Awards

Vote for the best FPL defenders of 2019/20

The Fantasy Football Scout end of season awards continue this week with another poll for you to vote in.

We started the week looking at goalkeepers, but it is time to focus on defenders, overall points, price and value in Fantasy Premier League all factors to consider.

2019/20 was another season for flying wing-backs with an interesting overlap with last season’s best performers…

2018/19 Team of the Season Review – Defenders

  • Goalkeeper: Alisson
  • Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson, Matt Doherty
  • Midfielders: Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah, Raheem Sterling, Ryan Fraser, Eden Hazard
  • Forwards: Raúl Jiménez, Sergio Aguero

It is not so often that we see this but each one of last season’s best defenders managed to follow up with another strong campaign in the following year.

Just over 12 months ago, Liverpool pair Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson tied the vote on a share of 25.1% each having scored 185 and 213 points respectively.

This time around, despite a drop in clean sheets, both full-backs secured more attacking returns than in 2018/19, Robertson total rising from 12 to 14 and Alexander-Arnold’s from 14 to 19.

Matt Doherty also went from strength-to-strength in 2019/20. The Wolves wing-back’s first full Premier League campaign yielded a total of four goals, seven assists, eight clean sheets and a final score of 144.

It was up to 167 points for Doherty this time, which we’ll cover in more detail below…

2019/20 CANDIDATES

Trent Alexander-Arnold

What Liverpool win at Leicester means for FPL assets involved
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson and Andrew Robertson in action for Liverpool

What a year it has been for Trent Alexander-Arnold, finishing the campaign with more points than any other FPL defender (210).

In the end, he was agonisingly close to breaking the record for highest season score in that position, set by Robertson’s 213 points in 2018/19, but a Gameweek 38+ benching robbed him of the opportunity.

However, the fact that Alexander-Arnold got so close to that tally is a telling reminder of what he has to offer. Remember that Robertson reached 213 points with 21 clean sheets to back it up; his right-sided counter-part got three points shy with seven fewer shut-outs.

It was, of course, attacking returns that set the tone for Alexander-Arnold in 2019/20, as he involved himself in 19 of Liverpool’s goals.

Direct free-kicks were mostly responsible for his four strikes, while a total of 15 assists was at least three more than any other defender this season, and seven more than Lucas Digne, who finished third for that particular statistic.

Accordingly, Alexander-Arnold secured seven double-figure Gameweek scores, including a record-breaking 24-point haul at Leicester during the winter.

Matt Doherty

Matt Doherty continues to fly the flag for something of a dying breed in FPL over recent years: the flying wing-back.

Wolves’ 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 systems have both featured the Republic of Ireland international in advanced positions once again in 2019/20.

As a result, despite a price-hike to £6.0m, Doherty still offered value, with four goals, eight assists, 12 clean sheets and 167 points overall. That made him the only non-Liverpool player in the top-four among defenders.

It was really the second half of the campaign that the right wing-back’s explosive potential became apparent, as his attacking capabilities were finally combined with reliable defensive returns.

Wolves had always been good at keeping things tight during Nuno Espirito Santo’s Premier League campaign but often struggled to convert this into clean sheets.

Willy Boly’s return to the side from injury in Gameweek 25 made all the difference. Between then and the end of the campaign, Wolves kept nine clean sheets from a possible 14, the joint-best in the division.

As a result, Doherty registered four double-figure hauls during this period, blanking on just two occasions. A price rise to £6.5m seems inevitable for 2019/20 but if Wolves keep up their clean sheet output, it may be a price well worth paying.

John Lundstram

FPL 2019/20 In Review Part One - Goalkeepers and Defenders

What can we say about this man that hasn’t already been said? A one-man cheat code for much of the 2019/20 season, John Lundstram will go down in Fantasy Premier League history like nobody ever has done before.

A £4.0m defender starting as a box-to-box midfielder in a team that can keep clean sheets meant ‘the Lord’ could offer various scoring avenues.

While he was well-known in the Fantasy Football Scout community during pre-season, the rest of the world first discovered Lundstram in Gameweek 2 when he scored the solitary goal in a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace and registered a 14-point haul.

It got even better in Gameweek 11 when he scored twice in a 3-0 win over Burnley and came away with a whopping 21 points from one match.

Admittedly, Lundstram was unable to spend the entire of the season in the Sheffield United side, losing his place to Sander Berge just before lockdown, but he still managed a fair number of starts afterwards, adding a goal on the final day of the season.

But it is hard to say 2019/20 was not a success for him as a Fantasy asset. Five goals, four assists, 10 clean sheets, 15 bonus, 144 points, an average of 4.3 per game, all for a man who started the season at £4.0m.

A shift to midfield and likely price-hike to above £5.5m awaits for Lundstram, but we can still cherish the memories.

Ricardo Pereira

It might be a long time since Ricardo Pereira was a much-discussed Fantasy asset considering his pre-lockdown injury, but in the first half of the campaign, he was up there with the best.

Between Gameweeks 1 and 15, Leicester’s right-back was joint-top for clean sheets among defenders with a total of seven as the Foxes made a lightning-fast start to 2019/20.

At that point, Pereira was level with Jonny Evans and Çaglar Söyüncü but had more attacking returns at the time and was playing in a more advanced role.

That had helped the Portuguese international score 82 points in the first 15 matches of the campaign, at an average of 5.5 per game.

Things tailed off for Pereira as Leicester’s form dipped and he picked up an injury between Gameweeks 29 and 30+, but there is still plenty of potential going forward if he can get fit for 2020/21.

Andrew Robertson

As previously mentioned, Robertson could not quite match his record-breaking 213-point season tally from 2018/19 this time around but a score of 181 is nothing to be sniffed at.

The clean sheets did drop off for Liverpool this year, the Scottish international able to capitalise on a total of 13, but he more than made up for that short-coming as he pushed forward.

Registering the same number of assists as the previous campaign (12), Robertson advanced his goal threat in the Premier League during 2019/20, netting twice.

That helped him average five points per game this season and, as the campaign wore on, he started to find himself matching Alexander-Arnold’s output once again.

Between Gameweeks 31+ and 38+, Liverpool’s Beckham-esque right-back got just three attacking returns. Increasing his role in corners, Robertson doubled that tally with one goal and five assists combining for involvement in six of Liverpool’s strikes.

Another price-hike seems likely for the left-back in 2020/21, and we could see yet another campaign of debate over which Liverpool full-back is the better option.

Caglar Söyüncü

As mentioned above, Söyüncü was one of those Leicester defenders who had produced more defensive returns than others in the same positon during the first 15 Gameweeks.

It was the Turkish international who achieved the highest levels of popularity as a result, considering his kind starting price of £4.5m.

Even when he hit £5.0m at the height of Leicester’s powers, that was still better value than those around him in the Foxes’ defensive unit and there was, of course, some attacking threat too.

During the period in question he assisted in a 2-1 win over Sheffield United before posting a 14-point haul for a goal, clean sheet and three bonus against Crystal Palace in Gameweek 11.

Like Pereira, things tailed off for Söyüncü after Leicester hit their rough patch, keeping just five clean sheets from Gameweek 16 onwards and not adding to his attacking returns.

Despite that poor second half of the campaign, price rises are probably incoming for Leicester defence, even if it’s just by £0.5m, which will make it harder to consider Söyüncü in 2020/21.

Virgil van Dijk

Virgil van Dijk is often seen as third-fiddle to Alexander-Arnold and Robertson but finishing as the third-highest-scoring FPL defender is nothing to be sniffed at.

Despite that aforementioned drop-off in clean sheets (from 20 to 15 for van Dijk), Liverpool’s centre-back still ended up with 178 points, just three shy of Robertson.

Playing every minute of the cmpaign certainly helped, which may come into play a lot more for Fantasy managers next season when the price gap between van Dijk and the full-backs expands and Neco Williams starts taking starts off their hands.

It is also worth pointing out that 2019/20 provided more double-figure hauls for van Dijk than it did Robertson. While the left-back recorded just one, the Dutch international managed two of them.

The first came when he scored both goals in a 2-1 win against Brighton, racking up 17 points, before 15 were posted in 2-0 win over Manchester United.

DON’T FORGET TO VOTE

1,125 Comments Post a Comment
  1. wulfrunian
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 8 months ago

    Doherty's points 19/20 167
    Doherty's points 18/19 144
    He wasn't in my team this season so this is a big surprise.

    1. Greek Freak
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 8 months ago

      Doherty has been great - just as good attacking-wise as the seasno before, but Wolves have fixed their annoying tendency to have a good defence that keeps conceding 1 goal per match.

      Also worth noting that Doherty played about 300 minutes less this season, and still comfortably outscored his 18/19 self.

      1. The Polymath
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 8 months ago

        Boly was injured most of the season. The up-turn happened following his return. Maybe he should be on the list.

        1. Greek Freak
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 8 months ago

          Yes, absolutely - but Boly played most of the 18/19 season and Wolves underperformed in terms of clean sheets kept. My point was how many more they kept this season vs. last.

        2. The Polymath
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 8 months ago

          12 CS in 22 matches

          1. The Polymath
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 8 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            12 CS in 22 Matches With Boly

            1 CS in 16 Matches without Boly

            1. tm370
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 9 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Remarkable stat.

            2. IN SANE IN DE BRUYNE
              • 7 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Wow!

  2. Brosstan
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 8 months ago

    I mean, does this really even need a poll? 😀

    1. Andy_Social
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 8 months ago

      "He" isn't on 100%, oddly. But yeh, nah.

  3. Coys96
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 8 months ago

    Hopefully Che Adams in 5.5m next season. Would be straight in my team as a 3rd forward.

    Great to rotate with 5th mid!

    1. Licky
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 8 months ago

      I remember having him in my team before the start of this season just passed for a long time before finally opting against it, i hope he becomes an option next season.

    2. Now I'm Panicking
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 8 months ago

      I imagine there will be a lot of players we want in our teams if they are underpriced.

      1. MosF94
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 8 months ago

        5.5 is a fair price for Adams though, based on this season's performance from him

    3. The Mighty One
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 8 months ago

      Eye test down the stretch though...I often said “this dude is awful”. I doubt he will be 5.5 anyway.

