Welcome to the GW35 REVIEW – MINDFIELDS
This is dangerous.
Navigating our way through these final weeks is certainly tricky. No amount of preparation can prepare you for some of the things that occur. You could say it was a minefield. However with the amount of overthinking some of us do in this game perhaps MINDFIELD is more appropriate. Therefore this is the musical theme for this week, and its a gem for anyone who remembers this Prodigy classic. If you are feeling good then turn it up loud and walk through those MINDFIELDS with confidence, the fantasy gods will guide you home. For those who have been battered by recent events this perhaps serves more as a motivational moment to get you going again for the final 3 gameweeks. Either way its a great tune and worthy of the FFUK GW REVIEWS 2017/18 PLAYLIST which has been updated accordingly for your listening pleasure, 3 to go this season!
Did someone say CUPDATE? It’s about time as we are just 1 week away from knowing who makes the final in both the FFUK Cup and the Challenge Cup. That is a lot of prize money up for grabs. In the FFUK Cup one tie is closer than the other… Jamie Stewart has quite a bit of work to do to overcome Paul Browne whilst Tom Shepherd has a slimmer lead over Sam Blake but both ties are definitely still in the balance and can be overturned with a shrewd decision or two.
In the Challenge Cup it’s a similar story, Sean Galsworthy holds a healthy lead over Tim McEwan in the first semi whilst the other is on a knife edge as Joe Warrington nudges ahead of Sam Breen. Check the relevant cup pages to see the latest scores. However nothing is decided yet, that you can be sure of. Next week we will review the final leg of these ties and announce the finalists for both cup competitions. Remember the cups account for £525 of the prize money allocation (nearly 25% of the kitty) so they are very much worth while focusing on, if you are no longer involved then remember this for next season!
Back to the bread and butter of the FFUK league and it was another unusual week with just 6 fixtures left because of the FA cup semis. This meant some thought had to go into how we went about this one. For the free and easy it was simpler, just take a load of hits to get a side out. For others we had to be more canny, just the right amount of overthinking was required. This was prime free hit territory and as such 28 layed down that chip and had a “free hit” at the gameweek, then it was about loading up on City, Liverpool and maybe even Arsenal. It was just about getting the right ones in, something I have struggled with all season and this week was no exception. But I wont depress you all with my bang average free hit as some used it rather well indeed so lets focus on these.
How about Theo Allen (133rd) who top scored this week with a highly impressive 80 points scored. Incredible performance from one of our youngest FFUKers. His Dad must be very proud right now, yet he is holding his FH chip back for the big double in 37, is this wise? Captain Jesus (7 x 2) was a solid enough start for Theo but our youngster also had the highest scoring player of GW35 in Lacazette (13) plus Sterling (11), Monreal (9), Baines (8) and of course Salah (7). Well played young man!
In the top 50 it was a similar story for many, but the best scoring players were Phil Smith (8th) and Guv Singh Kahlon (38th) who both used the FH to gain them 77 points. Both captained Jesus (7 x 2), both owned Baines (8), Sterling (11), Salah (7) and of course the top scorer Lacazette (13). Both will be feeling pretty satisfied I imagine.
FFUK TOP 25 AFTER GW35
Massive news! Look away now Jamie Stewart (2nd) your place at the top has gone after amassing just 39 points this week. Congratulations to Dan McBrearty (1st) who takes the top spot for the first time this season and what a time to do it with 65 points scored via his FH. It’s a narrow lead but 3 points could be significant come the end of the season. It’s also all about momentum in this game and Dan has it in abundance, it feels like he has had his bad patch and has come through the other side whereas, dare i say it, Jamie is in the middle of his bad patch as we speak after looking untouchable for most of the season.
In the top 10 it was a tale of the haves and the have nots. Dan was one of 4 who used the FH to great effect along with Lester Deeble (5th) scoring 72, Phil Smith (8th) scored 77 and Matthew Cox (10th) scored 74. Bravo to all of you.
The 6 that did not have it nearly all struggled (this includes 2nd, 3rd and 4th) and took hits in doing so, in fact 3 of them resorted to -8. They all struggled yet Paul Browne (9th) didn’t need a chip to score himself 76 points and only needed the one hit to get there via captain Jesus (7 x 2), Salah (7), Silva (10), Sterling (11), Monreal (9) and perhaps the most impressive of them all Hennessey (10). Fantastic stuff Mr Browne and perhaps he has the best looking squad going into GW36. Who said it was all about the chips?
Whilst the FPL average was just 30 points the FFUK Average was up at 40.46. Another win for the FFUK community! Speaking of which have you signed up for the FFUK End Of Season Do on Saturday 26th May in London. All the details are in this post HERE. Check it out and let us know if you can attend if you haven’t already, we are chasing for deposits this week for anyone who hasnt yet paid, you dont want Pete knocking at your door late at night. Do you?
Congratulations to our 3 Heroes this week:
- Louise Wilcockson (81st) rose 24 places with 72 points
- Theo Allen (133rd) rose 24 places after top scoring with 80 points
- Matthew Silley (135th) rose 21 places with 70 points
However our 3 Zeroes this week are:
- Dylan Fjellstrom (150th) fell 20 places with 2 points
- Trevor Dennison (65th) fell 17 places with 24 points
- Dave Foster (107th) fell 17 places with 16 points
Spare a thought for Dylan that is the lowest score of the week and I am guessing lowest this season by anyone. I am guessing Dylan doesn’t care and is on the beach somewhere in Dubai 😉
Another week another eviction and after this one we are down to the final 3. All of this remaining trio are prize winners, it is just the order we have to confirm now. However going into this week there were 4. One had to go.
In the end there were 2 factors that were key. The free hit chip that Mark Turnbull played was first, meaning 72 scored and safely through. The other more unknown factor was transfers. As we know by now this league doesn’t count points deducted for transfer hits. Something not lost on Peter Cronin and Daron Russell who combined to take a -48 hit to see them through!! John Harper couldn’t cope with either the FH or the multitude of hits up against him and he becomes the next manager to be evicted after managing just 39 points. Pete, as usual, has done the honours very quickly. Who will blink next? Will Daz and Pete continue to hit with reckless abandon and if so can Mark survive another week before the big double? All these questions and more will be answered next time!
As always thanks for reading, we will be back again next week and we will be looking forward to another big double. However first we have GW36 to navigate, what a MINDFIELD!
Finally, you think you play this game seriously? Well you are not alone. There are thousands of us all around the world. Some take it more seriously than others but just remember next time you are looking at stats in your lunch hour or wondering why you are watching Burnley vs Stoke with a lot more interest than is usual. Check out this guy who tried to cheat his way to winning at FPL.
Cheers
Chris
FFUK 