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Blistering Barnacles - thoughts behind team selection

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CptPugwash
Grumpy Old Man
Posts: 1042
Joined: 20 Apr 2012, 10:41

Blistering Barnacles - thoughts behind team selection

Post by CptPugwash »

A bit quiet so i'll try and stimulate some thoughts on initial squads.

GOALKEEPERS
I want 3 playing keepers, but I don’t want to spend too heavily in this area. From week 4 I would ideally like a combination that maximises the opportunity to have at least 2 playing on different days. Unfortunately the televised fixtures only go to week 7 until Sky releases the October & November fixtures in the next week. So all 3 keepers may well change by August 8th, and I may well use 3 transfers to reset all the keepers anyway. However I’m fairly sure 1 selection by week 4 will be from a Europa team [WHM, SOT, LIV, TOT].
For now I’m going with;-
Schmeichel LEI 4.5
Guzan AVL 4.5
Stekelenburg SOT 5.0
This allows me the following combinations for the first 4 weeks;-
SUN-new/MUN-EVE/TOT-wat/SUN-NOR.
DEFENDERS
My normal tactics will be to will be to try and select 5 defenders on a Saturday to give me a reasonable chance to pick up as many decent scoring defenders as possible, before switching to a more attacking formation on the Sunday. So by week 4 I plan to have 8 playing defenders generally from teams outside the big 4 and Europa teams. For now I like the look of the following 5 teams to supply most of the starting defence for the first 4 weeks; MUN, SUN, NOR, AVL, LEI, BOU.
This sets me up for the following: - Week 1 & Week 3 I should have options/cover.
Wk1 SAT: MUN v tot, BOU v avl, LEI v sun, NOR v cp.
WK2 FRI: AVL v mun, SAT: SUN v nor, WHM v lei.
WK3 SAT: MUN v new, CP v avl, LEI v tot, NOR v sto, SUN v swa, WHM v bou.
WK4 SAT: AVL v sun, BOU v lei,
My 7th choice will be from Arsenal, not only do they have 2 decent opening fixtures on Sunday, where I can switch in and switch out on the Monday if I need to, but they also fill a hole in the week 4 fixtures.
Wk1 SUN: (sub) ARS v wh. Wk2 SUN: (sub) CP v ars. Wk4 SAT: NEW v ars.
My 8th choice for now is likely to be whichever 4.0m defender appears most likely to get game time after week 4, for now I’ve pencilled in S Taylor NEW.
Selections.
MUN – Damian 5.5 appears to be a no-brainer given that Valencia is out.
SUN- PVA 5.0. I think he is worth the .5m premium. However if I find myself desperate for he cash and another 4.5 looks on a nailed on starter I will downgrade.
BOU- Mings 4.5. All starters are priced the same, haven’t a Scooby about Bournemouth, so I’ve gone for the most selected. I’d appreciate any comments on the apparent Mings v Francis choice.
AVL- Bacuna 5.0. Similar to PVA I think he’s worth a .5m premium. However if Baker or Senderos look like making the team I can’t justify a 1m premium.
LEI – Huth 4.5 looks the safest starting option, I should be able to spare 1 transfer to switch in Morgan later if he appears to be the better bet.
NOR – Bassong 4.5 not well informed on the Norwich defence any comments on the CRD gratefully received.
ARS – Mertesacker 5.5. As I can’t convince myself any full-back has more guaranteed game time, I’m going with the safest 5.5 option.

