Welcome to FF247 Fantasy Football Team Gameweek 1. We may not be, or indeed ever have been, the best team out there, but we are almost certainly the best debated one. At least we’d hope so anyway, and if anyone is debating a team more than we do then we send you and your family our condolences! This is not thrown together at the last minute. It’s debated to the Nth degree. It’s debated to the degree of friendships being stretched to the point of breaking. If it works then great, if it doesn’t then fine, but don’t ever say we didn’t try! We’ve had some moderate ‘success’ thus far, finishing 5k, 84k and 12k in the last three seasons. As we say, not the best, not the worst. Our panel is made up of five FPL ‘veterans’, all of whom are impartial in their FPL decisions, despite their various allegiances, so if nothing else then you can rest assured that the decisions made will be thought out and considered. You can follow the teams progress here and there will be as ever a weekly article detailing our transfers and progress. Here is our GW1 team and how we landed on it….
Our Team…
Sometimes, when you announce the official ‘Site Team’, there is almost a pressure to produce something wonderful that nobody else has thought of yet, almost as if we have some sort of access to a magical budget of £120m or something, which nobody else does, and suddenly we can have that sought after power 7 up top, backed up with the best money can buy defence. Sorry to burst any such bubble then, we work in the same world as everyone else and with the same constraints, and as such, compromises have to be made. And boy have they been!
Especially in midfield. That’s mainly because we didn’t much fancy the 3rd forward options in the ‘budget’ range. JRod was the obvious one but then West Brom aren’t exactly renowned for a free scoring style. We couldn’t justify, as much as we wanted to, a full out splurge in that spot for a Jesus or Kun to go alongside Lukaku & Kane so we sort of settled in the middle with Firmino.
Here’s a very brief summary player by player as to why they all made it:
Goalkeepers
De Gea
The safest route into the 2nd best defence from last season and a defence with a great set of opening fixtures.
Elliot
We don’t expect to have to use him much given Man Utd’s opening fixture list so he’s bench fodder really. The only time they run into any real opposition is vs Everton in GW5 and Elliot has Stoke at home that week, if we need him.
Defence
Kompany
The mainstay of City’s defensive resolve and looked great attacking wise when he finally returned from injury last season. We fully expect him to break down in GW1 and ruin all of that though!
Davies
If Kompany is to be our 1st transfer out, this may well be our 2nd but likewise we enter it with eyes wide open. Any chance to get in on the best defence of last season is too good to pass up. He’s ‘Rose’ dependent but then again Rose has been ‘returning’ since about January so we are happy enough to see how long we can keep this one up.
Cedric
Another attacking fullback and one with a great set of fixtures, in theory.
Suttner
Our 1st budget defender, not someone we expect to have to call on much initially, but if we do then he has pedigree as an attacking full-back too with 4 goals and 5 assists last season.
Long
£4.0m bench fodder, he’s first in if Mee or Tarkowski get injured but we shouldn’t ever need to go that deep on the bench anyway if we are paying attention every week. Or unless we get really unlucky.
Midfield
De Bruyne
Finished last season with a flurry and has had an impressive pre-season. Feels like City’s heartbeat and the least likely to be rotated, and has goals and assists in his locker at any given moment.
Willian
If Kompany and Davies are our 1st and 2nd transfers, then this could be our 3rd. Talk about planning ahead! Once Hazard is back then Willian becomes a risk but his form in pre-season has been good enough to convince us to roll the die on him for now.
Ince
Another one with a strong pre-season behind him. We needed to start dipping into the £6.0m market and we fancy Ince to carry this form into the season itself.
Carroll
Everyone’s favourite enabler. At just £4.5m he looks too good to pass up, especially as he may well be on a lot of set-pieces if and when Siggy finally relocates to Toxteth.
GroB
GroB will rotate with Carroll for us and offers up a very impressive alternative as he’s another on set-pieces and his ‘chances created’ stats in Germany are very impressive.
Forwards
Lukaku
There’s an argument not to go with him, we just feel that not to, is just too much of a risk. Their opening fixtures are against the exact type of opposition that United struggled against last season, but that he personally thrives against. He’s a flat track bully, basically. He has a flat track in front of him….
Kane
Probably the most debated player in pre-season in terms of whether to start with him or not. Wembley, poor pre-season, slow starter etc, etc. He’s also one of the few players who’s likely to suddenly put on a hat-trick before you’ve blinked.
