Fantasy Football FF247 Team Gameweek 4 WILDCARD!
Ok, so errrm, well, how do we put this, we have a small confession to make! We are on a WILDCARD! It wasn’t planned and it took us a bit by surprise to be honest but when we settled down around the boardroom table and took a look at our squad, or rather what was left of it after the international break had done it’s worst, there was a unanimous verdict and only one answer. And so ensued the usual mayhem. You think it’s difficult wrestling with yourself on these matters, but when it’s a committee decision it can get funny, ugly and surreal all in the space of a short hour. Anyway we are pleased to say that the majority of people came out alive. Some scarred for life, more mentally than physically we hope. We await the police and psychologists reports though. The end result is this. Our wildcard team…
Why a wildcard?
On the face of it we’ve actually had a pretty decent start to the campaign. We have 179 points and we are ranked in the top 1.5% overall. 46,529 in old money to be exact. So while we are fairly satisfied with that – well, we have had a few issues to say the least! We had Jovetic and Sturridge succumb to injury over the break which meant 2/3rd’s of our ace strike force were probably out which wasn’t a great start. We had Ramsey who looks like he or may miss out or is at least a minor doubt. We had Caulker who is away at Man Utd this week but also doesn’t look a great prospect going forward with QPR’s form so far. We had Dummett who lost his place last week. And to round it off we had El Ahmadi who disliked our team that much that he actually upped sticks and left the FPL altogether! That all seemed too much to attend to within the standardly accepted bracket of a -4 or -8 hit and so we hit the wildcard button with reckless abandon! It wasn’t reckless to be fair, it was well thought out and considered and we are not alone this week as many have done the same. Here’s what we landed on after much debate…
Goalkeepers
We wanted a pair of keepers who would rotate nicely with home and away fixtures, who had a fairly solid team in front of them and held a good chance of keeping some clean sheets along the way and who weren’t too expensive! Krul and Mannone fit all of the above and come in at £9.0m for the pair.
Defenders
Our first port of call when considering the defence was to see which teams had the best or more favourable run of fixtures in the short to medium term. Liverpool have a great run and we were uber impressed with Moreno last week and feel he will be good for more goals and likely to be chipping in with assists. Whether Liverpool can actually keep any clean sheets is another matter but surely their comedy defending from last season will be helped with the addition of two new full backs both of whom are fairly experienced. Southampton, Stoke and Swansea likewise have decent fixtures. Ideally we would probably have gone for Clyne and Pieters but our budget was a tad constrained which you can appreciate given our midfield and forward lines! So we are giving Southampton new boy Alderweireld a chance along with Wilson, who seems to have cemented a slot in the Stoke team and is a budget £4.5m as is Taylor of Swansea. Moore makes up the backline as Leicester haven’t got the worst run but obviously we hope he sits on our bench for the most part anyway!
Midfield
We had Ramsey. We like Ramsey. We agonised over Ramsey. We no longer have Ramsey. The reasoning was fairly simple in the end. He’s a doubt for the weekend but may play and we hope he does for those that have him but we decided to take the opportunity to give Angel Di Maria a run out or a trial if you like. He’s got QPR at home, will play for sure, he’s had an outstanding international break with three assists and a goal in that Germany game so he’s in form and he has a new look team around him. The positives outweighed the negatives for us and in reality if he stinks the place out he’s an easy switch back to Aaron. Sigurdsson needs no explanation, he’s going nowhere. Fabregas is a world class player playing for one of the best teams. He will get goals and assists all season and we envisage keeping him for the duration. Sterling is red hot at the moment and cannot be ignored especially with Liverpool’s favourable run of fixtures. We had £4.5m left for our 5th midfielder and in all honesty there’s not a great deal out there but we hope to never see whoever it is in our team anyway! Anyway, we went for King.
Forwards
To Aguero or not to Aguero, that was the question. We expected this to be a hard fought battle but the reality was that there was little resistance. He’s prolific, he’s almost fixture proof and you’d probably have no hesitation in captaining every week if there were no other more outstanding cadidates. Those were the reasons given and so Kun takes pride of place in our team. Costa was an easy one of course. He’s on fire, even when he’s definitely not playing! We will add a caveat to this though – he’s still not been confirmed as fully fit for the game and was having a training session this afternoon to ascertain whether he was or not. We suspect he’s fine but we will be keeping our eyes peeled and eyes to the ground this evening and in the morning for any news. The final piece of the jigsaw is Arsenal new boy Welbeck. This was one that possibly we could have sat and taken a view on, especially as Arsenal’s fixtures aren’t ideal but we felt that we would be transfering him in eventually anyway so in for a penny, in for a pound.
Captain
Now this was a close call. Aguero had many suitors but was narrowly ousted by Sterling. The fact that he’s in form and at home against Villa swayed it plus there’s a small chance he may be deployed even further forward in Sturridge’s absence. Even if he’s not we felt that he had as good a shout as any at getting in on the goals and assists this week and Liverpool looked like they may be hitting some serious form if last weeks demolition of Spurs is anything to go by and he will be central to that.
This current team wont work its -0.3 points, i have been copying this team since week 1. am i doing anything wrong ?
Weed, you’ve missed some price risers or fallers is all. We’ve had the WC active for 2 weeks and second guessed correctly a few risers early doors but also sold at the right time. It doesn’t seem important at the time and maybe isn’t but when you select that ‘ideal’ team and find you are 0.1 short it hits home for sure!
oh ok thanks for the clarification
:alert:
“i have been copying this team since week 1. am i doing anything wrong ?”
I have about 3 versions of my response to this ready to launch. I’m not sure which one to go with.
hahahaha
I have similar team but want hold off doing a WC. I need to replace sturridge, have no spare cash. Already have costa and Rooney.
