GW9 Wildcard anyone?

[SG_8]

I need to decide on which of Maddison Rich or Fraser to ditch for a liverpool mid either this week or next...

I'm facing the exact same dilemma. Tempted to ship out Maddison as I'm not that convinced by him, but looking at Leicester's fixtures is making me think twice. It's going to be Fraser for me I think. Not decided yet though.

[alexmj]

I need to decide on which of Maddison Rich or Fraser to ditch for a liverpool mid either this week or next...

I'm facing the exact same dilemma. Tempted to ship out Maddison as I'm not that convinced by him, but looking at Leicester's fixtures is making me think twice. It's going to be Fraser for me I think. Not decided yet though.

Same here, benching Maddison this week, if i took him out i'd be benching Trippier.....

Richarlison might go for me instead of Fraser. I have the exact money for Kane and Fraser to Salah and Jiminez...

[yttod1010]

If you had to downgrade alonso Mendy or Robertson to their cheaper alternatives which one would it be and who to
Rob TAA
Mendy Laporte
Alonso luiz

[alexmj]

Probably Laporte.
Definitely not Alonso.
I've got TAA atm

[Joshua82]

I definitely wouldnt want to ship Robbo as he's the most nailed on Liverpool defender along with Virgil and is attacking with great fixtures. TAA may sit out the odd game in comparison. Alonso seems to be attacking less now so is perhaps looking a bit pricey at the moment, I'm looking at maybe downgrading to Luiz or Laporte if he continues to be held back attacking wise and I can face losing such a highly owned player. Mendy is a wait and see for me as I want to see how often Pep starts him now he's back. If I owned him I definitely wouldnt be shipping with Burnley up next. So definitely not Robbo to TAA IMO, maybe one of the other 2 if youre desperate. It's probably safer to keep Alonso as he's nailed to start and much more higher owned. Mendy is probably more risky but more likely to bring in big points if he's regularly starting especially with his attacking threat and home matches vs Burnley and Southampton coming up. Doubling Robbo with TAA is always an option seeing as TAA has more attacking threat than Laporte or Luiz, if you're ok with TAA possibly being rotated by Klopp.

[um09a2k]

Don't get Alonso if you don't have the patience to keep him long term. He's always known to get his hauls in small bursts.

[blahblah]

Don't get Alonso if you don't have the patience to keep him long term. He's always known to get his hauls in small bursts.

Yep. There is definitely a case for Rudiger\Luiz instead with a WC.

[dino1980]

Latest tinker: I call it Triple Double D or How I learned to stop worrying about Alonso.

Patricio/4.0
Mendy/Laporte/Robinson/TAA/Doherty
Salah*/Hazard/Richarlison/Fraser/Masuaku
Aguero/7m/Jimenez
0.4 ITB

*Salah replaced by Mane with the money left ITB if he’s confirmed out for two weeks. 7m striker was going to be Mitro before switching to Arnie in GW11 or 12. I’m not sure about building two future transfers into the wildcard though so might just take Arnie from GW9 instead.

[No Way Jose]

Latest tinker: I call it Triple Double D or How I learned to stop worrying about Alonso.

Patricio/4.0
Mendy/Laporte/Robinson/TAA/Doherty
Salah*/Hazard/Richarlison/Fraser/Masuaku
Aguero/7m/Jimenez
0.4 ITB

*Salah replaced by Mane with the money left ITB if he’s confirmed out for two weeks. 7m striker was going to be Mitro before switching to Arnie in GW11 or 12. I’m not sure about building two future transfers into the wildcard though so might just take Arnie from GW9 instead.

Very similar to mine as you'd know from my RMT Dino! Reassuring!

I like it a lot. Only differences are ing instead of Jimenez, and more city defence vs Alonso

What do you think of my squad IF salah is fit? my plan was to save the WC but salah being out would decide it

I like the flexibility and rotation possibilities for that squad. Mendy could be a small differential too

[dino1980]

Given the similar set-ups I like it a lot. Ederson/Bennett and Patricio/Laporte are two sides of the same coin, pretty much. With your 3.6 ITB fund I’d be tempted to take Sterling instead of Mane as a Salah surrogate or, if you can stomach two transfers to get Salah back in, then Vardy over Ings for a couple of weeks.

