Here’s an FPL teams GW1 article where Joseph Crilley and I produce teams that would be subject to a post GW4 wildcard to capture the late world cup returners. In the meantime that creates some value opportunities for the first 4 gameweeks while those late returners are on extended leave
FPL teams GW1 – Joe and the Geeks teams assuming a GW4 wildcard
If you read my article on world cup returners you’ll see that I’ve made an initial assumption that those players involved in the world cup quarters will not be back starting until around the end of August. With the International break starting September 3 that means that there will be a temptation for premier league managers to introduce them fully after that. It’s worth saying that this is a working assumption to start with and subject to what happens over the preseason to come.
In my initial draft team article I’ve decided to, in the vast majority, pick players with longevity that will continue to play after the world cup returners become starters. Joe as you’ll see from his first draft team has decided totally to commit himself to an early wildcard so our teams are very different.
In this article I show you his latest thinking but I’ve also come up with a group of players that could be part of such a set up.
The Geeks team
So you may have noticed that I used the phrase “group of players” rather than team. That’s because I decided to give a menu of players rather than an actual team.
So what I’ve done is produce 15 players who I think will benefit from late world cup returners not being match fit tp start the first 4 gameweeks. It’s a menu of players rather than team. If you spot a player you like then refer to the narrative for the player to assess the risks. Then it’s the case of following the pre-season and lineup articles on the site to assess the likelihood they start GW1
Firstly here’s the group of players. Just to warn you it’s £3.5m over budget which is why I’ve called it a group of players. By the way neither Joe and I had seen each others teams before we did this article so not to be influenced.
Goalkeepers
If any positions are going to see players back from the World Cup earlier than expected it’s the goalkeepers. However for starters I’ve gone for the understudies of 2 of the 3 premier league goalkeepers involved in the World Cup semi finals. They are Stekelenburg of Everton deputising for Pickford and Vorm of Spurs deputising for Lloris.
Defence
Wes Morgan should deputise for Harry Maguire while he’s on post world cup recovery and provide the £4.5m entry to the Leicester defence which isn’t currently available.
With Walker, Stones and Kompany all on post world cup leave Laporte should get a few weeks under his belt before they return. He offers a £5.5m entry into the Man City defence. The only realistic starting defender long term at that price is Kompany who will be managed carefully from an injury point of view during the season.
I imagine Lovren will be the first choice Liverpool CB to partner Van Dijk when he returns from post World Cup rest. In the mean time £5.0m CB Matip should have the position relatively uncompeted. Liverpool will be a defensive force to be reckoned with now that the GK issue of Karius is solved although that does depend on when Allison himself returns from World Cup recovery.
With Valencia at £6.5m and enough CB’s in the squad to sink a battleship £5.0m Luke Shaw gives a cheap option to start the season while £6.0m Ashley Young is on post world cup rest. Mourinho has already said he is likely to be the starting LB.
With Vertonghen, Alderweireld and Trippier all on extended leave after the World Cup it’s hard to see how Spurs can put out a back 4 without £4.5m RB Walker Peters starting. I imagine Aurier will go to LB and Davies to LCB allowing Walker Peters to play RB.
Midfield
Salah with his 46% ownership and recurring captain potential is a dangerous player not to own but if Firmino is back late after the World Cup then Salah has the potential to play CF with Shaqiri coming in to his RW position. That could even make him more dangerous and make Shaqiri a cheap way into a dangerous front 3
With De Bruyne and Sterling on extended leave Sane should get a run at the first 4 games for Man City which after Arsenal in the opening games involves 3 good fixtures
With Lukaku and Rashford late back from the World Cup Martial will either fit in as a CF or an LW if Sanchez takes that CF role. He is a great price at £7.5m for either position.
Alli will be on post world cup leave and Son off to the Asian games after GW1 leaves the position open for £6.5m Lamela in the first few games for Spurs.
Forwards
If Jesus is late back that only leaves Aguero for the CF position for Man City and in theory not rotatable. That makes him an excellent captain option in the first few games
Giroud played pretty much every game for France and his early absence leaves a clear run for Morata as a CF for Chelsea providing he isn’t sold.
Lastly Vardy’s absence gives the opportunity for £6.0m Ihenacho to lead the line for Leicester. He himself played for Nigeria in the World Cup but should be match fit for the start of the season.
Joseph Crilleys team
I spoke about my initial team draft in an earlier article and how I planned to utilise the wildcard early in the season. This is mainly due to the uncertainty over many premium players following the World Cup who I can choose to ignore to start with and bring in when I activate the chip. By confirming this tactic, I am able to attack the opening gameweeks with the knowledge that I will have a whole new team in GW4/5.
When selecting the team, I started with the premium assets; Salah, Eriksen and Sané are all fairly obvious picks while I have chosen to go with Aubameyang over Aguero as my striker. I then began to assess some of the cheaper options which has led me to the intriguing decision of looking to use an expensive defence in a 5-4-1 formation.
There are two main factors for this with the first being that I think there is some great value in defence. As an example, we should have access to the City and United defences for 5.5mil and 5.0mil respectively with Laporte and Shaw appearing likely to start in GW1. The other factor is that budget attackers can be rather unpredictable which makes it tricky to ensure that you have the correct player in your team to start the season. Therefore, it should be easier to collect points in the opening weeks by using the premium defenders from the top-6 sides rather than trying to find the best budget attacking asset.
Elsewhere, Martial is the slightly different option following Mourinho’s words in his press conference about him being likely to start in GW1 and there is certainly some potential for him. At his price of 7.5mil, there is the opportunity to transfer him out if things don’t work out for a wide array of players including Mkhitaryan and Ramsey at Arsenal who have some great fixtures from GW3. I could also make a change in my GW1 team by picking a slightly cheaper option such as Jota or Walcott which would give me some extra cash. I would likely use this to strengthen my bench as it looks rather weak currently or it would allow me to upgrade Emerson (who I do believe will start at LB under Sarri) to the more secure Azpilicueta.
Normally, I am a traditional FPL player who uses 3-4-3 or a 3-5-2, but I am currently very open to using more cash in defence. This thought process could easily change, but for now I really like the balance of this team and the fact that I have 9 outfield players from the top-6 sides. We shall have to see if I persevere with this tactic by the time GW1 arrives!
Here’s the team:
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