Here’s our FPL GW24 Wildcard article sees FFGeek Contributor Andrew Whitfield activating his wildcard. He gives his reasoning for doing so and talks through the players in his latest draft
FPL GW24 Wildcard – FFGeek Contributor Andrew Whitfield activates his wildcard
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Andrew Whitfield
Andrew’s last 4 seasons overall ranks were 34k, 132k, 6k and 19k
GW23 points so far: 24 (FPL average 30) Total points: 1,388, Overall Rank: 163k, red arrow: 23k Team Value: £104.6m
Andrew has used 1 Free Hit Chip
Gameweek 23 review:
Well what a strange gameweek. Fifteen days long. It started with Watford and is due to end with Watford, who sacked their manager in between their two games !! We had a game halted with floodlight failure and another halted by a low flying drone !! And the most popular captain of the gameweek scored minus points after being sent off in the first game of a double gameweek and missed the second !!
Runaway leaders Man City dropped points so offered a chink of hope to Liverpool and Chelsea who both took advantage and won. Man Utd left it to the 93rd minute but won too. Newcastle and Norwich both had surprise away wins. And Burnley finally stepped on to a football pitch and played their first league game for 21 days.
My GW23 score and rank:
Firstly here’s the points from GW23
I still have Foster and King to play in the long awaited final game on Saturday. Prior to that, I have just two current “returners” in Jota and Rudiger in what has been an underwhelming and disappointing gameweek for many managers. So I am not alone in what has been a tough one for sure.
The fact that the 16 players rated mostly likely to score this gameweek all didn’t, shows exactly what sort of a gameweek it was.
Just 24 points so far which has me on a red arrow from 140k to 163k so definitely not where I wanted to be in a gameweek where I honestly thought I had my strongest starting eleven all season !! A clean sheet for Foster and an attacking return from King could still just about pull a green arrow out of the bag. But that’s a big “if”.
My GW23 talking points:
I went into the gameweek with optimism high. Some very favourable match ups. And three players including my captain on a double gameweek against Norwich and Burnley. It just shows that it doesn’t pay to get too optimistic in this game !! Raphinha v Newcastle, Foden and Cancelo v Southampton, Ronaldo v Westham, Trent v Palace, the in form Bowen. They all came up short.
As a manager already tripled up on three Hornets 🐝 🐝 🐝, the favourable double gameweek for Watford fell nicely into my lap. Previously, my Watford attacking double up was a decent differential. But with the double announced, many other managers jumped on board too. And what an eventful one it was in that opening Norwich game. My keeper picked up Covid and missed the first game and my captain was sent off, ruling him out of the second game. With optimism high, my three Hornets including my captain scored precisely zero at home to Norwich !!
It was a close call for choice of captaincy . King had not scored since November ( six games ) so I went for the more recent form of Dennis. At my rank level, King had an “effective ownership” including captaincy of 58%, and Dennis 120%. Having held both for a few weeks, I didn’t want the returns of one of my Hornets to damage my rank. I wanted to enjoy a boost from the returns of both. So the captain call on Dennis backfired and I got half the points from King compared to many and minus points from Dennis. I stand by Dennis as the right choice. FPL variance eh.
I have been playing a game of chicken with Rudiger and the more highly owned and more attacking Alonso for a few weeks. So for Rudiger to win the duel 7-1 was a nice way to leave this one ahead of me shedding the Chelsea defender ahead of him missing three of the next four weeks. Even Mr Alonso did me a favour by stepping on to the field in the closing stages, thereby blocking a few tasty bench points for rival managers. It was nice to end this particular battle with the upper hand.
But that was as good as it got as all my other players apart from Jota all fluffed their lines in great looking fixtures.
Let’s see what Foster and King can do on Saturday……
So what next:
I have two free transfers and just over 4M in the bank which is there as part of my Salah buy back plan.
My original plan for GW24 was to move Trossard to Salah and Ronaldo to Watkins / Antonio. Ronaldo and Trossard both had GW22 doubles and were two game punts, Ronaldo was just my short term cash cow to cover while Mo was away. Both Trossard and Ronaldo were intended sales this week to fund the return of Salah.
