FPL

Who made our 2021/22 FPL Team of the Season?

We’re revealing our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Team of the Season following a week of voting from the Fantasy Football Scout userbase.

Over 20,000 votes were cast in total which, even allowing for the multiple votes permitted per person, was still an excellent response.

Seven players (one goalkeeper, three defenders, two midfielders and one forward; the bare minimum for each position in FPL) made it into the XI from the initial position-by-position polls, with the run-off vote the decider for the other four spots.

TEAM OF THE SEASON – GOALKEEPER VOTE

Aaron Ramsdale was the comfortable victor in our goalkeepers’ poll, canvassing not far off half the vote.

A total of 12 clean sheets in 34 starts was only bettered by those representing the top four, while just Alisson could beat him for bonus (14) across the season.

The former Sheffield United man did it all from a starting price of just £4.5m, too.

Ten successive blanks meant that the season ended on a slightly sour note but Ramsdale still ended with a very respectable 4.0 points per match.

TEAM OF THE SEASON – DEFENDER VOTE

The three players who scored the most points among FPL defenders, Joao Cancelo, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson, cruised into our end-of-year XI.

Outside of Ben Chilwell, who made just seven appearances, these three full-backs had the best points-per-match averages (5.6, 6.5 and 6.4) of any FPL defender.

The trio ended the season on a combined 40 attacking returns, 82 bonus points and 54 clean sheets between them.

Alexander-Arnold was tantalisingly close to breaking the all-time record for most FPL points by a defender in a season.

Antonio Rudiger only just edged out Joel Matip to take fifth place in our poll.

TEAM OF THE SEASON – MIDFIELDER VOTE

Only two midfielders automatically made it through to the Team of the Season, so there were few surprises when FPL’s highest points-scorers, Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min, were given the nod.

Son ended up 50 points clear of third-place Alexander-Arnold in the overall standings, just to ram home these two wingers’ achievements.

The pair ended up sharing the Golden Boot award after finishing on 23 goals apiece, while a combined 24 assists and 56 bonus points were also banked.

Salah and Son averaged 7.6 and 7.4 points per match respectively, league-leading totals discounting Chilwell.

Jarrod Bowen, Kevin De Bruyne and Bukayo Saka made it through to the run-off vote, more of which below.

TEAM OF THE SEASON – FORWARD VOTE

Harry Kane cruised into our Team of the Season, with most responders in our forwards’ poll nominating the Spurs striker.

One of only two forwards among FPL’s 30 highest points-scorers (Cristiano Ronaldo was the other), even Kane struggled for a while with 12 blanks in his first 13 appearances.

The arrival of Antonio Conte eventually sparked an upturn in his performances and FPL returns, however: 16 goals and 10 assists arrived in his final 24 matches.

In the Conte era, which started in Gameweek 11, he recorded at least 45 more points than any other forward.

Ronaldo and Ivan Toney finished second and third, with the early-season exploits of Michail Antonio and the bargain-bin Emmanuel Dennis soured by their subsequent droughts.

TEAM OF THE SEASON – RUN-OFF VOTE

Who made our 2021/22 FPL Team of the Season? 3

As mentioned earlier, our run-off poll effectively gave managers the chance to decide on our formation by voting for the final four players.

It was fitting that, in this season of misfiring forwards, we ended up with a 4-5-1 as Toney and Ronaldo were given the cold shoulder.

Jarrod Bowen was the clear favourite of many, backed by the vast majority of responders. One of just five players to break the 200-point barrier in 2021/22, he produced 12 goals and a league-high 17 assists from a starting price of only £6.5m.

No player in his Fantasy position could beat him for value (aka ‘points per million’), while his average of 5.7 points per match was the best of any sub-£10.0m midfielder.

Kevin De Bruyne joins the premium-heavy line-up, having scored a career-high 15 Premier League goals in 2021/22.

His season was similar to that of Kane, with the Belgian making a slow start but then amassing 21 goal contributions in 20 appearances from Gameweek 17 onwards.

A four-goal display in the 5-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers in Double Gameweek 36 was one of the stand-out FPL moments of the season.

Like Bowen, Bukayo Saka offered tremendous value from a £6.5m starting price. Indeed, the West Ham United man was the only midfielder who could better Saka for points per million.

A reliable starter who featured in every single Arsenal match this season, he was one of just six sub-£10.0m FPL options who hit 20 attacking returns or more in 2021/22.

It was a Chelsea face-off for our 11th and final spot in our Team of the Season, with the explosive, erratic form of Reece James seeing him get the edge over the more slow-and-steady Antonio Rudiger.

