FF247 Fantasy Football Site Team
Like most of you who are now tinkering around with your team, we have gathered our committee to see if we can work out a beginner team. This is by no means the final team, but this is a squad that we are ok with as of this moment. Basically a starter team, that we will now try and work from until we build something that we are relatively happy with come GW1. This team, like any other team will see guys depart and see new guys come in for them. Ok, so let us get onto our current selections and and first our thinking along that journey, and see if we can justify our reasoning.
And please, tell us what you like and where you think we could do better, we definitely take comments into consideration if for no other reason, so we have someone to blame.
Goalkeepers – Premiums we are considering
De Gea (6.0) – Very secure and adds stability to any team, big concern is the price point and is he really worth more than any other keeper? Most owned!
Ederson (5.5) – Similar to DDG, but .5 cheaper, a set and forget. Problem is he isn’t required to make saves, had half of what De Gea had and less than any other premium keeper. Yet, he was tied among high priced keepers in bonus points. Ties up coveted City spot.
Alisson (5.5) – Shouldn’t have to do a bunch more work than Ederson, so saves will be low. Also, like Ederson and probably more concerning, owning him would mean one less outfield player from LFC in our squads.
Lloris (5.5) – Very consistent and probably should be in more teams, but like some of the others above him, having him means one less outfield player from his team. Last year many carried a Spurs attack minded defender, one or two of their mids and Kane.
Best of the rest we are considering
Leno (5.0) – Very favourable price, but early fixtures and Arsenal’s defensive record from last season has us questioning if this is a shrewd move or fool’s gold. Possible downgrade to Leno from a higher priced keeper if Arsenal look sturdier could be a move in an early transfer for many.
Pickford (5.0) – Everton’s fixtures and his impressive 145 points from last season do make him somewhat attractive. Another thing in his favour is that he has a 4.0 back-up.
Fabianski (4.5) – Great price point, horrific fixtures, but who cares, isn’t getting save points his thing? Is his season repeatable though? Surely, he will make less saves and probably get less bonus points, but 4.5 is likely good value.
Patricio (4.5) – If we think he will have a similar season to Ryan or Lossl from last season, then this also good value here.
Defenders – Premiums we are considering
Azpilicueta (6.5) – Two straight seasons of 170 points or more makes his price understandable. Should be safe in the XI, which makes him a better play than his mate Alonso, for now.
Walker & Otamendi (6.5) – How can any Ota owner from last season forget that run of goals and that increase in value? Well, we can remember the good times, but fierce competition if Pep runs a back 4 and to some degree even a 3 back makes him an iffy play. Walker did good, but he is the same price as Azpi and money is tight.
Spurs defenders (6.0) – Seven of their eight are at this price. If they sell one or two, we will have another look, but they have a lot of quality to go around and we don’t want Mauricio to Poch us by rotating on us.
Robertson (6.0) – LFC should be tighter this season and they weren’t bad last season. Like the chances of him adding to his goal and assists and the best part is that Alberto Moreno is his competition.
Mendy (6.0) – More intriguing than the other City defenders, just not sure if he is done partying yet. If he looks secure in his starts, he should rack up the assists to go along with clean sheets.
Van Aanholt (5.5) – Always tempting, but this is a hard price point for someone who has his nice goal tallies offset by his lack of clean sheets. So, either he starts scoring 10 goals a season or starts getting more than 5-6 clean sheets or he is not good value.
Best of the rest we are considering
The 5.0 to 5.5 bracket – Usually it is guys from top teams that end up being the better assets in this price bracket, problem is that a lot of them are questionable starters at this point. Think of Otamendi and Davies from last season, cheaper than the premium, but turned out great. Bellerin (5.5) is an interesting option here, but word of Unai’s rotation from years past has us worried. Another option is Luke Shaw (5.0), we like to eat also, so his body type does not bother us. What bothers us is how quickly he might be watching from the bench. However, with Valencia’s injury and the possibility of all of Jose’s other fullbacks leaving/vacationing/being injured, our boy Luke might get a longer run out and at his price, he is tempting. Like a big chocolate cake.
