Arsenal

FPL lessons learned from Chelsea’s Europa League thrashing of Arsenal

Even though the 2018/19 Fantasy Premier League campaign is long over, there were still pertinent talking points from Wednesday night’s Europa League final.

Firstly, it was confirmed by Chelsea’s 4-1 victory, that Arsenal would once again compete in the Europa League for 2019/20.

That means a continuation of their Thursday/Sunday schedule during the autumn and spring months, and likely further unpredictable line-ups from manager Unai Emery.

However, there were still plenty of lessons to be learned from the individual performances on show in Baku.

Chelsea 4-1 Arsenal

Goals: Olivier Giroud, Pedro, Eden Hazard x2

Assists: Emerson Palmieri, Hazard, Giroud x2

Two goals and an assist was the perfect send-off for Eden Hazard as he all but confirmed his Chelsea exit at full-time.

While the Belgian is yet to confirm where he will be playing football next season, it does look as if it will not be at Chelsea.

With most of the clubs tipped to sign him outside the Premier League, Real Madrid proving the front-runners, we may well have seen the last of Hazard as an FPL asset.

Considering he recorded his best ever score on the game in 2018/19, and secured three attacking returns in the Europa League, he will be sorely missed next year.

“I think it’s goodbye but you never know. My dream was to play in the Premier League. I did this for seven years in one of the biggest clubs in the world. Now maybe it’s time for a new challenge. I talked about my decision already. I said that two weeks ago. Now it depends on the club. I’m just waiting on both clubs. Like the fans I’m just waiting. You will know in a couple of days.” – Eden Hazard

It will be interesting to see who steps up to take penalties for Chelsea next season with Hazard on the way out.

Jorginho took one in Gameweek 1, but factoring in shoot-outs this season, David Luiz is the only option to have taken more than three spot-kicks and kept a 100% record.

Also potentially stepping up for the Blues in 2019/20 could be Olivier Giroud. His goal in the final ensured that he claimed the Europa League’s Golden Boot trophy, no player scoring as many as his 11 throughout the competition.

That serves to demonstrate what the former Arsenal man can offer next season, if indeed he decides to remain at Stamford Bridge.

That said, Gonzalo Higuaín, still only on loan from Juventus has been in poor form recently and was actually an unused substitute for arguably Chelsea’s biggest match of the season. So it is possible that competition for Giroud’s place could even abate over the summer months.

Also of note to Fantasy managers was further confirmation of Marcos Alonso‘s slip down the pecking order at Chelsea.

Like Higuaín, he was left on the bench for the final with Emerson Palmieri operating at left-back and impressing too – he got an assist for Giroud’s opener and caused plenty of problems for Arsenal on his flank.

As has often been the case away from the Emirates Stadium this season, it was Arsenal’s defence that largely cost them the Europa League title.

Right wing-back Ainsley Maitland-Niles continues to offer a decent threat going forward but was horrendously exposed both by Emerson and Hazard down the left.

He was also clumsy in his tackle on Giroud in the second half, giving away the penalty that put the game truly beyond Arsenal’s reach.

The youngster did not get too much support from his centre-backs either. On the right of the back-three, it was Sokratis Papastathopoulos‘ job to help Maitland-Niles out but he was decidedly poor.

Captain Laurent Koscielny was not his usual assured self in the air and was too easily beaten by Giroud for the opening goal.

Furthermore, Nacho Monreal lacked the pace to put the shackles on Pedro, who joined in the rout.

On the left flank of the 3-4-2-1, Sead Kolasinac was trusted with a start but could not offer any of his usual decent delivery.

A lack of creativity further up the field was a key reason why Arsenal were unable to ask Chelsea too many questions.

With the departure of Aaron Ramsey imminent, they will need to find another midfield creator.

Mesut Özil appears to be the only player in Arsenal’s squad with the ability to fashion opportunities for the front two but he offered very little on Wednesday night.

A creative midfielder will be sorely needed for Arsenal in the summer transfer window but not qualifying for the Champions League could restrict their options.

