Fantasy Football 247 team – Fantasy Premier League 2014/15
We are delighted to announce that FF247 will be running a site team this year, which will be competing in the FF247 Classic and Manager of the Month Leagues as well as taking its bow in the Banterbury Leagues. The main objective of the team however is to give you all an insight into our thinking and planning, which we hope will not only help you with your teams but also prompt plenty of debate, banter and advice along the way. Clearly with over a fortnight still to go until the season kicks off, plenty can still happen with any of the players we have selected – injuries, new transfers in or out, hell we may even have the odd bite to contend with! Therefore please treat this very much as a provisional squad for now and allow us to talk you through it and the thinking behind what we have come up with thus far.
Goalkeepers:
Tim Krul – as soon as the visit of the Champions in GW1 is out of the way, Le Toon face a pretty attractive run of fixtures. We feel Pardew has actually spent wisely this window (that could come back to bite us) and with Captain Coloccini fit and seemingly happy, we believe Krul is great value at 4.5mln.
Vito Mannone – this is one we need to keep a close eye on due to the summer acquisition of Costel Pantilimon from City. Both Sunderland keepers are priced at 4.5mln and once we have determined who is the no.1 they will come in to rotate perfectly with Krul, with our two keepers costing a total outlay of just 9mln.
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Defenders:
Filipe Luis – but what about rotation, we hear you cry? And you’d be absolutely correct to bring it up. However, we feel Chelsea’s opening fixtures are too good to ignore, they have the strongest defence in the league and Jose will be gunning for the Premier League title that he will feel his team threw away last season, despite him maintaining all year that Chelsea couldn’t win it. Can’t fool us Jose! New recruit Felipe Luis is, alongside Cesar Azpilicueta, the cheapest of the mainstream defenders and we feel that they wouldn’t have forked out €16mln to leave Luis on the bench on a regular basis.
Luke Shaw – United’s new left back has been deployed by LVG in the left wingback role in the 3-5-2 formation that United look like they are deploying this season. Therefore, as he will be given licence to join in the attacks we feel that he could benefit from a few assists, maybe the odd goal and could be a contender for bonus points, similar to Leighton Baines. Not only that, but with LVG breathing fire into the United dressing room, we estimate that they will be a more competitive force this season and clean sheets aplenty should be forthcoming.
Rio Ferdinand – cheap, experienced defender, who alongside Steven Caulker should make the Rangers defence more solid. Some attractive looking early fixtures make Rio a good option for us.
Adrian Mariappa – Palace left back and the only likely starter priced at 4.5mln. We need to keep track of Palace’s pre-season friendlies to ensure he retains his place but given the solidity they showed under Pulis at the latter end of last season we feel they are a good bet to continue that trend.
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Midfielders:
Juan Mata – now being played in his preferred and most effective no.10 position. Sat behind Rooney and RvP and with a sumptuous list of opening fixtures, we feel we may just see the Mata of old. If we don’t then he’ll be out of there quicker than you can say Yaya Toure!
Gylfi Sigurdsson – another with potential to be fantasy gold, but with the added bonus of costing just 6mln. A return to Swansea will see increased game time and two goals on his debut makes him difficult to ignore. He showed enough on the rare occasions Spurs did venture to utilise him to suggest he’s still the player that graced the Liberty a few short seasons ago.
Alexis Sanchez – everyone loves an out-of-position fantasy prospect and Sanchez is just that. Capable of playing up top, just off the striker or on the wing we feel he is hard to ignore, despite his 10.5mln price tag. Arsenal’s opening fixtures are mixed and they do face City, Spurs and Chelsea in the first seven matches but we feel, with the Gunners attacking talent, they are more than capable of scoring in all those matches. Whether they win them or not, we don’t care!
Cesc Fabregas – another world class midfielder down at the Bridge. Can be deployed just behind the striker or even deeper but has the ability to get involved in attacks, provide assists, score and it looks like he’s on set pieces as well. At 9mln we feel he’s good value and has the advantage of not being involved much at the World Cup.
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Strikers
Wayne Rooney – seemingly happy with life under LVG at Old Trafford, we consider Rooney a must for our team. Has been in good scoring form on United’s tour of the US and LVG has already stated he sees Wazza as a no.9 or 10. With RvP having spent pre-season on the beach, we expect Rooney to hit the ground running in the league and like Mata and Shaw, will benefit from no European competition this season.