  4. Andy_Social
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 8 months ago

    To be fair, TAA would have been the pre-season favourite and merely met expectations, whereas the Lord has a case. 4.0 fodder, not expected to get many minutes in what was expected to be a useless defence at this level.

    1. Greek Freak
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 8 months ago

      On the other hand, the only reason Lundstram is even in this poll is because FPL towers screwed up and didn't know he was a central midfielder.

      1. Andy_Social
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 8 months ago

        I'm not sure he started enough games in the Championship for their fans to be sure of his position!
        Anyway, as the article suggests, he's a one-hit wonder, destined for midfield obscurity next season.

    2. @persecuted_by_mods
        3 years, 8 months ago

        Agreed, that's why TAA for next year is actually so scary. If Liverpool get their 2018/19 defensive form back, which is likely without Adrian playing 10/11 games as he did this season. Then TAA is gonna get an insane amount of points

        1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
          • 14 Years
          3 years, 8 months ago

          Scary to think how high he can go - I'd say it's not too long before he steps up to take a penalty either you know!

          With that type of right boot he wouldn't be missing too many of them...

          The good thing is there's no danger of a reclass to midfield ether as he playing in a back 4

          1. Greek Freak
            • 8 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            I don't think Salah would be in any mood to let someone else take a penalty! He doesn't strike me as a - how do you say - generous type when it comes to sharing the ball.

            1. Brosstan
              • 9 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Salah shouldn't be anywhere near the penalty spot with Fabinho on the pitch

              1. @persecuted_by_mods
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Has he taken one this year? I can't remember

                  1. Greek Freak
                    • 8 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    Nobody other than Salah and Milner has taken a penalty in the league.

                • Greek Freak
                  • 8 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Absolutely - I did this quiz a couple of days ago: https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2020/07/27/vote-for-the-best-fpl-goalkeeper-of-2019-20/?hc_page=1&hc_sort_by=comment_date#hc_comment_22224182

                  Fabinho is the second best penalty taker in the whole league statistically, just a fraction behind Raul Jimenez.

              2. @persecuted_by_mods
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  True, but if they earn one and Salah is off the pitch and Milner plays less and less could be TAA stepping up

                  1. Greek Freak
                    • 8 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    I don't know what TAA is like with penalties obviously, but in terms of record Fabinho is definitely the man to be stepping up.

                • Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
                  • 14 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Not right away, but maybe in the coming years though

                  TAA is 21 ... Salah is 28 - time is one the side of one of them!

          2. Don Van Vliet
            • 10 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            I wouldn't say Sheffield Utd's defence was 'expected' to be useless going into last season, by any stretch. Far from it, in fact.

        2. jimski
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 8 months ago

          I'm surprised here isn't a hot topic on whether deadline changes are desriable to avoid team leaks yet! It's all over FPL twitter...

          1. SADIO SANÉ
            • 8 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            the 'pro' pundits on here trying to keep their edge over casuals 😀

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

            You can flag this for a HT if you like https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/comment/22225995

            1. jimski
              • 13 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Thanks.

          3. Andy_Social
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            Never been mentioned over here.

        3. wulfrunian
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 8 months ago

          No Tarkowski in his best season.The defender with the most cs in the PL.

          1. MrBoombastic
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            2 Leicester defenders in there, when Tarkowski, most of the Sheff U defence and even Dunk outscored them both.

            Egan started at the same price as Soy and got 13 more points

          2. Dion D's Solo Shower
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            Agreed, don't think Pereira should be on the list, so Tark could/should have replaced him there. Tark even had a two-game run with attacking returns!

        4. pingissimus
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 8 months ago

          Getting interested in player combinations in triple ups on likely cs runs. Returning to my Ederson obsession in late season.

          My theory was that Ederson was the best 3rd City player to hold once a cs run was on the cards. His points total was likely to closely equal any 3rd City attacker over the run and was rarely going to be significantly beaten in a routine 5-0. Holding Ederson was efficient as it minimised transfers and was a potential +4 or even + 8 over roulette players. Here's how it stacked up from 30+ in the end

          Ederson 51 points
          Mahrez 54 points
          Dilva 49 points
          Foden 50 points
          Jesus 49 points

          Clearly there's an optimal solution where you hop and off the mids and attackers to get something way over the 50 points. But that entails roulette and using up effective minus 4s over the ever-present Ederson. The roulette risk is not just minutes but spread of points. There was no real logic to who hauled in each match.

          Equally there was no great benefit in holding 3 attackers when there was a 5-0 type result. The 3rd best attacker in these matches

          Sterling v Norwich 8 points over Ederson 7
          Mahrez v Brighton level with Ederson on 6 points
          Foden v Liverpool 12 points over Ederson 6
          Dilva v Burnley 9 points over Ederson 6

          12 points loss but 4 different names there of course and a very low probability of holding the right attacker in each of those games.

          Pope over Ederson? 42 points played 51 points - just about exactly his season average once you delete pen save.

          1. SADIO SANÉ
            • 8 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            Pope + Foden was probably better than Ederson + Guendouzi or whatever 😀

            might be merit in it - but if you had, and kept, Sterling, KDB, Mahrez/Silva and captained at the right ish times then having Ederson instead of one really wouldn't have helped

            1. SADIO SANÉ
              • 8 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              the fact the 3rd best attacker didn't outscore Ederson much doesn't really matter if Sterling gets a 7 as third top scorer followed by a 21 as best scorer, they all took turns scoring big points - if you had 3 of them you were likely to get the haul Ederson wasn't capable of, whilst Pope was rattling off clean sheets

              1. pingissimus
                • 5 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Not quite so sure actually

                If you took Sterling KdB as the base and captain option then the 3rd attacker is moot. And as I’ve just commented not having a 3rd attacker left you an extra option in midfield.

                The 3rd attacker was key only if you captained him successfully in a week when KdB or Sterling didn’t haul

                1. Andy_Social
                  • 11 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Yeah, my thinking is to choose all my captaincies from a trio of premium midfielders. Thus I wouldn't be looking at 10m+ strikers. I'm hoping to be able to afford Jimenez, Ings and Greenwood. If not 2 of them will be fine.

            2. pingissimus
              • 5 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              In my case it would have done

              Part of the idea of Ederson closely matching a mid was that it freed up at attack slot - especially in midfield where there were heaps of options

              As it turned out I made a rogue double hit to go Mo Mahrez over Sterling Martial - with captaincy that cost me 60 points plus in the end

              1. SADIO SANÉ
                • 8 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                yeah I mean, you could have had Ederson, Antonio, Martial, Kane or whatever instead of getting a City mid/fwd which is epic - anything can happen I guess, but you also could have just got Pope and those players + a bit extra to spend elsewhere

                1. pingissimus
                  • 5 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  For sure if I had had Pope from 30 or WC in hand then I might well not have gone Ederson. Decent price difference of course

                  (Very much eyeing up Laporte depending on fixtures and so on. For such an accident prone lot City do have a great cs record over the last 2 seasons. The stars need to align first though 🙂 )

                  1. SADIO SANÉ
                    • 8 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    yeah true, I didn't even realise they had that many CSs - shame on nailedness, need a Zinchenko/Walker injury

          2. jtreble
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            Interesting, I did the exact same “Ederson” move for MCI’s late season run ...

            1. Andy_Social
              • 11 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Considered it, but I decided it was better to have a safe Pope and 3 City midfielders, accpeting one would be dropped many GWs. Likely to adopt the same strategy again.

              1. jtreble
                • 7 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Maybe. The tough call for me this coming season though is whether or not to include Foden in a MCI triple up ... :). Haven’t decided yet.

          3. Deulofail
            • 8 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            I appreciate the effort, but I don't really see much value in these data and shallow analysis.

            You don't know who the third best attacker is going to be in any given match. You also don't know when a string of CSs is likely to occur (and this will probaby coincide with matches in which the attackers are also good for returns).

            I'm not fan of these arguments from a cover perspective tbh. You need to compare like to like and combinations to combinations. Ignoring who the other attacker would or could be means you can't close the loop and make conclusions.

            Also, it's only really a useful tool when planning future combinations, using projections/predictions. Looking at the data for a few players over the course of a few games will lead to a false conclusion half the time due to the variance.

            1. pingissimus
              • 5 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Can you clarify your point about cover? Don’t follow

              City already had one of the best defensive records leading into this run and it was a beautiful run of fixtures. Calling cs runs is dicey of course but the DGW to start it off with Ederson as the only nailed City player an easy call in 30 anyway.

              Yes the 3rd attacker is unpredictable - agreed on that. My point is at least partially a 3rd attacker was of limited value in any case despite the fixture.

              1. Deulofail
                • 8 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Here's how I see it. 🙂

                You're trying to cover the entity of "Man City". But they are not a natural class in the game. Yes, there is a restriction that you can only have three players who have the feature [Team:City], and, yes, those players do have the same fixtures.

                However, this is barely predictive of how well they will score. I would treat there predicted points as completely independent of the colour of their shirt in the FPL game: Foden is as good as he is as an FPL option; it doesn't matter that he plays for City. Ederson is a GK and should be compared to other goalkeepers; it doesn't matter that he plays for CIty.

                If you try to cover City, then you are ignoring all the other players in the game for that position, and that's the crucial skill in FPL imo: choosing the best combination from all available players.

                The only way in which the team matters is that you know you will be (fairly arbitrarily) restricted to only 3 of them. The only way I see the feature of [team:] to be useful is when planning to rotate players.

                1. pingissimus
                  • 5 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Aha 🙂

                  I’m not really covering aside from the fact that I’m looking at defence as a source of points. Getting Ederson in is cover in exactly the same way as getting Pope in no? Fewer baps etc but higher ceiling for cs. 100% nailed and in the top 2 imo for probable returns

                  My counter argument is that anyone who went Foden Dilva (that’s me) Mahrez or Jesus were the ones covering - picking the shirt not the player. With limited minutes and shared returns only the cheap options offered likely value unless you start playing roulette and went big on captaincy

                2. The Mighty One
                  • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                  • 14 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Let’s henceforth cut and paste this into any post that mentions “coverage”. Well written!

                  1. pingissimus
                    • 5 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    He was the only one mentioning or thinking about coverage!!! Strawman killed success 🙂

          4. ElliotJHP
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            I went with Ederson for the run-in with two City Mids until FH38.

