Whether a player is explosive or consistent can be crucial to captain choices. If you catch an explosive player during a rare large points haul the rewards can be huge. By the same token there is something to be said in placing the armband on a consistent, single-digit player who somehow brings in a steady stream of points week in week out. This article aims to look in detail at the most consistent and explosive players to help you with those forthcoming tricky captaincy decisions.
For this research I have given points returns either a C for consistency, basically between five and nine points in a Gameweek, or an E for explosiveness for a double-digit haul. In addition I have given an extra category of EE for a captaincy haul of 30+ points in a Gameweek and a rare EEE tag for 40+ points in a Gameweek.
Listed here are the ten midfielders and ten forwards who have produced the most dynamic sets of returns as far captaincy options are concerned.
Midfielders
Alexis Sanchez 1 C / 2 E / 2 EE (9 app)
Cesc Fabregas 5 C / 2 E
Eden Hazard 2 C / 2 E
Dusan Tadic 1 C / 1 EEE
Gylfi Sigurdsson 3 E
Nacir Chadli 4 C / 1 EE (9 app)
Angel Di Maria 3 E (8 app)
Raheem Sterling 2 C / 2 E
Oscar 1 C / 2 E (8 app)
Christain Eriksen 1 C / 2 E
Forwards
Sergio Aguero 6 C / 1 EE
Graziano Pelle 2 C / 1 E / 1 EE
Diego Costa 4 C / 1 E / 1 EE (8 app)
Saido Berahino 2 C / 2 E
Diafra Sakho 4 C / 1 E (7 app)
Charlie Austin 3 C / 1 E (9 app)
Romelu Lukaku 4 C
Leonardo Ulloa 3 C / 1 E
Wilfried Bony 2 C / 1 E
Robin van Persie 3 C / 1 E
I think the raw numbers provide several different avenues for discussion, like whether you want to strike a balance between consistent and explosive attackers overall or who the best value players are, but I wanted to try to focus on captaincy a bit.
The Consistency Kings
Here are those who have delivered consistent (C) returns most often.
Aguero – 6
Fabregas – 5
Chadli, Costa, Sakho and Lukaku – 4
Austin, Ulloa and Van Persie – 3
This shatters any notion that Aguero is an explosive captaincy choice. In reality his excellent shots on goal and chances statistics points to consistency that so far has only once translated into an explosive return; in Gameweek 8 when he scored four goals. He is the safe pick as much for his abundance of good but not great returns as for his ownership levels.
In terms of value, Sakho is king. With a price tag of just 5.8 as of November 6, he offers remarkable consistency. Fabregas also offers a very reliable source of points each week.
The surprise here is Everton’s Lukaku, who has a reputation for being patchy, but does provide points returns with remarkable consistency.
Explosive Earls
Most times with Explosive returns
Sanchez – 2E/2EE
Sigurdsson and Di Maria – 3E
Pelle and Costa – 1E/1EE
Fabregas, Hazard, Sterling, Oscar, Eriksen and Berahino – 2E
Tadic 1 EEE
Here we have three forwards and eight midfielders, including Sigurdsson, who have emerged as extremely effective captaincy choices for those who favour the risk of explosive returns. The most explosive forward line looks to be Costa, Pelle and Berahino as they are the only strikers achieve double figures more than once. What is clear is that, in terms of explosiveness, Sanchez is the man. Three explosive hauls in a row is immense. Tadic may well be the most risky explosive player of the lot, with a mammoth 23-point return in Gameweek 8 as his only return of note.
Don’t Forget Baines
Everton’s Leighton Baines may be a defender but he has emerged as a strong captaincy contender. The old adage that he should not be captained has been torn to shreds this season. Here are his returns: 2 C / 2 E / 1 EE
That places him second overall on the list for explosive players and his five good returns in ten is a ratio bested only by Fabregas, Aguero, and Costa.
It is also worth noting that Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic, Tottenham’s Eric Dier and Everton’s Phil Jagielka have hit double figures twice apiece, but do not offer the same consistency as Baines.
Final Thought
The last point I would make is that these figures lead me to be strongly consider a return to a 3-5-2. There is a certain cartoonish nickname of ‘The Power Five’ for a very strong five-man midfield that causes some to cringe, but to me it hearkens back to those glorious days of 2012-13 when the likes of Michu, Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini, Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale formed a superheroic, galactic combination. This research provides a legitimate argument for 3-5-2 to be the best way to maximize captaincy options in your squad.