As I said earlier ITT I think hanging onto Fraser as M4 (fixtures look worse than they are) and having TAA as a defender open up the possibilities somewhat. I’ve never really been someone who’s had a strong bench, but I think having a good 12th man and a solid 13th man are more important when carrying premium full backs during the CL group stages. It means that if they get dropped/rested you’re not suddenly panicking that you won’t get a solid 11 out and can just ride it out and use the transfers where the fire may be raging stronger.

I think my wildcard is also shaped by my start. It’s been ok (225k). I looked at my Plan A (page one of this thread) and it was as template as it comes. So I wondered how can I differentiate without taking punts? It was whilst reading ARs thread that the idea of the double double up of Pool and City defence struck me as, perhaps, one way to do that. Plus Patrican’s points projections containing five defenders in the ‘best XI’. I have six days to completely bottle it and go back to Plan A though.

[No Way Jose]

Given the similar set-ups I like it a lot. Ederson/Bennett and Patricio/Laporte are two sides of the same coin, pretty much. With your 3.6 ITB fund I’d be tempted to take Sterling instead of Mane as a Salah surrogate or, if you can stomach two transfers to get Salah back in, then Vardy over Ings for a couple of weeks.

As I said earlier ITT I think hanging onto Fraser as M4 (fixtures look worse than they are) and having TAA as a defender open up the possibilities somewhat. I’ve never really been someone who’s had a strong bench, but I think having a good 12th man and a solid 13th man are more important when carrying premium full backs during the CL group stages. It means that if they get dropped/rested you’re not suddenly panicking that you won’t get a solid 11 out and can just ride it out and use the transfers where the fire may be raging stronger.

I think my wildcard is also shaped by my start. It’s been ok (225k). I looked at my Plan A (page one of this thread) and it was as template as it comes. So I wondered how can I differentiate without taking punts? It was whilst reading ARs thread that the idea of the double double up of Pool and City defence struck me as, perhaps, one way to do that. Plus Patrican’s points projections containing five defenders in the ‘best XI’. I have six days to completely bottle it and go back to Plan A though.

Well I’ll be around to steady your hand if needed. It seems to have all the statistical evidence required to convince us that a strong defence is an important platform to work from.

Definitely tempted by sterling. I think mane and cash allowing me to bring in KDB in a week or 2 for Fraser will mean I have Liverpool, City, Chelsea, and wolves as the majority of my team with some west ham sprinkled in for their good run and richarlison

I don’t see many holes in your team at all but I do worry our sides will be unbalanced. I’m considering mendy within this framework as even if he misses games, I will have a quality bench (that I’m worried would be underutilized) and when he plays I expect him to maintain a high PPG, so it could be worth the extra spend in that case

[Sutter Kane]

In plan B, because you've done Alonso to Laporte and used this saving to move AWB to TAA, you've effectively strengthened your bench options, because you now have to play TAA (and Laporte) to take advantage of the 'Double D'. You will mostly be benching two of Rich, Doherty, Fraser, Jimenez, Arnie (instead of benching two from that list inc AWB) which is fine but removing Alonso is a definite risk. I like it...

[BobMem]

Tossing up Aguero and Richarlison vs Mitrovic and Sterling.

I want someone from Man City's attack, but am wary of Aguero having his minutes limited. Sterling could also be a rotation risk of course, but I just have a feeling he's about to hit the sort of form that had people scrambling to get him in last year.
The make weights in this deal are both pretty much nailed in there teams, with fair (not great) fixtures.

Is only 0.1 difference for me I think.

