In his latest article, Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead analyses the Gameweek 35 transfers and strategies of some well-known Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
The Great and The Good this season are the BlackBox pair of Mark Sutherns and Az, Scouts Joe Lepper and Tom Freeman, Scoutcaster Andy North, Pro Pundits FPL General, Pras, Zophar, FPL Harry and Lateriser, FPL “celebrities” Ben Crellin, Luke Williams and FPL Fran, Hall of Famers Fabio Borges, Jan Kepski, Markku Olaja and Seb Wassell, plus last year’s mini-league winner Geraint Owen.
“Upon a summer wind, there’s a certain melody. Takes me back to the place that I know. On the beach.”
Motivation seems to be the word around this time of the season, with the distraction of European cup adventures, some FPL legends coming to the end of contracts, and other players just looking to play with their bucket and spade at the beach.
We no longer thirst for that double-up in Arsenal defence, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur players may as well be non-existent and even Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) is no longer considered the perma-captain option.
Instead, the likes of Aston Villa, Newcastle, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City, Brentford and Bournemouth are top of our shopping lists as they have something still to play for and the more nostalgic of us are eyeing up Kevin De Bruyne (£9.5m) and now Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.2m) as they bid their fond farewells.
In amongst this, the goalscoring cyborg Erling Haaland (£14.8m) made an ominous return to the bench just before City’s trip to Southampton.
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Just like Kevin De Bruyne on his farewell tour, Mark Sutherns seems keen to show his class on his own testimonial as he top-scored on 70 points.
That is six greens in a row and he finds himself in the top 100,000 for the first time this season. He made a bold Jarrod Bowen (£7.7m) captaincy move, took a hit to double up on Bryan Mbeumo (£8.2m) and Yoane Wissa (£6.7m), and supported it all with the solid foundation of a twin City defence.
Jan Kepski continues his late-season renaissance, again helped by the double City defence. There were also some rolls of the dice on Jamie Vardy (£5.3m), Eberechi Eze (£6.9m) and some bloke called Cole Palmer (£10.5m), who is now classed as a differential.
However, all eyes are on the battle for the top as defending champion Ben Crellin has the hot breath of Pras on his neck. I suspect the captaincy picks this week may end up being a deciding factor.
Talking of which, this week saw the captaincy debate become an actual, well, debate with a range of options. Most went Mbeumo, a few more went Omar Marmoush (£7.6m), Mark went Bowen and the FPL Wire lads Lateriser and Zophar were the happiest with De Bruyne.
TEMPLATE
All change in the template as the squad reverted to the pre-Free Hit version, with Bukayo Saka (£10.5m) not getting the call to return. He is replaced by Mbeumo.
TRANSFERS
All hail the Messiah, as it was the life of Bryan this week. Mbeumo was the top target; no doubt owners were slightly disappointed with just an assist.
Elsewhere, we had a smattering of mid-range strikers come in with Wissa, Chris Wood (£7.1m) and Vardy. Jan also made the smart signing of the cold-now-hot Palmer.
FINAL SPRINT
A strong finish is essential in FPL world, so we had a quick look at the speed of the run-in from The Great and The Good since Gameweek 30, when we were in the throes of chip season.
The first thing that hits you is that they have all gained significant ground over that time, with an average rank climb of 42%. In fact, poor old Geraint Owen is the only one to drop but he can hardly complain as he has had a strong campaign.
Andy North is the one who has come on the strongest with a move from 747,000 to 181,000. Mark and Ben have not been far behind him.
Perhaps this is a lesson to us all to never give up and that the only rank that counts is your final one.
CONCLUSION
There are only three weeks to go, and the good news is that they look to be fun ones, with shrewd captain picks and differential transfers meaning we can still gain ground in our mini leagues.
Anyway, that’s all from me for now. Remember: don’t have FPL nightmares.
For those affected by any of the topics raised above, you can find me here on Twitter or BlueSky