Lovren (5.0) is really cheap and considering what renowned football expert Dejan Lovren said about him being one of the best defenders in the world, this could be a huge bargain. However, he is unlikely to feature right away after dragging Modric, Perisic, Rakitic and the rest of Croatia to a World Cup final. Greatness also needs a rest.
Burnley defenders are in the Europa, so until we see how serious they are about it, they are not in our plans.
The 4.5 bracket – In this price range we are looking for anyone who rotates or has decent fixtures in case we need him to auto sub in. Pick one or two and hope for the best. Daniels has a Rico problem, Holebas has a Masina problem, Jagielka is old, Fuchs can’t fuching defend,
Tomkins looks decent value, but we could be biting from the Wan-Bissaka apple and we wouldn’t want two Palace defenders.
Cedric could end up being the choice in the end assuming we don’t go down the Bamba or Doherty rabbit hole.
The search for the 4.0
Wan-Bissaka as mentioned above might be our guy. Every year we go for one of these guys and by week 3 he is no longer starting. Oh well, at least he is only 4.0. We are also keeping our eyes and ears open and monitoring Bennett from Wolves and Pelteir from Cardiff in case either wants to be a hero.
Midfielders – Premiums we are considering
Salah (13.0) – It is unfair to put him in this category, we are not deliberating over him, he is in. The other 14 spots are up for grabs.
City Mids (8.5 – 11.0) – Some of them, depending on what you think the mid-price and premium line is, could fall in different categories, but we thought it best to keep them together. We know we probably need one, maybe two if you look at their point tallies from last season. However, as we all know, their minutes could be tricky. With the exception of De Bruyne (10.0), the rest are harder to gauge. We will probably have one to start with, but it is certainly a situation that we have to monitor and we will need to hire a Pep mind reader so we don’t get stuck on the wrong City assets through the season.
Hazard (10.5) – Off to Madrid and even if he is not, he won’t be ready come GW1 so we will pass on him.
Sanchez (10.5) – Has looked solid so far, but Salah’s price really makes it hard to take a calculated punt on a what is a very expensive player.
Mane (9.5) – Doesn’t feel like a bad idea, but he is battling Firmino and Keita for a spot in our team.
Eriksen (9.5) – It feels wrong to go without him. He could be a sticking point with some committee members and force his way on the team before the deadline.
Best of the rest we are considering
The 7.0-8.5 bracket – Ozil (8.5) looks a touch overpriced to us, Ramsey (7.5) feels like the best option although if Mkhitaryan (7.0) can nail down a spot at Arsenal that be ideal.
Son (8.5) is gone to Asia for a while, so have a safe trip.
Siggy (7.5) could grab our attention and has a chance to make our 15 if he shows any signs of life before the deadline.
Groß (7.0) much like Siggy and perhaps by being 0.5 lesser also could sneak in when our team is reevaluated and if his fixtures are overlooked a bit.
If Pogba (8.0) was available right away, someone could take up his case, but for now, we will just let Jose troll him as we watch from a distance.
The West Ham midfield boys can clear their tough fixtures first, until then we will just observe.
The 4.5-6.5 bracket – Fabregas (6.5) made it, for now, we are intrigued. If he looks like he is going to start, he should pile up assists for fun. Pedro (6.5) would be given more consideration if some Chelsea wingers left the club.
Surely Milivojevic (6.5) won’t get that many penalty goals again.
Walcott and Richarlison (6.5) might be brought up again depending on the budget. In particular the Brazilian as he feels like an interesting early punt.
Mata (6.5) should start in the XI, but there is a worry about him being dropped quickly.
Lamela (6.5) similar to Mata, but he might be able to stay a bit longer in the XI.
Jota, Maddison and Sessegnon (6.5) are also battling for that punt spot on the team. Jota does interest us, with his possibilities of playing up top and his goal involvement. Always hard to trust a promoted team’s player though.
