GW1 Team Review

 Hi all,

Sorry for the lack of content recently, between holidays and work I've been a bit short on time, and have been prioritising my weekly 'column' for AllAboutFPL (Scout Picks Articles) over blog posts for this page. However, I thought it was high-time to update you all on how my team performed in GW1, and what my plans are going forwards with regards to chips, transfers and the like.

GW1 Score - 87 Points

Goalkeeper: Raya (8pts)

I settled on Raya very last minute (Friday Morning), as up until that point I had Saliba in my draft and Sels as my starting GK for GW1. I made this last minute change as I was likely to bench Saliba in GW1 due to the quality of, and the faith I had in, my other defensive options. I was also becoming increasingly concerned as to whether Sels would start (Miguel pushing him for a starting spot), and even if he did, how good a shot stopper he is. Forest's defense itself is decent in xGA terms, but Sels himself is a bad shot stopper, and massively under performed last season, and I was worried that this could affect Forest's CS potential and also the save points he might get. Raya is also cheaper than Saliba, which freed up some funds for other positions. The issue with Raya now is that the fixtures aren't great from here on out (apart from GW3 against Brighton), and as I have a 4.0m keeper on the bench, unlike Saliba, I can't just bench him this GW against Villa. So overall, a pretty short sighted decision which could come back to bite me...

Defenders: TAA (8pts), Munoz (4pts), Porro (9pts)

TAA and Munoz have been locked in my team for a long long time, so I was happy to see them both paying my loyalty back with some points in GW1. Palace looked shakier than I expected, but were still unlucky to come away with a loss, so I don't see Munoz as being a problem, as the fixtures still look good and he is nailed. I'm glad I didn't double up on Palace defense though, which I was considering at one point...

Porro is currently flagged but trained on Thursday, so I'm not worried about him. Another relatively late stage decision to bring in Porro, but one that paid off. Good GW2 fixture, and then trickier 4 and 5, but I have Robinson to cover both those GWs if necessary.

Liverpool looked very good defensively, and gave up very few chances / clear cut opportunities, which bodes well. We all expected them to be more solid defensively under Slot and that proved to be the case, I think owning an LFC defender will soon become essential. Trent's position changed throughout the match, as he spent some of the game inverting (mainly in build up), and some of it in a more traditional RB position. No regrets paying 7.0m for him.

Midfielders: Salah (28pts(C)), Jota (8pts), Saka (12pts), Eze (2pts), Murphy (1pts)

Eze a Murphy both unlucky to not return, one scoring a goal which was (wrongfully) ruled out, and another being subbed off early on due to his team going down to 10 men. Neither player is a concern, Murphy is likely to be on my bench for GW2. 

Salah and Jota both looked great against Ipswich, I expect Jota to be the first choice striker until he gets injured, as I think it will take Nunez a while to adapt to a new system and to what Slot is asking him to do (I think Gakpo is a LW option not a ST). Glad I captained Salah, I'll be doing it again in GW2 as I am Haaland-less...

Saka - Another late entry into my GW1 draft, but one which paid off big-time. After getting over excited by Forest, Palace and other smaller team's fixtures, I, along with many other FPL managers, came to the realization that Arsenal are quite good, and I should probably include their players despite the fixtures being pretty meh. Saka looked great, I'll be keeping him in my team until another premium midfield option presents itself (Foden when the fixtures get better maybe).

Forwards: Solanke (2), Isak (5)

Solanke played well, took 3 shots, all on target, I expect him to grow in confidence and stature as he becomes more aclimatised to his new surroundings, teammates and tactics. There is a slight worry that he may be out for GW2, as he reportedly did not train on Thursday, but if that's the case then Murphy will come off my bench - no big deal. Wish I'd played Wood instead of him though, easy to say in hindsight, as he scored 9 points XD.

Isak managed to get an assist despite playing for a team which played 60 minutes with 10 men. He's the second best striker in the league, great fixtures, not a worry - until he gets injured lol.

Overall I was very happy with the teams performance, with the only negative being that I benched Wood instead of Murphy, but it's always important to separate the outcome from the thought process. Both players were great in pre-season, both were expected to start, and Murphy had the better fixture. He was unfortunately subbed off after 30 minutes due to the red card, but it's impossible to predict something like that. So yeh, overall pretty happy, and I think the team is well set up for GW2 as well, with no transfers needed. As mentioned, I'll be playing the same team but with Wood starting ahead of Murphy, which probably means Murphy will score and Wood will blank!

Long Term Planning

I currently plan to roll my transfers into GW3, unless there is an injury or suspension etc. Robinson offers defensive cover when the fixtures get tricky and I also have enough cover with Wood and Murphy to rotate in and out with my attacking players too. I am toying with the idea of a GW4 wildcard (an idea floated and promoted by Andy Martin), but I'm not fully decided. My original plan was to not WC, and to instead roll transfers into GW4/5 if possible and then bring Haaland and Foden in around GW6 when the fixtures turn, as getting Haaland in would involve at least 3 transfers (2 in reality, but 3 for me to be happy with the result). We'll see though, I think I'll have a clearer picture after GW2.

Thanks for reading, this was just a quick update, but if you like this style of post let me know and I'll continue it into GW2 and beyond.