Stormrider’s RMT

[Stormrider]

From a strong "hold" at the beginning of the week I got to a hit - will see, whether this is worth.

GW 10 was good - KDB first time delivering as captain brought me a good 68 (-4) points and a green arrow to k743.

After the Villa vs. Newcastle game off, seeing the lineups in midweek I decided to do a double transfer in the defensive part

James IN - Cancelo out
Meslier IN - Martinez out

Also was pondering to bring in Johnstone for Steer and keep Martinez (with double gameweeks later down the line as an interesting prospect). However, the possibility to get Salah in one transfer and the target team (below) just in the money brought me to switching out Martinez. Also less convinced (last week already) whether Martinez can keep up with the likes of McCarthy & Meslier. We will see.

Team for GW11:

Meslier
Robertson Dias James
KDB (c) Son (vc) Jota Grealish
Wilson Kane DCL

Steer Justin Soucek Lampty

Soucek and Justin to come in. Lamptey - should I put him before one of the two? Just Southampton very strong away from home so this should be the most sensible one.
Good luck all!

[Stormrider]

Some time to finish the above writing.

As I understand, the BGW/DGW season will start with GW18/19, when potentially the postponed games from GW 1 are being placed and a round is divided into two pieces. Have to properly read the details on that once the fixtures for Jan are defined but for now it tells me one thing - plan a strong team for the festive period i.e. till GW17.

So, the above mentioned target team would be - exact money for at the moment:


Meslier
Robertson James Dias Lamptey Masuaku (or any other 4.5)
Salah Fernandes Jota Grealish Soucek
Kane Wilson Bamford

Currently 4 transfers away from this one.

Salah would be good if in the team from GW12
Fernandes may can wait till GW13
Masuaku would a) replace Justin who could lose his place and bring a 0.2 which I would need to finance Fernandes
Bamford = Good fixtures for Leeds now after GW 11; DCL much less so (except SHU in GW 15 plus Arsenal home which is good and West Ham home in GW 14 & 17 okeish)

From the high calibres I would assume the highest chance for game time have Salah and Fernandes; normally also Kane. KDB also very important for City but the first two seem, at least at the moment, more important for now till GW17.

Transfer plan to reach the above lot to be worked out next

[Stormrider]

... to be worked out. And still pondering over the transfer(s).

First: GW 11 was a treat - 90 points (-4) and green arrow to k432'. KdB delivering as captain for the first time and the congenial duo of Kane & Son providing 25 points out of just 2 goals scored by Spurs was great. Even more difficult now the next steps - transfer(s) for GW 12 and beyond.

0.1 short of KdB to Salah - not sure what I had calculated here.

Do I want/need Salah - easy answer is yes. Not only because of Fulham but for most of the gameweeks till gw17 a case can be made to captain Salah and I would also expect him to play quite regularly. But how to get him in?

a) Jota and Son to Salah & 4.4 (Oliver Burke )
b) Jota and Kane to Salah & 5.8 (Should be Wellbeck)?
c) KdB & Justin to Coufal & Salah

c) looks bad given it's taking me the captain for gw 13

a) and c) I would play Soucek against Leeds, which seems ok (given, Leeds are not watertight with standards

[Stormrider]

Have a d) option but it is not really a longer term solution and will ask for a transfer most probably - KdB to Mané (c)

[Stormrider]

a) with Reed from Fulham it is. Leaves the possibility to transfer KdB to Fernandes for gw 13 if I feel so or just leave it so.

Gross could be interesting - but was no good way to get him

[Stormrider]

57 (-4) points for gw12 - rank drop to 536k. Having Justin's 11 points first on bench did not help but that was more the outcome somewhat unlucky, think I would take the same decision again. Salah so so la la - often happens like this with such cases but after not bringing in Fernandes for gw9 I wanted to avoid the same scenario again.

Highlight definitely Soucek on target again. He now played 7 games for my team for a total of 39 points - that's 5.6 ppg - fantastic for a 5.0 midfielder! Of course he will regress sooner or later, but was a good one so far.

For gw13 not owning Fernandes is scary. He really is the talisman for ManUnited, can just hope, a lot are captaining KdB and de Bruyne will actually play (and score a couple of points) .

Need to reduce my transfers and hits, so rolling this week and then to decide next week what to change. Fernandes is high on the list, also get Son back soon.

