Awards

Fraser set for an FPL price rise after a superb season

Ryan Fraser (£6.4m) is the seventh player to be nominated into our Team of the Season.

It was a campaign to remember for the budget Bournemouth asset, as no Fantasy Premier League midfielder or forward with a starting price under £7.5m scored more points than the Scottish winger (181).

Fraser recorded more assists (14) than he had managed in his previous two seasons combined and only two Premier League players, Eden Hazard (£11.0m) and Raheem Sterling (£11.7m), supplied more goals than the Scotland international in 2018/19.

Fraser himself scored on seven occasions, which represented his best-ever tally in a single season.

The Cherries’ winger was the third-most popular midfielder in our poll, gaining 16.07% of the vote:


PlayerNumber of votesShare of vote
Sadio Mane1,06619.73%
Raheem Sterling1,05419.51%
Ryan Fraser86816.07%
Mohamed Salah83315.42%
Eden Hazard65612.14%
Son Heung-min3536.53%
Diogo Jota2294.24%
Gylfi Sigurdsson1212.24%
Luka Milivojevic1182.18%
Richarlison581.07%
Paul Pogba470.87%

The Statistics

Fraser took over 60% of Bournemouth’s corners in 2018/19

A total of 21 attacking returns couldn’t be bettered by any FPL midfielder with a starting price under £8.0m.

Bournemouth’s diminutive winger began the season at £5.5m and, although no other Fantasy midfielder experienced as big a net price rise over the course of 2018/19, Fraser was, at £6.4m, still comfortably the best-value player in his position based on points per million spent (28.3).

No midfielder or forward who started off the season under £6.0m could better his average number of points per match (4.76), either.

As we’ll discuss in our season recap in the section below, there were some lean spells throughout 2018/19 and Fraser blanked in 25 of his 38 appearances.

HomeAway
Total points9586
% of points52.49%47.51%
Points per match5.004.53
Double-digit hauls43
Blanks13/1912/19

There wasn’t a massive disparity between Fraser’s returns at the Vitality and those on his travels, with the Scotsman’s average number of points per match higher on home soil but his blanks fewer on the road.

Fraser actually registered more attacking returns (11) away from home this season, having scored on two occasions and recorded nine assists on the road.

The Scotland international scored five goals and set up the same number at the Vitality.

Two-thirds of Fraser’s attacking returns were assists and it was his creativity that marked him out as a cut-price gem all season.

Hazard and James Maddison (£6.6m) were the only two players to register more key passes than Fraser in 2018/19 but no FPL asset came close to matching the Bournemouth man for big chances created (28).

Indeed, no Premier League player has supplied so many clear-cut opportunities in a single season since Mesut Ozil (£7.9m) in 2015/16 (the German midfielder also registering 28 big chances created that year).

Fraser’s role at set plays is a big part of his appeal and he ranked fourth among FPL assets for corners taken in 2018/19 (116).

He was as much of a threat away from dead-ball situations, though, and only two FPL assets registered more crosses from open play (143) than the Scotland winger last season.

As the FPL returns suggest, Fraser wasn’t as much of a goal threat himself.

Twenty-eight Fantasy midfielders had more attempts on goal than the Scottish winger last season, with the same number being presented with more big chances.

Fraser’s total of 103 penalty box touches was beaten by 23 other players in his Fantasy position.

Season Recap

Fraser’s biggest score of the season (18 points) came against Leicester in September

Fraser started 2018/19 in a positive fashion and his goal (plus three bonus points) against Cardiff City on the opening weekend helped him to the first of seven double-digit hauls.

His biggest score of the season arrived in Gameweek 5 as Fraser scored two goals and set up another in Bournemouth’s 4-2 win over Leicester City on the south coast.

There were then four successive blanks at home before Fraser’s 12-point haul against Huddersfield Town at the Vitality in Gameweek 15 but the diminutive Scotsman had kept things ticking over on the road, recording five assists in his first six away appearances.

Fraser never went more than two Gameweeks without an attacking return in the first half of 2018/19.