            I am not interested in Pope at 5.5, no guarantee Burnley are the same side next season, for the 0.5 more you'd expect City to be top 3 for clean sheets again.

            Started this season with Ederson and regretted it though, maybe best of the 4.5s is the way to go again.

        5. Camzy
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 8 months ago

          Planning team structures for next season.

          This year, we have seen a clear switch to favor 3-5-2 as a formation. It had the highest scoring average among the top overall players and anecdotally, I played it more and found more successful with that formation throughout the year. With that in mind, here are 3 different structures that could work well for 3-5-2.

          1. Double Liverpool defense, light forwards.

          5.0 4.0
          8.0 7.0 5.0 4.0 4.0
          12.0 11.5 9.5 6.0 6.0
          7.5 6.0 4.5

          2. Premium mids. (Salah, KdB, Sterling)

          5.0 4.0
          8.0 5.5 4.5 4.5 4.0
          12.0 12.0 11.5 6.5 5.5
          6.5 6.0 4.5

          3. Budget defense - no TAA. Premium FWD.

          5.0 4.0
          5.5 5.0 4.5 4.5 4.0
          12.0 11.5 9.5 7.0 6.0
          10.5 6.5 4.5

          A lot is gonna depend I think on fixtures. 3 with Kane seems quite nice. I'm imagining 4 heavy hitters like Salah, Sterling, Ziyech, Kane. But if the fixtures don't align, maybe that isn't the best.

          This is also highlighting the fact that we're gonna find it extremely hard to fit the players we want in at the start. Salah, KdB, Bruno only fits in structure 2 and you lose a premium forward slot and also no double Liverpool defense. It's really tough to balance.

          I think starting with Salah, KdB, Sterling could be good again but this year it's gonna cost an additional 2.5m because of KdB who will surely cost 12m next season. Kane at 10.5m under Mourinho seems tempting as well. He's scored very well post injury return and is super nailed on with pens. I think he's probably better than Martial who will come in at a similar or just slightly lower price.

          Bruno as well looks outstanding as an FPL asset. His pricing will determine a lot. 10m and I think he's a shoe-in. If he's 10.5m or 11m though it's less appealing especially when you can pick up Sterling (probably 11.5m).

          Excited for next season. But definitely looks like team balance caps heavy hitters at 4. 3 for the ultra premium mids. There's no way you can get Salah, Sterling, KdB and Bruno in a team reasonably without having a severely hit defense/fwd line that makes it not worthwhile.

          1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
            • 14 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            Funny i was just thinking the opposite earlier in that we're being backed into a situation where there are too many strikers to choose from!

            Ings, Jimmy, Greenwood, Martial, Vardy (look at his GW29-36 - with no Maddison, Pereira, Chilwell)

            Kun, Auba, Kane in the premium tiers - Jesus might get more minutes

            Then throw Werner in there as well with Pulisic, Ziyech, Havertz tee-ing him up...

            1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
              • 14 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              The players i'm really set on FWIW are TAA, Bruno, KDB, Ings - probably Pulisic as well, but Maybe Werner instead (or as well) depending on prices

              That gives a problem though in that only one slot is then available from Jimmy, Greenwood, Martial, Vardy, Kun, Auba, Kane, Rashford...

              I'm honestly not fussed on Salah or Mane - I think KDB & Bruno offer as much or more points for as much or less budget, and same potentially with Sterling as KDB just gives so much City attacking "coverage"

              I also hate missing out on Son as he just so good

              But If Rashford or Greenwood somehow get reclassed to mids it would help alot with this type of dilemma though for sure

              1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
                • 14 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                So would shape up something along the lines of (with lots of guessing at prices)

                4.5
                TAA, 4.5, 4.5
                KDB, Bruno, ___, ___
                Ings, Werner, ___
                (4.0, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5)

                Leaving 21.0-ish for 3 starting attackers

                10.0 Vardy, 5.5, 5.5
                9.5 Martial, 6.0, 5.5
                9.0 Pulisic, 6.5, 5.5
                8.5 Jimmy, 7.0, 5.5
                7.5 Greenwood, 7.5, 6.0

                I'd honestly be comfortable in ruling out Salah, Mane, Sterling, Kane, Auba, Kun using this type of structure - and as FPL Last Words go, they don't get much more famous than that lol

                1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
                  • 14 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Maybe the smart play is the tried & trusted Ings, Jimmy, Vardy trio up front, and hop off Vardy to Werner if he hits the ground running, or Martial if Utd keep doing what they've been doing...

                  Don't mind me I'm just having a dialogue with myself here lol 🙂

              2. Camzy
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 13 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                I think Salah is gonna make a huge return this year. His shooting was below xG this year. We know he's capable of being even better up top after seeing his first season. He's the first person on my team sheet followed closely by TAA and then probably Sterling.

                No interest in Ings at 9.0m.

                1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
                  • 14 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  I'd say Ings will be 8.0 hopefully, if he's 9.0 I won't be partaking at that price

                  Even if Salah improves by 10%, he's still only up where Bruno & KDB currently are, and the Mane effect where they both share the limelight is just too frustrating at this stage - it's great for Liverpool mind you, and has drove them to become one of the best *teams* in Europe

                  But it hasn't had a positive effect on Mo from an FPL standpoint

                  What I would say is that, were Mane to pick up a bad injury and/or leave Liverpool - Salah would be instantly into my team, as he doesn't have to share returns

            2. Emp
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 12 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              a minor point but green wont be a striker next season

          2. jtreble
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            I’m going to use a “flexible” structure again with:
            - one premium D
            - one premium M
            - one Premium F
            and then build around this at graduated price points.

          3. ElliotJHP
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            This is great Camzy, also excited for the new season.

            Drafted up a price point outline of my own and it was pretty close to what you have for #1 which is where I would lean.

            I had 9.5 mid and 7.5 forward switched on mine.

            Forward pricing is what I am interested in the most and will likely shape the structure of the team.

          4. Deulofail
            • 8 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            I'm really not a fan of planning anything like this in advance tbh. In fact, I find the battering rams of structure and balance o be counterproductive, both in discussions and FPL planning and points accrument! For me everything just depends on the price and fixtures of every player. Considering any plan before fiddling around after the game is released is futile. It could even change a day before the deadline if I get cold feet about a player or he is injured. The entire XI or 15, structure and everything, could change as a result as I seek out the best value setup in total, rather than in predefined slots.

            My track record isn't exactly impressive though, so maybe don't listen to me.

            1. SADIO SANÉ
              • 8 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              I actually think it helps stem the noise, having some hard rules - the problem is sticking with it - I started the season with an idea until I changed Auba -> Kane (c) and it backfired haha, the idea was this:

              KEEPER
              def TAA def
              mid SALAH STERLING mid
              Wilson AUBA Jota/Pukki

              keep the capital letters until injured (the spine), and focus transfers on the other 6 (the wide players) - but then Newcastle got pumped by Norwich and I couldn't resist Kane (c) haha, then he was crap again so changed to 3 cheap forwards and taking hits on the other positions because I'd used FTs on Auba/Kane nonsense

              1. SADIO SANÉ
                • 8 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                of course none of this is a problem if you can keep bad psychology out of it - but I think having some sort of structure allows for the concentration of FTs on less players and more patience with your most expensive ones. Pretty sure I will be going perma TAA and VVD next season and refusing to touch it

                1. Deulofail
                  • 8 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  I'm not against planning in advance of the GW1 deadline; only in advance to the game being released. You might find that Salah is more expensive than you are willing to pay, so your anti-bad psychology tool becomes a anti-anti-bad psychology tool as you shoehorn a poor value player into your team.

                  1. SADIO SANÉ
                    • 8 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    yeah that is very true, I have no idea how to evaluate captaincy option value tbh - I guess having more than 2 players over 10m isn't a great idea? Obviously I wouldn't shoehorn a 14m Salah in but hard to resist a 12.5m one if they have epic fixtures

              2. Nanoelektronicar
                • 9 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                I know it's too simplified to put it this way, but how the other way around: keep the wide players (you pick some 6.0s and 5.5 and play the long game with them) and you use your FTs primarily to switch between captaincy options?

                1. SADIO SANÉ
                  • 8 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  yeah that could work well too! I'm not saying that way is the best way - just that some sort of rule is helpful to make decision making slightly easier, stemming the number of options.

                  Of course when KDB started going big and Sterling dried up Sterling -> KDB would have been better (IN HINDSIGHT) and with a strict structure maybe I would have done that - but I actually did another reshuffle and did Sterling -> Mane and got Ayew & KDB in; then I had to deal with Ayew being turd for a while

                  Anything can happen in this game, but I do think giving yourself less options can actually be pretty helpful

                  1. Deulofail
                    • 8 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    Yeah you can make a tentative plan like this based on the players available. You might find a player priced so reasonably that you wish to start him permanently in your team, despite his low price tag. in that case, he will be a mainstay that you don't need to spend FTs on. Or it could be an expensive player. These things, the strategy, can form after we know the prices and fixtures, and even more as we get info closer to the deadline. Before the game is released, however....

                    1. SADIO SANÉ
                      • 8 Years
                      3 years, 8 months ago

                      yeah you're probably right, team structure posts always generate a lot of replies though - I think it's really interesting for some reason; it almost feels like the key to success before anything happens, and then it all goes out the window 😀

                  2. Nanoelektronicar
                    • 9 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    Agree, I think I paid the price to my "no season keepers" stance.

                    In 2018/19 Jimenez was 5.5 at the start. Also Doherty was 4.5. If you had those early they proved to be good set and forget, and you wouldn't waste transfers searching for other options. You could focus elsewhere, on the spine. Also, in the end Ayew outscored: Maupay, DCL, Wilson, Jota, Deeney, second most valuable fwd behind Ings.

                    1. SADIO SANÉ
                      • 8 Years
                      3 years, 8 months ago

                      yeah I need to do it one way or the other - I tend to mess about changing perfectly good players for other perfectly good players and then realise Wilson has sat there not scoring for 5 weeks 😀

                      good point on Ayew, wasn't bad mouthing him per se, just that I owned him for a while in his most barren spell! tempted to do a TAA VVD Doherty Burnley/Sheff U back 5 (playing 4) and leave it all season, but that might be a bit too expensive. Either way I'm going to adopt some sort of (only remove these 4/5/6 players in 'injury/horrible form/or on wildcard' situations)

            2. Camzy
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 13 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              I think team structure is very important and allows you to make better moves to maximize funds. Of course a lot will depend on prices but seeing a general spread of where the money is gives a good idea of what you will want to prioritize.

