Fantasy FPL 2014/15 Transfer round up
Congratulations to Germany on their fantastic World Cup win but time waits for no man and so we move on already! As we eagerly anticipate the imminent launch of this seasons FPL game, many teams have been busy in the transfer market market already despite the World Cup distractions. Louis Van Gaal has wasted little time in beginning the rebuilding process at Old Trafford, Jose went early with Fabregas and Costa, Brendan has ripped the heart out of Southampton and even Arsene has jumped to it with the rather exciting purchase of Sanchez. Over the next series of articles we will give you a run down on the main transfers that have occurred, the potential impact of each player and more importantly we will examine whether they are a viable fantasy football option for your new team.
Let’s begin with a simple table that we will update each time with the main transfers in for each team –
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We shall begin with some of the big ones. Chelsea came so close last season in Jose’s first season back at the club and it was somewhat surprising to see them surrender the advantage they had so feebly. When you consider that they trailed by just four points in the end but in the last nine games and suffered defeats to Villa, Palace and Sunderland it really was an opportunity lost. Jose has been ruthless as ever though and recruited two of the top talents from La Liga which will surely see them move on a level or two from last term and be serious contenders for City’s’ crown once more. Lets take a look at the pair.
Diego Costa (from Atletico Madrid, £36m)
Diego Costa is the Chosen one by the “Chosen One” so of course there will be no more excuses coming from Jose if they don’t win the title, WRONG! He will simply get more creative in deflecting blame and look for a different scapegoat if he does not deliver the EPL title. Creative is a good word to segue into the many things the Brazilian Costa, errrr Spanish International offers Chelsea with his arrival. CFC fans and FPL managers will find a player who can finish with both feet, can be lethal on the counter which is surely a helpful attribute when playing for Mourinho and despite his low output in assists last season (3), is very capable of sharing the ball. When playing with Falcao two seasons ago at Atletico Madrid he showed his capacity to pass the ball and work off the central striker. In La Liga last season he had 35 appearances and scored 27 goals with 7 yellows and the aforementioned 3 assists. Why do we mention the 7 yellows you ask? Because this is a marked improvement from the previous seasons, if we exclude his last campaign one will see that over the previous four La Liga seasons he had 34 goals, 17 assists and YES 34 yellows. He is also very, very, very creative in his way of getting booked or earning the wrath of many of his counterparts. We can imagine what a dream it will be for a referee to see that he has been assigned a Chelsea game this upcoming season. Double trouble if you ask us, Costa is what we imagine Mourinho would be like on the pitch if he had any skill. With the departure of Suarez and his biting ways we will definitely need someone to fill the void and the “Panther” as he is known by his fans or “Puto Cabron“ by the rest should do a splendid job of scoring, diving, mini-head butting, studs up tackling and depending on the occasion spitting, but we are sure that will only be reserved for the bigger rivals, the spitting part that is. A man of many talents is on his way to Stamford Bridge hopefully this comes in the way of points for us managers or at the very least a polarizing figure who inspires debate, we hope for both.
Cesc Fabregas (from Barcelona, £28m)
This could be an interesting one. Serial badge kisser Fabregas was a veritable fantasy points machine in his final couple of seasons at Arsenal. He managed to rack up 28 goals and 31 assists in those final two years from 72 appearances. Since his big money ‘dream’ move back home he’s not actually let up much, notching 42 goals and 48 assists in 151 games. So on the face of it, given a reasonable price and playing for a title contender he should be a shoe-in for most squads. There is a big BUT on the horizon here though in the shape of a certain Jose Mourinho. He will play him, no doubt about that and he will be a pivotal figure for Chelsea next season. The big question is where he will play him. At Arsenal Fab was king and was allowed to play wherever the heck he liked in all honesty. At Barca and for Spain, when selected. he has been as far advanced as playing the false No 9 role. That’s very unlikely at Chelsea given the arrival of Diego Costa. The next best scenario then is a role in behind as a No 10. This is a possibility but they have Oscar who is a Jose favourite and kind of cemented that role last season. This may leave Fabregas filling one of the deeper roles in a more traditional midfield sense which will surely dent his appeal. He may well still bag a lot of set-pieces regardless of where he plays so all may not be lost. Keep your eyes peeled as to how he is deployed in pre-season and if it looks like he is to be given some attacking freedom then we suggest he will be a serious contender for your team. If he does hit the ground running then he’s sure to be kissing that Chelsea badge at a ground near you soon!
