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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PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES
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SET-PIECE TAKERS LIST
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It’s been a busy summer already with Arsenal, Everton, West Ham and Chelsea appointing new managers, Manchester City adding to their already dominant squad, Man Utd continuing to splash the cash and Liverpool trying to protect Karius by beefing up their midfield. Spurs may even have a new home soon.
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Southampton vs Dijon
Leicester vs Udinese
West Ham vs Ipswich
That has to be very close to their starting XI.
Bournemouth vs N Forest
Wolves vs Derby County
Watford vs Brenford: Foster, Janmaat, Kabasele, Britos, Holebas, Pereyra, Charles, Capoue, Sema, Success, Gray.
Subs: Dahlberg, Wilmot, Navarro, Masina, Mariappa, Prödl, Rodwell, Jakubiak, Deeney.
Brighton vs Birmingham: Ryan, Bruno, Dunk, Duffy, Bernardo, Knockaert, Stephens, Propper, March, Gross, Murray.
Subs: Button, White, Balogun, Suttner, Bissouma, Gyokeres, Hemed.
Crystal Palace vs Reading
Costa from Wolves and Wan-Bissaka from Palace start again, two players I have been keeping an eye on.
Yeah I’m starting to think that the rumours that Bennett had lost his place to Saiss may be true. Wan-Bissanka looks like the 4.0 defender we all need.
Yeah think Peltier and Van Bissaka are looking good. Maybe Saiss has taken Bennett’s place
How about Schlupp, is he playing in midfield then, where was his position? I know he’s in my Afro-Jazz Band, but is he really nailed? Maybe not… 🙂
Lacazette on. Auba onto the wing.
What’s your thoughts on it mate? PEA as effective from the wing or is it better to save the money and get Laca? Laca has just scored now!
I’m gonna take Kun and Firmino for the first few weeks and both of those options can easily switch to PEA or Laca so I’ll wait and see on how they set up
He’s got a second now!
As for Bobby I’m starting to lean towards Salah and Keita!
I’ll wait on Kieta for now, Bobby is proven and if Kieta does torn out to be good then he should feed Bobby with more opportunities
You could be right there mate! I’m still undecided on what to do!
Very tricky this season
@Matt, I’m not too sure at the moment. Aubameyang’s scoring record for the past handful of seasons is difficult to ignore. It will probably turn on whether he is playing just off Lacazette or out wide with defensive duties, for me.
@AT, if he has defensive duties then I’d favour Laca for sure! It’s probably easier to go with PEA for now when doing drafts and then drop him closer to the deadline.
The season looks challenging before it even starts due to pricing.
(1) Salah(13m)+ 3 premium attackers (30m) + 2 prem def/GK(12m)…leaves 45m for 9 players (4 attackers + 5 def/GK).
(2) No Salah(high risk option due to ownership)…4 premium attackers (40m) + 2 prem def/GK(12m)…leaves 48m for 9 players.
Salah is there in 50% of the teams….apparently we are playing with 10 players.
Option 2 seems to be the way to go.
Ideally I would have gone with option 2….but 50% ownership is too much to avoid…also switching from option 1 to 2 is easy, but the reverse is only feasible through wild cards.
This has become too tricky to pick the GW1 squad….I have no clue and sitting tight…will do it on final week.
It looks like I will follow the herd and get him for my main team but definitely option 2 for the B team. And you know very well GM, our B teams have always done better in the last few seasons 🙂
This is my Option 2 side, in case Salah catches fire, it will be Bye Bye to Auba and Sane for Salah and Arnie, in week 2 for a hit or week 3 for no hit
It looks good with that emergency plan Shrivathsa. If Salah fails, as I expect, we’ll be the unsung heroes :smiling:
I have not started my B team yet….playing a wait and watch game.
Rosco will be rubbing his thighs at all this talk of B teams! That’s if he sees it. If he doesn’t I imagine he will just be rubbing his things anyway.
The same here GM. I usually spend a half an hour on it compared to a week for the main. Maybe that’s why it’s so much better 😆
Why is that init? He likes a second team or hates it 😆
‘Rubbing your thighs’ is a phrase which is an indication of liking something.