Underpriced at £5.5m back in August, James managed 21 FPL returns (be they attacking or defensive in nature) from 22 starts.

He averaged almost as many points per start (6.3) as Robertson (6.4) and Alexander-Arnold (6.5).

A rate of 0.67 attacking returns per 90 minutes was also comfortably better than what the Liverpool premium pair were delivering.

TEAM OF THE SEASON – THE LINE-UP

TEAM OF THE SEASON – IN PRACTISE

We didn’t place any budgetary constraints on our Team of the Season and, as a result, the line-up below would have cost an undoable £90.5m at the start of 2021/22 (Ramsdale entered in Gameweek 2, so we’ll assume a £4.5m placeholder deputised initially for the purposes of this calculation).

  • Ramsdale: £4.5m
  • Cancelo: £6.0m
  • Alexander-Arnold: £7.5m
  • Robertson: £7.0m
  • James: £5.5m
  • Salah: £12.5m
  • Son: £10.0m
  • Bowen: £6.5m
  • De Bruyne: £12.0m
  • Saka: £6.5m
  • Kane: £12.5m

A maximum of £83.5m could have been spent on a starting XI in Gameweek 1, with £16.5m set aside for the cheapest possible combination of substitutes: a £4.0m goalkeeper, two £4.0m defenders and a £4.5m midfielder or forward. That would only have been possible with a three-man backline, however.

As for a viable zombie/ghost squad within the £100m budget, Andrew Gower has come up with the following effort that would have lurked just outside the top 1k without any chips or transfers – let us know below the line if you have stumbled on a formula that could have done better!

37 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Philosopher's Stones
    • 3 Years
    1 year, 9 months ago

    Amber Heard in the mud

    1. Piggs Boson
      • 12 Years
      1 year, 9 months ago

      Did you read the BBC article trying to discredit the verdict?
      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61673676

      Couldn't believe it. They seem to have ignored the evidence and just blamed social media and Depp for using techniques that "Lawyers and judges tend not to fall for it, but it's very, very effective against juries,"

      1. Nate(U)dog(ie)
        • 3 Years
        1 year, 9 months ago

        Not that I want to get into this full discussion but I think this whole case and everything to do with it has shown that we're not sufficiently (emotionally or intelligently) capable or mature enough as a society or a people to properly deal with it. Media organisations and outlets doubling down on their biases / connections to their printed stories instead of admitting being wrong, people siding with #TeamJohnny or #TeamAmber like it's a match, prevalence of memes or snippets from the trial edited and displayed in a humorous form, groups manipulating the outcome (in one way or another) to justify their siding ("see, women lie about what men do" / "the ruling was wrong for the MeToo movement"), all the while forgetting this was a case about abuse and the repercussions for those that have to suffer through it.

      2. Zimo
        • 5 Years
        1 year, 9 months ago

        The media is on her side for some twisted reason even though the evidence suggests otherwise. I'm glad the whole trial was televised so people could actually see the truth for themselves.

        1. The Polymath
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          1 year, 9 months ago

          Perhaps a survey needs to be done of the main newspapers and how many employ radical feminists commentators who are allowed to use their positions to promote their toxic ideology such as all women tell the truth.

      3. The Polymath
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        1 year, 9 months ago

        Who wrote the article and why don't the BBC employ people with differing views. Starting to see the point of removing the license fee.

  2. Nate(U)dog(ie)
    • 3 Years
    1 year, 9 months ago

    Telling of how odd a season it's been that some of these players are there. James had only 11GWs where he got more than 2pts, Kane blanked/didn't feature in 21GWs, Ramsdale got over 3pts in just 12GWs, Saka blanked in 22GWs. KDB hardly featured in the first 16GWs yet has the 6th most points in FPL this season. Yet it's hard to argue with those choices.

  3. Botman and Robben
    • 7 Years
    1 year, 9 months ago

    Who are Chelsea looking to buy to replace Rudiger?

    1. Nate(U)dog(ie)
      • 3 Years
      1 year, 9 months ago

      Kounde is their main target. Seems like Christensen and Alonso will both be off to Barcelona, possibly also Azpilicueta so they'll need a few replacements. I'd imagine some Chelsea fans must be disappointed looking at this situation now while they see how well Guehi at Palace and Tomori at Milan are doing

      1. Botman and Robben
        • 7 Years
        1 year, 9 months ago

        Woah, they may need quite some buys then. Hope the new owners are packing some paper.

