Our team of Hall of Famers and guest writers provide Fantasy Premier League (FPL) tips and advice throughout the season. Here, two-time Indian FPL champion Lateriser talks about what he’ll take into next season.
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And just like that, another one bites the dust.
It has been a pretty fun FPL season this one. What I want to do with this article is just set a couple of ‘priors’ that I want to take into 2024/25. Think of this as a reminder to self when the new campaign gets going.
One thing I’ve done less of this season is zoom out, soak in the macro and think of a basic strategy at regular points. I’ve been guilty of being in ‘auto-mode’ and just simply focusing on transferring players in and out without really having thought about the ‘big picture’.
I’m talking about things like identifying players that might be untouchable, what the emergence of a massively underpriced asset like Cole Palmer (£6.3m) means, what the form of Arsenal defence means etc. These are all questions you need to ask yourself and then figure out how you’re going to play FPL with a loose strategy in your head.
LONG-TERM V SHORT-TERM TRENDS
It’s often said that one Gameweek is a long time in FPL. But conversely, 38 Gameweeks is also a very short data set to rely on and there are a lot of ‘random’ events that happen. So, finding that balance between long-term and short-term trends and maybe relying on larger data to form firm conclusions is important.
For example, getting rid of Bukayo Saka (£8.8m) around Gameweek 20 punished me more than any other move this season. In mitigation, he was visibly wider and wasn’t posting really good numbers. That said, relying on his previous in terms of data that he has shown for a year or two, him being one of the emerging established talents in a form team like Arsenal, and him being highly owned are things I should have considered.
I wouldn’t even refrain from swerving a pick like Saka if you spot a trend but then if that player is highly owned, rediscovers ‘form’ and punishes you, maybe admitting your mistake and getting him back immediately to minimize the punishment is something you can do to avoid rank drops. To my own fault, I don’t pay a lot of attention to rank threats and this is something I need to weigh into my game.
LOOKING DEEPER AT PLAYER PRICES
When the FPL game is out and we make our drafts, there’s a lot of ‘X is a good pick at this price’ and ‘Y is overpriced’. But what we should be doing is figuring out what this sort of pricing means, what it means we can afford, where are we likely to spend our transfers in the future, which players are long-term picks, which ones are short-term etc. It just feels like once you have reflected enough and have that anchored into your thinking, it might make you a much better FPL player.
This reflection and anchoring of thoughts/strategy that you do in your head should be revisited around once a month, in my opinion. This is just to make sure that you aren’t too stringent/stubborn with your thinking and are flexible enough to spot trends and adjust.
GAMEWEEK 1 BANKERS
Another thing I will be doing next season is asking myself, without knowing the prices or fixtures, which players are very likely to be in my Gameweek 1 team.
The first name that comes to my mind is Cole Palmer. We are very used to him being a £5.0m FPL asset and he’s currently the highest-scoring pick in the game, despite only getting his first start in Gameweek 7. Chelsea as a team are on an incredible trajectory and only Michael Olise (£5.7m, 10.1 mins/pt) has a faster rate of FPL points than Palmer (10.8) this season. In fact, Sam pointed out that Palmer has a staggering 10.38 points per game at home this season, having amassed 135 points in 13 fixtures.
Another team that all of us are going to talk about a lot next season is Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace. Ever since his appointment in Gameweek 26, only four teams have scored more goals than the Eagles and only Manchester City and Arsenal have conceded on fewer occasions. They will definitely be one to watch.
The front three, as well as Daniel Munoz (£4.5m), will definitely be on my watchlist. I don’t think many people understand how attacking Munoz actually is. It doesn’t even show in the underlying stats but he parks himself as the forward in this team on so many occasions. He is a player who is very likely going to be in my Gameweek 1 team.
Chelsea have picked up form in the last couple of months and they will be interesting from an investment perspective now that Mauricio Pochettino has got them clicking. And then, of course, there is Josko Gvardiol (£5.2m). If he continues at this rate, the dilemma between him, the Arsenal defenders (who will all probably come in at £6.0m) and the likes of Trent Alexander Arnold (£8.4m) is going to be very, very interesting next season.
I simply cannot wait!
THANK YOU
Until then, good luck this week and I hope you end your season well.
If you’ve not had a good one, one thing this game never takes away from you is hope. There’s always a next time, a next week, a next season. Just make sure you reflect and adapt.
I’ll end this with a couple of thank yous. A big thanks to everyone at Fantasy Football Scout for just being incredible people to work with. Chris, Neale, Tom and everyone else. I also think the editorial team at FFScout is incredible, produces the best content and is very underappreciated. I always get a free hand in terms of what I want to write about and the team is always encouraging and open to new ideas, which is very liberating.
A big thank you to all of you, as well, for reading my content this year and also showing Zoph, Pras and I a lot of support on The FPL Wire. We do have a Gameweek 38 episode out, in case you haven’t checked it out, and have a pod coming out on Monday as well.
