Monday, September 20, 2021

GW5 - Two Gameweeks, One Post

Firstly, my GW4 performance.

Gameweek Points: 65
Gameweek Rank: 2,280,854
Overall Rank: 513,177

Secondly, my GW5 performance.

Gameweek Points: 58
Gameweek Rank: 3,394,817
Overall Rank: 583,676

Jeez, where to start?

I was originally going to post about my reasons for bringing Torres in, but with work on Friday, then going to the Riverside yesterday to watch Middlesbrough get turned over by Blackpool, I never got a chance.

This weekend's fixtures have given me even more things to discuss. When I looked at the horrendous state of my team this morning I tweeted saying I was going to have to hit the wildcard. However, this afternoon has settled things down a little. Duffy coming off the bench with 5 points, and Benrahma getting a goal plus bonus was huge for me.

With Foster miraculously starting to fill in for the injured Pickford too I think I've actually been really lucky this week. 58 points is superb given so many of my players missed out.

So, No Wildcard, Just A Transfer ..Hopefully

Now, assuming Trent and Raphinha are fine by next week I think I'll probably just transfer out Pickford. The £0.5m I'll save should then help me to upgrade Wan-Bissaka and Digne to Chelsea/Man City defenders over the following weeks.

The Torres transfer punished me with a zero this week, but I'm not too concerned, as the thinking was more long term anyway. In fact, the original title of this post when I tentatively started it on Friday was:

'The Manchester City Problem'

Last week I instinctively wanted to bring in a differential. Trincão was the player that really tempted me (with the Wolves result I dodged a bullet there). However, when I looked at the players in the price bracket open to me I thought:

"Why am I not getting Torres? Why am I avoiding a Man City player??"

That then got me thinking about Manchester City in general.

"I'm gonna want a City attacker at some point" I thought, "..but who do I go for?"

I think a lot of people have asked this question, but are putting off answering it as the next two fixtures are so poor (Chelsea & Liverpool away). Plus, with De Bruyne and Foden being missing things haven't quite settled into place yet. So that's given people another excuse to say "Let's wait and see". However, sooner or later it needs an answer.

So I thought: Who do I want?

The only really obvious choice all things being equal is De Bruyne. However, at 12m that's not happening when I already have Salah and Lukaku (plus Ronaldo on my watchlist). On top of this no one else will be getting him either, as they have these big hitters too.

Normally you'd worry about not owning a player like De Bruyne, but if no one can afford him then that's not a problem. So I'm just going to cross him off my list. Simple.

(The same can be said for Sterling too given his price.)

So I thought: Who next, after De Bruyne?

Well, after this there isn't really an obvious pick. They're all in a similar ballpark. Grealish looks the most nailed on for a start, but he isn't necessarily the most likely to return. They're all capable of scoring if they do start. So at this point, especially with Pep rotation, it's basically pick one and hope.

Grealish, Gündogan, Mahrez, Jesus, Torres, Bernardo Silva, Foden ..

Sure, one of these players could go on a run and become the stand out choice, but it's pretty much impossible to judge at the moment.

So there simply isn't a perfect option.

It's a case of pick one and hope. Like buying a lottery ticket.

Ultimately I figure the only real question is: Do you want a ticket in the lottery?? Do you want a City attacker?

For me the answer's yes. So I simply went for the one I could afford. He's cheap (super cheap for a City attacker), and he's potentially in the number 9 position. So why overthink things.

The next two fixtures are very unattractive, and I've now already been burned with his benching against Southampton. However, hopefully I've fixed this little problem ahead of the curve. I can now stop worrying about City ..and just hope for the best. (Possibly doubling up on their attack when the fixtures do look nice).

Overall Points: 351
Overall Rank: 583,676

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