GW Points: 66
Overall Points: 248
Overall Rank: 72,027
Transfers: Son out, Ronaldo in
Wan-Bissaka out, Robertson in (after the game week finished)
Tanganga out, Bertrand in (after the game week finished)
Kane out, Lukaku in (after the game week finished)
I’m not sure where to start after an eventful and frustrating game week. I’ll cover the details below but two red cards, a few players blanking and Lukaku hitting good form cost me big time this week on the leaderboard. It all started well with Ronaldo scoring twice against Newcastle, but once again Man Utd failed to keep a clean sheet. I wasn’t overly worried at this point as I thought they had a decent fixture to come against Young Boys. Of course, then Wan-Bissaka gets sent off and they fall apart. Up until that point, I was hoping Ronaldo was going to add another goal or two and they would keep a clean sheet. We then had Tanganga getting a daft red card and Spurs crumbling against Palace after keeping consecutive clean sheets. Not sure I saw that one coming but for me and they then conceded twice against Rennes last night. In the meantime, Lukaku scores twice against Villa and picks up more points in the Champions League. I think it’s going to be a really difficult season as to now I’ve prioritised good fixtures over early form, I’ve moved away from that approach with my transfers even though this isn’t what I’d normally do. Taking Kane out is a big risk, but I’d argue it’s an even bigger risk not to have Lukaku at the moment when Kane doesn’t look like scoring. Kane and the Man Utd defenders all started with good fixtures and they haven’t achieved what I’d hoped they would so I’ve lost patience with most of them – if they can’t bring in points with good fixtures then I’ve not got much hope when these become more difficult. It’s also a massive problem having 4 big name strikers and only 3 positions to fill. This is more difficult when you only focus on 1 main team, if I was playing the game of 10 teams and documenting those, it’s easy to cover all bases by having different variations of striker partnerships. Although I did create 10, I only really pay much attention to my main team.
Positives:
11 points for Alexander-Arnold, he’s probably been my best pick of the season so far. Very happy with another 11 points.
13 points for Fernandes, in a week where we thought he would be overshadowed by Ronaldo, which he was to a certain extent but good to see him getting points on the board as well.
Traore picked up star man and 8 points again, not sure how but I’ll take it.
13 points for Salah was a half decent return
26 points from Ronaldo was a great result as less people put him in than I expected.
Potential issues
I felt like the team had a lot of issues after the game week so I made three transfers. Hopefully this has solved some of them going forward.
I’ve still got a question mark against De Gea but I’ve kept him for now so that I can retain one transfer. However, I moved Wan-Bisska on. I just felt like other defenders have made a better start for a similar value. He’s also going to be suspended in the Champions League. Liverpool have good fixtures, so I’ve put Robertson in instead. I see this as a decent upgrade.
Tanganga returned -6 points this week, which was a massive disappointment. After his good start, I’d hoped for at least another clean sheet but this pretty much undid all of the good work he contributed in the early weeks. I’ve reverted back to a player I started with the season with – Ryan Bertrand. He’s back in the team after missing the start of the season with Covid. Leicester have decent fixtures and he was slightly cheaper than Tanganga, it was a no brainer for me on that basis but let’s see how it pans out.
As mentioned above, I’ve also taken Kane out. There was obviously going to be a big price swing between him and Lukaku so I thought it was wise to act decisively. I also understand that Kane didn’t even touch the ball in the Palace box at the weekend. I just see Lukaku getting more game time (with the Champions League) and getting more chances than Kane. Obviously Kane will come good at some point, but we simply can’t have four strikers in our team and everything at this point in time points to Lukaku being a better option than Kane. It’s going to be difficult when Kane does have a big week, because it will happen but there’s nothing we can do about that.
I’ve also got slight question marks against Benrahma and Torres. I still think Torres is a great option if he keeps playing up front for City but the goals just aren’t coming as regular as I’d like. But at 3.5m and being classed as a midfielder, I thought I’d better sit tight on this one for now. Benrahma is a bigger concern, he was a bit of a bandwagon player and when everyone else jumped on him, I did point out that he wasn’t great last season. I’ll give him a bit longer but he could be the one who makes way with my final transfer as I’ve got money in the bank to upgrade him.
Tips for Game Week 5
I’ve set my team up for game week 5 with three transfers at the end of the week. I don’t think I’ll be using my final transfer this week as I’d rather hold onto it and see what happens. My main advice can be seen with the changes I’ve made and what I’m trying to do going into the game week. However, if you’re looking to do something different, the spreadsheet below shows the teams with the best fixtures:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vAtgJN53MKh-u007SOFmPKu8lwbyD7eYVlB1-CLm0qo/
What your thoughts regarding KDB? You got anything planned?
I’m not far away from him budget wise. I’ve got 2.1m in the bank (I think). So I could potentially swap Benrahma for KDB if I downgrade someone else slightly in October. I’m not sure yet, they’ve got a lot of midfielders and some more attacking than De Bruyne. Waiting to see what happens this weekend
What was your thinking behind not including any Chelsea defenders or gk as they’ve been probably the strongest defensively imo
For me it was their high prices and bad early fixtures. They’ve obviously done very well over those fixtures which I didn’t expect in terms of so many clean sheets but they still have more tough fixtures on the horizon so I’ll be reviewing in October.