            3. Greek Freak
              • 8 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              I may be too simple, but I think 'team structure' is just an overthinker's way of saying they'll pick some good players and some less good players.

              1. Andy_Social
                • 11 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Ha ha, I've never been a fan of that or building TV. I just try to assemble a squad that I hope will win the most points. I share your view that any more is overthinking. Still, there are a gazillion ways to play the game, that's the beauty of it.

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

                Tends to also include the notion that players can be categories of price brackets, and so people hope it will be easier to hop from one option to another. I completely reject this notion, however!

                It can also include a plan for your bench. For example, are you going to rotate players or not? Will that require extra funds on the bench. Well, again, this depends on who's available and at what price, as well as who they are playing, and their expected form/output.

            4. panda07
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 11 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              I actually think planning at this stage is counterproductive. You have a preconceived idea in your head which will bias your future moves and you've put so much time into planning that you are less likely to make changes and stick with what you have.

          5. Karhumies
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            If/when Martial, Richarlison and Antonio get reclassified as mid-price forwards, the mid-price forward slot becomes a lot more exciting than it was during this season.

            1. Emp
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 12 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              I'm far more excited about the likes of rashford and auba being reclassified as mids.

            2. Greek Freak
              • 8 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              There's no way Martial will be a mid-priced forward. Nailed on starting forward in a Champions League team coming off a 17 goal season? 10m minimum.

          6. Nanoelektronicar
            • 9 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            I'm not sure what's my stance on double Liveprool defense.

            Started the last season with TAA and Robertson and it seemed like a money bad spent. 14.0 tied in a defense that couldn't keep a clean sheet, and I expected a major point influx just from these two, with almost certain CS and attacking returns on top.

            Post restart games also skewed a picture, because players were obviously less focused, but there were just 2 clean sheets.

          7. Pras (FPL)
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 12 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            Assuming the prices are what they are, assuming fixtures for all have equal difficulty, assuming everyone is fit, assuming all teams start gw1, this is really insightful stuff.

            1. Camzy
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 13 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              True... It's not great but we don't have much to go on.

              Structure wise though, it's nice to see how much firepower we really have. It's not as much as most are hoping for. Lots of people saying they'll have Salah, KdB, Bruno, TAA for sure. Do that and you're basically out of funds for anyone else.

          8. FOO FIGHTER
            • 4 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            I was busy thumbsucking prices and setting up squads but obviously prices are going to have a major effect on any planning.

            So I ditched the idea, set up one squad of a team I would like to go with reasonable thumbsuck prices and then most likely will have to change up two spots in the starting 11 to fill the bench once it all kicks off again.

            Hopefully there will be some 4.0's which will play next season from the promoted teams. I am maximising my starting 11 so hopefully 2 out of the 3 outfield 4.0's on the bench will get minutes. Might be clutching at straws though as mids and fwds usually start at 4.5. Holding thumbs...

            Most likely Button again parking off as the 2nd GK unless a starting 4.0 pops up from one of the promoted teams.

            This is the plan I currently have. Make tweaks once we can start fiddling.

          9. goriuanx
            • 13 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            I like the look of 2 early doors.

            Of course there's a lot of varying factors until then:

            - Transfers
            - Injuries
            - Preseason form, if any
            - Fixtures and prices
            - City, Wolves, United potentially and thus their opponents missing the start

            1. goriuanx
              • 13 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Chelsea beating Arsenal in the FA Cup would be a good start, as it would mean they play in the Charity Shield.

              That should give some early insight into how Lampard plans to set up. Let's hope Liverpool give away a penalty too!

            2. FOO FIGHTER
              • 4 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              The restart was preseson. Very hectic schedule. Maybe one or 2 warm up matches?

              It continues for City, UTD and Wolves though which makes guessing what will happen GW1 very difficult unless all three are knocked out in the next round which will be good for GW1.

          10. FPL Theorist
            • 4 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            I agree this is useful because it is hard to change team structure outside of wildcards. I'll probably go with close to #2 but reduce the 3rd mid somewhat and spread the funds a bit to get slightly better 4th/5th mid and forwards. This would mean only owning two of Salah/CityMid/Bruno based on fixtures at the start, then hopefully soon get rich enough to be able to afford three premium mids simultaneously.

            Also, I'll likely have no 5.5 defender, just TAA and two or three 4.5's to start. If I did have a second defender who is above 4.5, it would likely be in a 4-4-2 until team value rises enough to afford 7 attackers that I like.

            We could also have a really strange situation if some teams start with a BGW or even two, but that's another topic for another day.

          11. RoysCallerAnne
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 14 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            Oh gawd, it's the same every summer. Long-winded, drawn out and frankly boring discussions about team structure, price points, strategies, and the "how ill I fit X in my team, with all these options" remarks.

            You wait for the fixtures, you have a tinker, you pick 15 players and you run with it.

            Then you play the game. In blocks of 4 GWs.

            You box clever by being dullard most weeks and sprinkle in a bit of maverick magic when the opportunity presents itself.

            Ignore Xg and Xa. Don't chase points. Don't obsess over TV as its irrelevant. Ignore EO. Watch football matches. Season keepers and essential players don't exsist.

            That's it. You've either 'got it' or you don't. Yes, you can improve to a certain extent from the early days of being a newbie but from then on, it's a matter of being brave and grabbing FPL by the balls.

            1. Andy_Social
              • 11 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Bingo 🙂

            2. Pegboy
              • 13 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Best analysis I've seen apart.

              Only minor quibble is my GW blocks are at least 6 weeks for mid/fwd and 8-10 for gk/def.

            3. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
              • 14 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              How dare you try to take away our long-winded and boring summer discussions

              That's what FPL summers are for 🙂

            4. Now I'm Panicking
              • 9 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              I don't even look at setting a team until the day before GW1 starts. You just end up tying yourself in knots otherwise and so much usually happens in the last few days/weeks leading up to GW1 that makes all previous plans going out of the window.

            5. Camzy
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 13 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Ignore xG at your own peril. It was one of the key underlying stats that clued people into Antonio and plenty of incredible managers have been using it effectively in recent seasons.

              There are incremental advantages you can leverage and I think it's silly to discard them all.

              I will say this team structure post was more because I'm bored rather than because I think it's useful, but certainly once the prices and fixtures are out, there can be better planning done.

              1. RoysCallerAnne
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 14 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                I've always ignored xG, and here is why.

                Because you may as well chase unicorns.

                It's all makey-uppy.

                If a ball is pulled back from the by-line to the edge of the box, perfectly for a player to run onto, unhindered, onto his favoured foot; can Xg distinguish whether it's KDB or Richarlison that will strike the ball?

                Can X stats take into account whether the match is already won or lost? With freedom from pressure, some players lose their inhibitions and strike the ball more cleanly with no fear. Does Xg differentiate a dead rubber game from a relegation 6 pointer that could cost a club 10s of millions with one strike of the ball?

                The home crowd can be on someone's back. A player may have lost composure due to a bad ref decision or a booking. A player might be on cloud 9 having scored the goal of the month 5 minutes earlier.

                Even a gust of wind or the GK not setting his feet properly or a divot on the pitch can change outcomes (or a beach ball!)

                What would the xA be for TAA's corner kick Vs Barca at Anfield? How can maths predict that he was going to do that when he didn't even know himself until that exact moment?

                I just think there are tangibles like shots on target, tackles, sucessful dribbles etc. that can be seen by anyone watching the match and noted down. Then there are intangibles that simply can't be grasped by using an algorithm.

                1. Greek Freak
                  • 8 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  "If a ball is pulled back from the by-line to the edge of the box, perfectly for a player to run onto, unhindered, onto his favoured foot; can Xg distinguish whether it's KDB or Richarlison that will strike the ball?". No, but you can. Stats are only as useful as the people who interpret them, which applies to your other points as well.

            6. panda07
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 11 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              "You've either got it or you don't" is complete bull. Like everything, you can learn what works for you and improve on it.

              1. RoysCallerAnne
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 14 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                It's not complete bull.
                I've definitely got it.

                1. panda07
                  • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                  • 11 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Lol, were you above average at FPL from birth?

            7. panda07
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 11 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              The main advantage that people who have "got it" have is that they spend more time analysing.

              1. Back on the horse
                • 13 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                It sounds from this like you "haven't got it"

                1. panda07
                  • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                  • 11 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Not yet! But making progress! If I do get it I won't be so arrogant. It's not like he's Fabio Borges or anything!

          12. IN SANE IN DE BRUYNE
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            I was thinking about this yesterday too and game up with similar to your first option.

            4-4-2 with double pool defence plus Doc
            5.0 4.0
            8.0 7.0 6.5 5.0 4.0
            12.0 11.0 9.0 6.0 4.5
            8.0 5.5 4.5

        6. Karhumies
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 8 months ago

          Pope + TAA are easy picks. Choosing the best mids and forwards is a lot more difficult.

          Mids:

          Sterling started off strong and finished strong, but was kind of lost in the middle season and suffered from Pep roulette.

          Mane was hot for early season; Salah was hot for late season.

          Fernandes was a super player, but did not play the full season.

          Therefore, my personal pick is de Bruyne. Last GW reminded all if us what an exceptional player he is. Whenever KDB was not playing, MCity was struggling, as evidenced when he was subbed off early vs Wolves and did not start vs Norwich. Terrible results from both of those matches made it easier for Liverpool to grab the title.

          Forwards:

          Vardy got the golden bot, but he was super annoying to captain. He was hot/cold for much of the season.

          Aubameyang was excellent, even though Arsenal as a team was struggling especially in the season. But did he exceed expectations, or did he simply provide exact value for his premium price tag?

          Aguero was explosive, but he very rarely played the full 90 mins so it was always guesswork with him.

          Jimenez provided steady output of FPL points, but he was very rarely explosive.

          Abraham started strong, but ended up getting rotated with Giroud.

          Rashford got a lot of atacking returns, but much of that was early season penalties instead of open play scoring.

          Therefore, my pick is Ings. He consistently outperformed his price tag by a huge margin.

