Here’s our article where 5 FFGeek Contributors with their FPL team tips GW5. Each show their GW5 teams. There’s Rick Porter, Rob Reid, Prakhar Patel, Scott Taylor and Stephen Troop. 3 of the Contributors have activated their wildcards
FPL team tips GW5 – 5 FFGeek Contributors teams part 3
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Introduction
This is part 3 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 Also FFGeek GW4 Contributors teams Part 1 and FFGeek GW4 Contributors teams Part 2 There’s also wildcard articles from Costas Chari and Joseph Crilley/Kris O
Rick Porter
Rick’s last 4 seasons overall ranks were 29k, 1k, 30k and 2k.
GW4 points: 60 -4 (FPL average 48) Total points: 229, Overall Rank: 1,082k, green arrow: 64k Team Value: £100.5m
Rick has activated his wildcard
GW4
It was nothing spectacular, but GW4 treated me pretty well despite me opting for the wrong captain choice yet again.
Switching Werner to Ings made no difference as they both blanked, and dropping 4 points for the extra transfer of Mitrovic to Calvert-Lewin ended up with me breaking even. I suppose I should be thankful my last-minute decisions didn’t cost me.
While it’s been far from a terrible start for me, I’ve a nagging feeling that I’ve got off on the wrong foot. I chose to keep money in the bank rather than spending it on proven assets like Vardy and Kane so I could easily move Bruno and De Bruyne into the team over the first few weeks. Not only did I miss out on the points Kane/Vardy would have earned me, but if I’d not saved the cash then the shift from Son to Bruno in GW2 wouldn’t have been possible and I’d have benefitted from Son’s 4 goals as well. Strategically protecting myself against the highly owned Werner was another masterstroke that didn’t pay off in the slightest.
My plans have been sensible and my choices easily justified, but it certainly feels like the managers who have spent less time scheming have fared better so far.
Right now, my reasonable rank feels hugely lucky. Each week I’m being saved by an after-the-whistle penalty or a surprise 12 points from a supposedly injured Newcastle mid who I probably should have benched. No doubt my luck will soon run out. The solution? It‘s Wildcard time…
Is it the right time?
I certainly didn’t need to Wildcard. It’s turning out to be a strange season and I can see why people would argue that it’s still too early. My rank isn’t even that bad. So why now?
Firstly, there’s no right or wrong time to Wildcard. It’s down to the individual manager and what they deem worthwhile. For me it’s mainly to do with being priced out of players I want. I don’t think team value is the most important element of the game, but prices are at their most volatile at the start when more people are still fully engaged. Jumping on and off the right bandwagons at the beginning can sometimes make the rest of the season a little easier. An early Wildcard allows you to take full advantage of the drops and rises at a key moment when form starts to take shape. With players like De Bruyne and Werner dropping and Everton and Spurs assets rising, it feels like one of those moments. This is actually the latest I’ve Wildcarded in 4 years. Last year I hit the button in GW3.
Also, while most things still seem fairly random, we’re seeing some really solid attacking partnerships breaking through. Son and Kane, Calvert-Lewin and Rodriguez… Even over just a few weeks we can see that some teams are looking more consistent while others are still trying to get their players to gel. And we’re quickly learning that in a world of no crowds and a million penalties, even the most reliable defenders can’t be counted on.
The team
If I want to get all the players I want and remove the deadwood before they start costing me then I’ll need to act now while I can still afford them. It may well be an error – this season is far from predictable – but if the scales tip back the other way it’ll be easier to trade down to the lower price-points of those that have dropped than it will be trying to free up the cash in a few weeks’ time for a 9.5m Son and an 11m Kane if they do stay in form.
As a bonus, I don’t need to worry about the various injuries and isolation periods that the international break is dropping on us.
I hit the button early last week and my team is currently dictated by the most popular transfers in/out in an attempt to capitalise on price changes, but I’ll likely end up with something that looks like this…
Here’s his wildcard team as it currently stands
Most my picks are in place for obvious reasons but there’s a big name missing… De Bruyne. His ownership is still huge and not having him won’t be comfortable. It’s a real loss, but after the recent injury/tiredness scare and a few lacklustre performances, I think I’ll be waiting to see how Man City get on before deciding on whether to bring him back in or not. I’m guessing he won’t be a hugely popular captain choice for a few weeks at least, but by keeping 0.8m in the bank he’s at worst a -4 away by downgrading Kane to Brewster and then upgrading Soucek.
