Here’s the sixth in a series of fantasy premier league articles where we look at each clubs most disappointing FPL player so far this season and see whether they can rebound this or next season. Hopefully it will identify some value players for this or next season. In this article we’ve looked at Manchester City and Manchester United.
fantasy premier league – Each clubs disappointments and can they rebound? – part 6
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Manchester City – Raheem Sterling £11.7m
In 17/18 the Man City midfielder got as close to the 20 goals and 20 assists “double double double double” as anyone probably will ever with 18 goals and 17 assists. When you go someway to repeating that in 18/19 with 17 goals and 15 assists then you go into 19/20 with huge expectations.
If you then start 19/20 off with a hat trick and then score in the next 2 games the expectation reaches sky high levels.
After those first 3 gameweeks he then went on to return in only 4 of 13 games with only 1 double figure point haul. Since gameweek 20 he’s not got more than 3 points in a gameweek and has only started 4 games.
If you ignore all the detail above the major point is that when your last to PPM’s were 6.9 then to be on 4.9 as Sterling is now is a major disappointment.
Looking at his underlying stats though the picture isn’t quite as negative. His current position is mainly down to underperforming what are excellent underlying stats. In our last midfield player rankings article he is 2nd in underlying stats over the season to Salah. No mean feat. There are negatives though. In the 10 gameweeks prior to the rankings he was 10th in underlying stats and he has got a bit of a checkered history in meeting his underlying stats.
Personally I still think the quality is there and he will come back. The problem is for £11.7m you don’t want to have to rely on hope for any aspect you want guaranteed results.
Manchester United – Paul Pogba 8.3m
It’s a bit harsh to judge someone on 5 starts this season but I guess that alone makes him a disappointment this season. On the face of it his PPM dropped significantly but his underlying numbers weren’t too disastrous although leaning more to the creative side.
Pogba last season relied heavily on penalties with 7 of his 13 goals resulting from penalties. That responsibility must be in doubt with Bruno Fernandes taking them and having a good record previously with Sporting.
His position is also an unknown. Will he stay as a CM or move further forward. That becomes doubtful when Rashford is fit now that Bruno Fernandes is at the club. Man Utd are also looking for a right sided attacker, Sancho being the dream option. That would lock Pogba out of the attacking 3 of 4-2-3-1. How effective he would be as an FPL asset as a CM without penalties is questionable. Certainly the last 2 seasons underlying stats don’t suggest he would be. He would have to get back to 17/18 levels which is possible as most games were as a CM. It’s just hard to see why you would take that risk with Pogba with other more attractive United options. Next season would have to see an unlikely big price drop to entertain the thought.
I outline my FPL strategy along with 10 other FFGeek contributors in our new EBook.
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Best fixtures to the end of the season defenders
A deep dive on the 10 top FPL managers stats
Andrew Whitfield gradual wildcard
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