    2. diesel001
      • 7 Years
      1 year, 9 months ago

      It's this reason why I think Chelsea will struggle this season (and by struggle I mean be in a Top 4 race and not necessarily get Top 4).

      Rudiger, Azpi and Christensen look to be off and Thiago Silva is old. They basically need a whole new back three unless they are happy playing Chalobah and Sarr.

      But it isn't easy to buy defenders for teams who want to play on the front foot and even if you find them, trying to integrate them by the time the season starts and with a World Cup break mid-season is going to be difficult.

  4. Grande Tubarão
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 2 Years
    1 year, 9 months ago

    Georgia currently leading Gibraltar 2-0 at half time. Georgia looking more comfortable than the scoreline suggests despite Gibraltar giving it their all.

  5. bso
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    1 year, 9 months ago

    So excited for the World Cup, especially Argentina who at last have a good team and coach.
    Fun times ahead.

    1. el polako
      • 6 Years
      1 year, 9 months ago

      Just a shame that tournament is taking place on a covered in blood desert in a country without any footballing heritage and atmosphere.

      So many places in the world where this could've been a wonderful experience for passionate fans, instead we have paid for PR stunt.

      1. bso
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        1 year, 9 months ago

        All true mate. They paid off those FIFA officials very well. Dreadful place to hold the tournament for all kinds of reasons. They also get a prize for controlling womens lives.

  6. Big boy Bowen
    • 7 Years
    1 year, 9 months ago

    Any cheeky price releases yet? Keen!

    1. RedLightning
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 13 Years
      1 year, 9 months ago

      There won't be any new prices announced till after FPL has been updated in preparation for the new season.
      At the beginning of the season just finished, the dates were:
      15-17Jun: FPL updated to get ready for 2021-22.
      16Jun: Premier League fixtures announced.
      20Jun: New prices from 9 clubs revealed (4 players from each of ARS, BHA, BUR, CRY, TOT & all players from LEE, LIV, NOR, WHU).
      21Jun: New prices from the other 11 clubs revealed (4 players from each of AVL, CHE, EVE, LEI, MCI & all players from BRE, MUN, NEW, SOU, WAT, WOL).
      22Jun: New prices revealed for all players from BHA; FPL launched at about 12.12pm (after updating for about 68 minutes).

  7. Optimal Zombie Team
    RedLightning
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 13 Years
    1 year, 9 months ago

    Can anyone find a better set and forget zombie team than Andrew Gower's one quoted in the article?
    2682 pts, ranked 1873 and costing 99m doesn't sound that impressive - the Optimal Dead Team Squad (another name for the same thing) is usually much closer to the FPL Champion's total and quite often beats it - or is this season different because of all the DGWs and high chip scores?

    In 2020-21, the Optimal Dead Team Squad (4-4-2 and costing exactly 100.0m) would have scored 2,660 points with no chips, or 2,680 (the same as FPL Champion Michael Coone) if the Triple Captain chip was played in GW1 and no changes were made after that:
    Martinez(AVL,4.5, 186 in 35 GWs)
    Dallas(LEE,4.5, 171 in 37 GWs), Cresswell(WHU,5.0, 153 in 35 GWs), Chilwell(CHE,5.5, 139 in 25 GWs, Stones(MCI,5.0, 128 in 21 GSs
    Fernandes(MUN,10.5, Captain, 244*2 in 33 GWs), Salah(LIV,12.0, Vice-captain, 231+36 in 34 GWs), Son(TOT,9.0, 228 in 35 GWs), Gundogan(MCI,5.5, 157 in 25 GWs)
    Kane(TOT,10.5, 242 in 34 GWs), Bamford(LEE,5.5, 194 in 37 GWs)
    Guaita(CRY,5.0, Bench, 23 in 3 GWs), Calvert-Lewin(EVE,7.0, Bench 1, 130 in 22 GWs), Bellerin (ARS, 5.0, Bench 2, 69 in 12 GWs), Harrison(LEE,5.5, Bench 3, 85 in 12 GWs)

    1. Piggs Boson
      • 12 Years
      1 year, 9 months ago

      Always love seeing the zombie team. I like to see the squad structure it favours, minus the hindsight bench players that just happen to be needed when they haul. They usually find one that wins the game. I've no idea how they work it out though.

      I started writing a program to find the optimal XI a few years back, and remember the program running for several days and still being no where near finishing. It's an incredibly complex problem, The Knapsack Problem on crack. That wasn't even including a bench or chips...

