FPL: Gamemonth October/November

A quick update regarding Gamemonth October.

In October I chose to free hit in GW12. It was quite a sensible decision, however it didn't really pay off. I think I'd have had more points that week had I just left things. It was then diminishing returns for the rest of the month.

I then made a few changes as we moved into Gamemonth November. Bringing Bowen and Firmino in for the injured Son and the suspended Toney in GW15.

(Gameweeks 12 through 15)

(Red and green arrows)

In hindsight it would've probably been smarter to bring in Salah. In fact, I think had I been playing weekly that's what I would've done. This season I'm enjoying things too much though. I'm a huge fan of Bowen, and Firmino is my favourite Liverpool player. So I'm really playing for enjoyment more than anything at the moment.

I've definitely took things a lot less seriously this season playing monthly. It's going to give me a big decision at the end of the season. Do I keep playing this way - hands off, enjoying things, not caring a great deal about rank? Or do I go back to the standard way of playing and aim for the stars - with all the time, stress and attention to detail that involves?

With the World Cup on the horizon all thoughts about fpl can go on hold though. There's one more weekend of Premier League fixtures before it starts and my team is set in stone. Hopefully I can have a decent week to boost my rank a little before the second half of the season.

Overall Points: 775

Overall Rank: 3,631,995

FPL Gamemonth October: Free Hit

As you can see from the title I'm going with the free hit for Gamemonth October. However, before that we'll look at the late summer fruits of Gamemonth September.

Since I hit the wildcard in GW7 it's been nonstop green arrows. I'm now up to 3.5m from around 6.5m. So it's been pretty good.

(GW7 was postponed of course)

(Gamemonth September team points

- click to enlarge)

Almiron in particular has worked wonders coming off the bench. Making my bench picks a lot more worthwhile than they were with my Gamemonth August side.

GW12: The Free Hit

The free hit has chosen itself really. The few injuries aside my team has been ticking along pretty nicely, and I'm fairly hopeful that it'll cope well enough for the rest of October. With Manchester City and Arsenal blanking in GW12 though I would've been struggling to get a team out this particular week. So it makes good sense for me to free hit now to navigate it.

The free hit was always going to be a tricky chip to use with me playing monthly. Only being allowed to make changes once a month means you want to make long term changes when you do get the opportunity. So a one-week tinker around isn't ideal when you have systemic issues with your team.

With my team looking fairly solid though this feels like the perfect opportunity to maximise the chip. It allows me to keep my City and Arsenal players long term, whilst also allowing me to get an optimal side out for the one week I would've had problems.

Hopefully it works out well and I get a little rank boost from it.

(Gamemonth October Wildcard)

As I sit typing we're just waiting for the Tuesday night fixtures to start [the above image shows points as I had to wait for the game to update to grab a screenshot 😠]. They're not glamourous ties - Brighton vs Nottingham Forest and Palace vs Wolves. I've bet big on Wolves and Forest not scoring though, so the success of my free hit will in large part be decided tonight. So we have some minor excitement.

I then need my big hitters to come in tomorrow to finish the job.

November should be a fairly comfortable month to deal with, as there are only two gameweeks. So I just need my guys to get me through the rest of October once this week is done.

Overall Points: 568

Overall Rank: 3,451,708

FPL Gamemonth September: We Finally Got There

All Queenly detours aside this is how I eventually went on the wildcard.

As I type Fulham are currently 3-1 up, but Mitrovic has nothing. It's typical of course given I missed all his previous returns, but I was expecting it. This is just what the fpl gods do to us.

With GW12 now being a blank I'll probably have to make that the week I choose for Gamemonth October too. So much for the degree of flexibility. I'll have to take Martinelli out just to get a full eleven out, and that's assuming no other issues arise.

It may have been foolish given the blank to go with three City plus Martinelli, but City are so good I want three both before and after the blank.

As you can see Haaland is captain. This feels like the super sensible choice, but things are rarely that simple. I was very tempted to stick with Son. I like the Spurs fixtures, but I feared it was sentiment getting the better of me. (How can you go against Haaland at this point?)

Originally I had Luis Diaz instead of Kulusevski before the postponements. I'm planning on heading back in that direction in October (transfers allowing). I did have James in place of Trippier too. So the effective cancellation of GW7 has changed my team slightly, but only in a few positions.

Almiron is my little bench punt (an extravagance afforded by these forced downgrades). Obviously I'll need him for certain this week, so hopefully he plays and looks involved (I've actually made zero effort to check if he's even nailed on to start, so I hope I don't have cause to regret my laziness. I think he should be okay though.)

Oh, and before I go - the keepers. I know, I know, Ward has been dreadful, but the price is irresistible and I really needed that cash to shore up my team. Surely Leicester can't continue to be that bad in defence. So it's a beggars can't be choosers situation for me. I'm in no position to be going for luxury keeper options.

The Forest v Fulham game has now finished. Fulham won 3-2. Impressive start to the wildcard. Toney will probably blank too now. Pereira did pick up a yellow though, so with luck I've missed his one-pointer.

