Playing the DGWs with a Difference – Wildcard in GW32!!
I had planned to play my Wildcard in GW 33 in order to play the Bench Boost chip in GW 34. As I looked for a few calculated moves that would be good for GW32 I noticed that there were some teams and players that I felt had huge potential that week who weren’t in my existing team. This sparked me to consider what it would be like to Wildcard for GW32 and develop a plan that would prepare my team well for the weeks around the doubles. The major danger here is players getting injured during GW’s 32 & 33 leading up to the double. The other issue is that there are a few players I would love to have for the DGW in 34 who are not currently fit. I would need to either take a risk and bring them in with fingers crossed or forego having them in my team. If I decide to WC for GW 32 it will be after weighing these potential pitfalls thoroughly and feeling the benefits outweigh the dangers.
Here is a quick run down of my (possible) plan to WC leading up to GW 32. I’m not convinced of it 100% yet but I am leaning in that direction.
Reasons for considering WC now:
Right now I have 5 DGW34 players: Hennessy, Moreno, Silva, Ozil, Kun.
1. I am not 100% sold on keeping any of them for the DGW. There are better options for GKs who play in 35. There are better defenders and also better Liverpool defenders if I choose to have one (Sakho/Clyne). I’d rather have Sanchez than Ozil in my WC team as he’s picking up form and much more explosive. Silva isn’t convincing at the moment and I may want KDB, if any City midfielder. Kun has been dealt with in other articles. Suffice it to say that I want him but he takes up so much cash. I may try to dodge a bullet and lose him, depending on what other players that opens up for me. I would be really hesitant to lose him for 32 &33 though, especially after seeing what Kane just did to Bournemouth and with them having WBA in 33. Kun will likely be the only one to stay.
2. There are players/teams I want for GW 32 that I don’t currently have. I’d like 3 Arsenal against Watford, 2 Chelsea for Villa, and at least 2 WHU vs Palace, all in 32. I’d also like to keep those Chelsea players for GW 33 against Swansea.
3. I envision the transfer market going a bit crazy over the next few weeks, with the template being dismantled and DGW players being transferred in at an alarming rate. The likes of Lukaku, Coutinho, Bellerin, and others have already begun to rise, while some of my other players have already dropped. I could envision many of my players dropping over the coming few weeks as I wait to play my WC. On the flip side, playing my WC now will allow me to miss the drops and take advantage of the rises of those DGWers being brought in by the boatload. My dream team for DGW 34 could be out of my reach if I wait to play my WC and I could see myself having to recreate the wheel every day with price changes. The early WC eliminates that minefield.
4. In short, playing my Wildcard early will give me a potentially massive advantage over both those not playing their Wildcard for GW 34 and those waiting until GW 33. The non-WCers will take hits to work toward the double and those playing WC in 33 will probably not be able to take advantage of Chelsea against Villa and WHU against Palace to the degree that I will. This means fielding a great team for GWs 32, 33, 34, and 35 with some planning. Without further ado, here is that plan!
Here is what I hope my WC team will look like going into GW 32…
There are obviously 3 players left to be chosen in this team, with 16.1m left to spend on them. With these players likely be one of the following combinations:
1. Marcus Rashford will fill the third striker role, Cech will be my second keeper, and Cresswell will fill the last defender slot.
2. If Rashford gets sent back to the bench with Rooney’s return then things get a bit trickier. Welbeck will likely take the last role, which means budget friendly options at the back: Elliot & Johnny Evans.
Azpilicueta & Willian will become Coutinho & Sakho with my 2 free transfers for GW34, meaning my BB’ed team for GW34 will look like this:
It pains me to be at the mercy of Rooney and LVG, but that is the way the cookie crumbles. Hopefully this plan can be helpful to a few others out there. Snookie, I’m looking at you here!
[divider_1px]
THE FIXTURE TRACKER
Thanks alot Pancho, WC gw32 seems like a really good option.
Wafflez, you’ve also got the all-important cup against Cookie to consider, so your brain must be really buzzing
Great stuff Pancho, interesting read. Cheers for all the recent articles folks. All will be a great help for those with a WC during sill season. It seems those of us who burned it are a lot more stress free just now though
Not necessarily
Heh heh, you still thinking the big hit route mate?
I’ll take a few, have to, but have been trying to find a justification for not getting Alexis and I can’t.
Yeah, tough to get him in though. I’d need a few hits myself.
Yeah not easy, but fixtures after DGW34 are also great and they have nothing else to play for right now unlike Liverpool, United, West Ham and Everton.
Yeah they are pretty tasty. Still think he’ll be a stretch too far for me though. Just been thinking about playing BB in 37 instead, sgw fixtures are a bit better for me in that one after a few ft’s. TC Ozil or Coutinho / Firmino in 34 maybe.
I worry for Liverpool in DGW34 mate, with the Dortmund 2nd leg just a few days before the Bournemouth game. But I could be wrong.
I don’t like the fixtures in 37 to be honest – they look the worst set of DGW fixtures ever from a FPL point of view, in my opinion mate.
