Here’s Stephen Troop with his TFF, Sun Dream Team and FPL teams
Hi all
These are my final teams for the different formats subject to last minute press conference news and in the case of TFF something unusual happening with the line up. I will try and update with how the TFF team does over the course of the season.
Apologies I have wrote this in a rush on a lunch break but happy to discuss, give advice or rate teams via twitter (as I likely won’t check here as much).
TFF
The Team
Last season I invested too little in defence and it backfired so ’ve covered arguably the best defences from last season and stuck to defenders with good potential for KC’s. Mendy got forward a lot in a wingback role last season when he played and negatively impacted Sane’s role and I’m hoping he will be just as attacking this year. I also think he’s the most nailed of the City defenders on a par with Walker. Robertson looks great value and Van Aanholt is a decent price and could chip away at a few goals through the season. Only Liverpool kept more clean sheets in the final third of last season and if Sakho can keep fit I think the Palace defence could be good value. Coady is there as an enabler. I’m only expecting an occasional clean sheet.
In midfield I’ve got pretty heavy. Salah needs no explanation but I also have Mane as a double up from the Liverpool attack. Salah doing well won’t do much for rank so I wanted another attacker to get the goals from salah’s KCs and assists to Salah’s goals. Mane is over a £1m saving on Firminho (who I think will also do well) but if Mane can stay fit I believe he could match Firminho too for points. He was on penalties for most of pre-season though not expecting that to be permanent.
I preferred Mahrez to Sane. Sane, despite not being at the world cup didn’t start any pre-season games and looked jaded in the community shield. I also think with mendy overlapping at times his productivity can suffer. At £5.1 Mahrez covers some city attack for their excellent fixtures but will need to be monitored as KDB and Sterling etc are brought back in.
Sanchez is a bit of a gamble but if Lukaku is eased back in I think Sanchez could be the source of united goals. He has had the summer off and has looked the danger for united in pre-season. United on the whole seem to have some problems though but his price point means it’s an easy switch to Sterling/KDB or downgrade to save money. Jota is currently my final midfielder. I was on Richarlison for most of my drafts but realised I needed a plan to get Kane/Aubameyang so wanted flexibility. Therefore I’ve saved the extra money making it easy to adapt. I believe Kane and Aubameyang will be my front 2 for most of the season (and have this in some of my other teams).
Finally I have Aguero up front for a double city attack. With their fixtures this seemed sensible. He should start most games (either with Jesus or as a long striker) and whilst I think he will be swapped for Kane eventually he seemed the best premium striking option.
I considered Arnautovic after his excellent second half of last season and equally excellent pre season. West Ham have tough fixtures and a lot of new players so I’m not confident enough to know if he will stay up front. Its an easy swap from Mane if needed when the fixtures improve.
There could be some bargains (Maddision, West Ham assets, Fulham assets, Richarlison, Siggurdson etc) but I’m waiting a few weeks to make an assessment. Barring injuries, this should be my team until the first international break.
FPL
A lot of similar players to TFF so won’t go into detail. Richarlsion was preferred to Jota here as there is no price saving. I have Firminho instead of Mane for the same reason of price. (plus it’s easier to get Aubameyang when needed). Foster/Fabianski make a decent fixture rotation pair and I’ve gone for King as a fixture gamble given Bournemouth’s good early fixtures. I toyed with Tomkins instead of Van Aanholt to save £1m in order to try and upgrade Costa but need another 0.5 to get Jota. None of the 6m midfielders appeal so decided I can downgrade to a £4.5 when I need the cash. Doherty should be the new wingback after Barry Douglas left for Leeds and costs the same as other Wolves defenders and gives an extra option.
Dream Team
Only additional comments are Czech seems first choice and so £2m seems good value. The budget seems very friendly so I’ve been able to get 3 premium strikers.
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