“Maybe (lack of Champions League football will affect Arsenal’s transfer strategy). But we are a big team. I think Arsenal is a big name in the football world, and a lot of players want to play here. We are in one process and we need, in this process, to be strong. “When we started this season, the idea was to get more competitive, like a team. To be closer to the other teams. And we did that. At the moment it’s not enough to reach our targets. But we’ll continue working in our minds. The transfers, I don’t know for next year. But the club is working to improve and to take all we need to go our way. Also, we have a lot of players with the possibility to improve. We are playing a lot of young players, experiencing a final for the first time. I am positive for our future, creating our way with young players and getting better in our way.” – Unai Emery

19-year-old Joe Willock came on and did a better job of getting service to the forwards but it was too little too late.

That meant that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette were left to feed on scraps, which does not offer much encouragement ahead of next season.

Furthermore, Aubameyang continued to show that spurning big chances is, unfortunately, still part of his game.

Chelsea XI (4-3-3): Kepa; Emerson, D Luiz, Christensen, Azpilicueta; Kovačić (Barkley 76′), Jorginho, Kanté; Hazard (Zappacosta 89′), Giroud, Pedro (Willian 71′).

Arsenal XI (3-4-1-2): Čech; Monreal (Guendouzi 66′), Koscielny, Sokratis; Kolašinac, Xhaka, Torreira (Iwobi 67′), Maitland-Niles; Özil (Willock 77′); Aubameyang, Lacazette.

100 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Amey
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    Lessons learned:

    We're going to miss Eden Hazard in fpl !!

    1. Diva
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      You don't speak for all of us. I'll be delighted when he's gone.

      1. Botman and Robben
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Why so?

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

        Why ??

    2. Ask Yourself
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      He was a hero for me this season shame the rest of my choices were terrible

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

        Yep
        I love him as a player too.
        Just too good sometimes

  2. diesel001
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    South Africa going to be like Brighton in the DGW?

    1. Nightcrawler
      • 4 Years
      4 years, 10 months ago

      De kocks done reasonably well for me with that triple captain chip.

      Fancy the bowlers to get at least 6-7 wickets vs bang for the bowler chip so not too unhappy

      1. Nightcrawler
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Plus 8 wickets vs eng more than good enough

        1. Ask Yourself
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          How does the point scoring work in it can you care to explain or link the page?

            1. Ask Yourself
              • 7 Years
              4 years, 10 months ago

              Nice thank you

  3. Ask Yourself
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 10 months ago

    Wish I played FWC now. Anyone get stokes in their teams lol?

  4. JohnnyMagrinho
      4 years, 10 months ago

      Lessons Learned:

      Hazard is leaving and everything else, well, it might change, it might not. You'd have to see what happens during pre-season to be entirely surely about that, and even then, well, teams are subject to change and nothing is actually set in stone. So yeah, basically, the lesson learned he is that Hazard is probably leaving.

      Cool.

      1. JohnnyMagrinho
          4 years, 10 months ago

          SURE and HERE.

          We need an edit button for morons like me who apparently can't type properly.

          Or a grammar check would be good - would've caught both of those errors.

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

            Grammar check is interesting and hasn't really been brought up.. spell check is useful but doesn't fix everything obviously. I'll see how easy that is to implement

            1. Old Man
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 12 Years
              4 years, 10 months ago

              Don't start me on the
              "could of"
              "should of"
              and "would of"
              horror grammar on here. I genuinely believe that a large proportion of the younger generation actually believe that it's correct English. It's certainly not helped by hearing Shearer say "should of" every five minutes on the box/radio.

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

                Yeah, I so strongly feel the same. Although that's not one that gets to me as much as some others do

          2. Epic Fail
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 13 Years
            4 years, 10 months ago

            An edit/delete button is one of the few things that I think the site really misses. Even if it is only available for the first minute or 2 after posting.

            I remember a while back I accidentally posted a reply fail about something humorous to someone who had posted a very serious health related post. This was the days of the downvotes and the downvotes were through the roof (floor?) for that one.

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

              Yeah largely agree. I forget how much I've said publicly about site updates but I've got one for sorting comments and RMTs, helping comments be about articles, etc that I think will make a massive difference and after that we can look at other things.

              Not that other things aren't being done now I guess.. some tweaks to the Twitter widget and the Fixture Ticker work is underway and all looking good

              1. Epic Fail
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 13 Years
                4 years, 10 months ago

                What are your thoughts on the site having an inbox for users?

                I can see why you wouldn't want it, but worth the ask.

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

                  I want it.

                  I'm close to having a simple notifications bubble tested and hopefully live, probably used just when I need to speak with someone or for general site updates maybe. That's the first step towards on site notifications for replies (which I want very badly).

