Here’s last seasons FFGeek contributor Scott Hargadon (aka Cesspool) with his FPL team and strategy. Scott finished with an OR of 70k last season and 21k in 16/17
FFGeek contributor Scott Hargadon (aka Cesspool) discusses his FPL team and strategy
Overall Strategy
I believe in a balanced squad with a minimum of two excellent attackers who can be counted as captain choices in almost every game week and at least one player who can be an occasional captain pick for an easy home fixture. I also believe that defenders, who cost less than mids and forwards, but return more points per million of costs are worth the money. I will allocate my preliminary budget as follows:
GK 5.5/4.0 or 4.5/4.5
DEF 6.0 6.0 5.5 4.5 4.0
MID 13.0 (Salah) 9.5 (Mané) 6.5 6.5 4.5
FWD 11.0 (Aguero) 7.0 4.5
The players noted are the ones I know I must have.
The most important consideration in the initial drafting of players is to minimise risk. Own, if you can, players that have high ownership and captain probability for the first few weeks; make sure you have players who are starting (other than a £4.0m backup goalkeeper); and try to avoid rotation players if you can, although that is harder and harder with every year. Try to establish roster spots with a certain budget where you can flexibly swap out a player if you need to.
For example, unlike last year, there are a number of decent forward choices at around 7.0: Zaha, Arnautovic, Josh King, Mitrovic or even Iheanacho may turn out to be wise choices. If you pick one of these players, you know you can have an exit strategy without having to use two transfers, particularly if you have saved .5 in the bank for flexibility. The same situation applies for Aubameyang and Aguero, Richarlison and Jota and many others.
So who are my choices? I will finalise the roster late Thursday U.S. time, but for now this group is looking solid, risk averse and flexible:
FORWARDS:
Aguero (£11.0m).
He appears to be a starter for City for at least a few games. I made the mistake last year of not getting him when he was assured starts during the period in which Jesus was hurt. If he is rotated I will drop him for Aubameyang or even Kane. I worry about Kane though — not only because of August droughts in previous years, but the cumulative effect of him having played so many minutes and having incurred so many injuries the past two seasons.
J. King (£6.5m).
King was injured at the start of last season and did not develop his rhythm until late in the season. Bournemouth have some good early fixtures (CAR, whu, EV, LEI, bur) so he is my choice over Mitrovic (not sure how offensive Fulham will be) and Arnautovic (really bad fixtures). I tentatively plan to bring in Arnautovic later in the year, sooner if he proves he can score against the top teams.
Kamara (£4.5m).
Cheap filler who does not play.
MIDFIELDERS:
Salah (£13.0m).
With 50% ownership, playing on an offensive minded squad now with a better defence, and playing WHU at home in week 1, he was never off my team sheet. I have no expectation he will equal last year’s stats but he still is the most important player in FPL right now.
Mané (£9.5m).
I think Mané will have the chance to have an outstanding year. Defences have to shift to Salah’s side to stop him, which leaves more room for the Senegalese attacker. He also may take penalty kicks for Liverpool because he did twice in preseason.
Richarlison (£6.5m).
Everton has not looked good in preseason, but I have faith in Marco Silva that he can get returns from this young, athletic player. The Toffees’ schedule looks good too. The opening game at Wolves will be an interesting one for FPL players.
Bernardo Silva (£7.5m).
Pep seems to have given him the seal of approval for a start or two. At 7.5, he is one of the cheaper City mids and could prove good short term value. I am also watching Loftus-Cheek to see if he goes to Palace once again; I think he is great value at 5.5 if he plays regularly.
Cairney (£5.0m).
Seems nailed as a starter and could get assists. Stephens (4.5) is the default choice. I was also on Masuaku (4.5) who gets forward a lot and takes corners but his starting place may have been taken back by Cresswell.
DEFENDERS
Robertson (£6.0m).
Cemented his place last season. I expect more clean sheets with a full season of VVD and now Allison. He consistently got forward and made excellent passes and crosses.
Mendy (£6.0m).
Very similar to Robertson. Great crosser of the ball who has excellent speed. Also, I don’t see Fabian Delph offering nearly as much quality.
Luiz (£5.5m)
Surprise defender of the season. Looks to be starter at CB in a four back set. Consistently started every preseason game and praised by Sarri. Having a defender on the team with Kanté and Jorginho ahead of him can’t be all bad, even if Chelsea are a work in progress at this early stage.
Cedric (£4.5m)
As a wingback, he consistently gets forward and involved offensively. I thought his play for Portugal showed his quality. Now it is up to Mark Hughes to harness it.
Wan-Bissaka (£4.0m).
We have been told that he has beaten out Joel Ward for the right back slot. If he does, his £4.0m salary is a gift given Palace’s early fixtures. Might upgrade here to Tompkins for security of starts but not sure yet.
KEEPERS.
DeGea (£6.0m).
Another high ownership player. I think it is smart to have at least one United defender to cover DeGea’s high ownership. Do I want to spend 6.0 for a keeper? No. I had Ederson in for a while but having a City double up on defence felt too risky. Plus, the United back four seems very unsettled and Bailly has a knock. Better to see if cheaper alternatives present themselves later. I am hoping eventually to get the new Chelsea keeper Arrizabalaga for £5.5m and pick up a United defender for £5.5m in lieu of Luiz; I don’t think Luiz will get many bonus points.
Hamer (4.0m)
Only £4.0m GK to start week one. Will be replaced later by a £4.5m if I can afford it.
£99.5m spent and £0.5m in the bank. Ready to go – but given all the player movement rumours, I expect to make a change or two prior to Friday.
Here’s how it looks:
Here is the latest draft of the FFGeek FPL team
And some of the FFGeek contributors teams in FPL
17th overall finisher Prakhar Patels team
top 1k finisher Andrew Ferguson’s team and thoughts
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