Well I’ve been tinkering most of the afternoon and here’s my first fantasy premier league team selection results. The rather high prices set by FPL have meant I’ve experimented with 3 teams and 3 formations
fantasy premier league team selection – 3 teams 3 formations
The Caveats
The first thing to remember is that were still a month away from GW1 on August 11 and there’s been virtually no pre-season matches yet and the transfer window is in full swing.
The second thing is that the prices the FPL site has set for fantasy premier league selection aren’t exactly friendly so that means somewhere there has to be compromise. Wherever I can I’ve looked for value so some of the players are on gametime watch.
Please take these teams as a starter for 10 and food for thought rather than anything like the finished article as things will change and become clearer over the next month.
The last thing to mention is that I don’t have a fixed plan as to when I’m going to use my first wildcard. Somewhere between gameweek 6 and 10 I would think. The teams I’m putting out reflect this.
The 3-4-3 team
Structure
I talk alot about structure in some detail in my e book a guide to FPL 2017/18 however I haven’t done an article on it yet. 3-4-3 has been the formation of choice for a number of seasons by many successful managers. A typical layout would often be like this:
GKs – 2 cheap rotating GKs
Defence – 2 premium defenders and 3 rotating cheap defenders
Midfield – 1 premium midfielder, 2 mid range and 1 cheapie plus a bench warmer
Forwards – 2 premium plus 1 cheap forward.
The premiums would generally be from the top 7 clubs as well as 1 of the mid range midfielders. The remaining mids and the cheapie forward would have good fixtures coming up.
Captain planning
In my recent captain planning article I identified the early fixtures and the best players to cover the captains required for the early gameweeks. This was to plan ahead and avoid having to change big hitters each week. The 3 players identified as the most consistent but explosive were Aguero, Sanchez and Kane. However with Man Utd having such good fixtures to start with Lukaku became a big draw so I’ve centred the team around these 3 players instead of Aguero/Jesus. It’s worth noting that Sanchez played in the confederation cup final until recently and isn’t on the pre-season tour for Arsenal. I still expect him to front up for GW1 given he’s the manager to all intents and purposes. However it is a monitor.
Those 3 players cover the first 10 gameweeks. As I said above, personally I’m not sure when I’m going to WC. Somewhere between 6 and 10 I imagine.
Goalkeepers
I’ve gone for 2 cheap rotating GKs. In my 2 way rotation article I give 10 examples of 2 team rotation that work well. WBA/Bournemouth is a good one. There is also no £4.5m WBA defender which forces the issue for me.
Defence
I prefer 2 premium attacking defenders who play every week plus a 3 team rotation. Given more cash I would have gone for Alonso and Valencia but at £7.0m and £6.5m that’s impossible.
I’ve stuck with Man Utd but gone for the cheapest option in Lindelof unless the LB position springs a surprise. There’s alot of CB competition but with Rojo a long term injury doubt and Smalling and Jones criticised by Mourinho last season I’m gambling for the moment on the new £30m man. It’s a monitor
I identified Davies in my injuries create opportunities article. Rose is supposed to be back GW2 so it is a gamble and a monitor but Rose was supposed to be back 3 months ago and has a terrible injury history. Worth being on the watch list. He should have been £5.0m but it is what it is and at the moment every penny counts. Therefore, I’ve got him in instead of say Alderweireld at £6.0m
I was then going to go for a 3 team rotation but Southampton showed up well in my fixture ease article and Cedric has such attacking potential at a reasonable £5.0m price that I’ve stuck him in.
I’m then left with 2 players to fill. Burnley/Palace was one of the best 2 team rotation options in my article so that was the choice. There’s only Tomkins and Kelly who are £4.5m so for the moment I’ve stuck in Tomkins. However Palace have today signed a new CB so that’s another monitor.
You can see I’m trying everything to avoid paying over £4.5m for the rotation positions.
Midfield
I’ve talked about Sanchez above. Willian should benefit from the Hazard injury and play behind the striker in the 2 of 3-4-2-1 as a result. Chelsea play in the Community Shield so there will be a late test to that theory. Pedro would have been more secure but he’s £8m. Willian is great value as a Chelsea AM with some set pieces at that price.
Townsend I identified as a possible improver in my 3 players who should improve in 17/18 article. This was mainly due to his fall off a cliff shot accuracy last season compared to previous seasons. However with a new manager he needs to prove himself. In addition to this, his Yosemite Sam approach to shooting is hardly conducive to Ajax style possession football so his place needs monitoring. Palace also have excellent fixtures to start with.
I’m a big fan of Tom Ince and covered him in my Huddersfield focus article. He has excellent goal scoring potential and Huddersfield will need to score.
Carroll at £4.5m has the most bench warming potential of that group although Loftus Cheeks move to Palace also gives him some potential too at £4.5m
Forwards
I’ve talked about Kane and Lukaku above. Austin is a proven premier league goal scorer who also posts excellent underlying stats. He just needs to make the team. He’s come back from a long term injury and doesn’t really have the mobility that the new manager I expect will want to press from the front. He also should have pens given Tadic’s problems last season.
The issues
No Man City player makes me very nervous. Aguero is a great price too at £11.5m. I’m putting that in the too hard box at the moment. However, it woudl also be a joy not to be firing out eye roll emoji’s everytime Pep does something unexpected
Too much gametime risk in the team. However now is the time to have the problem and monitor it
The 4-4-2 team
Comments
So I won’t go into the same detail here.
Similar team although to make the numbers work I had to replace the rotating 2 GKs with Fosters reserve at WBA Myhill at £4.0m.
I got Sane in for Townsend and funded it with the sale of Austin for a non playing forward in Ashley Fletcher of West Ham.
The 4-3-3- team
Comments
So back to the rotating GKs here. Aguero comes in and it’s a top heavy front 3. Thats funded by the sale of Sanchez and having 2 cheapie midfielders. It also means a midfield upgrade to Pedro and Zaha who have more gametime certainty. Does have some captaincy issues but you’ve got enough firepower there against anyone.
Which 1 do I prefer
None really. Prices are too high but I guess that could reward obsessive research. Although I feel like it will end up in excessive procrastination. Things will change as they become clearer over pre-season.
One things certain though is that unless you take lots of hits you’re going to have a lot of games behind the sofa as there’s a limit to how many of the big hitters you can own. With the league becoming more polarised and the top 7 moving away from the rest that may work. However, if you take hits you need them to return. Thats the risk. Hits are often shown as the way to success and a high rank but people tend to ignore the amount of people they don’t see who do them unsuccessfully.
Hope you found that food for thought if nothing else
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