          1. Deulofail
            • 8 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            Your picks for what?

            1. Andy_Social
              • 11 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              He's saying he'll start with Pope, TAA, KDB and Ings. Controversial.

              1. Deulofail
                • 8 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                He'd better stick to his word then. Now that he's promised it and all...

                1. Deulofail
                  • 8 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  OR SHE

              2. Now I'm Panicking
                • 9 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Before he knows prices, transfers or fixtures. Impressive.

                1. Blueberg
                  • 8 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  I think he or she is discussing the topic of the page? Best defender?? Pope best keeper, trent best defender and then best mid and forward predictions. Not about their pick for next season.

              3. Camzy
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 13 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                This is about player of the season lol.

                1. Andy_Social
                  • 11 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Okay good. But it's still kinda OTT to write an essay-length analysis just to conclude with the totally bleedin' obvious!

          2. Camzy
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 13 Years
            3 years, 8 months ago

            Mids is not hard. It's KdB and it's not close.

            Forwards probably Ings for value. Vardy's weak close to the season will result in him not winning but if you had asked in January, he would have won by a mile. He scored 8 games in a row including a hat-trick before Christmas. He should really win. I'm voting for him at least.

        7. Pinturicchio10
            3 years, 8 months ago

            The conspiracy against Maguire continues. Disgraceful.

            1. Deulofail
              • 8 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Maguire sucks

            2. FOO FIGHTER
              • 4 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Imagine he comes in at 6.0 or 6.5.

              On to the next.

            3. cravencottage
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 12 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Not a great player IMO

            4. goriuanx
              • 13 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              He's whack.

              Rich club's Lewis Dunk.

            5. Pinturicchio10
                3 years, 8 months ago

                😀

            6. Deulofail
              • 8 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              One thing I would like to do before the game is released, which I've never done, and I know some others do, is to value every player (of interest) myself in a spreadsheet, most likely. Then compare to the prices on release.

              I think it's generally quite easy to get a feel for who is good and bad value when scrolling through the players for the first time, but it would be interesting to see where the biggest margins are, and whether my perception of a player's value changes now that I can see they are valued a lot differently by the game makers and other managers on here.

              1. Andy_Social
                • 11 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                I do that - create an extensive Watchlist, enter my idea of correct prices and compare when the actual prices are out. I does help spotting what seem to me to be overpriced assets and bargains.

              2. goriuanx
                • 13 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Baines on Toast has an awesome spreadsheet where you predict player prices in every position and then build it team - it does the calculation for you and tells you everything you need.

                Try reaching out to him. I've used it for several years.

                1. Deulofail
                  • 8 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Thanks Berbs. I'll keep my eye out for him

                  1. Andy_Social
                    • 11 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    Me too. Would be useful (or a timesaver)

              3. Collie01
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 6 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                I think I'm going to do the same if I get the time!

            7. wulfrunian
              • 7 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Can i find somewhere old scoutcast episodes except from youtube?Before no 130.

              1. Ógie
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 11 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                This site has shows recorded as early as Socutcast 94.
                https://fantasyfootballscout.libsyn.com/webpage/page/5/size/100

                I kinda miss that old intro music.

                Listening to the early days of the Scoutcast was a major catalyst for me finally coming out from the shadows,setting up a ffs account and starting to post here.

                Mark and Granville had a great dynamic of being great managers that really knew and loved the game from which i learned a lot and also i felt that there was a real mini league rivalry between them which produced some great banter and drew me into the saga.Good mini league rivalry's are what makes this game so enjoyable to play against family and friends after all.

                I feel watching the modern show there are kinda rivalry's between AZ,Munday and Andy but not as intense as Mark vs Granville and wish they would ramp it up sometimes as it would make for good banter and a good show.

                1. wulfrunian
                  • 7 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Thank you very much.I wasn't here back then but the fact that the scoutcast was in audio form shows what love and desire they had for fpl.As you said the dynamic and the love helped a lot of managers and totally agree that the fun is when you play fpl with your friends and family.
                  I just head no102 with Professor as a guest(who is he?),and Jonty who is talking on Bedknobs and Boomsticks(old and good manager).I wish i was a member back then.The scoutcast episodes i remember 3-4 years ago were amazing though.Mark,Granville,Joe,Andy,d1sable and after Az.
                  If you change the number(number 2) in this search link you can find all the episodes. https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/page/2/?s=the+scoutcast

            8. SAKA AND EMILE SMITH ROWE
              • 7 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Lots of talk about Coutinho joining Arsenal, would he interest you as an option if he came in at the right price?

              1. goriuanx
                • 13 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Of course. He's dropped of a bit though, so would need to get back up to speed. Certainly no justification to be a premium priced midfielder.

              2. Andy_Social
                • 11 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Hopefully he'd do the job Ozil can't be bothered to. I'd want to monitor him first rather than risk him for GW1.

              3. Boywiththesoupdragontattoo
                • 6 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Would make me more interested in Aubameyang.

            9. SADIO SANÉ
              • 8 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              if Timo gets penalties, KDB Bruno Werner may just have to earn perma spots in my team next year - add in perma TAA and VVD - then go bargain hunting, which tbh is the fun bit anyway

              1. Greek Freak
                • 8 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Yeah really fun - I had so much fun having Ceballos, Tielemans, Pukki, Cantwell, Yarmolenko and Lucas Moura in my team 😆

                1. SADIO SANÉ
                  • 8 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  I started the season with Cantwell, probably ended up costing me points because I decided he was basically a mega cheap 6.5 mid and kept playing him 😀 nothing will beat the Pukki hat-trick GW2!

                  1. SADIO SANÉ
                    • 8 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    also Moura coming off the bench and scoring with his first touch, a header from a corner, was also pretty epic

                  2. Greek Freak
                    • 8 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    Ah, I see you had them at the right time then 😀

                    Here are their average poitns in my team:
                    Tielemans: 3.4 (he was the best of the ones I mentioned!)
                    Pukki: 3.1
                    Lucas: 2.7
                    Cantwell: 2.3

                    1. SADIO SANÉ
                      • 8 Years
                      3 years, 8 months ago

                      haha damn, yeah I don't even want to look up my Ayew average - I got many others wrong don't you worry 😀 fun when it comes off though, Antonio buyers must have been loving it

                      1. Greek Freak
                        • 8 Years
                        3 years, 8 months ago

                        Yes when I said 'fun' I wasn't using the word literally unfortunately.

                        Come to think of it my best FPL season was when I didn't really bother with many mid-priced options and had an expensive 4 in defence.

                        1. Greek Freak
                          • 8 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          It's what I tried to replicate this year by going 4-5-1 with double Liverpool defence, but Liverpool's shocking clean sheet record put an end to that and sent me in a spiral of chasing the wrong mid-priced options.

                          1. SADIO SANÉ
                            • 8 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            yeah I actually think it's a great idea, probably got unfortunate with the Allison thing. Anyone who went 442 with double Liv, double Wolves/Burnley/Sheff U would have cleaned up for many weeks - obviously timing it is right another thing.

                            I might do with a 442 double-double-defence all season, TAA & VVD, with Doherty & Boly / Baldock & Stevens - and just leave it for long periods, not many defenders with attacking threat and seemingly above average clean sheet prospects, so finding 3/4 teams to stick to religiously shouldn't be too hard

                  3. IN SANE IN DE BRUYNE
                    • 7 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    Pukki (C) GW2 is my best ever FPL memory!

            10. King Kohli
              • 11 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Price predictions for these?

              A. Ings
              B. Richarlison
              C. Jimenez
              D. Pulisic
              E. Mahrez

              1. Greek Freak
                • 8 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Ings - 8.5
                Richarlison - 8.0
                Jimenez - 9.0
                Mahrez - 9.5
                No idea about Pulisic really.

                1. FPL Theorist
                  • 4 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  I agree with all of these, with Pulisic at 9.0.

                2. Pegboy
                  • 13 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  This looks right. Maybe Mahrez 9.

              2. drughi
                • 14 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                9
                8
                9
                8.5
                8.5

              3. Andy_Social
                • 11 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                A. Ings 8.5
                B. Richarlison 8.0
                C. Jimenez 8.5
                D. Pulisic 8.0
                E. Mahrez 8.5

                1. FOO FIGHTER
                  • 4 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  This looks reasonable

              4. Only a Hazard of time
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 11 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                9.0
                8.5
                8.5
                9.5
                9.5

              5. Make Arrows Green Again
                • 7 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                8.5
                8.0
                9.5
                9.0
                8.5

              6. FOO FIGHTER
                • 4 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Ings 8
                Richarlison 8.5 classified as a fwd
                Jimenez 9
                Pulisic 8 and reason being blew hot and cold and injured in spells so does not warrant a increase IMO
                Mahrez 9 or 9.5

            11. Camzy
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 13 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Anyone playing FanTeam this year?

              Humongous prizepool of 1M. The game has launched and prices are up. Very similar to FPL.

              Made a really rough first draft to get a feel for prices.

              Lloris (5.0) Palmer (4.0)
              TAA (7.5) Tierney (5.0) Garca (4.5) White (4.0) Mari (4.0)
              Salah (12.5) Sterling (11.0) Trossard (6.0) Ziyech (8.5) Foden (7.5)
              Kane (11.0) Kean (5.5) Grot (4.0)

              Team looks pretty good actually! Although the prices are likely to be steeper in FPL. I'm expecting TAA to be 8.0. Sterling to be 11.5. Kean to be 6.5. Tierney at 5.5. Garcia at 5.5.

              They also have a bonus point they give for players that play the full match. That's a big deal. Makes Foden and Kean not great while making Kane, KdB and Salah pretty nice picks. KdB at 12.5m... Think Sterling at 11m can beat him.

              1. FOO FIGHTER
                • 4 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                FPL is enough. Have not played other platforms.

                1. Camzy
                  • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                  • 13 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  200K first place prize though! I think I'm gonna play it this year for the first time. I'm normally a FPL only type of player, but this prize pool is too good to pass up. And the rules are similar enough that you can play with similar strategies and get similar players. Scoring is similar too.

              2. ElliotJHP
                • 11 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Just had a little look and knocked something together, point for full match & for being on the winning team makes Van Dijk at 6.0 hard to pass on

            12. TheBabyfacedAssassin
              • 14 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              So when is usually the FFS HoF updated after the season?