MIDFIELD/FORWARDS.
My standard formation is going to be 5-3-2 on Saturday, however this will be highly dependent on the strength of the bench and to a lesser extent my options on a Saturday. For example if it looks like I can field 3 strong striking options on Sunday/Monday I’ll probably go 5-4-1. On the other hand if the striking options are weak on Sunday/Monday but the midfield options look good I’ll more likely go 5-2-3. From week 4 I want to cover at least 11 different teams doubling up on a maximum of 3 teams. 2 players are going to be base price midfielders that leaves 98.5M to cover my main front 12. For now I’m concentrating on the first 4 weeks, and assuming that 16 transfers will be enough to reset my team in Week 4.
First priority, make sure I have at least 2 preferably 3 ideal captain options per week. I’ve highlighted which I consider the most important
Week 1 SAT: Costa, Hazard or Rooney. SUN: Arsenal? MON: Man City?
Week 2 FRI: Rooney SAT:? SUN: Arsenal? MON: Benteke
Week 3 SAT: Rooney SUN: Costa, Hazard or Aguero. MON: Arsenal?
Week 4 SAT: Aguero SUN: Rooney or Soton?
Rooney MUN 10.5 F, Covers a lot of bases here so he’s a must have, at least to begin with. Arsenal have the preferred fixtures on each of the first 3 weeks, so again at least 1 Arsenal player is a must have. My preference is Ozil ARS 8.5 M, but I can see an argument for about 5 different choices. Aguero is surely a must have by week 4, but I don’t want 13M tied up in a player who probably won’t start week 1, and won’t even make my bench week 2. I plan to use 2 or 3 transfers to manoeuvre him in for week 3. Instead I’m going for Sterling MCY 9.0 M. Throw in Benteke LIV 8.5 F and that should cover the bulk of my Captaincy choices.
Second Priority, strong bench for the first 4 weeks.
Already selected:- G: Stekelenburg SOT for all 4 weeks. D: Mertesacker ARS wk 1 & 2. M: Ozil ARS wk 1,2, & 3. M: Sterling wk 1&3 F: Benteke wk 2 F: Aguero wk 3 (Not in initial 25) F: Rooney wk 4. That leaves the following slots 3 for weeks 1,2 &3 and 5 for week 4.
Arsenal double coverage up front looks likely to do well for the opening fixtures so I’m running with Giroud ARS 9.0 F. It might be an iffy selection going forward we will have to wait and see, but that takes me down to 2 slots left for the first 2 weeks
In addition to Rooney I’m going to start with both Mata MUN 8.5 M and Depay MUN 8.5 M. I’m highly unlikely to keep all 3 past week 4, but I don’t know yet which 1 or 2 to keep, so I’ll try all 3 while they have decent fixtures. It gives me 2 further options for the bench for week 4, and opens up the possibility for using 2 subs from the Saturday fixtures for week 2..
Chelsea players are only relevant for the bench week 3 for me, I don’t plan to use them week 2 away to Man City, but any picks will be auto starters week 1 & 4. For my money Hazard, Costa and Aguero uses up too much of the budget, and limits my flexibility especially given 2 play for the same team. My preference is Hazard CHE 11.5 M.
I am planning to bring in at least 1 attacking SOT option for week 4, but I think there are better options for the first 3 weeks, so that’s another planned transfer.
Third Priority, filling in the blanks.
Of my starting front 5 the Man U trio cover 3 spots for the opening 3 weeks. Given the quality on show for the week 4 Saturday that will be easy to fill. I like West Hams fixtures week 2 & 3, it looks a simple choice of Payet for 7.5 or Sakho for 6.5. An extra 1m for an unproven midfielder over a proven striker is too much for me so I’m going Sakho. If West Ham make the Europa group stages having a budget striker playing regularly on Sunday will be useful. I considered have a base price player for my 6th striker, but for an extra .5 I can hopefully have a regular starter Jerome NOR 5, injury permitting, is worth a punt as my second starting striker week 1, a possible 2nd/3rd striker week 3 and my 7th sub week 4. My 5th striker is the one I’m most unsure of I’ve plumped for Berahino WBA 6.5, but Deeney, Wilson, Agbonlahor, Vardy & Ulloa were all under consideration. So that’s my initial strike force, not 1 of the 3 most popular picks Costa, Kane or Aguero.
3 Midfielders left to pick at least 2 @ 4.5. Wanyama is the obvious pick, but not for me. I don’t want my enablers sat on the bench on Sundays, I want my enablers playing on Saturdays when all my big guns are playing on a Super Sunday so I’m going for:- King LEI 4.5, Anya WAT 4.5. Thoughts on the best 4.5 midfield options that don’t play for the Europa teams please. I’ve got 6.5 left for my final slot, but I’m banking 1M and picking Ki SWA 5.5.

bspittles
Dumbledore
Posts: 7607
Joined: 13 Oct 2005, 18:26
Location: In hiding

Re: Blistering Barnacles - thoughts behind team selection

Post by bspittles »

Cheers, I'll be revisiting my initial draft this weekend so will bear this in mind :-)

CptPugwash
Grumpy Old Man
Posts: 1042
Joined: 20 Apr 2012, 10:41

Re: Blistering Barnacles - thoughts behind team selection

Post by CptPugwash »

Time to start thinking about my final squad of 24.
Firstly lets sort out the 8 defenders. Here's my rules.
Under no circumstances will I be having 2 defenders from the same team.
I want most of my defenders generally playing as much Saturday football as possible, so i want limited exposure to the big 7.
I want all my defenders reasonably guaranteed game time.
I want most of my defence at the 4.5m price point, and i dont want to spend more than 2 or 3m above the base 36m.

Unfortunately Oxford (WHM) doesn't look like he's going to get anything like regular starts, so how many teams have good options at 4.5m?
So anyone got any thoughts on the best 4.5s at the following teams:-
AVL, LEI, NEW, NOR, STO, SUN, WAT, BOU, CRP.
Also how likely are the following 3 to hold their places. Each are the only defenders at 4.5 at their teams.
Yoshida SOT; Galloway EVE; Gomez LIV

mharv
Treebeard
Posts: 103
Joined: 01 May 2009, 13:39

Re: Blistering Barnacles - thoughts behind team selection

Post by mharv »

Ny first thought is that your first rule is wrong! I'll be wanting a block defence/goalie - if i hit on the "best" defence in terms of clean sheets then i'll have a lead on everyone else. I would really like to win the competition overall, if i pick the wrong team then ok i won't win, but with the correct choice will have a head start. Stoke or Palace are medium term (as in up to the next block of transfer periods) for me .....

CptPugwash
Grumpy Old Man
Posts: 1042
Joined: 20 Apr 2012, 10:41

Re: Blistering Barnacles - thoughts behind team selection

Post by CptPugwash »

Firstly is what happens when your block defence concedes on a Saturday and you have no options on the bench to replace them with, more importantly what do you do if your block defence is away to Man City on a Monday night? Starting with defenders from 5 different teams on a Saturday i'd be disappointed if 2 or 3 don't pick up decent points, and the rest can get subbed out. Each to their own however, there's a myriad of different ways to play this.

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