Fantasy Football 247 Team – Fantasy Premier League 2014/15
FF247 has finalised its selection for its squad this season. It was a long, heated meeting, full of opinion, argument, reasoning, debate, flirting, roast potatoes and furry hand cuffs. Yes it all went on, but finally the squad was chosen, difficult decisions were made, some top top players were left out, but as you all have found, we can’t choose everyone we wanted and sacrifices had to be made in all positions. The squad has changed quite drastically since our initial announcement a fortnight ago, as we’re sure yours has too. We have been able to see the club’s preseason friendlies, who is in form, who has nailed a starting berth and who has received favourable comments from their manager. We hope that, above all, our insight helps you to finalise your own team selection with just two days until kick off.
Formation
The biggest and most important decision was the choice to go with three premium strikers rather than a cheapie – in fact we were all quite agreed on that, which sadly wasn’t a sign of things to come! However, we felt that was an important first step because we wanted to maximise the potential of our strike force, which is, traditionally a big points contributor to any FPL squad. The three strikers have taken up almost 30% of the budget and it gave us clarity as to how much we had left to spend. On this basis, we are therefore looking at playing a 3-4-3 formation most of the time.
Goalkeepers:
David de Gea – we wanted United cover at the back. There were options in defence, but recent injury concerns over Jonny Evans and Luke Shaw took away those options. Phil Jones is an option, but with United actively looking for defenders in the transfer market, Jones’ injury record and the possibility of LVG rearranging his defence, we felt de Gea is nailed on to start, has little chance of being rested and at 5.5mln is cheaper than the keepers at the other big clubs.
Boaz Myhill – cheap 4mln keeper, we know he won’t be first choice at WBA, but budgetary measures ensured we go as “cheap as chips” – or roast potatoes. We are comfortable playing de Gea in every game. If the United keeper tweaks his hammy in the warm up, you have permission to shoot us!
[divider_1px]
Defenders:
Joel Ward – as we witnessed last season, Tony Pulis had turned Palace into a lean, mean, defensively stubborn, clean sheet machine. Whether that solidity continues to be a feature now that Pulis has left remains to be seen long term but regardless we all agreed some Palace defensive cover was essential and there was little argument in the choice of Ward, who established himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet last season.
Steven Caulker – yep, we’re picking a Rangers defender and he’s not even the cheapest one. Caulker’s attacking prowess from set pieces fully justifies the extra 0.5mln investment over Rio Ferdinand, who may struggle to play every game anyway. With a decent set of opening fixtures, the appointment of Glenn Hoddle as coach alongside ‘Arry and good rotation with Palace, we feel Caulker will be a valuable and good point scoring member of our squad.
Erik Pieters – as we were reminded in Kop’s Tips, Stoke still boast a mean defensive record at home, so we wanted some cover here. With Bardsley fighting Cameron over the right-back slot, recurring worries over Huth’s fitness and Shawcross being that little bit more expensive, we plumped on Pieters. We will need to keep an eye on the claims of Marc Muniesa as he tries to displace Pieters as a starter, but we feel that right now, the spot is Pieters’ to lose and a decent preseason has probably affirmed that for Mark Hughes.
John O’Shea – with their late season form still firmly ingrained in our minds, Sunderland defensive cover was thought to be a decent option on a rotational basis with Pieters. We considered both Vergini and van Aanholt and we accept both these may offer more going forward than O’Shea – however, the thought was we needed a 100% starter and decided O’Shea is that, while the others may suffer rotation. With Wes Brown likely to be injured or suspended, O’Shea simply has to play!
Calum Chambers – bit of a punt this one and it may well be that we need to change it quite soon into the season. However, Chambers has made an excellent impression since his move from Southampton and with Mertesacker still lacking fitness and not due to play GW1, together with reports of Koscielny struggling with an Achilles injury, Chambers may well just get more playing time than first thought. An Arsenal defender at 4.5mln is too good to ignore – if after 2/3 weeks Mert & Kos keep Chambers on the bench then hopefully a decent cheap defender will have been identified from the early GWs.