The "Minute's Applause" Is Why We Have No Football

So, no games this weekend. I think this was the wrong decision ..however

I agree that any attempts at showing respect would've been a complete mess had the games went ahead. Football fans (including most well-meaning ones) have simply lost the ability to stay silent for 60 seconds.

Football needs to reflect on this.

One of the worst things to happen to football in this regard was the "minute's applause". I'll explain why.

When someone dies the natural response is one of sorrow - or, if you weren't close to the deceased person you show tact and consideration towards the friends and family members that were. Clapping is not a natural response to death in everyday life. If you meet someone who's recently lost a relative you give a few kind words of support and condolences, then you give them space to speak and grieve. You don't clap.

Silence is a fitting response, as you're showing self-restraint in an effort to give the grieving people the time and space they need. It also gives you yourself the time to think about those people and the person they've lost.

During a minute's silence you're supposed to be taking a few quiet moments to think about the person who has died and what they meant. It's a period of reflection.

You can't do that if you're clapping like a seal. Surrounded by other people that are clapping like seals.

Our society took a wrong turn when we decided to go down this "minute's applause" route. I understand the argument: by clapping we're "celebrating the life" of that person, so it's a positive gesture. This is just a lazy untruth though, hiding the fact that it's just easier to clap mindlessly than to make the effort - and that the clapping and noise masks any uncouth shouting or noise that would otherwise ruin an actual minute's silence.

It's such a weak argument: A few idiots may be disrespectful and make some noise, so let's all just make some noise. Let's all respond to death in a completely unnatural and inappropriate way, because there may be one or two bad apples in the crowd.

The Messiness.

It's not just the principle too, it's also the practicality. I've been to football matches where fans aren't even sure what to do when there's a minute's respect. Where you can't even hear the announcement because some fans have started clapping and cheering before the announcer has even finished speaking. Then everyone else just joins in, as they clap turning to the person next to them to ask; "Who's died??"

Back before the advent of the minute's applause you'd hear the announcement begin and that would be the cue to stop talking to your friends and to start listening. Slowly silence would descend on the stadium as the announcer finished giving his or her short tribute to the recently departed. The referee's whistle would blow, distinctive against the sheer silence. Then there'd be 60 seconds of quiet dignified reflection. Finally capped by a rapturous burst of sound once the moment of respect had passed. The noise against the silence as stark as day against night.

Sure, the odd idiot would occasionally shout something and ruin things a little, but it only reflected badly on them, not on the countless standing in respect; and the shame of an entire stadium would aim in their direction. The basic tenet that you show respect to the recently departed being such a universal cornerstone of human culture.

The minute's applause has confused all this though. It's helped to uproot us from basic human behaviour. So now we just have a cacophony of noise and uncertainty when we're supposed to be marking someone's death.

We go to football matches precisely to make noise and have fun. The idea of the minute's silence is that for a moment we pause and reflect. It's a moment where we stop what we're doing to consider something more important. Now however there's often more noise during that minute's tribute than there is during the entire game - at some stadiums it's easier to reflect upon your own mortality when the player's are actually on the pitch.

I'm joking a little of course, but be honest, would the tributes at football stadiums have been anything other than a huge mess this weekend had games went ahead? The minute's silence would be announced and some people would be clapping, some people would be silent and some would start singing 'God Save the Queen'. All well-meaning no doubt, but it would've been a discordant muddle.

Not everyone wants to sing 'God Save the Queen' (or indeed King). There are many people that don't share the politics of such a sentiment. However, everyone regardless of politics can show 60 seconds of silent respect for a recently deceased human being. (The people that haven't at recent games - those that have booed and so forth really do need to do some self-reflecting. As a human being you should be able to show a moment's silence for another human being that's just died - even if they were your worst enemy.)

Whatever people's views and politics now would be a fitting moment to bring back some dignity and respect by bringing back the minute's silence. Not just for the Queen, but for all recently deceased people.

(a human being)

FPL Gamemonth August: In The Mirror

Gamemonth August was painful. It's left me with a rank of 6,659,032.

(GW1 - GW6, top left to bottom right

- click to enlarge)

Captaincy Fail.

The obvious failing was captaincy. Son got just one assist in six games - 17 points in total. Salah in comparison delivered over twice as many points with 38.

And this is before we even mention Haaland, who already has 67 points on the board.

Obviously I would never have captained Haaland, but Salah was the obvious set and forget captain, and the template had both players. So a set and forget August side following the norm would've sailed along fairly nicely I suspect.

In fact, this is my main disappointment. I don't mind the rank, I'm really enjoying playing this way. However, I feel I've let the experiment down a little by going so heavily against the template. I've been enjoying myself a little too much. A gamemonth template side would've been a much more interesting comparison from a neutral perspective.

Son was my favoured pick though, and from a personal point of view I'm glad I went with my instinct. I feel I've been a little unlucky too - I don't think Son has been that far from returning in games (and sneak preview I'm actually keeping him on this week's September wildcard - I'll do another post revealing that team later this week).

