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Learning from ‘The Great and The Good’ FPL managers ahead of Gameweek 22

Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead continues with his series of articles analysing the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) transfers and strategies of some noted Fantasy managers, from serial top 10k finishers to well-known faces.

The Great and The Good this year are the Scouts Joe LepperNeale RiggGeoff Dance and Tom Freeman, FPL Wire’s Zophar, from the Hall of Fame Fabio BorgesFPLMatthewYavuz Kabuk and Tom Stephenson, Blackbox’s Az and Mark Sutherns, FPL “celebrities” LTFPL AndyMagnus Carlsen and FPL General plus last year’s mini-league winner Les Caldwell.


“What else could I do; I’m so inspired by you. That hasn’t happened for the longest time”

Late inspiration was provided by Jarrod Bowen (£6.7m), for those who handed him the armband anyway, as Double Gameweek 21 concluded after what felt to be the longest time with a mixture of disappointment at more delays, dodgy assists, and a Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.9m) penalty miss.

Still, onwards we go to the potential pitfalls of a Double Gameweek 22, which has gone from being huge, to humble, to hopeless as the last week has progressed.

OVERALL PERFORMANCE

We have a new leader in this hotly contested competition with FPL General on the best weekly score of 91 points and a green arrow sending him into the top 10,000 for the first time this season.

Bowen was obviously the main source of points but Armando Broja (£5.3m) and Craig Dawson (£4.9m) also gave him the edge over Az, who dropped to second thanks to an unfortunate hit for £4.0m defender Ben Johnson.

General has now managed seven green arrows in ten Gameweeks but more impressively has only had to take three hits. Compare this to third place Tom Stephenson, who has had to take seven over the same period.

Vladimir Coufal (£4.7m) helped FPL Matthew and Geoff Dance to good weeks, Magnus had one to forget as he fell victim to the Everton cancellation, and special mention to Yavuz whose more aggressive approach in the last few weeks sees him move into the top 100,000 for the first time this season. Can he get a top 10,000 finish for the eighth time in a row?

The captaincy choice was the difference maker this week, with Andy, Tom Stephenson, Tom Freeman, Magnus and Les putting their faith in the wrong Hammer.

CHIP PLAY

Les was forced into action after the hack to overhaul his squad, and the full ins and outs are below:

  • IN – Pickford, Sanchez, Lowton, Lamptey, Cancelo, Coufal, Bowen, Foden, Gray, Son, Ronaldo, Antonio, Toney
  • OUT – Lloris, Ramsdale, Taylor, Reguilon, Davies, Gabriel, Bernardo Silva, Mount, Mahrez, Jota, Maupay, Dennis, Watkins

Wholesale change as you might expect with an eye of taking advantage of the double as Messrs Pickford, Coufal, Bowen, Gray, Antonio and Toney came in. Of these, only the West Ham players delivered.

The investment in two playing ‘keepers reflects the times we operate; he will be disappointed by the Son Heung-min (£10.7m) injury and I wonder how long Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.5m) will last when Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) returns from his AFCON adventures.

There were more chips cashed as another Free Hit bit the dust, with Fabio trying his luck in what was initially a tempting double.

Template triple West Ham was present and correct, but he doubled up on Brentford and had a trio of Everton players; neither of these latter groups outscored Salah, who returned to his squad for a one-week swansong.

TRANSFERS

This is a summary of the transfers for this week :

  • Az – Pinnock, Bowen (James, Smith-Rowe)
  • LTFPL Andy – Gray, Dawson (Brownhill, James)
  • Fabio Borges – Free Hit
  • Joe Lepper – Son, Diop, Antonio (Foden, James, Lacazette)
  • Geoff Dance – Calvert-Lewin, Son, Coufal (Davis, Salah, James)
  • FPL General – Dawson (James)
  • Les Caldwell – Wildcard
  • Magnus Carlsen – Calvert-Lewin, Bowen, Keane (Gelhardt, Salah, James)
  • Mark Sutherns – Son, Diop, Antonio (Foden, James, Davis)
  • FPL Matthew – Antonio, Coufal (Watkins, James)
  • Neale Rigg – Son, Gray, Dawson (Foden, Smith-Rowe, Rudiger)
  • Tom Freeman – Calvert-Lewin, Bowen (Lacazette, Foden)
  • Tom Stephenson – Gray, Bowen, Dawson (Foden, Martinelli, James)
  • Yavuz Kabuk – Dawson, Gray, Bowen (James, Foden, Saka)
  • Zophar – Gray (Martinelli)

There was an East London knees up as The Great and The Good fought over the West Ham players, Michail Antonio (£7.9m) and Bowen were essential with the only real debate over whether to go Dawson or Coufal.

A couple had extreme cases of bad variance with numerous expletives probably passing the mouths of Tom Freeman, Geoff, and Magnus when Calvert-Lewin missed his spot-kick and then had his second game cancelled. I doubt they will be sending Brendan Rodgers a birthday card this year or agreeing to take him to the darts.