Team for GW13:


Meslier
Robertson Dias Reese James
KdB (c) Salah (vc) Grealish Soucek
Kane Wilson DCL
Steer Lamptey Justin Reed

Good luck to everyone!

[Stormrider]

The low expectations for this gw seem to materialize - 4th captain fail from KdB for me and Reece James with the second 1 pointer since I got him. To top off, Dias with a zero. And now possibly both benched bringing new issues for the weekend? Anyway, cannot change it. At least two frees and will decide on Friday.

More interesting - the fixtures for gw 18/19 announced. No idea yet how to manage that. Just not really up to already using my second wc.

And important learnings from previous seasons:

- don’t destroy your team just to get players with a double gw (important here especially, as still half of the season to go)
- sometimes players with a strong single game can even outscore doublers
- There are points to win in the upcoming gw too, so not focus only on 18/19
- Wildcard could well be needed at a later stage, should be saved if possible
- BGW: less games = normally less points to gain. Focus should be on core team of highly owned players, not necessarily 11 required

[Stormrider]

GW13 brought a measly 39 points and a rank drop to k657'. However, got away somehow with Fernandes blanking. Martinez with an 8 pointer after the 11 pointer from last gw just showed, how bad the decision was to make this goalkeeper switch. Will see, whether I do another switch there as extending the bleeding also may not look the best thing.

Learned a new expression on Twitter - the bus team.

So bus team for GW14 would be (before transfers):

Meslier
Robertson (cry) Dias (sou) Lamptey (SHU) James (WHU)
Grealish (wba) Salah(vc) (cry) KdB (sou)
Wilson (FUL) Kane(c) (LEI) DCL (ARS)

[Stormrider]

But now towards the planning for gw18/19 and what transfers that could trigger.

(Playing) Team for each gw would be currently:


GW18:

-
Lamptey (mci) Dias (BRI)
Grealish (TOT) KdB(c) (BRI)
Kane (avl) Wilson (shu) DCL (wol)

Steer (TOT)


GW19:

Meslier (BRI, SOU)
Dias (CRY) Robertson (MAN, BUR) Lamptey (lee) James (ful lei) Justin (SOU, CHE)
Grealish (EVE) Salah(c) (MUN, BUR) KdB (CRY) Soucek (BUR, WBA) Reed (CHE, MUN)
Kane (shu) Wilson (ars) DCL (avl)


So 7 player for gw18, which is quite a lot but not exactly the ones I wanted to keep at first sight.
7 Doubler for gw19 - with 7 transfers in hand till gw 19 that could come well with one, two, three single gw players and the others doublers for a bench boost.

Question mark is - could the Burnley vs ManU game be moved to gw18? That would change the picture quite a lot - a quite strong team for gw18 and still a bench boost for gw19 would look possible which was my preferred option. So probably best is, to just use one transfer this week and see, whether there are more infos next week?

Was thinking about taking out Salah to be able to keep KDB for the Newcastle game but I would want Salah back any way and that seems not too good an investment.
So KDB to Fernandes seems the logical transfer for now. Then re-assess next week as I then could see Lamptey, Wilson, Grealish (after gw15?) and Justin leaving my team. Would like to bring in some Burnley defence - Taylor or even Pope. Case for the latter would become much stronger if the above inclusion of their game in gw18 was to be a case.

[Stormrider]

Preview GW 18 & 19 - FPL Review

GW18 GW19

Single nrs with captain Single nrs with captain

Leno 4.2 4.2 Meslier 8 8

Dias 4.9 4.9 Robertson 10 10
Baldock 4.1 4.1 Coufal 9.4 9.4
Semedo 4 4 Ogbonna 8.7 8.7

KDB 7 14 Salah 14.1 28.2
Mahrez 5.7 5.7 Fernandes 12.6 12.6
Son 5.6 5.6 Mane 11.6 11.6
Podence 3.6 3.6 Soucek 8.2 8.2


Kane 6.3 6.3 Ings 10.5 10.5
Wilson 4.2 4.2 Adams 8.5 8.5
DCL 3.7 3.7 Bamford 8.3 8.3

Total 11 53.3 60.3 Total 11 109.9 124

Ramsdale 3.9 3.9 McCarthy 7.3 7.3
Saiss 3.8 3.8 Justin 6.4 6.4
Dier 3.7 3.7 Lindelöf 6.3 6.3
Neto 3.4 3.4 Klich 7.8 7.8

Total 15 68.1 75.1 Total 15 137.7 151.8


That was the optimal teams (projections FFFix) according to the numbers on Friday. Next step to put the possible points for GW18/19 into perspective.