I’ve no issue with B teams, or indeed Z teams, take as many as you like if you have the time, but he got merciless stick at the end of last season for ‘suddenly’ jumping rank from about 500k to top 500 in a week but failing to mention that he’d switched what he was talking about from his team to someone else’s which he said he was running for them. It was basically 36 weeks of abject misery and then suddenly he wanted to win the thing
Ah, I see. Many of us used to have a second team back in FFF called the fun team and then eventually was renamed to B. Ironically everyone was saying how great their B team is doing compared to the main just because you play it for fun and don’t spend days of planning.
Where / when / if ever do you then draw the line and care about the B one more than the main one? If the A is ailing and the B one is doing really well do you then maintain the discipline of giving B a cursory look and a flippant transfer?
I’ve never done a B team so I have no frame of reference. Well, Elle thinks we do a doubles team but I’ve spent 2 years either ignoring it or attempting to sabotage it when he’s not looking! He still hasn’t noticed.
Yes init, you nailed it. My B team was doing well for the last few years until last January when I decided to play it in a new second part of the season H2H. Obviously I started to get too serious and everything went pear shaped in the end. Strictly for fun from now on.
2 teams is cheating to an extent for me
Nah Smash, it’s just a bit of extra fun on the side 😉
I only have the one Smash and I’ll hang my hat on that but similarly if people want to have more than one I don’t have any issue with it.
Where the confusion comes is in relation to the website here really as people post about ‘their’ team all season. Not ‘one of’! Everyone builds a story all season about their team, in their own way. And it’s good to follow. It’s why we encourage people to link their main team to their username and stick to that one in relation to the site. But I appreciate that’d be difficult to do if suddenly the B one is right up there, you’d want to mention that I guess. And why not.
Just catching up on the boards, yeah I deserved the flack re the B team, it was hard because my main team was doing ‘ok’ ( I don’t think it was as bad as 500k more like 30k) but my ‘B’ was doing amazing ( around 200) so it was hard to ignore.
Anyway what I learnt was that:
A. It’s too stressful
B. Everyone things you’re a dick when you talk about it.
C. It ultimately feels like a hollow victory that you can’t reakky share with anyone.
My takeout is that I’ll be doing one team only this year and let the chips fall as they do. One thing I did learn with the ‘B’ team though is that abject ignorance at the start of the season was key, that is no early WC, one transfer only and ideally always roll a transfer – give players a chance. I’ll be trying to follow those strategies but just do it with one bloody team this year, it’s not worth it folks!!
Hey Rosco. I ran two teams a few seasons ago and know what you mean.
My GW2 team was more bullish and finished about 5k the GW2 was about 18K. The highlight was when BOTH teams got 100 points on the same GW. Apart from that it was a bit of a pain.
I am just running the one this season too.
Who did’your wife’s ‘ team end the season? I reckon ‘she’ overhauled me
Chipster – what I meant by that is that it affects prices raises.
We’re not 5 million mate.
I don’t know how many we are but many of us are playing different games. Surely everyone has a ‘serious’ team but many also have B teams and other types of non serious teams and all that affects the game. I’m not saying you should quit it – I’m fine with it -, but to say it doesn’t affect the game is not acurate. It does , immensely. Not one team but the whole concept of having more than your single serious team.
I’m with DMC, multiple teams can ‘taint’ the market. For a decade I only had my ‘My Rules’ team & everyone thought I was daft. This is my 3rd season with a normal team as well, but I don’t feel it’s right to talk on here about my 2nd team. It’s half my daughter’s anyway but she’ll quit before the Intl break, again, lol. Unless of course my 2nd team is top 10 in the world, then you can forget EVERYTHING I said previously and you’ll never hear the end of it. I wouldn’t hold your breath mind…
Yeah I get that not completely dismissing the idea. Just don’t like when people just swap teams like you said. I mean last season I had my defenders curse when whoever I put in they got injured or suspended. Lasted for ages that and my bloody Palace keepers
Exactly, the story along the way.
That did sort of become funny though, even to you, after a while
It is cheating! You can’t be playing with two teams. The only exception I’d take (and one I am considering) is the MyRules team because that one is in fact for fun and has no chance of actualy competing with your serious team. Other than that it’s cheating. Not necessarily from the game rules perspective (couldn’t care less for those) but from your own. You are basically taking the stress of say not buying or capo someone on the A team because you have done so in your B team, so its win-win. For the rest of us , we need to take the burden of all minor decisions because there’s no alternative to cheer for. That said, I have nothing against cheating!!