Ralls (5.0) seems to be a favourite of ours and if we had the extra 0.5 he be in over Ward (4.5) on our current team.
Costa, Kenedy and Cairney (5.0) would also be considered but Kenedy has really tough fixtures and the other two are either risky because we don’t know for sure if they will start or because they are on an awful team. Obviously there are more that are debated, but think that is enough covered.
Forwards – Premiums-ish we are considering
Kane (12.5) – Pricey, tired, possibly limited minutes, think we will wait and let him get rolling first.
Aubameyang (11.0) – A bit divided on this one. Think there is a consensus about all liking him, but some concerns about him being used wide and also his first two fixtures being iffy.
Aguero (11.0) – In for now, there are some thoughts that we could downgrade to Firmino and upgrade Keita to Eriksen. We do love Kun’s fixtures, but Jesus has magical powers and it wouldn’t be the first time he put the thought of benching Kun into Pep’s head.
Lacazette (9.5) – Nice price, wrong forward. A bit more interesting if he gets all the minutes up top, but still a wait and see for now.
Firmino (9.5) – Decent chance the tide turns and he ends up making the final team.
Lukaku (11.0) – The Romelu from the World Cup would contend for a spot, but he won’t start right away and he still plays for Jose.
Morata (9.0) – If someone on the committee wants him, they can put him on their personal team.
Vardy (9.0) – Does anyone know if he will be around for GW1? Vardy might be the least talked about good forward in FPL.
Best of the rest we are considering
Zaha (7.0) – Love this guy, love him more if he was still a mid and there were no rumours of him leaving, yet he still gets a spot, and if something does happen, Arnie is sitting right there winking at us.
Arnautovic (7.0) – Could easily be him come GW1, this guy finished strong last season and he looks in great form in pre-season.
Tosun (7.0) – We feel more confident about the other two 7.0 guys.
Austin (6.0) – Use him while he is fit? He probably ends up being dumped in the end, but when he is fit and plays, it is hard to argue that he is not good value. He would easily outscore similarly priced defenders and mids if he managed to play similar minutes.
Tentative GW1 team
So after all that, this is where we are now, this however will not be where we end up, that is guaranteed. We thought we give you some insight into our thinking so far. There are still more debates to be had about certain players, formations, upgrades and downgrades that should polish this side up. Austin is likely to feel the wrath of our committee members again, since he is about as trustworthy as Daniel Sturridge when it comes to injuries. Our fifth mid will be a sticking point. Perhaps some downgrades and adding another premium defender could be something we get behind. Our keeper situation is not resolved, some will come back and try and convince the rest that Premium keeper is the way to go or the Everton duo is better. Perhaps even a 4.5 with a 4.0 and invest the money elsewhere. We will post our official GW1 team much closer to the deadline once we come to a conclusion. But for now, tear this team apart!
If you wish to follow the teams progress more closely you can do so by clicking here.
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It is still a work in progress, but here is where we are for now.
What’s your stance on a pair of roaring 4.5m goalkeepers vs 5.5m (Ederson or Allison basically) and a 4m?
Lol, that should perhaps be “rotating” instead of “roaring” (although I’m secretly hoping the latter’d be correct 😆 ), predictive textings and all that…
Roaring 4.5 keepers sounds like a great question for our bore off articles.
My stance is that I don’t want to pay attention to that spot this season if possible. I don’t want to waste transfers. I do want a set and forget type keeper, but I am not sure I want to pay 1-1.5 more for the earlier weeks. Perhaps when I have some money, bring a higher priced one with a WC. I might go for a 4.5 guy with a 4.0 and just pretend he cost me 5.5
Every season I try and rotate it never seems to work the way it should, if I can get someone I really want somewhere else with that .5 or I feel I need to have it ITB, I might go with Patricio and nothing else.
Yeah, that’s why I’m a bit wary of the roaring 4.5m goalies… I actually think a set and forget 4.5m coupled with a 4.0m is better as with the roaring ones you sometimes get it right, sometimes get it wrong… You just play the better fixture every time but reality doesn’t work like that, sometimes a goalie gets a huge haul in a tough fixture with bucketload of save points… It’s just with those City fixtures Ederson feels like a lot better than any of the 4.5m tbf…
He does look great for those first two months. If he only pulled something and Bravo had to fill in for 2 months….
