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.
What do you think guys? Should I bring in Lukaku for Dzeko? or any other suggestion?
De Gea, (Krul)
Shaw, Terry, Debuchy, (Wisdom, O’Shea)
Hazard, Sánchez, Eriksen, Davis, Shelvey
Rooney, Dzeko, (Weimann)
Hi JA, yes I’d look for a replacement for Dzeko for now. Lukaku is a good shout. Double UTD at the back may be overkill for me?
Looking at the fixtures for UTD I chose this… but I am confused myself about De gea… Dont want mannone… dont know why..
What is this I hear about new bonusrules? 2 seasons ago backs were the must haves, last season central defenders. Which players will benefit most from these so called new rules? I’ve always liked backs but last year I had to go with central defenders since they were always the ones getting the BPS.
BONUS RULESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! :finger:
still the same as last year i guess:
The three best performing players in each match according to the Bonus Points System (BPS) will receive additional bonus points. 3 points will be awarded to the highest scoring player, 2 to the second best and 1 to the third.
Examples of how bonus point ties will be resolved are as follows:
If there is a tie for first place, Players 1 & 2 will receive 3 points each and Player 3 will receive 1 point.
If there is a tie for second place, Player 1 will receive 3 points and Players 2 and 3 will receive 2 points each.
If there is a tie for third place, Player 1 will receive 3 points, Player 2 will receive 2 points and Players 3 & 4 will receive 1 point each.
I don’t know Raz.. you tell me mate..
What IS IT you hear about the new bonus point rules ? I’ve heard nothing (but that usually doesn’t mean anything in itself)
Raz they seem to be favouring fullbacks again slightly due to the extra bonus behind the bonus for dribbles. So Coleman etc…
yeah nothing on their website so we are left guessing!!
The following info is available on the website;
How is the BPS score calculated?
Players score BPS points based on the following statistics (one point for each unless otherwise stated):
Action
BPS
Playing 1 to 60 minutes 3
Playing over 60 minutes 6
Goalkeepers and defenders scoring a goal 12
Midifielders scoring a goal 18
Forwards scoring a goal 24
Assists 9
Goalkeepers and defenders keeping a clean sheet 12
Saving a penalty 15
Save 1
Open play cross 1
Creating a big chance (a chance where the receiving player should score) 3
For every 3 clearances, blocks and interceptions (total) 1
For every 3 recoveries 1
Key pass 1
Successful tackle (net*) 1
Successful dribble 1
Scoring the goal that wins a match 3
70 to 79% pass completion (at least 30 passes made) 3
80 to 89% pass completion (at least 30 passes made) 6
90%+ pass completion (at least 30 passes made) 9
Conceding a penalty -3
Missing a penalty -6
Yellow card -3
Red card -9
Own goal -6
Missing a big chance -3
Making an error which leads to a goal -3
Making an error which leads to an attempt at goal -1
Being tackled -1
Conceding a foul -1
Being caught offside -1
Shot off target -1
*Net successful tackles is the total of all successful tackles minus any unsuccessful tackles. Players will not be awarded negative BPS points for this statistic.
Data is supplied by Opta and once it has been marked as final will not be changed. We will not enter into discussion around any of the statistics used to calculate this score for any individual match.
Genuinely havent seen a team with a city defender in.. (will probably be one as i scroll up). iv avoided them myself, due to price and poor fixtures. maybe once some team value has been built they might be a WC option??
I think I need to try and limit my starting punts this year, Lukaku (c) last year for the DGW really didn’t pay off. Really liking the look of Jovetic…
Chesney – Krul (Will swap Chesney to Sunderlnd once established who is n1)
Luis – Ferdinand – O’Shea – Ward – Verm(assuming he is united bound)
Ramsey – Fabregas – Eriksen – Ireland – Siggy
RVP – Jovetic – (7.5)
Bit stuck on the forward option… Remy perhaps, or another punt on Valencia (WHU)
Saosin has Ireland been starting in pre-season?
Not sure Innit, he’s the most likely to be replaced so can’t see him being in my team come GW1. Pretty happy with the rest of my team though.
Contemplating Ireland -> Barkley and Bojan in up front
The team looks great and well balanced. Pelle for 7.5M is a nice well-thought punt.
I wish I could be confident on the starting City attack Dzeko v Jovetic. .. It’s the only thing stopping me from 343. Good luck with your choice – hope it works out.
Jovetic is my ‘punt’ he’s looked good in pre-season and Pel has been bigging him up. If he gets no minutes I’m prepared to take it on the chin though and just ship him out for another
Successful dribble 1 what is everyone on about
I was discussing this with someone else here the other day..
It probably means don’t pick players based on their dribbling ability 😉
In all seriousness though, as far as I can see , there are no real changes to the BPS system this year ? Still heavily favours goal scorers and clean sheet central defenders. In fact, I don’t think there are any changes from last year.. I could be wrong though
Indeed, I didn’t realise it was only 1 for each successful dribble. So definitely don’t choose a player based on this, but if a player you already want/have happens to dribble a fair bit then it certainly isn’t going to hurt. Sometimes whoever get 3 bonus points or 2 bonus points comes down to just 1 or 2 BPS, so they could make the difference. Sometimes.
Well I remember last year hazard very rarely got all 3 bonus points even when he got on the score sheet. With the dribble bonus it will help him get 5 or 6 extra BPS a game.
Really good point here…
Hi everyone. I’m in a curious potion of my one blank spot in the squad being a 9 mil mid. Appreciate views please, happy to consider tinkering otherwise as well. By the way FF247 I promise I did not copy you – this was genuinely my squad before tour article!
Krul MannPants
Terry Shaw Mariappa Baird Duff
Eriksson Siggurdson Sterling Ramsey (???? 9mil)
Rooney Costa Zamora
All comments, constructive or otherwise, welcome!
Sterling is brave… How much is Silva? Failing that Nasri and upgrade Duff.
ta – Sterling yin maybe risky but I reckon pool will turn over Southampton and he will be right in the mix. May well trade out for GW2 to GW4. Silva is 9mil and in the back of my mind. Hate Nasri’s dull, slightly better than average yawn enducing returns.
Up grd Zamora & get cheap MF player
Maybe I should. I love buying premium mids though and not sure I can resist temptation of a stellar midfield with no make weights and maybe everyone is fixture proof ish. Also cannot see any strikers to get excited about in the 5.5 to 7 range so would rather just stick in the a budget and splash the cash where a goal and a clean sheet gets you a whopping 8 points before bonus!
Mata! Seems he will finally be played in his proper position, and has a beautiful opening set of fixtures.
Cheers mate. Right now Mata Fabs and Silva are short listed. There’s a good argument for all three. This is soo tough to choose.