Here’s an early article where 4 FFGeek Contributors show their FPL teams GW8. There’s Andrew Whitfield, Scott Taylor, Joseph Crilley and Kev in Canada
FPL teams GW8 – 4 FFGeek Contributors teams part 1
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Introduction
This is part 1 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
Scott Taylor
Scott finished with an overall rank of 15k last season, 1k 18/19 and 12k in 17/18
GW7 points: 68 (FPL average 53) Total points: 386, Overall Rank: 1,580k, green arrow: 630k Team Value: £103.0m
Scott has used his wildcard
My transfer this week is likely to be Saiss to Bellerin, Coufal or Cresswell. At the moment, I’m favouring Bellerin. That would leave me with 2 free transfers for the international break.
Captain will be Kane and VC is on C Wilson at the moment.
Transfer summary: likely to be Saiss to Bellerin, Coufal or Cresswell.
Here’s the team prior to any transfers being made
Andrew Whitfield
Andrew finished with an overall rank of 132k last season and 6k in 18/19 and 19k in 17/18
GW7 points: 58 (FPL average 53) Total points: 387, Overall Rank: 1,563k, green arrow: 151k Team Value: £101.0m
Follow Andrew on twitter here
Andrew has yet to use any of his chips
– Well a bit of normality appears to be returning to FPL, with less freaky score lines and fewer surprise results, but there is still a bizarre feel to the league table, with Liverpool top, having conceded the second most goals !!
My GW7 review:
– 58 points was just above the average, resulting in a small green arrow, taking me from 1.7M to 1.5M. A fairly “meh” week, with five “returning players” and a captain goal. Returns for all my three strikers and five of my “front seven “ which was good, but my defence contributed only 8 points between them.
– Some popular players like Grealish, Wilson and Vardy bumped up the average in a gameweek that saw plenty of popular blanks too, like Son, Bamford and that Liverpool defence !!
– It was a week that actually threw up some variance, due to the absences of Saiss, Mitchell, Pulisic and Rodríguez, which brought our benches more into play. Those that benefited from Ward Prowse, Bellerin and Lamptey flying off their benches, will be smiling. But equally there will be plenty who left those points on the bench too. I had one bench point from Taylor !!
A word on “rank”
– A rank of 1.5M is far from ideal after 7 weeks, but overall ranks are always incredibly close this early in the season. I am only 15 points from 1M, only 30 points from 500k, and even the top 100k at 65 points equates to only 2 points per week, which is nothing. A large percentage of the players ahead will never have been in the top 1M before and many will already have played at least one of their chips. There are far better consistent managers than me who are far worse in overall rank. We are in this for the “long game”. Patience is key. I am in a positive mindset.
Neutral market moves:
– I made two quite “high level” moves which could have had significant effect on my week. My exposure to Kane as a “non owner” was too much for my risk appetite. So I switched Werner to Kane. They both scored once. I needed to lose Sterling to fund it, Rashford came in. They both blanked. So what could have been a huge swing either way, ended up completely neutral. I didn’t like watching Sterling having sold him. He is an exciting player for sure. I feel like I dodged one there on his performance. He interests me a lot for that upcoming City run. But I slept better in my bed knowing I owned Kane at home to Brighton – and he has West Brom next so will be a huge captain favourite.
Captains on the spot:
– My biggest decision all week was captaincy. I must have changed my mind between Kane and Salah about five times during the week. Captaincy plays a big part of the game and usually contributes 20% to 25% of your points over the season. So far this season, I have not really nailed it. Three blanks on points returns of 14,10,4,4,14,4. It was 16 this week from Salah.
– In the end, the big shout of Kane v Salah proved irrelevant with Mo outscoring Harry 8-6, with both benefiting from “soft penalties” against opposition they may have been expecting more from. Resolute performances from West Ham and Brighton prevented any landslide wins and significant captain gains. In the end, I felt a bit fortunate as a Salah armbander, with Kane coming closest to a “haul”. It was Son captainers that lost out.
