Here’s some thoughts on structuring your team for the fantasy premier league 2016/17 season. It’s fairly short and basic article so please excuse it if it’s a statement of the obvious. I just thought it was worth going over again before the FPL site opens.
fantasy premier league tips – some thoughts on team structure
So in this I’ve not just put forward my own thoughts but also what I’ve learnt from the top 10 FPL managers I follow. If you don’t follow our website these are 10 top FPL managers who prior to last year had never finished outside the top 10k in the 3 years prior. Last year was tough but 5/10 still finished in the top 10k and the average finishing position was 20k. The top finish 1,400 the worst 60k
Formation
At the risk of starting from the very basics, obviously you have to field 11 players made up of 2 GKs, 5 defenders 5 midfielders and 3 forwards.
Generally the formation most of the top fantasy premier league managers used was 3-4-3. If you look the amount of minutes that it takes the different positions to earn a fantasy premier league point then the defence is disadvantaged.
Here’s some thoughts on the different positions:
Goalkeeper
There are 3 choices here in my mind:
- A premium GK from the likes of Man Utd, Arsenal, Man City etc
- 2 home and away rotating cheap GKs
- A cheap GK with the teams reserve GK
Premium option
This is the leave it and don’t worry option. Last season Arsenal and Man Utd got 18 clean sheets apiece. Outside the top 4 the next best total was Southampton with 12. Unfortunately with the premium GK save and bonus points you generally don’t get and often these GKs, despite clean sheets, aren’t the top point scorers
The other difficulty here is that ideally you would want a £4.0m reserve to avoid overspending in defence. Finding playing GKs at this price or the reserve to the premium GK isn’t easy. So any injury means a transfer. In addition we are starting to see strong reserves. Last year for example, Ospina at Arsenal and Caballero at Man City. This means that even GKs can be rotated in the premier league and are far more likely to lose their place than in the past meaning the GK position could become even more expensive if you have to put a £4.5m reserve in place.
2 rotating cheap GKs
The idea is that you pick 2 GKs who rotate their home and away games. For example for geographical policing reasons last season Newcastle and Sunderland rotated home and away perfectly.
The theory behind 2 keepers who you rotate for their home games is simple. Last year there were 123 home clean sheets vs 92 away clean sheets.
Last season rotating Newcastle and Sunderland GKs for their respective home matches would have got you 10 clean sheets. That’s not the full story though as the cheap keepers will get more save points and bonus points.
It will also save you precious cash. A premium GK will probably cost £6.0m. Add to that a £4.0m GK and you have an outlay of £10.0m. 2 rotating GKs should be at no more than £4.5m each making a total cost of £9.0m
The cheap GK and their reserve
This is for the real cheapskates. The ideal is to get a £4.5m GK and use the same teams reserve (hopefully £4.0m). If you went for Gomes of Watford last season then you would have got 11 clean sheets home and away. 1 more than the Sunderland/Newcastle rotation.
This was more popular last season based on the fact that even if you lose save points will come your way. There was the odd side such as WBA and Everton that got more clean sheets away than at home but they were the exception.
What it did do though is save you money and mean no points left on the bench, something I hate
I’ll probably make my decision based on value and the options available rather than have any pre-conceived notion now.
Defences
Assuming you’re playing 3-4-3 then in my mind there are 2 basic choices.
1 premium defender and 2 rotating pairs
Play 1 premium defender from a top 4 challenging team and then have 2 pairs of home and away rotating players. That choice would probably be from Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal or Chelsea.
Then it’s a case of getting 2 rotating cheap players. You should be aiming for £4.5m x 2 if possible with teams that dovetail home and away as close as possible.
2 premium defenders and a 3 way rotation
The next option would be to play 2 top 4 challenging premium defenders and then rotate the other 3 depending on the fixture. Again 2 from the above would be my 2 choices for premium and then pick 3 defenders. Here you can try and design a rotating 3 man defence that gives the best fixtures or just pick the 3 teams you think will perform best defensively for no more than £4.5m and make sure that at least 1 plays at home every week.
My preference is definitely for 2 premium defenders but again that may depend on options available.
Midfield
3 choices here assuming 3-4-3
- 4 midfielders and a £4.5m reserve
- 3 midfielders and 2 rotating midfielders for the 4th spot (£5.0m ish each)
- 5 midfielders and make a choice each week
The first makes it nice and easy and maximises your cash on the field rather than on the bench which is my objective not only for midfield but also defence. It also minimises those bench points that are so annoying. You want to choose someone gametime secure as the objective is to fill in for the unexpected hole in your team with 2 safe points rather than be a real contributor
The 2nd can save you cash for the 2 positions overall but relies on their being players who can contribute points rather than just being glorified 2 pointers
The 3rd gives you potentially points in all 5 positions meaning players suddenly being injured or rotated are of less consequence. It is more expensive though and leads to points on the bench. It was quite popular at times last season with the top 10 managers but did lead to the saying “never bench Mahrez” on various forums after some benching disasters with him.
Personally I prefer the first option. I’m generally not cash rich enough to have 5 proper midfielders and dislike points being on then bench.
Forwards
There’s no strategy here for me in terms of structure as I personally would never bench a striker. The choice then is very player and value specific. As the player most likely to score they are often the most likely to be your captain
There are some managers who have a cheap forward and a cheap midfielder and rotate those 2 but I’m not a fan
Thats it. Hope you found it useful if fairly obvious information before the site opens
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