FPL Teams GW16 – 4 FFGeek Contributors With Their GW16 Teams Part 1

Contributors, Fantasy Premier League

Here’s part 1 of our FPL teams GW16 article where 4 FFGeek Contributors show their teams. There’s Rick Porter, Kev in Canada, Alex Ball and Andrew Whitfield. Between them they have 9 top 1% finishes in the last 3 competitive seasons including 5 top 10k finishes.

FPL Teams GW16 – 4 FFGeek Contributors With Their GW16 Teams Part 1

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Introduction

It’s worth noting that the teams shown may not necessarily end up being the final teams or the transfers may have been made in the days prior to the posting . It’s an informal situation to give you an idea of trends. However the FFGeek team and the Contributor tracker team mentioned above on the FFGeek Patreon site all make transfers as articles are posted. So you’re always up to date and live

Andrew Whitfield

Andrew’s last 4 seasons overall ranks were 34k, 132k, 6k and 19k

GW15 Points:  40 (FPL average 43) Total points: 975, Overall Rank: 86k, red arrow: 28k  Team Value: £103.8m

Follow Andrew on twitter here

Andrew has used his wildcard

Note this article was written before the news of the possible postponement of Brighton v Spurs

Gameweek 15 review:

Well a pretty dramatic weekend that was !! Chelsea are off the top after a surprise 3-2 defeat at West Ham, “big at the back” is in the mud after both Chelsea and Man City are now three games without a clean sheet. But City did coast to a win at Watford and went top, with Bernardo providing the Silva lining. And Divock Origi was the unlikely hero as Liverpool left it very late to win and prevent a fourth successive Wolves clean sheet.

Ralf Rangnick made a winning start, with Fred the unlikely toast of Old Trafford. Harry owners suffered more Kane pain as Son stole the plaudits instead as Spurs won 3-0. Patrick Bamford returned to grab a late point for Leeds, Leicester lost and conceded for the fourteenth successive game as Gerrard made it three wins from three after a Konsa double. Newcastle finally won, Neil Maupay equalised right at the death for the second successive game to deny Livramento the clean sheet. And Ivan Toney has Covid !!

If that wasn’t enough, the drama spilled into Monday with a Ramsdale rollercoaster where Richarlison found the net three times before VAR finally allowed one to count !!

My GW15 score and rank:

A very disappointing 40 points, with just 3/11 returners. Salah and Trent Alexander Arnold were pretty rank neutral so just Raphinha besides. Big at the back failed, I broke Jota by signing him, more Kane pain, an injury for Smith Rowe, Covid for Toney, and the late Livramento wipeout cost me too too as he auto subbed in. Definitely a painful one.

That GW12 rank of 30k is looking a distant memory as three successive red arrows have my season on the slide, down this week from 58k to 86k.

Coupled with my injury flags, it feels like a tough one to fight my way out of.

My GW15 talking points:

My decision to bring in the out of form Harry Kane for four tasty fixtures has proved to be a pivotal and costly one. Home games against Leeds, Brentford and Norwich produced blanks, with a Burnley snow storm in between. At the same time, his sidekick Son, who many chose instead, has excelled. The funds invested up top also meant it was harder to get on the Jota train early compared to those with money in midfield, so all in all it’s been a nightmare four weeks of Kane . His ownership was low enough to make a significant rank difference if Kane had fired. A spectacular fail. He looks an easy sell now.

So I missed 30 Jota points in the previous three weeks, and of course Diogo blanked as I brought him in this week. Owning the Pool trio of Salah, Trent and Jota are fairly rank neutral now due to ever increased ownership, but investing funds in Kane and as a result being late on Jota has proved a real double whammy.

I was quietly pleased with Livramento losing his clean sheet in the 98th minute, as he was sat first on my bench. As it transpired, the absence of Toney on Sunday meant I got the Livramento one pointer instead !! So that late Maupay goal proved very costly to my rank after all. A cruel twist.

My rise up the ranks up to GW12, had coincided with big hauls in defence, as the big at the back approach yielded big points, with attacking returns accompanying solid clean sheets. But Chelsea and Man City have now each conceded in the last three. Cancelo has blanked in the last three, as has Rudiger. Trent has been the exception with four hauls in his last five games. It looks like I have also broken Reece James after he has brought me just one point in three games after I signed him !!

One clean sheet in seven games for keeper Sanchez is a concern, particularly with key injuries piling up in the Brighton defence. That head to head battle with Ramsdale owners is a stressful one, although Sanchez has actually outscored Ramsdale by one point in each of the last three weeks !! If Ramsdale had survived two toe nail offside calls to keep a clean sheet, my week could have been a whole lot worse. Thank you Richarlison.

The absence of both Toney and Smith Rowe from the line ups due to injury and Covid was a real blow this week. Both had good fixtures and both have even better fixtures next gameweek which adds to the frustration. The final nail in a week to forget.

So what next:

I have 0.7M in the bank and one free transfer.