                  I see problems with an inbox but, for me, it works if users could use a follow function, and only communicate in an inbox with someone they follow and who follows them. I'd support it with that in place

                  1. Epic Fail
                    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                    • 13 Years
                    4 years, 10 months ago

                    All sounds good to me. I like the only being able to message someone who follows you, that will make sure it can't be used for spam or by bots then.

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

                      Yeah and reduces any potential DM abuse

                  2. Deulofail
                    • 8 Years
                    4 years, 10 months ago

                    Notification: Your friend DEULOFALE approves of your reply to a thread by JOHNNYMAGRINHO

                    1. Epic Fail
                      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                      • 13 Years
                      4 years, 10 months ago

                      Snitches aren't allowed to use this feature. 😉

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

                        I can see that Epic Fail has replied but there's no content in the message. Glad to see the first-access special member features working well.

                        Emphasis on special member.

                  3. Connor Wickham
                    • 10 Years
                    4 years, 10 months ago

                    How about a search function for comments? I think the ability to login and search "vardy" for all recent comments would streamline my processes and surely help reduce the amount of repeated posts.

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

                      Control F does that per page.

              2. Deulofail
                • 8 Years
                4 years, 10 months ago

                On-site notifications :):):):)

      2. Ask Yourself
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Mod request is being able to see who has upvoted your posts so we can know who our friends are please x

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

          Yeah, for now it's just admin (me) who can see that. Interesting one

          1. Ask Yourself
            • 7 Years
            4 years, 10 months ago

            I know an I am jealous, Geoff

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

              The one above is from me 😉

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

                No, it's from me. Ask Yourself, "is he lying?"!

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

                  Ehhh?
                  Actually it's from me.

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

                  Have yourself a -1 😀

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

                    Street cred +1 😎

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

                      Street cred revoked, snitch 😉

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

                        Geoff, please arbitrarily ban this user ^

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

                    😀
                    First time I've seen a -1

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

                      Didn't last long ⏳

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

                        Ha ha

                        1. Fantasy Gold
                          • 9 Years
                          4 years, 10 months ago

                          Upvoted 😉

                          Or did I?

                    2. Syd.
                      • 14 Years
                      4 years, 10 months ago

                      Use to get plenty of them back in the good old days

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

                        I got 32 for one post once.

                        1. Syd.
                          • 14 Years
                          4 years, 10 months ago

                          I can believe that 😉

        2. Syd.
          • 14 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          You can rest assured that it isn't me 😉

      3. umerlfc
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Crickey World Cup Fantasy Players:

        We can use 3 chips in every round?

        1. Fantasy Gold
          • 9 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          Yep

        2. VanDijksToWatchOutFor
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          Outrageous isn't it. Frustratingly you don't seem to be able to schedule them. You have to do it when it's the next match

      4. VanDijksToWatchOutFor
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        CWC fantasy roundup.

        544.5 today. 8 to play plus c and vc. Batting and TC chips left.

        How did everyone else do?

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

          What's your overall rank?

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

            93.

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

              Well done!

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

                Thanks. Very fortunate with my bowling chip and stokes.

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

          305.75 with 8 , c, vc and bowling & TC chips left

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

            Bowling chip seems to be enormous, especially if you can get it to compound with your c and vc.

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

              Both my captains are batsmen so probably wont get as much from it.

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

                Not an unreasonable choice by any means. The game does seem to be set to reward batsmen more. Could well work out well.

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

          Great start for you... SA players let me down... hopefully they do better vs bang.... Shadab 5fer and Babar 100 needed today 😀

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

            I have Gayle and Russell today... hoping the Windies get another 400+!

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

              Unlucky on pakistan opening the batting. That pair was solid though.

          2. VanDijksToWatchOutFor
            • 6 Years
            4 years, 10 months ago

            Yeah, disaster captained amla so need him to go big against bangladesh. Good luck tomorrow.

      5. Freshy
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Shouldn't we be hearing about Haz transfer fees fights between RM & CHE?
        I would guess 150M

        1. Syd.
          • 14 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          80m max.... Only 1 year left on his contract and he is no spring chicken.

          1. WE ARE RANGERS
            • 7 Years
            4 years, 10 months ago

            90 million plus a possible 25 million in add ons

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

          Absolutely no way he goes for less than 110m

          1. Syd.
            • 14 Years
            4 years, 10 months ago

            Do you think there is a chance you lot will sign him?

