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.
Mannone and Krul
Or Speroni and Green?
I’ve gone with the former in many of my draft teams, but ultimately settled on De Gea + dummy, and Newc–Sun defensive pairing. I like Palace and QPR too, but might do something like Ward-Ferdinand instead
As Pippin says, depends on your defenders as you don’t really want to be doubling up with any of these teams. If it isn’t a factor, then Speroni/Green, break the mould!
I’ve gone with begovic / Krul. Fixture wise they rotate better than mannone / Krul but you do have to play the odd away game
Brede Hangeland has signed for Crystal Palace on a free transfer.
What will this do to the Palace lineup? He is (or at least was) quality at the back. Will Pulis use him as back up or starter?
Don’t know much about Palace but he seems a Pulis sort of player. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the starting XI.
Exactly. Makes me now ponder over if Ward or Dann may be rotated? These out of the blue transfers make selections so complicated haha!.
Hangeland is at its best only at the CB position and is not quick or versatile enough to play as a FB, a personal opinion and observation as a fan.
According to be, Hangeland is an awesome deal for Palace, especially as he came as a free agent back to the premier league. Dann is quite solid and should be hard to replace, if Pulis has any sense, because Dann made Palace quite strong at the back when the season was ending and he made sure that the team did not leak silly goals.
That leaves Delaney then who should be axed? Ward is quite safe in the starting lineup.
Mariappa – Dann – Hangeland – Ward
Hangeland could be a back up too though, he has one or two seasons remaining in him though. Yet to see how Pulis picks his starting 11. If based on last year’s performance, then i wont be surprised to see Hangeland on bench.
Thanks The B! Yeah I thought Ward was CB. I meant Delaney. And I agree with you that Hangeland has at least 2 years of goodness remaining in him. And he could be more than a back up in deed! Dann was very good for Palace as soon as he got in so unless something happened during pre season he should be starter. Delaney owners beware haha. Will be interesting to follow…
Hi fellas. Still fiddling away here, and my team’s not doing too badly either. Any thoughts?
De Gea (Hamer)
Debuchy, Coloccini/O’Shea, Pieters/N.Taylor
Fabregas, Mata, Ramsey, Arnautovic, Sigurdsson
Rooney, Diego Costa, Zamora
I have 1.0m to spend. Options to me seem to be:
a) Bojan in for Zamora- Stoke have decent fixtures, but 3 of them in my first XI seems dodgy!
b) Barkley in for Sigurdsson, at least for week 1
c) Debuchy up to a Chelsea defender
d) Fab up to Hazard
e) Arnautovic down to Snodgrass, and use 1.5m to upgrade Ramsey to Sanchez
f) Disconnect computer from internet and stop tinkering!
my bad, it’s 1.5m in the kitty… So Ramsey > Sanchez? Arnie > Eriksen? Zamora > Jelavic? Sigurdsson > Tadic? are all options…
Option f is most welcomed!!!
Like all your choices but having 3 Stoke IS in deed dodgy haha. I also found myself with 3 QPR and 3 Newcastle so had to quickly get rid! 
The choice of N.Taylor seems popular BUT…I am not so sure he will start regularly. Won’t Tiendalli compete with him there depending on their formation?
Debuchy up to Chelski defense is not the best move till we know what Mourinho has in mind.
merci Eric. I think I might have a flutter on Tadic, as my one opening team punt. And then maybe, yes; stick to rating other people’s teams and stop fiddling here…
Haha je t’en pries Pippin! 2 weeks is long. Too long. I have changed 5 players since this morning and could continue all day. So for our own good let us enjoy other FPL managers tinkering and give ourselves a break! Also had Tadic in…but changed him to Jong. Donno why. Might change him back. lol
F
e and then f in that order. Squad would then be boomtastic. Nice one!
Debuchy to Chelsea DEF for first two GWs, at least. I like the thought of Jelly too.
NEWCASTLE UNITED are understood to have completed a season-long loan deal for Shakhtar Donetsk striker Facundo Ferrerya.
Please give me help, this is killing me.
Begovic (Krul)
Shaw, Luis, Debuchy, Davies, Ferdinand
Hazard, Mata, Ramsey, Siggy, Davis
Rooney, Costa, Zamora
I’ll probably end playing 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 but the main issue is I’m 0.5 short, who do I downgrade?
Begovic > Mannone done deal. Save 0,5 and tinker you shall stop!
Great looking team there. Focused on defense, that could very well work out as well as last year for some!
Swap Davies for a CPL defender, reap the rewards.
Who’s nailed for palace at 4.5?
Mariappa should be, but he has not started in friendlies yet i believe.
Gooner’s perspective:
Alright guys so I thought I’d best give my own opinion of Arsenal this season, with a few new signings it’s looking bright, but there’s a few points that I’d like to make considering our setup and possible options for you guys.
Ozil / Sanchez debate – Last season Ozil had to put up with Cazorla on one wing, whilst Chamberlain / Rosicky / Gnabry were on the other. All are reluctant to make smart runs past their full backs for Ozil to take advantage of. When Walcott was fit, we seen the best from Ozil, in fact Walcott was on fire for the short period he was available, and it was all down to this guy.
Giroud also benefitted from this as he’s actually quite good at positioning himself in the box (although he can’t hit a barn door with a banjo). The main benefit I see of us signing Sanchez is that he’s fast and makes runs, just like Walcott. I’m expecting Ozil and Giroud to shine this season, simply because we have another fast winger who makes those runs.
Personally I’ve chosen Ozil over Sanchez, when Walcott returns I fully expect us to line-up with Sanchez, Ozil, and Walcott behind Giroud up top. As much as I wish we’d sign a better finisher, that formation actually excites me due to how well Giroud played when Walcott and Ramsey were fit, he benefits greatly from people running beyond him, something we didn’t have at all when Ramsey and Walcott were injured.
Flingy thank you. Thank you. Now People who have Sanchez may want to switch to Ozil. That would free up 1,5. What the hell can we do with 1,5. Too darn much!
Ozil was in deed great with Walcott but if Sanchez hits the ground running it will quite hard to fit him in any team without taking some hits.
So you see Ramsey not having licence to get up there then when wally fit?
Great analysis Flingy. Actually considering Ozil in place of Sanchez to get Giroud as my third striker (currently have Jovetic there, who is only a temporary striker pick until Aguero returns to cause the havoc of rotation).
If Arsenal are scoring goals for fun, it would be best to have a couple of players from Arsenal.
Nice one flingy. I’m pretty set on Ramsey from the start.
As a gooner as well, Ozil is obviously a great shout as many have overlooked him, however Wenger has said he wont be back till the 11th so only has 5 days of training. This means that he wont likely make the first game or maybe even the second. So i’d either play Ramsey, who has had a solid pre-season, or Sanchez who is a wildcard which could bring massive success. But Ozil early on wont be the best option, in my opinion. By about gameweek 5 onwards i’d be looking to bring him in due to the reasons you gave.
I must say how frustrating it wass watching Arsenal last season when we didn’t have runners in behind as we just camped around the opponents penalty box passing sideways, and nothing ever materialized. Hopefully with the Sanchez addition we wont lose our counterattacking fast play IF Walcott happens to injure himself. Again.
thanks flingy, this is useful info. I’ve had Oezil in almost all of my drafts so far, but if he’s going to miss the opening game I think Ramsey or Sanchez have to be better bets, right?