However, with the announcement of Man Utd and Brighton now being the only team to have a GW25 double, that doesn’t look the smartest move now selling two players on upcoming doubles to pick up Antonio who has been away playing three games with Jamaica and has been looking tired, or Watkins who has hardly been proficient in front of goal. And now throw in the fact that Salah is going the distance at Afcon. Those two planned transfers now look very different.
I do however want Mo Salah back. He is undoubtedly the best player in the game and we have had timely reminders of that with his performances for Egypt at Afcon. A quarter final defeat would have sent Salah home with 11 days to spare but victory now means regardless of the semi final result, Mo will play either the final or 3rd place game just four days before the GW24 game v Leicester which must cast doubts on both his starting place as well as his bench place. But Salah is still a player I want back.
My route to Salah was via Ronaldo who I probably now want to keep for a very favourable double with two home games against Southampton and Brighton. I could hold off on Mo now until GW26 and keep hold of Ronaldo instead for his GW25 double. Then make the switch.
Ideally I want both. It’s not easy going without Salah when all my plans were built on his immediate buy back. Especially as Salah probably at least plays Burnley in GW25 when Ronaldo has his double. I could keep both by losing Foden instead which is not appealing when he plays Brentford and Norwich next. That would also involve a points hit too and doesn’t address some problems I have in defence.
I have Livramento currently injured, Rudiger missing three of the next four games with Chelsea involved in the EFL final and away for the World Club championship. I also have Keane who was dropped in his last game. It’s entirely possible he could be restored under new manager Lampard but Everton are without a clean sheet in nine games. It’s also possible though I could be down to just two defenders this week. It’s left me hovering over my wildcard to put my defence in order, particularly as I am wanting both Salah and Ronaldo and Foden too.
I have my eye on Laporte as part of a Man City defence double up, Lucas Digne after an impressive start to his Villa career, and a Wolves defender. If I am trying to juggle Salah, Ronaldo and respond quickly to other inevitable likely double gameweeks, I am going to find it difficult to also fix my defence too.
If Salah is to miss GW24, I could simply keep Ronaldo, use my two free transfers to bring in Laporte and Digne and put a decent team out. But I know I want Salah back by GW25 when I also want Ronaldo for his attractive looking double. It’s either that or just leave Mo until GW26. Although you can bank on other transfers being needed then too. I quite like creating that spot for Mo now.
Wildcard thoughts:
It’s not an obvious wildcard situation. However, by wildcarding now, I can get Salah back immediately, I can keep Ronaldo for the Man Utd GW25 double, and keep hold of a Man City attacker for the next two fixtures in particular. I can also fix my three defensive problems and get in Laporte, Digne and a Wolves defender. I can also reduce my two Watford attackers down from two to one in what could be a less attacking team under Hodgson. It ticks all my immediate boxes.
So I have hit the button and my wildcard is active !!!!!!
If Salah had exited at the quarter final stage, the wildcard would have looked a lot stronger. If he had come home with 11 days to spare, everyone would have been in panic mode scrambling for Mo, and not many would have been able to accommodate him and a United attacker and a City attacker too. I was perhaps a bit too trigger happy on reflection with Mo going the distance perhaps reducing the strength of my wildcard hand.
So it’s disappointing Salah is going deep in the competition. However, I have a structure in place that now includes Salah or a place holder for one week and I can attack the United double too, knowing that Salah is available, either in GW24 or GW25.
The question with my wildcard is what if Salah misses GW24. I could keep him there and use my bench, or I could bring in Bruno Fernandes as a Salah placeholder. In the event that Salah also misses GW25, I would then have both Ronaldo and Bruno in place for the double. That’s not a bad back up plan. If Salah is back for GW25, that could create quite a dilemma if Bruno comes in GW24 and then sits on a double instead. I may be tempted to keep him.
I quite like De Bruyne as a potential GW24 place holder if Salah misses out. A one week punt v Brentford looks tempting. It’s also a very good captain shout. My issue with it is I am proposing to double up on Cancelo and Laporte as well as Foden. But if Laporte or Foden don’t make the final cut, then KDB v Brentford on a one week punt looks very nice.
