Gameweek 4 Transfers.

qwabercd

People are cheaping out on defence too much imo.

Lemlin

qwabercd wrote: »

People are cheaping out on defence too much imo.

I don't think it's a bad strategy given CL is about to happen. The likes of City and Chelsea now have 2 players for most defensive positions so rotation is possible.

My plan is to go big on attack now with a view to getting more expensive defenders later in the season.

qwabercd

Lemlin wrote: »

I don't think it's a bad strategy given CL is about to happen. The likes of City and Chelsea now have 2 players for most defensive positions so rotation is possible.

My plan is to go big on attack now with a view to getting more expensive defenders later in the season.

They've 3 players for the 2 attacking positions too. Costa (Remy/Drogba), Falcao (Rooney and RVP) and Aguero (Jovetic/Dzeko) will all arguably be subject to more rotation than defenders.

Falcao may well prove to be a good purchase at 11m (I've always rated him very highly) but personally I'd wait a gameweek or two before getting him in.

As an aside, interesting to see Hazard and Sturridge in very few (if any) teams. I understand that it's probably not the optimal time to have them but I wouldn't be surprised to see either of them in my team if I wildcard in a couple of weeks. Both were standouts last season. I think Hazard will outscore Cesc (definitely so if he's on penalties which we expect). Whether it's worth an 1m remains to be seen.

roryc

Can't see how you can fit the top three in. The team above shows it - Fab, Sterling, Ramsey, Siggy, Costa, Falcao, Ageuro, average defender, budget keeper, sh*t defender, sh*t defender. Bench = sh*t player, sh*t player, sh*t player.

IsMiseMyself

It's another way to play it. The obvious result is that you might sneak a few clean sheets, but more than anything the front fire power is to outweigh the cheap defenders. I like having a balanced team so it's not for me--or at least not right now, but it's a long season still. My expensive backlines did crap last week, apart from De Gea, but then so did Aguero.

Swings and roundabouts!

dahat

roryc wrote: »

Can't see how you can fit the top three in. The team above shows it - Fab, Sterling, Ramsey, Siggy, Costa, Falcao, Ageuro, average defender, budget keeper, sh*t defender, sh*t defender. Bench = sh*t player, sh*t player, sh*t player.

It can be done, I posted a better looking team earlier while not perfect it looked half decent.

Still not going with it though, going to pick two of them.

zarquon

roryc wrote: »

Can't see how you can fit the top three in. The team above shows it - Fab, Sterling, Ramsey, Siggy, Costa, Falcao, Ageuro, average defender, budget keeper, sh*t defender, sh*t defender. Bench = sh*t player, sh*t player, sh*t player.

Not forgetting the price drops that the defense will take especially when 4.0 defenders start getting dropped or rotated. There is great value in the 4.5 to 5.0 defender range so no need to destroy the defense too much.

I think 2 major hitters upfront + a mid price striker is the way to go. Leaves the ability to have a great defense and great midfield, striking a good balance.

Dont be at yourself

I think the issue is that, unlike last year, there aren't many mid-price defenders who represent good value. The guys at Chelsea and Man City are very expensive, and it's difficult to put much faith in the backline of Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham or United. The increased rotation makes defenders from the top teams a risk too. And then the high-scorers from other teams (like Coleman and Baines) are priced far too high.

Last year, there was a lot of success by investing in cheap defenders from Southampton, Hull and Palace. I think a lot of people are trying to replicate that, but by looking at Villa, Newcastle and Burnley as well. And in fairness, there is value in the likes of Hutton, Wisdom, Dummett etc; these were all priced as reserve players, and yet they're getting a lot of minutes in solid sides.

Lemlin

qwabercd wrote: »

They've 3 players for the 2 attacking positions too. Costa (Remy/Drogba), Falcao (Rooney and RVP) and Aguero (Jovetic/Dzeko) will all arguably be subject to more rotation than defenders.

Falcao may well prove to be a good purchase at 11m (I've always rated him very highly) but personally I'd wait a gameweek or two before getting him in.

It's quite clear who the top attacking players are at City and Chelsea though. United remains to be seen but I can't see Falcao sitting on the bench.

