Given that the Sterling Man City saga finally seems over it seems a good time to put a picture of him to remember that a few years ago he was a £4.5m success story. Those days seem over and nowdays a 5th midfielder with good gametime prospects and some attacking potential is enough to seal the deal. Apologies to Liverpool fans btw who don’t want to see him in a Liverpool strip.
However the “all out attack” chip has raised the spectre of the 5th midfielder as maybe someone who warrants more investment I’m still looking at the 5th midfielder as the cheapest as possible. Is a one off chip worth carrying more value on the bench? Will a George Boyd of last season appear later in the year anyway so no need to start GW1 with a more expensive 5th midfielder. These are decisions every FPL manager will have to make. I’m probably starting with a £4.5m mid at the moment as a one off chip doesn’t seem worth the investment.
fantasy premier league best cheap midfielders – a look at the £4.5m midfielders
The all out attack chip which allows you to play 2-5-3 on a one off gameweek puts more focus on our 5th midfielder. Most FPL managers seem to be looking at the 5th midfielder as something other than a 2 point bench warmer where gametime security is the only criteria. Some are even thinking of a rotating 4th and 5th midfielder. Others are thinking of investing more cash on the 5th midfielder. I’m not convinced for a one off chip myself and at the moment will probably go for a £4.5m midfielder. Here’s a table to compare them statistically.
I’ve put them in order of FPL points per game. The table has the following columns:
Player – the player in order of FPL points per game. I’ve included everyone unless they have no gametime prospects. That will give us a focus for pre-season lineups
G/A/YCs – Goals Assists Yellow Cards
MP FPL – Minutes per FPL point (the lower the better) in 14/15. The newly promoted team players may have stats from previous seasons
MP G/A – Minutes per goal or assist (the lower the better) in 14/15
Obviously the newly promoted teams players wont have 14/15 stats in FPL so I’ve used their previous season stats in FPL if applicable. Otherwise they will only have the MP G/A column
£4.5m Mids | ||||
Player | G/A/YCs | MP FPL | MP G/A | |
Wanyama | 3/1/10 | 30 mins | 590 mins | |
Obertan | 1/1/0 | 21 mins | 326 mins | |
King | 2/1/1 | 24 mins | 459 mins | |
Flamini | 1/2/3 | 29 mins | 487 mins | |
Tiote | 0/2/5 | 39 mins | 448 mins | |
Fletcher | 1/0/3 | 31 mins | 1719 mins | |
Bentaleb | 0/2/8 | 40 mins | 1097 mins | |
Westwood | 0/1/4 | 39 mins | 2149 mins | |
Whelan | 0/0/6 | 40 mins | – | |
Coquelin | 0/0/5 | 37 mins | – | |
Barry | 0/2/10 | 43 mins | 1411 mins | |
Anya(WAT) | 0/7/0 | 352 mins | ||
Watson (WAT) | 0/2/3 | 19 mins | 821 mins | |
Surman (BOU) | 3/6/4 | 39 mins | 399 mins | |
Tetty (NOR) | 2/1/13 | 32 mins | 1075 mins | |
Well certainly fairly slim pickings.
If you’re only interested in gametime security and not returns then CDM’s Wanyama of Southampton and Fletcher of WBA should be guaranteed starters. Neither offer much in the way of points and are not ideal for the all out attack chip. They could be a safe placeholder while you wait to see if anything else emerges or if your 5th midfield strategy changes due to circumstances later on.
If you’re trying to find someone with better returns then only Obertan, King, Flamini and Watson had FPL (or have had in the case of Watson) returns below 30 minutes per FPL point. Anya at Watford and Surman at Bournemouth also had ok returns in the Championship last season. Lets look at them:
Obertan
The Newcastle right winger wasn’t in the squad in the last 4 games of the season and by no means a regular pick. A new manager gives everyone a chance but it looks rather unlikely he will have anything like enough gametime security to be considered.
King
The Leicester CM/DM was very in and out of the team last season although ended the season mainly starting. A new manager nicknamed the “tinkerman” due to his penchant for rotation hardly helps the confidence level.
Flamini
Ended the season as an unused substitute in 6 of the last 7 games so no gametime security and the emergence of Coquelin cements that problem.
Anya
The Watford versatile mainly left sided midfielder/winger had reasonable returns last season but gametime security was a little mixed with alot of sub appearances. Has a new manager which puts more risk over gametime especially as he’s started pre-season as a fullback. Gamtime does look under threat
Watson
The Watford CM/DM was a fixture in the side for the most part of the season and started the last 27 games. However the purchase of Capoue and Behrami really has put his gametime at risk. Last season his returns were pretty ordinary. On limited minutes in 12/13 with Wigan in the premier league his returns were very good. Gametime looks very uncertain though
Surman
The Bournemouth CM started every game since GW6 in the Championship last season. Mainly in the 2 of 4-2-3-1 so not the most attacking position to start with. However his returns were good. The 12/13 season returns in the premier league were only based on 270 minutes. The season before saw alot more gametime and saw a far better FPL return of a point every 25 minutes. At the moment gametime prospects looks good.
Summary
All the players above with reasonable returns, except maybe Surman, have gametime risk and only pre-season will be able to see if they are still real or not. Surman is probably my 5th midfielder of choice at the moment.
Preseason though is key so keep following our articles.
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