[divider_1px]
Midfielders:
Cesc Fabregas – likely to sit in the heart of the Chelsea midfield, this is unlikely to stop Fabregas continuing his excellent record in the Premier League – his preseason form has confirmed this and Mourinho has been talking him up over the last few weeks. Budget prevented us affording Hazard and we felt that Fabregas and the extra cash elsewhere will prove a wise use of funds.
Gylfi Sigurdsson – an impressive preseason has seen Siggy settle back into life at Swansea. A proven scorer and assister at Premier League level, we expect the midfielder to prove excellent value at just 6mln, especially now he will not be benched as he was at Tottenham.
Aaron Ramsey – what needs saying? Massively stepped up to the plate last season, has continued that in preseason and has not lost his scoring touch. A goal vs the Champions in the Charity Shield should see him start the season in confident fashion and centred in the middle of a side full of attacking talent, we see chances aplenty for the Welsh international, who Wenger has always believed in.
Juan Mata – finally being played in his favoured no.10 position under LVG and with a lovely set of fixtures to begin with, we feel Mata will thrive this season as United attempt to hit back from last season’s disappointment. Having looked good on their recent US tour, Mata is enjoying life at Old Trafford and we see little risk with this selection.
Karim El Ahmadi – with 14 of our squad chosen, we were left with 4.5mln to spend. Half the selection committee were asleep and the others seemed distracted by something more interesting. Which was understandable, for there are little in the way of obvious contenders at 4.5mln in midfield. So we plumped with El Ahmadi, who should start for Villa and if he doesn’t we’ll find someone else but we intend for him to be on our bench all things being well each week anyway.
[divider_1px]
Strikers
Wayne Rooney (c) – a no-brainer for us, especially with RvP still not fit. Just been made club captain by LVG, Rooney knows this is his time to push on again and continue the incredible form that has seen him score or assist 132 times in the previous five Premier League seasons. A lovely set of opening fixtures should see him hit the ground running and he should also be on some set pieces and penalties until van Persie returns.
Diego Costa (vc) – Chelsea’s new striker has finally given Jose someone decent upfront to benefit from the chances the world class midfield will create. Known as The Beast, Costa has already scored four times in pre-season, has looked happy, hungry and at home and like Rooney, was a shoe-in for us.
Stevan Jovetic – there was plenty of debate on this one and many will disagree with the selection. We considered a few players, namely Lukaku, Giroud, Jelavic, Sturridge and Dzeko. The latter two created huge debate. Sturridge we decided was just too expensive alongside Costa and Rooney. End of. So it was down to Dzeko vs Jovetic and to be honest, we could have gone either, there are valid arguments for both and we feel that both will score similar this season. Pellegrini’s recent favourable comments about Jovetic, the player’s good scoring form in preseason and the extra 0.5mln saved pushed the scales Jovetic’s way.
[divider_1px]
Captain
Another debate, another argument, resulting in season-long blame being pointed if it all went belly up. We narrowly decided on Rooney as captain, with Costa as vice captain on the basis that Old Trafford on Saturday should be rocking for LVG’s first league match in charge. Swansea were thumped 3-0 at home last week so confidence is not likely to be high and Rooney will still be on penalties in RVP’s absence. Costa we also like and could do well and if Chelsea were at home, he may have won the vote, but a Monday night trip to newly-promoted Burnley may prove to be a tougher task than some expect.
So there it is – the FF247 team for the start of the season. Of course, if any negative news regarding any of our players comes to light in the manager’s press conferences, we reserve the right to change the selection, but fear not, we will announce any changes.
Afternoon all! Less than 24 hours to go now and I’m still tinkering with my team! Think I’m getting there, though. Thoughts on version 24 of my team would be much appreciated!
NIN – glad to see you’re keeping well, buddy. Completely forgot to reply to you this time yesterday.
Afternoon swirly, I think it’s getting there too, but no Chelsea defence is a but of an eye sore… plus how set are you on Barkley? I think there are better 6.0m options which would allow you to upgrade your backline.
Cheers, James. I’m kind of thinking that, too – though I’m not keen on Siggy or Henderson and would prefer to have more money in midfield and a minimum in defence, truth be told. What do you reckon?
