GW16 Went Badly !

I'm saying badly, it actually wasn't that bad, given some of the badness.

44 points (avg. 47)

Two players sent off. Yes, I brought in Robertson for Gabriel. So that was a 12 point swing! 😬 Ouch.

I'm really having quite a bad season. Perhaps my worst. It certainly feels like the worst by a long way.

As things stand, I haven't really digested the decisions. Seeing the two reds when I finished my shift at work made me not bother watching the highlights, lol. So I'm not even sure how lucky/unlucky these misfortunes were. Obviously, removing Gabriel was a big mistake in hindsight, and could punish me further going forwards.

Luckily, Robertson won't miss the next game as he'll be suspended for the Carabao Cup tie midweek. Aït-Nouri does miss out though, and there's little reason to keep him given the fixtures, so he'll be this week's transfer out. Robinson seems the natural replacement, so I might just make that straight swap. It feels a little boring because he's been so well-owned this season, but it's hard to argue against it.

I also have a decision to make as to whether to play Morgan Rogers at home to City or Armstrong away to Fulham. With Man City struggling of late I'm tempted to just stick with Rogers, but seeing that on the screen just doesn't look right. It's still Man City, after all. I think it's one of those calls where I have to sit back and listen to what my gut tells me.

It doesn't help that I've watched so little football recently. This season really has become something of an anomaly. I can't imagine there's too much content being made by people as uninvested as I've been this season. This is very much a casuals blog at the moment.

My rank is currently just inside the two million mark. I really do need to make that assistant manager chip count!

Bench Fixing in the Storm

Here we are, in the middle of GW15 - still everything to play for. Obviously, the Liverpool game was called off, so we're a Salah short. I took the opportunity to take a minus 4 to improve my bench. I removed Pickford and the long term absentee Ross Stewart, and brought in Adam Armstrong and Chelsea's Jørgensen. I have no idea if Jørgensen will continue in goal for Chelsea, but I've also got Fabianski, who seems to have the No.1 spot at West Ham now, so it seemed worth a punt.

As things stand the minus 4 hasn't paid off. Armstrong picked up just the two points. However, I would've had the non-starting Faes off the bench (Gabriel isn't starting, so Van den Berg will also be coming off my bench with zero points), so I'm just two points down - assuming Faes does get a zero. Meaning I've spent two points to fix my bench going forward. Given how bad my bench has been this week, and the fact that we have the busy Christmas period to deal with, I think this should be a net gain overall.

The Last Two Gameweeks

Both were mildly above average.

GW13:

73 points (avg. 60)

GW14:

64 points (avg. 58)

Overall

Overall I'm fairly happy with my team. I feel the defence is a bit uninspired and lacklustre though. With the Aït-Nouri pick I was basically just copying the crowd. It was a sensible and logical choice, but I can't help but feel I've missed an opportunity to go more with a gut instinct pick. Interestingly - and somewhat miraculously - Wan-Bissaka has scored two goals in the five gameweeks since I sold him. I genuinely think he's a good player, so I liked owning him in that sense. Aït-Nouri still has a few decent fixtures to go though, so he could still blossom.

If Gabriel remains out that presents an opportunity to do something different next week. So we'll see where we are with that next gameweek.

Oh, and I have Saka captain this week in the absence of Salah. So this gameweek will probably largely depend on that. The Arsenal game has literally just kicked off, so we're in the crucible. Hopefully he gets something 🤞

GW13: On the Climb

GW12 was pretty decent. Salah captain being the big plus. Not having Saka being the major minus. It moved me up from circa 1.8m to around 1.5m. Still an awful rank, but at least I'm climbing.

GW12: 63 points - avg. 49

This week I can finally move out Calvert-Lewin. I can't bring in Cunha, as that would block me from bringing in Saka next week, so Joao Pedro is the natural option.

I'm quite happy with the team. Having Joao Pedro also gives me a bit of interest in tonight's Friday fixture. So all good.

MINUS 4 PAY$ OFF

Going into GW11 I took a minus 4. I actually did it very early - literally as GW10 ended.

Haaland and Dibling OUT. Salah and Jackson IN.

In some ways I'd already pushed myself towards it writing that last post. (It's incredible how the process of writing can help you work through your own thinking.)  It just seemed to make sense. The fixture wasn't good for Jackson, but it just made the team feel so much better. Luckily having Salah captain made all the difference.

62 (-4) points. Avg. 49

Not a blistering week, but pretty decent. A bit of a green arrow up to 1,849,110. 

Now, with my team structure fairly set, it should just be a case of tinkering from here on in. Foden to Saka perhaps. Calvert-Lewin to Cunha or Wissa. Bruno Fernandes in??

There are so many options at the moment.

I still like Madueke for the Chelsea fixtures. Isak is doing well. Evanilson at Bournemouth. Semenyo too. I have just enough money in the bank to do Calvert-Lewin to Havertz as well, which I'm not really feeling, but looks nice on paper as it covers Arsenal's attack and allows me to leave the Saka spot for Foden/Fernandes/some other expensive mid.

Again, so many options.