My differential three:
– I tend to have a pretty “template team”, covering the more highly owned players, for rank protection, so quite often, the colour of my arrow is defined by my three biggest differentials. I try and balance my template team with three players below 10% ownership, to create the opportunity to make gains. I had “returns” from two of my three low ownership differentials, which was a chief reason I came out “green” this week.
– The returns of Salah, Kane and Calvert-Lewin are not going to shoot me up the table. Owning those players serve largely as “protection “. So the two assists for Mitrovic ( 8% ) and the goal for Podence ( 4% ) were my significant points. Mitrovic has been a “patient hold” but he is in the top three strikers for “goal attempts” and “touches in the box”, so his numbers have been holding up. I also never sell before a good fixture, so patience in him was rewarded despite five blanks in the previous six. Podence has been a frustrating player to own too with his near misses and early substitutions, but again, holding him for a good fixture was rewarded.
– Rashford ( 9% owned ) was my biggest potential “explosive “ low ownership differential. I always like to have one. He could had been my biggest “difference maker “ this week, but it was just a bad day at the office for United who were very uninspiring as Arsenal “did a job on them” . Maybe I got sucked in by that Europa League hat trick. United frailties were there for all to see on Sunday.
So what next ?
– I have one free transfer and 0.5M in the bank.
– Firstly, I need to caveat this by stating that I am writing this up before the midweek European games, so with seven Premier teams in action midweek, any significant injuries would fundamentally change my thoughts below.
– Normally, I would be looking to roll my transfer for two frees during the long international break that follows this weekend, which is always a wise move and something I am targeting doing this season, where practical. However, I am definitely wildcarding during the international break. This means I have a very simple “use it or lose it free transfer” this week.
– My team is limping towards the wildcard a bit now with a few concerns. I also have potentially eight players on away games this week, so it will be a good one to get through intact. I have Saiss and Mitchell with doubts about their starting spots, and not a great set of GW8 fixtures.
What moves could I make ?
– I had this week earmarked to lose Mitrovic. He is the talisman for a team that is going to struggle and he has only found the net in one of his seven games. It’s a perfect switch point to get in Antonio for the start of a great run of West Ham fixtures. Antonio has looked very good in tough fixtures. The only spanner in the works is the fact he is injury flagged and a doubt. A real shame.
– Chelsea have kept four successive clean sheets in all competitions, and seem transformed defensively, aided by Mendy in goal. They now have Sheffield United at home. There seems to be a growing shift from Trent to Chilwell, who is very attacking and is also now classified under my definition of template due to his ownership amongst the trusted managers I follow. By contrast, Trent has just one clean sheet and a solitary assist in seven games, and he plays Man City away !! Losing Trent is always fraught with danger, but as a one off switch before a wildcard, based on those two fixtures…
– The other way to cover the Chelsea clean sheet this week would be to switch out Saiss, who may have lost his place, and buy Zouma. He is the top points scoring defender and can pose a threat in the air to the Blades. That way I get to keep Trent. Dont rule him out sticking that free kick in to punish sellers !!!!
My wildcard is imminent:
– I am 100% set on wildcarding after the next gameweek and during the international break for a number of reasons.
– The two week break allows me to bump up team value by beating the price rises early of players I am buying, and beating the price drops early of players I am selling. Over a two week period, if I act in the first 24 hours, I can get ahead of a lot of price changes. I also then have a whole two weeks to tinker away. Plus I have security of any potential international break injuries.
– I have Mitrovic and Podence that probably need moving on. I have Saiss and Mitchell who could be out of favour. If Kilman starts this weekend and Saiss doesn’t, that’s a big saving on a solid Wolves defence, even with tougher fixtures, it frees up cash. I also like the look of Villa fixtures after the break , both defensively and also for Grealish, who looks tough to go without on such fantastic fixtures.
– Then there is the very significant upcoming fixture swing from Spurs, who after the break play Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. By contrast, Man City have a delicious run coming up with home games of Burnley, Fulham, West Brom and Newcastle. That will see a significant shift from Kane and Son to jump on the likes of Aguero, KDB and Sterling.