[icefish]

Hey guys. I don´t post here a lot (lurk a lot ) but since I´m contemplating activating my wildcard I decided to write down my thoughts . This is all depending on the Salah injury and what will transpire there. So this is my working draft:

Alisson - Button

Doherty - Duffy- Robertson- Mendy- Balbuena

Hazard - Sterling - Richarlison - Mane - cheapie

Mitro - Vardy - Wilson

Alisson: The guy´s a beast and I have a lot of faith in the Liverpool defence. Can´t be bothered picking the right cheapie gk since I feel like money isn´t a great issue.
Button: If I go for Mat Ryan later on he´s there. Unlikely but he seems as good a 4M gk as any.
Doherty: King Doherty. Underpriced as hell. Not going anywhere.
Duffy: Good fixtures and will be playing from time to time.
Mendy: Very attacking. If he doesn´t play I have a solid bench. Willing to take the chance instead of going Laporte for the attacking output. I reckon he will play most games.
Balbuena: Meh. West Ham fixtures okay-ish and he seems nailed for a good price.
Hazard: Best player in the league. Insane form and a perfect FPL manager in Sarri. Will be my captain most of the time.
Sterling: Best City pick in my mind. Integral toCity´s offensive play and is a very fit boy. Better pick than Kun in my eyes.
Richarlison: Not convinced by anyone in his price bracket. His fixtures are mixed. But he´s a good player and I am gonna include him instead of for example Alonso (for 4-3-3) and hope for the best.
Mane: Not in love with this pick but perfect two fixtures and can serve as a KDB placeholder.
4.5 midfielder: Maybe Hojberg?
Mitro: Not sure on him. Will go for him and then change to Arnie if he´s fit later on.
Vardy: Solid and nailed. On pens and decent fixtures. Could be Laca or Firmino but not convinced.
Wilson: For me his fixtures are still good.

I´m not as fixated on structure as many are. Besides, I´m two frees from most players and a -4 at most.

[BobMem]

Mine looks like this currently:

Ryan Button
Doherty Mendy Robertson Chilwell Wan-Bissaka
Sterling Hazard Richarlison Fraser Masuaku
Lacazette Firmino Ings

The keepers are set. Brighton are good at home and might keep a few clean sheets, and there's plenty of save points to be had away.
In defence the only question mark is should I go for TAA over Robertson, and Maguire over Chilwell? I could also take Bennett over WB for just 0.1 more.
Fraser has a new injury doubt, as does Masuaku. I can't see a better midfielder for 4.4 who will hardly ever play...
Firmino is there as cover for Liverpool goals. Both Mané and Salah have issues.
Ings is a question mark. I have 8.8m available for a replacement. Not convinced about Wilson /King as well as Fraser. Maybe I could take 2 players instead, like Wilson and Sigurdsson/Maddison/Ramsey.

I welcome your thoughts.

[BobMem]

Our teams are very similar until you get to the attacking third icefish.

I do like Mitrovic, and could swap him in for Ings I guess. Ings seems excellent value though!
I've effectively chosen Lacazette over Vardy, although a combo for Fraser/Ings could be Knockeart/Vardy.

Dolly Parton, interesting...

[finkelele]

My team currently looks like this:

Patricio-Fabianski
Robertson-Mendy-Duffy-Bennett-Wan Bissaka
Hazard-Sterling-Richarlison-Maddison-Sigurdsson
Kane-King-Kamara

My only doubts are Sigurdsson and King/Wilson. I was going with Arnautovic but then I thought I might as well play one of Wilson/King for 2 gameweeks, then make a transfer. Which one should one have of King and Wilson? Pretty difficult choice.

Also, Sigurdsson is not a clear choice for me. But honestly, there are no midfielders I would want around that price range... So what I'm not sure about is if I should play 5 midfielders or three forwards... But that's also something I could fix after some gameweeks.... Thinking of transfering out King/Wilson and Sigurdsson and Mendy.
I Would want Maguire and Lacazette.

Anyone got a tip for some transfers so that I could get Kane-King/Wilson/Arnau and LACAZETTE up front? Instead of Sigurdsson and maybe Mendy?

Good luck everyone! This has to work for me, not going that well so far!

[Cars and Mané]

I've been looking at ways to squeeze in Hazard, Salah, Sterling and Aguero all week. I've finally come up with something that seems not completely, but definitely slightly, crazy.

Patricio, Hamer
Mendy, Robertson, Doherty, Diop, Yedlin
Hazard, Salah, Sterling, Hojbjerg, Obiang
Aguero, Jimenez, Ings

It will be a 4-3-3 with the defence playing two of the three cheap defenders each week. Through GW21 that gives you:

WAT, BTN
btn, sou
WAT, BUR
BOU, hud
HUD, bur
car, WHM
eve, CAR
new, CRY
BOU, hud
FUL, WAT
ful, sou
wat, bur
CRY, BTN

Seems ok. All three of them also have varying degrees of attacking threat.