Nice team, and a triple up on Liverpool. That’s reassuring. The no-Spurs cover is bothering me a lot. One of Trippier, Erickson or even Kane is a must methinks. I still – for the life of me – don’t know what the fuss about Shaw is this preseason. Maybe he is the easiest way to get into United’s backline given Mou’s ‘park-the-bus’ gameplay but that should not be a reason to get Shaw. There is value out there. If they get Maguire from Leicester, then it’ll be a bee-line to sign that guy up. Nice team for a first iteration. Cheers FF247 team!!!
The Sane pick is also quite the conundrum given City’s riches in the midfield. Yes, they have just two out-n-out strikers in Kun and Jesus and a lot of these mids will be pushing forward and bombing the opposition. And yes, Sane was the young player of the year last season and he is a pretty damn special footballer, but there’s DeBruyne, Silva, Sterling, Mahrez et. al. so how will this affect his game time and the bonus points that we fantasy leaguers covet so?
Guess where Eriksen may slot in?
The City conundrum is hard. You look at their fixtures and it demands City cover, but who? KdB feels like the only safe one, but he is not available GW1 (we think) so we are stuck trying to figure out if it is riskier to have a different City mid or to not have one. One way around it would be to leave .5 in the bank and be ready to go Sane to KdB when it looks like the Belgian is ready, but planning early transfers when we don’t really know what else could go wrong, feels like a recipe for disaster.
Nice side Mito. Very thought provoking. It’s early days as you say.
Goalies look good individually but don’t rotate too well.
Defence is nice. Really like the look of Robbo. But I would like to see Mendy in there if he shows sides of being nailed on. City have 4 home matches against Hud New Ful and Bri and away against Wol and Car up until GW7. I can see 4 or 5 clean sheets IF he plays them all.
If so I think that he will outscore Azpi.
Sane and Salah look great. Keita is on my watch list. Fab is interesting. Have to watch to see what happens at Chelsea.
Kun could well be rotated with Jesus. Maybe you are looking at transferring him out to PEA in GW3 for Arsenal’s great fixtures. Soton have good fixtures Gabbi has decided to fight for his place so Austin may not play every game. Zaha is wait and see..
Thanks for sharing your analysis
@Horse, yeah we are aware of the rotation problem. To be fair to Patricio, Fabs fixtures are terrible and he is not an ideal partner for anybody. Could match Patricio up with Palace, but having a defender and a keeper from Palace feels very iffy. Other keeper could be the Fulham guy, but we really don’t trust that team at all. Burnley, Everton and Leicester are too expensive for rotation, Watford? Not sure yet, we may need to go for a higher priced guy, Pickford and his back-up for the same price could be the way to go.
Agree on Mendy, but that fool needs to play somewhere, anywhere, on the beach and post it on Instagram.
@Horse – that’s the inital plan – get in Kun and see if Pep and the Brazil coach are both up Jesus’ @$$ and then get in Auba after GW3
@Mito – I get the Erickson one – he’s an easy shoo-in at the same price range as Sane, but so is Mane who can be considered instead of Keita if you really need to triple up on Pool players. Thanks, but a lot of tinkering there in the coming weeks with transfers and injuries and pre-season form and all.
Think we would agree with you on Maguire, but he is not available yet, so that possible goldmine will have to wait. Shaw may or may not make the side, probably will depend on injury updates and if Jose says anything about it. One week punt for a defender is certainly not worth it, so if it looks like he will be benched before GW3 or so, I doubt he makes the site team side. Eriksen will probably find a way in. Something doesn’t feel right about not having him.
I say that about Erik every season and also others like Shaq, Arnie and Hazard and never seem to end up owning that small group for some reason. Can’t say it harms overall but having one occasionally may help! Perhaps a distrust in consistency, perhaps just other issues to contend with first as we go along, but I reckon Erik is just about at his prime now and I think he may rock it / rocket this season. I think I’m finally going to give in and just buy him and leave him in there.
