I've got my free hit side set in place for the coming gameweek. Obviously with a few more days to go things could change so it's not set in stone. It's quite heavy on midfield and a bit shabby at the back, but it includes most the players I wanted so I'm fairly happy as it stands.
(GW32 free hit side)
I said in the last post I'd just list the players and state my reasons for the choices, which seems nice and simple. So here we go.
Ben Foster - Watford
This is kind of a boring choice. He's basically the keeper I can afford who looks nailed on to play, with half-decent games. It'd be nice to have brought in Chelsea's Kepa, but the price is beyond me.
Willy Boly - Wolves
This is my most recent addition. I brought him in last night for Brighton's Lewis Dunk - my original choice. Dunk seems more guaranteed to play his two games, mainly due to the possibility that Wolves could rotate a lot before their FA Cup semi final. So I'm mildly worried about this move.
It's another cheaper option too. Again, mainly because I'm so cash limited having spent big on midfield. I'm not expecting too much here. Just hoping to get two starts really. Though saying that he does tend to be one of the more fixed assets in the Wolves starting line-up, so it should be fine.
Jeffrey Schlupp - Crystal Palace
Schlupp seems an obvious choice this week. Great value, attacking threat. Great first game against Huddersfield. Even the away fixture to Tottenham doesn't look too bad. For a start it's in London, so not too much travel. Plus, with it being Tottenham's first game at their new stadium it's a total unknown.
I'm actually expecting Spurs to do well. Wembley is an awful stadium to play your home games at, so this should be a huge improvement.
Normally when teams move stadium they tend to move from a smaller stadium to a big brand new one. Large stadiums can be hard to adjust to, partly because of spacial awareness. It takes the eyes quite a while to get used to such an unfamiliar landscape. Anyone that's been to Wembley will know how dizzying it can be watching a game in such a big arena for the first time.
It's a similar experience when you're used to playing 5-a-side football and you then go and play 11-a-side for the first time in a long while. In your head you imagine yourself effortlessly pinging the ball the length of the pitch, however in reality you find yourself struggling to hit a 40 yard ball past the halfway line. It takes time for the eyes and other senses to adjust. Moving into a big stadium for the first time your visual reference points are all over the place. So it can be harder to judge distances. With Spurs being so used to playing at Wembley though, perhaps it will be a doddle moving to their new, more homely, ground.
Still though it's a really hard game to predict.
James Tomkins - Crystal Palace
Tomkins is like a poor man's Schlupp really. I'm not too sure about doubling up on Palace at the back, however, at 4.3m Tomkins seems like decent value.
David Luiz - Chelsea
This feels like a great option given the games Chelsea have (Cardiff away, Brighton home). Again, I would've loved to have doubled up on Chelsea's defence, but it's so expensive getting into their back line. So Luiz is holding the fort.
Heung-Min Son - Spurs
Son hasn't looked great in his more recent performances, plus he isn't guaranteed to get two starts. However, he's very, very capable of getting big hauls, and with two games, including the first game at the new stadium I really want to own him for this week. Kane is probably the only Spurs player I'd rather have, but at his price I just couldn't get him in and make my team work.
Eden Hazard - Chelsea
Another quite obvious pick for this week. He gets a bit of a bad rap, but he's actually the 4th highest scorer in the game this season. With those games I'm very pleased to own him, even though his form isn't spectacular. The only disappointment is that he'll be so well owned.
Paul Pogba - Man Utd
Similar to Hazard. Highly owned, highly effective, but also slightly out of form. At least for club anyway. He seems like the obvious United player to own. I'm slightly concerned that I only have one player playing for them, but with the various injury niggles I feel comfortable just going with Pogba.
Raheem Sterling - Man City (Captain)
Superb form. Player of the season so far for me. Owning both him and Agüero seems like a no-brainer. The only question is which one to captain?
I going with Sterling. Again, for the same reason I chose him ahead of Sané during the last double gameweek - he has more points. Both this season and last. It's a bit of a crude methodology, but I really expect Sterling to finish the season top points scorer. So in that case why not captain him.
Obviously with Pep there's always a huge risk of rotation. Normally with Sterling you have to captain him for a series of games to get the benefit. Over a five game period he may get one benching, two blanks and two huge hauls. So if you consistently pick him you do get the points. With City having two games it feels like even less of a gamble as he's more or less guaranteed at least one start.
After City play Fulham (A) then Cardiff (H) this gameweek they then have an FA Cup semi against Brighton. Following which they then have a period of five games where they play Spurs three times (twice in the Champions League), Crystal Palace and Man Utd. So five very tough games.
So perhaps the semi final against Brighton will be the perfect time for players like Sterling and Agüero to get benched. Especially given it could potentially go to 120 minutes. Plus six points from Fulham and Cardiff is essential given the more difficult games following. So perhaps they start both with a full strength eleven to get the job done. Taking players off later in the game when/if the scoreline is comfortable.
It's all speculation though 😬
Leroy Sané - Man City
This one's a huge differential and a huge gamble. I saw Sané play in Germany's 3-2 victory over Holland. He looked like he really had a spring in his step. Sometimes with players they have that look about them where they just look bigger, stronger and faster than the other players on the pitch. Son had this look about him earlier in the season when he went on his run. As did Pogba when he hit form. I don't know if there's a name for this "look". It's like playing FIFA when you have a fast player up against a slow team and it just looks too easy. So Sané had this FIFA factor about him it seemed.
Over the last six Premier League games he's only gained 3 points in total though, so he's a terrible choice in that regard. However, I really wanted three attacking City players for these games, and I really like the idea of having players capable of big hauls. So hopefully he starts at least one game.
Sergio Agüero - Man City
A very obvious choice. I think he'll be the most captained player this week, so as I'm going with Sterling for captain I'm little bit worried Agüero might just blow him out the water. Hopefully he has an incredible gameweek, but a slightly less incredible one than Sterling.
..and My Bench.
With all my players having two games my bench should be a complete irrelevance this week. However, there could be a late injury before one of the games, so it's always worthwhile having some sort of back up. My bench players are all super cheap for obvious reason. I've went with Peter Crouch as my first choice to come in. He's came on for 10 or 15 minutes in each of Burnley's last four games. So he looks good for at least a point. I could tweak my bench a bit closer to the date, but at the moment Crouchy seems a fine choice.
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