FPL Investments

If you want growth you need investment. A calculated loan on the back of future earnings, to invest in improvements that will add value over time, and grow that future income. Here at fplzebub we're all about widening our pool of talent and upgrading our infrastructure. To take the necessary steps to ensure we don't just compete, but stay ahead of our rivals. Hence today we're announcing a MINUS 4 to sign Ollie Watkins, ahead of the big Christmas period.

(We'd also like to welcome to the team Josh Brownhill.)

The Story So Far..

Before we get to that though, let's take a look at past earnings.

GW13: A slightly sullen 45 points

(avg. 46)

GW14: Exceeding analyst expectations,

80 points (avg. 54)

GW15: Once again outperforming the

market, 43 points (avg. 35)

These impressive results over the last quarter (sorry, I'll knock the market speak on the head now) have resulted in a huge uptick in rank. I'm currently sat at 126k, which I'm very pleased with.

The flags, along with the blank of GW18, have presented me with a bit of a dilemma though. I always begrudge wasting points on transfers. It usually feels so profligate. However, this time I feel it's worthwhile in order to keep on top of things.

Obviously I needed to transfer out the injured Mbeumo. I also wanted to bring in Watkins though, especially for the blank. Originally I was planning to just downgrade Mbeumo this week, then make the move for Watkins after the Arsenal game. (Or even wait until next week to make both transfers - I would've been more than happy to play Archer this week.) Then the news of Son's injury appeared.

On top of this I have just the right amount of money in the bank to do Archer & Mbeumo to Brownhill & Watkins. So I'm sailing a little close to the wind on point-ones. Emptying the bank completely would likewise make it impossible to transfer out Al-Dakhil, should I need to. Who's now dropped down to 3.9m ..annoyingly.

Blank GW18

I want to keep hold of both Alvarez and Haaland, so after using those initial two transfers for Waktins and Brownhill I would've been left with just one transfer to muddle through GW18. With the other bench spot being taken up by the now non-playing Al-Dakhil.

A minus 4 this week really helps to smooth things over though.

Ollie Watkins is in place. Brownhill is a handy playing bench option (if Son does miss out this week), with half-decent fixtures, who can play in GW18. Plus, I now have two more transfers before then to fix issues. If Son is fine it'll be a case of downgrading a keeper to Dubravka and upgrading Al-Dakhil, getting me a bit of bench coverage. If not (or if other issues appear) I've got some leeway to navigate things (hopefully).

Son to Saka would be a pretty straightforward move, so in some ways Son going would remove another potential source of damage.

I've been a little lucky these last few weeks. I am going very much with my instincts now though, so it feels like we're in the slipstream. Skating or surfing along the wave of the season. With a bit more luck things will continue like this.

How it's currently looking.

Oh, and as one final aside. I'm really enjoying owning the Burnley and Luton keepers. That single clean sheet I got from Trafford, plus the odd save points I've been picking up, mean I've actually ended up better off than I would've been with Areola. Albeit only slightly.

Obviously, on paper it looks a complete waste of money, and were it not for the bench boost earlier I certainly wouldn't have had either. In fact, the plan was always to downgrade at least one the moment a free transfer became available. It's worked out quite differently however, and it's added a little bit of variance. A fun little differential I get to watch each week. Both teams are looking a tiny bit more competitive in the league too.

FPL: Steady Sailing

My three gameweeks since the last post have been average, average, good. In GWs 10 & 11 I finished a little below the average, in GW12 a fair bit above. Consequently, I'm now about 50k higher overall than I was back then :)

GW10: 60 points (avg. 66)

GW11: 29 points (avg. 32)

GW12: 86 points (avg. 64)

I benched Tsimikas for that 15 pointer, which was slightly annoying. Putting Kabore in wasn't the brightest idea, although saying that, United haven't been too bright in front of goal, and in the end I was just a goal away from the clean sheet. So not quite as appalling as it looks on paper. It does mean I can keep hold of Tsimikas too. I was thinking he'd be a sell this week.

I'm not sure what I'll do now going forward. Sadly we have yet another international break, so the flow is broken once again. Whenever we have an international break I always pretty much just switch off. I think it's largely pointless making plans so far from the gameweek deadline. It's best just to accept that fpl is cancelled for the week and then get on with doing other things. I'll come back next week with a fresh pair of eyes. Plus, I've been working all weekend, meaning I'm still yet to see any of the weekend's highlights. So I can watch Match of the Day 2 at leisure, and savour my Ward-Prowse points.

Oh, and I took out Saka last week (along with the injured Maddison) to bring in Son and Bowen. Only time will tell how much this will dent me. It's not a move I particularly fear, but Saka picked up another return this week and the Arsenal fixtures are good, giving me a tiny worry. I also worry that Son will be a lesser option with Maddison now injured.  I'm quite happy with my team though, and it's fairly easy to switch these midfielders around.

Current Rank: 401,855

On The UP !