I wonder if we’re in danger of thinking Chelsea defenders are “essential” come October, when cheaper alternatives may do just as well (Robbo as a prime example). The only defender I’d class as essential is probably Trent, although Cancelo is another great option in the game now, especially with the Mendy situation rumbling on as he’s likely to play most games now.
I really love Reece James but is he worth £1.1m more than Robbo? (as prices currently stand), I’d say probably not when you consider where else you can distribute that extra cash throughout your team. Do we think the left-back slot is Alonso’s to lose now? Maybe he’s the best option currently in terms of value?
I didn’t see Chelsea defenders as that essential to be honest. Thought Robertson was a good price and now he’s been benched and TAA misses out through illness.
Nice one Paul! Strange old week indeed 😁 Early doors. Bertrand didn’t drop by as much as I’d have liked. 0.1M to be precise. Torres stayed the same. But as you said, enough to get a decent keeper in. Utd have let us down big time. Like you say, it’s a marathon, not a sprint! We’ll get our lucky streak soon hopefully 👍🏻
I must mention, looks like Ramsdale is going to be Arsenal No1 now. And they have decent fixtures coming up. Auba could be one to consider also 🤔
Such an unlucky GW Paul. Two red cards is just ridiculous. Your moves make sense and Bertrand is certainly on my watchlist also.
Here are my moves:
Sanchez
TAA
Coleman
Maguire—>Robertson
Shaw
Bruno
Torres
Traore
Salah
Kane—>Lukaku
Ronaldo
Gonna keep hold of Shaw this GW for two reasons:
1. Antonio misses out this weekend so I think this gives United a better chance of a CS.
2. Telles is still marked down as injures so Shaw may get game time in the Carabao game. (Brandon Williams is on loan at Norwich).
Thanks Chris, it was an awful week but onwards and upwards hopefully. Glad to see you’ve gone for Robertson as well, not many people seemed to be mentioning him but I thought he was good value at under 4m. I’d have stuck with Shaw as well, only really took Wan-Bissaka out because of the red card and missing games
Thanks Mick – after game week 3 I’d hoped to kick on further rather than going backwards but it wasn’t to be. Let’s see what this week brings. Not sure about any Arsenal players at this stage but one to watch with Ramsdale
Its all about a bit of patience Paul. It will balance out in the end! Torres will bang in a trick when everyone transfers him out! 2 clean sheets in a row for Ramsdale! He was unlucky not to get star man yesterday.
I’ve had an equally bad game week, the way my team is going I may have blow all 5 transfers next transfer day. Not something I like to do, but with these massive value increases it’s has to be done before being left behind.
Like Tom said, some Chelsea coverage at the back is needed.
It was a difficult game week. Assuming you didn’t have both Lukaku and Ronaldo? Have you also taken Kane out now?
Is anyone else getting that looming feeling with Pep roulette this GW? I have a bad feeling Torres may be benched this weekend but I’ve already decided I’m just gonna ride it out if he is. If he does sit this one out maybe he gets game time against Wycombe in the cup?
He’s not done an awful lot for someone playing up front for a team that creates as many chances as City. I can’t help but think when someone does get the nod ahead of him that they might push him out of the team completely.
I’ll echo that Chris, but as you say he may get the league cup game, hasn’t exactly been an awe inspiring start, but keep applying logic, fortunes can turn quickly in this game, hopefully this weekend, 1st transfer in October will be Grealish, it looks like Pep is going to give him plenty game time, ATM only 0.8 difference to De bruyne, so maybe a saving to be had, could keep Bruno if he continues to accrue pts, then Torres who could be on borrowed time may become a revitalised Barnes or other, team at present
De gea
Alonso
Rudiger
TAA
Walker
Bruno
Torres
Moura
Ronaldo
Salah
Lukaku
Must admit, I’m half tempted by Grealish this weekend. I was never convinced by Benrahma really but the points he had scored couldn’t be argued with. Can see him having a quiet spell now.
Yeah, I mentioned early in the season that perhaps a combo of Grealish and Torres could counteract the KDB threat. Kinda wish I’d followed and own advice now and just stuck Grealish in then. He’s probably never gonna get 18pts plus in a game but I see him consistently ticking along with scores of 8+‘s. Probably best to just stick him in and forget about him as he’ll do the job nicely.
*followed my own advice
I’ve put him in with Benrahma potentially being injured. Nothing more I can do now for the rest of the month
Just a heads up David Moyes lifts lid on major West Ham injury blow to Said Benrahma ahead of Man United clash
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.hammers.news/injury-news/david-moyes-lifts-lid-on-major-west-ham-injury-blow-to-said-benrahma-ahead-of-man-united-clash/amp/
Thanks Cefnstar – thinking about going Grealish myself
He’s seems to be playing every game at the moment. It won’t be long before he’s out of reach for some.