            13. The Polymath
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 8 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              Won't be any "Lundstram" style discoveries due to a lack of pre-season friendlies this year.

              1. Brosstan
                • 9 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Good. players like him ruin the game with how essential they are

                1. TheBabyfacedAssassin
                  • 14 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Oh lord.

              2. FOO FIGHTER
                • 4 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Wonder who will punt him classed as a mid?

                1. Andy_Social
                  • 11 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  He'd be an alright 5th mid benchy if he's 5.0m. 5.5+ I think we're in casualville.

            14. R123
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 3 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              I intend on using one stat / tool for picking each of the following next season. What do people suggest for;

              A. Captain
              B. Defender for run of min 4 games
              C. Mid-price midfielder
              D. Forward

              1. ritzyd
                • 6 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                A. Most expensive player in your side who is at home against a bottom half side
                B. Lowest XGC over previous 3 home/away games
                C. Best XGI last 4 games
                D. Most shots in the box last 4 games

                1. R123
                  • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                  • 3 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Thanks, appreciated

                2. FPL Theorist
                  • 4 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  B seems not quite right though, because if a player has just had an easy run of fixtures, they'll look better than they should. It's hard to sort out whether the recent numbers are due to performance, or just the fixtures they've had.

                  I like to look at teams' defensive ratings like the ones they have at FiveThirtyEight, where if you check them regularly, you can see whether a team's defensive rating has been trending better or worse lately, and the methodology automatically corrects for fixture difficulty. So for example, if a mid-table team just conceded 2.0 xG but it was away to Man City, their defensive rating should improve, because normally a team would be expected to concede more than that in such a difficult fixture.

                  1. R123
                    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                    • 3 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    Thanks, I'll keep that in mind

            15. FOO FIGHTER
              • 4 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              So what happens with Aguero? His contract ends next season. Injuries also getting beciming a regular for him.

              Jesus can't afford sitting on the bench and unlikely Pep will sign another striker when Steling can also lead the line. They have enough attacking options as it is to fill wide spots and a replacement for Sane bound to come in, possibly 1 more addition for more Pep roulette.

              Aguero to be used sparingly and play second fiddle to Jesus?

              How will this pan out, thoughts?

              1. Make Arrows Green Again
                • 7 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                I reckon the reason Pep played Jesus in so many consecutive games after lockdown was to give him the experience required to try using him to lead the line from the outset next season.

                He could easily have played the likes of Sterling OOP more and rotated loads in order to try new things out and still won the majority of the games played, which suggests to me that he had a plan and that it heavily involves Jesus.

                1. FOO FIGHTER
                  • 4 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  I agree!

                  1. Make Arrows Green Again
                    • 7 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    That's settled then 😉

                2. FOO FIGHTER
                  • 4 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Plus Aguero has a knee injury so may not even be ready for the new season depending on how bad the injury and then recovery/match fitness etc.

                  I have Jesus in the team I am toying with.

                3. Deulofail
                  • 8 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  He may have given him a chance to (im)prove himself, but decided that he's not good enough to lead the line next season. He's not exactly going to tell us if that is the case. :/

                  1. Make Arrows Green Again
                    • 7 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    Aye he was hardly stellar. Typically of how things went for me post lockdown, I identified him as a prospect on lockdown 'free' wildcard and he did almost nothing until I sold him, when he started doing much better but still not living up to his underlying stats.

                    1. Deulofail
                      • 8 Years
                      3 years, 8 months ago

                      He's always been a terrible finisher, so he lived up to those stats 😉

              2. Zilla
                • 6 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Think Pep realized by now that if Aguero is fit he starts

                1. FOO FIGHTER
                  • 4 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Aguero's last 5 matches

                  90, 76, 58, 10 and 4 where he got injured again.

                  1. FOO FIGHTER
                    • 4 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    Sorry, not 4 but 45.

              3. SADIO SANÉ
                • 8 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                is Pep's contract not up at the same time? doubt he cares about Jesus that much

                1. FOO FIGHTER
                  • 4 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Pep signed a new contract.

                  1. SADIO SANÉ
                    • 8 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    hmm..when?

            16. Jafooli
              • 12 Years
              3 years, 8 months ago

              I know it won’t happen, have been suggesting it for about the past five seasons, but my only wish is that FPL somehow make it so we can pick from a bigger pool of players. By the end of this season there was a group of only around 25 players, maybe 30 tops, that everyone in the top 500k were picking from. That’s really poor form. Would be great if there was around 100-150 players somehow worth picking.

              1. Andy_Social
                • 11 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                If the premium players were 1m more expensive, we'd have to trawl through the masses you're referring to. It would bring much more diversity to squads.

                1. Jafooli
                  • 12 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Reducing baps for events that already score is another way. A forward scores a goal (get his 4pts) and 8/10 times picks up 3baps for the same event. They need to adjust this so play makers etc get credit for stuff that isn’t a single event. Same can be said for CS, assists etc - anything that already picks up points should be less weighted with baps.

                  1. Make Arrows Green Again
                    • 7 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    Yes
                    Yes
                    Also yes

              2. Brosstan
                • 9 Years
                3 years, 8 months ago

                Completely agree. I think only way it can happen is that they price up all the popular assets significantly. I'm not optimistic though..

                1. Jafooli
                  • 12 Years
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Yeah, so we only have 2/3 premiums rather than the 4/5 that most strive for, or in second half of season with high SV, 5/6.

                  The 2/3 option means we have to go looking for those hidden gems more.....

                  1. Andy_Social
                    • 11 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    Exactly. Would make the game far more challenging. Agree with the silly doubling-up of bap points too.

              3. MTPockets
                  3 years, 8 months ago

                  Yep agree. They could facilitate that by changing the bps system

                  1. Jafooli
                    • 12 Years
                    3 years, 8 months ago

                    Yeah, just mentioned that above. At the moment points are rewarded with mor points, bonkers.

                  2. MTPockets
                      3 years, 8 months ago

                      e.g. This is how the Allsvenskan game does bps, and it's better.

                      Attacking Bonus

                      Players will score extra points for positive play:
                      1 point for every 3 crosses (A cross is defined where the ball is played to their own player in the penalty area):
                      1 point for every 3 key passes (A key pass is one that leads to a shot at goal)
                      1 point for every big chance created (A big chance is one where the analyst determines the player should score)

                      Defending Bonus

                      Players will also score extra points for good defending:
                      1 point for every 6 clearances, blocks or interceptions (total)
                      1 point for every 6 recovered balls

                      1. Jafooli
                        • 12 Years
                        3 years, 8 months ago

                        Much more even and fair, bet it brings in more choice?

                        1. MTPockets
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            Yep and doesn't emphasise the double bubble issue you outlined above. Generally makes all but the most consistent fwds an avoid, esp the pricier ones.

                            1. Make Arrows Green Again
                              • 7 Years
                              3 years, 8 months ago

                              All forwards in Allsvenskan are an avoid XD

                              But in seriousness, I have a 5.0m box-to-box midfielder in Allsvenskan and I start him most games even though he hardly scores or assists because he averages 1-2 BPS every game. Only casuals would play the likes of Kante, but this makes a Kante-like player viable. Same scoring system apart from BAPS and you get a whole load of different options.

                              In Allsvenskan you don't have to wait ages after the game for BPS to be awarded either. When you get the points you keep the points. Much better!

                              1. Jafooli
                                • 12 Years
                                3 years, 8 months ago

                                Yeah like the sound of that....so it’s not just 3, 2, 1...every player in theory could get 2 x baps if they all did the right thing?

                                Also bring the likes of Kante into the game would be great

                                1. Make Arrows Green Again
                                  • 7 Years
                                  3 years, 8 months ago

                                  Yeah max 4bps is perfect, especially as the players who get the attacking ones don't tend to get the defensive ones (but some do sometimes)

                              2. MTPockets
                                  3 years, 8 months ago

                                  Completely agree. They messed up last year because there was no limit on bps, but with max +2 attacking bonus and max +2 defending bonus it feels about right. Basically rewards good footballing and makes so many more picks an option. Much less of a template

                                  1. Deulofail
                                    • 8 Years
                                    3 years, 8 months ago

                                    I agree with Red Arrows too. Out of interest, why does having no limit mess up the game?

                                    1. MTPockets
                                        3 years, 8 months ago

                                        Just went too far the other way. Players were picking up silly amounts of additional bonus for crosses, recoveries etc.

                        2. Ógie
                          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                          • 11 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          I think getting rid of the chips would be great for the diversity of picks as well as strategy especially in late season Jaf.

                          Seems the chips just funnel lots of managers to the same players/teams at times.

                          Maybe they could also tweak the bps system and try and bring defensive mids into the game.

                          1. Andy_Social
                            • 11 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            Jafooli began the thread by wondering how we could encourage more diverse squads rather than succumb to template carbon-copies. Changing chips or baps wouldn't change that, but changing the pricing system would.

                          2. FOO FIGHTER
                            • 4 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            I agree removing the chips but many say will make the game less exciting whereas it will actually make it real competitive. Also only 1 WC when the January window opens.

                            1. Ógie
                              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                              • 11 Years
                              3 years, 8 months ago

                              I'm cool enough with having two wildcards as it really gives a manager a chance to mix things up and change course if/when needed.

                          3. Jafooli
                            • 12 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            Agreed Ogie, anything that spreads our choice - kinda board of looking at the same small options week after week....

                          4. Deulofail
                            • 8 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            I've been saying the same for a few years, but people don't seem to like this rationale. They think chips bring them freedom and diversity; whereas I think the reality is the opposite.

                            Also, many people don't like the idea of picking defensive mids. They want the game to be about goals, and less about diving into stats. But if we want diversity between FPL teams, there would have to be reward for more than just goals, assists and clean sheets. Removing the double points for events in the bonus would be a start, but I'd prefer to see real points given for actions.

                            They could also try to combat it by removing some restrictions, like the 3 player-per-team rule and the number of mids and forwards. Perhaps 7 forwards that can be played in any forward position, or remove the distinction of mid vs forward, to allow some players to be played in either mid or forward based on manager's choice?

                            I would personally prefer a massive overhaul to what I think is an incredibly flawed game considering its simplicity (but perhaps BECAUSE of its obsession with perceived simplicity, but I know I'm dreaming. Something like this would turn me on 😀
                            https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/comment/22226545

                            1. Jafooli
                              • 12 Years
                              3 years, 8 months ago

                              Lots of good points & suggestions there fella....like the idea of 7 x fwds.