A defensive player also needs at least 60 minutes for a good chance of a return. An attacking player can score well in a half hour to 45 minutes even. Aguero has scored better in two bit part games than he did in a full 90 minute game!

qwabercd

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

I think the issue is that, unlike last year, there aren't many mid-price defenders who represent good value. The guys at Chelsea and Man City are very expensive, and it's difficult to put much faith in the backline of Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham or United. The increased rotation makes defenders from the top teams a risk too. And then the high-scorers from other teams (like Coleman and Baines) are priced far too high.

Last year, there was a lot of success by investing in cheap defenders from Southampton, Hull and Palace. I think a lot of people are trying to replicate that, but by looking at Villa, Newcastle and Burnley as well. And in fairness, there is value in the likes of Hutton, Wisdom, Dummett etc; these were all priced as reserve players, and yet they're getting a lot of minutes in solid sides.

Hutton - Wouldn't be surprised to see Villa fail to keep a cleansheet between GW5 and GW11
Dummett - Seems to have been dropped
Wisdom - Expect him to lose his place when WBA are at full strength

Which kinda hammers home my point really. I've been burned so many times over the years by 4m defenders to know they simply cannot be relied upon.

I'd agree that the more expensive defenders maybe aren't as appealing this year, but 3 weeks is still a very small sample. Remember what happened last year, when people rushed to get in expensive defenders. That didn't work out.

There is still some good value in the 4.5-5m range and personally I think you need one defender you can depend upon. Jones at 5.5 is a good option, United not what they were but should improve, have no CL and Jones seems to be a BP magnet). Azpilcueta another good choice, will get rotated the odd game no doubt but nearly every player in the top teams will. People are getting rid of Debuchy but I still think arsenal will keep a decent amount of cleansheets and he'll pop up with some attacking returns.

Having 1/2 of them is ok, but some of the teams posted here have up to 4 4m defenders. To me that is simply a poor long term strategy that is unlikely to succeed over the course of the season. At the end of the day, you still have to play 3 defenders each week. Having to waste transfers week on week to get rid of the next 4m defender who loses his place is very costly as transfers are at a price as we all know.

qwabercd

Lemlin wrote: »

A defensive player also needs at least 60 minutes for a good chance of a return. An attacking player can score well in a half hour to 45 minutes even. Aguero has scored better in two bit part games than he did in a full 90 minute game!

Yeah I was mulling about that earlier. In one sense you could argue that at least with the defender, if he's benched you'll have a sub come in for 90 minutes (not often a defender will come off the bench IRL) whereas if the striker is on the bench there's a good chance he'll come on for a one pointer. However in the case of Aguero he rarely seems to come on for a one pointer! Also strikers more likely to get subbed off against weaker teams when they're winning (although they've probably racked up some points at this stage). Agreed on balance that the benefits outweight the negatives for attackers here.

I just think that sacrificing one of the big hitters (e.g Falcao to Adebayor or Sterling to Zaha or someone in the 6m range) will allow you to do more with your defense generating a greater overall return. That's based on nothing but my own opinion and it's obviously a far from clear cut decision.

zarquon

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

And in fairness, there is value in the likes of Hutton, Wisdom, Dummett etc; these were all priced as reserve players, and yet they're getting a lot of minutes in solid sides.

Wisdom and Dummett are not first choice. Gamboa is expected to replace Wisdom once he's fit and Dummett will be replaced by Santon and is currently a rotation risk with Haidara so he's not even nailed on 2nd choice. These two will drop in value to a point where it won't be possible to replace with another 4.0/4.1 playing defender.

There are questions marks too as to whether Hutton will retain his place long term as Lowton was expected to be first choice this season

4.0 defenders and 4.5 midfielders can be a false economy. Once they stop getting full playing time their value plummets and they destroy team value and cash reserves, removing the ability to replace with better options directly without downgrading elsewhere in the team first.