Also, it's worth noting how lucky I've been with the keeper situation. Pickford has been great since I brought him in, and now Fabianski seems to be first choice for West Ham too. If that continues it'll be ideal, as Everton's fixtures are dreadful GW15-18. So Fabianski gives perfect cover.

Anyway, I'll leave it there for now.

Between Halloween and Bonfire Night: GW10 - Gwan-Bissaka

Last gameweek it was gwan Bissaka, as in 'Go On!' Bissaka.

This gameweek it's gwan Bissaka, as in 'Go Away.'

I played him ahead of Gabriel last week, and that gained me an extra point - which I'm very grateful for. However, on the eve of GW10 I've taken him out, bringing in Aït-Nouri, another hyphenated Premier League superstar. It feels a little unfair, but it's all part of a plan..

GW9 Points

58 points (avg. 54)

I dropped by about 100k to around 1.6m. It felt mediocre, but given some people were using their triple captain, I don't feel it was too bad a week all in all. It was a week that highlighted problems with my team though.

Problems..

The first obvious negative is that I don't have Salah or Saka. You could probably add Alexander-Arnold to that list too. I wouldn't really describe this as a 'mistake' type problem though, as you just can't have all these high end players. So I don't have any feelings of self-criticism.

What I do need to criticise myself for, however, is the amount of weak spots in my team. Normally I like to have players with genuine potential in every position. That is definitely not the case here, alas. When I wildcarded a few weeks back I was so focused on getting Palmer, Haaland and (at the time) Salah I neglected this normal mode of playing. (Again, this season - with me trying to 'copy the template' and not having a real interest at the start - has threw me off a bit. Now I finally feel like I'm starting to sharpen up.)

My original plan this week was to continue focusing on the big hitters. I was going to downgrade either Gvardiol or Gabriel (both are currently yellow-flagged) to Aït-Nouri. That would've freed up the extra cash needed to upgrade the Foden spot to Salah at some point in the future. However, refocusing my attention on the overall team has changed that plan. Hence the switch of Wan-Bissaka out. A clear upgrade, instead of a sideways move. It does mean I'm hoping (or rather, wishful thinking) that both Gabriel and Gvardiol will either start tomorrow or not come off the bench.

How I'm looking.

I would've been playing Faes anyway had I have went with the other plan, so this at least offers the potential for more upside. I'm also hedging my bets with Gvardiol and Gabriel.

GOING FORWARD.

Going forward my plan is to change Foden to Saka, (in GW12 hopefully), and to perhaps upgrade the benched Stewart to Wissa next week. Although I'm also considering switching Dibling to Madueke (I like the idea of having an extra Chelsea player, but not next week when they face Arsenal).

So basically, I've decided I'm going to stick with Haaland and not have Salah for the foreseeable future. Go Haaland, Saka and Palmer. Then just focus on upgrading the weak spots.

 - Having to play one of Faes/Van den Berg/Wan-Bissaka was an obvious weak spot.

 - Dibling is a fairly weak first eleven player.

 - Finally, Calvert-Lewin hasn't been great, but at least there is some realistic potential of returns there.

So that's the general outline of a plan.

Ideally I think I'd like to roll the transfer next week, but Rogers facing Liverpool away and Dibling not getting full minutes could force my hand. Dibling is such a great enabler at that price. If I kept playing him ( - even if he plays the fixtures are awful it must be said), I could do Foden to Saka and still have the cash left to do Calvert-Lewin to Nicolas Jackson (I really would love that extra Chelsea attacker. So far this season they've only lost against City and Liverpool - so against lesser teams they've been very effective. After Arsenal that fixture run is great 😍).

Maybe I could just play one of the weak cheap defenders after all ??

Incidentally, if I was wildcarding now I'd most certainly be going Salah over Haaland. That extra cash would solve so many of these problems. So I should really start considering that possibility myself. GW13 - where City play Liverpool - could be a good week to pivot off Haaland to bring in Salah the week after.

Upgrading Dibling to Salah and downgrading Haaland to Jackson does look very appealing!

Definitely lots of thinking to do as we enjoy the weekend's fixtures :)

GW9: Slowly, Slowly..

I'm slowly worming my way into the season. My last post was just a picture of my wildcard team. Since then we've had two gameweeks.

GW7 brought me 47 points (1 above the average), which gained me a tiny, tiny green arrow.

GW8 brought me 49 points (the average was a lowly 36), so I did quite nicely.

I'm now up to 1,512,457, so I'm heading in the right direction.

Last week's transfer was Palmer to Foden. That netted me 2 points, thanks to Foden's off-the-bench assist. This week I'm planning to bring Palmer back in, this time for Salah, who faces Arsenal.

This is how I'm looking:

I'm not sure about the benching of Gabriel for Wan-Bissaka. It doesn't feel too wise, but I'm going with my instinct. In fact, the whole backline doesn't look wholly inspiring, though they do all have home games and decent fixtures.

After this week I'm not really sure what my plans are. I'm kinda just playing by ear at this point. I'm definitely getting the enjoyment back, after my attempts to 'follow the template,' that's for sure.

GW7: Wildcard Active

Classic 4-4-2 Formation.