Meh, sometimes the big guns in attack take a while to warm up, so having a couple of premiums can often pay off. I’ve opted for Siggy mainly for his two dream fixtures in gameweek 2 and 3..,
Love Giroud in there Swirly, you’re looking good to go.
Cheers, Calvin. Yeah, I’m going to give him a go – would like him to do more of the worldy he did in the charity shield!
Obviously I like the mid and attack (except Barkley who is poor value at 7.0 in my opinion) swirly mate but your defence is absolutely paper thin mate…
Chambers will need changing in week 2 or if you’re lucky 3 so starting with him is madness . Who likes using FT on 4.5 defenders ?? No-one. I’m not even sure Baird will play and Hutton does like a yello or 2. I think it’s a massive risk going with that back line personally but it could work.. Who knows.
I’d downgrade Barkley to siggy perhaps and begonia to foster and use the cash to put a bit more in your backline. Can’t argue with much else mate
Cheers, Demsie – what do you reckon to?:
Barkley > Sigurdsson
Baird > Caulker
Ferdinand > Coloccini
Jamesimmo – just seen Swansea’s fixtures after this weekend and so am going for Sigurdsson again!
Would work out as this…
Loads better mate in my opinion Swirly mate, although with Krul already I’m not sure about Coloccini, unless you’re happy to double up ?
Van Aanholt is a decent option if you dint want to double up, or N.Taylor Swansea. Or jelly at Pakace even who would rotate with caulker, but no-one knows about is lace now that pulls has left….
Fairly set on this team bar any news in the press conferences, very similar to a lot of the teams on here but I just wanted a final opinion.
Only question is: Will Green play the first 3 games for QPR or is Cesar coming back? I could swap Green and Pieters for Begovic and Ferdinand if the latter is true.
Thanks guys!
Bean – I haven’t heard anything to suggest that Cesar will start for QPR
Sweet, that makes my life a little easier. Cheers Kop!
sup bean, same top 7 as me (not sure if thats a good thing)
guzan at 4.5- not keen on villas defence- especially when you can get krul/sunderland for the same price. and as cop said, green isn’t nailed!!
yoshida won’t play due to signing of gardos- so new 4.5 needed there.
looks good though, id just have a play with defence- I like pieters and debuchy- i think terry has got more scoring potential (he’s our pre season top scorer), but cahill seems solid too.
Hazard,
The team is purely for the first 3 GW’s – i’m going to wildcard after that – so I wanted Goalkeepers with 3 home fixtures, hence Green and Guzan (I understand Villa are awful and will stay clear of them after that).
Interesting about Yoshida, hadn’t seen that mentioned before so I will have a look…who is the Southampton left back this season?
If i had an extra 0.5 i would have Terry, but needed the extra cash for a decent(ish) defence.
Thanks for the feedback, will see what i can do.
Bean
Hey guys join my classic league named “No more Suarez” (haha) if its not a problem. Cheers guys.
here’s the league code 183089-502725
welcome one and all
Would anybody be kind enough to take a minute and advise on my GK and Def please? Feels a bit messy at the moment. Thanks in advance….
Facepalm – You need to get Sturridge in there 😉
In defence? Bit odd but ok I’ll try it 😉
It doesn’t matter where…
I would say Green–> Foster
Bruce–> Baird
Are we thinking that Baird is nailed ?
Should be early with their injuries and his PL experience. Will play CDM pushing Brunt up most likely. Manager is raving about him.
Demsie-I wouldn’t have a westbrom defender.For the first 5 weeks apart from week 1, I cant see a week when we can play a westbrom defender and be confident of a cleanie.
Thanks nishant.
Calvin any thoughts on the rest of the defence and are you advocating the nishant changes or saying keep Green? Sorry I’m a bit thick
No probs thick-o, you’ll fit right in then 😉 I wouldn’t advocate those changes no, as I think doubling up on West Brom defence is a horrible idea. The general consensus is that Baird will be starting though, so he could be a viable option for Bruce. I don’t know if that would mess up any rotation plans you’ve got going on though..
