The launch of the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game has already sparked the emergence of the so-called “template team”, with squads made up of a small pool of favoured targets. This has prompted a raft of discussions in the Fantasy Football Scout community this week, as many search for that little bit of flair to help smash the template. Bonus points, as well as rotation strategies, were also the focus of much chatter and we look back on all these discussions, whilst also bringing up to date with the community leagues on offer:
The Community Articles
There’s little doubt that Billy Gilmore’s detailed look at the tweaked FPL Bonus Point System was amongst the most popular articles posted over the past seven days. In his extraordinary analysis, Billy takes a sample of games from last season to show how the revised BPS would have influenced the bonus point allocation. The results will certainly prove happy reading for those looking to invest in full backs and wingers.
Another issue vexing our community writers this week has been the abundance of choice in the game, with the major teams investing in a raft of new, potentially high scoring, players. The Puntmaster was on hand with an update of his new Premier League player analysis while Parm took a closer look at some key dilemmas such as the dilemma presented by the Arsenal midfield, now bolstered by the significance presence of Alexis Sanchez.
Rotation continues to come under the spotlight among our community scribes, with The Sarjeant being the latest to assess whether home and away rotation or focusing on fixture strength is the best policy for the season ahead. Another slab of essential pre-season reading.
The Hottest Topics
Each year, shortly after the launch of the FPL game, a similar pattern emerges; teams are drafted, template squads emerge and the urgent call for individualism selections turns from a whisper to a full blown battle cry.
Among those calling for the early template to be broken was Portsmouth Bubblejet via this cautionary post warning against following the herd and sticking up for our most maverick of Fantasy managers. Courtois in the Rye was another calling for Fantasy managers to go against the grain with his look at just why the consensus squad is doomed to fail.
Alexis Sanchez is undoubtedly a template favourite that’s already commanded huge ownership across the Fantasy games. At the time of writing he was the most owned player in FPL so far. But, asks Cynical Steve, is he really worth his £10.5m price tag?
At the other end of the scale, Hull’s new midfield recruit, Robert Snodgrass, is a popular target for those adhering to the template. However, according to our man on the Humber Jaizinho, the former Norwich player has a long way to go to justify his selection. Going by his man in the stand account of Hull’s friendly game against North Ferriby this week, Curtis Davies is far more deserving of template status.
A Chelsea defender is another prime asset and already a popular route, thanks, in no small part, to an eye catching set of early fixtures and a strong record of clean sheets under manager Jose Mourinho. The template dissenters arguing against their inclusion include Il Gladiatore, who wonders whether the likes of John Terry are deserving of essential status. Meanwhile, Mr Anonymous questioned whether new full-back Filipe Luis is nailed on to start.
At the time of writing almost a third of those who have registered to play FPL had drafted in £11.5m priced Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge, to cement his place in template forward lines. Irish Madrista took up the mantle of front line template buster this week, urging Fantasy managers to ignore expensive strikers and look to cheaper, lesser owned options such as Edin Dzeko or Olivier Giroud.
Promoted sides also offer the chance for Fantasy managers to take a punt. The Sarjeant returned to look at the three promoted sides’ clean sheet potential to put forward a good case for investing in QPR defenders as part of a home and away rotation strategy. He also took time to look at the potential hot prospects up top offered up by the promoted sides.
I even found myself, a renowned “Dullard” when it comes to squad selection, scanning the player list for alternatives to help break from the early favourite targets. My hot topic looked at creating a team focusing mainly on players from the ranks of United, City, Arsenal and Chelsea. This strict focus on title contenders becomes a differential in itself, with few Fantasy managers attempting such a collection. As Innsie pointed out, though, such a tactic would dramatically reduce interest in Burnley v Hull fixture. We can’t possibly have that.
Whether your team can be described as “template” or “maverick”, the FPL does, of course, offer us all a chance to start the selection process all over again thanks to the Wildcard. In our discussion on the best time to use the wildcard Fantasy Genius and Billy Gilmore revealed they plan to lay it down during the first international break of the season at the Gameweek 4 stage – a popular window. However, Moin is determined to cling on to it and use it after January to take advantage of the incoming double Gameweeks.
The Community Tournaments
Not surprisingly, we’re seeing a whole host of community leagues crop up as we head into August. Be sure to drop us a line at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk if you’ve got a league or tournament to plug.
First up this week, Keith Kiely is looking for community members to join his High Flighters FPL league (18100-24576). He is also running a H2H version (18100-90838). Meanwhile, Evilfuk has created a 2006 Veterans League (27-317) in FPL for those who have been playing the game since the 2006/7 season.
In addition, Thomass is running an FPL competition this season. For more details click here.