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Last season was clearly one to forget for Manchester United – the retirement of Fergie didn’t go to plan as David Moyes came and almost as quickly went, United finished seventh and have since waved goodbye to Vidic, Ferdinand and likely Evra too in the coming days. Louis van Gaal is the new man at the helm and a busy transfer window is expected as the club aim to return to being a title contender and Champions League football. They have already signed two players in Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera, who we look at below, but with a huge transfer budget believed to be available, expect LVG to be a busy man when he officially joins the club this week.
Luke Shaw (from Southampton, £31.5m)
Shaw finally completed his transfer to Manchester United after the World Cup, though clearly an agreement had been in place way before then. United spent just shy of £30mln on the left back and is a natural replacement for the departed Patrice Evra. There have been many rumours of the formation LVG will use in his first season at the club, but looking at his stats from Southampton days, it would appear that Shaw may be better suited to a 4-4-2 then being used as a wing-back in a 5-3-2 – no goals and just one assist in 35 matches last season does not suggest that Shaw will compare with a Seamus Coleman in attacking returns.
However, on the positive front, United’s first handful of fixtures look appetising, on paper at least, so a few clean sheets will be expected. Secondly LVG is well known for his development and nurturing of younger players and at 18 years of age, Shaw certainly falls into this category. The new manager will be looking for his full backs to join in the attacks and it would not be a surprise to see a huge improvement in those attacking stats for Shaw. It will certainly be worth your while keeping a close eye on United and Shaw in pre-season to see exactly how Shaw will be used by the new manager.
Ander Herrera (from Athletico Bilboa, £28.8m)
Finally United managed to bag the young Spanish midfielder they had spent most of last summer chasing. Not cheap at £35mln, the 24-year old describes joining the Reds as a dream come true. So, what can we expect from the 24 year old? He’s likely to be used in central midfield, an area where United have struggled in recent seasons. Herrera is known as a ball winning midfielder who then looks to pass the ball on quickly to his forwards and attacking midfielders – he is a good distributor of the ball, well organised, almost like a Xavi type of player, tactically sound, but not the sort of player who will dribble round five players, more likely to be the assist to the assister. Last season for Bilbao, Herrera scored five goals and contributed five assists in 33 matches for a side which finished fourth. So as a fantasy prospect, is there any value there? That all depends on whether FPL have introduced new rules for recoveries, balls won etc as per the World Cup McDonalds & MLS formats – if they have then Herrera could be gold, depending on price also, of course. If the rules for midfielders are the same, then he is not the 10 goal as season midfielder you are looking for, nor is he likely to top the assist charts.
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Liverpool were without doubt the surprise package of last season and only for an unfortunate slip from Steven Gerrard they would quite possibly have won the league! It was suggested at times last season that Liverpool were rather reliant on a certain Uruguayan, while it was also widely accepted that their squad did not have enough depth. So now that Suarez has done one, where does that leave Liverpool? It certainly means we will see a number of new arrivals at Anfield and to date Brendan Rodgers has brought in three new faces. Let’s take a look at two of them.
Adam Lallana (from Southampton £25m)
Adam Lallana completed his move to Liverpool shortly after England returned home from Brazil and the 26 year old arrives at Anfield carrying the weight of a rather hefty transfer fee. Aside from a short loan period with Bournemouth back in the 2007-08 season Lallana has spent his entire professional career with Southampton and this alone could create some problems as he attempts to settle into life at Anfield. Having come agonisingly close to winning their first title since 1990 Liverpool fans will expect a similar challenge this season and as a result Lallana will be expected to hit the ground running. While Southampton made back to back promotions it was clear that Lallana had an eye for goal as he scored 34 league goals in just three seasons, yet he only managed 3 from 30 appearances when Southampton returned to the promised land in 2012. Last season however he was a fantasy football revelation as he scored nine and picked up nine assists. What will this season bring for Lallana? At this stage it’s hard to tell, as we’re unsure as to where Brendan Rodgers will play him and with Luis Suarez having departed for pastures new, Liverpool may be forced to somewhat alter their style of play. Without wanting to state the obvious, Lallana is the type of player Rodgers likes, in that he’s intelligent and is comfortable on the ball while he will also allow Liverpool to slow the play down when needed. All this suggests that he is likely to see quite a bit of game time as Liverpool prepare for life without Suarez.