I've had two good gameweeks since my bench boost. The first almost entirely down to having Salah captain. The second pretty much my whole team did well.

GW8: 57 points (avg. 44)

GW9: 99 points (avg. 67)

I brought Tsimikas in this week, and Pedro Porro last, so I've strengthened that bench boost backline up. (You can see I suffered a (-1) thanks to still having Al-Dakhil in there in GW8. The keeper didn't do me too many favours either.). It meant I had to forgo bringing in Son as well, but with Mbeumo finally getting me some points it worked out okay.

I'm now probably going to bring in Saka for Mbeumo as we head into GW10. I like this period of the season: the wildcard is out of the way, and it's just a case of keeping the team in trim with a transfer here and there each week. Obviously I would like to own Son and Watkins along with Saka, but given there's little I can do about it there's little point worrying. It's just a case of keeping the good ship sailing.

I'll only really start making long term plans again once we head into double gameweek territory.

My current rank is 454,270 - so much better than where I previously was, around the 1.8m mark.

I've also built up a bit of team value thanks to that early wildcard. I'm currently at 101.6m. That might not sound spectacular to many people, but normally I always tend to have a team value that hovers around the 100m mark. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll have an extra 0.5m or so. I think it's because I'm not too good at following the template early on in the season. So weirdly that decision to wildcard and bench boost has paid off more in team value than in bench boost points.

More luck than judgement, but I'm more than happy to take it.

The BENCH BOOST: results

I got 13 points from my bench boost. So what follows is sheer cope.

56 points in all ..and I took a minus 4 too. Though, to be fair, that was primarily to bring Son in, so I would've had to do it this week anyway.

I'm actually not entirely disappointed with the 13 points, it could've been much worse with that fixture against Newcastle. In fact, the two save points I got from Trafford in that game turned out to be the high point.

Had each player picked up 2 points per game that would've made 14, so 13 is about par for expectation. I was dreaming of a clean sheet, especially in the Luton vs Burnley fixture, but it was always more hope than expectation. So I've got my par for the course and I can now look forward to the rest of the season without the hassle of worrying about when to play it. (I did say this was cope.)

Past Bench Boosts

I'm actually going to have a look back at my previous seasons to see what my usual average for the bench boost is. I'll do it on the fly. As I type now I have no idea what past seasons were like. I know last season was bad, and I have a vague recollection that the season before was something of a disaster too. I think these experiences probably colour my current feelings towards it.

Anyway, I'll go and have a look at my past blog posts..

[Some time later..]

Last season: 8 points

I captained Haaland and I'm guessing he was rested. I also received 0 points for Virgil Van Dijk and vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold that week. So not good. Though last season I was playing monthly, so my options for using the bench boost were somewhat limited.

Season 21/22: 3 points

Ouch. No wonder I have PTSD when it comes to bench boosting 😄. I was slightly unlucky with that one, as Konsa missed both games of a double. Though I think the other three players just had the one fixture, so it wasn't the greatest brainwave in the world to play it.

Season 20/21: 29 points

This one's a bit more like it. I had to do a bit of maths to tally it up. Antonio getting a huge 18 points alone. Making this week's tally of 13 look somewhat puny and wasteful.

Season 19/20: 22 points

Another decent use of the bench boost. This one was during the Covid restart, back in the summer of 2020, so it all just feels very weird though. It's a miracle I managed to focus on football with the Stasi breathing down my neck.

Season 18/19: 23 points

Another good haul, this time with a very Brighton-looking bench.

Seeing these 20-plus scores, along with the much older and poorer graphics, is making it dawn on me how foolish it was to play my bench boost this week. No wonder I was one of the only people going this route. I think those last two seasons really have skewered my perception of the chip. Still though, 13 points isn't too bad, and it's certainly better than 3.

..And that's as far as the blog posts go back.

/////////////

Also, as an aside, when I was searching back I did find this old fpl meme.

It's quite fitting, as my bench boost has probably put me about that much higher than the average this gameweek.

The Bench Boost remains active..

A quick update on the wildcard. Overall it went quite well. However, there was a touch of bad luck with Rodri getting sent off. That messed up my longer term plans a little. Though, saying that, I did get a bit of good luck too, as I took the red-carded Gusto out of my side. Not to mention Chilwell and Wan-Bissaka, who are now both injured. So, all in all, more good luck than bad in truth.

(75 points - the average was 68,

Rodri the main downside)

So, the planned Bench Boost.

Common sense says that it should have been cancelled. It was somewhat unwise to begin with, given the players that have doubles. With Newcastle looking imperious (it's not hard to imagine they'll do similar to Burnley), and flags all over the place, it should now most certainly be cancelled.

That's not what I'm doing though. The fun of playing it has overruled any fears and caution 😬

I've actually taken a minus 4.

(Hopefully Trafford and Al-Dakhil don't

end up in negative territory against Newcastle)

I've removed Rodri and Saka, to bring in Ward-Prowse and Gordon.

