Here’s FFGeek contributor Paul Williams with his bi-weekly ‘Diary of an FPL Manager’ series. This week, Paul turns his attention to those players who could fill the fourth midfielder spot. Paul is one of the Top 10 FPL Managers I follow and finished with an overall rank of 412 last season, 1,382 in 16/17 and 7,164 in 15/16.
Paul Williams ‘Diary of an FPL Manager’ – Fourth Midfielder Options
You can read more from Paul in his ‘Diary of an FPL Manager’ series on his Facebook blog using this link.
Introduction:
Finally, this season is starting to fall into the pattern of previous years whereby the most expensive players start outscoring their more affordable counterparts. Obviously, it is not possible to own every premium player, but in order to own as many as possible, it is necessary to try and save money elsewhere. One of the areas that managers could claw back some funds is the fourth midfielder spot. As popular options, such as: Felipe Anderson and Richarlison start faltering and are consequently off-loaded, who are the cheaper alternatives that could help managers to upgrade in other areas? This article will highlight four possible options in price descending order.
Ryan Fraser – 6.1m
It is a bit odd to call Ryan Fraser an ‘alternative’ as his ownership still sits at over 22%. However, the majority of active managers shed their Bournemouth assets when the Cherries’ fixtures started to stiffen. Although his team’s form has declined markedly, Fraser has managed to steadily tick along and still remains the fourth highest scoring midfielder in the game. Bournemouth’s difficult run shows no sign of letting up, but FPL managers could do worse than look at the diminutive Scottish winger.
Gerard Deulofeu – 5.5m
After missing the first seven GWs with injury, Deulofeu appears to have finally managed to nail down a place in the Watford starting eleven. Also, more often than not, he is starting as the second striker behind big Troy Deeney. The Spaniard started all of Watford’s fixtures over the festive period and has two goals and two assists in the past five GWs. Massively talented, hugely frustrating, so far in his career Deulofeu has been streakier than American bacon.
Nathan Redmond – 5.2m
Redmond appears to be one of Hasenhuttl’s favoured options since he was appointed. For a while now, Redmond has been perceived as a fairly wasteful player with a notoriously poor conversion rate – this season his shooting accuracy sits at a lowly 26%. However, just recently there have been signs of an upturn in his fortunes. Just like Deulofeu, he has two goals and two assists in the past five GWs. Add to that the two goals he bagged in the third round of the FA Cup and maybe Redmond could be worth a shout at a budget price.
Victor Camarasa – 4.6m
Priced up at 4.6m (usually considered the price range of fifth midfielder bench fodder), I know a few clued up FPL managers who are considering using Camarasa as their fourth midfielder. There are a few reasons to support Camarasa’s inclusion:
* He invariably plays in the number ten position
* He is on the majority of set-pieces
* He has clearly emerged as Cardiff’s most creative player
* It has been confirmed by Warnock that he is the club’s first choice penalty taker
* Cardiff’s upcoming fixtures are not too bad at all
Of course, the one big negative is that he plays for Cardiff. Nevertheless, once he is declared fully fit (he is currently yellow-flagged with a ‘knock’), he is certainly a decent option for those managers with a limited budget.
Conclusion:
I am not saying the four players that I have highlighted are better options than: Bernardo Silva, Felipe Anderson, Sigurdsson, Martial and Richarlison – but they are a little cheaper and if you are struggling to find the funds to turn Lacazette into Aubameyang or Mane into Hazard, they could certainly help to enable that.
To finish, there are other viable selections out there that I have not mentioned so far, such as: Lingard (6.8m), Townsend (5.8m) and Brooks (5.1m), as well as a few others.
I tend to take chances in this sort of price range as if you get it wrong the damage isn’t too bad; miss out on a Salah or Kane haul though and the consequences are often disastrous.
You can read more from Paul in his ‘Diary of an FPL Manager’ series on his Facebook blog using this link.
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