One free trade. Was thinking of either Dezeko or Welback, but they play each other therefore will be a tough and maybe low scoring game.
Who else can I bring in for this week who has a good game and chance of points?
Balotelli ?
Good option. Thanks
Hi boys and girls, on a wildcard and keen for some RMT advice… be harsh
Courtois
Ivanovic, Baines, Manquillo
Ramsey, Sterling (c), Sigurdsson, Assaidi
Adebayor, Welbeck, Costa
reserves – Green, Schneiderlin, Clyne, Pieters
farqs
That is a STACK of cash invested in defence my friend. Do you really need so much back there?
Which formation do you prefer? If it’s anything with three at the back then I would advise you downgrade Pieters and Clyne or Manquillo even. Lots of options around the 4.5M mark. Pieters to Wilson if you are keen on retaiing Stoke back there.
I also think Schneiderlin is a bit pricey for him not being an attacking midfielder and not likely to weigh in with points every week.
I would have an eye on improvements to Assaidi – I would aim to try to cover City here so maybe Silva (or Nasri even).
Your attack is slightly different from the usual ones around here but could do very well mate.
Overall very good.
It’s a really strong SQUAD, that’s for sure. That bench is solid. I’m a big fan of keeping cash at the back. I used to take money from my mum’s purse and stick it down the back of the couch. She never found it. Unfortunately, when we moved house I forgot to collect it, so the moral is… erm… sh*t, the moral would appear to contradict my opening salvo; so spread the cash about.
(Psst. I like the fact you have an expensive defense, but agree with GP about Snidey-lin and Assaidi. They’re fringe players though, so no big dramas.)
Di Maria or Ramsey?
makeya,
Short-term I’d maybe say di Maria. That will give you the option to see if he is going to do it for Man Utd. I don’t doubt he will and also, you cn trade down to Rmsey pretty much anytime if you think you’ve made the wrong move.
The international break brings a maelstrom of transfers, with twitchy trigger fingers snapping hungrily at the yellow flags that are foisted upon us for 2 agonizingly teasing weeks.
But has anyone else on here not made, nor are intending to make, ANY transfers whatsoever for this GW? If Ramsey gets the green light, I’m in a bizarre predicament. I may leave my team as is. Am I sick? Are there others like me?
Bry,
You are the only one mate,
You could become a legend mind you. You already are in my eyes but I mean for others.
GP, stop making me blush, people will talk!
I’m gonna be Googling for team news right up until the deadline. It’s still well within the realms of possibility that I may make a late transfer. Gotta keep an eye on Robertson, Ramsey and of course make a decision on our friend Mata. I had a dream last night that he was on the bench. Really p*ssed me off! haha
Bry,
How you lined up currently mate?
I have the team that everyone had last week, before Man U went shopping at Harrods, and international injuries brought more flags than an F1 GP. (GP? Geddit?)
Just seen that Barton is doubtful now. haha. Dayumn. May be making more than one change at this rate. Only one I wanted to make originally was Riviere to Welbeck OR a Ramsey to Sterling.
If you click on my name it’s still the same team now. But this is the visual version in all it’s graphically violent content…
Bry,
In your shoes I would be getting some Liverpool attacking coverage in and Sterling is that man. How about for Mata? I do think Ramsey is a brilliant fantasy prospect still and will play some part today I think. And Rooney covers you for Man Utd anyway.
I had Riviere too. And I brought Welbeck in for him on my WC this week so great minds.
I got the flag joke.
Believe me GP, Mata’s been giving me a headache all week. It’s not that I plan on keeping him for the long haul, but with his fixture this weekend at home to QPR, it would kill me if he did something in that game and I’d dropped him.
What do you make of the whole prospect of Liverpool rotation in light of their Champions League campaign? They could become FPL’s next Man City! That’s what scares me about Sterling, who is undeniably superb.
My outlook at the moment is that maintaining the status quo for now is a viable option. Giving me two FT’s next week, with the hindsight of seeing how the new boys lined up in their teams. I’m not afraid to use my WC in the next few weeks either.
Bry,
I followed with great interest ‘bibgate’ on the boards yesterday but in absolute honesty, that doesn’t concern me in any way for a few reasons.
I think Rodgers realises he needs Sterling today with the absence of Sturridge. I also think Rodgers would be more inclined to remove Sterling once the game is safe rather than rest him to start with. And there is nothing to say that this early in the season, he could play today and in midweek.
I certainly wouldn’t be scared to bank your FT and go with what you have and see what needs fixed for next week. That may be your best call in fact.
I’ve not looked at my team once in the last two weeks (thank you work) but I will be making a change shortly as both Jovetic and Sturridge are out injured, I’m possibly going Jovetic -> Welbeck and just leaving Studge on the bench for this GW rather than chasing it with a -4 hit, these slow price changes are making this season a lot more relaxing.
Bad news for you in NFL though Bry but I’ll not beat you with that stick just yet.
Hiya Andy. You’re referring to Peterson, right? Mito seems to think he may still play this week, but I’ve already got off to a bad start with a 6 point contribution from one player. Yeah, it’s a real bummer that it looks like I may have to replace my highest ranked player!
Agree with you about the slow price changes. Means we can make decisions based on information, rather than because thousands of people have wet themselves and their panic trading is erratically affecting player values.
Vikings have deactivated him already so he’ll not play at all
and after seeing what happened to Ray Rice (his video’s pretty horrific) the season must be a major doubt but I’d hold fire on binning him until it’s all been sorted as he could still play later on, the one positive thing is that RB’s are falling over themselves to get injured or banned so you could pick up someone next week on the waiver wire.
I’m normally panicky with my FT’s early in the season as band wagons normally fool me into the early FT and probable hit but this year looks like it could be a nice mellow season on the FT front.