Really need to check how I can upload a screen shot - looks terrible

[Stormrider]

Before going back to the bgw/dgw thoughts - a quick look at the current situation.

GW14 went extraordinary well - bringing Fernandes in and captain him made a huge difference to KdB before.

105 points and jump to k203' in OR.

Current team for GW15 (with 2 frees in hand):

Meslier
Dias Robertson James
Salah (c) Fernandes (vc) Grealish Soucek
Kane DCL Wilson

Steer Justin Lamptey Reed

Transfers will be decided on after League Cup and further thoughts regarding BGW/DGW strategy

[Stormrider]

Was looking at the numbers for gameweeks 18 & 19 again (in FFFix) - projections of Spurs players decreased while the ones from the ManCity guys increased. Also, Hamez sneaked into the starting eleven - if he will be fit by then. Total points from the best team for gw18 around 60 points. This in comprarison with the coming gw15 where my team (see above) has a points projection of 66 points. So not a screamer, this gw18.

However, after making the first transfer mid of the week (Lamptey had to go) I could now only field 5 players in gw18

Dias
Grealish
Kane DCL Wilson

So, in which direction should I go now and why?

Probably the team for gw19 first:

Meslier (2x)
Dias (1x) Coufal (2x) Robertson (2x) James (2x?)
Salah (c,2x) Fernandes (2x) Grealish (1x) Soucek (2x)
Kane (1x) DCL (1x) Wilson (1x)

Steer (--) Justin (2x) James (2x?)


Spent some time trying to figure out how I could get through the gw18/19 path without taking the Free Hit which I rate quite highly.
Second target was to be able to bench boost if possible. This because
a) currently all teams have something to play for, so motivation should be high every where
b) not really congested fixture time in January
c) some teams with rather cheap players make the bench boost quite affordable now
d) I don't rate the BB chip the highest, having it played probably frees the focus when playing the second WC for the planning of the top 11 and not defender 4 and 5 and midfielder 5
e) One of my biggest mistakes this season was getting nervous and selling Martinez in GW11. With the defensive form of Leeds will need another keeper anyway, so can just do an indirect change via BB
Probably a third target, which made the case even more difficult to nearly impossible - wanted to get in Son for GW19 (to 19) without losing any of the other big hitters (Salah, Fernandes, Kane - would not really make sense to lose any of them)

In the end, I had to accept that playing the Free Hit in gw18 is more or less inevitable. As stated above, the upside is probably not that big, some teams which contain KdB, Kane, Son, DCL and a ManCity defender can problably reach up to 40 points of that projected 60, so a 20 points gain. But to get KdB I would have needed to do a hokey cokey with Salah in gw 18 and back in gw19 and that, together with the already required transfers for dgw 19 was not possible.

So, FW18 and bench boost in gw19 is the plan - except injuries or other unplanned events would scupper that - which may not be that unlikely.

New target team for dgw 19 looks like this (currently would have 0.3 in the bank; so a certain reserve):


Meslier (2x) McCarthy (2x)
Dias (1x) Robertson (2x) Coufal (2x) Justin (2x) Taylor (2x)
Salah (c,2x) Fernandes (2x) Mané (2x) Raphina (2x) Soucek (2x)
DCL (1x) Adams (2x) Bamford (2x)

One con about the Free Hit in gw18 - it reduces the amount of free transfers - one of the points why I was looking whether I could get to gw19 without the Free Hit chip. Will probably have to take two hits along the way to gw19 which is not optimal but it is like it is.

Transfers for gw15 will most probably be Wilson and James to Bamford and Taylor. Then Reed to Raphina in gw16. Only reason that could change was if Grealish goes up tonight, then I would have the possibility to bring in Adams and (Balbuena or Lowton) for James and Wilson and have the exaxt money to get Son for gw16.

[Stormrider]

Went through with option 1, Taylor and Bamford in. Will be a difficult hiding behind the sofa in the next two games but you can’t have all.

