After a little break for the FA Cup hopes were high that FPL would return with a bang.
It didn’t.
The country has been in a sombre mood recently for many reasons and fantasy football certainly hasn’t helped. Earlier this week we were shocked to learn of the death of a proper legend in David Bowie RIP! Then today we hear of the passing of Alan Rickman. I might have to sit down this evening and watch Labyrynth followed by Die Hard to help me with the grieving process. All this is added to the fact that many of us are eating less and refraining from booze. I say many of us, I know Pete is having a dry January. I am doing nothing of the sort. What ridiculous behaviour! Oh yeah did I mention that Fantasy Football has gone very badly for me recently? I need a drink!
Still, we must continue, so let’s look at GW21 and try to make the best out of a bad situation. It was another gameweek where the big hitters failed to deliver (I’m not sure how much longer we can call them big hitters when they ain’t hitting), and this time not even our trusted budget bankers could help us! See below for the team of the gameweek. Recognise any of them?
I cant think of anyone who plays 5-2-3 formation. Its a crazy looking team, I would argue that none of the players in it are going to be first XI in our squads. This is just one more in a long line of examples of the topsy turvy season we are currently experiencing. There were plenty of goals this week, Newcastle 3-3 Man Utd, Swansea 2-4 Sunderland, Liverpool 3-3 Arsenal, but they were either in the wrong games or by the wrong players.
Jermaine Defoe (pictured above with a selection of custard and a can of Jermain?) was the player of the week after his hat-trick and maximum bonus. Do we need to be looking at the former England international for our 3 man front lines? What about Rooney & Valencia? It really is hard to call at the moment.
Lets have a closer look at what effect this has had on the FFUK league table?
Mark Turnbull (1st) remains at the summit but only just. 29 points accrued this week would normally signal disaster but it was a week where everyone’s scores suffered. It could have been so much worse for Mark if he hadn’t selected the correct captain, well done for going with Arnautovic, 10 points well needed.
In the top 50 there were 15 managers who bought in Dimitri Payet for his 11 points. 2 then put the armband on him which in hindsight was a great decision. Congratulations to Neil Gordon (28th) & Adam Howarth (18th), both made the brave but correct decision to back the West Ham wizard.
There were 11 teams in the Top 50 that used their Wildcard for this gameweek. Perhaps this wasn’t the best time to use it but that’s easy for me to say now. 8 of these Wildcards brought in Aguero, more interestingly 3 did not, including Lester Deeble (2nd). Has Lester made a mistake here or does he know something we don’t?
Let’s break down the Top 50 captain picks for GW21. Other than Payet & Arnautovic all choices below failed to deliver (and no one captained Giroud or Ramsey). I for one need to improve my captain picks. Lets hope next week the choices pay off.
- 13 x Harry Kane
- 12 x Sergio Aguero
- 6 x KDB
- 4 x Costa
- 3 x Ozil, Arnautovic, Ighalo
- 2 x Payet
- 1 x Lukaku, Shaqiri, Mahrez, Oscar
Richard Harrison (3rd) was one of the lucky few who got a respectable score, his 47 points was the joint best this gameweek on Page 1 (along with Adam Howarth), thanks to Arnie (c), Payet & Sagna.
Stan Packham (6th) had a gameweek to forget. His 23 points was in fact the lowest on Page 1. After very strong recent form, I met with Stan earlier this week and we discussed fantasy football tactics over a beer. I apologise. Disregard everything I said Stan. You were doing so much better without my help.
My team continues to slide, they are the very epitomy of average. This week I took out Ramsey for Payet, could have been worse I guess. I feel we are at a metaphorical crossroads this season. Things are going to change, or they are going to continue to baffle us. Either way the template has to now be broken. Favourites such as Vardy, Mahrez, KDB and even the ever consistent Ozil are no longer so attractive to us. We are looking for fresh meat, we want players who are going to perform, score points, make this game easier for us. It can happen. It has to happen. I have given up on Chelsea so I intend to step up my efforts with my fantasy team. I’m searching. There’s a starman out there somewhere and I am going to find him…
FFUK 