                              1. Andy_Social
                                • 11 Years
                                3 years, 8 months ago

                                I think a REALLY simple and effective formula would be to have a squad of 15, 11 play and no restrictions on positions or how many from a club.
                                In theory you could put out a team of 11 goalies - people wouldn't because they wouldn't get many points.
                                Or all 15 of your squad could be from West Brom - but not Liverpool as you couldn't afford to.
                                Some players would go defence-heavy with 3 premium offensive players, some would go with 4 premium attackers and a bunch of Villa reserve defenders.
                                Would be great!

                                1. Jafooli
                                  • 12 Years
                                  3 years, 8 months ago

                                  That sounds wild....a team of 11 x GK’s 😆

                                  Man Utd fans would just pick 11 x Man Utd players...

                                  1. Andy_Social
                                    • 11 Years
                                    3 years, 8 months ago

                                    No, you couldn't afford 11 United players unless most are the fringe players who get 30 minutes a season. Due to pricing it would be just as tricky to pick a balanced squad, but you'd have more choice.

                                    1. Deulofail
                                      • 8 Years
                                      3 years, 8 months ago

                                      I've suggested this before as well. I do genuinely like the concept. I think many would prefer smaller changes, though, which is why I softened my stance somewhat to suggest merging midfield and attack. The problem with that, though, is that FPL still have to make decisions on classifications. Like TAA, for example: shouldn't he be an attacker rather than a defender? How about Kante?

                                      It's this kind of thinking that drew me towards the player card/badge system I conceived of (as you can see in the link). But people would hate such a drastic change, I'm sure.

                                      1. Greek Freak
                                        • 8 Years
                                        3 years, 8 months ago

                                        Ah yes, the badge system. I'm sure it'll keep newcomers interested after they undergo the mandatory 8-week seminar in order to understand it.

                                        1. Deulofail
                                          • 8 Years
                                          3 years, 8 months ago

                                          It's simpler than the current BPS system, and perhaps more intuitive. Everyone gets defensive and attacking points. But those points are multiplied according to their general attackingness or defensiveness (as represented in iconography on their player card). Easy.

                                          1. Greek Freak
                                            • 8 Years
                                            3 years, 8 months ago

                                            Perhaps. But it's possible to play and enjoy the game without even knowing about the BPS system, whereas replacing positions with badges is something that everyone would need to first understand in order to play the game.

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

                                            We already have the same system, basically. Players get different points for scoring and clean sheets according to their classified position. All I'm saying is that they would get different points according to their classified responsibility. It's about the same, I reckon!

                                            Gives freedom to classify players more realistically, also reducing the limitations on team selection, and even potentially for FPL to change the classifications (and prices) manually throughout the season, so our fantasy game more closely reflects the reality it is trying to reflect!

                                          3. Greek Freak
                                            • 8 Years
                                            3 years, 8 months ago

                                            I'm not saying it's a bad idea, I'm just saying that the BPS system is pretty circumstantial to the game, whereas the badge system would be a main component in how to play the game. Hence my jokes about training people to understand it etc. The BPS system doesn't even need to be understood in order to play the game.

                                          4. Deulofail
                                            • 8 Years
                                            3 years, 8 months ago

                                            Yeah, I understand, but I'm saying that the level of understanding required to play the current scoring system (excl. BPS) is much the same as my proposed system. The only learning curve is the switch from one to the other.

                                2. SteJ
                                  • 4 Years
                                  3 years, 8 months ago

                                  Maybe they could open up a new formation choice e.g. 3-6-1?
                                  Wouldn't change the game drastically.
                                  I'd like to see different chips too. Maybe a perfect 11 chip where you score the points of your highest 11 scorers in a valid formation?

                                  1. Deulofail
                                    • 8 Years
                                    3 years, 8 months ago

                                    More formation choice would also improve diversity and perhaps increase the potential use of the bench. Good point. And good compromise if we aren't going as far as allowing any and all formations, or something drastic like that.

                        3. ElliotJHP
                          • 11 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          Not the same as playing the proper game but I did enjoy doing draft this year in a group of ten mates, makes those punts feel really fun

                          1. Jafooli
                            • 12 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            Maybe bring some elements into the main game? Probably not possible?

                        4. Jafooli
                          • 12 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          Ha, just checked - there were 666 players in the transfer tables this season (admittedly some of which had moved overseas/down a division or two), but it that illuminate confirmed? FPL is the devils game?

                          But back to the point - we’re choosing from 30 players from 666 on offer. What a waste of time having 630 players on offer - just bin them next season 😛

                        5. Je suis le chat
                          • 10 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          Be nice to have a limit of the number of transfers allowed, eg 40 total, and allow people to use those 40 transfers whenever they want. Nice to get rid of hits!

                          1. Jafooli
                            • 12 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            Yeah I also like this idea, saving to a maximum of two is a bit rubbish....

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

                            Agreed. Although I think 50 would be more appropriate and would keep people interested.

                            I think I might prefer for the transfers to be accumulated, though. Start with 5, then 1 per week throughout the season. An injection of another bonus 5 in January. This would help to hinder a chaotic market to begin with where players (and duplicate accounts) just spend all their transfers influencing the prices in annoying ways.

                            1. Deulofail
                              • 8 Years
                              3 years, 8 months ago

                              (With no limit to how many can be saved)

                            2. Jafooli
                              • 12 Years
                              3 years, 8 months ago

                              Ha, yeah imagine everyone starting with 50 transfers and just going nuts in the first couple weeks. 😆

                              And then all the teams that join each new GW, to win the highest score prize, buzzing in with another 50 transfers - would be like the FTSE right now 😀

                        6. ritzyd
                          • 6 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          It's mainly fine. Biggest frustration is half the mids you don't go near (defensive mids) a tweak to the system so they get points for blocks/interceptions (like saves for gks) would make it interesting and expand the pool or a tweak to the bonus system

                          1. Greek Freak
                            • 8 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            Agree with this. In UCL fantasy they award a point for every 3 interceptions and defensive mids as a result often get 5-6 points.

                        7. jtreble
                          • 7 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          " ... won’t happen ...". Agree.

                        8. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
                          • 14 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          Would be a good development for sure - to be honest, just over a year ago I posted a wishlist of small-ish tweaks to the game that could drive pretty large improvements, and I think they're all pretty much still valid today - but I think deadline changes are definitely becoming a more popular thought, early-team-news-gate just rumbles on & on!

                          https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2019/06/16/the-fpl-players-involved-at-the-european-under-21-championship/?hc_page=1&hc_sort_by=comment_date#hc_comment_20384051

                          1. Save the striker

                          The (premium) striker seems to be on life support from an FPL perspective - it looks to be difficult for them to score over 220 points, let alone the 260/270/280 that mids seem to be capable of. Kane 2 seasons ago - 31 attacking returns yet only 217 points - the season before that he got 36 attacking returns yet only 224 points... Auba & Kun both laboured to clear 200 points this year... it says a lot about how difficult it is for a striker to hit 250 points these days imo, let alone 270/280

                          Possible solutions? Baps. There needs to be a way to rebalance baps away from refs & mids & towards strikers - that closes the gap nicely, for every 1 bonus point taken away from a mid/def & given to a striker it’s 2 points re-balanced.

                          Pricing could also be used - premium strikers seem to be lumbered with almost excessively high price tags in some cases - maybe a bit of both - kinder pricing and a less punitive baps system. I’d prefer either of these to the other solution which is reclassifying wide forwards who also sometimes spend time up front to be strikers (which I really hope they don’t do for the likes of Salah, Sterling, Richarlison etc)

                          2. Free Transfer Stockpiling

                          Allow us to save more FT’s - a simple but profound change to benefit hardcore and casual fans alike. Can you imagine a ghost manager logging in after 6 weeks to find 3 or 4 FT’s instead of 2? They’d instantly have more skin in the game. Similarly a dedicated manager could plan for a lot more sweeping squad changes by abstaining from the transfer button for an extra week or two.

                          3. Price Transparency & an extra wish

                          For the love of god tell us how weekly price changes are calculated - share the info/algo and be transparent - this creates a level playing field and a fairer game without the randomness.

                          4. Abolish Chips

                          Ok four wishes - This may not be popular - but I’d use the extra wish to disband the chips (aside from the WC). I just find them gimmicky and that they de-emphasise the pure management aspect of the game in favour of introducing more single gameweek variance/luck. I appreciate you can plan & use them in different ways (DGW’s etc) but i don’t think they’ve improved the game imho in the 3 or 4 seasons since they’ve been introduced

                          1. Jafooli
                            • 12 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            Yeah like point 2 and yes point 3 has to happen - absolute joke this is still hidden behind an FPL Towers veil, very frustrating (and possibly fixed)

                          2. FPL Theorist
                            • 4 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            For #1, they should just make it 5 points for a goal for both mids and forwards, since many mids are very similar to forwards now. Mids would still have the small advantage of 1 clean sheet point, but not an extra point for goals.

                        9. BobB
                          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                          • 14 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          My own suggestion would be to allow for an automatic (additional) free transfer when any player is projected to be injured for more than four gameweeks.

                        10. Now I'm Panicking
                          • 9 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          Someone sensible has hacked your account

                          1. Jafooli
                            • 12 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            Bloody annoying when someone does that....

                        11. pingissimus
                          • 5 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          Love some of the ideas here

                          Haven't thought this through so possibly bonkers. An of the top of my head one. But here goes

                          We all start with 22 players or so with an appropriately larger budget. Only 2/3 times a season do we get transfers to change that squad - the rest of the time we just need to swap players in and out.

                          There'd still be a fair degree of convergence of course but anyone who planned 6/7 weeks in advance might well end up with a set of players interestingly different to someone looking at just the next 3. Set the budget correctly and ensure at least 7/8 "bench" players and greater divergence might ensue with teams limited to picking 14 or so "regulars' any one of whom might get injured fall out of form get foul fixtures etc.

                          Defo agree that any system that makes the like of Kante a no go area is wrong.

