    21. TaiwanHC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      When will the potential DGW be confirmed? Before or after GW24?

      1. Gregor
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        They’ll want to get it out as soon as possible so should be before, probably Monday.

    22. UnitednationsXI
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      Trying to see how i want my team to look like over the next 2/3gw's (obviously situation will change if theres a gw25 dgw but ignoring that for now).

      Fabianski Button
      Digne Doherty Holebas Schindler XXX
      Pogba Salah Hazard XXX XXX
      Rashford Jimenez XXX

      A: Alonso + Sane/Mane/Eriksen + Kamara
      B: Kola + Punch + Auba
      C: Bedranek + Sane + Mane

      1. Gizzachance
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        C

    23. OneDennisBergkamp
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      With Higuain in and Hazard back on the wing, who loses their place in the Chelsea team?

      1. avfc82
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        I imagine Hazard, Higuain and Pedro will be first choice, which would mean Giroud, Willian, Hudson-Odoi etc will be benched,

        1. OneDennisBergkamp
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Would he risk benching Willian with Barca interest?

          1. avfc82
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • Has Moderation Rights
            • 14 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            Pedro has been much more effective on the right than Willian this season, IMO, so no I don't think Sarri will mind benching him at all. There is bound to be a bit of rotation as well w/ Europa League, so everyone will get minutes.

      2. Holmes
        • 10 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        One of pedro and willian

      3. RustyBz
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Giroud and one of Pedro/Willian

      4. diesel001
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Kepa
        Azpi Luiz Rudiger Alonso*
        Kante Jorginho Kovacic
        Willian** Higuain Hazard

        *Maybe after yesterday Emerson is first choice ahead of Alonso?
        ** Will probably rotate with Pedro

        1. avfc82
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 14 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Looks spot on to me, although Sarri maybe favours Barkley over Kovacic when they need a goal?

          1. diesel001
            • 7 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            Sarri:

            Substitute no 1: Barkley on Kovacic off
            Substitute no 2: Pedro on Willian off
            Substitute no 3: Kept in the bank in case someone gets injured.

            So predictable

            1. avfc82
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • Has Moderation Rights
              • 14 Years
              5 years, 2 months ago

              Ha, I know Chelsea fans have been getting wound up by this! I actually like Sarri though and believe he'll get it right / be successful for them.

      5. Gregor
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Back to the Willian/Pedro rotation.

    24. Gizzachance
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      thoughts?
      have 3 gw 27 blank players
      kepa digne richarlson
      looking at bringing in sane(another gw27 blank} as want rich or anderson out
      would it be best to take out rich, 1 less blank player, or anderson and hope there could be a dgw 25 as people think?
      sure others must have a similar prob, but we can bench some blankers i suppose, cheers

      1. KingOllie
        • 8 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Patience little one - we will know soon about the blanks / dgws

        1. Gizzachance
          • 9 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          cheers

    25. L Ron Cupboard
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      Hi gents,
      Kamara, F Anderson and Duffy >
      Rashford, Westwood and Bednarek for a - 4.
      Any good?

      Allison Boroc
      Robertson Digne Doherty AWB Duffy
      Salah Hazard Pogba F Anderson Deulofeu
      PEA Jimenez Kamara

      Cheers

    26. Jaws
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      With only 8 days left until GW25 I suppose we can assume there won't be any DGW25, right? From previous seasons I can't recall the FA making decisions that late.

      1. Gregor
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        It depends on FA Cup replays or lack thereof so wouldn’t be getting announced until after the weekends games.

      2. Eze Really?
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        Even the police want 12 working days.
        But they could never be released until they knew the cup replays.

      3. potatoace
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        No, it can still happen.
        it was always going to be a very late call. They are waiting for fa cup round to complete

      4. diesel001
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        I'm with you. I think it will cause too much disruption to the police, paramedics and fans to be rearranged so quickly. You can already see Brighton and Everton fans complaining about there being a midweek fixture let alone being rearranged to a date before they were scheduled to play.

    27. Malkmus
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 2 months ago

      who to ditch?

      A - Wilson (for auba)
      B - Anderson (for Sterling or Sane)

      Ta !

      1. Gregor
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        5 years, 2 months ago

        I’d probably do both.

        1. Malkmus
          • 12 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Thanks. What do you think of Wilson to Firmino and Anderson to Sane?

          1. Eze Really?
            • 9 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            Both good.
            I have sane and getting Auba for captain GW27

            1. Malkmus
              • 12 Years
              5 years, 2 months ago

              Ta

          2. Gregor
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • Has Moderation Rights
            • 14 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            Sounds good in the short term, but Firmino’s at Man U and Sané blanks in GW27.

        2. Gregor
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 14 Years
          5 years, 2 months ago

          Just realised that’s probably unaffordable! I’d wait for the DGW news and consider Higuain, if not then get Auba.

          1. Malkmus
            • 12 Years
            5 years, 2 months ago

            Yeah can't do both.

            Annoyingly I am 0.1 off Wilson to Higuaín and Anderson to Sane

            1. Gregor
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • Has Moderation Rights
              • 14 Years
              5 years, 2 months ago

              Aw man, that’s harsh, KDB’s the same price too!

              1. Malkmus
                • 12 Years
                5 years, 2 months ago

                Argh ! cheers anyway, back to the drawing board