Couldn’t agree more with DMC here! I’ve never had a B team and it would completely evade the whole idea of playing FPL! Everyone should just have one “serious” team, My Rules is different as it’s clearly for fun with various more or less comical rules that hinder the overall success in the game! It’s like playing a round of golf with two balls… So what did you score?!? Practice strokes ain’t allowed!
What’s the point of having a B team IF it only is a B team? Might as well bin the whole idea! If you’re B-team wins the whole damn thing, should you be happy? Again, it’s like getting a Hole-in-1 in golf with your second (B) ball, so in theory it’s not a Hole-in-1 at all! I hope you get my point! 🙂 But then again, if you only ever treat your B-team as your B-team, as in “it’s just my B-team”, then what’s the freakin’ point?
I wouldn’t go so far as to call it cheating but I know what you mean.
Personally I think it’s just more disingenuous to yourself. I wouldn’t come on here and say I’m doing X,Y,Z knowing full well I was but that I was also doing the opposite in another team, just in case.
Yes it is cheating, in that you can hedge your bets (e.g. at the start of last season have one side with Kane as captain, one side with Lukaku as captain). And I know in some quarters it’s virtually an act of heresy.
However, mini-league factors come into play for me. A few people (mainly in the IT department) routinely enter 4 or 5 teams (you’d think they have nothing better to do) in a futile attempt to win the work league. When I realised that was happening I entered a second team, albeit with a weirdo formation (5-3-2).
But – when I talk about my team on here it’s always the main one. A couple of people on FFF were interested to hear how the 5-3-2 was going, so I gave updates on request about that.
I had a B team for the first time last year and used it as an experiment in trying to build team value in the opening game weeks, by making multiple early transfers each week in line with predicted player price rises / falls. I had the highest TV in the whole game at one point before I wild carded around GW7. It then became more of a traditional team, but funnily enough the TV in my main team eventually overtook that B team (and the main team outscored the B team). My lesson learned was that chasing TV is not really required because if you manage your team decently enough then the TV will generate itself.
I don’t consider it ‘cheating’ because nobody is getting cheated! My B team is just for myself and it’s only my main team that gets entered into leagues and things, and I only ever ask for RMTs on my main team.
If running a B team gives you more insight and experience of FPL decision-making and strategy, to help better your game, how is that any different than coming onto websites like this to read opinions and ask others for help? Is that ‘cheating’ too compared to FPL managers who don’t use FF websites?
My take on it is this: if people want to upkeep a second team for their own enjoyment / experimentation then where’s the harm in that? It doesn’t spoil the enjoyment for anybody else.
Chipster, I don’t think it’s cheating if it’s an experiment, I have nothing against that! But an experiment team should not be counted in OR imo! But that’s not possible, your B team is still in the global league! If your experiment team beats my main (and indeed only) team in FPL global league (OR) it’s not fair towards me, is it? Lots of people care for OR so people with multiple teams isn’t really fair in that regard imo! So it is cheating in that regard!
Anyway, I think Init said it well when he said “it would be disingenuous to yourself”! That’s the reason I will never have a B team, as I would feel like I was cheating myself! The whole thrill of the game is to be forced to make hard decisions, such as Kane or Auba or Aguero, or two of them, in which case you’d have to sacrifice somewhere else, and if you get it wrong it hurts, and if you get it right it really feels good! You can’t feel good without the possibility of feeling bad! If I had two teams, Kane in one and Auba in the other, then I could always be happy about Auba scoring even if he wasn’t in my main team, so I would not feel so bad about not having him! This is the whole thrill of playing FPL for me so a B team makes no sense to me whatsoever!
I meant the Global Leagues: Your country league, the fan league, and the overall league! You can’t leave those leagues can you? So it’s cheating the people who care about doing well in the Global Leagues…
Wow Zed, with these detailed analyses on the subject you could have done an article, I like it and agree with most of it. Anyway, we concluded that it’s optional and only the main team can be included in any mini or H2H league. As for those Global or whatever leagues you call them I don’t give a flying f as I am not happy with the 3 million ghost teams which will be around as always.