Diego Costa – Jose has been courting Costa for some time and sees the Brazilian Spaniard as the cure to his striking problem. With just Fernando “Row Z” Torres and Chelsea Pensioner Drogba as competition, Costa is the no.1 striker by a long way. With a supply line of Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Schurrle and Fabregas behind him, expect Costa to be one of the stars of the league. Now fit again and with an injury plagued World Cup behind him, Costa scored 27 times in 35 games for Atletico Madrid last season and will be eyeing a similar return this term.
Blanks!
You will have noticed that we have left three spaces blank – one defender, one midfielder and one striker. This is where you, our community, come in. We have 14.5mln left in the bank to fill these spots and would appreciate your thoughts and ideas as to who should be added to the FF247 squad. Do we fill them according to what we have left as of now or do we sacrifice a big name elsewhere to provide more balance? These are the questions we will be asking ourselves over the coming days and weeks ahead of the season and hope you will help us decide as you continue to discuss your own teams on the boards too.
are there any vets on here ? or people that deal insurance for pets ?? i have a epileptic 12 year old cat, that also has a bowel problem and arthritics, any quotes or website to get quote ?? 50 a month on meds and 350 for him getting a fight last week, no one will insure him ! cause of age and epilepsy
Hey gang, glad to see an ‘official’ FF247 team is up. I think that’s a great way to spur discussion and debate and it will definitely help us with our own teams. Any thoughts on the following? Any suggestions on (2) 4.5 defenders that rotate well? Can I do better than Ferdinand and Mariappa there? Maybe Chester and someone??
Mann/Pants Krull
(4.5) Cahill Duff Debuchy (4.5)
Mata Eriksen Jones (Burnley) Ramsey Siggy
Rooney Costa Giroud
Thanks for any advice!
Red, not familiar with this player called4.5 and you have picked him twice
Of who u have picked, looks good.
Haha, thanks Dreamers!
Hey Red, from an Arsenal fan here, it surprises me you’ve gone for triple Arsenal. Will you bench Debuchy for this tougher games? I’ll be interested once our schedule lightens up.
Giroud should also profit from our bustling midfield, however, he’s a bit of a donkey at times 😉 has poor(ish) fixtures and *may* not start up top each game…
Hey james, good to see you. I’ve had to make some changes to this draft in order to upgrade Jelavic to Giroud, and my defense is definitely weaker because of it. My plan with this team would be to play Cahill and Debuchy for most matches and rotate in one of the cheapo defenders according to fixtures.
The last draft had Jelavic, Huth, and Hazard instead of Giroud and Mata and a (4.5). But seeing all these other teams with strong forward lines made me rethink things. I don’t love Giroud TBH but he’s a guaranteed starter and with all that talent behind him is bound to get good service. Could also go with Adebayor or one of the City strikers at his price point as well I suppose.
That’s fair enough. I’m going for Luis from the Chelsea backline, but really, there’s an element of risk with all of them.
I’m also working a team around Hazard, however, it’s tempting to switch him out for Costa now. I’m keeping Jelly as I like his fixtures despite Europa…
Dzeko could be a steal but Adebayor’s had malaria so I’d avoid him.
Right on, thanks james! I think I’m going to plug Jelly back in for Giroud and see what else I can come up with.
Could be nothing but Jelavic didn’t start in Europa. Went for the guy beginning with S – big guy, can’t remember his name
Sone Aluko? Didn’t start Snodgrass either so maybe wouldn’t read too much into it.
That’s the guy – Close…
He is more defensive minded. Could be the avenue in the tough games.
RedVT
Neil Taylor and Geoff Cameron would be a good choice if Cameron keeps his place. Monitor Stoke’s final few friendlies.
Thanks GP, I appreciate it. The hardest part at this point is trying to guess the starters, especially those players with the cheaper price tags!
Hey Red, how’s things mate? Not managed to catch you onsite this season yet but I know you’ve been on. Nice team building up there. Mito did a fantastic piece on rotation earlier on in the week so maybe go and have a look at that to study the defence –
https://fantasyfootball247.co.uk/rotation-analysis-home-away-rotation-favourable-fixtures/
Hull rotates with Burnley I think from memory and although ‘Burnley’ may sound like a weak option I believe they kept 19 CS’s last season. I still fancy Palace to be tight as well. Maybe QPR less so.
Haha, thanks initt- I have Mito’s article bookmarked actually! And I’m definitely gambling on Burnley as I have Duff and Jones in already to balance the books. I just don’t know if upgrading Jelavic to Giroud/Adebayor/Dzeko is worth weakening my defense and taking out Hazard- and was hoping their might be 2 (4.5) defenders that would make sense…
Red I don’t think those switches are worth it. Find a couple of 4.5’s and stick with Hazard. Personally I’m leaning toward Fab but whichever!
