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When is the best time to play your FPL Wildcard?

When is the best time to play your FPL Wildcard? Fantasy Premier League tips 2014/15

FPL fantasy tipsEvery season there is always the panic and finger nail biting as fantasy managers ask that same old question – “When should I use my Wildcard”. We all have different views as to when to use it so here is a short guide as to six different options that might just be the difference in winning your Mini League or having the ignominy of a season wasted due to your poor wildcard decision. If you time your wildcard well it can be an opportunity to make huge strides with your side as your team climbs the league. Pressing that “Play wildcard” button can be a tense time, but if you plan it well you could reap the benefits.

Here are the six scenarios as to when you should consider using your wildcard, and why:

1. After Gameweek 1 – You’ve had an abysmal first gameweek; your fellow managers have had a great start and are not afraid about telling you, all of your selections look wrong, whilst everyone else has racked up the points. This is usually not a good idea, unless you have really taken a pasting, stand your ground. Your selections may not have paid off in week 1, but unless you have a situation where you don’t think you can start a complete eleven in GW2 due to injuries or players not starting, give your current team a longer chance. The boat’s sailed on this option already of course but assuming you managed to get past this stage then the next 5 options are your best bet to wildcard success in our view…

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2. After the Transfer Window Closes/During the International Break – This is the earliest time where we think there is a sound reason to play your wildcard. You’ve had a few gameweeks to manage your team and it’s not going in the direction you want it to. Between Gameweeks 3 and 4 there is a two week window between Premier League fixtures. It is also the period when the summer transfer window closes. Playing your wildcard here will allow you to take advantage of late player movement, sometimes a player who does not look worthy of investment at one club can turn into a bargain at their new club (see Gylfi Sigurdsson). With a two week period for transfers to be made it also creates a greater chance of earning team value by bringing in players who are rising in price as there is more transfer movement. A word of caution to those managers bringing in players that are involved in International duty, make sure they are not injured whilst away and confirm before GW4 commences.
Some managers plan this in advance – they set their team up for the first 3GWs with a view to wildcarding before GW4. Their view is that they have had time to view the trends and bandwagons and will strike to mould their squad to reflect this.

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3. Xmas and New Year – In December, the FPL schedule gets quite busy, resulting in occasions where clubs are playing three matches in seven or eight days. This period is when FPL managers will rotate their squads more frequently, making it difficult to put out a fantasy eleven where all your starting eleven are guaranteed 90 minutes. You could create a wildcard team geared toward this period of the season, bringing in players based on guaranteed game time. Now this could take advantage of the fixture list however we find this strategy a little too risky for its own good, due to weather and most notably rotation worries as many Premier League managers use this this time to make full use of their squad.

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4. Double Gameweeks – This is probably the most popular strategy in the FPL community. Without doubt there will be fixtures moved around because of cup commitments or bad weather. The FA Cup 6th round fixtures in March are always a popular time to wildcard. When the rescheduled fixtures are announced, this creates double gameweeks. You can build up a starting eleven playing 22 matches if you choose carefully and have a cracking points haul that can take your FPL team from mid table anonymity to potential champions.

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5. Double up with January Wildcard – While option 4 is the most popular with Fantasy Managers, if it can be done in January in conjunction with option 5 here then you can really hit the jackpot. We are all given a January wildcard to use during that month, this was designed to help managers whose squads were severely depleted by player movement in the January transfer window. You can organize the playing of both of your wildcards so that you can have a really strong team for the entire month. The only downside is it feels a bit of a waste if the first of your two wildcards still looks good when you plan to play your second.

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6. In an Emergency – Do what some managers do and just hold on to it until a disaster occurs. It could be gameweek 4, 12 or 36. Every FPL manager will face a crisis of some sort with their squad, players injured, suspended, dropped, players out of form. Well, here’s a chance to right that sinking ship and start again. It’s your ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card. Just make sure you use it wisely.

fantasy football tipsWell we hope this guide is of some use to you and may help you in maximizing your Wildcard.

Thanks for reading When is best to play your FPL Wildcard? Fantasy Premier League tips 2014/15. This article was written by Eddy

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240 Comments

  1. 55
    peakydave says:

    Schurrle in the 52nd minute scores an early consolation for the Germans!

  2. 56
    Raziel says:

    BEAT THEM GERMANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, Argentines are bad people 2. Hmm, the lesser evil of the 2? 😛

    See, they can actually play football. At the worldcup they refused to play. sad

  3. 57
    Slow Poison says:

    Do you guys think Welbeck can end up like Sturridge. Outcast at Chelsea, limited to substitute appearances to scoring over 20 goals in a season, being 2nd top scorer only to his teammate Suarez

    • 57.1
      RedVT says:

      Hey SP, I think getting regular game time and being supported by Arsenal’s amazing midfield is going to be great for the guy. He could be right up there with Arsenal’s top scorers this season if he can stay healthy IMO. Not sure I’ll be rushing out to get him into my fantasy side right away, but I think he’s definitely one to watch.

    • 57.2
      peakydave says:

      Not sure Slow but for me its make or break for his career,as Giroud (a donkey some would say!) is out until early Jan and even he,although never quite captain material was quite consistent with his goal scoring.Arsenal strike force is full of no-hopers and players for whatever reason are out of favour.If he does not grab this opportunity to shine with the midfield he has behind him for me it will be the beginning of the end of his career

  4. 58
    RedVT says:

    Good evening fellas, how’s everyone doing so far this week? I had a question while there are a few people about. Now that the transfer window is shut, which players do you think might be at risk of losing their starting spots to some of these deadline day additions? Calvin mentioned yesterday that Duff might be in jeopardy since Burnley have got Keane on loan from United. Is there anyone else who could lose their place that you can think of?