Just my thoughts on the matter, anyway, I don’t care about the Global Leagues either, so I’m ok with that part! 🙂
Easy to understand any point on view on this, I only use one team myself, in part because I am too lazy to run a second team in fpl. However, using sites that predict points and only using that as your basis for bringing people in, is by far worse to me than having a second team. Because even though it is against the rules to have two teams and while managers are still hedging their bets, that usually evens out during a season with your A team. So it is not like people pick the better options with the same team every week.
Using sites that predict points and making transfers based only on that = paying off the referee.
Copying teams = Making sure you have cooks installed in the opposing team’s hotel
Having a second team = Diving in the box
Starting a second team to experiment and when it is ranked higher than your team A come Gw10, making it your official team = you c*nt 😉
Having said that, I ran second team in MLS, well it was the FF247 site team. It was supposed to be like the fpl team where there was a vote and stuff, but it ended up just being me running it. One season the site team finished 2nd in the overall and my personal team finished 5th. :hippo:
I didn’t feel guilty about it and I collected my prize for 2nd place, not the 5th place, but did get the 2nd place. That still goes down as my best fantasy accomplishment. In particular because the teams were similar every week, but there was always 3-4 different players and usually different captains. Think the site team was 2 or 3 points short of winning the whole thing.
In the end I don’t really care if you run one or twenty teams, sure it tilts it in your favour since you can just take the highest ranked team and claim it as your effort for the season, but whatever, you do you and I will do my best to beat you anyway.
We stopped running MLS articles this season before Ivan came over, so I didn’t put out a site team for this season we are in. But if Ivan continues to write for the site, we might need to get it going again.
Remember ladies and gents:
If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying. 😉
Now we know Mito what the Legend stands for :clap: 🙂
That’s a textbook example of cheating, playing with two teams and claiming the price for whichever team finishes higher… Hope you’re not doing that in the £300 regulars league! 😉
@Zed, it started innocently enough, was just supposed to be a site team, but then it kept getting closer and closer and was actually in 1st place before the final game or two.
Yeah, it was cheating, but I deserved my money. I stole it fair and square.
Ivan, the site team played 3 seasons. It finished 2nd, 13th and 24th in the overall in said seasons. I did put UK on the site team’s name so they knew it didn’t really count as you know they don’t pay off Euro teams and they still paid me. I felt guilty not taking the money, since they went through the trouble of contacting me.
@Zed, unfortunately there is almost no way I could do that in the Regulars League, we have hired a known thief to run the league and he can spot a con a mile away. Having said that, not sure if trusting him with the £300 was the best idea. 😉
Mito, I can live with that! 🙂 Anyway, amazing result finishing either 2nd or 5th, the hat is off! :clap: How many managers there are in the MLS by the way? Millions as well?
Chipster, if you are using your B team to randomly transfer in people to raise TV you can’t say it doesn’t affect other people. Not saying I’m against ‘experiments’ but yeah they are far from being neutral activities.
Yeah Mito, I remember that time. And I think the rules are still the same. Do you remember the case with Pathetico Morbid when we had a riot because he couldn’t get his prize being outside the US? Unless, that was you as well :ninja:
@Mito, Plus the aim is to win the £300 league, no matter how many teams the rest of ya’ll have, need to beat everyone to be on top! Even though Ivan’s had many teams in the past I’ve usually beaten them all so it doesn’t really matter anyway 😉
DMC, when it comes to that it’s totally out of control. We’ve seen it every week on the transfers boards how thousands of idiots who for some peculiar reasons buy players with long term injuries while selling the ones who are in top form.That wrecks the entire market and there is nothing we can do about it.
About 30K in MLS, at least that season there was, not sure about now. If you don’t finish top 500 in mls, you are not really trying. Before this season my finishes were all inside the top 30, all seven of them.
