So at last fantasy premier league 16/17 is open. Here’s a quick look at the site plus a 15 minute team with a bit of narrative on the reasoning why. It is a very first quick draft so please go easy on it!
fantasy premier league is now open plus a 15 minute team as a starter
First of all I have to say the rules seem the same. Not sure If I’ve missed anything obvious but that definitely appears to be the case. So whether you think that’s good or not it just means straight on into player selection. There are gambles and there are placeholders so it’s just a first draft for changing as pre-season goes on
So here’s my 15 minute team:
The GK and Defence
So I went for the 2 home and away rotating GKs plus the 2 premium defenders with a 3 way cheap rotation.
Foster at £4.5m was quite attractive so after that I went for a rotation which worked and stopped at the Burnley one. Not sure how I feel about Burnley but there should be save points at least.
The 2 premium defenders were tricky. I could easily have gone for any one from Man Utd, Man City, Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea.
Man Utd with Mourinho was an obvious one. At this stage the back 4 is pretty uncertain so I’ve gone for Shaw as a placeholder. Jones getting the CB spot at £5.0m would be the result but I’ll track the United defence in pre-season to see who looks the best value.
Chelsea not in Europe and with a strong defensive coach plus Kante joining was my 2nd choice. I have to say though I thought the value was pretty steep that’s for sure. I went for Ivanovic as he at least could be part of any back 3 and is fairly versatile. Again pre-season should make it clearer.
As far as the 3 defensive teams I went for the teams I thought were the best £4.5m value, checked they didn’t all play at home or away at the same time and left it at that.
The midfield
Mkhitaryan was 2nd in my team after Aguero. 23 goals and 32 assists last season is just too strong a draw. Plus a full rest over the summer with no Euro’s just added up to him as a good pick
Eriksen was a similar pick in that he didn’t play in the Euro’s and is well rested plus has good set piece representation. He’s inconsistent but Harry Kane worried me as an alternative given the amount of football he’s played
Sigurdsson as a CAM with set piece responsibility and reasonably valued seems a good mid priced pick.
Then comes my cheap gamble. The Middlesboro former Ajax left winger Fischer has good stats and is cheap and has a reasonable amount of upside. There is a watchout though in that so did Wijnaldum and Depay have great stats from the Dutch league before they signed last season and both had a mixed season to say the least. I am worried about how strong an attacking team Middlesboro will be as well.
Fletcher is my 5th midfielder as a placeholder. He should be fairly safe but he’s no spring chickem which is the watchout.
Forwards
Aguero was first on my team sheet and should need no introduction
I’m a huge Sturridge fan. I’m a little worried about how he fits into the Klopp system as he’s not a natural presser from the front but without any European games he should get the rest he needs to be an effective performer. It was a tough choice between him and Firmino.
Lastly was another gamble in Charlie Austin of Southampton. I could have gone for Deeney but his first few fixtures didn’t look great so I’ve gambled with Austin although at this stage he’s by no means certain of a place.
Structure and other issues
So stuck with 3-4-3 and looked to have 4 £4.5m players on the bench. This being 1 GK, 1 mid and 2 defenders.
For the moment I’ve also spread the attacking players around and not looked to double up in the attacking areas. It does look a bit like coverage which I know some people aren’t a fan of. I don’t particularly like the fact that 3 of the 4 expensive players and natural captain options are away as that limits options although most of the time Aguero is at home he will be captain I expect.
Youll notice there’s no Arsenal player. With Koscielny, Giroud, Ozil and Ramsey all potentially missing at least the first game after the Euro’s I decided to swerve them.
Thats it. Hope it was food for thought if nothing else. Hope you enjoyed doing your team
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