I switched Rodri to Ward-Prowse at the end of GW6 - I had just enough to make the move. The Rodri to Saka switch was literally made about half an hour ago. My original plan was to bring in Son for Saka in GW8, but the Rodri red card really messed up those plans, eating up both my free transfer and the 0.5m I hoped to reserve to make the move.

However, the option of bringing in Gordon for Saka, to then move Mbeumo to Son next week, really appealed to me (bringing in Mbeumo is the one wildcard choice I do regret a bit - I should've done a bit more homework). Either way the two moves would've meant a minus 4, either this week or next. So going early gets me ahead of the curve and also allows me to re-activate the bench boost.

It's a very risky bench boost, especially with players in the first eleven at risk of missing out, but I want to take the gamble. I'll enjoy my weekend more with the added chips on the table. Especially if Burnley don't do too badly against Newcastle. (I would've hated going into that midweek game with the players on the bench, knowing I could've went for it.)

And if it all backfires at least I'll go into GW8 with the players I want (assuming Son remains fit and so forth).

My current rank is 1,962,710, so I got a tiny uptick. It's not a great position to be in, but I'm feeling optimistic. Foolishly.

Wildcard Time

Great week to wildcard. I think I've picked a good opportunity.

My GW5, like many people's, was pretty woeful. 36 points in the end, with the average being 44.

With that luxury transfer I brought in Jimenez for Wissa. It seemed like a fun one week punt, what with Fulham being home to Luton. It didn't come good, however, I got one more point than I would've got with Wissa, so it didn't hurt me.

Wildcard

 

My plan is to bench boost in GW7. The bench I'll have for that isn't very exciting. I currently don't even have an attacker from Burnley or Luton. I don't want to sacrifice my main team for the bench boost though, so I'm just going sheer numbers.

Three 4.0m defenders.

Both keepers.

So I'll have five players with two games, though all with low potential.

Obviously, the three cheap defenders will mean one has to be in my starting eleven. I have 0.5m in the bank though. Plus, once the double is out the way I'll be able to downgrade both keepers to free up cash. One to Areola, one to a 4.0m. So I should be able to upgrade that position in time.

My plan is to roll the transfer in GW7 and then bring in Son for Saka in GW8. I'll downgrade a keeper then with the other transfer if I need an extra 0.1m to do that. These plans rarely come to fruition how you hope though, so that's pencilled in rather than inked in.

As for the team..

I really felt like I needed Salah. The expense is annoying, but he's so consistent, and there's always that likelihood that he will go big. I'd like to have players like Chilwell and Fernandes in there for the potential, but in the end I can't sacrifice certainty for potential. So it's one less expensive midfielder and defender to get Salah.

I want to keep Estupinan. Potentially he could change before the deadline, but he's so attacking I just instinctively feel I need to have him in there.

I think Maddison and Mbeumo explain themselves. (Mbeumo could easily become Diaby if Brentford look like they're dropping off.)

The issue of Champions League worries me a little with Trippier, but other than that he seems like the obvious Newcastle pick. The wider question for me is do I double up in defence on Newcastle. It feels foolish chasing clean sheets this season, however with Newcastle I get the sense that they can keep teams out.

Then finally we get to the three Manchester City options. Or rather two, ignoring Haaland.

I think if you're wildcarding you have to go with Alvarez. Sure, there's always that rotation concern, but he's flying, as are City. (Any thoughts of getting Clinton Morris in for my bench boost have completely gone out the window. The two City, plus the cheap playing Archer as a bench option, is just too simple and sensible to ignore.)

The more interesting pick is Rodri. Originally I had Ward-Prowse in there as my cheaper fifth mid - who I think is a great price and pick. When I watched City in the Champions League last night though it just reanimated my interest in Rodri. He seems to have picked up the Gundogan role. The way City play, with so much of the ball, knocking it around on the edge of the box, means it's going to fall to him at times. As it did last night.

It would be stupid to expect big, or even consistent returns from him, but with City being the best team by a good yard it's hard not to like the idea of having a full compliment. Especially at these prices.

I'm happy to accept the rotation risk in general. It could ruin my bench boost though, which is the big fear. However, I'm really just seeing that bench boost as a bonus opportunity. Having five double gameweek players, when most people have one or none, *could* give me a nice advantage - if I'm lucky.

Either way, with the wildcard, I'm finally getting a team I feel instinctively good about.

Double Gameweek: Bench Boost Time

So, surprisingly, that Luton vs Burnley game has now been penned in for GW7 - meaning a double gameweek.

Burnley play Newcastle (A) and Luton (A)

Luton play Everton (A) and Burnley (H)

I haven't thought about things a great deal since the announcement, but still, I'm almost certain to now wildcard GW6 and bench boost in GW7. This doesn't seem especially popular, no doubt for very sensible reasons, however, the idea has appealed to me since the fixture was originally cancelled at the start of the season.