@Ivan, I was on a chat with PM and Gallow all season. We discussed ideas and stuff, but that was all him. I did warn him that I would pass him before the season ended and while he was first I was hovering around the top 10, eventually he fell apart, probably in part to not getting his prize. It was all a bit funny, because when I started to get close, he started to hold back in the chat not wanting me to know his thoughts. It wasn’t until I convinced him that I wouldn’t win if it came down to him or me that he was ok with talking about his team again. First place was an all star package and 2nd place was money. I told him, there was no way I wanted that all start package and I would throw it in the last week or two if I had to make sure I didn’t win.
So @Zed, on top of cheating, I was also prepared to throw the competition and finish second. :hippo:
Zed, while you are talking gibberish let me tell you. You have never done better than me. Another thing is that I used to play CL, EL, Sky, Sun, Draft and God knows what other fantasy football games but that is all in the past and I am now a new man :straight:
Only 30k?!? Didn’t realize it was that small (easy :hippo: ), let me rephrase the “amazing result finishing either 2nd or 5th” to “good result finishing either 2nd or 5th”! 😀
That’s right Mito but now things are diferent. Hopefully they will change the new stupid system where you can see your opponent’s team a half an hour before KO. For example, last week in the MLSFI final I was playing against Older Goaler. He went dirty by putting all scrubs apart from a couple of players from the first game. Obviously I didn’t have a clue what are his plans. Anyway, I still won it 😆
@Ivan Yeah I know, I remember you were a bit too deep in the fantasy waters at one point, finding it difficult to float! Great news you’re a new man now! :thumbup: But I reckon I’ve beaten you at least a few times, haven’t I? 😉
No Zed, you are mistaken me with someone else. I remember we had a few good matches but that was long time ago before you took a lengthy break.
I was talking about classic leagues, FFF classic league, you’re talking about FFF H2Hs are you? We didn’t really have any match-ups because I was in the Premier tier whereas you were somewhere in the lower tiers! Before the first ever FFF H2H season there was a qualification period where one’s position in the tiers was determined, I won the whole damn qualification period with all wins! :woot:
I was in the Championship league for 6 seasons. Don’t remember you in the Premier. Are you sure you are not talking about Veikkausliiga :woot:
Haha, yeah, I was 6 seasons in the premier, it’s just that it was my main team with my real name, there was nothing that hinted to Zed Leppelin… I changed the team name every season too so how would you have known? Chorley knew, that was enough for me! 🙂
Well this has turned into an interesting sub-thread. Lot of differing opinions too.
@Zed Leppelin, I see what you’re saying about my experimental team clogging up OR in those leagues you get automatically entered into. I hadn’t ever thought about that aspect before. However, anybody who is good enough to worry about OR is probably easily outscoring my experimental B team anyway (It was 426,088 OR), so I don’t think I’m hindering any serious FF managers by having an extra team.
You can also look at the flip side and say that my extra team is inflating the OR % of all the teams that finish above it. This is also true of all the ghost teams that get abandoned, and those teams that get set up for one week to try and nail that GW only, as all of these ‘dead’ teams floating about distort the maths on working out if your own team is in the top 5%, or whatever. These teams also distort ownership %. I suppose I’m trying to say that OR is already a deeply flawed statistic, with or without my extra team participating. Personally, I think the true measure of FPL success is in MLs, where you know you are competing against actively managed teams.
@DMC “Chipster, if you are using your B team to randomly transfer in people to raise TV you can’t say it doesn’t affect other people.” Sorry, but I don’t really understand the point you’re trying to make here. Firstly, the transfers weren’t ‘random’ – they were extremely calculated and were based on the prevailing bandwagon transfers in/out, to try to avoid losing TV and to actively gain it. Secondly, I never said my B team doesn’t affect other people, I said it “doesn’t spoil the enjoyment for anybody else”, which I stand by. If me registering a second team meant another manager was unable to register a first team, then I agree a B team would be affecting other people. But that isn’t the case. In a game of over 5 million players, the antics of my B team transfers can’t possibly have a material effect on other people. Or, if they do, then the same can be said about every single team that’s set up and does transfers, whether they are first teams or B teams.
@Chipster
“However, anybody who is good enough to worry about OR is probably easily outscoring my experimental B team anyway (It was 426,088 OR), so I don’t think I’m hindering any serious FF managers by having an extra team.”
