GW11 Review - I took out Cancelo for Chilwell :(((

Yes, I took out Cancelo this week. Let's not talk about it. I fancied United to get a goal, so thought I'd be clever and remove a City defender. I kept Dias mainly thinking he was a tad more nailed on to start - that was cowardly in hindsight. I should have kept the more attacking player.

Still though, it wasn't actually a terrible week for me, and it was also a little unlucky. So I can't feel too bad.

Gameweek Points: 54

Gameweek Rank: 1,539,551

Overall Rank: 259,200

What immediately springs to mind when looking at the results of this gameweek is that pro/template players and now beginning to strip away from the casuals. My gameweek rank was 1.5m, and I was 12 points above the average, which isn't too bad. Yet it still resulted in a small red arrow. So I think the dust is starting to settle, which in turn means rank now matters.

I'm fairly happy with a 260k rank at this point in the season - I usually start poorly, so I'm better off than I have been in the last two seasons. Still though, it leaves me with a lot of work to do, and bad gameweeks are going to hurt hard from now on.

My plan going forward is still to bring in Ronaldo in GW16. Before then I'm going to bring in Son for Mané - I'll probably do that this week. Then next gameweek I'm thinking Toney to Jiménez; to double up on the Wolves attack against Norwich.

It's annoying me a little having Toney. It feels like a wasted spot. However, Newcastle this gameweek is a decent fixture, so he can have this last one.

I still have two free transfers. I'm absolutely determined to save that extra free one for my Ronaldo move, which is going to take a degree of willpower. I'm also very interested in bringing in more West Ham players. When Ronaldo comes in I'm hoping I have enough cash to turn Son into Bowen. I also really like the idea of bringing Cresswell in at some point.

And as for Cancelo (returning to start), I think his recent price changes have now priced me out of getting him back. Obviously I'd prefer to have him rather than not have him. At the same time though I'm trying not to be too kneejerk about it. If the opportunity arises to bring him back I'll take advantage, but I'm not going to waste transfers doing it. Especially when I need to make sure I have the cash to make my Ronaldo move.

Overall Points: 704

Overall Rank: 259,200

GW10 Review - Steady Ship

A super-tiny green arrow, so I can't have any complaints this week.

Gameweek Points: 48

Gameweek Rank: 2,617,729

Overall Rank: 251,543

I'm still quite pleased with my wildcard, my squad looks fairly solid. This week I may use one of my free transfers to switch Dias to Chilwell. I may then in the coming weeks bring back Dias; taking out Azpilicueta.

I'm still not fully confident with Toney, though he has Norwich at home this week, so at present I'm pleased to own him. Apart from that I'm fairly settled.

The big question now is do I bring in Kane or Son for Mané before eventually switching to Ronaldo in December - which is still my plan. You'd think with Conte there'll now be a bounce, but I'm very happy owning Mané. He's a great - and very reliable - differential.

At present I'm tempted to just do a one gameweek punt. Bringing in Son or Kane for that Norwich fixture in GW15, before getting Ronaldo for their fixture against Norwich in GW16.

I think this week I can take it easy though, and just sit back and watch.

Overall Points: 650

Overall Rank: 251,543

GW8 and 9 Points

I've been super lazy on here, didn't even post up my gameweek 8 points. Plus I wildcarded and didn't even blog about it !!

So I'll just whack everything up to get up to date.

GW8:

Gameweek Points: 60

Gameweek Rank: 1,636,877

Overall Rank: 400,838

GW9:

Gameweek Points: 95

Gameweek Rank: 691,713

Overall Rank: 259,537

As you can see from the teams above I transferred out both Jota and Foden on the wildcard, and both scored, Foden bigly. However, some of the players I brought in also scored, so it all pretty much evened out. I worked out what I would've got with my original team and it would've been 98 points (though I would've had a free transfer to play with too). So a little bit more, but nevertheless offset by the fact that I'm happier with my current team going forward.

My plan is to make sure there's enough cash tied up in the positions currently occupied by Mané and Toney to be able to bring in any big hitter, plus a cheaper counterpart. That way I can easily move Mané to Kane/Ronaldo/De Bruyne/etc whenever I need to.

I'm currently thinking Mané to Son, then Son to Ronaldo as the fixtures switch. Though watching United today that plan's been dampened somewhat.

I'll leave it there for now. Hopefully I can get on top of this blogging lark now I'm all up to date.

Overall Points: 602

Overall Rank: 259,537

GW7/GW8 - team's falling to bits :(((

So firstly, last week (GW7):

Gameweek Points: 42

Gameweek Rank: 2,918,976

Overall Rank: 390,758

I can barely remember GW7 it was that long ago. I just have a vague recall that I was very lucky - mainly due to Livramento and Duffy coming off the bench to boost my score by 10 points.