Great boxing day to everyone with hopefully loads of points!

[SirMattBugsby]

I've had similar reservations on FH 18. And your forward line, atleast, covers the popular assets

viewtopic.php?p=3490044#p3490044

One benefit of not FHing is that Man City have a nice run 18 onwards, and Son is keepable anyway. The KdB HOHO with Salah was an issue for me as well, but it's an issue in the first place because we're wanting to BB 19? Otherwise there would be enough transfers.

So funnily, saving the FH might mean 'saving' the BB as well. And although the FH is hindering one GW's transfers, it's ultimately enabling us to build for 19. I'm not sure if this exercise is productive, esp since 15-17 might get overlooked, so I'm delaying the decision till 17, and have made my transfers (got in Taylor as well!) with 15-17 in mind.

[Stormrider]

Hi SirMatt,

Thanks, good point. Yes, the forward line was one of the main reasons for a reluctance for the FH in gw18. But then, I wanted to get the BB out of the way.

Interested how you eventually decide to play it - will tune in. Good luck in the meantime!

Btw - seing you are also starting Soucek - think it's time for another masterclass of him

[Stormrider]

GW15 was good - 59 (-4) points and a new OR rank of k187'. Soucek with another goal - just great this guy.

For GW16 stayed with the above plan - Raphina in for Reed, giving me a team for gw16 of :


Meslier
Robertson Dias Taylor
Salah (c) Fernandes Grealish Raphina
Kane (vc) Bamford DCL

Steer Soucek Justin Coufal


With the Everton vs. ManCity game postponed, Soucek and Justin coming in. If the Liverpool game already should be postponed would be down to 10 man. Is a timely reminder how fragile the whole world is at the moment.

[Stormrider]

The easy part first - GW16 brought 51 points from 10 players. Beside Dias and DCL, also Kane had his game postponed, Coufal rested, which brought me to 10 players. What obviously hurt was the injury to Taylor after 8 mins and a 1 pointer from him.

Current team for GW17 without transfers:

Meslier
Robertson Dias Justin
Fernandes (c) Salah Grealish Raphina
Kane (vc) Bamford DCL

Steer Soucek Coufal Taylor

[Stormrider]

Now to the going forward plan, after the fixture shifts for Burnley vs ManU and ManCity vs. Villa were announced. Currently no idea yet, whether I want to stick to the FH18 & BB19 plan or abort the whole thing. Given the incertainty of the current environment, saving the FH just looks a good idea. Also open, whether the Spurs game from yesterday could be played already in January, that would bring another dimension. First assumption - save the transfer for GW17 and then decide closer to GW18. Playing GW18 with 1 or 2 hits and a reduced team and the GW19 with 11 doublers could be an idea and focus to attack the gameweeks after 24 with the chips. But will see.

To start, here the team for GW 18 & 19:


GW18:

--
Dias Taylor*
Fernandes Grealish
Kane DCL


GW19:

Meslier (2x) Steer (--)
Dias (2x) Robertson (2x) Coufal (2x) Justin (2x) Taylor (2x)
Salah (2x) Fernandes (2x) Grealish (2x) Soucek (2x) Raphina (2x)
Kane (1x) Bamford (2x) DCL (1x)

So, what to do from here?

[Stormrider]

Sticking with the first feeling as of yesterday - will save the transfer and then decide closer to the gw18 deadline which transfers to make. Quite sure currently that I will save the FH chip and play GW18 with a reduced team and a hit or 2. After the deadline will have a look again at the optimal team for GW18 and how to manoeuvre subsequently. Transfers I was thinking about as a first step had been bringing in Pope (who I could see to be highest scoring goalkeeper till GW24) but could only have done that together with a downgrade of Robertson (e.g. to Stones) and that just did not seem good enough. Another reason why I will need a second transfer next week is the uncertainty about the injury of Taylor and Grealish on 4 yellow cards.

Transfers I will make from now on should be mainly supporting the whole period till GW24 - with the next big DGW in GW26 could see myself playing the second WC in GW25. Whether I will play the BB in GW19 or the TC will depend on the overall situation. I still would like to play the BB and have it out of the way.

Team for GW17 as above with a small change - will captain Kane in what should be an open game against Leeds. Bench order is tricky - Raphina with some set pieces shortly ahead of Soucek. Then Coufal last on my bench (would expect Everton to score with Richarlison now back and having had a good rest). Good luck all and may the arrows be green.

