GW27 Review

Very, very late review. Work meant I couldn't post yesterday, so here we are four games into GW28.

I made two transfers yesterday. It was going to be just the one, but the sheer abundance of red and yellow flags panicked me into shoring my bench up.

I did the planned; Robertson to Matt Targett

Then also; Charlie Taylor to Joël Veltman

In a way it's worked out rather fortunate, as with Bamford getting injured this morning it means I could well be down to 10 players for GW29. So I can take a (-4) this week to get Bale plus another.

My original plan was to take out Trent Alexander-Arnold rather than Taylor - to free up the cash for Bale - but the panicky Veltman transfer this week scuppered that. Though with Grealish and Struijk flagged before the deadline a (-4) this week was looking increasingly likely anyway.

Surprisingly Struijk played today, so that's one flag gone. It sounds like Grealish is pencilled in for a return against Spurs too. So it could be that Bamford is the biggest worry.

Anyway, let's look at last week's points tally.

Gameweek Points: 68

Gameweek Rank: 2,787,188

Overall Rank: 245,991

It was another red arrow. Albeit a small one.

I can't really have too many complaints, if anything I probably got a little lucky. I'm definitely starting to look forward to my wildcard in GW31 though. My current plan is to go super cheap at the back to beef up the attack and midfield. Though saying that, after Kane there aren't too many strikers I'm desperate to own.

I think I'll definitely be going heavy on midfield however. I quite like the idea of Gündogan, Son, Bale, Fernandes and De Bruyne. Plus Kane. Which I could just about do.

I'll probably have to have a good look at the fixtures first though before making any hard and fast plans.

So far GW28 isn't going brilliantly, so it may be desperate measures by then.

Overall Points: 1720

Overall Rank: 245,991

GW26 Review / GW27 Preview

A poor double gameweek for me, but strangely it didn't feel too bad. Just 3 below the average, plus a lot of people were using chips. So I can't complain. A fairly hefty red arrow though.

Gameweek Points: 72

Gameweek Rank: 4,604,666

Overall Rank: 234,392

The 11 and 9 from Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold has to go down as a huge bonus all things considered. The captaincy wasn't too bad either in hindsight. I'll happily take the 12 points given how most other captain options did. Other than Son though it was all a bit poor slash average.

Now onto GW27..

I'm still focusing on GW29 so I'll be doing a very boring transfer this week. Johnstone to Areola. Simply to have a keeper ready for that week. I have two transfers so it's a bit of a luxury.

I'm saving the other one. My plan at the moment is to remove a Liverpool defender next week to bring in a Villa defender. Then use two frees going into GW29 to take out the other Liverpool defender, and a midfielder (probably Gündogan) to bring in a Brighton defender and Bale.

That could all change though. I'll also have to keep an eye on Grealish who is still flagged. If he could be back for GW28 that would be great (it looks quite likely he'll miss this week's game against Wolves).

As for this week I think I'm set up fairly nicely. Most my players have decent fixtures with the exception of Fernandes.

Gündogan captain.

Oh, and my graph. I'm always less inclined to update it when I've had a red arrow. It's not as much fun. Still, it's good to see where we are in contrast to previous seasons.

I'm now at a worse point than at this stage in the previous seasons 😭

A green arrow this week would be most welcome.

Overall Points: 1652

Overall Rank: 234,392

GW25 Review / GW26 Preview

Another average week, but a tiny green arrow. So at least it stops the rot.

Gameweek Points: 76

Gameweek Rank: 1,081,647

Overall Rank: 186,796

Robertson came off my bench to get another one-pointer. So again it's Liverpool and Spurs dragging me down.

The Bamford triple-captaincy didn't quite pay off, but given I was looking at a total blank after three halves of football I'm very happy to take the single goal that eventually came. The extra 8 points that came virtue of hitting the triple is probably what pushed me from a red to a green arrow, so it's certainly not worthless. It's just a case of how much I would've gained had I played it this week.