I usually always own him, tends to work out great except for that huge run of points Alli had 2 seasons ago and I was on Eriksen.
Yeah I remember that well, I grabbed Ali just before it and rocketed with him, as I’m sure also remember well! #drawingboard
@Mito – Maguire would be a great addition to United’s back line. I would definitely pick him up early even if he does not feature given Mourinho’s penchant for his own buys. Otherwise, Domagoj Vida to Liverpool might tempt me as well (this one’s a joke, Robertson all the way baby!)
I think (if you want Eriksen and a nice midfield) you could think about 4-4-2… Could have Auba/Kun, Zaha/Arnie, KDB, Eriksen, Salah, Jota/Fabregas/Richarlison as the attacking 6 and still be able to afford a good defense me thinks!
@Zed, It could work, but the defence would have to be similar to the current one up there, We would need to find 3 million to upgrade Sane and Keita to KdB and Eriksen. So it could require something cheaper than Richarlison to make it work. With this budget something is going to come out looking a bit weak, just not enough money to go around.
Yeah, well, that’s the whole idea of the game! 🙂
That’s a seriously good run down on pretty much all options for all spots in all positions! Cards on the table, we pick the Site Team by committee but trust me no committee member had any input in this colossus other than Mito! Well done mate, that’s brilliant :clap:
Thanks Mito, great read. VERY similar team to mine. Will be interesting to see how it develops over the coming weeks.
Is anyone able to explain how price freezes will work at the start of the season? I seem to remember them being frozen at the start of last season for a week or so (although could be completely mistaken). What i mean is, will players price be able increase and decrease from deadline kickoff?
Thanks guys
@Ohyesali, I remember there being something, but can’t remember what. Was it a freeze? I feel like the threshold was real high for some reason and what happened was that predictions for price rises were really off. Could be wrong though. Do feel like some players did rise, just not an amount that many expected.
I went through FISO and fpl statistics looking for data from last season, could be on there but I had trouble finding it. I did however find this set of tweets.
Cheers Mito
Looks like no freeze then. God knows what I was thinking about.
I’f you’re worrying about price rises already I’ll be perfectly honest and say I’m worried about your FPL priorities!
Sorry if that’s harsh but I don’t worry about price rises all season myself, never mind before the season even begins.
Took the words out of my mouth mate, so +1 from me
Hey init
Let me explain why I was asking 
I was looking at players with high ownership that may miss GW1 and in some situations GW2 or even GW3 (examples are KDB 27.5%, Firmino 37.2%, Kane 33.4%, Trippier 26.5%, Maguire 23.4%) and reviewing possible opportunities to make a quick buck.
This will be my 5th year playing FPL. My 1st year was for fun and got Rnk 448,503, but my 2nd season I took player/team value into serious consideration, especially around Int breaks and Xmas, and achieved, what I feel is, a respectable Rnk 23,931. However the following preseason I read an article (cant remember where) saying that focusing on TV actually had a detrimental effect on Rnk. It was so convincing I decided to not pay attention to TV and instead only play the players, fixtures and form. It was a shocking season, coming in at Rnk 853,468. Unfortunately last season, because of living in China, I had connection issues and was rarely able to make changes, missing 8 GWs in a row at one point if i remember correctly
and ended up Rnk 307,239. This year I have a VPN, a “Can Do attitude” and am determined to try and break the 10K bubble. Because of that I looked back and felt that when I paid close attention to TV I had by far my best season and so want to build on that from there. I fully understand that some may disagree, but each manager plays to his strengths 
If I can find a way to make an extra .2 mill more than i would usually in the 1st couple GWs, that’s only a positive.
I’m obviously not making choices solely based on possible price changes, but simply tring to look at every angle and cover all my bases . . . Im in three money leagues this season and I want my damn FPL mini league trophy back (pic below) haha
Good luck with the season ahead