GW Points: 64
Overall Points: 756
Overall Rank: 119,342
Transfers: Chilwell out, Alonso in
Really disappointing game week after such a positive week previously. Only 64 points on the board and a drop on the overall leaderboard. I was really hoping the team would kick on again this week and build on the success of last week but it wasn’t to be. Ironically, had I got off to a good start and the team was sat within the top 10,000, I don’t think I’d change an awful lot going into December. The team is fairly well balanced and has players in place who have decent fixtures coming up in December. Playing catch up makes it much more difficult though, as I’ll need to take some risks which are less likely to pay off. My biggest annoyance over the past few weeks was the split decision between Jota and Son – of course Jota went on a scoring spree and Son hasn’t done an awful lot (and Spurs had their game against Burnley postponed, which is completely out of our control). I was literally 50/50 between the two of them but I opted for Son as he had better fixtures, a new manager to impress and typically is more certain to start longer term than Jota. At that point in time I was happy with my decision and on that basis can’t really call it a mistake. As with football, it’s gone completely the other way but I’m not sure I’d do much differently if I found myself in that position again, as we can’t see into the future and it generally comes down to short term good fortune anyway.
Positives:
Another 8 points for B. Silva in only his second week in my team. Very happy with that.
7 points for Fernandes, was considering taking him out but will probably give him another week now as Man Utd do have good fixtures.
17 points for Ronaldo was a good return and pretty much saved my game week from being a complete disaster
8 points from Son was better than nothing
Potential issues
Mbeumo has to come out, a short term punt that didn’t pay off. Typically I’m 0.1m short of being able to afford Moura.
I’ve been happy with Walker’s return so far but he wasn’t in the squad midweek. Hopefully, it’s just a minor knock and he will be available for the weekend.
Spurs face Norwich at the weekend so I’ll probably leave Son in. If he doesn’t do much I may switch him for Jota but part of me thinks that ship might have sailed now.
Tips for Game Week 14
December is a very long month so I wouldn’t personally be blowing too many transfers early on. I’d expect a decent amount of injuries and player rotation so it’s worth seeing. Studying the fixtures hasn’t always worked this season and I don’t really want to say it but Man Utd have an incredible run throughout December. Do we trust them to turn a corner and start playing better? I personally don’t as it’s the same players but at the same time I’ll hold onto the three I’ve got for the time being. Other than that, Man City have a decent start to the month and overall Chelsea have some good fixtures spread out across December. I’ll add January’s fixtures to the list shortly as well but for now it’s just the busy month of December:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vAtgJN53MKh-u007SOFmPKu8lwbyD7eYVlB1-CLm0qo/
Maddison for Leicester is starting to hit form now.. maybe swap Benrahma out for him? It would free up some funds to swap mbeumo out too.
I’m definitely thinking about it but not sure with Leicester’s upcoming fixtures
Hi Paul. Hope all’s well.
Not been having a good season myself and only on 759pts and almost 90pts behind in my personal cash mini-league. I’ve been playing sensibly and logically throughout but simply haven’t been getting the rub of the green this season. I’m not going to panic and will keep up this strategy as I hope it will help me climb as others who chase harder gamble with differentials etc.
Holding Lukaku all through his injury however, was a big mistake of mine but I’ve struggled to hold back transfers this season as keep having fires to put out. Chilwell and now Chalobah to deal with although hopefully the latter will return soon so might hold. I’ve had him since his early goals when playing in CM and plenty of CS & + ratings. He’s not a buy, but a hold for me injury aside. I’ve got Ederson last month who’s a season keeper, Chilwell will become Alonso tomorrow before kick-off if he starts which will free up £1m. Thiago Silva is staying put. Fernades, Silva and Moura are all holds for me. I also need to deal with Mbeumo who I followed you in on over Bowen/Fornals which was another mistake I made not going with my gut, but your logic to attack the Norwich fixture made sense at the time. I’ve then got Salah, Ronaldo & Lukaku up top who I prey all outscore Kane this month. I’m hoping others may have spread the cost of one of these across their sides so could be an advantage for me if they all perform but it wouldn’t surprise me if one of Lukaku or Ronaldo don’t… Theres then Salah heading off to AFCON for Jan but think he’s my only African player fortunately.
All in all, I feel like I’ve been on the back foot since August after starting with triple Utd defence with their tempting prices but their minimal points and decreased values has made it hard to catch up against the template and Chelsea block which I was late to join.