      Been meaning to go back and optimise it, but can't be arsed. There's probably some huge shortcuts I could take in the algorithm but just made a quick cheap and nasty one. A lot of complex maths in this game 😆

    2. Pasqualinho
      • 14 Years
      1 year, 9 months ago

      Twitter came up with a couple of 2714s:

      Lloris
      James, Cancelo, TAA, Matip
      Son, Salah(c), Bowen, Maddison(vc), Mount
      Dennis
      Bench: Fabianski, Toney, Gabriel, Broja

      or

      Lloris
      James, Cancelo, TAA, Matip
      Salah(c), Son, Maddison(vc), Bowen, Mount
      Pukki
      Bench : Krul, Toney, Gabriel, Broja

      1. RedLightning
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 13 Years
        1 year, 9 months ago

        Only a couple of differences between those teams:
        Dennis & Fabianski or Pukki & Krul.
        2714 points with no transfers would be 605th overall.
        Can these be improved any further?

        1. Holmes
          • 10 Years
          1 year, 9 months ago

          Trying but no success yet, looks like this is the best we can get. Dropping any of those mids and defenders is just not an option, reduces overall score considerably.

      2. RedLightning
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 13 Years
        1 year, 9 months ago

        Interesting that premium goalkeeper Lloris makes the team.
        Probably because there is enough cash left over for him after including the nine defenders and mids, and it is more profitable to spend the rest on a better goalkeeper than on a better forward - which shows once again what poor value the more expensive forwards have been this season compared to the defenders and mids.
        The first team above only cost 95.5m at GW1. The spare 0.5m might have been spent on upgrading Lloris to Alisson, but that isn't allowed because of the three players per club limit.

    3. Sheffield Wednesday
      • 3 Years
      1 year, 9 months ago

      Also Ramsdale was ineligible for a zombie team as he wasn't an FPL player in GW1, so the alternatives above avoid that hitch.

  8. FPL Virgin
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    1 year, 9 months ago

    So the worst goalkeeper of the season has been voted the best goalkeeper of the season. What. A. Joke.

    1. fplgaruda
      • 2 Years
      1 year, 9 months ago

      Lol. So salty

    2. Rassi
      • 9 Years
      1 year, 9 months ago

      We are talking FPL here. If a 4.5 M player ends up with 135 points, he is a pretty damn good FPL option.

    3. Waddlinho
      • 4 Years
      1 year, 9 months ago

      Ramsdale played 34 matches which means 4 pts per game. It's very good average for a 4.5M keeper. He was also the clear pick of the Arsenal's defensive punch.

      I voted for Sa, but I can understand why other picked Ramsdale. It's easy to argue that Sa wasn't even the best pick of Wolves pack since Coady was available for 0.5M less and scored just 8 points less (his 30.7 points/million was also superior to Sa's 29,2).

      Lloris rate was 28.7 points/million versus Ramsdale's 30 pts/million, so there's several valid arguments for Ramsdale. (One of them is that people don't like too much keepers costing 5.5 million or more.)

      And finally, it's not picking the best real life goalkeeper, it's just the best FPL keeper. It's not about who you would like to play for your team in reality, it's who you would choose to your FPL team.

      1. Rassi
        • 9 Years
        1 year, 9 months ago

        Yeah, I also voted for Sa but Ramsdale would have been my 2nd choice despite never owning him.

  9. bso
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    1 year, 9 months ago

    Watched the Spain vs Portugal game...nothing exciting there. Both rather toothless.

    1. FPL price manipulators are …
      • 10 Years
      1 year, 9 months ago

      Glorified friendlies unless you get to the Euros through it

  10. Andy_Social
    • 11 Years
    1 year, 9 months ago

    Might be interesting to knock up a GW1 squad and a 2nd half of season wildcard switch-up. The first squad would be the same as above but with Dennis for Kane, which would be affordable. Then the second would have Kane but lose Trent and James (and another who faded in the second half).

  11. KujaliaFC
    • 11 Years
    1 year, 9 months ago

    Is Mitrovic still a red card hazard or has he calmed down now that he's more mature?

    1. RedLightning
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 13 Years
      1 year, 9 months ago

      Mitrovic received 12 yellow cards last season , but no reds.
      He hasn't received any red cards since the 2015/16 season, when he received two playing for Newcastle.

      1. KujaliaFC
        • 11 Years
        1 year, 9 months ago

        Wow. That's great news. I think it was those Newcastle reds that are burned in my memory. 12 yellows is still a concern I suppose, but his lack of reds puts my mind at ease.

  12. Stamford B
    • 2 Years
    1 year, 9 months ago

    I’d like to see the team of the season for years gone by. Any chance of doing that?