                        12. Jordan.
                          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                          • 14 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          maximum 2 maybe only 1 player from any team ,theres your game changer

                      2. Fpl Old Guard
                        • 12 Years
                        3 years, 8 months ago

                        Anyone play the Scottish fantasy league? If anyone does can anyone give me an idea of a “template” team that would be fairly decent long term. I do really well at fpl but have zero knowledge of the Scottish leagues and players, joining for a friend, so just want to set up a team that will be ok long term?

                        1. Jafooli
                          • 12 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          5 x Celtic
                          5 x Rangers
                          1 x Hearts/Hibs

                          0 x Partick Thistle who have now been relegated to the nine tear (sic) of domestic football. Useless bar stewards....

                      3. FOO FIGHTER
                        • 4 Years
                        3 years, 8 months ago

                        Who is for the cap chip to be removed?

                        Think it will solve most problems. Not even team leaks will matter then 🙂

                        1. tm370
                          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                          • 9 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          It wont happen but I hate the captain chip so much...

                      4. Sgt Frank Drebin
                        • 7 Years
                        3 years, 8 months ago

                        Seen a lot of people saying all the forwards should be classified correctly, as forwards, including Salah, Sterling, Mane etc. I don't think that's a good idea really. In the midfielders position the top scorers would probably be:

                        De Bruyne 251 pts
                        Grealish (wouldn't he also be calssified as forward?) 149 pts
                        D. Silva 139 pts
                        Mount 137 pts
                        Maddison 125 pts
                        McNeil 123 pts

                        Imho that would make the midfielder position almost non existent. Wouldn't everyone be playing the same 3 in the midfield and focus on forwards?

                        1. Andy_Social
                          • 11 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          A lot of chat at the moment about expecting player positions to be reclassified. I think there will be a lot of disappointment - FPL Towers generally only change less than half a dozen.

                          BUT, the whole issue seems a bit behind the times today. Player movement is so much more fluid. To me, it would make more sense if we had just 3 positions - Goalkeepers, Defenders (inc DMs) and Attackers (attacking mids and forwards).

                        2. jtreble
                          • 7 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          "... classified correctly ...". Easier said than done. 🙂

                          1. Sgt Frank Drebin
                            • 7 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            I mean that is what I've seen a lot of people were saying 🙂 that Salah should be classified as a forward because he is playing as one etc...

                      5. ElliotJHP
                        • 11 Years
                        3 years, 8 months ago

                        Excited for Brentford v Swansea later.

                        Thomas Frank said he is 100% sure Brentford will win tonight, imagine the Swans will play that a few times in the dressing room..

                      6. FOO FIGHTER
                        • 4 Years
                        3 years, 8 months ago

                        What about having 2 FT's to start off with in reverse of what it is now?

                        Plus one 1 FH chip for those DGW's or last day madness and 2 WC's? No captaincy.

                      7. Gooner Kebab
                        • 11 Years
                        3 years, 8 months ago

                        Hands up for anyone who had captained TAA last season?

                        1. RedLightning
                          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                          • Has Moderation Rights
                          • 13 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          I triple captained him in DGW24 for 36 points.
                          Not as many as Salah's 48, but far better than Mane's 3!

                        2. Bun Rab
                          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                          • 11 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          Only once, normal (c) like redlightning in GW24.

                        3. FPL Theorist
                          • 4 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          I did for 20 points in GW23, and it was the right choice. Shows you how bad Man Utd were at the time that I was willing to captain him against them in what I anticipated to be a low-scoring game.

                      8. Jafooli
                        • 12 Years
                        3 years, 8 months ago

                        The main reason there will be no or very little change to the FPL 20/21 game, is they have no time to change it, test it, tweak it, roll it out. Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s exactly the same as the season just past.

                        1. Greek Freak
                          • 8 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          Yeah I'm not sure why there's such a huge talk about big changes. A few small reclassifications of players (Martial, Lundstram) and that's it.

                          1. Jafooli
                            • 12 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            Happens every season, we’re just a bunch of wannabe anarchists.....

                        2. jtreble
                          • 7 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          "... is they have no time to change it, test it, tweak it, roll it out ...". Agree. I think we can safely ignore 90% of the FFS posts until Sept. 12 ... 🙂

                          1. Jafooli
                            • 12 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            Unless they were working on it during the lockdown 😉

                        3. Boywiththesoupdragontattoo
                          • 6 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          So my idea that players can sell their chips for other players points on a real time exchange won’t happen?!

                      9. Make Arrows Green Again
                        • 7 Years
                        3 years, 8 months ago

                        OK so now it's silly season, what is your crazy variant of FPL you would love to try in a parallel dimension if FPL Towers were to conveniently code it all up for you? I'd love to hear from you. The more original and different the better!

                        Mine is below.

                        1. Make Arrows Green Again
                          • 7 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          For me, since we're talking about the unfairness of double counting, now might be the best time to reintroduce a mad idea I shared last year. It's a completely new take on the price rise system.

                          In brief, a price change system where players get *cheaper* the more transfers in they have. You don't get priced out of moves, you get priced into them, so if you wait you might get the same player for less, but you won't, of course, get their points. You still get the play the transfer market... keep reading!

                          If you jump on a bandwagon you make that player cheaper for everyone else, so you had better hope that he scores his their points from the GW you get him, not further down the line. You don't double count the scoring and the price rises, by which I mean, you don't get rewarded with the points and the fact that a price rise might have priced rivals out of making the same move. At the moment, early-season bandwagons aren't much of a risk because the market forces are so strong you might end up making money on a player who does next to nothing for you points-wise.

                          The main problem with my game variant is that people would use the system to generate TV in the same old way: you pick a player up, wait for his price to drop, sell him for the original price, make a profit. The best way round this I can think of is this: if you sell a player you have to wait a certain amount of time before you can buy him again. OR, you are never allowed to own that player again, which would be a great way to use the entire roster of FPL players (as discussed earlier in this board) without having a load of dead wood.

                          Example, at the start of the season I pick up Jesus at 10.0, he goes on a great scoring streak and his value drops to 8.5m. He goes off the boil and I suspect he's never going to recapture that same form: I sell him for 10.0 and trouser the difference, but my striker roster now has one less player I can choose from.

                          You have agonising decisions about whether to sell a player who is out for a month with an injury - if a player has 80% ownership, some will sell and reinvest, knowing that they will not be able to get that player back for a while (or ever); some will hold on and keep the option on that player for the rest of the season. Those decisions may be season-defining for both camps. I would also want to wait before picking up a bandwagon because a.) I might get him cheaper if I wait but b.) if I get him for an average streak and want to sell him, I might miss out on the opportunity to get him for a better run of form/fixtures later.

                          So... what do you think, and what variants would you like to see in the future?

                          1. Jafooli
                            • 12 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            Ha, I kinda like this, just to get us thinking again, and thinking differently.

                            1. Make Arrows Green Again
                              • 7 Years
                              3 years, 8 months ago

                              If nothing else, the idea that you might not be able to pick up a player when you've sold him would be food for thought!

                          2. FPL Theorist
                            • 4 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            I haven't played it, but I've read that MLS fantasy did something this season with a similar aim. In their game, players' prices still do rise when they do well and are highly bought; however, the budget you get is fixed and behaves like a salary cap, so if a player does well and his price rises, he starts to consume a larger share of your (fixed) budget, and you have to downgrade to cheaper players elsewhere to keep enjoying his points. Essentially, you're having to pay your star performer more, and therefore you have less for other players.

                        2. Greek Freak
                          • 8 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          It's neither crazy nor original, but I'd like to play FPL with a UCL or world cup fantasy format. i.e. can sub off players between days and change captains.

                          1. Jafooli
                            • 12 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            Agreed

                          2. Make Arrows Green Again
                            • 7 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            It would be a fun variant, though for me, every four years with the World Cup is enough 🙂

                        3. 2999 - Lady of Legend
                          • 3 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          In my first season I assumed the FH chip came with an unlimited budget, was disappointed when I found out I couldn't go over my small budget!
                          So I would introduce an unlimited budget for the FH chip, making a team full of premium assets possible for one week.

                          1. Make Arrows Green Again
                            • 7 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            Interesting, yes if you have low TV that's a problem when it comes to FH. It should be a free hit at anyone you choose! Well, maybe not but a variant where it's possible for one week only would be fun.

                        4. Boywiththesoupdragontattoo
                          • 6 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          As posted above, I’d like them to create a real time exchange where you can “sell” your remaining chips in exchange for points. I reckon in the FH frenzy that was GW38 people would have offered 30points + for it.

                          1. Klaren
                            • 6 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            30 points is 8 transfers + 2 additional hit points. I highly doubt any serious player would offer more than 12 points on a single GW for a FH at any point in that scenario.

                            1. Boywiththesoupdragontattoo
                              • 6 Years
                              3 years, 8 months ago

                              In my imaginary scenario I was strongly intending to sell it not a non-serious player!

                            2. Boywiththesoupdragontattoo
                              • 6 Years
                              3 years, 8 months ago

                              Downside to my idea is that I’d spend longer on here stoking the hype to boost chip values.

                      10. Steve The Spud
                        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                        • 4 Years
                        3 years, 8 months ago

                        Afternoon all

                        It’s going to be first season ‘seriously’ setting up an fpl team

                        For you what’s the 2-3 key bits of research you do when picking your new team ?

                        1. Jafooli
                          • 12 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          1. Hopefully finding one or two 4.0m playing defs.
                          2. Hopefully finding a 4.5m playing mid with decent assist/goal threat
                          3. Pair of cheap rotating GKs.

                          That is seriously how I start....then fill the rest with a selection of the usual suspects 😆

                          1. Jafooli
                            • 12 Years
                            3 years, 8 months ago

                            Oh and of course check the Ticker for teams with the best fixtures for the first 5 or so GWs...

                        2. Bun Rab
                          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                          • 11 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          1. Fixtures.
                          2 GK's. Rotating or Set and forget.
                          3. Sort my 'premuim players'.
                          4. Ignore pre season as best as i can as it doesn't usually help.

                        3. Drexl Spivey
                          • 5 Years
                          3 years, 8 months ago

                          I have to know the teams with least rotation, who the talismans are and who's most likely to creep out of position, and I must at least know which of the big players the community are targeting as mainstay captains. After that it's a case of eliminating players based on fixtures, value, form and gut feeling, only to scrap everything three gameweeks in on a wildcard regardless.