The Fantasy Premier League (FPL) landscape has the potential to change very quickly, as many of us found out over the weekend.
Jarell Quansah (£4.5m) went from being part of Liverpool’s first XI to potential bench fodder in just 45 minutes on Saturday.
Shortly after, Valentin Barco (£4.0m) was named among the substitutes for Brighton and Hove Albion’s trip to Goodison Park.
Some of Quansah and Barco’s owners have already seen enough.
The Liverpool man has been transferred out by over 41,000 managers at the time of writing, with Barco not far behind on 32,000.
The questions over what to do with this duo have dominated our comments section over the last few days, so in this piece, we’ll run through the current situation and the options open to FPL managers.
JARELL QUANSAH
Despite the 2-0 win, Liverpool endured a difficult first 45 minutes at Portman Road on Saturday.
As a result, Jarell Quansah made way for Ibrahima Konate (£5.0m) at half-time.
Arne Slot later explained the decision to replace Quansah was not due to injury but because he felt Konate was better suited to cope with the aerial threat of Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap (£5.5m).
“First thing I said was we don’t have to speak about tactics if we lose so many duels and that’s what we did. That’s not that Jarell [Quansah] lost every duel – many of us lost too many duels – but I think we needed Ibou Konate to win these long balls in the air from the number nine. That gave us control.” – Arne Slot
“We lost almost every long ball, every duel to both sides and in the second half we were ready. I don’t think our problem in the first half was our midfield. I think our problem in the first half was more that we lost too many duels – our defenders lost too many and our attackers didn’t win enough.” – Arne Slot
The introduction of Konate preceded a much-improved Liverpool display, with the Reds clicking into gear and taking control after the break.
Konate wasn’t the only reason for that second-half dominance – Liverpool also successfully employed a more direct approach – but for the more physical battles ahead, Slot could now turn to the Frenchman.
VALENTIN BARCO
Valentin Barco impressed in pre-season and started Brighton’s final summer friendly against Villarreal.
There was, of course, risk attached to his selection, with Pervis Estupinan (£5.0m) nearly fit and Albion linked with a potential move for Ferdi Kadioglu.
However, it was Jack Hinshelwood (£5.0m) preferred at left-back on Saturday, a real surprise given his lack of pre-season minutes.
After a tricky first half against Jack Harrison (£5.5m), the 19-year-old improved after the break, showing quality on the ball.
While the theories abounded after the game (an injury or a more physical presence to deal with Liverpool’s aerial ball), it soon transpired that he would depart for pastures new – at least on a temporary basis.
WHAT TO DO WITH QUANSAH + BARCO
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