There are a few reasons why I like the idea..

Firstly, it gets it out of the way.

That doesn't sound like a compelling reason, but I always find the bench boost annoying as we move into the second half of the season. It completely ruins the natural flow for me. Uprooting your team just to bench boost in that one week - usually for sub par results. On top of that the need to have fifteen nailed on players that week to make sure it doesn't go to waste. It turns the sprint to the finish into the hundred meter hurdles.

In fact, this is one of my theories about fpl (I may have mentioned this on here before). I think the first half of the season favours people with more of a herd mentality, whereas the second half favours those that go it alone. I'm definitely the latter, so I tend to start badly (getting hammered by the template), then recover ground in the second half as the template dissolves.

It's a bit silly (from a logic point of view) to go against the template early on. After all, it's the sum total knowledge of the whole fpl community, including the very, very good managers with great track records (who naturally have a disproportionate, but deserved influence). Plus, these days: AI.

So, if you're someone that tends to follow the crowd, you can follow that template - effectively copy the general team the big fpl faces are going with - and get a fairly decent start relative to casual players that have no idea what the template is, and idiots like me, that see it, know it well, but still choose to avoid it.

Over time however the template breaks down. There'll still be a weekly template in essence, but it becomes impossible for everyone to follow it, as all those little differences over the course of the season accumulate. The different bench picks, the different team values, etc. So you can see the template (or other people's teams), but it's a struggle to get there. Plus, by this point all the really, really good managers - the big faces and talking heads - will also have teams that have diverged from each other, so if you are just copying other people you're faced with the dilemma of who to copy.

So at this point some people get lost in the sea of opinion. Perhaps taking hits, etc, just to get the player everyone's going for this particular week, instead of doing what's best for their own particular team, which by this point is naturally unique.

Contrariwise, if you're happy doing your own thing, it now gets easier, as you're just solely focused on piloting your own course. The template becomes irrelevant, as you can't reach it anyway.

I should really do a season where I follow the template for the first half, then use my own judgement from Christmas onwards, to see if I improve. Perhaps that can be my experiment for next year.

Secondly, and back to the point at hand..

..I can bench boost with a normal bench if I take this opportunity. It's not often we have so many cheap playing defenders. The fact that these defenders also have a double making it even more of a novelty. So potentially I can just have a bench of two 4.0m defenders, a cheapish attacker (probably Morris) and a cheap goalkeeper.

Meaning when I wildcard I can still have my choice first eleven, with Morris being a handy first-off-my-bench player going forward.

That I can have a cheap playing bench that's boostable is essentially something of a bonus. Born of circumstance.

The downsides..

The major obvious downside is that it's not a great week to wildcard. Son and Maddison in particular are players I want to bring in, however, they face Arsenal and Liverpool in GW6 & 7. I could bring them in and ride those weeks out, or I could just hope that I don't need the free transfer to fix anything in GW7, and then use the two frees to bring them in for GW8. It's always a bit risky planning transfers though.

One of the benefits of the wildcard is that you get a chance to fix minor problems, so I don't like the idea of wildcarding to then just allow new issues to go unsolved because of planned moves. So I imagine I'll bring at least one of those two players in for GW6. Again though, as at the start, I really haven't thought about the actual team all that much yet.

Wildcarding in GW6 will also mean I have a luxury transfer in GW5, and I don't even know what I'm doing with that yet either. It's fun though. At the moment I really don't feel like too many players are essential, so the entire wildcard feels like a luxury.

I'll end it there.

My current rank after GW4 is 1,364,935. Not brilliant, but I don't feel it's too bad as a starting point. It feels like the season's starting now.

The Rescue Blues

I feel I need to round off that last post by making note of Liverpool's late goal against Newcastle, with it finishing 2-1 to Liverpool's ten men. This week there's been some late drama as well, though more in regard my own team. Yesterday I didn't do particularly well, and aside from having Haaland captain (thank God) I didn't pick up too many points. Leaving me well below average. However, today things picked up a little, and my all Arsenal/Man Utd midfield bumped me up a bit.

So, still a poor-ish week, but potentially it could've been worse.

(75 points in all)

Last week I brought in Gusto and Wissa with my two free transfers. They didn't do much, but I was a point better off for the moves in the end, so I can't complain. Likewise I somehow managed to sneak a save point from Ederson. I lost the clean sheet again, but somehow that one point makes it feel like a minor win.

I still feel that we don't quite have the full picture on how the Premier League is shaping up just yet. Chelsea looked good last week (albeit against Luton), but poor this time out. My views on Newcastle have changed a little with another defeat on the bounce. Obviously Son and Maddison stand out massively now, but there are a few tricky fixtures on the horizon. A third City player would be handy too.

It's annoying we now have the international break. It seems a waste of time putting too much thought into things when so much can change in a few weeks. I'm set up fairly solidly for GW5, so I'm planning on a transfer roll.

