The BENCH BOOST: results

I got 13 points from my bench boost. So what follows is sheer cope.

56 points in all ..and I took a minus 4 too. Though, to be fair, that was primarily to bring Son in, so I would've had to do it this week anyway.

I'm actually not entirely disappointed with the 13 points, it could've been much worse with that fixture against Newcastle. In fact, the two save points I got from Trafford in that game turned out to be the high point.

Had each player picked up 2 points per game that would've made 14, so 13 is about par for expectation. I was dreaming of a clean sheet, especially in the Luton vs Burnley fixture, but it was always more hope than expectation. So I've got my par for the course and I can now look forward to the rest of the season without the hassle of worrying about when to play it. (I did say this was cope.)

Past Bench Boosts

I'm actually going to have a look back at my previous seasons to see what my usual average for the bench boost is. I'll do it on the fly. As I type now I have no idea what past seasons were like. I know last season was bad, and I have a vague recollection that the season before was something of a disaster too. I think these experiences probably colour my current feelings towards it.

Anyway, I'll go and have a look at my past blog posts..

[Some time later..]

Last season: 8 points

I captained Haaland and I'm guessing he was rested. I also received 0 points for Virgil Van Dijk and vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold that week. So not good. Though last season I was playing monthly, so my options for using the bench boost were somewhat limited.

Season 21/22: 3 points

Ouch. No wonder I have PTSD when it comes to bench boosting 😄. I was slightly unlucky with that one, as Konsa missed both games of a double. Though I think the other three players just had the one fixture, so it wasn't the greatest brainwave in the world to play it.

Season 20/21: 29 points

This one's a bit more like it. I had to do a bit of maths to tally it up. Antonio getting a huge 18 points alone. Making this week's tally of 13 look somewhat puny and wasteful.

Season 19/20: 22 points

Another decent use of the bench boost. This one was during the Covid restart, back in the summer of 2020, so it all just feels very weird though. It's a miracle I managed to focus on football with the Stasi breathing down my neck.

Season 18/19: 23 points

Another good haul, this time with a very Brighton-looking bench.

Seeing these 20-plus scores, along with the much older and poorer graphics, is making it dawn on me how foolish it was to play my bench boost this week. No wonder I was one of the only people going this route. I think those last two seasons really have skewered my perception of the chip. Still though, 13 points isn't too bad, and it's certainly better than 3.

..And that's as far as the blog posts go back.

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Also, as an aside, when I was searching back I did find this old fpl meme.

It's quite fitting, as my bench boost has probably put me about that much higher than the average this gameweek.