The hits keep coming with six of them taking minus eights, including the normally cautious Joe, who has been forced into three double hits in three out of the last four weeks. We are all out of our comfort zone!

TEMPLATE

The template for The Great and The Good is as follows, with the numbers in brackets showing how many teams in which they appear:

  • De Gea (8), Foster (6)
  • Alexander-Arnold (14), Cancelo (14), Livramento (9), Alonso (6), Dawson (6)
  • Bowen (15), Jota (13), Son (13), Gray (8), Foden/Martinelli (4)
  • Antonio (15), Ronaldo (9), King (8)

The template continues to lurch week to week, dependent on the latest cancellation or double. This time we saw Dawson and Demarai Gray (£5.5m) enter the fray for an injured Reece James (£6.2m) and an AFCON-bound Salah. I do hope they have saved their pennies to get the Egyptian back in Gameweek 24…

TARGET TRANSFERS

A quick poke this week at where The Great and The Good have targeted their trades this season, with the table below showing the split by position:

As you would expect the main moves have been in midfield with the managers looking to improve rank by guessing which mid-priced gems would accompany Salah to help them gain ground.

It’s interesting to note that a couple of our elite managers, Fabio and Yavuz, have used over half of their transfers in the centre of the park.

Magnus and FPL General have allocated most of their exchanges to address the search for a consistent forward but it’s worth noting that the more successful managers over the last eight weeks have built their success on a solid defence.

Fabio, who has been the top scorer from Gameweek 12, has barely touched his defence since his Wildcard in Gameweek 8, with Tino Livramento (£4.3m) to James the only backline transfer; his trust in a double-up on City defenders proving the backbone of his success.

CONCLUSION

Here comes another double, at the double, with the deadline rapidly approaching. Many a finger of many an FPL manager has been burnt in the chaos of the last couple of weeks, with some giving up all hope.

My positive spin on this would be to stay the course, as any manager who stays engaged right now will have an advantage in the longer term over those less enthusiastic managers struggling to keep up.

Then there is the promise of the final sprint double bonanza as, after Gameweek 30, there looks a real opportunity for those who like to plan to have their moment, as we navigate the fixtures.

So, keep the faith as we may yet see FPL inspire after what has felt like the longest time.

Anyway, that’s all from me for and remember don’t have nightmares.

For those affected by any of the topics raised in the above article then you can find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Greyhead19

387 Comments Post a Comment
  1. AARON-1
    • 2 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Patson Daka a decent free hit punt with Dennis a bit of a doubt "needing assessment", and Ronaldo saying we should keep our "fingers crossed" he makes it. Might even triple up with Maddison/Lookman/Daka. Then again, I might not.

    1. The Mentaculus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 2 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      Hell yeah, would definitely get him if I was FHing

    2. RamaJama
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      Depends if we get any news on Leicester's injury/Covid situation.

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

        We have comments from press conference- see Scout tweets

      2. gart888
        • 9 Years
        2 years, 2 months ago

        Think we got some good news just now didn't we?

      3. AARON-1
        • 2 Years
        2 years, 2 months ago

        Brendan Rodgers has spoken...
        Brendan Rodgers says that Leicester are in a "much better position" on the injury/illness front with Luke Thomas, Patson Daka, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Caglar Soyuncu and James Justin all set to be available to face Burnley.

  2. royals forever
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Which one of these players would you sell for a DGWer

    Jesus
    Lacazette
    Bernardo
    Saka

    Any ideas would be welcomed

    1. gart888
      • 9 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      Bernardo for me. Haven't been impressed with him since KDB's return.

    2. The Mentaculus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 2 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      Lacazette

    3. Black Knights
      • 12 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      Maybe keep Saka but any of the rest can go.

    4. Gooner97
      • 10 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      Lacazette/Jesus

  3. gart888
    • 9 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Any of these worth a -4?

    A) Foden to KDB
    B) Watkins to Kane
    C) Watkins to Ronaldo

    Armband currently on Maddison, so would put it on Kane or Ronaldo if I brought them in.

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

    Think I can ride up to 24 without selling Salah.

    1. beric
      • 12 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      24 points this week? I'd sell him in that case

    2. gart888
      • 9 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      But why? Surely swapping him to a DGW player, and then bringing him back in later is worth it?

    3. BeWater
      • 3 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      Think I'm keeping him now. If Son hadn't got injured I might have sold him. Son to Maddison (c) and bench Salah. Saves a couple of trabsfers.

  5. cb68
    • 2 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    If I currently have 1 FT and use my FH, next week I will have 1 or 2 FTs?

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

      You don't keep banked FTs after a free hit. You'll just have one.

