GW3 - Triple Captain Late Luck

I've actually had a good gameweek. It's been a long time coming after last season, but I finally feel like I'm back and playing the game the way I like to play it.

I used the triple captain and got a bit of luck. The very late Bruno pen netting me 21 points, if you include the 2 bonus points it secured him. Ideally you'd like more than one return when using the chip, but I'm more than happy with that. 10 points for Bruno (including 2 all-important defensive contribution points, minus a yellow card), tripled to 30. That'll do nicely.

The rest of my team also did fairly well:

85 points (avg. 48)

I brought in Anderson and Cunha, who both failed to return. Apart from that everyone else contributed something. Anderson was unlucky to miss out on defcon points, making eleven defensive contributions for the third week in a row. Cunha went off early.

Along with Bruno I also got defcon points from Porro, Tarkowski and Rice. I get far too much joy from picking up these points. I celebrate them more than I do a goal.

GW2

I should really share my GW2 performance as well, though that wasn't quite as impressive.

39 points (avg. 51)

Lacklustre, with a touch of bad luck. Though the West Ham players I've selected have obviously just been a mistake (Wan-Bissaka was dropped this week).

Anyway, after GW2 I was sitting at 6,319,989 in rank. Now, after GW3, I'm up to 772,668.

Going forward..

Looking ahead I'm contemplating a Free Hit next gameweek. Mainly to get Salah for Liverpool's trip to Burnley. Though with Isak looking like he's on his way there that's getting a little less straightforward. With the dreaded international break here however there's no rush in making any decisions.

GW1 - Almost in Review

Okay, I have a bit more time now ..relax.

The Leeds v Everton game is just about to kick off. Other than that we're all in for GW1.

I'm currently sat on 48 points with two players to play. It's not a great tally, and I'm currently sat bottom of my mini league. However, I'm actually quite happy so far. Had I stuck with Ekitike and left Haaland as captain I'd have been sat on 67 points now. Instead I switched out Ekitike (and King) for Fernandes (and Fullkrug), and switched my captaincy choice to Palmer. Fine margins.

Still, I don't regret these decisions as I was following my instinct. Ekitike was only in there as a stand-in for Isak, (I knew very little about him before Friday). So those points would've been quite jammy had I got them. And the choice of Palmer was a mistake in hindsight, but a brave and well-felt one.

Here's how things stand before this last game.

(I'll post an updated one below

after the final game)

Watchlist

I already have a little watchlist:

Salah (naturally, not having him)

Kudus

Wood (especially for GW5/6)

Elliot Anderson (likewise)

Reijnders (unsurprisingly)

Cunha (I really thought he looked great - top target currently with Reijnders)

Semenyo

Elanga

The other thing that stood out was West Ham, especially how poor the keeper looked. It could just have been a one-off poor performance, but it instantly knocked them down a notch in my thinking. Wan-Bissaka looks less worth owning, and it makes holding Palmer (who faces them this week) easier. Also, Forest face them in GW3, so Wood and Anderson have a nice little run ignoring GW4, where they face Arsenal.

GW2

At the moment I'm not planning on making transfers this week. I'm just jigging the bench players around. It isn't the perfect team, but it's not too far off where I'd be if I clicked the wildcard button.

Three at the back feels a lot better than five at the back too.

Thinking longer term I'm hoping to switch Palmer, Dewsbury-Hall and Fullkrug for Reijnders, Cunha and Wood. Things may change though, and the midfield options this season seem endless. So we'll see where we are come GW3 :)

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57 points in the end (average was 54). God bless those Tarkowski defcon points.

Though somehow I seem to have lost a Cucurella point between now and when I posted 😡

New Season.. can't stop, busy-busy

Quick post. New season - yey! 😀

I'm going to have to post quickly. I'm in work the next three days - meaning I'll miss the GW1 deadline, so I probably won't get a chance to post properly before then. I'm aways late to the party every season, so it's nothing to worry about. I'll still have plenty of time to tinker. It's just late (and warm 🌞), and I need to go to bed.

Here's my team as it stands. It'll likely change before Friday.

I also have two million in the bank. My thinking being that Ekitike could become Isak once the drama settles.

I won't explain my picks to save time, as what I do want to make a quick comment on is how I think the extra chips will wreck the template.

In the past I've mentioned on here how the first half of the season is very template.

Most clued-in FPL managers copy the template to a large degree at the start of the season. They then tend to use the first wildcard to re-adapt to the changing template as the season takes form. And, as the games aren't coming thick and fast in the opening few months it's easy to use free transfers to follow the changing template as well, due to the fact that injuries and suspensions haven't racked up so much.

