New Season.. can't stop, busy-busy

Quick post. New season - yey! 😀

I'm going to have to post quickly. I'm in work the next three days - meaning I'll miss the GW1 deadline, so I probably won't get a chance to post properly before then. I'm aways late to the party every season, so it's nothing to worry about. I'll still have plenty of time to tinker. It's just late (and warm 🌞), and I need to go to bed.

Here's my team as it stands. It'll likely change before Friday.

I also have two million in the bank. My thinking being that Ekitike could become Isak once the drama settles.

I won't explain my picks to save time, as what I do want to make a quick comment on is how I think the extra chips will wreck the template.

In the past I've mentioned on here how the first half of the season is very template.

Most clued-in FPL managers copy the template to a large degree at the start of the season. They then tend to use the first wildcard to re-adapt to the changing template as the season takes form. And, as the games aren't coming thick and fast in the opening few months it's easy to use free transfers to follow the changing template as well, due to the fact that injuries and suspensions haven't racked up so much.

So everyone tends to be quite samey until around Christmas, when all the small divergences really begin to show, and it gets harder to just copy what other people (generally the big accounts/AIs) are doing.

Now though, these extra chips really eff things up. Already you have divergence in the first gameweek, as some people choose to bench boost. Then the free hit adds a further potential for people going different in upcoming weeks. I like it.

How To Use These New Chips

There's also the interesting question of how to use these chips. For me the big question is: To Plan Or Not To Plan.

With the second half of the season it makes sense to plan, as you can plan for the double and blank gameweeks - where there's a clear advantage to having a chip available. However, these new chips are to be used in single gameweeks, so the advantage isn't so clear.

Therefore, should you plan? Or is it perhaps better to play it by ear?

To use the chips to solve arising problems - a free hit to cover a week where you have a few injuries and suspensions perhaps. Or just when a nice opportunity presents itself - we've all had moments in previous seasons where we've looked at our bench and thought, "This wouldn't be a bad bench boost." But we rarely hit the button, as the potential double further along in the season is so much more enticing.

As you can probably imagine, I'm choosing not to plan.

So I'm actually really excited by this season, as I can freewheel from the start, not just Christmas. It should be much more difficult now for players who just copy what others are doing. So, good for me, and good (and fairer) for the more casual players too. (Though, given how bad I did last season, it might be unwise to get my hopes up too much.)

(I like the addition of points for defensive contributions too. It makes the game feel more rounded. It also adds even more opportunity to explore different strategies.)

Anyway, must dash.

All In

Final Rank: 2,239,174

A green arrow, but a lacklustre one. I think the final week really summed up my season. I gave very little thought to my transfers, then just copied the most picked players when I tuned in to Let's Talk FPL earlier, lol, (though dimly I went with Saka as opposed to Bowen).

I did start the season saying I was going to copy the template, and weirdly I've ended up doing just that. Though badly. I've became a very casual, uninvested player. Of course, I'll most certainly play again next season, but the question is: Can I Find The Required Enthusiasm?

And, more to the point, should I? Perhaps it just isn't as high up on my priorities these days. Maybe it's in the realms of Super6, where I do it, but with little thought. Though, saying all this, I have been a little distracted this season. [...]

Either way, I have to get back to playing my own way - and to my own instincts.

Last GAMEWEEK of the SEASON

Well, last week of the season. My team actually looks fairly decent. I've just transferred out De Bruyne and Wood to bring in Evanilson and Saka with my two frees.

The captaincy is currently on Salah, but I might change that. Hmm?

My wildcard and subsequent bench boost weeks went so-so. 58 points on the wildcard (avg. was 43), 68 points on the bench boost (avg. 39).

Technically you could say the bench boost earned me 23 points, but in reality I'd have started Cucurella, so it was a measly 10 points in truth. Still, I got a decent rank boost overall.

I'm now sat at around 2.3m in rank. Could I sneak into the top two million?

Obviously, as I've lamented repeatedly on here, this season has been a washout for me. Hopefully next season will be a fresh start though.

I'll post once more this season to show how it all ended up.

(I've just switched the captaincy to Mbeumo as a fun final week differential!)

Two hours 'til kick off.

Late Season Wildcarding

Okay, so I've knocked up a little wildcard team for GW36. With a view to bench boosting in GW37. I'm liking the look of it, though obviously, given how the season's trailing out, it's a tad half-hearted.