I have some key decisions and moves to make that involve price changes that are going to move against me, so it’s balancing that with the fact it’s a European midweek which of course brings inherent dangers that can punish early moves. It’s going to be a test and balancing act whether to go early or wait and lose vital spending power and risk losing key targets. But with Covid rumours and lots of players in action, holding off moves is surely wise.

I have MacArthur still flagged at last sub, I have Toney with Covid, and Smith Rowe injured too. So my team is looking a bit battle scarred right now. The press conferences could be vital, especially for news on my flagged players.

Time for Ronaldo:

The lure of Ronaldo and his absolutely dreamy fixtures is hard to resist. Yes we have been here before with Kane, but the fixtures stretch for weeks to come, and Ronaldo has displayed much more form than Kane. One of the key reasons to take the Kane route was the ease of switch to Ronaldo now. So it’s a move I am set on making. It’s a move that is made easier for Kane owners who are ahead of the curve. With Kane in the doldrums, whatever other issues I have in my team, it’s a move I am invested in making.

So maybe Kane owners will now get their rewards instead from Ronaldo. It’s certainly a rank busting move with his ownership still attractively low. We all know this is where Kane probably goes on a run. But I want Ronaldo and there isn’t a better entry point than this week v Norwich. I had this planned a long way out so I don’t want to miss it now.

Other thoughts and plans:

Raphinha has ticked along nicely but he now has four tough fixtures, including away trips to Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool. I planned to get Ronaldo this week, and sell Raphinha in GW17, as a fund raiser to get Toney to Antonio in GW18 when Westham play Norwich.

But the sub 6M mids just don’t look appealing and Bowen has emerged at Westham. He is a popular switch from Raphinha. It’s an attractive potential midfield of Salah, Jota, Smith Rowe and Bowen. But getting Bowen rather chops off my route back to Antonio. He does however provide a degree of cover for Westham and Antonio, with Antonio having scored only two goals in the last eleven games !! At the same time, Bowen has certainly been impressing and racking up some points. Do I take on Antonio with Bowen instead ?

The juggling I did to get Jota in my team has proved messy. I sacrificed Gallagher and Antonio who ideally I wanted to keep. I could instead have sacrificed Toney and Raphinha, but I was reluctant to sell Raphinha before he played Palace and Brentford both at home, and reluctant to sell Toney before he played Leeds and Watford. Both Raphinha and Toney carried a rank threat just as Antonio did. And both could have hurt me.

The fact that Toney has now tested positive for Covid and missed those two nice fixtures, and my route back to Antonio is now harder than I planned, shows that it’s easy to get punished trying to be clever and booking in future moves. So I now have to decide whether to dilute my 4th mid spot to get Antonio back, or go Bowen instead of Antonio.

What to do with Ivan:

Ivan Toney is a real problem now. I held him for Leeds and had him eagerly lined up for this fixture v Watford this week and now he misses it !!! Many have downgraded Toney into a Watford attacker which I already have in place. I don’t fancy two cheap strikers. So my only route to move Toney on is an upgrade to either Antonio or another more expensive striker which means a -4 hit and losing the chance to do that Kane to Ronaldo move, which I really don’t want to miss.

So I might be forced to hold Toney through his illness. Its not ideal holding a sidelined Toney when I also have Smith Rowe carrying an injury too and a flagged MacArthur at last sub, although apparently MacArthur has been back in training. If I hold Toney, I might be struggling to get eleven on the pitch this week.

Decisions decisions:

One option I am considering is going a double move. Kane to Ronaldo, plus Raphinha to Bowen. It would cost -4 to do both this week, but with Ronaldo playing Norwich, and Raphinha away at Chelsea with Bowen playing Burnley, it could pay back this week. The moves should certainly pay back over the next few. Getting Bowen provides a degree of Antonio cover but is it wise making that move when a -4 would surely be better spent putting eleven players on the pitch.

I can currently just about afford to move Toney to Callum Wilson, or Ollie Watkins who plays Norwich next week, although that probably then freezes me out of doing Raphinha to Bowen next week.

If Smith Rowe ends up being ruled out again, then he might be my priority fire instead.

So much to ponder and things have certainly got messy. Hope you are in better shape than me.

Fingers crossed that the European games don’t throw more curveballs our way !!

My GW16 team:

I am pretty certain I will do the Kane to Ronaldo move, so assume Kane is Ronaldo in my team below.

My premium defence are amongst eight home fixtures in an attractive set of fixtures, especially if I slot Bowen in for Raphinha. Livramento is potentially my only playing sub which is a concern. Any rotation or injuries could leave me scratching for eleven players.

Captain will be Salah

I will confirm transfers on my Twitter account, at least an hour before the Friday deadline . It will be Kane to Ronaldo but I am unsure of any further plans at this stage.

Happy tinkering !!

transfer summary: Kane to Ronaldo pretty certain. otherwise TBC

Here’s the team prior to any transfers being made

FPL Teams GW16

Rick Porter

Rick’s last 5 seasons ORs were 1k, 29k, 1k, 30k and 2k.