Re. Green, I’ve never looked at him as an option really so haven’t checked his situation. He was meant to be nailed on earlier but with talk of Cesar returning I honestly don’t know who will be favoured. Probably Green still, but that’s for you to risk, not me 😛 If you don’t pick Baird then Foster would be a good alternative, yes.
Thanks Calvin much appreciated. Sorry for the slow response back but I’m just in the midst of a bit of sheep hunting so jumping on when I can. On here, not the sheep.
I started off with said rotation plans but that’s where it got messy and confusing. Take Andy’s point on Bruce so I may look at Baird and find another keeper instead of either Foster or Green and see if I can make more sense of rotating one with the other.
Thanks!
Bruce will not play at home when they play four at the back as he is the third best CB. Barton?
Consider Duff to Moore/Hutton – far more nailed on options.
Can’t really fault that. There are mutterings of Cesar’s return lessening Green’s game-time but no idea how much truth there is to that.
Tough one Face, if your happy with your front 8 then you’ve not a lot to play with for the back 7, Terry may actually be a bit expensive at 6.5 but their’s not a C.F.C defender I’d like to pick up for 6 that look’s absolutely nailed on to start the season with, I’d switch Terry out for Debuchy to save 1.0 and look to turn Chambers into a 5.0 (possibly Stoke player) and Bruce into a 4.5.
Thanks Andy, great shout. Must admit I’ve had Terry in all along and his pre-season goals have strengthened my resolve to keep but I agree he’s causing other issues. I’d be reluctant to lose the cheating, glory hunting pikey.
Terry was the first name on my sheet and it’s not changed since, it pains me to say take him out but you’ve got to cut the cloth somewhere, having Chambers/Bruce/Duff as a combination might lead you into taking a hit for changing two defenders around as Chambers is really only a short term option, Bruce will have high rotation risk as Hull are in Europa action from GW 1 and Duff is just a filler player that we don’t want in the starting 11 anytime soon.
Thanks Andy, this is why I love this site. Proper quality answers. I may have to heed your advice but I may also need some sort of bereavement counselling once Terry has gone. Followed by some anger management when he scores 2 in the first 4 games!
One final thought on this if I may?
I could always ditch Giroud for the player we aren’t allowed to mention and use that money to either –
Upgrade Barton to Sterling (need an extra 0.5 from the GK/Def)
Or
Use it to give the defence a proper all round upgrade.
Thoughts?
If you have a two transfer exit strategy then go for it – it may well come off. Just make sure it doesn’t ruin the rest of your team if it doesn’t.
Thanks Ashes, got your def recs above so I’ll look at those. As I said the other day when we were having our Bojan discussion ( 😉 ) I agreed with the downside of him and he’s terribly hard to upgrade if he fails once that money’s gone elsewhere. One to ponder.
I like the idea of a well balanced side at the start of the season.
Well balanced? Kop you had me putting Sturridge in defence an hour ago! 😉
I’ll let you in on a little secret…I didn’t read your initial post properly 😉
*I love the smell of a well-balanced team in the morning.
Which combo is preferred?
A. Haz + Arnautovic
OR
B. Fab + Tadic
The b.. I’m not sure I’d want Artnautovic and we literally know nothing about how Radic / Sourhampton will perform this year.. It’s difficult to make suggestions on who did rather put in without seeing the rest of your team..
If I had to, I’d say A. But it’s not ideal mate
Yep, what Demsie said.
Thanks for the input Demsie.
Arnie is taking the 4th spot of my midfield. The 3 options I have are Arnie, Snoddy and Siggy. Like both Arnie and Snoddy at the moment in the 6M range because of fixtures.
Fab and Tadic for me
Silva or Mata?
Already have Rooney but would mean no City coverage…
Still Mata due to the fixtures
Silva, but I have gone for Mata because of the fixtures.
hammer- i have mata at the moment, but unless mata goes off like a train, silva will come in around gw 6 probably. not sure yet, but start with mata, and switch to silva for the season i think, unless you want a line of too, costa and dzeko, for city coverage which you cant afford without a weakened midfield.