Hmm, Ozil then i suppose. Or be a rebel and TC Rash 😉
Rooney having a “setback in his recovery” would change the DGW dynamic for pretty much everyone I would think!!
Has that been reported mate? I’ve not seen it if so..
no mate – I was just saying IF it happened!!
I know what you’re saying about Liverpool Cookie but 5 games in 3 GW’s surely dictate you want a minimum of 2 Pool players.
NIN, I definitely would be getting a lot more accomplished at work if I didn’t have my WC, that’s for sure!
Cookie, I hear you on Sanchez! He seems to be coming alive (just after I got rid of him). I think that he should be the first player on everyone’s DGW plans as he has the potential on paper to do the most damage in GW 34! I may even try to find a way to keep Ozil and get Sanchez this week. Would probably mean holding off on Payet until the second double, which is probably why I should only have Sanchez :/
Thanks very much Pancho, an interesting idea and very well argued for. It’ll be interesting to see, when we look back at the end of the season, which avenue turns out the best!
One question for you – you say those WCing in GW33 won’t be able to take advantage of attaractive fixtures for Chelsea and West Ham this week, but surely they’ll be playing the fixtures just now and likely have at least one Hammer and can bring in at least one Chelsea for this week?
Cookie, good question! My comment on that was that GW 33 WCers won’t be able to take advantage of those fixtures to the degree that I will be able to. Some may be able to using their free transfers, as Constantine lays out above, but most won’t have more than 1 from each of those teams in 32. There are flip sides to every one of my arguments that keep coming to mind! One in particular is, what if Coutinho and Sakho rise before GW 34, which is highly likely for Coutinho at least? Will they rise beyond my reach? I may need an early Coutinho transfer in 34, which is a risk with their midweek Europa league clash. my plan has a few dangers in it and I may still end up talking myself out of it! Especially with pointed challenging questions like yours :/
Pancho, I actually like the plan very much – in fact I see advantages in all three scenarios. I’m yet to decide which is best, but then it’s pretty irrelevant what I think as I haven’t got one hahaha.
Rashford maintaining his starting role would be massive for you to give you that extra strength in defence.
Great read Pancho! I had actually decided earlier in the week to WC in 32 thinking myself ahead of the curve! This just solidifies the idea for me! I was always going to WC in 33 but Hart getting injured has left me with the choice of my transfer being an unexciting move for a keeper when really i wanted some additional Chelsea and Arsenal cover! 32 it is for me!!
Am I right in thinking that if i WC say today that i’ll still have over 7 days to tweak? This will help work around any injuries in the lead up to 32 and then i’ll just have to cross my fingers that nobody gets injured between 32 and 34 but to be honest if i had WC in 33 its only really 1 week extra so i could have still had similar issues even if I waited!
Hi Rosco, yes that assumption is spot on. Only thing you can’t then do is cancel it.
Rosco, the danger of players getting injured in their cup games midweek between now and then is a danger, but most of the scary ones will be between 33 & 34 anyway, which means that WCing in 33 in order to BB in 34 won’t prevent this issue anyway. I say watch the price rises and jump on everyone who looks like they are rising so that you can build an extra .1 to .3 into your plans. Could be the difference between Monreal and Bellerin, which is a huge difference in my opinion. GL!
Hey Guys, at the moment I am leaning towards using my wc in 37 and doing what I have outlined below but I’m not sure. I have no bb, so I don’t really see the benefit in using the wc now. What do you guys think?
I have the following team:
Butland, Elliot
Azpilicueta,Toby,Simpson,Smith,Williams
Sanchez,Ozil,Mahrez,Siggy,Alli,
Kun,Vardy,Kane.
I’m thinking of doing the following moves over the next two gameweeks .
Vardy-Wellbeck
Siggy-Payet
Williams-Rojo
Mahrez-Coutinho
Azpilicueta-Sackho
This would give me 9 dgw players for GW 34.
I have two free transfers, so I might do the first three transfers on the list before the next gameweek and the other two the following week.
I also have my wildcard and TC chip. Thanks as always.
Hey man u. I’d probably play the wc in 34 in this spot and get a really strong 11 for that one
ok, thanks Nin.
Manuman, I agree with NIN on playing WC in 34. Can you afford Toby -> Bellerin and Siggy -> Payet with your 2 free transfers? I’d keep Vardy in there if you are going to WC in 34 as they have Sunderland in 33. I also think that Mahrez is cheap enough to just bench during the double in 34 if you don’t have BB. If you can keep him when many/most are dumping him then he could be a HUGE asset for the rest of the season! GL!
OK, thanks Pancho, I’ll have to rethink it and see what I can come up with. Way too many decisions to be made…ha ha ha.
Great stuff Pancho. You make a good argument for pulling the trigger this week. I’m happy enough with my team for GW32 and I’ve got 2 FT’s so I’ll hang on until GW33.
Thanks Kop and that sounds like a good plan. I have only the one FT and, as outlined above, don’t like my team for 32 so much
This year in FPL feels a bit like a science experiment with these chips: hypothesis, experiment, observe, make conclusions for next season! Just don’t blow up the lab!