Iused2likebusts

Ive been in the all out attack strategy camp from the start and think its the way to go. People went with chelsea, arsenal and utd defenders for their great fixtures and clean sheets. 3 games in you have 2 C.S from 9 games. Contrast that with Villa, Burnley and Qpr you have 4 C.S from 9 games. Ill continue to take my chances with a cheap defence to have 7 big guns in attack.
Its very easy to have 3 of falcao, costa, aguero, sturridge and still have a decent team with defenders in with a reasonable chance of clean sheets.

q2ice

There is a lot of talk about sacrificing defense for the big 3.
It is possible to have
3 good defenders plus 2 rotating cheapies
3 good midfielders plus 2 rotating cheapies
3 good forwards (aguero, costa, falcao)

Lemlin

Iused2likebusts wrote: »

Ive been in the all out attack strategy camp from the start and think its the way to go. People went with chelsea, arsenal and utd defenders for their great fixtures and clean sheets. 3 games in you have 2 C.S from 9 games. Contrast that with Villa, Burnley and Qpr you have 4 C.S from 9 games. Ill continue to take my chances with a cheap defence to have 7 big guns in attack.
Its very easy to have 3 of falcao, costa, aguero, sturridge and still have a decent team with defenders in with a reasonable chance of clean sheets.

Taylor at Swansea, Coloccini at Newcastle, PvA at Sunderland, Ferdinand at QPR and Wilson at Stoke. All 4.5 and all decent options.

4 of the top 5 managers in the FFS HoF have keepers 4.5 or under. Only 1 has De Gea.

I currently have PvA, Taylor and then 3 4 million cheapies - Moore, Wisdom and Dummett.

I actually think Moore will score quite well when Leicester's difficult run is over.

Iused2likebusts

Lemlin wrote: »

Taylor at Swansea, Coloccini at Newcastle, PvA at Sunderland, Ferdinand at QPR and Wilson at Stoke. All 4.5 and all decent options.

4 of the top 5 managers in the FFS HoF have keepers 4.5 or under. Only 1 has De Gea.

I currently have PvA, Taylor and then 3 4 million cheapies - Moore, Wisdom and Dummett.

I actually think Moore will score quite well when Leicester's difficult run is over.

5 cheapies that play pick 3. 22 million on 5 defenders is the most Ill spend for the foresseable future. Burnley and Palace have some decent fixtures coming up now. Ive my eye on Duff or shackell, martin kelly and wilson as my dummett replacement.

Ace2007

How forward does Matic get in most games? He seems to be the only Chelsea player to get full 90 mins in each of the 3 opening games

Also, who is Manquillo and will he keep his place for Liverpool?

The whole thing about the top 3 and having other crap players just shows that some people haven't really experimented with different combinations, If you drop Fab for example you can have 2 keepers and 5 defenders for 33m - all of which play 90 mins - and for example include united/city defenders.

Midfield - Ramsey, Sterling, Siggy, boyd, and someone like Chadli
striker - top 3

Then if one of top 3 strikers gets injured can easily drop to welbeck and upgrad boyd/chadli to Fab

Lemlin

roryc wrote: »

Can't see how you can fit the top three in. The team above shows it - Fab, Sterling, Ramsey, Siggy, Costa, Falcao, Ageuro, average defender, budget keeper, sh*t defender, sh*t defender. Bench = sh*t player, sh*t player, sh*t player.

You could drop Sterling, Fab or Ramsey for a player a million cheaper like Lamela. Or even someone 2 mil cheaper like De Jong if he starts firing.

That frees up another million or so for defence.

As it is, you can afford at least two 4.5 mil options and there are good players available at that price. There are also plenty of half decent keepers available at 4.5, Krul probably being the best.

I've no problem with having a bench of **** players once they get a point or two when called upon on the odd occasion. It also saves the frustration of leaving points on the bench.

roryc

Iused2likebusts wrote: »

Its very easy to have 3 of falcao, costa, aguero, sturridge and still have a decent team with defenders in with a reasonable chance of clean sheets.

Show me a team with Costa, Aguero and Sturridge in it, and I'll show you the flaws.

Lemlin

roryc wrote: »

Show me a team with Costa, Aguero and Sturridge in it, and I'll show you the flaws.

I don't get your point tbh.

Could it not be argued that any team will have flaws? That's the point of the 100 million budget. You can't pick the ideal team that you want. It's about making the best of the budget that you can.

Pick a team without the three above and it's probably just as easy to pick flaws in it. No team will be perfect.

Benimar

I really don't see the problem with leaving points on the bench. With a strong squad that is going to happen, its all about picking the best XI for any given GW. Thats where the 'management' comes in, having to choose who to start out of your 15.

