GW33 (Much Needed) Review

Terrible gameweek. The sort of gameweek that makes you want to give up playing seriously and just start rolling the dice.

Gameweek Points: 33 (-4)

Gameweek Rank: 4,806,544

Overall Rank: 208,883

33 with a minus 4. Ouch.

It's pretty clear now that I made a big mistake not bringing in Salah on the wildcard. Ideally I should've brought him in for Fernandes, though it's easy saying that in hindsight, and I would've never seriously considered losing Fernandes at the time. Still though, I should've most definitely brought Salah in somehow. I knew it was a big risk going without him at the time and it's most certainly proved that way.

The last minute goals from Newcastle (both the one that did count and one that didn't) were pretty galling to watch. A clean sheet would've made such a difference. However, it wouldn't have been deserved in the slightest. Liverpool were pretty appalling defensively and my hopes that they'd step things up a bit in this final run of games are looking a little dashed.

Also having brought in Vardy last week I'm now heading into GW34 without Kane, who'll no doubt be most captained this time round. I could do a straight swap back for Vardy, which would probably be sensible, but currently I'm thinking differently. I have just enough cash to move Raphinha on for Bale. I like this, but it would mean captaining Son. So again, I'm going against the grain.

With literally just five weeks left the Top 100k is looking quite far beyond my reach. Especially given I've put myself in a position where I'm blocked from getting Salah by having Phillips sat on my bench.

Hopefully Salah won't damage me too much this week with Liverpool having United. So I at least have another week to consider how to rejig things, and if another (-4) is necessary.

A good week this week would be most welcome now.

Also I've finally updated the graph. Treading water much.

Overall Points: 2041

Overall Rank: 208,883

GW32 - Review

It'll have to be a quick post today as I need to head out soon. I'll also have to make my transfers for this week pretty sharpish. Sans team news.

Gameweek Points: 79

Gameweek Rank: 161,466

Overall Rank: 150,615

Another decent week. Plenty of yellow flags now though. Spurs blank this week too, so that means Son will be missing as well. Consequently I'm taking a (-4).

I'm doing Kane and Ings out for Bamford and Vardy in. Trent Alexander-Arnold will be my captain.

Overall Points: 2012

Overall Rank: 150,615

GW31 Review - Wildcard Review

Successful wildcard?

Gameweek Points: 65

Gameweek Rank: 368,732

Overall Rank: 196,568

I was really pleased with how the wildcard worked out. I've left it as a question mark though, as firstly you can't really judge a wildcard after just one week, but also because there were some obvious negatives too.

The benefits are fairly obvious - getting Lingard, Iheanacho and Trent Alexander-Arnold in massively boosted me.

The negatives are;

 - Neto getting injured almost immediately

 - The Ings captaincy fail

 - Losing out to all the people who owned Salah and captained him

Again though, all things considered I'm still very much liking how I'm set up. I might just do Neto to Podence with my transfer this week. Keep it simple. (Soucek is also a potential option).

All my players have great fixtures this gameweek so I'm hoping for another green arrow now. I also shouldn't have to worry about Salah too much this week with most people captaining Kane.

Overall Points: 1933

Overall Rank: 196,568

Soar Like A Bird, Or Sink Like A Stone

Firstly let's review GW30 briefly.

Gameweek Points: 45

Gameweek Rank: 4,485,538

Overall Rank: 253,361

I went into 30 with high hopes, but it ended up being a washout. There was a tiny bit of bad luck given Grealish, Cancelo, Bale and Antonio got just 37 minutes between them. That was a big chunk of my potential gone. With Son just getting 45 minutes too I was really flagging.

Kane turned out to be the best captain option, but I was happy enough with the 5 from Fernandes. I never go into gameweeks feeling greedy with the captaincy. As long as I get something it goes down as a win. So I think the problem lies with the rest of my team..

..hence my wildcard this week

I updated my wildcard draft on Tuesday and haven't changed it since. It's currently about an hour 'til deadline and I'm trying to squeeze in all the podcasts and team news just in case I'm making any big mistakes.

Other than that though it's all pretty settled.

I feel like I'm doing my own thing. I imagine it'll be quite different to most wildcards this week. Meaning it'll no doubt make or break my end to the season -- either I'll get a nice boost from the differentials and start climbing again, or I'll sink like a stone as I miss out on not owning key players.

Salah and Jota being my primary worries.

(how things are looking)

I'll start with the keepers. I'm spending 10.5m combined, which is a lot, but it seems like a nice way to keep invested in City without worrying about rotation. When Sánchez comes in for the blank GW33 he's got Sheffield United, so that's a decent little substitution.

The two Wolves players should be good differentials too. They're definitely both a punt. I wouldn't be surprised to get five blanks in a row, especially with Neto. However, those five fixtures are unbelievable on paper. So coupled with the price I'm happy to go with it.

Wolves play tonight, so I could be regretting this wildcard after the first game 😱 Hopefully not though.

As noted above the Liverpool picks could be the major difference. Opting for three defenders over Jota and/or Salah is a big, big risk. In many ways I'm returning to type and going back to the philosophy I had at the start of the season. Trent and Robbo offer huge potential in comparison to most defenders at other clubs (unfulfilled potential of course this season, but still huge potential). Whereas in midfield there are other big hitting options. I'd probably have to lose Son or Fernandes to bring in Salah. So I'm essentially hoping Son + Robertson gets me more than Salah + [a cheaper defender].

Though it's still possible I may make this move to get Salah for the last four games, when the Spurs fixtures tail off a bit.

Lingard and Iheanacho aren't players I would normally go for, but I'm copying the crowd and the form somewhat with these picks. I'm hoping they'll do well, but I'm not as emotionally invested the same way I am with the other picks. Funny how these things work.

Finally, Danny Ings is the big detour from the crowd. Especially with me captaining him. Not owning Salah means there isn't an obvious captain choice for me this week, so it seems like a good opportunity to roll the dice a little. I think he looked sharp too in the last game.

Also Southampton should have a double at some point, so I like the idea of holding him for that. When I started looking at the wildcard options one of the things that stood out was the lack of attackers. With Antonio injured that's heightened further, so Ings could maybe step up and be one of the big scorers.

This does mean I'll have Son, Kane and Ings all blanking in GW33. I'll have a decent full playing eleven though with the rest. So I could hold all three. Do the hokey-cokey with one, or if Spurs don't impress just ditch Son altogether.

Right, anyway, that's enough typing (well done if you've stuck around this far). Time to see what the gameweek gives us.

Overall Points: 1868

Overall Rank: 253,361

GW30 Preview: Decisions

I've got a few headaches this week, though overall I feel I'm set fairly nicely for the gameweek.

I currently have Grealish benched, with Bale starting, though I'm not expecting Bale to start the actual fixture lol. So it feels a bit dim.

I'm also struggling with the captain. Currently it's on Fernandes. My default selection. With Spurs playing Newcastle however, and Leeds having a very nice fixture I'm starting to feel like I'm straying from the flock quite wildly. If in doubt it's Fernandes though. So I can't see me changing things this late. Unless I have a really sleepless night tonight.

As for my transfer it's been a little easier. Alonso in, Dunk out. I had just enough cash in the bank to make the move, so it was an irresistible punt.

I'm still planning on wildcarding in GW31 (just about, I'm flittering back and forth with that one too) so it's the perfect week to have a flutter ..and if he (or Cancelo) doesn't start I'll have Targett off the bench anyway, which wouldn't be a disaster.