The Rest of the Team.

I actually don't think the rest of the team was too bad. I was a little unlucky with Mitrovic staying benched each week - I never expected zero injuries or suspensions in the first six games. The Liverpool defence was over the top in hindsight, but the logic was there. Going Saka over Jesus was another anti-template fail, but only a minor one - in the end Jesus outscored Saka by just 5 points. So all in all the negatives all stem from avoiding Salah and Haaland.

Once again reminding us all that the template is the template for a reason.

Enjoyment.

From a pure enjoyment point of view this style of playing the game has been great so far. I'm super laidback about fpl. Even this week doing my wildcard I'm very relaxed. I also enjoy how invested I am in my players. The two goals Mbeumo got me in particular were really enjoyable.

I'm actually weighing up Mbeumo vs Toney on the wildcard right now. I'm sure the desire to keep Mbeumo is largely just pure sentiment (though that extra million or so would be quite useful).

The low rank doesn't annoy me (probably because playing this way gives my ego an excuse), however seeing the sheer badness of it has made my competitive urges kick in now. So as much as I'm enjoying playing like this I still want to do well.

When you look at the upcoming fixtures and try to pick a set and forget captain for the next month or so you realise how restrictive playing this way is. However, I'm down so far now because of my own decision to go with Son. I can't blame that on the system. So maybe if I get my decisions right there'll be benefits to playing this way too.

Saying this though God only knows how badly I'll do if I do get injuries and suspensions lol. I certainly wouldn't have gotten many points from Undav these first six weeks had I needed him. So as I continue my wildcard I need to make sure this first month doesn't make me complacent about how important the bench may be.

Perhaps that Mbeumo million may be needed after all.

FPL Gamemonth August: Let's GO

Well, it's been a while since I've posted on here, but I'm returning just in time. The 22/23 season begins tomorrow ..it's Gamemonth August!

Yes, I'm delivering on my promise to play "gamemonths" instead of "gameweeks". I won't rehash all the rules again, but it basically means I can only make changes one gameweek per month.

With GW1 naturally being the first week it means this is the gameweek for August.

There are five gameweeks in August, so the team I'm locking in tomorrow evening won't have any tinkering, transfers or attention until GW6 at the earliest (I imagine I'll probably wildcard that week).

My Team

So this is how my team is looking at present:

BENCH

Obviously I need a decent bench. If I get injuries and suspensions these guys will be all I have, so I need three playing bench options. As you can see though I have Undav in there, who's unlikely to start, so I'm already struggling. The pull to have a decent first eleven was just too strong.

Still though, I'm at least hopeful. Undav should at least get some minutes from the bench, and the Brighton fixtures are decent. Especially gameweeks 4 and 5, which are the weeks where it's more likely he'll be needed as my team will be more decimated by then.

Of course, it could end up completely decimated by that point. I may end up with a team that's 4, 5, 6 players down. It is just five gameweeks though, so fingers-crossed it won't get that bad.

I like having Mitrovic as the first sub. Hopefully I won't need him in GW1 when he faces Liverpool, but after that the fixtures aren't as poor. So he's an exciting player to have coming in if needed.

Andreas Pereira is the obvious midfield bench option. Cheap, but playing, so he's a handy fit.

Then we have Ward as back-up keeper in goal, which again is very handy given the price, assuming he does indeed start for Leicester.

GOALKEEPER & DEFENCE

My defence/goalkeeper is all Liverpool and City. It looks very odd and lopsided, but I want to have the maximum number of players from those two sides given the fixtures. I also want players that are highly likely to play each week, so defence, especially for City, is where I've gravitated towards.

MIDFIELD

Obviously three Liverpool defenders means no Salah. This could be a huge miscalculation. However, I prefer Son. I thought he was the best player in the league in the second half of last season. I also wonder what Liverpool will be like going forward. Diaz and Darwin are exciting signings, so we're expecting them to be formidable again, but things are different. Mane was a super player - very direct, hardworking and unselfish. He's left the Premier League with little fanfare - I think people began to take him for granted - but he's also left big shoes to fill. People like shiny new signings, but you can never be entirely sure just how well new players will do, no matter how good they are.

The shifting dynamics of the attack could potentially affect Salah. The Firmino/Salah/Mane combo was amazing. With Salah being the more selfish of the three. Things could be different now.

Again, it's foolish backing against Salah given his record, and with the fixtures in particular he could easily be head and shoulders above other options yet again. Still, I think there's a tiny window of opportunity. He dropped off a little bit (just a little bit) in the second half of last season - after Luis Diaz arrived. So maybe this might be a different Liverpool side, where the chances for Salah are weighted slightly differently.

(Famous last words)

Alongside Son (who will also be my captain for the entirety of August) I have Kulusevski, Martinelli and Saka. I like Spurs under Conte, so I feel confident with Kulusevski. I'm expecting Richarlison to take minutes from Son and Kane more so than Kulusevski. It's a long season and Son and Kane can't be playing 90 minutes each and every week, especially given their injury history, so I'm expecting Richarlison to lighten the burden for them.