Rickie Lambert (from Southampton, £4m)
It was a widely held opinion that Liverpool’s squad was not deep enough to cope with the coming season, so it was no surprise when Brendan Rodgers got his summer spending underway before the World Cup had even begun, although it was a surprise to some that Rickie Lambert was his first summer signing. However on the face of it, it could be s shrewd purchase by Rodgers as he has brought in an experienced striker for just £4m. Liverpool will be Lambert’s seventh club and the good news for Liverpool fans is that Lambert has scored goals nearly everywhere he has played, albeit at a lower level. However in his only two seasons in the Premier League he has scored 15 & 13 goals, a record which isn’t going to set the world alight but also shouldn’t be ignored. Even with the recent departure of Luis Suarez you would have to imagine that Lambert will be the clubs 3rd striker as Rodgers will be forced into the market for another frontline striker. Nevertheless, with Liverpool set to embark on their first Champions League campaign in five seasons Lambert will certainly be given the opportunity to impress and who knows, he might yet prove to be an effective 3rd striker for your FPL side!
Thanks for reading Fantasy FPL 2014/15 Transfer round up. This article was written by Cookie, Inittowint, Kop and Mito.
FPL is back!
Sweet! It’s good to have the articles going again. No messing about! when do we expect the launch to be? Tomorrow perhaps?
This is worth a bookmark. Dead handy fixture lists for all teams.
http://www1.skysports.com/football/gallery/12739/9353157/team-by-team-fixtures
We should have been around last season, covering the United signings would have been a lot of fun. Perhaps we can go back and still write it?
I think Fellaini is a fantastic piece of business. For Everton 😉
WOOHOO! Great to see the first EPL article guys!!
I did partake in the Maccy D’s fantasy league and finished as expected lol Although I didn’t finish last…..
Looking forward to the new season….counting down the days
Good morning! It’s great to be back Helpful list to kick things off too: I had no idea about Gomez, Bardsley or Pantilimon… so thank you lads.
Really looking forward to this new season, with a new Sixth Form league I’m currently setting up and a few new personal targets in mind, not to mention being able bounce ideas and banter off with you guys here on FF247 again! Can’t wait.
‘ello james, where you’ve been all this time? Still riding high in Potty’s Waffle Diner I see?
Just looking at MLS transfers for this week, is Henry a must on a double do we think? 3 assists and a goal this week. I’ve got BWP already.
Init,
I have Defoe as (c), Keane ad Torres. Can’t take Torres out even though he is only a single.
Just he and my GKP on a single though. Hoping for a big score.
Who are your other strikers.?
Its Bradley, Defoe and Torres. Agreed on Torres but it’s basically him or Henry then I suppose.
Init
I wouldn’t remove Torres just for the sake of a DGW. He has scored 5 games in a row I think.
Oh yeah forgot Keanes on a DGW also isn’t he? Crap, I need 5 strikers this week!
NER, NYRB, Toronto, Columbus, Philly, LAG, SKC and Vancouver all have dgw’s this week. Massive points to be had.
McInerney definitely for the chop this week then. Can’t bring myself to ditch BWP or Defoe though.
Yep be a tough call that one GP, will be mulling over that until the deadline I think.
I’m keeping Mclnerney on the bench, Chins. Montreal have got a double in two weeks.
As for the captaincy, I’m changing my strategy for the foreseeable future. Captaining strikers has done me no good this year. The armband’s on LD this week.
Good shout Bry. The bench it is then.
Just had a quick look at that Bry, 7 players have scored over 100, 3 mids and 4 strikers so it’s fairly well spread.
Last year the strikers scored really poorly and I relied on mids and defs. But they’ve done better this year (Mainly cos they don’t get penalized for big chances missed anymore), however I still seem struggle with getting the balance right. A lot of the strikers don’t get much in the way of bonus points (like last year) so I’m gonna try and resort to doing what I did last year and… wow I’m babbling. I don’t even know what my point is.
When does X-Factor start?
Howdy init. I went for Higuain instead. So yeah, Henry is probably the shout. haha.
Haha thanks for the warning NIN 😉
No problem. You know it makes sense.
Hi Init,
I watched the Red Bull highlights yesterday at half time in the Seatle game. I hadn’t seen Henery play since he moved the MLS… I forgot how good he is! He made the game look easy in the prem and not much has changed based on the latest result. He was getting quite frustrated with some of his team mates and that seemed to spur him on to make an impression. Just like when he played for the gooners! Both the DGW fixtures look tastey so i think he’s a good shout. Although a double up with BWP might be overkill. What do i know though, i’m struggling big time in my first season.
The seatle game was my first 90 min watch since i got here. Those guys really attack in numbers! Pappa looked a class above anyone else on the pitch. Gutted i left him on my bench! Ha!
