Here’s another article where 4 FFGeek Contributors show their Fantasy Premier League GW23 teams. There’s Andrew Whitfield, Costas Chari, Kev in Canada and Rob Cosgrove
Fantasy Premier League GW23 teams – 4 FFGeek Contributors teams part 2
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Introduction
This is part 2 of the FPL managers who contribute to the FFGeek site with good histories who show their teams each week. This will give people a feel for what other managers are doing. It’s a fairly informal thing with no obligation on anyone and these teams may change at anytime before the deadline without further notice. It won’t cover transfers in real time either. It’s just to give an idea of the trends for the week no more. The teams are shown as their “final-ish” teams so they could change. Where they have twitter accounts I have shown this and they may update them there or on our Slack Channel which is part of our subscription Patreon site but this is not guaranteed
See part 1 of the FFGeek Contributors teams here
Andrew Whitfield
Andrew finished with an overall rank of 132k last season and 6k in 18/19 and 19k in 17/18
GW22 points: 82 (FPL average 57) Total points: 1,389, Overall Rank: 65k, green arrow: 11k Team Value: £104.8m
Andrew has used his Free Hit Chip and Triple Captain Chip
Follow Andrew on twitter here
– Well plenty of drama in the midweek gameweek with Man Utd scoring NINE goals, Southampton and Arsenal finishing their games with nine men, some very contentious VAR decisions, plus Liverpool slipped up at home again, foiling the most popular captain !!
– It’s not been a good spell for the FPL community’s Captain poll favourites, with Bruno Fernandes blanking two weeks ago when a runaway leader, last weeks left sided Gundogan bandwagon went down and this week Salah followed his West Ham double with an Anfield blank. Probably best just to give it to Jonjo Shelvey then this week !!
My GW22 score and rank:
– 82 points, with 8 returning players is a solid week. James Justin the star of the show. 11 bonus points courtesy of Justin, Bruno, Calvert-Lewin and Gundogan put a healthy glow on the week. A captain blank wasn’t too punishing with Salah being the popular shout. Yes Mr Soucek did his usual from first sub. But happy with the week.
– Very pleased with another green arrow of 11k, up from 76k to 65k this week. That’s now 14 green arrows in the last 16 weeks so it’s definitely going in the right direction and inside the top 1% after 22 weeks is a good place to be.
My GW22 talking points:
– I am not going to beat myself up over a captain blank for Mo Salah. He was a very solid pick after his haul at West Ham, although ultimately he came up against a Brighton defence on a run of four successive clean sheets compared to a woeful Southampton team that collapsed in spectacular fashion, handing Bruno a late flurry of points. That early red card was obviously a very big factor in TWELVE United players landing a return, as well as a bizarre VAR offside call which preserved the clean sheet. Not helpful when I had only one United player in a nine goal fest !!
– My high score was definitely built on the Justin clean sheet. I had been very tempted to switch him to Robertson so very glad I decided to stick and not twist. My three way defender rotation with Justin, Dallas and Coufal to take the 3rd spot alongside Dias and Cancelo, has proved very profitable, using the best fixture of the rotating trio. Justin has been one of the success stories of my season. The gift that keeps on giving.
– My Man City trio all returned, with Pep being kind to FPL managers after the previous weeks carnage. That city defensive double up is looking “essential”, with Cancelo a constant attacking threat. Gundogan put his captaincy blank behind him and was very impressive at Burnley, on another day he could have walked away with two goals and four assists !! With his price tag, he looks like he can match both Sterling and De Bruyne and free up an extra 6M in cash. Frustrating Man City are not getting penalties when Gundogan is probably on them. And Bruno gets one every game. Just saying !!
– A full set of returns from my strike force, with Watkins delivering on his recent promise and Calvert-Lewin justifying my transfer in last week. He could easily have notched a double after missing a late chance when clean through. His first goal in nine games which doesn’t exactly match the hype of recent inbound transfers . I see Calvert-Lewin as a placeholder. Initially for Harry Kane’s return but that might now be for Danny Ings in GW25 after the latest additional doubles announced. Calvert Lewin has a double gameweek in GW24 but it looks a good plan to move him to Ings who has a nice double in GW25.
– For the 3rd successive week, Heung Min Son had the honour of going last, to put a cherry on my gameweek. After blanking against Liverpool and Brighton, Son continued to struggle without the customary Harry Kane slide rule killer passes. So three last game disappointments for Son and missed opportunities to put jam on my crumpets in the last game. It’s going to take a brave man though to go without him v West Brom next when he could be a strong captain contender.