    • 58.1

      Red

      Any of the existing Hull attack seeing as they signed two wingers and a striker on deadline day.

    • 58.2
      B-Bash says:

      Evening chaps and Red!
      Steve Bruce been busy in window, so Hull may look very different fir gw4
      Mata could suffer imo and Rooney could play a different role also
      They are the ones that affect me, so the quick ones that comes to mind!

      • RedVT says:

        Nice one, thanks B-Bash. Did you enjoy seeing Balotelli running around in a Liverpool jersey on Sunday? Would have been great if he could have converted one of those chances and bagged one on his debut. I’m liking his new song, did you hear it yet? laugh

        http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/watch-liverpool-fans-sing-new-7712794?

        • B-Bash says:

          Enjoyed it thoroughly mate! smile
          Was gutted he didnt score. He should have scored in fairness!! Is he gonna make many fpl teams though??? I’m not convinced at that price?!

        • RedVT says:

          B-Bash, I was actually thinking he could prove a bargain if he’s going to play up top with Sturridge consistently and starts scoring goals. 1.5 cheaper than Sturridge frees up a lot of money to spend elsewhere.

          I think Brendan only took him off early because he said he was lacking match fitness, which I took to mean he’ll be playing full matches soon once ready. I still think I’m going to bring Sturridge in this week, but I’ll definitely be thinking about Mario if he starts firing and I need to free up some money.

        • inittowinit says:

          Hi Red, I have the feeling he could be an immensely frustrating player to own in FPL. He’s prone to missing chances galore. Sunday was the norm for him not the exception. He was on bestest of best behaviour as well – there will be cards aplenty once he gets going. IF he was on pens I might give him a second thought but he’s not, so I won’t.

        • B-Bash says:

          It may be a little blinkered mate, but I see Sterling as the bargain to get into the good run of LFC fixtures. Im on wc at mo and cant decide what to do with my front front 3!! Always been a 3 4 3 type, but 3 5 2 is appealing! Ballotelli would have to be one of your main strikers at his price, and if it was 2 up top I wouldn’t go with him. I am chuffed as a red though that he’s with us and he looked hungry!!

        • RedVT says:

          Yeah, those are all good points initt. He is a bit of a loose cannon for sure. But I can remember a time a couple seasons ago when many people didn’t want Suarez in their FPL teams because he was liability with a bad attitude, etc. Just about every single one of them had Suarez in their FPL sides last season though.

          Not saying that he’s the same cailber player or that there aren’t better options, but I’m hoping that Brendan will get the kid to settle down and play to his potential finally.

        • RedVT says:

          B-Bash, Sterling is a definite! I’ve had him since the start and will bring in Sturridge this week if he’s fit for Liverpool’s good run of games. Thought about Moreno as well after that display against Spurs, but I don’t want to have 3 players from any one team really.

          How’s the rest of your WC team shaping up?

        • inittowinit says:

          Hi B-Bash, agreed on Sterling totally, he looks a proper threat at the moment, especially in this system with him in behind the 2. You’ve made my day saying you on a WC! I was very close to copying you in on a twitter convo yesterday with @FPLMaestro as he was saying that it was a massive mistake to have played it already and I nearly said maybe ask you how that panned out last season! Decided to leave him be in the end as the guy got in a bit of a tizzy with it all, spent all day defending his statement and then backing down and also ended up swearing at our very own Rich (Floydeth)!

          Red, I think if anyone can, Brendan can. Mightily impressed with him and his man-management skills to be fair. He knows what he’s taken on and I think he knows he can handle him and get the best out of him.

        • B-Bash says:

          Lol! I follow @FPLMeastro too but like everyone says, its our wc and we can play it whenever we like. It was gw5 last season that I played mine and it did change everything!I Hoping for same this season! Mr Martyniak seems to think its a good time to activate wc now also!
          Price change policy is annoying though!!

        • B-Bash says:

          Sorry Red, only just seen post! Ive looked at Moreno myself. Had Lovren which was a little shortsighted really, then benched him for his first cs at Spurs! Moreno looking favourite though so far. Liverpool have a good run of fixtures so 3 LFC isnt a bad thing to me! They cant let me down as much as DDG, Mata & Shrek surely!!?
          WC going ok, but struggling to get City coverage in! Feels wrong, but then I look at line up and im happy!

        • RedVT says:

          No worries at all B-Bash! I do like Moreno but I’m having to go even cheaper to facilitate the front 7 I want. As far as City goes I don’t currently have any either, but I’m looking to bring in someone for GW6.

          Not too enamoured with Jovetic/Dzeko due to uncertain playing time, and Aguero is too fragile for me with that big price tag (had him last season and he always let me down with injury). So I think I’m going to leave their forwards alone and go for Silva maybe.

          Have fun tinkering with your WC, good luck! smile

    • 58.3
      Calvin Clyne says:

      Could be quite a shake-up at Hull, with Hernandez, Ben Arfa and Dawson likely to play, so that’s a forward, midfielder and defender likely to be losing their place, or a significant formation change coming in. I’d expect Sandro to slot straight in at QPR too. Not sure who these guys will be replacing yet, but if I was on a WC I’d certainly think twice before bringing in guys that share positions with these fellas.

      • RedVT says:

        Thanks Calvin, sounds like Hull’s starting 11 are anyone’s guess at this point. The uncertainty of the starting players at some clubs with their last minute additions and FPL still being in the dark about price changes isn’t making an early WC too appealing for me. I’m going to hold off as long as I can I think.

  5. 59
    peakydave says:

    Germany 78th min get 2nd consolation through Gotze! and u can assume that Welbecks ‘injured’ ankle isn’t as bad as we first thought as hes come on as a sub for England!

  6. 60
    Raziel says:

    So wait? Three assists and a goal for Di Maria? Who needs Messi? 😛

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