How the war was won – Joshua Bull’s victory

Joshua Bull’s victory was built on a foundation of six players that lasted all or most of the season. Nick Pope, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kevin de Bruyne were ever-present, Mohamed Salah was present for all but one week, whilst on Club World Cup duty, returning after Son Heung-min’s red card. Jamie Vardy lasted until Gameweek 35+ and John Lundstram until Gameweek 33+.

Identifying this core proved to be a great advantage. Not only did they score well, but it also reduced the pressure on transfers and consequently, Josh took no hits all season. He also saved a transfer for the following week on ten occasions, including in Gameweek 2. This enables reallocation of funds between positions whilst making full use of the budget.

If you expect that you must shoot the lights out most weeks to win FPL, that isn’t the case. There were 19 Gameweeks where Josh had a Gameweek rank of over one million. Significantly though, Josh suffered only two Gameweek ranks of over four million and the good core helped achieve that.

Josh was prepared to walk away from moves that didn’t go well but wasn’t put off from returning and then sticking with an asset. The main example of this is Anthony Martial. He was owned during Gameweeks 3 and 4, then during Gameweeks 11 to 15. On the third attempt, Martial was bought for Gameweek 18 and this time, he stayed.

Danny Ings was bought fairly late at Gameweek 14 but then if there was any temptation to tinker, it was resisted and he remained from then on. Virgil van Dijk was given a good run at the start but was jettisoned in Gameweek 9, as Liverpool’s clean sheet record disappointed.

The identification of a good starting core meant that wildcards could be played late. The first came in Gameweek 18 and the second in the final Gameweek. The Triple Captain chip was played on Salah in Liverpool’s double Gameweek 24 and the Free Hit was played in Gameweek 37+.

Josh made five transfers with the extra wildcard after lockdown and used his Bench Boost, suffering a no-show from Salah. This season could produce some opportunities with the potential for late starts but using the Bench Boost in a single Gameweek is a valid tactic.

After every season, the best team with no transfers (zombie team) is presented and we wonder why we bother with tinkering. Without examining every transfer Josh made (which, with the new game being launched I can no longer do), it appears that he leant towards the approach of building a stable team, rather than attempting to call each Gameweek.

If you can identify a solid core at the outset, then get good season-long performers (even after a few false starts), save transfers and minimise hits then who knows, it could be you.