The same couldn’t be said after Gameweek 19, however.

Fraser kicked off 2019 in style with a 12-point return against Watford but the budget midfielder was to then blank in 11 of his next 12 appearances, only breaking that wretched sequence with another double-digit haul against Huddersfield in Gameweek 30.

The Bournemouth winger ended the season with one goal and four assists in his final five appearances, a 16-point haul against Brighton representing his best single Gameweek return this calendar year.

Seven straight blanks at home from January to April was a source of frustration for any Fantasy managers who kept hold of Fraser and, after that six-goal thriller against the Hornets in Gameweek 21, the winger’s sole contribution at the Vitality was an assist and three bonus points in the 1-0 win over Spurs in Gameweek 37.

Ownership

Fraser was bought by over 600,000 FPL managers immediately after his 18-point haul against Leicester

Fraser sat in around 1% of FPL teams at the start of 2018/19, with 57,385 managers having drafted the Scottish winger into their squads ahead of Gameweek 1.

The Bournemouth wide-man’s early-season heroics led to a surge in demand for his services, with Fraser’s ownership passing the one-million mark ahead of Gameweek 7 and never again dropping below seven digits.

The consistent returns in the first half of the season saw his ownership reach its peak in Gameweek 17, with around 1.79 million Fantasy managers owning the budget FPL midfielder when Bournemouth took on Wolves at Molineux.

Fraser’s ownership had steadily increased in all bar three Gameweeks up until that point.

There was a degree of desertion over Christmas and that exodus continued slowly into 2019, with around 500,000 managers jumping ship between Gameweeks 18 and 29 as Fraser’s attacking returns dried up.

A late-season revival of interest saw his ownership inch past the 1.5-million mark and Fraser’s price ended at a season-high of £6.4m, having rapidly reached £6.0m by Gameweek 8.

The Prospects

Fraser and Callum Wilson struck up an excellent partnership in 2018/19

As has been the case with most of the players featured in these Team of the Season articles, Fraser will inevitably be handed a price rise in FPL in 2019/20.

It would be a major surprise to see him anything below £7.0m, given that was Pascal Gross‘s (£6.7m) price at the start of this season after his 164 points in 2017/18 (Gross had been priced up at £5.5m at the start of his first campaign in English football).

Even if Fraser had replicated the season he just had while remaining priced at £7.0m, he would still have been the best-value FPL midfielder of 2018/19 based on points per million spent.

There has been much talk surrounding Fraser’s future of late, with Arsenal supposedly linked with a move for the pint-sized winger.

An interesting scenario for Fantasy managers would perhaps be for Fraser to be priced up at £7.0m/£7.5m in FPL upon the game’s release and then seal a transfer to a “big six” club later in the summer, although security of starts would, of course, be more of an issue were he to be snapped up by one of the elite half-dozen teams.

Unai Emery’s rotation policy at the end of 2018/19 was enough for many to stay clear of Arsenal assets and, in that side, Fraser would surely not be able to match the 35 league starts he was afforded by Eddie Howe this season.

Should Fraser stay at Bournemouth then Fantasy managers can perhaps again look to target the Scottish winger when the Cherries’ fixtures ease up: Bournemouth lost ten of their 12 matches against the “big six” last season and, as the below table shows, Fraser had very little to show for his efforts against the top half-dozen clubs.

v rest of PLv Big Six
Goals70
Assists131
Total points15031
Points per match5.772.58
Double-digit hauls70
Blanks14/2611/12

Fraser’s form in the second half of the season was something of an issue and he blanked in 13 of his final 17 appearances.

That may simply have been a regression to the norm, of course: Fraser’s expected goal involvement delta in Gameweeks 22-38 was -0.48, having been +6.48 in the first 21 Gameweeks of the campaign (Hazard was the only midfielder to be overachieving on a grander scale in this time).

It would also be difficult to see Fraser matching his tally of 28 big chances created, a phenomenal total that no-one has beaten in our eight years of recorded statistics.