The problem is relying on the only two decent sub 6m forwards. If one gets injured you have to move to Vietto. I'm not comfortable with that, but I do think both Jimenez and Ings will prove great value this season. It would be a gamble on them remaining fit. And that's always a gamble particularly with Ings.

Don't know if I'll do this but thought it was interesting enough to post.

[Cars and Mané]

@finkelele

I think Wilson over King is pretty clear cut. The latter is very dependent on penalties. Wilson all day for me.

On your conundrum, I'd drop Maddison and Siggy for cheap mids and upgrade Kamara and the defence. Don't think those two will be good value at their price over the season.

[alexmj]

If you have to all all those heavy hitters, I would downgrade Mendy, Robertson or both and improve one of the cheap mids. There is so much value in the 5.8-7m mid category this season.

Even go Laporte and TAA, which gives you about enough to upgrade.

[Cars and Mané]

If you have to all all those heavy hitters, I would downgrade Mendy, Robertson or both and improve one of the cheap mids. There is so much value in the 5.8-7m mid category this season.

Even go Laporte and TAA, which gives you about enough to upgrade.

Interesting idea. Will have a think on that one, thanks.

[dino1980]

I've been looking at ways to squeeze in Hazard, Salah, Sterling and Aguero all week. I've finally come up with something that seems not completely, but definitely slightly, crazy.

Patricio, Hamer
Mendy, Robertson, Doherty, Diop, Yedlin
Hazard, Salah, Sterling, Hojbjerg, Obiang
Aguero, Jimenez, Ings

It will be a 4-3-3 with the defence playing two of the three cheap defenders each week. Through GW21 that gives you:

WAT, BTN
btn, sou
WAT, BUR
BOU, hud
HUD, bur
car, WHM
eve, CAR
new, CRY
BOU, hud
FUL, WAT
ful, sou
wat, bur
CRY, BTN

Seems ok. All three of them also have varying degrees of attacking threat.

The problem is relying on the only two decent sub 6m forwards. If one gets injured you have to move to Vietto. I'm not comfortable with that, but I do think both Jimenez and Ings will prove great value this season. It would be a gamble on them remaining fit. And that's always a gamble particularly with Ings.

Don't know if I'll do this but thought it was interesting enough to post.

I did a similar 'balls deep in premiums' draft and came up with

Patricio, Button
Laporte, Robertson, Doherty, TAA, AWB
Hazard, Salah, Sterling, Hojbjerg, Obiang
Aguero, Jimenez, Wilson

Only four differences.
Laporte, TAA, AWB, Wilson vs. Mendy, Diop, Yedlin and Ings.

Would always be 4-3-3, doesn't utilise a rotation and I felt the bench was a bit weak given the chance of rest/rotation for some of the starters. It's also one injury to a key player away from needing to sell that player. You can't have them all and I'm sacrificing Sterling of the four.

*Button as second keeper as Ryan will miss some games in January due to the Asian Cup.

[Cars and Mané]

@dino

I agree. It does seem like all four is a bit untenable. As you say, one injury can throw the whole thing off. I'm not sure upgrading Richarlison to Sterling, in my case, is worth all the damage done everywhere else.

Perhaps I'll be brave enough to ditch Salah for Sterling at some point, but that time definitely isn't now!

[blahblah]

Surely KdB is the way to go instead of Sterling?

[Cars and Mané]

Surely KdB is the way to go instead of Sterling?

Tbh I don't really understand the hype around KDB's return. According to my numbers he averaged 5.8 ppg last season vs 7.4 for Sterling.

[blahblah]

And is how much cheaper?

[Cars and Mané]

And is how much cheaper?

I'd pay 1.4m for an extra 1.6 ppg all day.

[blahblah]

I reckon that can be made up elsewhere though.

[Cars and Mané]

Sure, individual preference. But he gets spoken about like his numbers are off the charts.

[blahblah]

I agree, and he is rarely a go to player for me. But last season he got 20 less points than Sterling and is now 1.4m cheaper with arguably(?) less likelihood of rotation ie competition for that spot?