GW26

Moving on to gee-double-you twenty-six I'm actually not entirely sure who to go with for captain. Kane, Gündogan and Fernandes are all options for me. Currently it's on Fernandes, just because he feels the most trustworthy. Gündogan is tempting, but the rotation scares me. With Kane however I'm just not feeling it. In fact, I'm regretting doubling-up on Spurs at the moment, as it hasn't worked out so far and I've basically just played around with my team for nothing. Especially given that Grealish is now injured too.

It would probably make sense to transfer out Grealish for another double game player, but I think I'm just going to leave it. With him out it means I can start both Bamford and Raphinha this week, which I don't mind at all. Plus I think there's still a chance Grealish could be back soon. Maybe even for the Leeds game itself. So I'll keep him and just wait until we have more team news before I sort out who I bench.

I'm still focusing on GW29 too, so Grealish will hopefully come in handy there.

Overall Points: 1580

Overall Rank: 186,796

GW24 - late, late review

I've been a little snowed under this week, so I'm reviewing GW24 with GW25 already started.

Really I want to talk about that first. As I've just made a very late transfer (Soucek to Raphinha) ..and triple-captained Bamford. As I type kick off to that first Leeds match is just 40 minutes away.

Anyway, let's get the points for GW24 down;

Gameweek Points: 82

Gameweek Rank: 1,722,171

Overall Rank: 196,006

Another little rank drop. I'm falling away a little, so I really need to start hitting some form again.

The 82 points total was incredibly lucky really, with half of that coming from Gündogan. Having two Liverpool defenders hit me hard, though they both were a little unlucky on the attacking side of things I thought. Likewise being doubled up against City with Spurs didn't help. So definitely a lucky escape.

For this (now active) gameweek I'm set up like this.

[That big white Pac-Man powerpill style captaincy symbol always looks so nice.

..Robertson on the bench feels sacrilegious though.]

Also the doubles for next week have finally been announced. So I can go one step further and look at my GW26 side.

Injuries permitting I think I'm looking fairly solid, so I'll probably forego making a transfer and save it for GW29. It's slightly funny having Charlie Taylor in there without a flag - will he finally come good for me?  His games aren't great, but he has to stay surely. It's like with the Bamford triple captaincy this week. We need a bit of romance. They could be heroes.

I now need to get my arse in gear and hit 'publish' so I can sit down and enjoy the Leeds game.

(Hopefully).

Overall Points: 1504

Overall Rank: 196,006

GW23 Review: Another Red Arrow !

One point below the average. 47 thousand places below where I was before the gameweek started 😭

Gameweek Points: 57

Gameweek Rank: 4,647,788

Overall Rank: 178,076

More tears.

It actually wasn't too bad all in all. Liverpool continuing to damage me. My expectations were low anyway what with having six players in that game (I was secretly hoping in vain for a 0-0). So in some respects I dodged a bullet.

I was a little unlucky with the Wilson injury. He looked really sharp in the opening 25 minutes, with one great finish chalked off, quite correctly, for an offside. However, I also got a little lucky missing out on Soucek's red card ..finally me benching him has paid off.

Transfers.

I'm now firmly focused on my transfers. It's a little frustrating having to wait to see how the fixtures fall, but at least we'll have the FA Cup ties done by Thursday.

Ideally I'd like to downgrade Son to upgrade Wilson. Possibly getting Grealish in the process.

It was good having Son at the weekend, but Spurs made hard work of the game, so that doesn't give me high hopes for future fixtures. Even with Kane back. If Spurs get a double though it'll be hard to lose Son, so I'll have to wait and see.

We now know that West Ham will have a game in GW29 however, meaning I'll probably be keeping Soucek and Antonio.

So the picture is gradually taking shape.

Overall Points: 1422

Overall Rank: 178,076

GW22 Review: Ejected

I've been kicked straight back out of the 100k club. 😭😭😭

Gameweek Points: 64

Gameweek Rank: 3,141,604

Overall Rank: 131,215

40k drop. That hits hard.

In many ways it wasn't too bad a week. It was mainly the Salah captaincy and the Soucek benching that stung me. The captaincy was the big one as I would've never started Soucek over Son.