Roll on 22/23 lol but I am interested to see how playing sensibly second half of the season fares with catching up. If I don’t gain ground it will be a lesson for future seasons that if behind by this much that a slightly more ‘aggressive’ strategy is the way to catch up. We shall see.
I’m thinking Chilwell & Mbuemo out for either Alonso & Maddison OR Robertson & Sancho. Funds only permit one of these options.
Or maybe even switch back to 4-3-3 with Alonso & Johnson which frees up £1.2m whereas the above two options would wipe my budget completely. 🤔
Hi Brad, really good this end (other than a poor DT season) hope you are too. I’ve never really found myself in this position and I’m finding it really difficult to play catch up. The more I look at it, the more I’m thinking I’ll swap Fernandes for Cancelo and then Mbeumo for Moura. It’s another one of those that will go against me but Fernandes hasn’t done an awful lot recently
I was debating Maddison but there fixtures do look quite tough. Can’t see him getting much points in some of them big games. Now i know Fernandes is not on pens not sure i will keep for much longer.
With AFCON next month that could be where Liverpool start dropping points without Mane and Salah.
I’m fairly sure I’m going to do Fernandes to Cancelo and then Mbeumo to Moura. Can’t see many other options and I like the City/Chelsea defensive double up
Nice review Paul and it pretty much sums up how the season has played out for many of us this season. I still shudder at the thought of my United defenders at the start of the season…
I’ve fortunately been making a bit of headway in recent weeks and now stand at 824pts which is by no means remarkable but at least my team seems to be heading into the right direction. It can all change very quickly though as we all know.
I know a lot of people are looking at shifting on Benrahma but after that Chelsea game West Ham have a pretty nice run through this month. I’m tempted to hold tbh.
Is anyone thinking of bringing in Lukaku now he’s working his way back? If he finds his early season form he could be a bargain at his current price.
Here’s my team at present:
Sanchez
TAA
Alonso
Dier
Cancelo
Benrahma
Mount
Silva
Kane
Salah
Ronaldo
I’m reasonably happy to hold for now and see what happens this GW. Good luck everyone.
Only £0.4m ITB though…
I think I’m going to be moving closer in your direction with Fernandes coming out and Cancelo coming in. I’ll then swap Mbeumo for Moura. Can’t see it turning my season around but it’s the only way I can think of to get Mbeumo out for a 3m midfielder.
Sitting on 858pts, not great but had a good week, I will be putting Lukaku back in tomorrow if he starts, tempted by Son, as spurs will have to play their A team in there Europa conference tie if they want to get into a probable play-off game, team as follows after a couple of changes.
Ederson
Dias
Rudiger
Alonso
TAA
Silva
Mount
De bruyne
Lukaku
Salah
Ronaldo
That’s a decent points total at this stage David. Your team looks good, I don’t think I’d change too much about it
What’s everyone doing with their transfers today?
I’m stuck at a bit of a crossroads, again. I need to lose Mbeumo, Walker or Benrahma could make way to make this happen. The problem I’ve got is there are no obvious replacements. I’d be happy to take a punt on Moura but other than that I’d have roughly 3.4m to spend on a defender or midfielder. No one is jumping out, there’s Maddison with poor fixtures ahead or another Man Utd player such as Sancho or a defender (not sure I trust any of them to get the points). If I were to lose Walker, I can’t see another way into that Man City defence with making further transfers. I could swap him for Robertson but there’s no value to gain in doing that.
The other option is to lose Fernandes. Interested in people’s thoughts on this one? He’s not been great but still the 2nd highest scoring midfielder. The problem is Man Utd have good fixtures coming up but it doesn’t look like he’s on penalties. I could easily swap Fernandes for Cancelo (Chelsea and Man City defensive double up then) and then swap Mbeumo for Moura and I’d be set for the month – until we get an inevitable injury. But I’m not sure losing Fernandes with the games he has ahead is a good idea
I don’t want to touch my front three with Spurs playing Norwich at the weekend. I may swap Son for Jota at the end of the game week, depending on how it goes.
Chilwell & Mbuemo out for Alonso & Johnson, 4-3-3, freeing up £1.2m in the process. Assuming both start at lunchtime that is.
this month is a tough one think there will be lots off
players in and out so I transferd only one player out off my main team.
only changed D bruyne for sterling in my second team.