The Alonso move didn't pay off, and now I'm stuck with the possibility that he may not play this week too. The big disappointment is Torres getting injured though. I was really pinning my hopes on him finally starting this week, but now it looks like I'll have to use a minus 4 to get him out (probably for Foden).

With my other transfer I'll be doing Digne to Cancelo.

Even with two transfers I may still be left struggling to get out a full eleven though. The yellow flags, plus the rotation risks (which include my new transfers !), meaning it could theoretically be a disaster for me. So I'm really hoping for some more good luck :)

I came close to hitting the wildcard last night, but after having a little tinker I decided it still wasn't quite the right time. Hopefully some of my issues will clear up and I won't be forced to use it anytime soon, as I think when the fixtures start changing it could give me some nice potential.

Overall Points: 451

Overall Rank: 390,758

FPL - GW6 Review

Nice week.

Gameweek Points: 58

Gameweek Rank: 677,888

Overall Rank: 366,719

I had a fair bit of luck. Pickford returning earlier than first thought made a nice difference. Him and Digne's clean sheet giving me a nice little differential against the pack. Raphinha playing and scoring was a huge uptick too. So it all meant a decent green arrow for me.

Now I've got a bit of thinking to do - and it all relates to defence. I really want to bring in some Chelsea and City defenders. It requires a little bit more cash than I actually have though. So I'm considering a minus 4.

I'm thinking about taking Trent Alexander-Arnold out, along with Digne, to bring in Rüdiger and Alonso. Then the following week I'll probably move Wan-Bissaka to either Dias or Cancelo.

Removing TAA is a gamble, but he has City this week; plus I still have my wildcard. So it's a question of whether I can make that extra cash count over the next five or six gameweeks. When I do hit the wildcard (probably around GW14) I'll no doubt go for my favoured combination of TAA and Robertson. So until then I'll be bucking my normal tendencies.

There are still a few days until deadline however, so perhaps my plans will morph some more before then.

Overall Points: 409

Overall Rank: 366,719

GW5 - Two Gameweeks, One Post

Firstly, my GW4 performance.

Gameweek Points: 65

Gameweek Rank: 2,280,854

Overall Rank: 513,177

Secondly, my GW5 performance.

Gameweek Points: 58

Gameweek Rank: 3,394,817

Overall Rank: 583,676

Jeez, where to start?

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

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

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

So, No Wildcard, Just A Transfer ..Hopefully

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

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

'The Manchester City Problem'

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

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

That then got me thinking about Manchester City in general.

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

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

So I thought: Who do I want?

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

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

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

So I thought: Who next, after De Bruyne?

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

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

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

So there simply isn't a perfect option.

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

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

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

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

Overall Points: 351

Overall Rank: 583,676

GW4 - *Minus 4*

Firstly, and belatedly, my GW3 points.

Gameweek Points: 73

Gameweek Rank: 452,400

Overall Rank: 465,186

It was really pleasing to see Digne, Pickford and Wan-Bissaka get me some points. It makes a huge difference. My transfers didn't pay off as both Lukaku and Benrahma blanked, and Toney nabbed a goal. However, I'm still happy with the moves going forward, so hopefully they'll be a net gain over the next few weeks.

This week (GW4) I've taken a minus 4 to make two more changes.

Son and Tsimikas out.

Jota and Duffy in.

Obviously with Son flagged it forced my hand a little. I'm always annoyed when I have to take a points hit, but this minus 4 does at least feel justified. I really wanted Jota -- he's the one player I feel I need (I'm going to wait and see with Ronaldo).

Of course, to bring in Jota I needed to remove Tsimikas too, as he was blocking that third Liverpool slot. I was gonna have to do this at some point anyway though. Plus, I wasn't too keen on playing Ayling against Liverpool this week, so I can pop Duffy in with his slightly nicer fixture.

And I'm going with Lukaku captain.

It was a difficult decision this week picking a captain. As I now type I'm beginning to feel like I should've just defaulted with Salah. Aston Villa at home with no Martinez makes sense though, so hopefully Lukaku will click into gear for Chelsea and get me some returns.

Finally, a few thoughts on Ronaldo..

For me, at least for the time being, it's going to be Lukaku or Ronaldo. Not both ..and as I already have Lukaku it'll probably be staying like that whilst Chelsea's fixtures are good.

The way I see it is; if you're wildcarding to get both, then you're gambling that both will do well. Whereas if you just have the one you'll only need one to hit their potential, and it doesn't even matter that much which one as you can just switch to whichever is firing without tearing your team up.

Plus you still have the wildcard just in case both do start living up to expectations.

If you have both though, and no wildcard, then if one isn't looking great, or gets injured, etc, then you're going to lack flexibility. (Though Kane would potentially be an option).

All that being said though, Ronaldo is Ronaldo, and if he hits the ground running it could be curtains for me not having him. Even just for a few weeks. Especially with 28% of teams now already owning him!

Overall Points: 232

Overall Rank: 465,186