Another year, another season. After managing a season-high ranking after GW38 it's time to do battle with myself again
It seems to be that time in pre-season when I start tinkering with my side which never does any good, although there may be some excuse as my draft team lost Robbo and possibly Buendia at the weekend.
These thoughts are as much for my own benefit as anyone else although as usual I welcome observations.
I'm hoping this year to save my WC to at least GW7 and hopefully belong so I have tried to balance ease of fixtures at the start with a longer-term perspective.
Goalkeepers: ]Meslier & Forster.
Both have been in my side since my first draft. Not much to say really. I guess that Martinez will probably outscore Meslier in GW1-3 but over the longer-term, I don't think there will be much to choose between them. Sanchez is a good shout but I prefer the BHA defenders.
Defence: TAA, Shaw, Dunk, Veltman, Tsimikas
If everyone was going into the season with a full pre-season my defence would be TAA, Chilwell, Stones, Shaw & Dunk and I would be going 5 at the back.
TAA has also been in every draft ... Man Utd defence is looking much stronger and I do like Shaw, plus his ownership is ridiculous ... Dunk has also been in every draft - from memory he was the top goalscoring defender last season and those fixtures are just too tempting. And because pretty much everyone has a Brighton defender, you really need a second defender to benefit from clean sheets etc. Come in Mr Veltman! ... It's not completely clear that Tsimikas starts in Robbo's absence, but with those fixtures I am happy to take the risk. The biggest danger is that he doesn't play GW1 and immediately starts shedding owners with the consequent threat to his price.
Midfield: Salah Fernandes Son Dallas Gilmour I'm happy to go with the template for Salah and Fernandes although one of them will probably be downgraded some time around GW 4 to allow Lukaku/Kane to come in. I've been trying to find a way to fit Son in for the last couple of weeks and downgrading Robbo was really the only option. Robbo's injury has opened up the door. Based on his performances from last year, I suspect Son is the one £10m+ player who has been noticeably underpriced. He's aslo a very decent captain shout for GW3 ... Dallas is OK at £5.5m although I would much prefer Harrison or Raphinha if I had the budget. I'll probably bench him first week and play 5 at the back. Gilmour is bench fodder. Brownhill and Bissouma were the other optins.
Forward: Wilson Ings Obafemi
This is probably the position I have struggled with the most - Antonio, Watkins and Toney have all been in my teams and I would have been happy to start with all three of them. Up until recently I had Wilson, Ings & Antonio although it is hard to imagine all three being fit for GW2.
Wilson doesn't seem to be in many drafts but he has great fixtures and he is a real talisman. Ings apparently looked very good in the friendly yesterday and has great fixtures. Either may yet become Toney which will free up money to upgrade Dallas to another Leeds midfielder.
Time to let this team bed down for a couple of days.