If Fraser stays on the south coast – and it’s a big if – then a fit and firing Callum Wilson (£6.9m) could be the key to further returns.

Twelve of Fraser’s 21 attacking returns involved Wilson, with the Scotland international having been set up to score by the Cherries’ striker on five occasions and returning the favour in a further seven instances.

As the table below shows, Fraser’s record with Wilson in the side hints at how important the latter is to the Scottish winger’s form (there are some disclaimers, admittedly, given that most of the matches Wilson didn’t start in were games involving top ten clubs):

with Wilson in starting XIwithout Wilson in starting XI
Goals70
Assists130
Total points15620
Points per match5.772.22
Double-digit hauls70
Blanks15/279/9

*Fraser’s appearances in Gameweeks 18 and 20 have both been discounted as he played less than half an hour in each game as a substitute, although he did claim an assist off the bench in the first of those two matches.

60 Comments Post a Comment
  1. diesel001
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    Fraser is a talented player, but like other Bournemouth players is a bit hit and miss. He blanked in 25 of 38 matches last season and Howe mucks about with injury news so if Fraser has a 'knock' people can't work out whether Howe will play him.

    A rise in price to £6.5m or more would put me off him tbh.

    1. Gringo Kid
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      Fraser will leave Bournemouth for sure. Might be an interesting asset if he joins Arsenal.

      1. Geoff
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Pricing him at Arsenal would be even tougher

        1. AuFeld
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          Agreed. Does anyone know how dependent Fraser's performance is with Wilson? Is there a correlation?

          1. Vobinho
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 8 Years
            4 years, 10 months ago

            I was thinking that. My feeling is that Fraser wouldn't produce half his points without Wilson - the amount of times they assisted each other was unbelievable.

            1. Skonto Rigga
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • Has Moderation Rights
              • 6 Years
              4 years, 10 months ago

              See above in the article!

              1. Vobinho
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 8 Years
                4 years, 10 months ago

                Ha, must have missed that part!

                Great stats - unless they’re playing together next year I’m staying away.

          2. Lovren an elevator
            • 8 Years
            4 years, 10 months ago

            Wilson may not be the best pick without Fraser in the team. I'm only looking at Ake or King (if on pens) for next season really. Not sure if Brooks will push on but if so, he could come into my thinking later on

    2. Thomas Jerome Newton
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      Expecting Fraser to increase quite a bit, I was thinking of going Wilson of the Bournmouth players.

    3. Amey
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      Yep
      Wilson maybe the one to go with as Bournemouth attacker.
      Never get points from Fraser 😀

    4. Nomar
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      Brooks is the Bournemouth player to go for next season.

      1. Skonto Rigga
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Think you might be right. £6.0m?

      2. George Sillett
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Brooks is the Tottenham player to go for next season.

        1. Wild Rover
          • 13 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          He wouldn't get in the team

    5. Lovren an elevator
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      I agree. Not really worth playing against the big 6, so therefore he's basically a very luxury rotation option

  2. Duffy Dunk
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    Even if he starts the season at 7.5, I think he'll still be a value pick.
    Fraser in.

    1. Piggs Boson
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      If he had a decent run of fixtures I would too.

      But I'd be surprised if he were still at Bournemouth next season. He would probably improve Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal & United's first team. Rate him highly.

  3. Je suis le chat
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    Glad I'm not diminutive or pint-sized! Sizeist article.

    1. Skonto Rigga
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      It's fine, he was describing me as just-above-average-height failed Geordie ginger writer just last week.

      1. Ginkapo FPL
        • 12 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Oh dont be too hard on yourself, you aint a writer.

        1. Ginkapo FPL
          • 12 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          Sorry, I dont mean it, you just set it up so well.

    2. Bada Bing
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      That's not too bad, there's an NFL running back whose nickname is "Muscle hamster". 🙂

  4. Supersonic Marv'
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    Chelsea imploding before the day of the final even comes around. Some sort of flair up in a live training session. Sarri ended up throwing his hat to the floor and storming off.

    1. Je suis le chat
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      8m reasons for Sarri to storm off. Stealing a living as a manager, never won a thing.