[Stormrider]

Well, GW17 was not a nice watch to say the least. Points of Coufal and Soucek on the bench and seeing one clean sheet after the other getting destroyed was not great. 55 points and big red arrow back to kOR 221'. Gains over the christmas period were just nullified. Lesson for the future - Soucek = Baines - never bench, never captain .

Now what to think about the upcoming gameweeks. Actually no idea yet.

- GW18 screams use of the Free Hit with a team of Dias, (Taylor), Fernandes and DCL. Could take a minus 4 and add two ManCity players and another but that would still only give me 6 players (7, if Taylor were fit). This expecting the Villa vs Spurs game to be off.
- GW19 then is another problem. Saving the transfer, I am missing a second playing keeper and with some expecting the Villa vs. Everton game (Grealish & DCL) could also still be off and uncertainties around the Southampton vs. Leeds game that's a difficult case. Using the BB chip seems not realistic at the moment.

[Stormrider]

The injury to DCL did not help so Free Hit it is. Then will monitor closer to the GW19 deadline whether to take a couple of hits to go through with the BB or not. If somehow possible I want to play it.

[Stormrider]

GW18 went so so la la... 53 points with the Free Hit ist not a huge number but it helped me over a week where I otherwise had only 3 players so quite relaxed about that. It is a chance to take a gamble and sometimes it turns out better and sometimes less. Seeing Sterlin being benched in a game I expected he could get some nice points and then take the penalty (from KDB which I had as captain) - yeah, would have worked out great had it been on target . But for that it is a game, so no bad feelings about that.

GW18_1.jpg

[Stormrider]

Now regarding GW19 - looking at my team and seeing the possible bench of Steer, Charlie Taylor, DCL and Raphina I changed my mind. The upside just sees too low and I would fully expect there will be further options to play the BB. GW26 probably not, as then the focus with the FH gone should be to prepare for GW29 but before or after I would expect to have at least a bench as good as above.

So, did two transfers so far:

Grealish to KDB
Kane to Wilson

giving me this team:

GW19.JPG

Thinking behind:

Structure-wise it seems to make life much easier having one more premium player in midfield than Kane. I can easily change to Son etc.
Flavour of the weekend for the front line is Antonio. While I like him and probably will get later, I am conviced yet about this form after a longer absence plus also not that sure whether the two games will be really high-scoring for West Ham. Already having Soucek and Coufal should be enough. Newcastle did not look great but I would be surprised if they don't score any more at all and Wilson is included in most of the goals from the team. Also, Leeds home next in GW20 looks good.
Only open point - do I want to take a -8 to either upgrade Meslier (to Martinez) or Taylor (to Stones) so I can concentrate on other positions in GW20 (Chelsea!) - no, leave it as it is.

Good luck all! Hoping for a great FISO GW

[Stormrider]

Very underwhelming week with 90 (-4) points and a big red arrow back down to 214’ OR. While GW’s 15 to 19 were supposed to make up some ground I am more or less back to where I started before christmas without hardly anything going my way in these 5 rounds...


Now, after bringing in Stones for Taylor last week, still thinking whether I should take a hit or just play the available team and replace KDB after tomorrow. Current team as it would be:


Meslier
Dias Stones Robertson
Bruno (c) Salah Raphina Soucek
Wilson DCL Bamford

Steer Coufal Justin KDB

With Tomkins missing, Soucek could be a candidate for a standard?

Also Newcastle probably without Clark, Fernandez and Dummet - should be a chance for Bamford/Raphina?

Also, against a rather good looking team in the cup, so not taking a hit could be beneficial.

Then again, want to get the Spurs duo anyway sooner or later so could start with bringing in Son and then probably Kane in GW21. Decision tomorrow.

Other players I am eying up (long list)

Jamez (Everton back with most of the stars and probably a DGW soon?)
Mitchell as cheap enabler (probably to fund above Kane transfer)
Antonio (of course, just too late)
Drogba
Zaha (with good looking fixtures?)

[Stormrider]

Game week 20 brought 59 points and a green arrow. Keeping faith with Soucek and Raphina went well, Bamford less so. Gündogan which was brought in by the Twitter masses delivered so it really looks following the masses and taking hits along the way pays off this year.

