One hundred days. That’s how long it’s been since Leicester City hosted Aston Villa at the King Power Stadium in what was the last Premier League fixture to take place until Covid-19 wrecked havoc for football & sport in general. For most fans, it has seemed a much, much longer wait.
Project Restart has also given more than 7.5 million Fantasy Premier League managers around the world a new lease on life after much uncertainty over the past few months. The scope for unlimited transfers before the restart gives managers a variety of options over the next few Gameweeks with matches in quick succession.
No matter how long a fantasy manager has been playing FPL, there are plenty of things to be learnt each year as the game evolves. Here are my key takeaways from the 2019-20 season thus far.
Focus On Your Core Team
This needs to be reiterated time & again. While FPL remains a squad game, it’s better to maximise your £100m funds to assemble a trusted core of 11 players while reserving the cheapest possible options for the bench. It’s the primary starting lineup which provides the points on the scoreboard while the bench options rarely come into play, other than the first outfield substitute.
Cheap ‘bench players’ have become mainstays over the course of the the campaign like ‘Lord’ Lundstram this season and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the previous campaign. This usually ends up giving FPL managers another budget-friendly starting option instead of spending premium on more than 11 players. This core group can be chopped and changed over the course of the season using free transfers and hits, when required. Invest wisely!
Gamble Early To Gain Value
The early bird catches the worm. The phrase has increasingly found resonance in FPL too in recent seasons with more active players resulting in plenty of price variations. While my traditional strategy would involve a wait & watch approach to assess new players that are either transferred in from a different league or have just made the upgrade from the Championship, that can result in some (costly) missed opportunities.
Bruno Fernandes is one such example for me, following his sensational start at Manchester United. The Portugese midfielder has scored two goals, provided three assists and been awarded six bonus points in his five league appearances for a total of 38 FPL points. I missed out on his output as I wasn’t prepared to gamble early on for an untested Premier League player in an inconsistent team, whose price has already risen by £6m. Players like Bruno prove to be a big differential if you can take a punt in the first couple of weeks & I’ll definitely be more open to such moves in the future.
Stick With Your Goalies
I’ve seen a fair amount of managers experiment with goalkeepers & end up coming back to their original choice/s. With just one free transfer available in the game, it makes much more sense to stick with one premium or two solid rotational options. I personally prefer the latter.
Dean Henderson, for instance, has been in great form all season for Sheffield United and sticking with him during a challenging Christmas period has got me a bunch of (unexpected) points. Henderson and Nick Pope, priced at £4.5m each, are the highest scoring keepers in the game comfortably ahead of the £6m duo of Alisson and Ederson. If this season is any indication, premium goalkeepers are not worth the extra price and we should stick to our reliable options unless they are returning two points each week.
Never Get Emotionally Attached
Easier said that done? You bet. Every season is different and players (and their clubs) can enjoy a completely different run of form or just pure lady luck heading into a new campaign. If you go in with a bitter mindset telling yourself, ‘I’ll never buy that guy again’, you could fall behind in your mini-leagues.
Callum Wilson has been one such player for me. He did phenomenally well last season & was always in the scoring charts for Bournemouth when I had him in the squad. The past eventually caught up this season & I should have got rid of him a couple of weeks earlier than I did. Analysing the strategy and form of the team that the player in question plays for also provides answers. However, going by your personal bias is never a good idea.
Look At The Team, Not Just The Player
Taking off from the last point, the team usually provides a fair amount of answers about a player’s prospects. Callum Wilson and Wilfried Zaha are classic examples. Both Bournemouth and Crystal Palace have struggled to get a rhythm going and goals have been hard to come by.
It’s vital to ask yourself if the team in question will keep clean sheets or score goals, depending on the position of the player. An average team in a patchy run of form makes it difficult for a player to get double digit scores, as Zaha owners have found out this season. Despite Jack Grealish carrying Aston Villa on his shoulders all campaign, his owners are always on the edge of their seats thanks to Villa’s poor performances.
Promoted Teams Offer Good Value
Newly promoted teams can offer great value at the start of a new season. Norwich and Aston Villa are in the relegation zone but offered us some budget-friendly options that exceeded expectations in the first five Gameweeks. Teemu Pukki and Todd Cantwell racked up a number of points for the Canaries while John McGinn scored three goals in the first seven matches for Villa. Sheffield United have been consistent through the campaign with the likes of Henderson, Lundstram and the rest of the defence emerging as reliable cheap options for our squads.
Form Versus Fixtures
There has been no definite answer to this perennial FPL dilemma. And this season hasn’t been any different. Teams like Sheffield United and Wolves have punched above their weight consistently this season, thereby providing good returns for the likes of Henderson, Jimenez and Doherty.
The fixtures, however, continue to remain a factor. Aguero having a decent haul in a home game for Manchester City is as good as certain. Brighton remain a much better side at home with considerably better stats. Riyad Mahrez has been on a roll away from home while Jamie Vardy has an outstanding record at the King Power Stadium. FPL managers have no choice but to take into account both these aspects before finalising their squads.