(click to enlarge)

I'll no doubt tinker a little between now and the deadline.

No Doubles, Big Troubles

Well, since my last post we've had four gameweeks. Three where my Assistant Manager chip was active; then the latest week where I had to navigate the blanks. Obviously, my season was over anyway. However, I've still managed to climb a little bit, so it's going well within that overall more disastrous context.

I've climbed from 4.1 million

to 2.6 million since GW28

I had Glasner as my AM. He scored 8 points, 2 points, then 15 points in the final week. So 25 overall. I was fairly pleased with that, especially given I got a little bit of table bonus with that final draw against Arsenal.

I'll share my team for blank GW34 below. I would've had eleven playing if Robinson had played, so I got a tad unlucky there. In the round it was pretty decent though, given many people were free hitting.

Plans, plans, plans..

My plan was to wildcard this week, in preparation for a bench boost in the "double" of GW36. Alas, that cannot be though, as there are no doubles. So it's a change of plan. This week I've left things as is, as my team doesn't look too bad (though I have used my free transfer to switch Gordon to Mbeumo - who I've captained). And next week I'll wildcard instead, to then bench boost in GW37. There'll be no doubles, but still, it'll be a luxury bench boost, as I'll be able to pick strong single gameweek players. So I'll get a bit of fun and enjoyment.

With the season coming to a close I can then start looking to next season. I'll need a plan for then too.

Another Good Week :)

My GW30 went pretty well. 60 points.

Given so many people were wildcarding this week it feels like a big win (or let off). I'm now up to 3.4 million in overall rank. Not impressive, lol. However, that's up from 4.1 million two gameweeks ago.

60 points (avg. 44)

The Robertson clean sheet was particularly welcome, as it was my defence that was worrying me, and where I thought I'd lose most ground with other people. So I've been very lucky.

Assistant Manager

Now I have the Assistant Manager chip active.

Glasner is selected.

It's a little bit disappointing that there'll be no table bonus on offer in this first game. If Brighton had been a single place higher there would be, but it didn't fall that way sadly. With cash and transfers at a premium though I can't be chopping and changing chasing games, so over the three weeks I'm happy with the fixtures.

Brighton (H)

Man City (A) - probable table bonus

Newcastle (A) - probable table bonus

Bournemouth (H)

Arsenal (A) - table bonus

So I've got a few lottery tickets.

I'm quite happy with my team too. I should be able to manage the blank fairly easily, and I'll have enough doublers in GW32 and GW33 to make things interesting (injuries allowing). I'm glad I kept Palmer too. That minus 4 for Foden I was considering would've added a bitter edge to things.

Hopefully I can now keep climbing.

I'm still here..

I haven't posted in a while. Don't worry, I haven't quit. My season's been appalling, but I'm going nowhere. I do tend to quit football entirely during the international breaks though, so I've had a little sabbatical.

My string of bad gameweeks continued, however, last week (GW29) came off very nicely. I used the free hit and it went fairly well, so I've gained a bit of ground back.

Here's the lowdown since my last post:

GW27: 36 points (avg. 53); end of week overall rank: 3,608,018 😡

GW28: 32 points (avg. 52); end of week overall rank: 4,163,093 😡

GW29: 69 points (avg. 40); end of week overall rank: 3,646,011 😁

With an overall rank of three and half million that grinning emoji isn't really justified, lol. Still, I have to take the small victories at this point.

Onwards and Upwards

Going forward it's all plans and strategies now. The way the doubles and blanks have fallen has suited me. I should be able to navigate blank GW34 fairly easily. Meaning the decision to play the free hit last week didn't come at too large a cost.

Now my general plan is to:

Switch Wood to Mateta this week.

Play the Assistant Manager chip in GW31 (probably putting it on Glasner).

Navigate the GW34 blank with transfers.

Wildcard GW35.

Bench Boost GW36.

Potentially I could also take a minus 4 to bring in Foden for Palmer this week. It would make sense to get the extra game. Plus, this week's Man City fixture (Leicester) is very nice. So that's feeling likely at the moment. Then next week I can bring in Dan Burn to get the extra Newcastle fixture (and cover for GW34, where Newcastle play Ipswich).

So it's all systems go.