I captained Salah..

Bad week. I got a little too cocky, and went for the differential play. Things didn't work out.

I'm disappointed, but at least I can console myself with the fact that it wasn't a truly terrible idea. I put 2-0 to Man City on the Super6, so I was thinking the damage Haaland would do wouldn't be too punishing - which I was half-right about. I was also expecting goals in the Liverpool game. (I put 4-2 to Liverpool for that one - wrong result, but not a million miles away from the xG.) So it was brave, and only a tad foolish in hindsight.

52 points (avg. 56)

Also, I should be grateful really, as although it was a bad week it could've been a lot worse, as originally I was planning to roll my transfers. Which would've meant keeping Romero and Evanilson - both of whom didn't play. I brought in Calvert-Lewin and Gabriel. So it was a twelve point swing. I'd have really dropped in rank had I not done that.

Going forward I'm not really sure what the plan is ..other than switching the captaincy back to Haaland, which I've already done. Though the away tie to Aston Villa is looking a little less favourable now.

I still like the idea of brining in Declan Rice, though I'd need to free up some cash to do that, and I've only got the one transfer. So things will have to stay as is for the coming week.

The question mark over Salah is getting bigger, but I don't want to kneejerk. He remains a very big differential potentially. Had I captained Haaland I'd probably be feeling fairly happy with my team. The way these things psychologically frame your perceptions is fascinating really. I knew it was a gamble. I knew it came with a high degree of risk. Yet still there's an emotional aftermath that makes you feel down about the entire team, even though it was literally just the captaincy move that swung things for the most part.

Overall Rank: 436,894

12 Points on the Bench Boost

Lucky. That's the word that springs to mind. I'm very grateful to get twelve points. In hindsight it was a silly week to use the bench boost, and I could've ended up a lot worse off.

Both Porro and Agbadou didn't start their games. When they both came off the bench it really saved my blushes. Especially Porro, as if he'd have completely missed I'd have gained the Senesi points anyway.

68 points (avg. 46)

So, in a week where many triple-captained Haaland, I still got a nice green arrow. Up to 107k in rank now.

Going Forward

With all my chips out of the way I can concentrate fully on my team. I have a little plan/watchlist, though I'll probably just roll my transfer this week.

The players I'd like to bring in are Gabriel, Gravenberch and Declan Rice. I still feel that Rice offers a lot of value and I partially rue not keeping him on the wildcard. Gravenberch also looks like great value. I just wonder what happens with these players once Champions League truly gets underway. Reijnders is another in that similar midfield bracket.

4-5-1

I think one up top is probably my preferred plan for this season too. With strikers the roots to points are so limited. So even though Evanilson is a decent pick, it always feels like it's more hope than certainty. I expect two points. However, with midfielders and defenders there are now little bonuses that soften the blanks. A clean sheet bonus or some defcon points knocking a two-pointer up to a three or four-pointer makes all the difference.

To reach this destination I'll probably downgrade Evanilson to a cheap bench striker. Perhaps the Bournemouth bench striker Kroupi.Jr (that full stop in the name is hard to get used to). Then Dewsbury-Hall can become Rice. Anderson can switch to Gravenberch/Reijnders maybe, and Porro can become Gabriel.

There's no rush though, and with both Salah and Haaland I don't feel like I'm missing anyone unmissable. Though had Fernandes scored that penalty I'd no doubt be wondering how to fit him in. He remains a great option. (That United defense is truly awful though. The players aren't good enough, and they have no pace. The worst possible combination.) Cunha still looked decent too I thought when he actually got the ball. Mbeumo had an off game, but overall he's looked good. So Manchester United as an attacking option is a puzzling one. After the last game it's easy to say "avoid," but I'm not so sure.

Let's see how GW7 goes.

I can't resist...

BENCH BOOOOOST!

I've just hit the bench boost. It's not an ideal week, but I have no flags, no injuries, and my history of playing the game tells me that sooner or later they start piling up. So I might as well go now and hope for the best. Plus, it's fun isn't it.

I've made one transfer, switching Dubravka to Darlow, as Perri remains out for Leeds. In fact, that was the swinger really. With Dubravka in goal against City I'd be fearing a negative score. With Darlow at home to Bournemouth it's not quite as scary.

Darlow, Senesi, Agbadou and Foster make up the bench.

Foster against Man City is highly unlikely to get anything. Agbadou could possibly get defcon, but not much more. I'm not expecting a clean sheet from Darlow. Meaning Senesi is the only player with a bit of real potential.

You could argue that Anderson should be on the bench instead of Senesi. However, I genuinely had Senesi on the bench. I've really liked Anderson this season. So for me this is the honest bench.

The question then is, what contributes a good score for the bench boost?

If everyone plays over 60 minutes you're getting eight points. So that's the baseline. A single return then takes you past the ten point mark. Unless you've got a very good bench expecting more than that is probably a bit greedy. (With my bench expecting one is unrealistic.) Then on top of that you might get the odd defcon/save point/clean sheet point.

I'd be happy with ten points. I say happy, grateful is perhaps the better word. You probably need a bit of luck to get four playing bench players in a single gameweek. One injury or real world benching drops you down a player from the get-go. Plus, you're potentially wasting transfers and cash getting the bench right for just that one week. And it means you have to swerve players (I'm looking at you Man City) that get rotated randomly.