In fact, it brings to mind something that I think has damaged me with my captain choices. Lack of instinct. Looking at the two respective fixtures I actually had a good feeling that the Liverpool v Brighton game would be dull, and that the United v Southampton one would be open (though I didn't quite imagine it would be that open). However, I completely ignored my gut feeling and went with the sensible choice. It's Salah. He'll be most captained.

So I think I need to start being a bit more cavalier with the captaincy. Start enjoying it, rather than fearing it.

Though saying that, it's currently now on Fernandes, who'll no doubt be most captained this time out. So I'm following the herd again.

Plans Going Forward

This week I'm going to be very boring. I've got two free transfers, but I'm simply going to do Mitchell to Struijk. A bench switch.

We now have some double gameweek fixtures penned in, which is exciting, however we're still waiting to see what GW26 and GW29 will look like. So I'm keeping my powder dry.

I actually really like my team, so ideally I don't want to change too much. My current plan for this fixture pile up is bench optimisation. (It's highly likely I'll be saving my wildcard 'til after GW29). I'm going to try to get a playing squad of 15 to cover the weeks as best as possible. Tinkering around the edges, rather than wholesale team changes.

This is why I'm doing the Struijk switch this week. I can potentially play him for the Leeds double in GW25, and Leeds also have a game in GW29. Obviously with these cheap defenders there's no guarantee they'll play the next game, let alone games in a month's time, but even so, he can potentially fill in these gaps. Plus it should mean I'll have a back-up defender if Cancelo gets a benching this gameweek. So it's dull, but it should hopefully be a net gain move.

Of course I still have Charlie Taylor sat on my bench too. He's got a hamstring issue so I'm not expecting him to return. Meaning I'll no doubt have to move him on next week. I still have a very slight hope he could return for those GW24 doubles though, so I'll see if he gets any nearer to a full return this week.

The two players I'm looking at potentially bringing in for GW26 at the moment are Calvert-Lewin and Jack Grealish. Both Everton and Villa could have some very nice doubles in the weeks 26 through 28. Again, I'm not too keen on bringing in players just for a double. So if I make major changes to my first eleven it'll be for players in the Grealish category - i.e. players that I'd want long term as well.

At the moment I'm looking like this for GW23. I'll make the Struijk switch later today, unless things change.

Soucek benched again. Will I ever learn?

Overall Points: 1365

Overall Rank: 131,215

GW21 Review: Some Wilson Returns :D

Another good week. Another good rank rise.

Gameweek Points: 66

Gameweek Rank: 1,262,186

Overall Rank: 92,233

I think Callum Wilson made the difference this week. He's still highly owned (around 20%), but I get the impression that he's not so highly owned amongst players towards the top end of the game. So in some ways he's a very nice differential at the moment.

Almost everyone seems to have Bamford and Salah, so though those returns were great, they weren't quite as sweet. Especially as many will have captained Salah too.

It was a little disappointing that Mitchell didn't play. I made a mistake with that one. Struijk at £3.9m might have been a better move for that cheap bench spot. I'm now hoping Cancelo will start this week as with Taylor still flagged I could be benchless in regard defence once again.

I could make a move to shore things up I guess, but I really want to hold a transfer so I think I'll leave it.

I'm captaining Salah too. I feel like I'm playing catch up once again (giving it to Gündogan certainly didn't hit the mark this week). It is the sensible decision though, unless there's some news before the deadline.

Finally, I've now snuck into the top 100k. Ssshhh! don't tell anyone, they might kick me out again.

I'm really pleased about this. Normally I'm way further down the rankings at this point in the season. So I'm really enjoying things.

Since GW8 I've only had two red arrows, and one of those was just a 5k fall.

(click to enlarge)

It's hard to say how much of this is luck and how much is judgement. [I'm hoping it's not luck lol.]

I'm happy with my team too going forward. There's only really Grealish that I don't own that I'm really worried about not owning. With Spurs looking a bit flat I'm thinking Son to Grealish could be the way to go. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to remove Son just yet though. So I'll just cross my fingers whenever Villa play for the time being.

Overall Points: 1301

Overall Rank: 92,233