– The fact that wildcarding will be popular in this window will also mean an opportunity to share wildcard ideas, get a feel for where the template is shifting and respond quickly to it. I am looking forward to it !!!!
Captain this week:
With Salah playing Man City, that close three way battle will probably switch to a one sided captain poll for Spurs playing West Brom. Son has been electric away from home, but Kane will be a clear captain favourite and on penalties, so I won’t be taking him on.
Transfer summary:
Either – Mitrovic to Antonio, or Trent Alexander Arnold to Chilwell, or Saiss to Zouma..
Here is the team BEFORE any transfers:
Good luck in GW8. And a reminder that there is a much earlier deadline this week as there is a 5.30pm Friday game, which means a 4pm Friday deadline !!!!
Kev in Canada
Kev finished 48k last season 6k in 18/19 and 195k in 17/18
GW7 points: 54 (FPL average 53) Total points: 364, Overall Rank: 2,595k, green arrow: 26k Team Value: £100.2m
Follow Kev on twitter here
Kev has yet to use any of his chips
Transfers done:
Jiménez to Bamford
Podence to Grealish
I went early this week. The players I want don’t play in Europe and are rising so I felt like taking the risk. I realize that there have been a lot of injuries lately but I am going to wild card potentially as early as next week so I felt like taking the risk this week, as I also have 3 decent bench options this week.
The time for Wolves being in my lineup is over. The fixtures get ugly now (more relevant for their defenders to be honest, which is why I am skipping the Kilman hype train) and their underlying stats have been poor.
Grealish has been dominant. He’s getting a ton of big changes, lots of touches in the box, creating big chances and also he plays every minute. His only downside is that when he blanks he usually whines about it and picks up a yellow. Not my kind of player to root for because of it but I am here for the points. There are also no midweek European matches for Villa, which is nice. He does have England but the coaching staff don’t seem to like him enough to play him so hopefully it’s not a big issue (probably the whining and yellows if I had to guess). Bringing him in for Arsenal is not ideal but the fixture run is magnificent for a while.
Bamford has also been a beast. Beyond the hat trick he is getting a ton of chances (3 big chances vs Leicester were the most he had all season; of course it is a game he didn’t score in lol). He is looking fixture proof too, as Leeds just run, run, run all game and create a very open game. He will get chances.
Ultimately, I have decided that I missed the Harry Kane train and am going with 3 cheaper forwards that all seem to get a ton of chances, even though they aren’t penalty takers. This should allow me to change Son to De Bruyne next week while I downgrade Trent. I will have a bit more than 6M to downgrade him to. If it was today, I would likely go to Bellerin. However, come next week I think the run of fixtures Man City will be about to go on, I suspect it will be between Dias or Laporte.
Captain is on Son and I suspect that he will be second highest after Kane.
Good luck.
transfer summary: Jiménez out to Bamford in. Podence out to Grealish in
Here’s the team with transfers made
Joseph Crilley
Joseph’s last 4 seasons OR were 68k, 28k, 7k and 13k
GW7 points: 61 (FPL average 53) Total points: 377, Overall Rank: 1,977k, green arrow: 337k Team Value: £102.1m
Follow Joe on twitter here
Joe has used his wldcard
2 FTs for GW8 with plan to do TAA -> Chilwell to free up cash and keep 2 for IB!
Want maximum flexibility for GW9/10 to target City assets. Initial thought is Kane/Son/Pulisic -> Watkins/KDB/Sterling, though could be tough to pull trigger on that!
Transfer summary: likely to be Alexander Arnold out for Chilwell
Here’s the team prior to any transfers being made
FFGeek Contributors League
The highlighted FFGeek contributors combined team finished with an overall rank of 52k last season is going ok in 7th place with total points of 408 and an overall rank of 802k. 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 24th place with total points of 356 and an overall rank of, 2,967k.
There’s loads of other features on the Patreon site that you can read about at the top of this page
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Analysing the teams of 10 top FPL managers
Early thoughts on the FFGeek team
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