Idea for GW21 had been to bring in Kane, financed by KdB so need a new plan now.

Brought in Gündogan before the price rise last night. So currently standing with this.

Positions I would like to improve:

- goalkeeper (Mendy with the best immediate fixtures; Lloris probably best DGW26 fixtures?;Martinez 2 games to catch up
- defence: also here probably a Chelsea defender and if Liverpool may change Robertson to TAA
- Midfield: Son, Grealish, Zaha with good fixtures
- Attack: Antonio (Wilson may out after GW22?) and Kane when back

Immediate question: take a hit for GW21 for a) Son or b) Mendy? Also James Rodriguez is interesting as is Digne

[Stormrider]

GW22.JPG

Interim GW21:

Did not take any hit - Justin coming in for Stones.
Will be an interesting watch today - also in regards to the cup. Salah (c) to play - hopefully he manages to score again after 6 blanks. Son, Chelsea def (both of which I decided not to bring in for a hit) and Leicester attackers as the main danger.


Outlook:

With the deadline on Tuesday early evening I will not have too much time to write so some thoughts already now.

- Team looks destined for saving the transfer. Bench with Soucek, Raphina, Coufal (may change the bench positions) looks rather strong. With the 3rd gameweek in 8 days there could be some rotation (actually would expect there to be) so the benching dilemma could well be solved by reality once the lineups are available. But with a good bench no immediate need to do a transfer.
- Saving a transfer could provide a bigger re-shuffle in GW23 with 3 transfers (taking a -4). Problem is, now I am writing that, that we may want to approach GW24 with 2 transfers as the FA Cup round is played in the midweek between GW 23 and 24.So using one transfer in GW22/23 and doing a mini wildcard in GW24 may is the better play
- With my situation of the bench boost left (and the Triple Captain) but the Free Hit gone, I would assume, trying to navigate through to GW30 using transfers and a hit where necessary could be the best plan; preparing the team for the BGW in 29 with free transfers after the DGW26 and then clean the team in GW30 (around that time) for a last push in the last 9 or so gameweeks.
- As I understand, Leeds plays in GW29 and may also have a double in 26, so I am a bit reluctant to lose the likes of Raphina, Meslier and Bamford (mainly the first two; Bamford should be easier to bring back). This also was a major reason not to take a hit in GW21. Add to that the good points Soucek was providing this season and it gets clear why a hit in GW21, at least in GW21, was a difficult call.
- Main problem I have is, without knowing the dates where the posponed games are going to be played, when to play my BB. DGW 26 could be a prime option for the Triple Captain, at least if Spurs have a nice setup. Would rather trust a Spurs player as a ManCity one with the possible rotation. But in the end may need to go down that road.
If I do a transfer then the next priorities would be: goalkeeper (add Martinez to Meslier); Son/Grealish; Antonio/Kane (could be any of my front 3, after 22 the fixtures would be ok to release DCL or Wilson although the latter may deserves a bit more credit and patience).
Will be an interesting couple of weeks

[Stormrider]

GW22 closure

GW 22 brought 73 points and a red arrow to OR k89'. 26 points from the 3 outfield players on the bench but no hard feeling as it also was/is a sign for the team being rather strong. Had a short thought, not fully serously albeit, that it could be a good week for the bench boost. Turned out it had been indeed .

GW22 final.JPG

GW23 and following

Still convinced to play through to GW30/31 with playing the bench boost and triple captain on the way and then wildcard out of this 15 player team after GW29 to attack the last 8, 9 gameweeks with a good core team, hopefully leaving most of the transfers for punts on form players. So that's the overall plan clear. As written above, Triple Captain either in GW26 or another GW with a ManCity double (27?). Leaves the bench boost which I would see possible in GW25 (with 1 or two Burnley defensive players) or GW26 (with the Leeds players against Villa home). Not decided here yet.

So what to do with the transfers for the coming weeks?

