GW19 + 20 Review - Even-stevens

Bad week / good week ..and it all worked out in the end.

GW19:

Gameweek Points: 32 (-4)

Gameweek Rank: 5,358,038

Overall Rank: 469,757

GW20:

Gameweek Points: 59

Gameweek Rank: 466,145

Overall Rank: 328,196

Obviously a lot of people went with the Free Hit in GW19, and it was a good week to use it. City netting six and Arsenal scoring five meant there was plenty of upside. I missed out sadly :(

The one bright point was that the two players I brought in - Son and Bowen - both returned, so that was a silver lining. Especially as both went on to drive my comeback in GW20.

My GW20 green arrow was pretty much identical to my red arrow of GW19, so it really was even-steven. I have to be happy really, as I've came through these two weeks and kept the Free Hit. Meaning I now have two to utilise going forward. There's just this final round of New Year's games to go now, and I think I'm set up fairly nicely (hopefully). If I could sneak past the 300k mark it would be a good way to round things off before the second half of the season starts proper.

I'm planning on just using my triple-captain for what looks to be double-GW22 after the little break - I'll probably go with Trent. There's still a lot of dust to settle though, so I have nothing set in stone just yet. I'm still not sure what I'll do with this week's transfer too. If there's no extra news however I'll probably just switch out Mendy for David de Gea. Keep it simple.

Overall Points: 1193

Overall Rank: 328,196

GW18 Review - Luck Rolls On

I got quite lucky again. All my players who played (with the exception of Salah) returned. So I got a nice green arrow.

Gameweek Points: 67 (-4)

Gameweek Rank: 393,085

Overall Rank: 342,651

I now have no idea what I'm doing going forward, so I'll keep this post short. Hopefully we don't get any more cancellations. At least my rank is now looking a little bit more optimistic though.

(Social Credit Scorers on the rise)

Overall Points: 1106

Overall Rank: 342,651

GW17 Review - Lucky Season Continues..

I got pretty lucky, but the luck only lifted me up to average.

Gameweek Points: 49

Gameweek Rank: 3,676,918

Overall Rank: 431,584

The games that were called off didn't affect me too badly, so it was fortunate. I dropped down the rankings a fair bit, but it could've been much worse. It really has been quite a lucky season for me so far. I deserve to be much lower really.

I've gotten lucky again with this gameweek's abandonments too - assuming there are no more that is. I should have a full eleven players out, and it's only cost me (-4). I've brought in Watkins and Gelhardt for Antonio and the injured Hwang.

I was just going to do Antonio to Watkins, but the option to get Gelhardt fell too nicely. He should definitely start this weekend with the injuries Leeds have, so assuming he gets at least 2 points for just playing the transfer will only cost me 2 points max. It also means I'll have a cheap bench striker instead of a cheap playing one going forward. Freeing up a bit of cash for elsewhere.

My forward spots really haven't been delivering for me, so it'll be good to go back to two up top long term. I'm a little worried about not owning Antonio, but he just hasn't been returning, in spite of West Ham's attacking flow this year. I watched the game against Arsenal and I never really felt he was gonna score. The West Ham fixtures do look nice though, so it's a hard call.

There are now a few players on my watchlist, but it's getting increasingly hard to plan ahead with the fixture carnage. Bowen and de Gea are currently my prime targets. I can upgrade Romeu to Bowen if I drop Mendy to de Gea, so I feel that would improve my team a fair bit. However, I don't have Jota, nor do I have a Man City attacker, so that's a concern. As is not owning Reece James.

Hopefully I can have a decent gameweek this week though, to put me in good stead as we head towards the new year.

Overall Points: 1043

Overall Rank: 431,584

GW16 Review - Threadbare Days

Average-ish week, slight red arrow. I'm actually fairly pleased with it overall, but with players like Gallagher and Maddison going off anyone owning them will have had the edge on me.