Firmino
Poor old Firmino is our black sheep. We don’t want him really, we want Jesus or Kun ideally. They just kill the midfield more than it has been already, if that’s possible. What he does do is cover the potential Liverpool explosion for us. And he may well be on pens too. He’s taken 2 of them in pre-season anyway.
The team in full
FF247 Fantasy Football Team Gameweek 1
Kane (VC) Â Â Â Â Â Â Lukaku (C) Â Â Â Â Â Â Firmino
Willian    Carroll    De Bryune    Ince
Cedric       Kompany       Davies
De Gea
Subs: Elliot, GroB, Suttner, Long
Our Captain is Romelu Lukaku, (our Vice Captain is Harry Kane)
The flat track bully’s flat track bully. He loves playing West Ham. It’s his debut game and it’s on TV on Sunday afternoon in prime time viewing. It just feels ripe for a big showing all round.
Thanks for reading FF247 Fantasy Football Team Gameweek 1
The League Codes for FF247 for the 2017/18 season are as follows:
Gameweek Tracker GW1-11
What do we think about this Woodburn kido.. If he gets minutes can do sth good for 4,5..
He won’t get enough minutes.
What about Alexander-Arnold?
He’s long been spoken about as a kid who really had the potential to make the step up and he will get his opportunity this season. If he starts the season well there is no guarantee that Clyne will come straight back in. Defensively he needs to improve certain aspects of his game but I’m confident he will. There has been some talk that Milner could start the season at right full but I expect TAA to do so.
Cheers Kop
Just a couple of recommendations – Dunk has been taken over by Suttner so suggest a change in few RMTs’
Trippier seems very doubtful for 2 weeks so perhaps Stones
Pogba might take a little longer to get comfortable nearer the front so suggest Mkhitakya
Mee will rotate well with Suttner but if you have Daniels then he can join a good rotation
Otherwise good luck to you all for GW1 – you just need to be average so do not panic
Cheers Fella, good info
Morning all
My team hasn’t changed for a few days so hopefully that’s a good sign!
Am I good to go?
That’s solid n good to go now mate! No Hegazi any more?
Best Mid price mid fielder must be Zaha and close to him Willem
Fabregas?
Yup I’m going with Fab. Conte said he is going to play more this season and he loves his assists. Haz coming back will reduce Willians game time
Otamendi vs. Stones?
Stones for me Simms, he’s looked very good in preseason.
Stones
Well folks, hearing from my mate who has been with CEO Peter Moores that Coutinho is a done deal to Barca. Also Pool are in negotiations already with his replacement, no name mentioned though. Kop you heard owt ?
Could that mean Firmino drops back into his position and Daniel son goes up top?
Milburn, have to wait on that one, as i said we are apparently talking to Couts successor, whoever that may be, Lanzini was mentioned the other day. Don’t think Sturridge will start on Saturday, maybe Solanke. Bobby could well drop back as a 10, ruins his appeal fantasy wise though now hes down as a striker.
Thanks mate.
I haven’t Elle. But it wouldn’t surprise me as we’ve been a selling club for the last number of seasons. FSG have had the support of the majority of the fans but that will soon change if Coutinho goes.
It doesn’t matter how much we get for him because as has been highlighted this summer we’re a bunch of amateurs when it comes to the transfer market.
Difficult to blame FSG – when Barca or Real come calling most if not all clubs are powerless to do anything except negotiate top dollar.
They could try saying no! Or they could even tell Barca to fck off!
I realise I’m over simplifying things but they need to make a stand. They’re likely to get in excess of £100m for him which sounds great but it won’t get us a decent replacement. There was a lot of talk at the beginning of the summer about how they were going to give Klopp a massive war chest so we could compete this season. So far we’ve bought Salah & Robertson, and nicked a kid from Chelsea.
I don’t have any figures to hand and I’m too lazy to go luck for them but I’m pretty sure our net spend on transfers is quite low since FSG took over. I appreciate what they’ve done for the club in taking over from the previous cowboys and I realise football is a business but to compete for trophies you need to spend money.
I’ve told you before how to do it – hold out until the last day of the window, just tell them a deal will be done blah blah blah. In the meantime implant someone into the club and ensure the fax machine mysteriously breaks down on said day. Works a treat.
Either that or cash in and buy JWP, Charlie Austin and Yoshida 😉