I'm not quite as optimistic as many people are about Arsenal - I don't think they're a trustworthy side - but obviously the games are great and the potential upside is huge. I'm hoping Saka will outshine Jesus too. I've never been a huge fan of Jesus, so it really is just my historic bias that's made me not select him. Like avoiding Salah it could be a big mistake, but I feel so much better going with my instinct.

FORWARD

Finally, and last but not least, I have Mbeumo as my lone cheap striker up top. I like the price and the fixtures, so it works for me.

Hopefully this side won't do too badly. It's unlikely I'll be able to sustain a decent rank playing this way, but I'm really enjoying it, and I'm looking forward to just sitting back and watching how this team does over the coming weeks. Players like Mbeumo could be real heroes for me by the time we get to September. I have to really root for these players and hope they do well. I can't just ditch players after one or two weeks anymore. I have to show faith.

It's possible I could tinker a little more before tomorrow's deadline, so this isn't quite set in stone just yet. It feels like we're pretty near the mark though. We're about to begin.

Fixtures: We Have The Gamemonth Skeleton

So I finally looked at the Premier League fixtures today. It's not too bad, though it makes it quite stark just how few gameweeks I'll have to tinker.

We have ten months:

(The weeks with just the one date will obviously have a spread of dates once the televised fixtures are assigned to Friday/Sunday/Monday slots, etc.)

GAMEMONTH ONE: AUGUST

GW1: 5 AUG - 7 AUG

GW2: 13 AUG

GW3: 20 AUG

GW4: 27 AUG

GW5: 30 AUG - 31 AUG

GAMEMONTH TWO: SEPTEMBER

GW6: SEPT 3

GW7: SEPT 10

GW8: SEPT 17

GAMEMONTH THREE: OCTOBER

GW9: OCT 1 (Saturday - so a Friday game would move this to the month of SEPTEMBER)

GW10: OCT 8

GW11: OCT 15

GW12: OCT 18 - OCT 19

GW13: OCT 22

GW14: OCT 29

GAMEMONTH FOUR: NOVEMBER

GW15: NOV 5

GW16: NOV 12

GAMEMONTH FIVE: DECEMBER

GW17: DEC 26

GW18: DEC 31

GAMEMONTH SIX: JANUARY

GW19: JAN 2 ( - is a Monday)

GW20: JAN 14

GW21: JAN 21

GAMEMONTH SEVEN: FEBRUARY

GW22: FEB 4

GW23: FEB 11

GW24: FEB 18

GW25: FEB 25

GAMEMONTH EIGHT: MARCH

GW26: MAR 4

GW27: MAR 11

GW28: MAR 18

GAMEMONTH NINE: APRIL

GW29: APR 1 (Saturday, so a Friday game would move this one to MARCH)

GW30: APR 8

GW31: APR 15

GW32: APR 22

GW33: APR 25

GW34: APR 29

GAMEWEEK TEN: MAY

GW35: MAY 6

GW36: MAY 13

GW37: MAY 20

GW38: MAY 28

Initial Thoughts

The first half of the season doesn't look too bad for me. I'm not so keen on the second half however. It's going to be a struggle to negotiate chips and blank gameweeks when you see it on paper like this.

I think I'll most definitely be Bench Boosting in GW1 - I mean Gamemonth One. It'll simplify things straight off the bat. Especially when I'm going to have to pick a playing squad that'll last me to at least GW6.

Looking at the specific fixtures teams have I think I'll most definitely have to have Salah. I was hoping that maybe I could avoid having him to save cash, but that doesn't look an option at first glance. The City fixtures look decent too. As with Salah I was hoping it would be possible to avoid the rush and clamour for Haaland as well, but it's not looking good.

Son has very decent fixtures on top of this, so given I have to have 15 playing players in my squad I think my first eleven will suffer heavily in comparison to what other people have. Still though, it's hard to really judge until the game updates and we get to play around with what's available.

Whichever week I choose to make changes in Gamemonth September I'm guessing I'll be using the first wildcard. This is assuming there aren't any major changes to chips, etc when the game does update of course. Perhaps there'll be some surprises.

GW38: Season's End

A good last week, but it couldn't rescue the season.

Gameweek Points: 82

Gameweek Rank: 395,449

Overall Rank: 114,631

I finished outside the top 100k, but not too far out, so I can't complain. Plus there was a fair bit of luck this last week. Coutinho off the bench with 8 points was a huge bonus.

I'm now firmly focused on next season - with my "gamemonth" plan. Having finished with a disappointing rank this season I'm slightly tempted to have another crack at playing normally, but I think that's just my ego feeling slighted, so I'll stick with the program. Playing a different way will definitely freshen things up for me. I really have just been going through the motions these last few seasons.

This rank added to my others gives me an average of -  85,039  - for my five seasons playing fpl so far.

I updated my graph to illustrate things.

