Three Frees Triple-up on Everton

Another red arrow, albeit a minor one. When I saw that Gvardiol had scored and Jackson has assisted in the City game I thought I was on course to have a half decent week, but it trickled away. Certainly not a bad week though, by any stretch. At least when measured against my recent form.

58 points (avg. 59)

Now we're straight into double gameweek 24 ..and I've already made my transfers. All three.

I've used all three of my frees to triple up on the Everton defence. Not wise, but it's at least ambitious. I'll now go into the week with the maximum amount of doubles and Salah triple captain.

Having made the transfers early there's the danger that injuries or team news could do me over. I was little bit worried about price changes though. Plus, it really does feel like time to throw caution to the wind.

Once this week is out the way it'll then be planning for the GW29 blank and my planned use of the Assistant Manager chip in GW31. So it's all stations go.

Another Harsh Week

From bad ..to worse. The season that just keeps getting better.

34 points. The average was 46. I've now dropped to 3.3 million in rank.

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I don't feel too bad about this week. I feel I was a little hard done by. Bringing in Gordon and Isak was sensible, though belated. The six point swing thanks to Fernandes scoring was a bit unlucky. I think I was a tad unlucky with the captaincy too. With Chelsea getting three you'd hope for at least something from Palmer. So for both Palmer and Jackson to leave with nothing was a harsh end to the week.

I think what really did me in was not owning TAA or Chris Wood. With Robertson starting the game benched that proved to be quite the downgrade.

Now, going forward, I think I'm just going to leave the team for this week. Seeing Man City smash six against Ipswich doesn't give me much confidence for Palmer and Jackson, but I like the Chelsea fixtures heading forward, so I'll stay the course with them.

Once GW23 is out of the way we'll be on to the double of GW24. My plan there is to triple captain Salah and to hope for the best with Diaz and Robertson. I may also bring in two Everton players. Currently I'm thinking that I'll downgrade Gvardiol to Tarkowski and bring in Pickford. That'll then free up the extra funds to switch Diaz to Mbeumo once GW24 is over.

As bad as my rank is I at least feel my plans are coming together. It's slowly becoming mission impossible though.

Sinking like a Stone

Ow, it hurts.

Another truly terrible week: 43 points; gameweek rank: 8,095,672; overall rank: 3,023,614.

Meaning I've slipped another half a million places.

Yes, no Isak killed me.

(43 points; avg. 55)

It's been criminal not having Isak for so long. Consequently, and finally, I've actually brought him in.

I'm now sat here waiting for the Newcastle vs Bournemouth game to start, with Isak and Gordon in my side. Inevitably they'll both now blank 😖

I took out Joao Pedro and Fernandes. This did mean I was able to keep Nicolas Jackson for the Wolves fixture, which is a nice differential.

I've captained Palmer. He was my go-to captain when I first set up my team after the game refreshed. That was before the yellow flag. I have no real idea how much of a concern that is (I was at work all day yesterday, so just picked up the few soundbites). Seeing the game isn't until Monday, I thought I'd just leave it.

As I sit here after the deadline I'm now wondering if this is yet another example of my carelessness this season. Maybe I'm so worried about last week's problems I'm forgetting to focus on this week.

Going Forward

I now have two free transfers, not four. Next week I have Palmer and Jackson facing Man City away. On paper this looks terrible, but watching City against Brentford I thought they were very poor defensively. Brentford were just cutting them open at times. The midfield press seemed non-existent. Perhaps this was largely down to Brentford, but either way, I'm not too eager to make changes.

Long term I would like to move Diaz to Mbeumo. After Isak he's the player I most fear not owning (though this week not owning Wood is the larger concern).

This brings me on to Liverpool. Having Diaz and Robertson has basically been like having nine players at times. Robertson in particular looked poor in the Forest game - misplacing passes, slipping over. Tsimikas came on and improved things. So I'm not even confident of starts now. With the double on the horizon though I pretty much have to just forebear with both these players.

As the Newcastle match ends - and I'm sat lamenting my double blank - I'll be able to check the Liverpool 3.00 pm team sheet ..where I'll then see my double benching lol

Differential Days

This week I'm very much in differential mode. I declined the option to bring in Isak. No doubt this will once again damage me, but with talk of a hamstring issue it seems like an opportunity to save another transfer and hope for the best.

I'm also captaining Fernandes. So it should at least be interesting.

How I'm looking as we begin GW21

It means I'll go into the next gameweek with 3 transfers. Perhaps I'll save one then and jump up to four? I might get myself up to five, then start playing as if I've just got one. Keeping the block of extras for some point in the future.