    2. Shayben
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      after a free hit you'll only have 1 FT

  6. dunas_dog
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Given from press conference there is still some doubt over Dennis and Rodgers confirmed Daka was as available best option for Broja transfer

    A Daka
    B King
    C Dennis

    1. TheTinman
      • 8 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      If its a transfer it has to be one of the Watford one

    2. JONALDINHO
      • 6 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      B

  7. TheTinman
    • 8 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Welcome to the team Luke Thomas 😎

  8. Donny_Rover
    • 8 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Worth a -4 to field this?

    De Gea
    TAA Davies Cancelo Tierney
    Jota Maddison Moura
    Ronaldo (c) King Antonio

    Foster Digne Luiz Salah

    Would be Mad, Moura & Digne in for Foden, Gilmour & James. Exact cash, want Digne longer term so he’s the enabler and there aren’t any DGW defenders at £5m or below that I fancy for a 1 week punt. Anything else would involve Salah or Ronaldo out which (right now at least) I don’t want to do.

  9. Millie7
    • 10 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Bottomed

    De Gea
    Cancelo Reguillon TAA Lowton
    Gray Son Bowen Jota
    King Antonio

    Foster Salah Broja Coufal
    1.4ITB 1FT
    Do i need to get rid of both Salah and Son for 2 more doubles or is it best to just keep Salah for when he's back?

    1. Max City
      • 7 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      It really depends on who you will replace them with, and whether you will have them back ..

  10. Karan14
    • 7 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    So Dennis will remain flagged?

    1. Lanley Staurel
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      I guess so - hes a doubt

    2. Mr. O'Connell
      • 11 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      Would have thought so

  11. Gooner97
    • 10 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    DDG (Bachmann)
    Coufal Cancelo TAA* (Livra*, Amartey*)
    Silva Foden* Jota Bowen (Son*)
    Antonio Watkins Broja*

    1FT, £3.4ITB

    What would you do with this lot?
    Do you reckon bringin Maddi, Dennis, Moura and maybe Reguilon/Royal is enough for this DGW? Should take at least a -12 tho...

  12. Bobby Digital
    • 6 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    9m itb if I get Maddison for Son... Anyone else in similar situation?

    1. Gooner97
      • 10 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      You're a rich man too

    2. Max City
      • 7 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      I have only 5.5m itb and I get Maddison for Salah lol

    3. gart888
      • 9 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      Yeah. 6.4 over here. Stuck wondering if I should be taking a hit to bring in Kane/Ronaldo/KDB.

  13. The Train Driver
    • 8 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    “Sometimes it only takes one person from outside to destroy a beautiful love affair.”

    Guess who recently said this...

    1. TheTinman
      • 8 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      Boris

  14. SHOWSTOPPERRR
    • 6 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Guys need help. Only 2 dgw players. Have 2FH.

    Sanchez
    Taa cancelo coufal
    Salah son Bowen Gray jota
    Antonio Dennis

    4.0 broja White livra

    A) broja salah to maddy cr7 -4
    B) broja salah son to cr7 moura maddy -8

    1. Max City
      • 7 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      2FH and 2FT as well?

      1. SHOWSTOPPERRR
        • 6 Years
        2 years, 2 months ago

        1ft onky

  15. chelseabrad
    • 9 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Completely stuck as to what to do this week, Son must be taken out surely... Also have 3.8itb and 1ft

    Lloris
    TAA Cancelo Keane
    Son* Raph Bernardo Maddison Bowen
    King Antonio

    (Foster Watkins Cash Livra)

  16. RVP 20
    • 3 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    What to do here.. FH or?

    Ramsdale (Foster)
    TAA Cancelo Reguilon (White Livramento)
    Salah Son Jota Bowen Gray
    DCL Antonio (Broja)

  17. The Mandalorian
    • 11 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Dennis to be assessed before next game.

    Ronaldo returns from injury, can he play both games?

    LEI and LEEDS have the worst affected squads and are likely the biggest cancellation risks potentially affecting West Ham and Spurs fixtures.

    What a gameweek for doubts.

    1. King Carlos
      • 8 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      I think Lei are now OK but their match vs Burnley is in danger as Burnley is missing many players

  18. King Carlos
    • 8 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Burnley's match(es) like to be postponed?

    1. Sgt Frank Drebin
      • 7 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      Who are they missing?

  19. Letsgo!
    • 7 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Will u still capt dennis?

  20. Rupert The Horse
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    NEW ARTICLE POSTED

  21. Firminooooo
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Anything worth a hit? Thinking Son to Maddison with FT. Giving me:

    DDG
    TAA Cancelo Coufal Alonso
    Jota Maddison Foden Bowen
    Dennis Ronaldo(C)

    Bench: Antonio, Saka, Targett, Foster

  22. GioTira
    • 2 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Who to sell for Dennis

    a) Antonio
    b) Watkins

    1. Dan D
      • 2 Years
      2 years, 2 months ago

      considering the same . Choosing between Antonio and do nothing

  23. M2.0
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    Ramsdale > De gea worth a hit?

  24. mclark802
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    2 years, 2 months ago

    I am debating bringing in Coutinho to my team to replace either Saka or Gray. Given his impressive debut cameo and Villa's run of games doesn't look too bad i'm seriously considering this as a transfer. What are people's views on Coutinho or whether there might be a better option at the 7m price bracket.