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.
[divider_1px]
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.
[divider_1px]
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.
[divider_1px]
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.
Morning all,,,
I see ‘Arry has confirmed that he plans on playing 3 at the back this season. Does this mean we’ll see Danny Simpson as a wing back?
Kop
Just been reading that this morning. Interview with Hoilett saying all the players are learning how the system is to work.
Could be value in defenders if they are chosen as the wingbacks (Simpson, Onohua, Yun). Need to see who plays there today .
Hopefully he chooses the utilise the full backs as wing backs rather, because if he decides to use wingers that wont be of any help to us.
Kop
Definitely.
Kop, gp. On the whole wing back thing; if Valencia nails down one of those spots at Man U at 6mil is that a good call?! Or just a out of position player but the wrong way!
Alex
Assuming Valencia plays right and Shaw left, you are better spending £6M on Shaw I think. You can benefit from CS points.
Unless you want both but I’d rather go RVP or Rooney and Shaw for two Man Utd players
It’s a difficult one Alex as he wont pick any CS points. However, I’d expect United to be on the front foot more often than not and that could see Valencia doing more attacking than defending, in turn leading to assists. I certainly wouldn’t rule him out, but I’d wait and see how it develops.
I’d certainly agree with GP
Gp. In hindsight a dumb question, of course shaw makes more sense! Thanks all the same.
Morning all!!!
Think I have finally decided on my team!!
Could you let me know your thoughts please.
Mannone Krul
Debuchey Jenkinson wisdom (Bruce Drummett)
Mirrallas Ramsey Sanchez fabregas sigurdsson
Costa Sturridge (Zamora)
Morning all hi Mitro similar team to mine but still can’t decide if to have a cheap 3rd Fwd I also think you need a ManU Fwd or Mid & a Che Def both there start are good
Be well worth looking out for the Sunderland line up in their preseason friendly tonight to see if Mannone gets any game time, he’s been an unused sub so far on the tour to Portugal with Pantilimon and Dixon playing ahead of him.
I’m not a fan of double midfield coverage until both players look like their firing on all cylinders so I’d be looking for an alternative to either Ramsey or Sanchez, double coverage on Hull at the back seems risky as they’ll be playing Europa league football from GW 2 I think, at least one English club has a terrible EPL season when they’re in that competition.
Jenkinson’s not at Hull is he, he’s at West Ham but I’d look for an alternative as they’ve been having a torrid time so far, lots of problems both on and off the pitch at Upton park lately.
Zamora won’t play will he? He seems picked a lot.
Dummett is suspended I think.
Prob prefer Reid over Jenkinson if goin west Ham.
Neither Wisdom or Bruce are nailed so keep an eye on
14m for two mids. Have Ramsey n Davis at the moment.
Or could go with two Eriksen n Siggy/Snoddy or De Jong and Barkley/Mirrallas type combo.
Thoughts?
Van Gaal just announced he is playing is strongest side for 60 min tonight
Interesting.
Eriksen n Siggy
Cheers Silver.
Somewhat a concern is we might all have 8 of the same players…
Yes I was thinking the same Dreamers I’ve got a player in mind no one has mentioned so might stick him in could back fire thou
@ TheDreamers
Having 8 of the same players at the start of the season is no problem. Having the same players through the season, there is your problem. That won’t happen though. 😉
Morning Raz need your opinion Bruce , Dummett , Hoolveld or Targett 5 th def 4m
We have 14 more days to decide on that mate. 😉
I have the same problem. Bruce was great last year but still got rotated game in, game out. Hooiveld will probably lose his spot once another central defender has been bought (which will happen, I think). Wait, haven’t Soton just bought Bertrand? Him and Clyne will probably be backs. Dummett I know nothing about. 😉
At least were not starting with another DGW this season, their’s much more opportunity for different line ups so a lot more players are having to be considered this time around.
Which 4m def Bruce . Dummett. Holoveld , Targett
Hoivelt probably or Bruce but even that’s hard. Think Dummett suspended n Bertrand should play left back for Soton.
Yes but the problem is Bertrand costs 5m and Silverback is looking for 4m
I think TheDreamers knows that. What he means is that Targett won’t play because of Bertrand. 😉