Yeah, I do agree and that’s why I also think the My Rules teams are ok, because they are likely not affecting any serious (unless you’re very bad, in which case you might probably deserve it 😀 ) managers out there or their OR… I was talking more about B teams with which people are playing normally. As I said above I don’t care about OR, only my MLs, so it’s not a problem for me, but I just said in theory it might be a problem to someone…
“You can also look at the flip side and say that my extra team is inflating the OR % of all the teams that finish above it. This is also true of all the ghost teams that get abandoned, and those teams that get set up for one week to try and nail that GW only, as all of these ‘dead’ teams floating about distort the maths on working out if your own team is in the top 5%, or whatever. These teams also distort ownership %. I suppose I’m trying to say that OR is already a deeply flawed statistic, with or without my extra team participating. Personally, I think the true measure of FPL success is in MLs, where you know you are competing against actively managed teams.”
Disagree with this flipside, I never said anything about OR percentage! It’s not a flipside, it’s a completely different matter! Of course all the ghost teams and your experimental team are inflating the OR % of all the teams that finish above it, but I was talking about managers who don’t care about this, managers who care about OR, not OR%. They are two completely different things, and if I say a B team is unfair in that it might finish above someone else’s only team in OR, talking about OR% doesn’t change this at all!
Also I disagree with OR being deeply flawed statistic with or without your B team participating in it! I don’t get your logic at all! Are you saying that OR is a deeply flawed statistic because the ghost teams and the B teams inflate the OR%, so that the OR% is better the more ghost teams and bad B teams (they have to be bad in order to finish worse in OR) there exist? It only flaws OR%, not OR!!!!
Example: If I finish 100k OR when there are 1 million players in the game: My OR is 100k, and my OR% is 10% (or whatever, that I finished in the best 10% of managers)… But if I finish 100K OR when there are 2 million players (1 million ghosts teams, say): My OR is still 100k (!!!), but now my OR% is 5% (so now I can boast that I’ve finished among the best 5% of managers)… So OR% is very much flawed because of ghosts teams and B teams, OR is not (unless the B teams do really well, finishing higher than expected, etc.) 🙂
@DMC “to say it doesn’t affect the game is not acurate. It does , immensely. Not one team but the whole concept of having more than your single serious team” Thanks for clarifying – I see your point now, but my counterpoint is that the effect you’re describing is not exclusive to B teams. Every team that gets set up, whether by an existing manager as a B team, or by a new manager as their only team, will have an incremental effect on the game in the way you say (i.e. transfer antics affecting player prices for everybody). That’s why I don’t think it really matters having a B team. It’s no different to me and my brother having a team each (but my brother doesn’t have a team) 😀
@Zed Leppelin I never said that you were talking about OR%. I was talking about it! Perhaps “flip side” was a poor choice of words, but there are some managers who think in terms of “finishing in the top 5%” just like there are managers who focus on OR like you pointed out. For the former, any poorly performing B teams or ghost teams will be helping their cause. That’s the point I was trying to make.
My “deeply flawed” comment about OR was, ironically, deeply flawed 😀 Of course I was talking about OR%. You were right to be outraged. I apologise profusely :worthy:
@Chipster I wasn’t outraged, so I want to apologize if it seemed so! 🙂 You were correct regarding the “I finished in the top 5%”, their way of thinking is deeply flawed ( 😀 ) because of the reasons you said!
Assuming he stays fit and plays the majority I doubt many without him will be in the top half a mil, maybe mil come Christmas. Think we just have to accept it’s a 10 and play accordingly myself. Of course there’s still the capo variable on him though.
Where’s Ramos when you need him?! :shiftyeyes:
Just checked pre-season results…no clear favourite emerged…….except a hope for Wan Bissaka to start as 4.0 starter (I wish Joel Ward leaves Palace)….but that switches off the idea of Tomkins/PVA inclusion, as doubling up on Palace is possibly not a good idea.
Southampton got a cleanie against Djon(Fra)…how is that team? As Sou has a cheap backline.
Cedric not playing yet though. Be a doubt if he starts the campaign
Still 2 weeks to go. Anyone back in training this week will be ok to start season I think
Cedric is very likely to start the campaign in my opinion, Portugal didn’t go too far and there’s still two weeks, he is a very important player for us as the alternatives are very weak/inexperienced… So very likely to start the campaign imo!