Sometimes I'll get it wrong (Siggy on the bench GW1!) but thems the breaks. It was the correct call at the time as nobody knew how god-awful Man U would be.

Having a weak bench is a recipe for disaster as far as I'm concerned. It can lead to 'forced' transfers in the sense that if one of your starting XI is a doubt, there is pressure to make a transfer.

Costa last weekend was a case in point. There was many reasons why people transferred him out for Jovatic, but I'd be confident some did it as their bench couldn't cover if Costa was ruled out.

Having a sub or two capable of getting CS points or a goal/assist means less pressure to make transfers for a short term injury (In Costas case a 24 hour injury!)

Shedite27

qwabercd wrote: »

Which kinda hammers home my point really. I've been burned so many times over the years by 4m defenders to know they simply cannot be relied upon.

I don't for a second advocate having 5*4m defeinders but last season you could get Joel Ward and James Chester for under 8m in January. They served me very well the second half of the season.

My current defence is Dier (due to go to Debuchy next week), Jones, Taylor, Wisdom, Moore.

2 that will start most games, then of the other 3 there's always one with a nice fixture. And if called upon, you'd hope one of the other two will at least get ya 2pts.

who_ru

thinking of the following. some obvious ommissions though - sterling, ballotelli being 2.

De Gea (Myhill)

Bartley Taylor N, Shawcross, Clyne, Moore

Hendo, Di Maria, Hazard, Ramsey, Zaha (think he'll have a good season at palace)

Falcao, Ulloa, Costa



Worries: Defence - i had azpillicueta and koscienly in, but azpi is bound to be rotated a lot with luiz and Koscienly has a horrible run of fixtures coming up. shawcross is solid with nice fixtures, clyne the same, the other 3 though are weakish. i don't like the idea of not having an arsenal or chelsea defender. i might not go with the above.

any thoughs?

oh think Falcao will do very well. similar in stature to aguero without the distraction of CL games. i had mata and rooney but will switch to di maria and falcao.

FutureGuy

roryc wrote: »

Show me a team with Costa, Aguero and Sturridge in it, and I'll show you the flaws.

Every team will have some flaws in it to some degree but I do think you are realy sacrifing a good bit by getting those three strikers. Whether the sacrifice is worth it or not is the decision of the manager, and that's what makes it the game that it is.

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Quoted for clarity.

zl1whqvjs75cdy

who_ru wrote: »

thinking of the following. some obvious ommissions though - sterling, ballotelli being 2.

De Gea (Myhill)

Bartley Taylor N, Shawcross, Clyne, Moore

Hendo, Di Maria, Hazard, Ramsey, Zaha (think he'll have a good season at palace)

Falcao, Ulloa, Costa



Worries: Defence - i had azpillicueta and koscienly in, but azpi is bound to be rotated a lot with luiz and Koscienly has a horrible run of fixtures coming up. shawcross is solid with nice fixtures, clyne the same, the other 3 though are weakish. i don't like the idea of not having an arsenal or chelsea defender. i might not go with the above.

any thoughs?

oh think Falcao will do very well. similar in stature to aguero without the distraction of CL games. i had mata and rooney but will switch to di maria and falcao.

Maybe you could look at getting Cortouis in for Chelsea? Lets you into the Chelsea defense who I fancy to keep more cleanies than United. Utds defense is going to be shambolic this season I reckon so I'd steer clear. I like the look of Ulloa, there's goals in him and aside from Naismith he's the best budget option of the strikers imo. No Siggy is another obvious difference to the standard teams that seem to be emerging. If the Henderbus can preform well that could be a nice differential.

boccy23

who_ru wrote: »

thinking of the following. some obvious ommissions though - sterling, ballotelli being 2.

De Gea (Myhill)

Bartley Taylor N, Shawcross, Clyne, Moore

Hendo, Di Maria, Hazard, Ramsey, Zaha (think he'll have a good season at palace)

Falcao, Ulloa, Costa



Worries: Defence - i had azpillicueta and koscienly in, but azpi is bound to be rotated a lot with luiz and Koscienly has a horrible run of fixtures coming up. shawcross is solid with nice fixtures, clyne the same, the other 3 though are weakish. i don't like the idea of not having an arsenal or chelsea defender. i might not go with the above.

any thoughs?

oh think Falcao will do very well. similar in stature to aguero without the distraction of CL games. i had mata and rooney but will switch to di maria and falcao.