Gameweek Points: 65

Gameweek Rank: 2,592,880

Overall Rank: 365,496

I now have Cancelo and Ronaldo missing for this week (GW17), so things are looking a little threadbare. I'm still planning to bring in Bowen for Raphinha - I'll have to get a move on as the deadline is in a few hours. However, I'm wondering if that's the right move now given I'm going to have to start Romeu, with just Brownhill left in reserve on my bench.

I'm toying with the idea of switching Brownhill to Douglas Luiz. Villa look better with Gerrard in charge - at least from what I've seen so far; and the next few fixtures are nice. Particularly this week's against Norwich.

In fact, as I'm typing this I'm convincing myself more and more to go down this route. It would be nice to have a slightly stronger bench going forward too. Brownhill and Romeu aren't exactly exciting options.

Obviously this week's captain will be Salah, so at least that's sorted. I think I'll ponder my transfer for another half an hour or so then make up my mind. I need to go and get a shower before I leave the house, so hopefully that'll be good thinking time. I need to channel my inner Archimedes.

Overall Points: 994

Overall Rank: 365,496

GW15 Review - Best Week So Far..

 ..at least in terms of rank. 68 points doesn't feel like an enormous amount, but it got me a very nice uptick. I'm almost back to where I was a few weeks ago now, so it's cancelled out the couple of bad gameweeks I had.

Gameweek Points: 68

Gameweek Rank: 143,438

Overall Rank: 354,263

Captaining Son was the correct move, so I'm glad I kept the faith. Wilson scoring again was nice too. The few bad weeks I had came on the back of bringing in Wilson and Son, so the fact that they've came good is pleasing.

There'll be no loyalty though, as I'll be removing them both this week. As planned.

Wilson will become Ronaldo, and Son will become a 6.0m or less midfielder. Currently my pick is Jordan Henderson. Obviously Jota would be the ideal, but with him out of my price range Henderson seems good value. He's also looking very attack-minded this season. I notice he wasn't involved in tonight's Champions League fixture, so hopefully he's rested. There's the risk of benchings and early substitutions with him, but at 5.1m I wouldn't have to play him each week.

Of course, bringing him in would also block me from getting Jota in the future. So if I do get him I'll kinda be hoping that Firmino returns sooner rather than later and dampens Jota's effectiveness.

Going Forward.

After this week I think my next move will then be to switch Raphinha to Bowen.

My plan would then be to bring Raphinha back when the Leeds fixtures improve. Though rather than take Bowen back out I like the idea of downgrading my keeper to upgrade Romeu or Brownhill. Bringing Henderson in this week would give me some leeway to do this as it would leave 0.9m in the bank, which would provide a nice cushion to make those potential manoeuvres.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself though, and no doubt things will change over the coming gameweeks.

As for this gameweek I'll be back to captaining Salah in all probability. Ronaldo is tempting given the fixture, but I think just owning him is probably differential enough. Not everyone around about me will be in a position to bring him in, and I think most that do will stick with Salah captain, so if he does go off it'll be a net positive.

Overall Points: 929

Overall Rank: 354,263

GW14 Review - Uptick

Given my last few weeks I'm quite pleased with this one. In hindsight I should've captained Salah, but I can't complain too much with Son getting a goal. (As I sit typing this I now have Son captained for GW15 as well.)

Gameweek Points: 68

Gameweek Rank: 2,408,289

Overall Rank: 561,372

Goals from Dias, Raphinha and Wilson helped. I'm now simply rolling my transfer this week. It's actually the early hours of Friday night/Saturday morning as I type this - I haven't even seen today's team news. So with these gameweeks coming round so fast I'm struggling to keep up. It's certainly much more fun though than having to wait for the games to come round.

My one little decision, other than the captaincy, is now whether to start Hwang or Livramento. I'm even considering Antonio for a benching. Currently I have Hwang benched though.

My plan is still to bring Ronaldo in for GW16. I didn't see the United game last night, but Ronaldo getting goals is promising. I'll then have a decision to make about which cheaper midfielder to bring in when I downgrade Son to make the switch. That's a tricky one, and my options are a little limited.

Overall Points: 861

Overall Rank: 561,372