Fantasy Football 247 Team Wildcard Time

Fantasy Football 247 Team Wildcard Time

We gave you every indication last week that we plan to utilise our January wildcard in the gap between GW22 & GW23 and we have not disappointed. The wildcard button has been pressed, the selection committee has been meeting/fighting/arguing and we are pleased to present to you our provisional wildcard squad. Firstly, the caveat! The squad could change due to any injuries or suspensions that may occur in the FA Cup or League Cup matches prior to GW23, but we are sure that the nucleus will stay as it is. Let us talk you through the reasons we decided to activate the wildcard and to do so we need to look at the squad as per GW22 (that was it on the left)…

[clear]GOALKEEPERS & DEFENCE
Starting at the back and double City defence has not worked out as hoped. Joe Hart and Pablo Zabaleta seemed a good idea before Christmas when their fixtures were superb. On paper. Sadly on the pitch, the returns weren’t as favourable and we’ve had enough. Both have gone. Better (and cheaper) value elsewhere.

Tim Krul also loses out. Uncertainty at Newcastle and preferable fixtures elsewhere is the reasoning.
Leighton Baines. Oh dear. His poor returns have been well flagged on the site and his dismissal from our squad needs no explanation. See ya.

Neil Taylor – arguably unfortunate to get the boot, but the sense is that Swansea have peaked this season and may struggle to maintain a top half position in the second half of the season.

Alan Hutton – an up and coming run of poor fixtures means its “ta-ta” to Hutton. He is cheap enough to buy back if we see fit in the future.

James Tomkins – was only a one-week punt last week. It worked, with a clean sheet, but fixtures are poor meaning Tomkins departs.

MIDFIELD
Into midfield and unsurprisingly Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez stay with us.

Our other three midfielders can consider themselves very hard done by to miss out. David Silva, Stewart Downing and George Boyd have all performed for us, to differing degrees, when called upon and while they haven’t made the final cut for us, we still believe they are decent FPL options, but due to fixtures and other squad selections, other options proved more favourable for us.

FORWARDS
Up front and Harry Kane and Diego Costa remain. Charlie Austin departs – another unfortunate victim, but the feeling around the table was that Kane is more likely to continue his great run and with us wanting a certain Mr Aguero, Charlie had to go.

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So, the moment you’ve all been waiting for….he is our provisional wildcard squad:

Our thought process:

We have chosen a squad that we consider strong and well balanced in all areas, with a couple of punts on in-form players.

GOALKEEPERS & DEFENCE
In goal Ben Foster seemed almost a shoe-in with the arrival of Tony Pulis at the helm has seen the Baggies start with two clean sheets. We don’t expect that will happen every week – indeed GW23 sees a tricky match vs Spurs, so we wanted someone else we could rely on, that rotates well with Foster and has proved a decent FPL performer. Step up Costel Pantilimon. Your side may be shite – and you may have Wes Brown at the back, but that only means more potential save points for the big man. The rotation with Foster is ok and we look forward to some solid returns from our keeper combo.
Defence – John Terry was unanimous as was Nathaniel Clyne. Both have had an excellent first half of the season, up and coming fixtures are very good and we are looking for these two to remain in the squad for the rest of the season.

Laurent Koscielny – a decision very much influenced by Arsenal’s resilience at City. When Kos plays, Arsenal are solid. When he is injured, they are not the same force. Therefore we got the man himself. Fixtures are good too.

Everyone’s favourite new FPL acronym, PVA. Bit of a punt with Panti in goal, but the wing back likes to get forward, is cheap at 4.2mln and won’t be called upon every week.
Chris Baird, West Brom, Pulis’ new darling, 3.9mln. What more do you want?? Like PVA, Baird won’t be called upon each week, but while he retains his starting position, he is unlikely to let us down when selected.

FORWARDS
Let’s bypass the midfield for a moment and go to the top, the strikers. As we mentioned earlier Sergio Aguero was the first new name on our wildcard squad. He joins Costa and Kane to what we believe will be an excellent front three. To afford Aguero, something had to give somewhere…and so to our midfield.

MIDFIELD
To join Hazard and Alexis we introduce Jason Puncheon, Adam Johnson and James Ward-Prowse, which brought much chatter and banging of fists in the selection committee meeting. Ward-Prowse was easy though – Saints fixtures are good, the midfielder is highly thought of by Koeman and JWP has performed very well since returning from a long spell on the treatment table.

Puncheon – invigorated by Pardew? Unlikely. But something is inspiring Puncheon, maybe just seeing the back of Warnock. Maybe it’s Bolasie’s absence giving him a proper run in the side. Whatever it is, two goals in two games and impressive performances in both led us to want to take a punt of Puncheon.

Johnson. Of Sunderland. The second lowest scorers in the division. Are we mad? Well, yes probably. Who isn’t after a week of wildcard planning? But Johnson has the ability to be explosive, to go on a run of scoring and assisting and now has Defoe up front to try and make Sunderland more deadly in the final third. If Poyet gets his wish and has the Black Cats playing a more expansive game then one imagines that Johnson will be heavily involved. We hope!

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Well, there you have it. It’s not final final as we have already said, but the nucleus is there and we are as happy as one can be after wildcarding. Please feel free to let us know your thoughts on our selection and if you have some better suggestions. We are always open to good ideas.

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