Ive gone with a back four and took him out for Robertson in the hope the next four games treats him well enough to raise funds to swap to Chelsea defenders.
Cities next two games are definitely winnable with loads of goals but the three after 🙈🙈🙈 Che, Psg and Liverpool.
At this moment I’m looking to increase team value rather than quick hits.
Alisson
Trent
Bertrand
Robertson
Rudiger
Fernades
Torres
Traore
Salah
Ronaldo
Lukaku
0 itb and 1 transfer left
You must be as frustrated as I am to see Robertson on the bench today. TAA missing out through injury as well
hiya DDT,need some sound advice ! i have 1m in the
bank with 1 transfer remaining i want to ditch benrahma before tmrws game
i should i draft in, i have shortlisted the following
harvey barnes
thiago silva
marcus alonso…..
look forward to your expert advice
Alonso wouldn’t be a bad shout if he starts but I do wonder how long he will continue to start for and they’ve got more difficult fixtures coming up
Hey, first time joining something like this. Usually study it and throw a lot of chelsea players in as they are my team. But to start with no chelsea players even though there defence is the best in Europe was a shock to see, im guessing your a man utd fan too. Wan bissaka over leaving shaw in who is the set piece taker was abit confusing, red card should have never happened but hes probably uniteds worst player bar fred. The swap for alisson to de gea aswel, missed out on 2 clean sheets there and de gea will concede another today. The whole kane one did me too, amid transfer speculation you gambled on him and now everyones got lukaku in. Its going to be hard climbing back up that table now everyones got a similar front three, grealish move aswel hes going to be competing for sancho with the worst money spent this season
I’m simply following the same formula that I do every year. Study the fixtures and pick players who have historically done well.
Chelsea didn’t have great fixtures and it was hard to predict who would start for them defensively. Man Utd had by far the best early run of games and Wan-Bissaka had a break over the summer. All logical decisions.
Kane scored more points than Lukaku before he even joined Chelsea as he had a brace in the qualifying game so didn’t end up being a bad pick to begin with.
Grealish is one of the highest scoring midfielders in the game so far so can’t see your logic there.
And I’m just glad you didn’t buy Werner this season as he would hands down win the worst money spent award
If you the stats under Tuchel when playing with Werner he wins more games, not an ideal choice for the dream team but as a player who won the champions league in his first season i cant for the life of me see how that is a bad one. Research should have told you Alonso would be playing over Chilwell too as his euros run was enough to see he would be benched. But the old faithul wing backs of united have under performed an ageing spaniard
The reality is not many other people in leagues that I’m in went with Chelsea defenders so it’s not just me, its the majority. Maybe you’ve just got off to a good start as you’ve just thrown a load of Chelsea players in because that’s your team. That’s not the way I personally play it. Werner isn’t getting a game at the moment is he? Surely he starts if he was so good last season?
Good man Frank. You’re up bright and early I see with all this spare time on your hands these days. Great to see Chelsea doing so well now. Especially all them deadwood defenders you had on the scrapheap! Alonso, Rudiger and Christensen. All regular starters now. Your pet on the left Ben Chilwell is nowhere to be seen. All credit to Tuchel. He does know how to steady a ship in stormy waters. At the end of the day Frank. Your days we’re numbered before you took the job.
So what’s your next dt move? Give us a look at your team anyway!! Blue until you die. Don’t be talking nonsense Frank 🙄
If you check whos at the top they have chelsea in there team, oops that Benrahama sub was decent. And another goal conceded by united….. its bye from me, enjoy boys this guy is as good as ole when it comes to picking 11 haha
Benrahma to Grealish made sense at the time. He was potentially going to miss the game and Grealish started. I’d rather you stick around so we can see where you end up at the end of the season. Although because you’ve gone for the anonymous approach I’m assuming you prefer to hide behind your opinions
Our first ever troll. 😈🙄
I’d like to think it’s just some young kid who doesn’t know any better so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. It tends to normally be the case.
Who seriously saw the Benrahma SM coming in that game? I know I didn’t, so the Grealish move made perfect sense at the time.
As for Chelsea, I’m just as guilty for overlooking their defence early doors but we’re certainly not alone. I think we may just have to presume Chelsea could well be fixture proof this season. I play the game heavily relying on fixtures so that’s obviously been a flaw to my logic this season.
As for Alonso/Chilwell there has been nothing of note reported in the media regarding why Chilwell has been frozen out, although on a podcast the other day they did mention Chilwell had annoyed Tuchel preseason (it escapes me what the specific reason was now though tbh). Think I’ll be swallowing my pride and bringing him in at the next opportunity I think. Kepa also worth monitoring if Mendy faces a lengthy spell out. £1m at time of writing.
It’s a strange one Chris but I’m surprised it’s taken this long for someone to start trolling, no surprise they do it anonymously. I really don’t mind criticism but there’s a way of respectfully putting it forward and the idea is that we are all here to help each other rather than be critical. You just have a look at least years winner who blogs for another website, I saw his team on Twitter and we’ve got a very similar team and points and this is the guy who won the whole thing last time around so I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.