GW15 Points: 44 (FPL average 43) Total points: 980, Overall Rank: 69k, red arrow: 14k  Team Value: £104.3m

Rick has used his wildcard

Far from a great week but it could have easily been worse. I’d have dropped much further than 15k if Arsenal had kept a clean sheet. Really, it was 20% owned Son and Silva responsible for damaging my rank. My differentials are few, so I needed either Jota or Kane to offset some of those points and both blanked. Sometimes things just don’t go your way.

Kane pain

Bringing in Kane for his good fixture run was an error, but an understandable one. I was never convinced hauls were guaranteed, but I’d never have guessed he wouldn’t muster a single return against Leeds, Brentford and Norwich. There were seven Spurs goals across those three matches and he wasn’t involved in any of them. Incredible.

Aside from fixtures, a key reason for bringing Kane in was the easy transition to Ronaldo to capitalise on his incredible run over the Christmas period. I’ll now be seeing this plan through to completion and hopefully clawing back some of the rank Kane cost me. Norwich is an excellent entry point but getting him without hits and downgrades will be tough for those who have spread funds around, especially with injuries and Covid worries for a number of popular players. Hopefully my planning will bear fruit this time.

Transfer

I made the switch from Kane to Ronaldo early as I couldn’t afford any price movement between the two. It was necessary, but now I have a nervy week hoping nothing else goes wrong. There are midweek matches to be played and there’s already talk of Covid outbreaks and postponements. I also have Alonso who may not play due to a back injury and the usual uncertainly around Cancelo and James. I imagine my bench will be coming into play again. If the Spurs outbreak does cause a postponement, I won’t have a keeper this week either. That’s something my bench can’t help with as I have Steele as a backup. We’ll just have to see how things look come Friday.

Captain

Salah Captain, Ronaldo vice.

Transfer summary: Kane out and Ronaldo in completed

Here’s the team with transfer done

FPL Teams GW16

Kev in Canada

Kev’s last 3 seasons overall ranks were 52k, 48k and 6k

GW15 Points: 40  (FPL average 43) Total points: 988, Overall Rank: 49k, red arrow: 18k  Team Value: £105.5m

Follow Kev on twitter here

Kev has used his wildcard

The plan was Kane to Ronaldo all along. I am just waiting until at least after the Champions League game to do it. I will take the price moves, so be it.

My other transfer was Toney to King. I did an analysis of King vs Dennis. King has better underlying stats (surprisingly for creative stats too even though Dennis has more assists), is more nailed, doesn’t have AFCON and may be on pens. So for 0.1 it is worth it I think.

Here’s how the comparison looks from the free site understat

FPL Teams GW16

Besides that, I could go Raphinha to Bernardo for a hit. I thought about it but I would like to see how he looks with De Bruyne playing. Both of those goals (and his recent hot streak) have come with De Bruyne sidelined. There seems to be a new ‘must have City attacker’ every 4 weeks. GW1 was Mahrez, then Torres, then Foden, now Bernardo. There are already flags on my team and rotation, so I will likely avoid that move for now. I will become priced out if I don’t do it before team news too so it seems risky. I will just wait and move Raphinha to Bowen instead I think. Let’s see. Raphinha might be better now with Bamford back. If I recall, last year it didn’t matter who they played, he scored. Chelsea are leaking goals with Kante and Kovacic out anyway..

My GW16 cup game opponent hasn’t made a transfer all year. Has Richarlison as perma cap and Sa as perma sub… and he outscored me last week. Ha! Let’s hope I do well in the world’s most random and irrelevant cup tournament of all time..

Captain Obvious
Vice Ronaldo

Good luck!

Transfer summary: Kane out and Ronaldo in. Toney out and King in

Here’s the team with transfer completed

FPL Teams GW16

Alex Ball

Alex’s last 7 seasons overall ranks were 3k, 312k, 523k, 17k, 10k, 28k and 3k

GW15 Points: 43 (FPL average 43) Total points: 962, Overall Rank: 137k, red arrow: 25k  Team Value: £105.8m

Follow Alex on twitter here

Alex has used his Wildcard

A small red arrow to 137k with a score of 43.

Early transfers due to price changes (which didn’t happen!!) and being tight on cash- Raphinia/Toney to Bilva/King. I’ll take a -4 to go Kane to Ronaldo later in the week! I hope you had a green!

Transfer summary: Raphinha and Toney out to Bernardo Silva and King in completed. Will do Kane out to Ronaldo later in the week

Here’s the team with the first 2 transfers done

FPL Teams GW16

The FFGeek Contributors League

The highlighted FFGeek contributors combined team finished with an overall rank of 8k last season and 52k the season before. It has started ok in 4th place with total points of 1,002 and an overall rank of 24k. You can follow that team, including live transfers as well as the FFGeek team currently also in 12th position at 85k and the team run by Joe’s Transfer Planner in 1st place on 1K, all on our subscription Patreon site

There’s loads of other features on the Patreon site that you can read about at the top of this page

FPL Teams GW16
FPL Teams GW16

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Analysing the teams of 12 top FPL managers

The FFGeek Fixture Ease Schedule

The FPL Gameweek 15 review

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