(I didn't have the full season data for my first season, but that year (17/18) I finished 109,229.)

So 85,039 is the benchmark against which I'll be judging next season.

Overall Points: 2494

Overall Rank: 114,631

GW37: Good, but not enough

A decent week, but not enough to turn things round.

Gameweek Points: 78 (-4)

Gameweek Rank: 760,434

Overall Rank: 134,065

The captaincy did half the work, and Vardy did half of the other half. So my transfers, which included a minus 4, paid off.

For the rest of the team it was a little disappointing. Coutinho has really disappointed since I brought him in. Holding on to him for the doubles has really cost me. With Konsa I feel I've been unlucky. Not just this week, but there was also the week where I bench boosted and he was dropped for both games. Plus my original plan to bench boost way back in GW23, where I was planning to hit the button after wildcarding but had to change tack after Konsa picked up a minor injury. He then went on to play the game anyway. Meaning I'd have got 20+ from the bench boost had I have stuck to the plan.

He wasn't a great pick in hindsight, but it's very easy to say that in GW38 - at the time he seemed nailed on and freed up some cash.

GW38 - the final dice roll

As for this last week I think 34k is far too much to make up in a single week, so I'm virtually resigned to a sub 100k finish. I have toyed with the idea of really going for it with some differential moves, but that's not really my style, so I wouldn't be feeling it. Plus I do want as high a rank as possible so I have a good average to compare my first "gamemonth management" season to.

There's not a huge difference between 95k and 105k when it comes to averages. It's mainly psychological. So I need to be sensible and try my best to have a solid final week. Finishing 200k won't be much use to me.

With that in mind I'm going to remove Konsa (finally) and bring in a Spurs defender.

There are quite a few options: My instinct is to go with Emerson Royal. I'm not quite sure why, but I just have a gut feeling. The sensible choice is Ryan Sessegnon. So it's currently a choice between head and instinct. There's also Davinson Sanchez who has notched a few times this season. I'm thinking Norwich v Spurs will be quite open with it being the last game of the season, so maybe any goals that come will be from open play, making wingbacks a slightly better bet than players needing set pieces.

If I was going to make the transfer right this moment I'd go Emerson Royal, I might as well go with instinct at this point. There's still a fair bit of time to rethink things however.

I was also tempted to switch Coutinho to Bowen, but with the last day normally being so chaotic I think I'd rather have a couple of players on my bench, even if they are facing City, just in case there are line up surprises. Reece James is never nailed on to play, so that's already one player that makes me wince when I check the team sheets, so there's no harm in having a little extra cover.

Anyway, hopefully I'll end on a high note. Good luck everyone.

Overall Points: 2412

Overall Rank: 134,065

GW36: Disaster

I'm out of the top 100k ..well out of it :(

Gameweek Points: 75

Gameweek Rank: 4,790,797

Overall Rank: 138,952

My season has totally collapsed. I peaked too early. With my team not being optimum for these final two gameweeks there's little hope I can claw it back too.

My main quandary now is whether to keep Coutinho or not. My week's been that poor I haven't even kept up with the various podcasts and whatnot. I've completely switched off. So I've no idea what's going on or what anyone else's thinking is. I'm guessing it's unlikely he'll play both games, but with him at least having that double potential my current thinking is that I'll keep him. Meaning I can use my two free transfers to bring in a few more doublers. Possibly Richarlison and Coleman for my two flagged players.

Hopefully I'll get my act together before the Sunday deadline though, so I can at least get a bit of information under my belt before I make any decisions.

The way things are panning out I won't be able to bring in Son for that last game against Norwich too, which isn't great. With my flags beginning to stack up however I think I'll have to just make do and mend with my remaining transfers and hope for the best.

My ego is suffering too much, so I'll leave it there.

Overall Points: 2338

Overall Rank: 138,952

Graph Update.. and Game-Month Management Update

I updated my little graph for the first time in a good while. Seeing this season in comparison to the others made me feel a little better about my recent poor gameweeks. Still, momentum is everything, so I need to pick up in these last few weeks to get another sub-100k finish.

(click to enlarge)

My previous finishes were:

17/18: 109,229

18/19: 30,785

19/20: 80,671

20/21: 89,880

I didn't track the gameweeks of my first season, so that's missing from the graph - thankfully, as it would look even more crowded.

I'm hoping for a good finish this season as I really want a good average for the five years. The average of those four seasons is around 80k, so I'd be very happy with something similar. Then I'll have nice respectable record against which I can compare my coming seasons ---->> the gamemonth seasons.

I'll then be able to put those seasons on a nice new graph.

FPL Game-Month Management

I should probably explain my plans for next season a little. I'm planning to do gamemonths instead of gameweeks.

The basic rule is I can only make changes one gameweek per month.

"Gamemonth August" will be the first month (assuming that's when the season starts); which will have to be GW1 of course. Then the second gamemonth will be "September".

So let's say GW4, GW5, GW6 and GW7 all fall in September I can then pick one of those weeks to make changes - but only one.