I need to remind myself of last season's gamemonth management - relax, don't change things needlessly, have a little faith.

The Story So Far..

As I sit typing this Newcastle are currently 1-0 up against Liverpool. It's the tail end of GW3. I've had a thoroughly average week.

Three gameweeks in I'm feeling slightly "Meh" about my team. It hasn't been especially bad - my GW1 was fairly decent, however, weeks two and three have dropped off a bit. On top of this my team doesn't really feel like my team. I've been picking players partly on conservatism, rather than instinct. Largely trying to be sensible, and over-fixating on fixtures.

Anyway, I'll show my progress so far..

GW1: 83 points (Avg. 64)

GW2: 43 points (Avg. 44)

I used my free transfer to switch the injured Stones to Estupinan. This was a sensible move, and I was glad to correct the mistake. I was very lucky in GW1 to not get burned by Estupinan. He got seven points, but easily could've got seventeen. I was doubly lucky as Wan-Bissaka got a very jammy twelve.

GW3: 49 points (Avg. tbc)

(I rolled my transfer.)

Commentary

The Haaland perma-captain makes things a little boring. He's not exactly blowing it out the water so far this season, but he's still doing well enough that you'd feel foolish going against him.

If I'm honest though, I think it's Ederson losing his clean sheet today that has soured my mood. I should be grateful to have two clean sheets out of three from him, but in my mind I'd already pencilled in that third before the late goal.

I'm now in the strange situation where I'm not happy with my team, but at the same time I'm not sure who to bring in. I don't need to use the wildcard, but I think I should do an imaginary one to refresh my senses. Create an optimal team, then see if I can get closer to it with my two frees.

I'd really like to get on Newcastle assets ahead of the curve, but it's a little difficult. Upgrading Joao Pedro to Isak would be nice, but finding the cash could be a problem. I suspect Pedro will start the next Brighton game, so it might be better to hold fire there anyway. West Ham also play Luton in GW4, so switching a midfielder to Bowen or Ward-Prowse is tempting. However, that game is followed by games against Man City and Liverpool, so that would be brave.

..Now that I'm actually looking at my team and thinking about options going forward I'm starting to feel a little more optimistic. The obvious problem is that there are so many good midfield options it's difficult to know who to choose. The wildcard is very tempting, but I must resist. (I'm also wondering about when that Luton/Burnley game will be rearranged - Luton haven't looked great so far, so if the other Burnley fixture isn't too bad the 'Burnley Bench Boost' is a potentiality. So that's another thing.)

It's amazing how writing things down helps you work through your thoughts. I will definitely do an imaginary wildcard - it helps to work out which players I really, really want. Like a centrifuge. I need to start putting my imprint on things soon. Hopefully I can find my rhythm as the season kicks on.

(It's currently 1-1 in the Newcastle/Liverpool game; Darwin Nunez, five minutes to go.)

FPL: Belated Team Reveal

Ederson:

I haven't seen too many people with Ederson in their team, but he seemed like an easy pick for me. The Manchester City fixtures look great, he's nailed on to play, and 5.5m isn't too bad. Obviously, it's a little easier saying this on Saturday morning, after City got a clean sheet last night, but still, it feels like a sensible choice.

At the start of the season it's always difficult to judge what teams will be like. Which defences will be good, which will be bad, etc. City are the team you can be most confident with, and they have good fixtures, so I don't think there's a player in the league you could be more optimistic about when it comes to clean sheets, given the other City players get rotated.

Ederson's ceiling is low - I won't be getting many save points - but if I get 4 or 5 clean sheets out of him in these first 7 fixtures I'll be very happy.

Stones:

This follows on neatly from the last one. I was in work for the deadline, so I missed any team news, if there was any. It was only when I snuck out for my break that I realised I was a man down. It was always possible. Of course, I'd have preferred to have picked up the 6 points, but I don't mind too much. The drop down from expensive defender to cheaper bench defender isn't too steep. If it's a more expensive midfielder with a higher ceiling, and you're then reduced to a bench option that's quite a drop in potential. Here though I'm dropping from a hopeful clean sheet, to a much less likely clean sheet. So not too bad. The fact that it's an injury though, and not just random Pep rotation, could mean I'll have a transfer headache going forward.

For this week all hopes are on Tarkowski now.

Chilwell:

This one's fairly self-explanatory. Lots of attacking potential. Exciting to own.

Wan-Bissaka:

This one really is a differential. I'm not even confident he'll start, so it's a big gamble too.

I really rate Wan-Bissaka as a defender. I think he's got everything apart from the attacking output. Last season he got into good positions, but never had the confidence or composure. It's foolish expecting that to change, but he is still fairly young, so at some point it could just click. He's a cheap price (4.5m) and the United fixtures offer some potential for clean sheets, so I feel this is a nice opportunity to go against the grain.