All this is no doubt just me justifying myself using it this week. Still, I've never been greedy in fpl, so it does feel good getting it used in a pragmatic way. I just hope everyone starts. After that I'm just going to enjoy it.

Last Week

60 points last week (avg. was 42). Another good rise in rank. Meaning I'm up to 134k as we go into GW6.

6 points on the bench last week. And they all played over 60 minutes. So perhaps I need to lower my expectations even further.

I'll Just Have Chips..

I finished up with 81 points on my free hit. Very happy with that.

Anyway, I've now hit the wildcard on the eve of GW5.

It's been a last minute decision. My team didn't look ideal for this week, so I started a hypothetical wildcard and it just went from there. Once I started I couldn't turn back.

This is it..

I'm sure I should've done more research. No doubt there'll be some mistakes and regrets. However, at the moment I'm feeling pleased with it. I've done it with one eye on a possible bench boost. No idea what particular week, I'm just hoping if I have a rounded squad things will fall into place. I must remember to be flexible though, as injuries and whatnot always crop up. So I may have to leave the bench boost on the backburner if things don't work out.

After last week I was up to circa. 340k, so hopefully this week goes well too.

/////////////////////// UPDATE //////////////////

Before the morning deadline I made a few changes. Namely Raya in goal and Agbadou in.

So this is how I went into GW5..

(we're currently halfway through

the 3 o'clock kick offs)

In the end..

Post deadline update, as promised. Post 3 o'clock kick off update in fact.

In the end I changed out Elanga for Barnes, just for the certainty of start. Given Elanga is sat on the bench right now this seems like a call that was worth getting out of bed for.

Currently things are looking like this as we head towards half time.

A goal from Woltemade, an assist from Semenyo. Very nice.

I'm also pleased with what I got from my Arsenal players earlier on. Nothing spectacular, but a goal from Gyokeres and a clean sheet for Calafiori (minus a yellow card - which was coming all through the game to be fair).

Nothing but a clean sheet point for Madueke, but he was so attacking and exciting to watch I still feel vindicated in the choice.

Now let's see how the rest of the gameweek goes..

GW4 - Free Hitting and Flip-Flopping

I'm free hitting. Another chip on the table early.

I think I've finally settled on my side as we go into the weekend.

Three Newcastle, three Liverpool, two Arsenal, two Palace, and Semenyo.

The only major fear is that I've had to exclude Haaland because of price constraints.

The Newcastle picks are the biggest risks, but also the biggest differentials. Woltemade starts up front for his debut (hopefully). I have no idea what he's like, other than that he's six foot six. So hopefully he scores a debut header. The rest of the team is more or less in the general ballpark of what most people will be going for on free hit.

Even as I type this in the early hours before bed I'm tempted to bring in a third Arsenal player. I feel the Mateta and Semenyo picks are basically just me copying the obvious moves. Of course, both are great picks - I've always been a huge fan of Semenyo in particular, as past blog posts on here will show. However, this week I'm not quite feeling it. Brighton are decent, and Sunderland, though newly promoted, haven't been too bad defensively. So I worry about that Palace game being a boring 1-0 win. Arsenal are a bit more exciting. Though that may be bias, as I'll be sitting down to watch that game tomorrow morning.

[This morning given we're now past midnight.]

Eze? Madueke?

[Actually, I'm going to go and make another cup of tea so I can mull things over for one last half an hour.]

Okay, Madueke in, Mateta out.

Risky, but this looks more like my team.

Perhaps I'll have to share a final variation after the deadline if it changes again. That's if I can get out of bed before the deadline.

With Arsenal being the early kick off I should really make the effort in the hope of early team news.

[I'll finish this cup of tea then gets some 'zzzzzzz 😴😴😴]

Chips As Problem Solvers

Two posts in one day - I must be enjoying this season. (It also probably helps that Middlesbrough are top of the Championship.)

At the start of the season I made a post saying that the first round of chips could be used on the fly, as problem-solvers. As opposed to a planned use of them.

Here we are, heading towards GW4, and we see a good example of this.

In GW4 I have problems..

• Liverpool have the best fixture, but I only have one Liverpool player and I don't own Salah
• Anderson is away to Arsenal (though that could well be where he finally gets defcon points)
• Cunha and Fernandes face City (though, again, that maybe looks worse on paper)
• My bench is poor, so I don't have good replacements to bring in

Either way, the main problem is NO SALAH.

And I can't get him without taking a points hit.

Fortunately, however, I have all these chips to use, and they won't cost me any points.

So I have solutions.

Option 1: Wildcard

Option 2: Free Hit

The question then is whether I need Salah long term, or just for this single gameweek.

(It's also worth bearing in mind that the Wildcard could be useful when it comes to using the Bench Boost.)

I still like the idea of waiting to get Isak as my Liverpool attacker, and I'm actually fairly happy with my first eleven in general, so the likelihood is I'll be free-hitting.

But, yeah, I like this on the fly approach. It was very much that sort of thinking/feeling when I used the triple-captain on Bruno Fernandes last week. It felt like an opportunity - there might have been a bit of a backlash after the Grimsby game. The fixture looked good. So I thought, "Why not? I have to use this chip sometime."

Obviously, I was lucky to get something in the end. Although, saying that, I still feel Man Utd were decent in attack. They look very capable of scoring goals this season whenever I watch them play. So instinctively the decision still feels right to me. Hopefully I can continue the season in this mode.