    2. el polako
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      Maybe Kepa said that he will be picking starting XI for the final ?

      1. Amey
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Lol
        He does it usually !!
        I think Sarri must have asked to pick the team for a change (for the last time too 😛 )

  5. Amey
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    Raise your hands if you've been trolled by Fraser ( or Howe 😀 ) throughout the season !!

    1. NIKO.
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      Wilson is one of my biggest Trolls 😀

      1. UnitedFan
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Same here. Very unpredictable when I had him. Fraser was consistent when in my team.

        1. NIKO.
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          Yeah exactly the same for me

      2. Amey
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Yeah
        Both for me actually 😀

    2. Skonto Rigga
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      I was surprised to see Fraser had played in every single Premier League game this season, given how many worries there'd been over his fitness at various stages.

      Had Fraser for GW 1-33 and he was mostly good for me, though I got caught up in the whole 'tied-up value' thing and should have cashed in when the fixtures stiffened.

      Naturally missed out on his haul in GW34 when I Wildcarded, so very much got trolled then.

      1. Amey
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        He was sensational with great stats too.
        I missed his all hauls though.
        Trusted Eddie Howe in gw 5 & sold him on WC to see him score 18 😀

  6. JurgenRodgers
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    Anyone know if Mark will be back in next season?

    1. Wild Rover
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      Mark. Probably not. Shame

  7. Bruno Bruno!!
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    in 96 hours spurs will hopefully be crowned CL winners :). Not because I hate liverpool but ive back spurs

    1. Wild Rover
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      Well you've been made to look a proper tool so far so hope it continues. Not because I hate Spurs but you are an idiot

      1. Gnu
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        He really is, tedious at that.
        Remember it's Anish btw.

        1. Wild Rover
          • 13 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          His performance during the semi final was legendary, especially during the first leg.

          1. Wild Rover
            • 13 Years
            4 years, 10 months ago

            And the build up to the second

            1. Gnu
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 14 Years
              4 years, 10 months ago

              Up for the brass neck award i reckon.

  8. Pilgrim62
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    Guys,
    Do you know, if there is some site you can find out particular team by name of the creator, or by team name ?

  9. FPL price manipulators are …
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    Hypothetically speaking, if the prize for the EL was qualification for EL next season to defend it and the runner up got a CL spot, would you want your team to win or lose in the final?

    1. Amey
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      Win

  10. FPL Blow-In
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    Lo Celso would be a great signing for Spurs. United could do with him.

  11. TorresMagic™
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    The only person with 3 top 1K finishes in the last 3 seasons.

    https://fantasy.premierleague.com/a/entry/4009859/history

    1. THE SHEEP HUNTERS
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      You've linked my team incorrectly I'm afraid.

      1. TorresMagic™
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Thought it was your team.

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

      3 finishes in top 400 sounds even more impressive!

    3. Bald Eagle
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      7th in career HOF, nice.

  12. Chucky
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    Last Reminder.... Sign up on https://icc.dream11.com/classic/ and join FFS league of Cricket World Cup Fantasy game.. Code for FFS league: SL4DYNFE2SXCLM..

    1. Debauchy
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      Cheers Chucky, in

    2. pingissimus
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      Curses

      I’ll be playing a dead team now. Guess it’s gambling laws but can’t access from abroad.

  13. pingissimus
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    If Lukaku goes, who do United fans want in?

    Wilson seems to me to fit the young (sort of) British ethos. If that happened late with Wilson given a Bournemouth FPL price tag it could be tasty.

    (I’ve wondered for a time how Bournemouth can afford to have a 17 mill reserve in Solanke.)

    1. Poseidon.
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      1 of Griezmann or Aguero ideally. I can’t say us paying the sort of money those 2 would demand though.

      We’ll probably end up with Dybala/Icardi

      1. Wild Rover
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Lol, you'll probably end up with Mitrovic. Why would a top player who can pick and choose go to Utd?

      2. St Pauli Walnuts
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Augerooooo! Plonker.