It's all pretty useless though if I can't start making up some ground.

Disaster Season

Well, since the last post I've had two gameweeks: a good one and a bad one.

The net result is a 50k fall. I'm now sitting at 2.5 million 😡😭

Given we're now past the halfway mark of the season it's not looking good.

Still, it's all to play for..

CHIP STRATEGY

I finally started looking at the potential doubles and blanks last night. With the new Assistant Manager chip there's a lot to fit in.

My rudimentary first thoughts go something like this:

- Triple Captain on Salah in the GW24/25 double.

- Navigate Blank GW29 just using transfers. I would say dead end until GW29, but on initial observation I don't think I'll have too much trouble working around it. The only team with a potential blank that I have more than one player from is Liverpool, and even then, two of those players are Robertson and Diaz. Players that aren't really long term holds beyond GW24/25 anyway.

- Use the Assistant Manager chip in GW31, which will then run through to the GW33 Double. (I haven't looked at the fixtures yet, but with it being a new chip I'm happy to just use it in a laissez faire way. Just have some fun with it.)

- Free Hit in the GW34 Blank. (I do like free hitting in a blank. Very my sort of style of play.)

- Wildcard in GW35, with a view to Bench Boost in the GW36 Double.

I also like the idea of saving a few transfers for the last few weeks of the season. To maximise those gameweeks and undo the inevitable compromises made on the bench boost. I really think I haven't made the most of being able to roll transfers this season. In fact, this gameweek is the first one where I've actually had two! And I'm going to have to use at least one to bring in Isak. So I think I might try to build transfers up over the weeks. Make it a little mission. Difficult though no doubt it will be.

I need to start thinking: Do I really want this player? Do I really need to make this transfer?

I also need to get into the habit of doing draft wildcards more often. Not so much full wildcards, but more a list of players I would definitely have on wildcard. This then helps you focus your plans on the players you really want. It's something I normally do quite often, but this season I haven't really done it at all. As per other posts, this season I've been very casual. I'm completely off the pace.

In spite of the angry emojis though, I have actually enjoyed the season. I just haven't been very engaged with it. Now, as we head into the final run down - with all these chips to use - it's just a great opportunity to have a bit of fun ..and to somehow try to find a way to rescue my rank.

Big Red Arrows :(

A bad week in a bad season. 40 points. Another red card. A team now littered with flags. Arrghhhhh!

40 points (avg. 51)

Luis Diaz didn't play either. My rank is now about 2.5 million.

I'll have to make a goalkeeper transfer before tomorrow's deadline. I'm also flirting with a minus 4 to make another change.

I've been at work the last two days, so I really am in casual mode at the moment. I haven't seen any of the games, I'm completely out of the loop. So it might be wise to just switch the keeper and hope for the best.

I'm probably going to bring in Henderson for Crystal Palace.

Overall my team definitely looks sub-optimal. No Isak, no Gabriel. Not having Cunha has hurt. It's clear what the problems are. I sold Pickford a few weeks back too, didn't I, lol. So even the one thing I got right I undone.

If 2025 continues in this vein it's going to be a long season.

Little Green Arrows

GW17 was a bit better. It steadied the ship. In the end playing Rogers ahead of Armstrong did make the difference after all. So that's one decision I've managed to get right this season.

76 points (avg. 60)

It gave me a green arrow, but not a spectacular one. I'm now at around the 1.9m mark in rank.

I looked back at my gameweek ranks. So far this season I've failed to have a single week where I've scored within the top one million ..and just four weeks where I've been within the top two million. So I've been plumb average. I haven't had a single gameweek with an outstanding score. Nothing special. A season so far completely without magic.

And with the gameweeks creeping by I'm losing time to turn things round. It's now or never if I want to have any hope of a decent final rank.

Saka Replacement?

I'm now sat here on Christmas Eve (Merry Christmas btw 🎅), trying to decide who to bring in for the injured Saka. You kind of feel the Saka injury has been a long time coming, what with all the doubts and will he, won't he starts this season. Again, in another year where I'd been more focused and thoughtful I might have just cavalierly avoided Saka altogether because of that. This season I'm always chasing the herd.

Currently it's a three-way choice between Foden, Luis Diaz and Maddison. I'm tempted to go for Foden just because he's so differential. However, my gut instinct is to stick another Liverpool player in there. With Liverpool flying it just makes too much sense. Bringing in Diaz also frees up a fair bit of cash, which could be handy going forward. Especially with the Assistant Manager chip in mind.

So I think that's what I'll do. Come to think of it, I might just do it now actually. Enjoy Christmas Day without the worry.

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