(Which months the weeks fall in will solely depend up the deadline day - so if the deadline is September 30th that week will be a September week, even if some of the games spill over into the following month.)

Basically this style of playing will be something like a halfway-house between having a zombie team and playing normally. Hands off fantasy football, but not completely hands off. A less labour intensive way of playing.

Pros and Cons

There are some obvious downsides to playing this way. Most notably that it simply massively reduces the options.

• Transfers will have to be burned
• Can't react to team news or injuries each week
• Can't change captain or bench each week
• More difficult to utilise the chips

On the plus side though:

• It'll force me to tinker less
• It'll be fun picking a set and forget captain for 4 or 5 weeks
• The vice captain becomes much more important
• The bench and its order becomes much more important
• I'll nearly always have 2 free transfers in the weeks I do get to change things

So it could be fun. I'll be able to pick a squad of players, set them up, then just sit back and put some faith in them. I won't be constantly fretting about who to take out, or whether to take a (-4).

Rank

It stands to reason that my rank will suffer massively playing this way. You'd think reducing the number of transfers and the ability to react to team news will be enormous. Still, you never know, perhaps restricting things this way won't be as bad as expected.

Either way, I am looking forward to it. I feel like I'm just going through the motions playing the way I am now. The passion I had a few seasons ago just isn't there, and now I almost feel like I'm forcing myself to put the time in each week; mainly just for the sake of rank.

So this is a way of drawing a line under things, but in a way that allows me to keep enjoying the game - albeit with a little less intensity. This is another reason why a decent finish this season would be nice. I'll be able to look back at my time playing weekly (i.e. properly) and say I had a relatively decent record.

....

Oh, and returning to this season briefly; as things currently stand I'm thinking of bringing in Pickford this week, not Schmeichel or Ederson. So that's where I am at the moment.

GW35: Most Definitely On The Slide Now

My season's quickly running out of steam. I'd like to think a few big weeks could turn it round, but with others still having chips to use I'm not too optimistic. Hanging on to a top 100k finish is now the aim.

Gameweek Points: 37

Gameweek Rank: 6,168,610

Overall Rank: 84,443

My Chelsea and Aston Villa players have been especially underwhelming. It's too late to make major changes though, so it's now just a case of trying to tweak the team in the hope of eking out a few more points.

With this in mind I'm planning on bringing in Ederson this week. I already have ten outfield players with double-games, so adding a goalkeeper with a double should be an upgrade.

It does mean though that I'll have to use both my free transfers to find the extra cash (I'm going to upgrade Sanchez, to keep Pope for his double in GW37). I'll be downgrading Maupay - probably to Joe Gelhardt - to get the cash. Though with Maupay getting almost as much game-time as Gelhardt these days it hardly feels like a downgrade.

It's also possible I could just bring in Schmeichel instead of Ederson - he does after all have two doubles, meaning I could switch him in for Pope. That would free up some cash and save a transfer, so perhaps that would be a smarter move. I'd much prefer two City games then two Burnley ones to four Leicester ones though.

GW37

I was looking forward to GW37. With three Villa players I was looking at three potential double-game players to join Pope in goal. However, with both Luiz and Konsa returning to the bench this week that's really thrown a spanner in the works. So I definitely need to rethink things.

I think I'll map out my team for GW37, see how bad it looks, then decide my course of action.

Overall Points: 2263

Overall Rank: 84,443

GW34: On the slide

Another bad week. I'm really beginning to fear for my top 100k finish. I was starting to look up towards the top 50k, or perhaps even higher !, but I think that was a little premature. The battle is now on for respectability.

Gameweek Points: 49 (-4)

Gameweek Rank: 5,006,527

Overall Rank: 72,424

It's quite fitting really. I need a top 100k finish so I can have a good barometer to measure next season against. I'm doing gamemonths instead of gameweeks next season (I'll explain this more fully in coming posts).

My record so far in fpl is respectable and consistent, if not spectacular. So I'll take the average of my five season history (which includes this season) and use that to see how much I drop off next season. If I even do - who knows, perhaps I'll even do better.

I don't think there's too much to say about this gameweek. It was quite dull and disappointing. A disappointment that was compounded by the fact that my "coin toss" decisions didn't work out. With both Pope and Konsa comfortably outscoring Sanchez and Luiz. It would've been a good week to bench boost, though in hindsight choosing Sanchez over Pope feels like a rookie mistake.

GW35

Going forward I'm thinking of just rolling a transfer. Saka is flagged, but with it just being a knock I'm happy to leave him in there. We'll see if there's any team news tomorrow that changes that.

In fact, I'm currently thinking I could roll a transfer next week too, in spite of the doubles. I think I should be set up fairly well for that one, so I might just keep things simple. I also really like the idea of having two free transfers for the final gameweek. Though I think it really is optimistic to think I could hold a transfer through two double gameweeks.

Overall Points: 2226

Overall Rank: 72,424

GW33: Not Great, But Another Green Arrow

Not quite as late this week too. I'm managing to post in the early hours of Friday night/Saturday morning, before the GW34 deadline.