In fact, the very last decision I made was whether to go with Estupinan and another 4.0m option, or with Wan-Bissaka and Tarkowski. The worry about Stones missing out was probably the deciding factor. It could backfire quite badly if Estupinan does well. My other line of thinking was again predicting how well the teams themselves will do. Brighton were great last season, but there are no guarantees. We saw last season how West Ham failed to deliver after looking excellent the season before (though they did win a trophy 🏆 ).

I'd be surprised if Man United finish in the bottom half, but would I be that surprised if Brighton finish there? - not really. It's similar with Brentford. The difference between top half and relegation fight is very small in the Premier League.

I'm playing with fire though going against the template, so we'll see where we are at the end of the weekend.

Rashford, Fernandes, Martinelli, Saka, Odegaard:

These ones are fairly self-explanatory too. All well-owned to varying degrees. The reason I've went heavy is mainly the fixtures. There are other midfielders that look interesting. Son and Maddison in particular were tempting. Salah too of course. So I plan on losing two of these five at some point to make way for whatever becomes apparent.

Haaland:

Two goals already. What else can be said.

Joao Pedro:

This is one where I'm definitely following the crowd. I don't have a strong gut feeling either way, but the price is useful and the potential is there.

The price bracket isn't great, but I always enjoy having a cheaper striker for some reason. So if I have to take him out it'll be fun throwing another cheapy in there.

Subs:

Tarkowski:

Not a sub anymore. This is a gut feeling one. I quite like this pick, though he was an injury doubt, so perhaps I'm being reckless with these defender picks.

Baldock:

Mainly going with Baldock as the 4.0m as he doesn't blank in GW2. I really like the potential all these 4.0m players offer. For instance, I could happily downgrade Stones to another to bring in Alvarez. Were it not for the GW2 blank I'd have even been tempted to have three and just rotate one into my side each week.

Mubama:

This is another exercise in crowd-following. Know very little about him. Hopefully he gets some minutes. Being a Middlesbrough fan my instinctive pick was Cameron Archer, but I'm not sure what's happening with him.

(Incidentally, I'm also playing EFL fantasy this year.

https://www.gaffr.io

It's quite fun. It's also handy for learning about the other teams in the league. Half the time I turn up at the Riverside with no idea who the opposition eleven are 😅 This might change that ..slightly.)

The Question Is Liverpool, What Is The Answer?

Okay, we're back! Season 23/24.

Obviously, last season I was playing 'monthly'. It was an experience, but an unsuccessful one. Certainly going by rank. You could knock two million off and it'd still be my worst season.

So not great. I'm hoping I've at least learnt some lessons from it though. Plus, I did enjoy it too - it was a very low stress way of playing.

This Season

I've decided I'm going to blog much more loosely this season. I'm just gonna post whatever's on my mind. I'll still do posts showing my weekly score and rank, but I'll keep those brief. Post the points, picture of the team, then bang, out of there. I'm very bored with the posts where I'm basically just saying, "This player got me these points; this player came off my bench, etc."

Anyway, as we start this season the big question I have is Liverpool. What are they going to be like?

My personal feeling is that they seem like a team that's lost its way. It used to be "heavy metal football." A million miles an hour. Mane and Robertson bombing down the left relentlessly. High energy. Exciting. Jurgen Klopp all bright and shiny. Now I'm not really sure what their style is. There have been a lot of new faces, but not a new feel.

In fact, this is one of the things I called right at the start of last season. Everyone was very excited about the new signings last summer, but I feared the absence of Mane. I really think people took him for granted. To be fair, I was considering all that in the context of Salah, and Salah still had a great season fpl-wise. However, Liverpool definitely dropped off. A fifth place finish was very surprising given their previous years.

This is the thing with football. Nothing lasts forever. Sooner or later the magic goes. Mourinho once looked like he would never stop winning things. Then the magic went. Things just change, and sometimes it happens quite fast.

So, that's the question with Liverpool. Was last season a blip, or transition season? Or was it the beginning of the end of an era?

If it was just a blip then with Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold so low-owned they're massive differentials. My gut feeling is to go against Liverpool. However, I do like to go against the grain and gamble. So I'm very, very tempted to do that just in case they do hit the ground running.

It's doubly-tempting as you could essentially ask the same question of Arsenal, only in reverse. Was last season a blip where they over-performed? After all, it was a season where Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs all under-performed. No one really expected a title challenge from Arsenal at the start of the season.

So going with Liverpool picks over Arsenal ones would be quite interesting.

I did a Salah draft earlier today with this in mind, but I just didn't like it. I really wasn't feeling it. So I'm back with my "no Liverpool" draft now.

I really like how my current draft looks (I won't share it here - I think I'll keep my cards to my chest and share it after the deadline. It's pretty template, but still, it's the small differences that matter). Nevertheless, Salah has been so consistently good over the seasons. So the thought of somehow getting him in when so many won't have him is really niggling me.

