When is the best time to play your FPL Wildcard? Fantasy Premier League tips 2014/15
Every 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.
Well we hope this guide is of some use to you and may help you in maximizing your Wildcard.
Current wildcard team as mentioned above.Thoughts guys ?
Yeah nice team. Aguero will score bulk points, that’s if he doesn’t get injured. If he gets injured in the international game then he won’t be worth locking that amount of funds up. Saying this though, he could be fine and start slotting a goals every game. Looks like a solid team too me.
One CS and everybody is jumping on Stoke even though the first 2 GWs showed us they can be really poor in the back. Don’t know, too much money in the back if you ask me.
I’m all about their fixtures though.
Same, I already have Pieters. But if I got a goalie from 1 team, unsure that would be Begovic. On that note, at the moment I’m stuck with DDG which doesn’t make me happy, at all. Lol.
Two or three season ago they were really solid in the back. Now they’re just solid when they adapt to the teams they’re playing, they actually stand chance of conceding more goals against smaller teams than against bigger teams. Against bigger teams they’re much better organized.
Ive had begovic from the start raz and they still have good upcoming fixtures.
Hey lads. Just fretting over my wildcard.
Can I get someone’s opinion please?
FIX YOUR PHONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 12%?????????????
Prefer your team over the guy above you. 😛
Haha I keep smashing the battery out looking at football articles. Worth it.
Cool, can’t say I would make many if any changes if this was my WC team. Maybe downgrade Iva and upgrade Naismith to Welly. I said it, Welly. The only real striker Arsenal has left, lol. And he’s not as bad as people make him out to be.
You could also wait till GW8 when Arsenals fixtures get more favorable. I like Naismith by the way and as it stands now he will always be a starter.
Ah yeah did think about getting welly in there haha. Can’t afford to have a team without Ivanovic IMO. I can swap Fabregas for Ben Arfa and Naismith for Welly in the future if Fabregas falls deeper and/or Naismith looses his spot. It also gives me time to monitor Ben Arfa in his new team
What to do with my team? Have 0.5m in bank and 1 FT. Fearing for the defense but also if Mata/Rooney drop too rapidly I can’t afford players like Sterling/Falcao later on without taking big hits.
Maybe mata to sterling? With the new signings I can see mata being pushed to the side when it comes to points. Sterling is in a nice position of play as well. I like players who are central like that.
Yeah Mata to Sterling is the main obvious move. If you aren’t averse to a hit then Pelle to Welbeck could be good too, though maybe next GW after the City game.
i’d look at getting rid of Terry and maybe using the funds to upgrade Pelle.
in the next 6 Chelsea have City, Arsenal and Man U to play, i can’t see many CS’s
No Man City coverage…
If Danny Rose is injured, will Ben Davies get a shot at left back for Tottenham? With his price dropping I am thinking of bringing him in for Terry, which will also raise a bit of cash. Or is this is short-term move only? Spurs looked decent apart from Liverpool and have reasonable fixtures
Pippin,
do we know how long Rose is out for? He certainly seems to be favoured thus far under Pochettino, but it’s fair to assume that Davies will get games while Rose is out.
Hey lads, great article
Is bojan likely to drop again? should I bring in someone for him now? he’s down to 5.3 mill.
Having bojan, mutch and Figueroa in my team is some pain.
Alright guys, I have 1ft with 0 in the bank any suggestions for transfers?
I would say di Maria to sterling, have to take adv of pools fixtures and form. 2 utd attackers is 2 too many in my books
would also free up some cash
That would be a good move, but I feel di maria will offer a lot, coming from a united fan, I feel like he had a good debut Against burnley, but he is very pricy seen as he has only just come to the premier league, but it is di maria I’ll think about it, appreciate the advice mate
No worries, you could keep your transfer by all means and see how utd are looking after the international break that will leave you with 2 tf and more room to maneuvre go with your guy!!!
No I might not keep him I’ll see, see how it goes