In some ways, it feels like I am wildcarding just to take advantage of the United double as I already had a Salah buyback plan in place. And let’s face it, there are going to be many other doubles that jump out too. But it is an opportunity to fix my defence too, bring in some useful enablers and try to get some momentum at a time when I seem to be drifting backwards.
After sitting in a very lofty position of 30k in GW12, I have had eight red arrows in eleven weeks and part of me feels like I want to get on the front foot and get some momentum going and start the fight back now. A wildcard now would give me that. That’s probably tipped the balance and pushed me. Whether or not I will regret it later we will see.
My alternative wildcard plan was GW28. I can see GW27 on the horizon where Arsenal, Leicester, Chelsea and Liverpool don’t play due to the EFL final. I will be benching my three Liverpool players which means I have to avoid the other three teams to put 11 players out in GW27. They all have good fixture swings from GW28 and doubles to come. A GW28 wildcard looks optimum.
For those with two free hits left, a GW27 free hit looks very appealing. I am one free hit down so don’t have that luxury. I think the big blank GW30 looks my prime free hit time of past seasons are repeated and we end up with only 4-5 games. I feel like I need to keep my free hit back for GW30.
Maybe because I am one free hit down, my wildcard would have been better played in GW28. Time will tell. But I simply want to revive my season and try turn my season around.
I could delay my wildcard until GW28 which allows me to then jump on Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester fixture swings who also all have multiple doubles. That’s quite attractive. If I wildcard now, those options become much more difficult. But by then I may be further back, especially if I am conceding ground to GW27 free hitters.
What’s not appealing is sitting on my defensive issues, treading water, missing out on some immediate opportunities and then being hit by GW27 free hitters. There is every chance I may be further back by GW28. I feel like a wildcard now gives me the best chance to get on the front foot give me the momentum I need.
So what does my wildcard team look like:
Players out –
Rudiger
Livramento
Keane
Trossard
Raphinha
Dennis
Players in –
Laporte
Digne
Ait Nouri
Salah
Ramsay
Broja
Here is my latest draft:
My ideal keeper double up would possibly be Ramsdale and Sanchez who both have multiple doubles and play for solid defences. But funds are restricting that. I am currently on De Gea who has Burnley next and then a double gameweek and good fixtures to follow. He seems a magnet for save points and can rack up a good score even if conceding. United have no more scheduled doubles after GW25 and Ramsdale has three. He is a tempter. Foster has three doubles to fit in yet.
In defence, Trent and Cancelo are set and forget. I am keen to double up on the best defence in the league and pair up Cancelo with Laporte. He has started the last nine fixtures and returned in each of the last eight !! Any striker would be proud of that. City don’t have any outstanding doubles which is a concern so he might be switched out for a doubler later. Digne completes what should be a set and forget back four in the short term. Ait Nouri is a cheap but attacking route into a very solid Wolves defence.
I have brought Mo Salah back in but all eyes will be on the likelihood of him starting GW24. I might need a GW24 place holder. Jota is in despite the increased rotation threat with Mo and Mane returning and the signing of Luis Diaz. I get the case for Robertson as that 3rd Liverpool player over Jota. But Jota is 92% owned in the top 10k and that’s outside my comfort zone to take on that level of template despite the obvious attraction of Robertson. Foden is my route into the prolific City attack who can win games 5-0, 6-0 at will. Ramsay is a great value budget enabler.
Ronaldo has a very attractive double gameweek in GW25, Southampton and Brighton both at home. He also provides a great price point to switch to Kane who has three outstanding doubles to come. That is a big hook for that price point and ease of move to Kane who when at his best, is the best striker in the league. I am keeping King from my Watford pair as he has three outstanding doubles and he can rotate with budget enabler Broja who has impressed for his price.
I can see King, Broja, Ramsay and Ait Nouri all competing for that “11th spot”
Still plenty to ponder. There is also the weekend FA cup ties to influence matters, as well as potential international injuries and the possibility of GW26 double gameweek announcements too so a long way from being set in stone.
I will update my final team on my Twitter account prior to the deadline
Here is how I am currently set up. The delayed return of Salah will likely take the armband away from him, bringing Foden, Jota, Bowen or Ronaldo all into the equation. A very tricky captain call this week.
I hope you enjoy the rest of the break and good luck for the upcoming gameweek
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