I'm so desperate to go against the grain that I'm tempted to go against my own instinct.

..And In The End

The season is over. My final rank was 2,249,412. I got a slight boost from the last two weeks overall, but the final week was disappointing. In the end I did indeed finish with just nine players. (Seeing the two free transfers just sat there doing nothing before the deadline only underlined the counterproductive reality of playing monthly.)

GW37: 64 points - (avg. 52)

GW38: 40 points - (avg. 40)

Still, given the circumstances, forty points wasn't a disaster.

I'm now looking forward to next season. In a way this monthly break has done me good. Hopefully I can apply some of the lessons from playing monthly as we head onwards - I think the main one being patience.

Oh ..and starting with Haaland.

FPL Gamemonth Whatever ..

I've been lazy again, slacking off. So the gameweeks I need to relay are several. We begin way back in GW29, when I hit the bench boost (that didn't quite work out).

GW29: 74 points (-8), (avg. 80)

GW30: 60 points (avg. 54)

GW31: 63 points (avg. 55)

GW32: 55 points (avg. 42)

GW33: 61 points (avg. 55)

GW34: 84 points (avg. 82)

GW35: 58 points (avg. 39)

GW36: 80 points (avg. 65)

I played the wildcard in GW36, so that was my MAY changes. Martinelli is already out, which instantly illustrates the pitfalls of playing monthly instead of weekly. It's possible I could end up with less than eleven players in GW38 :(

On the plus side though, since GW30 I've finished with above average points each week. Things haven't been spectacular, but it hasn't been so bad. My current rank is 2,275,345. Not what I was hoping for at the start of the season, but playing this way has been very difficult - the lack of flexibility in regard blanks and doubles has been especially hindersome. So it isn't altogether terrible.

We now have two gameweeks left. I'm hoping they go well and I get a little extra boost, but either way I think we can already start analysing this "monthly" experiment. The long and short of it is that it's been fun and laidback, but far too difficult. There weren't many plusses in regard getting points. I was thinking that maybe I'd see some benefits from having a settled side and not chopping and changing, but I don't think I've had a single month where I would've outperformed a more active manager. It's mainly been a case of keeping my head above water and nothing more.

The biggest benefits have been personal. Less stress, much more free time. Next season I'll go back to playing the standard way, however, I think I'll continue to have a more laid back attitude, and be less pro-active. Obviously if you want to do well you have to put the time and effort in, so it'll be interesting to see how engaged I am. Will I care enough about rank to go back to putting a lot of time in? Or will I just be a casual who makes changes every week or so without a great deal of thought and research?

I suspect the latter.

I'll post again at the end of the season to give a brief review of the last two gameweeks.

(Actually, thinking on further as I get to the end of this post, I think next season I might plan as if I'm playing monthly - i.e. pick one week a month where I put a lot of effort in, as I've done this season - but then make little changes in the other weeks (removing injured players, changing captain/bench if it's glaringly obvious to do that, and so forth). So a kind of happy half way model of playing.

Maybe I could even just do it by gameweek number instead of month. A 1/4 intense, 3/4 casual approach. Meaning GW1 I put a lot of effort in, then play casual until GW5 - when I plan and research, then casual again until GW9, and the same onwards.

I really don't want to spend every single week overly worrying about injuries and team news. It's such a hassle. Also you have to work your life around it - if the deadline is 6:30 pm on a Friday, then your afternoon is instantly hijacked, regardless of what you're in the mood to do. (That's if you're not working that day and robbed of the opportunity to take advantage of late news anyway.)

So having weeks where you can just do things half-heartedly, whilst still having a wider overall strategy is very appealing to me.)

FPL GAMEMONTH MARCH: Part 2

Okay, so my plans - the month of April is very tricky for me.

Here are the gameweeks it has:

GW29: Double Gameweek

GW30:

GW31:

GW32: Blank Gameweek

GW33:

GW34: Double Gameweek

So navigating all this with just one week to make transfers is a challenge.

My plan is to make my changes in GW29, this current week ..and to bench boost. (I'll then have the wildcard as a luxury option in the final month of May.)

I'm going to bring in a goalkeeper (probably De Gea) and make 1, 2 or 3 other transfers (I still haven't quite decided yet). So a possible minus 4 or minus 8.

Problems

There are a few quite annoying problems. Firstly, that blank GW32, where Brighton, Chelsea, Man City and Man Utd all miss games. Brighton, City and Utd each then have a double in GW34. Obviously I'd like to have players from those teams going into that week, but if I want a full eleven in GW32 then I can only have a bench-worth of those players (and this is hoping I'll have no injuries in my squad by that point).

So, along with De Gea (or possibly Ederson) I'll be keeping Mitoma and Haaland, and then either keeping De Bruyne or switching him for Rashford. So those will be my four from those three teams. No more than that sadly.