How about Debucchy instead of Kos? Gets forward more, chance of a goal, still an Arsenal defender, less chance of rotation and cheaper. 5.5 versus 6.1.

Gaillimh1976

Ace2007 wrote: »

Also, who is Manquillo and will he keep his place for Liverpool?

Spanish right back. Will probably rotate with Glen Johnson when both fit, but GJ injured at the moment.

Also, Flanagan who played LB most of last season is really a RB and is due back from injury soon.

Iused2likebusts

roryc wrote: »

Show me a team with Costa, Aguero and Sturridge in it, and I'll show you the flaws.

Krul elliot
Duff Moore Taylor Hutton Wilson
De Jong siggy ramsey fabregas marney
aguero costa falcao

The back 5 looks weak but for the next 5 gws you have these fixtures.
GW 4 Pal A Leic H Sto A
GW5 Sou H Sun H QPR A
GW6 Pal A New H Sun A
GW7 Bur H New H Leic A
GW 8 Wham H Swa H Sto A.
Its realistic to expect 5 C.S. from those 15 games.

This isnt my team and Im not sure on the big front 3 strategy yet as Ill probably give ade a few weeks. But what I am sure on is 5 cheap rotating defenders and Krul and elliot and a 4.5 midfielder. Ill be spending max 35 million on those 8 players leaving me with the 6 millon I got siggy for which results in 59 million minimum for a combination of 6 attacking players.
The fact that we can pick 5 defenders and only need to play 3 makes this strategy a no brainer for me up till the jan wildcard when Ill have more money for my back line.

The Wild Bunch

Jovetic to Welbeck a good move?

Dr. Bre

Costa and ward prowse in for bojan and nasri

who_ru

boccy23 wrote: »

How about Debucchy instead of Kos? Gets forward more, chance of a goal, still an Arsenal defender, less chance of rotation and cheaper. 5.5 versus 6.1.

Kos gets a lot of bonus points though, hence why i'm reluctant to get rid.

boccy23

who_ru wrote: »

Kos gets a lot of bonus points though, hence why i'm reluctant to get rid.

But will he rotate with Chambers to partner Mert on an on-going basis with CL etc. Debucchy doesn't look like he will have competition in the team.
Don't know how they decide the Bonus points anyway so have never tried to second guess these.

q2ice

roryc wrote: »

Show me a team with Costa, Aguero and Sturridge in it, and I'll show you the flaws.

Its falcao not sturridge as sturridge is .5 dearer but how about?

Krul, Elliot
Ivanovic, Dier, Taylor, Wisdom, Duff
Ramsey, Fabergas, Siggurdsson, King, Boyd
Aguero, Costa, Falcao

Boyd should be getting regular game time and King had a good start to the campaign.
0.3 mill in the bank to upgrade Dier to either Shawcross or Debuchy

Backstreet Moyes

Anybody sticking with Rooney and Mata i want to wildcard but i don't want these two out with QPR at home next. Just don't know who is going to be first choice i presume Rooney will start.

PARlance

Nuts102 wrote: »

Anybody sticking with Rooney and Mata i want to wildcard but i don't want these two out with QPR at home next. Just don't know who is going to be first choice i presume Rooney will start.

I'm sticking with them.
GW2 (Mata) can happen again and I'd be fairly confident Rooney...recently back to be LvGs captain won't miss out on much.... A few goals wouldn't go astray.
If he's played deep behind the front two then I'll start to think about getting him out.

Alfred Borden

Is it worth playing the wildcard so early to get the big three upfront? already have aguero and costa but could do with moving mata on

Chesty08

I have activated the wildcard.

I think having the big 3 upfront with a weak defence is a poor strategy. What will separate the teams at the top overall will be GK / Def & Captain choice.

What are peoples views on defences. Would a consistent top 5 defenders (with rotation) not be a good strategy>?

i.e

Lloris

Jones Moreno Ivanovic Azpil & Clyne

Siggy, Ramsey, Sterling, Navas (Quinn)

Costa, Falcao (Zamora)

I would never play Zamora or Quinn and my rotable players would predominantly be Clyne & Navas

Ace2007

Chesty08 wrote: »

I have activated the wildcard.