OK, thanks mate. I’ll keep working at it! It’s crazy, as soon as I think I’ve got something halfway decent to start the season I’ll see someone else’s team and totally want to switch mine up!!
Haha, gotta love the pre-season team building! Thanks for the advice and for all the great articles you guys have been posting. There’s so much great stuff here for us read, you guys are killing it.
It’s killing us you mean! Been an article a day since they launched the site again but hope it’s been worth it for everyone. All time record site views achieved yesterday would you believe which suggests it is. Can’t wait for the season to start now actually so we can settle into a routine again! 5 new articles next week as it stands anyway…..
Are you worried about Fabregas’ game time initt? There’s just so much talent in that Chelsea midfield, the only person I think is locked is probably Hazard.
To be honest Red no I’m not. I reckon he’s one of the first names on the team sheet. He’s a marquee player not a rotational one. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t start every game initially until the CL comes into play at which point he may get the odd rest.
That’s a good point initt, maybe I’ll work on a draft with him instead of Hazard. I could certainly use that money elsewhere. Thanks again!
He’s on direct free-kicks as well it seems Red.
Listen up! I have 6 very well known managers from this site involved in NFL fantasy. Ideally I would like to have 6 more people join. Biggest thing is that you have an interest in keeping up with it. I don’t want managers who are going to quit. So if you always wanted to try it and like the NFL, let me know and I will hold one of the last 6 spots for you.
Mito
I’ll politely rule myself out of this one as it’s not a favourite sport of mine and I’m busy on other things.
Thank you.
Mito been meaning to ask you about this. Is it one you need to be on the ball with week to week and know the players etc? Officially I’m an LA Rams fan but I believe they upped sticks and left years ago?!
Init
And I’m the Scottish Claymores 😉
New England for me , tho i love watching the superbowl ,i cant commit , sorry mito waste of comment
Go PATRIOTS
You need to pay attention, but is not like FPL. No price changes and your team is set after the draft. For you to pick up anyone new it must be someone who someone doesn’t already have a team, so while still important you certainly will be lucky to find any stars as free agents. The site is extremely helpful as it shows how much people are owned and who is being picked up that week. I guess the biggest help it has is that it gives you weekly projected score for each individual player on your team, so even if you don’t follow the NFL closely, you should still have a decent opportunity to pick the right set of starters. If we can play cricket, we can play this.
Ok cool, add me in please.
Will send you the email.
:thumbup:
put me 13th ,first reverse , havent a clue but with have a go , if needed
Is ‘The Fridge’ still a viable fantasy option?!
Defenders don’t work like that in this game init, rather than a single player you just select the whole team as a Defense, all the specific players are on the attacking side (QB’s, RB’s, WR’s etc.) good to see we only need another 5 players for a full house though.
Thanks Andy, no idea what you just told me but I’m sure it’s solid advice in context! I’ll have a look at the rules for a starter! ‘Tis baseball right?
Evening Cookster, told you i don’t have a credit card, and when i do its stolen. :big-lol:
Elle I’ll pay your fiver and collect the readies from you next week if you like?
Right that it from me, him and bench , we all have our 7 year old daughter for the weekend , all 3 of us will see you all, on the other side, Night all
Bench has turned into the Three Ronnies! Night pal 😉
auto egos
Siperman, superman & banterburyman hehehe
Sipperman is oh so relevant Bench! Lol.
lol-lol
My team is looking like this. Help please.
———- Krul ———-
Baines——Shaw—-Filipe Louis
Mata— Barkley– Sterling– Ramsey
– Nugent — Costa— Rooney
Subs: Eliott, Upson, Bruce, Albrighton
Baines and Shaw ime classing as reasonably priced midfielders. I think both will pick up big points, and are there for the long run.
Sterling I hope plays just off Sturridge, or even next to him. He’s looked great Pre-season.
Ramsey ime changing to Ozil when he returns.
If goin with Krul, think u need a playing keeper as sub. Expensive defense means u have Nugent. Some big differentials there. Everton starting fixtures aren’t great.
I think Nugent is great value for money. He’s not shy of scoring so I don’t mind a cheap 3rd striker.
Ant – very hard fixtures to start
I don’t take notice to fixtures. Everton can beat Leicester 6-1 for all I care, just as long as Nugent gets that 1.