So everyone tends to be quite samey until around Christmas, when all the small divergences really begin to show, and it gets harder to just copy what other people (generally the big accounts/AIs) are doing.

Now though, these extra chips really eff things up. Already you have divergence in the first gameweek, as some people choose to bench boost. Then the free hit adds a further potential for people going different in upcoming weeks. I like it.

How To Use These New Chips

There's also the interesting question of how to use these chips. For me the big question is: To Plan Or Not To Plan.

With the second half of the season it makes sense to plan, as you can plan for the double and blank gameweeks - where there's a clear advantage to having a chip available. However, these new chips are to be used in single gameweeks, so the advantage isn't so clear.

Therefore, should you plan? Or is it perhaps better to play it by ear?

To use the chips to solve arising problems - a free hit to cover a week where you have a few injuries and suspensions perhaps. Or just when a nice opportunity presents itself - we've all had moments in previous seasons where we've looked at our bench and thought, "This wouldn't be a bad bench boost." But we rarely hit the button, as the potential double further along in the season is so much more enticing.

As you can probably imagine, I'm choosing not to plan.

So I'm actually really excited by this season, as I can freewheel from the start, not just Christmas. It should be much more difficult now for players who just copy what others are doing. So, good for me, and good (and fairer) for the more casual players too. (Though, given how bad I did last season, it might be unwise to get my hopes up too much.)

(I like the addition of points for defensive contributions too. It makes the game feel more rounded. It also adds even more opportunity to explore different strategies.)

Anyway, must dash.

All In

Final Rank: 2,239,174

A green arrow, but a lacklustre one. I think the final week really summed up my season. I gave very little thought to my transfers, then just copied the most picked players when I tuned in to Let's Talk FPL earlier, lol, (though dimly I went with Saka as opposed to Bowen).

I did start the season saying I was going to copy the template, and weirdly I've ended up doing just that. Though badly. I've became a very casual, uninvested player. Of course, I'll most certainly play again next season, but the question is: Can I Find The Required Enthusiasm?

And, more to the point, should I? Perhaps it just isn't as high up on my priorities these days. Maybe it's in the realms of Super6, where I do it, but with little thought. Though, saying all this, I have been a little distracted this season. [...]

Either way, I have to get back to playing my own way - and to my own instincts.

Last GAMEWEEK of the SEASON

Well, last week of the season. My team actually looks fairly decent. I've just transferred out De Bruyne and Wood to bring in Evanilson and Saka with my two frees.

The captaincy is currently on Salah, but I might change that. Hmm?

My wildcard and subsequent bench boost weeks went so-so. 58 points on the wildcard (avg. was 43), 68 points on the bench boost (avg. 39).

Technically you could say the bench boost earned me 23 points, but in reality I'd have started Cucurella, so it was a measly 10 points in truth. Still, I got a decent rank boost overall.

I'm now sat at around 2.3m in rank. Could I sneak into the top two million?

Obviously, as I've lamented repeatedly on here, this season has been a washout for me. Hopefully next season will be a fresh start though.

I'll post once more this season to show how it all ended up.

(I've just switched the captaincy to Mbeumo as a fun final week differential!)

Two hours 'til kick off.

Late Season Wildcarding

Okay, so I've knocked up a little wildcard team for GW36. With a view to bench boosting in GW37. I'm liking the look of it, though obviously, given how the season's trailing out, it's a tad half-hearted.

(click to enlarge)

I'll no doubt tinker a little between now and the deadline.

No Doubles, Big Troubles

Well, since my last post we've had four gameweeks. Three where my Assistant Manager chip was active; then the latest week where I had to navigate the blanks. Obviously, my season was over anyway. However, I've still managed to climb a little bit, so it's going well within that overall more disastrous context.

I've climbed from 4.1 million

to 2.6 million since GW28

I had Glasner as my AM. He scored 8 points, 2 points, then 15 points in the final week. So 25 overall. I was fairly pleased with that, especially given I got a little bit of table bonus with that final draw against Arsenal.

I'll share my team for blank GW34 below. I would've had eleven playing if Robinson had played, so I got a tad unlucky there. In the round it was pretty decent though, given many people were free hitting.

Plans, plans, plans..

My plan was to wildcard this week, in preparation for a bench boost in the "double" of GW36. Alas, that cannot be though, as there are no doubles. So it's a change of plan. This week I've left things as is, as my team doesn't look too bad (though I have used my free transfer to switch Gordon to Mbeumo - who I've captained). And next week I'll wildcard instead, to then bench boost in GW37. There'll be no doubles, but still, it'll be a luxury bench boost, as I'll be able to pick strong single gameweek players. So I'll get a bit of fun and enjoyment.

With the season coming to a close I can then start looking to next season. I'll need a plan for then too.