I think having the big 3 upfront with a weak defence is a poor strategy. What will separate the teams at the top overall will be GK / Def & Captain choice.

What are peoples views on defences. Would a consistent top 5 defenders (with rotation) not be a good strategy>?

i.e

Lloris

Jones Moreno Ivanovic Azpil & Clyne

Siggy, Ramsey, Sterling, Navas (Quinn)

Costa, Falcao (Zamora)

I would never play Zamora or Quinn and my rotable players would predominantly be Clyne & Navas

Regarding the weak defence comment, except what exactly is a weak defence? For example I think you could spend 33m on defence/keepers that include united/city players and who should all get 90 mins.Then 33.5 on top 3 strikers leaves you with ~ 34 for midfield.

In your team about Navas is a bit of a rotation risk, Zamora won't get much game time and will probably lose you value

Chesty08

Ace2007 wrote: »

Regarding the weak defence comment, except what exactly is a weak defence? For example I think you could spend 33m on defence/keepers that include united/city players and who should all get 90 mins.Then 33.5 on top 3 strikers leaves you with ~ 34 for midfield.

In your team about Navas is a bit of a rotation risk, Zamora won't get much game time and will probably lose you value

34 for midfield is really bad though. That leaves you with 2 x 9mil midfielders, 1 x 4.5 midfielder & then 11.5 million left for 2 others.

Midfield is just as important for scoring particularly with all the potential high scorers in that department this year.

A weak defence is a defence which is low scoring and only contributes through CS, overall no assists, goals or BPS attributed to the players

i.e a Coleman / Baines v a Distin / Jagielka

Ace2007

Chesty08 wrote: »

34 for midfield is really bad though. That leaves you with 2 x 9mil midfielders, 1 x 4.5 midfielder & then 11.5 million left for 2 others.

Midfield is just as important for scoring particularly with all the potential high scorers in that department this year.

A weak defence is a defence which is low scoring and only contributes through CS, overall no assists, goals or BPS attributed to the players

i.e a Coleman / Baines v a Distin / Jagielka

Depending on value of your team, it could be 35m, plus going with that midfield, your not going to be playing your cheap option, you would still have the likes of sterling/ramsey/siggy in your team.

Plus the chanes are one of your top 3 will get injured at some stage, so then you can just replace them with nasmith or welbeck nd upgrade one of your midflied guys to Fab.

Backstreet Moyes

Chesty08 wrote: »

I have activated the wildcard.

I think having the big 3 upfront with a weak defence is a poor strategy. What will separate the teams at the top overall will be GK / Def & Captain choice.

What are peoples views on defences. Would a consistent top 5 defenders (with rotation) not be a good strategy>?

i.e

Lloris

Jones Moreno Ivanovic Azpil & Clyne

Siggy, Ramsey, Sterling, Navas (Quinn)


Costa, Falcao (Zamora)

I would never play Zamora or Quinn and my rotable players would predominantly be Clyne & Navas

That is way to much to pay on your defence i presume better value play 3-4-3 or 3-5-2.

Three good defenders and two cheap rotational defenders who start. Moore for Leciester for example 4.0 starts every game and Leiciseter have looked fairly solid so far in difficult games.

FutureGuy

roryc wrote: »

Yeah I was amazed by how many seemily sane people used their wildcard before the international break and end of the transfer window. Granted, I've done it after GW1 in the past but thats when there have been 3 or 4 must have players that I didn't have in my original team. A lot of people seem to have used their WC unnecessarily to make a handful of changes, and actually scored worse than they would have had they kept their pre-WC team. The season is long anyway so I wouldn't worry. Hard to tell whether the WC will be a massive bonus at some stage later on in the season. Looking less and less likely I'll use mine anytime soon though.

Sorry Rory, I don't undertsand this point at all. You question someone's sanity because they played their WC before the international break and yet you did the same before? Who cares why they used it and to be honest, if you had to use your WC to get in 4 must have players, I would think that was a WC wasted due to insufficient preseason planning. And how is what you did different from the example where question others sanity?

In addition, it's not uncommon to score less with your wildcard team as the WC should be used to plan long term, not just that gameweek.