Gameweek Points: 76

Gameweek Rank: 2,086,774

Overall Rank: 55,085

My GW33 free hit was a little disappointing. I totally got the captaincy wrong. My instinct said Salah, so I should've really stuck with that. I was too tempted by the double gameweek glory though. In fact, what finally swung me was seeing the "expected points". I saw a tweet with Fernandes top, followed by Ronaldo, then Maddison. At that point I'd already switched the captaincy to Ronaldo, but seeing that - along with the knowledge that Fernandes was more likely to get both starts - made me think:

"Damn, I better go with the robot."

So I flipped things round, brought in Che Adams (which clearly didn't work out), and brought in Fernandes (originally I had Cornet in that slot).

Had I have stuck with Ronaldo I'd have had a great week. However, that would've been fairly lucky, as I wasn't feeling that pick either. Again, I should've stuck with my instinct and went with Salah.

Saying all this, it wasn't all bad, and I did get another green arrow, albeit a small one. The Newcastle clean sheet really saving me in the end.

GW34

Moving on to GW34 I've took a minus 4:

Son has became Salah

Calvert-Lewin has became Werner

I'm not happy about taking a hit, however, with Calvert-Lewin injured and Chelsea having a double it makes sense.

Also I'm starting Douglas Luiz. It's a coin toss between him, Konsa and Maupay. I'm guessing Maupay is now out of favour, and I can see Leicester scoring, so I'm hoping this is the week Luiz can chip in with a goal or an assist. I'm expecting two points, but it's a nice little differential to add to the weekend's excitement.

It was also a coin toss between Sanchez and Pope too. I've gone Sanchez. Mainly because I fancy Brighton to have the slightly better prospect of a clean sheet

And this time I will be captaining Salah.

Overall Points: 2181

Overall Rank: 55,085

GW32 - Always Late

I'm always falling behind with these blog posts. I can't remember how many times I've been reviewing one gameweek after the next one's already started. GW32 seems ages ago, especially now I have my last free hit active in GW33. Anyway..

Gameweek Points: 73

Gameweek Rank: 816,654

Overall Rank: 57,899

I had Son captain - so that was my huge bit of fortune, and propelled me up another 10k or so. Other than that it was a little flat, showing how massive the captaincy is when you get it right.

This week I've been endlessly tinkering with my free hit. I ended up going like this: with Fernandes captain.

I quite like the set up, though I'm not especially confident about the Fernandes captain pick. My instinct said to go with Salah, but the double gameweek pull overrode that. I'm also a little worried that going without Trent Alexander-Arnold could punish me. In fact, I had to remove Trent to get Fernandes, so if Trent hauls and Fernandes does very little it'll be doubly frustrating.

A goal from United in that Liverpool tie would be very useful for me.

GW34

As for GW34 I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to have to lose Son to bring in Salah. I've been racking my brain trying to find a way to keep Son, but there's no route that makes sense, so I've just had to reduce it to who I need more. I think Salah is a must own for this final run in, so he gets the nod.

Though saying that, I've just had a little play around with my team (the game has literally just updated) - I had a little more money in my bank than I thought !. So it's possible to get Salah without losing Son (just about) with a minus 4. So now I'm not too sure. Surely I'll keep Son, but it would mean downgrading either Coutinho or Calvert-Lewin to a non-playing bench option. Decisions.

Overall Points: 2105

Overall Rank: 57,899

GW31 - Gamble Pays Off

I went without Salah ..and it paid off.

Gameweek Points: 59

Gameweek Rank: 1,058,253

Overall Rank: 68,349

Son came good as captain, so things worked out really well. The Maupay penalty miss was a bit disappointing, but I really can't have too many complaints.

I'm now waiting to bring in Reece James for van Dijk for GW32; before free hitting in GW33. I'll then finally get Salah back in GW34.

Overall Points: 2032

Overall Rank: 68,349

GW30 Review: Top 100k ..finally

In the end the free hit did pay off, and it propelled me into the top 100k.

Gameweek Points: 73

Gameweek Rank: 259,279

Overall Rank: 82,082

I'll keep it short, as it's quite a while until the next deadline and I'm not 100% certain what my plans will be. So I'll just bask in my five digit rank while I have the chance and hope it continues.

Currently I'm thinking about keeping Son in for the next two fixtures - i.e. going without Salah. Meaning I won't have Salah for the scary Watford home fixture, but also the less scary City away tie. I can then use my free transfer to bring in Calvert-Lewin for Jimenez. With Everton's poor form and Calvert-Lewin's recent injury history this doesn't fill me with confidence, but it does mean I'll get an extra game this week. Plus potentially two more extra ones later on.

Gambling against Salah again feels foolish though, so fortunately I have plenty of time to think things over.

I'll probably be using my second free hit in GW33.

Overall Points: 1973

Overall Rank: 82,082

GW29: Survived Without Salah

We're halfway through GW30 and I still haven't posted 29's score.