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

              My understanding is that this was his ideal move but Chelsea are blocking it (didn’t want to sell to another PL club) so he’s settling for Madrid.

        3. Ask Yourself
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          115m is the figure he’ll be earning 400k a week

        4. noquarternt
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          They'll settle around £100 mill I would've thought.

      6. Syd.
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        Danny Murphy was on Talk Sport today

        He claimed that if Liverpool, Man Utd or Celtic had got to the Europa League final in Baku that there would be 30,000 supporters there regardless if they didn't have a ticket.

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

          United might have 30k fans in baku right now, I suppose. Other than that it’s good of Murphy to remove himself from the pool of strong pundits.

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

          To be fair, he's right.

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

          Agree with him on Utd. We probably have 30,000+ fans that are residents of Baku. Same for Loserpool tbf

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

        Do we have a problem

        Smell like gateway spirit

        1. Syd.
          • 14 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          The gate has been bolted and all is good

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

        Is this the latest thread ???

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

          The picture sickens me 🙁

          1. G-Whizz
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • Has Moderation Rights
            • 6 Years
            4 years, 10 months ago

            You should make like a tree and...

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

              Root!

        2. cravencottage
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 12 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          Really dead in here

      9. SAY MY NAME
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        strategy question:

        in your wise opinions is it necessary to have big hitters (I guess primarily for captaincy options) - looking for different strategies this year to mix it up a bit and wondering if overall points return of having an overall 'good' team might get more than big hitters + some good + some fodder

        eg fill the team with bilva/siggy/kdb type players and do without sterling/salah type players - would give such a better overall team, with no 'weak' spots, but lacking the big captaincy options

        has anyone ever done a statistical analysis of this type of thing? thanks

        ps - if not, i'll be going salah+sterling but with pukki and billy sharp up front lol

        1. SAY MY NAME
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          as it's complete deadzone i'll answer myself:

          overall good team is fine but you really need at least one, preferably 2 big hitters for captaincy options, cut the cloth accordingly elsewhere

        2. Saint Steve-O (@EliteFPL)
          • 9 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          The flaw in your point is that most big hitters deliver consistently and you'd have a captaincy headache unless you left on TAA lol (presuming you'd have heavy defense)

      10. SAY MY NAME
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        strategy question #2 🙂

        stats wise it seems best option is something like a 5-3-2 formation as greatest value per million is in defence, followed by midfield , then strikers - in the past it paid to have big hitters up front but the value from kane/auba/kun is much less these days compared with premium players in other positions

        I always play 3-5-2 but looking for new ways and tempted to go heavy in defence, eg taa/robbo/laporte/digne/azpi or other, cheap strikers, and whatever I can afford in the middle, usual suspects....

        thoughts?

        1. Men in green tights
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          will be playing 4 at the back this season made up with a combo of 4or 5 in mid

          1. SAY MY NAME
            • 6 Years
            4 years, 10 months ago

            I think that's probably the sensible balance

        2. Saint Steve-O (@EliteFPL)
          • 9 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          Well, again, your hedging your bets that your defense will get minimum of 3 CS, yes probability is high mind, so give it a go

      11. SAY MY NAME
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        when do we get our first price teaser early announcements? I guess beginning of July ish?

        1. Men in green tights
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          end of june I guess

      12. SAY MY NAME
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        I'm expecting good things from Bilva next season - next season's must have, especially if Sane is sold/frozen out

      13. SAY MY NAME
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 10 months ago

        if KDB comes in at 9.5 he could be a shoe-in too

        1. Men in green tights
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 10 months ago

          you must be bored speaking to yourself

          1. SAY MY NAME
            • 6 Years
            4 years, 10 months ago

            nah, I'm used to it lol 🙂

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

          10 more posts buddy !!
          We'll get a new page 😉

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

        What are the price projections for Kanté next season?

        I never really considered him at all this season but watching him the other night I could see his attacking returns be pretty decent in his price range if Sarri stays.

        I’d certainly look at him as a 5.0 in a 3-5-2.

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

          I’m working on the basis here that the 4.5-5.0 mid is one slot where transfers rarely feel optimal. He’s at a top 6 club and is right up there for season value which in his price range is a decent parameter.

          He’d be my slightly more expensive Camarasa alternative from the season just gone.