I remember last year, a few people used the WC very early and did incredibly well.

kronsington

Aguero and £5m jobber striker

Or

Someone like Rooney and Welbeck

(Already have Costa)

zarquon

FutureGuy wrote: »

Sorry Rory, I don't undertsand this point at all. You question someone's sanity because they played their WC before the international break and yet you did the same before? Who cares why they used it and to be honest, if you had to use your WC to get in 4 must have players, I would think that was a WC wasted due to insufficient preseason planning. And how is what you did different from the example where question others sanity?

In addition, it's not uncommon to score less with your wildcard team as the WC should be used to plan long term, not just that gameweek.

I remember last year, a few people used the WC very early and did incredibly well.

A wildcard to bring in form players does not equal success. I used mine during the first international break to fix my team as i loaded up on double gw players early that did not perform and by the end of the break i had some top performing players in the team. I then ended up with ranks below 2m and 1m in the next 3 weeks.

Wildcards are a risk no matter when you play them. It is all a roll of a dice albeit with some educated rationale.

Ideally though a wildcard should never be played until after the transfer deadline so that final teams are settled. This ideal scenario assumes that you start off with a good team that only requires minor tweaking. If someone starts in GW1 with a team that happens to have 4 or 5 duds at a minimum then you are perfectly justified in using the WC to fix the selection before you fall too far down the ranks.

The insanity comes when someone with a good team, performing well and only needing minor tweaks in 2 to 3 positions, rips up their team with a WC. It is unfair to suggest insanity or poor choice when someone uses the WC who genuinely has a poor team already in need of deep surgery.

Using a Wildcard for value gains may not be effective this year as the stats indicate that WC transfers are not counted in the numbers to calculate price falls or rises. This will remove articial price gains seen in previous years.

It is all down to personal preference. I am happy with my team. Have 2 FT for this break but want to make 3 or 4 changes. Worse case scenario i will take a -8 hit for a pseudo wildcard team instead as i believe the net benefit would see me make up the 8 points quickly and i would have my WC for a more opportune time.

8-10

What I don't get is people using the wildcards this GW for price rises but activating it now and not at the end of the GW.

Everybody should be taking the points hits and then on Sept 13th activating the WC to eliminate all the hits. If it's true that wildcards are not affecting price rises then why activate it up front? Means your bringing in players in the hope that they'll rise while at the same time ensuring that transfer doesn't help you achieve that, madness!

If you activate at the end of the GW, you'll get all points hits back, so there's no rush.

zarquon

8-10 wrote: »

What I don't get is people using the wildcards this GW for price rises but activating it now and not at the end of the GW.

Everybody should be taking the points hits and then on Sept 13th activating the WC to eliminate all the hits. If it's true that wildcards are not affecting price rises then why activate it up front? Means your bringing in players in the hope that they'll rise while at the same time ensuring that transfer doesn't help you achieve that, madness!

If you activate at the end of the GW, you'll get all points hits back, so there's no rush.

That would be the sensible approach but only a minority of players are aware that WC transfer may no longer counter towards the net transfer counts.

iroced

8-10 wrote: »

What I don't get is people using the wildcards this GW for price rises but activating it now and not at the end of the GW.

Everybody should be taking the points hits and then on Sept 13th activating the WC to eliminate all the hits. If it's true that wildcards are not affecting price rises then why activate it up front? Means your bringing in players in the hope that they'll rise while at the same time ensuring that transfer doesn't help you achieve that, madness!

If you activate at the end of the GW, you'll get all points hits back, so there's no rush.

I agree with you but only discovered about this new "rule" after I activated mine ...

q2ice

iroced wrote: »

I agree with you but only discovered about this new "rule" after I activated mine ...

The way the price rises are working this year (or lack thereof) means that you probably wont make much on price rises.
Waiting for Sterling to go up to make 0.1 before getting rid.

In fairness though I made a couple of changes for a 4 point hit and when I made a few more transfers I hit the wildcard button. A 4 point hit yes, 8 points maybe, 12 & up - no.
Making money in the process would be an added bonus. Just need Sterling to rise again before Falcao does - looking doubtful.

lorenzo87

Di Maria with 1 brilliant goal and 3 assists for Argentina against Germany so far tonight, he is unreal and should get plenty of points this season for Utd.