Inside The Mind Of An FPL Player Gameweek 33 Part 1

With FPL managers seemingly split into two camps at present, we thought we’d take this opportunity to see how a couple of our contributors are fairing. First off, what are these camps I speak of? Well, this may not apply to everyone, but for the most part, there seems to be two popular approaches at present:

1. FH29 build for DGW34, WC35, BB DGW37
OR
2. Built for 29, WC30/31, FH34 BB DGW37

As I said, this won’t be every manager’s approach, and whilst there may be slight tweaks on the above (i.e. BB DGW34), the above two approaches seem the most popular.

So first off we have Matt. Matt went with option 2. How is he doing? I’ll let him tell you all about it. Sit back, grab your hot or cold beverage of choice and read on!

Matt’s GW32 result

Matt and his cautionary tale of woe

Well, brace yourselves because this is going to be a rant and nothing else! I’m thoroughly fed up with everything FPL right now. The players, managers like Pep and Arteta, and even those managers who are outperforming me this year – you can all take a hike! Well, not all of you, I still like some of you, so… respectfully, go be happy elsewhere!

My rank has been on a steady decline this year, but it’s taken a nosedive since the start of the year. In GW20, I was at 451k after a decent 91-point week. I even managed to climb to 395k in the next 3 weeks, thinking, “Yay, I can keep going and try for 100k!” Well… that was the biggest lie ever because since then, I’ve plummeted like a stone from 395k to 886k! Can you see why I’m hating this game right now?!

Just like many managers, GW30 was the “to Wildcard or not to Wildcard” week for me. I was super torn on whether to WC30, WC31 or hold until WC35. I was going back and forth, using every tool available to make a decision. Predicted points for my Non-WC team in GW30 weren’t great with triple Luton, so I decided to pull the trigger and get rid of them. That’s when the FPL Gods roared, “LET THE SPIT ROASTING BEGIN!”

This spit roasting started with Martinez and Moreno. I sold both players on my WC after 5 weeks on double Villa defence with zero clean sheets – and what did they do? Of course, they kept a clean sheet! Martinez scored 10 BLOODY POINTS! 16 points between them in GW30 and only 1 in GW31 as Martinez got injured. Who did I go with, you ask? Petrovic was the template pick, but it was the backup keeper where I was stuck. Kelleher for GW31 looked amazing, but what happened? He conceded thanks to a Bradley OG.

That’s 2-0 to the FPL Gods now after Martinez and the combo choices. BUT IT GETS WORSE! On my WC30, I decided to go with Kiwior due to the budget for that Luton game in GW31, and he would sit on the bench for the GW30 match against Man City. City and Arsenal ended 0-0, Kiwior played 65 minutes, clean sheet sitting on my bench, and then was a no-show for the easy game against Luton. Screw you, Arteta! 3-0 to the FPL Gods!

The other big mistake for my WC30 was my uncertainty about my 3 strikers! Watkins, Darwin, Isak, Haaland, Solanke… who would I pick? Well, once again, all the points were totalled, the wheel was spun, and I consulted with others. Watkins got injured, and Isak scored big points. That’s a 22-point swing! 4-0 to the FPL Gods.

That was it for the swings in WC30, but the final rant I will have was a GW31 decision. Saka, along with Watkins, has been in my team since GW1 and has been amazing. I was planning on him annihilating Luton in GW31, but we didn’t get any solid injury news from Arteta. GW31 was bad not only due to Foden but also because I ended up with 9 players, one of which was Gusto who scored 0 points.

I don’t even know if this is any good for you lot to read, but I suppose it might have given you all a good laugh. The message I am going to give you all is that it could always be worse! Look at my team and rank. Use me as a cautionary tale.

Finally, we came to GW32 – a rage transfer of Saka to Foden, Foden was then benched and Saka picked up 10 points…you could not make this stuff up.

My plans for GW33 are to switch Kiwior and Watkins for a City defender and Isak, with the captaincy going on Haaland. I’m sure this plan will go up in smoke somehow, but I honestly don’t care anymore! Screw the FPL Gods and this game, I’m off to Venice with my students so I shall eat my feelings with pizza and pasta and forget all about these trolls! Ciao!

Next up it’s yours truly (Rosco). I went for option 1, let’s see how that’s working out for me!

Rosco’s GW32 result

Rosco looks for the positives in life and FPL

I’ve had something of an up-and-down FPL season. Whilst I’m still something of an FPL novice compared to some of my compatriots, I am now in my 8th season and can hardly call myself a novice in the real sense.Last season was my toughest to date, my final rank of 94k was my worst season to date, Indeed, my final rank was the only time I made it into the top 100k.

This season felt like it was going much the same way. I hovered in and around the 300k mark for what felt like forever. In GW20 I made the jump from 800k to 348k, and from there through to GW29 I had good weeks, I had bad weeks and ahead of BGW29 I found myself at 235k. I had made the decision early to use my FH in BGW29. I was poorly set up and didn’t want to spend weeks selling good players to bring in Luton and Bournemouth players. I also didn’t want to feel forced into a WC come GW30.

My FH in 29 was a disaster. I finished with 15pts, had I played with the 5 players I actually had that game week already (and saved my FH) I‘d have ended up with 12pts. A 3pt gain from a chip. Not great, but my TC chip netted me 1pt so I guess it could have been worse. A small red arrow down to 251k going into GW30. Not terrible.

GW30 was all about Mo Salah. With Wildcards flying around it felt like everyone suddenly had Mo back in their teams. I had to have him. A -4 taken, and a reluctant sale of Saka was all it took. I’ve sold Saka several times this season, it never ends well, this time however it felt like lady luck was on my side. 3pts for the Arsenal man in GW30 followed by his complete absence in GW31. Result. In those 2 weeks, I climbed from 251k to 176k and then followed that up with a jump up to 87k in GW31.

To be inside the 100k with 7 weeks to go felt like a real achievement. GW32 was a bump in the road. I rolled my transfer, captained Palmer and hoped for the best. In the end, it was Saka once more condemning me to a red arrow. I finished 4pts below what was needed to secure a green, but my fall wasn’t so bad.

I’m now sitting at 94k, I have 2 transfers in hand with a Wildcard planned for GW35 and Bench Boost in DGW37. I’ll be continuing to build for DGW34 with my transfers and will just have to hope that I have enough to at least compete with those who’ll be using their Free Hit Chip. I don’t expect a green arrow in 34, I’m just hoping the red arrow doesn’t undo my recent gains.

So, all in all I feel I’m in a good place. I’ve come to realise that we can plan till the cows come home, set up what we think is ‘the perfect team’ and it very rarely goes the way we think it will. So, my approach through to the end of the season will be to stay positive and plan for the best, but be prepared and not too bitter when those plans don’t pan out. Good luck to every one of you, there’s not long left so enjoy it and remember that if this season doesn’t work out, there’s always next season right?

Thanks for reading Inside The Mind Of An FPL Player Gameweek 33 Part 1.

Follow @FantasyFooty247

VOTE ON THIS WEEK’S CAPTAIN POLL

FPL FIXTURE TRACKER

Both leagues will be shut to new entrants as of 01/01/24.