So what next:
– I have two free transfers, after rolling last week, and enough cash to sink a battle ship, a legacy of my Kane sale after his injury. Well 3.8M to be exact. My intention was not to spend the cash so I have an easy route back to Kane, but that is likely to now change with the announcement of extra double gameweek fixtures, the loss of form for Spurs, Kane’s ownership down to just 18% and the chance to spread the cash for better overall gain !!
– I would strongly advise having TWO transfers available for GW24 as by then we will know more about the double GW26 line up and blank GW29 line up, after the upcoming midweek FA cup ties. I am already holding two this week, so I can use one this week and still have two next week which looks the best way to go.
– My style of play revolves around owning a core of “template” players, based on my own definition of the template, taking the most highly owned players amongst my fellow contributors, as well as 20 Elite managers that I follow. My slight variances to that have seen me take on Robertson with my rotating third defender and taking on Grealish with Son, both of which I am happy with and have worked well. I have also held Watkins over Antonio and held my own, so I do like to take on the template in a moderate way. However, I currently have one glaring differential which takes me well out of my template definition comfort zone and I am going to fix it this week.
– Ollie Watkins has been looking very good with 3 returns in his last 4 games and doesn’t scream out “sell”. But Antonio has 4 returns in his last 5, has been very impressive on the eye and has Fulham and Sheff Utd next, and he sits in a very high percentage of the managers I follow, and I don’t own him. He is also a strong captain contender this week. I am making the switch this week, from Watkins, to pair Antonio up with Bamford and Calvert Lewin.
– Soucek continues to kill me from first sub, with recent returns of 10, 11 , 15 and 9, only one of which I benefited from. I just can’t fit him in my starting eleven unless I drop one of my three strikers, so I will just have to accept the benching pain when it happens. I can get Soucek out of my hair and switch him to Grealish for a great looking 352, which covers the loss of Watkins and keeps a villa attacker, but it only intensifies the benching dilemmas in my front seven. But Soucek to Grealish is a tempting transfer.
– The fact is we will know a lot more after the midweek cup ties, so carrying two transfers into next week will be a strong place to be.
– The announcement of an attractive double gameweek for Burnley in GW24 means I will probably abandon my plans to get Kane back, and spread the cash around to get Pope in alongside Martinez. I could even bring in Pope this week v Brighton. If not, I will bring him in for the double gameweek in GW25.
– I am still undecided about the bench boost or wildcard. Without a free hit to navigate GW29, I am concerned about putting 15 doublers out in GW26 and not having anywhere near a full team for blank GW29. My current thinking is to put 11 doublers out in GW26 which is easy enough to do in free transfers. I am there already. Not bench boost. Have four single game players and get that up to a workable 8 or 9 players for GW29. Maybe then wildcard in GW30. I might bench boost elsewhere if it makes GW29 easier. But without sight of the make up of GW26 or GW29, we just don’t know. If I can bench boost a full squad of doublers in GW26 then great, but without a free hit, I can only see that screwing up GW29. We will see.
Lots to think about !!!!!
What about GW23:
– There are some interesting decisions to be made, with Liverpool playing Man City !! I have seen a lot of people benching one or both of their city defenders. My own view is that if Liverpool have failed to score in their last three home games including failing to break down both Burnley and Brighton, how easy are they going to find it to breach a Man City defence that have conceded just 2 goals in 15 games !! Very often the clashes of top teams are defensive affairs. I am playing both Dias and Cancelo.
– I have also seen a lot of people looking to bench Salah which sounds like madness. If anyone can breach that defence then Mo Salah can !! A few are going to play Salah Hokey Cokey to bring in Son v West Brom. I already own Son. What if Son hauls as “expected”, it won’t be easy to get Salah back, especially if other fires break out. Mo salah is in my starting eleven as well as my city defenders. Just keep it simple and play your best players. Don’t bench them.
– Dallas wins the battle for my third defender spot v Crystal Palace. It’s a very close call with coufal v Fulham, and last weeks hero Justin probably at third sub !! I could see all three returning !!
– I probably won’t be benching Calvert Lewin either at Man Utd, despite the ongoing threat of mr Soucek !! But that’s another close call too !!
– Such are the potential points off my bench this week, I haven’t yet ruled out getting a second keeper and bench boosting !! I can see 20 points off my bench. It would also mean if I don’t bench boost in GW26, I can make an easier transition from GW26 to the players I need in blank GW29. It’s a perfectly valid strategy. We have seen how many points people have left on benches recently. Soucek, Justin, Coufal and the Brighton or Burnley keeper. How many points is that ??
– Captain will be between Son v West Brom or Bruno v Everton and i will be keeping an eye on the polls. I am currently on Bruno after the lacklustre performances from Spurs recently.
Transfer summary:
Watkins to Antonio.
