I’ve been asked to have a look at the FootballFanCast Fantasy Football team and make some ‘educated suggestions’ regarding potential improvements… so, erm, yeah… no pressure there then!There are though, in all honesty, several things that I guess immediately jump out at me when looking at how the team performed in Gameweek 13, with the most glaringly obvious being the captain selection of Petr Cech.
Now I have been assured the captain choice was made as the result of an online poll. With this in mind I have come up with five immediate reasons why Arsenal fans should be banned from all future online polls where this specific FPL team is concerned.
- Harry Kane
- Jamie Vardy
- Riyad Mahrez
- Roberto Firmino
- Odion Ighalo
Now yes, there is a tongue in cheek, sarcastic as hell undertone here but essentially – when it comes down to it, offensive players offer greater scoring potential. Rocket Science 101, folks.
With Kane rediscovering his 2014/15 form in recent weeks, Mahrez making an absolute mockery of the £400,000 fee Leicester paid for him in January 2014, Vardy making a late run for Ballon d’Or, Ighalo showing a level of consistency Wayne Rooney can only dream of and Firmino now looking like an actual attacking threat under Klopp, I am of the distinct impression that there were better captaincy options than Petr Cech for the previous gameweek.
Onwards and upwards though. A score of 69 is more than acceptable when you consider an overall gameweek average score of 55. To put this into better perspective the average score from the top 10,000 players came in at 62 points, so I would take this score and run with it. Reason being that despite the reality Cech (sorry!) of a terrible captain decision this team also has something quite unforgivable at this point in the season… an Aston Villa defender. Whether Remi Garde is the man to re-float Villa’s boat is yet to be seen, but for the time being there are better defensive options out there.
I guess the coming weeks will all be geared towards the second coming of our Fantasy Football saviour: Sergio Aguero (It may actually be the third or fourth, I’m losing track of his injuries now). With this in mind we need to focus our attention on three key, core, fundamental questions in relation to this specific team and the delightful Mr. Aguero.
- Who makes way up front for him?
- How the hell are we going to afford him?
- Should we sort out the defensive shambles of this team first?
In answer to the first question – the controversial thought process floating around this week has been the taboo topic of DROPPING JAMIE VARDY… I know, I know crazy right?! After 10 in a row surely we can’t be considering letting him go… Well actually yes, I’m considering it. @JohnOC1991 has already pulled the trigger and made the swap for his team – you can read about that here.
“Potentially, I have seen ahead of the curve, ditched an over-performing striker scoring at an unsustainable rate ahead of a much tougher run of fixtures, and brought in the best striker in the league before others have had the chance. Potentially. I have also potentially ditched the league’s in form striker, who comes at a bargain price, for an injury prone, unfit 13m player, and to get Vardy back, I would need to pay 7.4m+ having sold at 6.7m. If you want to challenge in the upper echelons of FPL, you have to take a gamble now and again.†Via FantasyYIRMA.com.
Vardy’s next five fixtures look like being where the run could stop and the world will return from being flat, grass will be once again green and sky blue. Think of it like the inevitable sugar rush come-down after eating a family size pack of Revels in a single sitting. Anyway I digress – the upcoming fixtures speak volumes and realistically should provide a real test for which direction Leicester City’s fantastic start to the season will move on from. Man United (H) Swansea (A) Chelsea (H) Everton (A) Liverpool (A).Â
In terms of the 2nd Question, How can we afford Aguero? I think that there are several areas of the team where we can make savings. Cech to someone like Jack Butland frees up a cool £million straight away. Defenders don’t like Kompany at set pieces and with that terrible, terrible pun Vincent could also see the chop to free up funds for the Argentine front man. Tottenham’s Eric Dier is a popular choice at this time and with good reason. The man is a defender playing in midfield… that’s Fantasy Football Out of Position (OOP) GOLD. Now don’t get me wrong it’s not half as good as the old days when Gareth Bale was listed as a defender but all OOP’s are worth consideration in my opinion.
The real savings however are in the midfield. Eden Hazard is undoubtedly one of the best players in the Premier League – however, for whatever reason he has decided to play hide and seek with his form so far this season. I am 100% positive Hazard will have a big week and come back into some sort of form as Chelsea inevitably regain momentum, but at this point in time he is much too expensive to command a place in this team and again in the interests of my key objective – Eden, you my friend would be first out the door.
Three options for consideration coming from different price brackets present themselves as potential replacements – Mesut Ozil (£9.1m), Ross Barkley (£6.9m) or a potential cut price differential of Manuel Lanzini (£5.4m) who in the absence of the unfortunately injured Dimitri Payet has an opportunity to step up for West Ham.
If you are however banking on a Chelsea renaissance, you could even look at a direct swap of Hazard to Willian who looks as if he has been practicing free kicks with a golf ball and a tea cup in recent weeks and would ensure you some Blue coverage in the middle of the park, and let’s face it enough money to buy Aguero and probably a Maserati for the Mrs also. As for the third question - what to do with the defence? - it will depend a lot on whether or not Kompany makes a return from injury on time for City and if Louis van Gaal brings back Matteo Darmian into his United backline after leaving him on the bench in GW13.
If they both return, I reckon the FootballFanCast team can ride this storm out for another week. With that in mind and my recommended word count obliterated, vote below for a £6.4m-rated Hazard replacement so we can get Aguero into the FFC 15… Â
As always you can read our dedicated weekly Gameweek Preview and Review exclusively on FantasyYIRMA.com.
Written by Ryan
For his sins, Founder of FantasyYIRMA.com
FantasyYIRMA.com established in 2012, is a niche Fantasy Football site focused on providing news, views and insight for the English Premier League. Solid gameweek articles and Club features in addition to a top ranked free to play mini-league makes #FY a must read Fantasy source!
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