Now the WC is over, i’ll try to watch a few more full games and post some reviews on here.
Great that FPL is (almost) back too! Good to see some of the old names coming out of the woodwork already !
Chins how you doing ol’ boy? Wearing a Cowboy hat and tight jeans yet?
Hey chins. The RMT-athon is just around the corner! Gulp.
Mito!
The jeans are definitely getting tighter mate! But that could be as much down to my love of Taco Bueno than it is a change in fashon!
I have been listening to quite a bit of country music since i got here as part of my induction into Texas life. (It’s the law!). It seems that most of the songs are about tight jeans, fried chicken, or cowboys. Interesting you’d mention two of those. Anything you want to share? 😉
Hi Nin,
You well mate?
I have sensed the surge of RMTs too! Exciting stuff. I plan to post more thoughts this season. I think i was guilty of posting more questions than answers last season.
Anyway… Bring it on! Chins surgery is open for business!
Hey Chins cheers for that, be good to get some real life updates! Funnily enough Tekno made me look at the Potty waffle diner league this week which I must admit I never do but thanks for rolling over for me this week anyway 😉
You’re welcome mate.
First season / Learning curve / New team / Time to gel. Take your pick.
:finger:
Dodgy manager?! 😉
I’ve been better to be honest. Have pretty severe stomach cramps since last night that just wont go away. I need this poxy game to launch quick! Keep the mind off the constant churning.
Nope, nothing I want to share. I live in the South also, but they are a different type of Southern here. #blessme
@NiN, severe stomach cramps? Are you living with Chins in Texas? Too much Taco Bueno will give you the shits…
The mere mention of Taco’s is making me feel sick, haha.
How far South Mito? On the border Cartel country or along the Bible belt?
And Nin, don’t listen to him. The beauty of a Mexican Taco “pizza” is that it looks the same coming out as it did going in! Feeling better yet? 😉
@Chins, would have thought the #blessme was a clue….but I guess I can’t throw crumbs, must remember to throw the whole loaf when giving out Clues.
Oi, Mito, i’m new here!
I’ll need the whole bakery thrown out!
Great, I will need a second bakery as it usually takes the whole bakery to bring Josh along. 😉
Line up folks…. They’re turning on each other!!
:popcorn:
Hey Tekno, aye I’m still going strong haha, for now… yeah Init I think so, put Henry in with the latest wildcard fortunately :thumbup:
I’ve been busy with school – but also wanted to take a break – simply so I could enjoy football for purely footballing reasons, for once, although England kinda ruined that…
By the way lads, what happened with that Brazil sweepstake we had on here, I think it was Potty who ran it? Struggling to remember who I had, hoping it was Costa Rica…
Haha good point I kind of remember that now!
FIFA’s fingerprints are all over this!
I think i got Germany…..
How did they do?
Ah, Sepp! There you are!
Haha, hmm, we need a formal investigation!
Unlucky chins… at least they got out of their group…
All I want to know is, who got North Korea?
Portably Potty, Kop #CalledItOff
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/worldcup/youtube-users-duped-by-spoof-news-broadcast-announcing-that-north-korea-had-made-the-world-cup-final-9602611.html
D’oh
Lads, now that we’re talking about MLS:
I currently have Moor, Bocanegra, O’brien, and Bloom as my defenders, and wanna take a hit to replace O’Brien who’s lost his spot.
Who do I replace him with (9.1 in the bank)?
I’ve identified Sinovic, Gargan, and Parkhurst (was subbed after 58 mins last match for some reason) as the potentialy best options.
Miazga?
My pick would be Parkhurst, or if not Gargan, don’t really fancy Kansas’ fixtures for their cleansheet potential this gameweek.
I’ve identified the huge problem in that, having made my 3 transfers already, I realised LA have a double and I don’t have Donovan…
I wouldn’t fancy Columbus for a CS, I’d probably go Gargan.
Thanks lads, think I’ll go with Gargan – LA are on good form currently. Just hope he starts both matches.
Now the next question is: should I bench Bocanegra (VAN A) or Moor (PHI A)?
Miazga?
I’d probably play Moor, he’s the top point scoring defender.
Fantastic stuff boys! So great to have FPL back and cannot wait for the proper launch now. Glad to be back in the swing of things
Not long now, bring it on! I’m really excited about this season, think it could be a cracker, so many new signings to look at, see how they settle.
And I’m sure loads more signings to come.
I had hoped it’d be launched by now. Hopefully tonight.