The Man City Dilemma

The Man City Dilemma

We all know we have to own them, but it can be infuriating as heck. Do you want to pay top money for KDB and then watch his less expensive mates outscore him? Do you want Sterling and Sane and then have to deal with them being benched while KDB starts? Jesus is the guy up top, until Kun is, until both are, until Jesus is again, until Kun is again… and so on and so on. Perhaps we should avoid them and not have to worry about all that rotation? Yeah, that’s not going to work, because five of the City boys we are fixing to talk about are in the top 15 in FPL points and the one missing out, Jesus, is only 4 points from also being in that illustrious club. Perhaps if we dive into some of their stats and minutes played we will get a clearer picture or perhaps we will be where we started and with no idea who to really trust. Well, let’s look through a bit and see if we can come to some conclusion, at least until GW12 when Pep strikes again and leaves our FPL teams dazed and confused.

Do minutes matter?
It could be that the current amount of minutes played gives us a guide as to what expect going forward, but we are dealing with Pep, so you can never be truly comfortable. So far (emphasis on ‘so far’) what we have seen is that he regards KDB and Silva as essential to what he wants to do. The other four have been a bit more prone to the whims of their manager.

David and Kevin have received the call to start for all 11 games and average close to the full 90 with Silva leading the way at 87.4 minutes per start. Silva also leads in overall minutes by only 33 over the Belgian, but 290 over Sane, 360 over Kun, 364 over Jesus and 379 over Raheem. This is where a player like Silva has great appeal, not only is he getting the most minutes on the pitch, but he is only 8.5 which is the 2nd least expensive of the six. The Belgian is still the favourite of a fair few though and with good reason, as he oozes class when you get a chance to watch him. At some point one expects KDB to get a bit more separation in terms of FPL points from Silva, but it is hard to see him distancing him enough for a manager to feel at ease with the extra cash that has to be used to have the Belgian over the Spaniard.

In terms of minutes we mustn’t just take into account the total, but the minutes they have been receiving lately. Sane has six straight starts and has featured in all fixtures for City so far. Jesus has started eight and came off the bench in 2 others, the worry with him though is that he has started from the bench in 2 of the last 3. Sterling has been in and out a bit and for now he has the least amount of starts, which also lower his total minutes. He started GWs 5-8, didn’t play in 9, came off the bench in 10 and started in 11. Good luck guessing his starts and minutes. One thing can be said for Sterling though, he did manage to score in 2 of the 3 matches he entered, so he can still get you points in limited minutes and his price tag is very enticing with him being the cheapest of the lot. Aguero has garnered 7 starts and came off the bench once. Even though his minutes are not where you would want them to be if you are a current owner you have to be happy about Kun starting five of the last six games when he was available to the squad.

The stats…
All those minutes that make Silva and KDB appealing do have a kryptonite and it comes via the PP90. Their production while consistent is nowhere near as explosive as their City mates. The Spaniard is fifth in the City FPL points race despite a huge amount of minutes over most of the others. KDB has a close to similar advantage in minutes and he also doesn’t really stand out in terms of points.

This second screenshot is where Sane and Aguero really shine. Kun has the highest PP90, which simply means if given the chance he can deliver, but we have known that for several seasons. Perhaps the stats should serve us as a reminder that when comparing him to Jesus or any of the other big priced strikers we shouldn’t dare overlook the Argentinian. Aguero with 8 goals, 11 bonus points and 3.6 shots per game remains a force even when compared to this collection of attacking talent. As long as we feel somewhat confident that he will start, he is arguably still City’s number one option.

If you think Kun has nice stats, then you should probably feel the same about Sane. Leroy has 5 double digit hauls and has the most points in all of FPL. All the more impressive when you remember that he only had 4 points in total after GW3. The one catch, he has the least amount of shots on average and only Jesus averages less key passes. So perhaps he is scoring more than he should be, having said that, we all saw the terrible pass Sterling made vs Arsenal which denied Sane an easy goal, so maybe Sane should be above 80 points already and not on 73.

Gabriel Jesus has great stats, is just hard to notice when he is compared against this crew. His PP90 is great, but is only good enough for 4th here, his 54 FPL points are solid, but it is last here. When coupled with minutes in the above screenshot and being benched 2 of the last 3 it becomes hard to make a case for Jesus over any of his City teammates.

Sterling is similar to Jesus in the sense that he has great numbers, but just not great compared to others on this list. He like Jesus doesn’t lead in any categories, his minutes are a concern as stated above. However, he is the cheapest of all and despite concerns over his minutes he is right there with the rest on FPL points even slightly ahead of Jesus and Silva.

The Verdict: We all have our preferences and our budgets are not all the same, but if I had to rank them, this be how I would slot them. Pep disclaimer this ranking is for today only though, as Pep could change my mind by the end of GW12. 😉

Sergio Aguero grabs the top spot. He has scored in 6 of his 7 starts and has 7 goals and 3 assists over the last 5 averaging 11 FPL points over that run. With his minutes looking a bit more stabilised and he seemingly having the upper hand over Jesus right now, it be hard to look past him.

Leroy Sane is a close second and I do mean close. His price is still at a place where it doesn’t hamper your funds terribly, his output has been great, in particular if you captained him a couple of times in the last few games. Got to love those double digit hauls! Only reason I leaned Aguero was pens and that Sane only shoots half as much as Kun. I however would not fault anyone for making this German the priority.

Raheem Sterling is controversially third. Everything I wrote seemed to point to Silva or possibly KDB here, yet I decided to go with the Liverpool legend. For the love of Lovren, settle down! I have my reasons, they might not be very good ones, but I have them, could also be that I own Sterling and I need to justify it to myself to keep from having to make a sideways move to Sane. Yes, Raheem is behind the eight ball in many categories, but his total points is right there with them, despite his minutes. Plus if we throw out GW1 where he only played 12 minutes, Sterling has either scored or assisted in 7 of his last 8 appearances, including the two times he came off the bench over those eight. So while there are reasons to be concerned, as long as he is delivering with the minutes he does get, the extra savings you get in having him compared to the others clinches his case for 3rd spot in my opinion.

David Silva was third in my original notes and after this is published he might be back to third in my head, but for now I have slotted him 4th. Love his minutes, love his assists and love his price. I don’t however love the amount of goals he gets and the others have shown that if given similar minutes they will outscore him. So as long as I am willing to risk the minutes with the 3 guys in front of him on this list, I rather have them.

Kevin De Bruyne please save your hate mail, I don’t care. Listen there was no bigger backer of De Bruyne before the season started. If this wasn’t fantasy he be number one, absolutely love how this fella plays. But for me his 10.1 price tag puts him below Silva in particular when you consider the points between them is only 3. So until he starts bringing in bigger hauls, I can’t be bothered with him. Sane is way cheaper and has been much more explosive, Aguero is Aguero, Sterling is Sterling… sorry, don’t think that works with Raheem. Sterling over KDB for the same reasons that Silva is over him on this list, price and almost equal points.

Gabriel Jesus he might be last for now, but keep your eyes and ears open. One whim from Pep or a tight hammy that forces Kun to the bench and Jesus is born again. There is also the chance that he gets starts in place of Sterling or even Sane, but considering his price tag, owners will want to see him more central and not out wide.

Thanks for reading The Man City Dilemma. This article was written by Mito21

@thelegendmito21

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