(My current favoured transfer plan is to take a minus 4 to take out De Bruyne, Almiron, and Crystal Palace's Anderson, to bring in Rashford, Bowen and Alexander-Arnold. This would give me a potentially nice team for GW34. Also Bowen, aside from two doubles, will have Bournemouth in GW32, so that would give me a little more firepower in that tricky blank.)

The other annoying issue is captaincy. Only having one week to make changes means I'll have to set and forget the captain. Of course, I want, nay need, to have Haaland captain in GW34, so that means I'll have to go into my bench boost GW29 with Haaland as captain - where he just has a single game against Liverpool. He also still has a yellow flag on fpl which is a concern. Still, Haaland is special, so it potentially could work out better than it looks on paper.

Anyhow, I'll make my changes later in the week when I have more injury and team news. It's tricky, buy it's also quite fun, so I'm enjoying it.

Current Points: 1,605

Current Rank: 2,310,164

FPL GAMEMONTH MARCH: Part 1

This'll be a two-parter. The first simply to chart my gameweeks since the last post. Things have picked up a bit since then - I've moved from a rank of over 4 million to one of 2.3 million. My GW25 in particular was good, where I triple-captained Saka and got 140 points. So things aren't quite as bad as they were. It's still not exactly a laudable rank though, and the coming weeks could easily set me back again.

Anyway, the weeks thus:

GW25: 140 (avg. 74)

GW26: 61 (avg. 43)

GW27: 67 (-4), (avg. 63)

GW28: 58 (avg. 33)

Next I'll post about my plans for April and May (in March I made my changes in GW27 - I took a minus 4 and brought in Mee, Mbeumo and Mitoma).

Gamemonth February

Wow, it's quite the struggle this gamemonth management lark. It doesn't help that I'm having to post late after midnight either. My sleepy eyes are heavy, but if I don't do it now it'll be after the deadline. So let's get on top of this.

Since I last posted I've had two very bad weeks and one good week. Both bad weeks I was once again punished for not owning Rashford - fortunately I won't have to worry about that in GW25.

GW22:

(26 points - average was 48!)

GW23:

(84 points - average was 66)

GW24:

(36 points - average was 44)

Going Forward

I've bitten off more than I can chew playing monthly. It's just too difficult trying to keep up with people that have the luxury of making changes every week. Especially now that double gameweeks are coming thick and fast. So I'm not hopeful.

I have three chips left to use and four months in which to use them (including this month of February). I've been trying to come up with a plan of action. I was calling it my gamemonth masterplan, but it's more like a master-plaster, sticking over the damage as best I can.

The current plan is to use the triple captain this week (GW25 - the last week in February). Then use one of the weeks in March to make a few free transfers to navigate the blank GW28. Meaning I'll then have to wildcard sometime in April and bench boost in May.

How exactly I'll use those chips in April and May I have no idea.

THIS WEEK

As for this specific week this is how I'm going. I'll be triple captaining Saka. Tarkowski seems like a sensible player to bring in (Shaw has went), and I've brought in Van Dijk - largely because he's the only decent Liverpool player I can afford. I wasn't happy taking Trippier out, what with Newcastle having a decent fixture in blank GW28. However, I'm struggling, so I'll just have to gamble that Liverpool don't blank that week either.

I need miracles.

Current Rank: 4,124,589

Gamemonths December and January

Obviously I've lost interest quite heavily this season. My last blog post was back in November, before the World Cup. Since then I've still been playing, and I've kept to the monthly rules, however it has largely been an afterthought for me.

Anyhow, here are my points since then:

(The game week average is in brackets.)

GW16:                50                (43)

GW17:                79                (72)
GW18:                59                (48)

GW19:                52                (49)

GW20:                56                (59)

GW21:                66                (65)

I've climbed in rank slightly. I'm now sitting at 3,552,945 (!)

I don't think I've done too badly overall. Foden has been a huge fail. Just four points over the six fixtures since I brought him in. Had I had Rashford instead the situation would be quite different. So it's fine margins.

Amazingly I made zero transfers in January. I set my team up before the restart and when January came around I was fairly happy with the squad so didn't want to remove anyone. However, I chose to make changes in GW19 just to bring Mitrovic off the bench for that Fulham double. With Mitrovic missing the second game that turned out to be unwise.

Still, it's not too bad.

I have a few flags now, so I'm not entirely sure what my next move will be, though it's likely I'll leave things as is for GW22 and make changes deeper into February.

Planning will be key. There are four months remaining and I have three chips left to play: wildcard; bench boost and triple captain. So some thinking is required.

Next Year.

I'm already wondering about next season. I quite like the idea of playing monthly again. It's been interesting and it's suited the half-hearted attitude I currently have towards fpl. Likewise this season has been a learning curve, so it would be fun to have another go with more foreknowledge.

The one big snag though is that it doesn't lend itself well to playing fpl with the people you know in real life. Having to explain that you're 'playing monthly' when the topic pops up is a bit of a faff on. So that could be the deciding factor.