Captain
I’m undecided but it’ll likely be Salah or Son. At the time of writing the press conferences are yet to happen, so all manner of things could potentially change.
Scott Taylor
Scott finished with an overall rank of 15k last season, 1k 18/19 and 12k in 17/18
GW4 points: 44 (FPL average 48) Total points: 176, Overall Rank: 4,159k, green arrow: 101k Team Value: £100.6m
Scott has activated his wildcard
Here’s my wildcard team as it stands at this moment
Rob Reid
Rob’s last 5 seasons overall rank were 148k, 94k, 22k, 4k and 7k
GW4 points: 62 (FPL average 48) Total points: 230, Overall Rank: 1,027k, green arrow: 467k Team Value: £101.1m
Follow Rob on twitter here
First up a quick recap of my points for what was a crazy GW4. For the third week in a row it was 5 returning players and thankfully it was third time lucky for a green arrow! It was 4 of the same returners as last week with a second successive double Saints clean sheet with the icing of some added bonus for McCarthy at the back. From the front players, I was pleased to be on the Everton double up of DCL (6) and Rodriguez (18) with Salah’s brace in the insanity that was the Sunday night game rounding off my returners. I did also bench a 9 pointer from Bissouma, but I’m not too down about that. Indeed he might become a useful cheapie going forward in better fixtures for the Seagulls.
Main disappointments this week were Jimenez, Werner and Captain De Bruyne. Jiminez had a quiet game against Fulham but did blow a 1-on-1. Wolves don’t look to have the same attacking fluency as last season as yet, I guess this isn’t too surprising with Jota and Doherty gone and Jonny long-term injured. My plan had been to hold him until GW8, but I’m keeping an eye on this as there others at his price and below doing better at the moment – more on that later. Werner is a prime target for a transfer out for me. He spent most of Chelsea’s 4-0 win on the left touchline and presented little goal threat. I still think there is FPL pedigree there though and I’ll be interested to see what impact Ziyech has on Chelsea’s formation and Werner’s chances.
A second consecutive Captain blank cost me a bigger green arrow this week and De Bruyne did suffer from being positioned much deeper this week. City’s form is a worry at this stage on 2 fronts. First up an 11.5m player who blanks is frustrating, especially when you want to use him as a Captain choice. The trade-off to this though is if you sell them you just know that City can explode against absolutely anyone and if you do, the high ownership will hurt you.
Onto GW5 then – I wonder what chaos a packed international window will sow….
GW5 Team
£0.4m in the bank only, but thankfully 2 free transfers as I held firm on my plan to carry my free last week. I’m very pleased to have this in my pocket and while I’m seeing a number of Wildcards coming into play this week, I’m happy to wait and hold mine for a bit longer. GW9 still looks a prime spot to me – you get City v Liverpool out the way in GW8 and then a 2 week international break to plan and a free rein on dealing with any injuries/Covid cases during that period. I also think by then we’ll have 8 weeks of information so should be a in a good position to start to set towards an emerging template while building a squad to steer through a packed December, hopefully with a bit of bench cover through the busy Christmas period.
Priority now therefore is to adjust my squad for the second group of 4 fixtures in this first 8-week block of the season. The concern for me is that the bulk of my points are coming from 5 players – my 2 Everton lads, my 2 Saints defensive assets and Salah. Realistically then I need to do some tidying up elsewhere to try and remedy this. My immediate issue this week is Captain choice – I suspect that either Son or Kane will lead the Captain polls this week and I own neither. After listening to the FFGeek Podcast this week I was very interested to hear the thoughts of Geek, Alex and Kev on Spurs and there was a thought that this high-scoring start to the season might be a bit of a flash in the pan. That being said, I don’t think I should ignore form which seems to be far more reliable an indicator than fixtures at the moment although in Spurs case you do get a bit of both as their next 4 fixtures are rather favourable.
I’m therefore keen to bring one of these 2 in, the problem is how I do it with only £0.4m in the bank. The most obvious way I can see is to lose Jimenez after just 2 weeks having taken a hit to bring him in in GW3 (yeah that worked well) along with losing the under-performing Werner (yes that means selling before a decent fixture.) That would give me more than enough to pair Kane with someone like Maupay (2 great fixtures next up) or Antonio (good form despite fixtures being tricky.) The alternatives are a bit more controversial and would involve downgrading either Trent to a cheaper premium defender or De Bruyne to a cheaper City mid like Mahrez to ensure I keep that City cover as a bit of insurance against an explosive win. I can’t say I’m comfortable with either of these latter 2 moves, but they could be worth a risk for 4 weeks until I potentially Wildcard in GW9. Both are being heavily sold this week and in a way this appeals to me a bit, especially as both face a stuttering Sheffield United side before GW8 against whom I can see them hauling.