Gameweek Points: 87

Gameweek Rank: 1,980,861

Overall Rank: 115,373

I gambled on continuing without Salah and it paid off, with TAA outscoring him by 3 points. This was quite lucky, what with Salah picking up that slight injury in the first game. So I survived just about, and ended up with just a minor red arrow.

Anyway, moving quickly on I've used my first Free Hit this week.

This is how it's looking so far:

I gambled on a Wolves clean sheet, and that clearly hasn't paid off. I don't have too many regrets though, if they'd have kept one it would've been nearly 20 points straight out the gate. So I thought it was worth the punt.

I then picked up two more blanks from today's Villa/Arsenal match.

It would be fair to say the free hit hasn't worked out so far. However, I like to keep things simple. This was a blank gameweek. If I pick up a few more points than most other players by using it then I'll be happy. Even with just 18 points on the board I'm on a green arrow, albeit a small one. So it's good enough, if dull.

I'm a little more worried about my team for GW31 at the moment. I need to bring in Salah, but Jimenez is out and Trent is flagged. Meaning I'm considering a minus 4 (or 8 even). Something I do not want to do.

Luckily we have a bit of a wait until the GW31 deadline, so hopefully I'll have more information and a clear plan of action by then.

Overall Points: 1900

Overall Rank: 115,373

GW28 - Bench Boost Disaster !

Good week, bad bench boost.

Gameweek Points: 104

Gameweek Rank: 778,011

Overall Rank: 101,137

3 points for the bench boost ..that's quite bad isn't it.

😅

To be fair in some ways I actually got quite lucky again too, so it wasn't all bad. My original plan on the Friday was to bring in Reece James and captain him. With that plan I wasn't going to bench boost at all. However, when I saw later in the day that Dias was definitely out for Manchester City that all changed. Suddenly Laporte and Cancelo seemed almost nailed on, so the bench boost became an option.

I then brought in Coutinho instead of James, captained him instead, and hit the BB button.

Meaning I got better captain returns and missed out on the Reece James injury.

Still though, the bench boost failure was a little annoying.

Instincts

I didn't feel instinctively good about using the bench boost. I wasn't focused on fpl last week, and I think I used it lazily, feeling that sooner or later I had to use it.

"I guess it makes sense to use it now."

Looking back though there simply wasn't enough upside on that bench. I was a little unlucky that Konsa missed both games, though in my original line-up it was Bowen on the bench and not him. Bowen against Liverpool was never a great fixture. Likewise the Pope fixture against Chelsea wasn't ideal.

I rarely feel bad about making mistakes, but when I go against my instinct that's when it gets me. I like my logic and my instincts to be synchronised. People often view 'instinct' as something wishy-washy or illogical. However, I believe our instincts are responses to the information that our bodies are receiving - i.e. they're a way of processing information. Albeit a way that's quite different to the logical, chain-of-thought, monologue way our brains work through information.

Our senses receive a constant flow of sensory information, and our bodies respond with a feeling that this flow is good/bad/normal/weird/etc. Our instincts aren't always right of course, but they can act as a good guide, and are definitely worth paying attention to.

So my gut was telling me "This doesn't look and feel quite right," but my brain was too lazy to take the time to think about why that was.

Anyway, still, I got very lucky and had another green arrow. Pushing me to just outside the top 100k - I'm literally teetering over the edge of a decent rank now.

GW29.

As for this week I'm currently planning a minus 4. To take out Raphinha and the injured Bowen, and bring in both Saka and Kulusevski. Currently there's talk that van Dijk might miss out because of Covid, so that's giving me a little pause for thought. However, my instinct is I'll just leave him in there whatever the case is. I don't think it's worth moving my team around and taking hits to bring in someone else.

I'll also still be without Salah (I plan on doing Son to Salah in GW31 - GW30 being free hit time). It's a concern, but again I don't think Son to Salah this week is necessarily worth a minus 4.

Trent Alexander-Arnold will be my captain. So I'm hoping for a bit more luck this week too.

Overall Points: 1817

Overall Rank: 101,137

GW27: Top 100k just about visible now..

..thanks to another decent week.

Gameweek Points: 59

Gameweek Rank: 788,122

Overall Rank: 128,599

Bringing Son in paid off nicely. This was always potentially going to be a hard week for me, what with me not opting to use a chip to navigate it. So to get a green arrow is a huge bonus.

It's now a question of what I do for GW28. Bench Boost is a definite option, but it's a tough call. I'm currently leaning towards saving the bench boost until later, but I'll have a strong bench this week even if I use just my one free transfer. My bench as it stands will be Pope, Laporte, Bowen and Maupay. I'll be kicking myself if those players pick up a decent amount of points and I don't use it, but at the same time if Cancelo and/or Laporte get rotated it'll be equally annoying if I do hit the button.

With double-games there's less chance of players completely missing out through rotation, so using it in a week where Man City double is the most appealing course of action at the moment. So it might be best to wait. Either way I'll make my mind up about all this later in the week.

Overall Points: 1713

Overall Rank: 128,599