Zed, you a Saints can? I’m interested in Vestergaard but is he nailed?
Yeah, he should be nailed, he was bought to anchor the defense after VVD left… He’s a tall, big guy, they’ve hoping he can rule the air (so to speak)…
Thx Zed
Thought I would join this conversation I’ve done a second team for a few yrs now I find it very useful
I used it to experiment last year stuck with Vardy & Firmino & one premier fwd finished in top 3k
I can only make transfers when I’m pissed so no change there
This yr I will go Salah less the whole season let’s see
I done cheap 5 def which found quite useful it works if you use rotating Prs & fixtures
So bring the B teams on
Exactly that Silvers. I had a bad season last time and finished 236,258 OR with the main team while the B one ended 49,643.
Ok Ivan, so if someone asks you what was your rank last season, what do you say?
He says I won my minileagues 😉
Nah don’t think it overhauled you! About 400, ps you never commented ( or I may have missed it!!) but did you like your special Inclusion in the the banner I did?
Even created a little Pompey kit for the team!
I love it Rosco!!
Feels great to be in a team of legends.
Think it was the other way round last season mate, we were in a team with a legend!!
The Pompey kit is awesome. To be honest I couldn’t make it on my phone even with glasses on. But now I have the ‘big screen’ I can just make out our sponsers jobsite. Don’t tell me you’ve done the Pompey badge as well as I can’t quite make it out. I am thinking of connecting my computer to my huge telly so I can see all the details
Hows that for you mate?
I’d be livid that you are cheaper than me, Horse
That is sick Rosco!
Even got the new badge
Your IT skills are second to none
Has your sponsor changed? Im now seeing ones with a University logo?
AT, we are the spine of team.
Should it look more like this now?
That’s it Rosco. We are clever people in Pompey
https://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/news/2018/june/pompey-reveal-201819-home-kit/
That’s the one.
My dad taught at the Uni.
Any chance of an update?
There you go mate!
Having a proper look at the banner now.
Is that a Sheff Wed top for Bry, Real Madrid for Mito, Rangers for GP?
Tha’s awesome Rosco
What is AT wearing?
Sweet!
Yes to all and Hudds for AT!
Rosco, you couldn’t get send that to me as a pdf or similar could you?
I am in a mini league run by a guy who makes clothes for a living. The first price is an article of clothing hats. polo shirts T shirts etc. He could make a polo shirt with that design in it.
email is harryhorse@rocketmail.com
Shameless self-promotion 😉
Hey AT how’s your team coming on?
Hhahahahahah touché!!!
Hi, Horse. Posted it on the boards somewhere yesterday. The feeling was that it was too risky. So, quite well I guess
. You?
Risky is good AT.
I got about 5 players that I am happy with.
I will come back to it later.
Yeah course mate, I’ll create a higher resolution one for you but it’ll be tomorrow as I don’t have my Wacom tablet at home and it’s a bit fiddly using the tracking pad on my laptop!
*googles wacom tablet* Cheers Rosco.
Haha tools of the trade! Like an extension of my arm in my line of work!
Lol what have I missed?
Sloth scored again for Palace and no Benteke in the team. If Zaha goes will it be Sloth upfront?
Currently on Austin in that position but an extra Mil to spend would be handy
Ings being strongly linked this morning. I don’t think Zaha goes personally. When I saw Sorloth last season he was shocking. Austin I’m not sure about think he might be a risk
What 3rd striker are u looking at Smash?
Arnie I think he keeps scoring and since playing down the middle has racked in the points
Arnie for me too
Any news on whether Benteke is being sold? He is not in the subs list, so, if he is not there, Sloth might be a good benchwarmer
Sorloth…
via GIPHY
Ha ha
Jota scored….Arnie scored……Tomkins scored and Zaha brace…
Jota play up top GM? Not following the games.
Jota on the Left Wing
Wide in a front 3 I see, that’s good enough for Salah and all that….
Still puts him as an OOP essentially.
Bonatini on top first half……Raul Gimenez 2nd half…..Wolves lost 1-2.
Roman Saiss 60 mins (0-1 scoreline)….replaced by Benett for last 30 mins (1-2 scoreline).
Yes, still a good option at that price bracket.