Easiest would be like this (with currently two free transfers):

GW23: Steer to Pope (but maybe actually playing Meslier as I could see the chance for a clean sheer even a bit higher against Palace without Zaha than Burnley without their attackers against an in-form Brighton?). Bench Pope, DCL, Robertson, Stones
GW 24: Coufal to Mee/Tarkovski (benching Justin, Wilson and one of Robertson, Raphina, Bamford)
GW25: Wilson to Ings and another free transfer available for a Southampton player or a preparation transfer for GW26

Pro's for this, let's call it the conservative option:

- No hits unless injuries or game posponements
- Free transfers available to prepare for GW26 and after (I need to survice GW29 with free transfers as Free Hit played and need to have a strong bench to play the bench boost in GW25 or 26 and start to desinvest after)


Cons and reasons for a more aggressive option:

- I really would like to have Antonio for the next two games. Could see him explode today @Fulham seeing his recent numbers
- I play without Son which also will be well captained this weekend; furthermore I leave a massive 6 mio budget unused till GW25 or even 26

So, what to do?

==> Decided to take some moves; of course they could backfire but that's always the risk.

Salah and Steer out ==> Pope and Son in and Son (c) leaving me with this team for GW23:

Pope
Dias Justin Coufal
Son (c) Raphina Soucek Fernandes (vc) Gündogan
Wilson Bamford

Meslier DCL Stones Robertson

Bench decision was rather difficult again - could see DCL nick one. But don't want to bench penalty takers and midfielders with the additional point for a goal.

Provisional plan for GW24 remains - get in a Burnley defender - most probably for Coufal.

[Ruth_NZ]

Still convinced to play through to GW30/31 with playing the bench boost and triple captain on the way and then wildcard out of this 15 player team after GW29 to attack the last 8, 9 GWs with a good core team.

I have a similar idea. GW31 looks better though, don't you think? There are teams in GW31 that I'd be looking to shed completely (Villa apart from maybe Martinez, Everton & Leeds) and others I'd be interested in adding (Arsenal, Leicester, Wolves). If you can time the 2WC to a fixture-shift that is always an advantage.

So what to do with the transfers for the coming weeks?
GW 24: Coufal to Mee/Tarkovski (benching Justin, Wilson and one of Robertson, Raphina, Bamford).

I think you'd be well advised to make a fairly firm decision on a GW for the BB now, before you do anything else. Otherwise you are at risk of letting your team run away from you. Looks to me that GW25 will be the better target because it's hard to see Villa rolling over for Leeds in GW26.

In that case, surely saving the FT would be wisest this week? You already have Pope to cover the Burnley CS potential and having too much Burnley will handicap your DGW26 team. Coufal has a great fixture this week as well. Then in GW25, knowing the exact GW26 fixtures, you'll be able to finalise the GW25 BB with 2 FTs in hand and GW26 also in mind. You'd maybe want to look at Coufal Dunk or Dallas and Wilson Kane, something like that.

With GW24 it's a matter of knowing when enough doublers are enough. It seems to me that 5 is enough.

[Stormrider]

Hi Ruth. Thank you for taking the time and the analysis and interesting input! Much appreciated.

In fact was just thinking about probably saving the transfer when opening the Fiso page . Soucek available for the weekend would mean to bench Wilson (which probably is out any way) and have Justin and Robertson to come in if necessary. That should be enough.

Regarding the 2nd WC - did not look at the fixtures then much yet but good to know the 31 shift maybe interesting. Thanks for that!

Fully agree with you regarding the Bench Boost. I need to decide on that soon. Will follow the FA Cup games with interest and then work towards.

Some thoughts first thoughts - replace Wilson with Ings but also really interested in Kane. Very much depends on the doubles with Ings if I don’t already get him in now

Hamez? Fulham could be good but how many games will he play?

Sterling coming back into form - could people with him and Gündo be the winners in GW24?

Will be an interesting week working through the options once the DGW situation gets clearer .

[Ruth_NZ]

Hi Ruth. Thank you for taking the time and the analysis and interesting input! Much appreciated.
Some first thoughts - replace Wilson with Ings but also really interested in Kane. Very much depends on the doubles with Ings if I don’t already get him in now.
Will be an interesting week working through the options once the DGW situation gets clearer.

You are welcome.

Funnily enough, I thought you'd mention Ings. I'm pretty settled not to go that way; if I add any Southampton at all it will probably be Minamino. But their potential doubles aren't that attractive and they don't really create enough to justify an 8.4m striker in my assessment.

My expectation is that the extra GW26 games won't be announced till early next week, so after the GW24 deadline anyway. Might be this Friday but that seems less probable to me.