The other, other option revolves around Son. I’m a bit sore on the Korean – remember I sold him for Rodriguez in GW2, a move which has cost me 11 points over the 3 following gameweeks. I’m certainly not averse to a buy-back though – I could sell Werner to free up funds and reverse the move or go to a cheapie striker like Brewster and upgrade 5th mid Bissouma. So decent options here too. This is one, I’ll probably leave until Friday evening to make a final call on, but my gut feeling at the moment is that I’ll go with the Jimenez/Werner to Kane/Maupay option. Whatever I do, I’ll be leaving things as late as possible to take all the injury news into account. For example, De Bruyne has been flagged as a doubt.
For my team selection, current plan is that Walker Peters will be benched then it’s 2 out of Soucek, Bissouma, Mitchell and Taylor. Soucek and Mitchell look the most likely 2 at this stage. Captain will probably be whichever Spurs player I bring in though I could still end up on Salah! I’ll Tweet my final line-up early on Friday evening or Saturday morning as usual. Best of luck for this week folks!
Transfer summary: to be confirmed
Here’s the team prior to any transfers being made
Stephen Troop
Stephen’s last 4 seasons overall rank were 86k, 43k, 52k and 64k
GW4 points: 37 -4 (FPL average 48) Total points: 182, Overall Rank: 3,806k, red arrow: 862k Team Value: £100.1m
Follow Stephen on twitter here
Stephen has activated his wildcard
So I made the decision to wildcard. I was a long way down in the ranks (3.8m) with lots of underperforming players losing value (Werner, Adams, Doherty). I could have left it but couldn’t see me rising the ranks and wanted to take some action. There are a few key decisions left but here is the rationale behind my selections.
GK Martinez – looks the best cheap goalkeeper. A 4.0m non playing
Def – TAA and KWP remain. I have gone for Dallas and Taylor as further 4.5s to rotate with KWP and Branthwaite as the cheapest bench fodder. I am a little concerned with the lack of funds invested here and can see me shifting some more cash here at some point but clean sheets have been a premium so far so I’m wiling to wait for this to improve.
Mid – Salah stays, KDB stays (pending injury news) and Son comes back in after I got rid last GW on the “injury” news we were given. We all know how that ended. Then I have gone Grealish and Soucek. Villa have great fixtures and Grealish has looked good for both assists and goals so far. Barkley is also a possibility after his impressive Villa debut. I also like Trossard here but had to make a choice. Soucek has posted some good stats and at his price should be good value when West Hams fixtures improve so have opted for him over Jorgino who isn’t nailed.
Forward – Brewster as the bench fodder. Hopefully he gets some decent minutes and even become an option to start. I have gone with Kane. I’m not expecting Spurs to be scoring as many going forward (underlying stats suggest they’re overperforming) but the fixtures are there, and Kane’s underlying stats have been good despite over performing them. He also makes a good makeweight for Aguero or Werner if his form improved. I am however debating DCL and investing the cash in defence. Maupuy is the final forward. Cheap and good fixtures, taken penalties in an attack minded team. The danger is historically he misses a lot of big chances and am tempted by Antonio instead.
I like the team despite having an extra premium than I’d normally have. I can see the Spurs assets eventually making way when United’s fixtures improve GW9 and when defences start improving but for now I’m covering captaincy options most weeks and hopefully can start rising the ranks. I’ll want Robertson when Allison is back and once Chelsea start to gel I’d like Pulisic too. Certainly a few options that I’ve been agonising over but that’s the fun.
Good luck all
Here’s my draft wildcard team;
Prakhar Patel
Prakhar finished with a rank of 147k last season 17k in 18/19 and an incredible 17th overall in 17/18
GW4 points: 50 (FPL average 48) Total points: 209, Overall Rank: 2,120k, green arrow: 15k Team Value: £99.9m
Follow Prakhar on twitter here
Transfer summary: likely Vinagre to Semedo
Captain likely to be De Bruyne or Salah
Other posts
Analysing the teams of 10 top FPL managers
Costas Chari activates his wildcard
Joseph Crilley and Kris O hit the wildcard button
FFGeek Contributors GW5 teams Part 1
FFGeek Contributors GW5 teams Part 2
The GW5 fixture difficulty schedule
Defender and GK player rankings
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