Here’s the team prior to any transfer being made. Assume Watkins is Antonio
Good luck everyone !!!
Costas Chari
Costas’s last 4 seasons overall ranks were 17k, 84k, 29k and 27k
GW22 points: 77 (FPL average 57) Total points: 1,324, Overall Rank: 226k, green arrow: 8k Team Value: £104.3m
Costas has used his Triple Captain Chip
Follow Costas on twitter here
Slight green but a green is a green! Captain pick was good as well so overall a good gameweek!!!
This is the make or break point in the season now. Double and blank gameweeks coming up and loads of planning! At the moment as there is no clear view of the doublegw26 teams I am holding my transfer as I want to spare my wildcard and BB in 26 without using it. FH in gw29 looks certain as well. The wildcard can come in handy around gw32 and give me an edge.
I toyed with Coufal to Dallas as he has palace next and a double in gw25 (good double as well) but I still haven’t made my mind up yet. Ill tweet if i do it. Sanchez and Dunk are also options for dgw26 of they get a double as they also have good games in the built up.
If west ham had a double in gw26 I would have changed Werner to Antonio but he will have to stay. He has good fixtures and he is an easy switch to Kane in gw26. Spurs have great fixtures there
Captain will be Son regardless of form he plays the worse team in the league.
Transfer summary: to be confirmed
Here’s the team with no transfer made
Kev in Canada
Kev finished 48k last season 6k in 18/19 and 195k in 17/18
GW22 points: 68 (FPL average 57) Total points: 1,330, Overall Rank: 309k, red arrow: 46k Team Value: £104.5m
Kev has used his Triple Captain Chip
Follow Kev on twitter here
Listen to Kev on the FFGeek podcast for GW23
Rolling the transfer. Currently playing both MCI Defenders and Gundogan in lineup over Coufal or Soucek. That could change before deadline.
Could swap C off Son to Antonio too. For now, I am hoping Kane comes back early to save Tottenham’s season and Son’s form.
Captain: Son
Vice: Antonio
transfer summary: Carrying over the free transfer
Here’s the team assuming no transfers are made:
Rob Cosgrove
Rob’s last 4 seasons overall rank were 64k, 45k, 40k and 23k
GW22 points: 65 (FPL average 57) Total points: 1,201, Overall Rank: 1,880k, red arrow: 39k Team Value: £103.8m
Rob has used his Free Hit Chip
GW22 review
A decent score but a small red arrow. Salah captain blank was unexpected but everyone was in the same boat so didn’t really matter. My Everton duo of Digne and DCL paid off this week with 14 points combined. I had the Wolves Arsenal game down as 0-0 but the red card changed everything and Holding only got 1 point; he only seems to do well when I bench him! A few more assists thrown in with a Fernandez crazy score and a Son blank.
GW23
Onto this week and a few double gameweeks have been announced at a good time too. I will be targeting these for my transfers before we find out the blank and big double gameweek after the FA cup games next week. Everton and Man City play twice in GW24 along with Burnley and Fulham and I already have 2 Everton and 2 Man City. I don’t like anyone attacking from Burnley or Fulham so won’t be heavily investing there. I do however need to sort out my double up on West Ham defence and I do like the Burnley defence. I have 2 free transfers this week and will use 1 to bring in Pope for Fabianski. A good entry point this week too VS Brighton.
Looking at GW25 and Leeds VS Southampton has been added so they both play twice. I already have Bamford but sold Harrison and Dallas recently which is annoying, so I will be bringing Harrison back at the expense of Tielemans who hasn’t worked out for me. Again, a great entry both to bring him in this week with a home match against a Palace team that might have no Zaha.
Next week I will probably add Dias to my team (finally!) and take Chilwell out for the double as I didn’t want to bring him in this week when they have a tough game against Liverpool.
I have a bench headache this week apart from Chilwell who seems to be dropped. Liverpool always seem to perform well against Man City so currently I have both Cancelo and Gundogan on the bench which could come back to burn me.
Captain I thought was straight forward picking Son but Spurs are badly out of form and West Brom could easily frustrate them (they have drawn away at both Liverpool and Man City this season). On paper this is the easiest fixture in my team and he will be highly captained so I feel my hand is forced to follow suit.
Captain: Son
Transfer summary: Fabianski, Tielemans OUT Pope, Harrison IN
Here’s the team with the transfers made
FFGeek Contributors League
The highlighted FFGeek contributors combined team finished with an overall rank of 52k last season is going ok in 2nd place with total points of 1,428 and an overall rank of 15k. You can follow that team, including live transfers, on our subscription Patreon site.
You can also follow Joe’s transfer planner team which finished with an overall rank of 32k last season currently in 19th place with total points of 1,306 and an overall rank of, 489k.
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