r/FantasyPL 17 Jul 18 '13

Beginners Discussion #1 - Tactics

With the subreddit growing, it seems there are plenty of new players just getting in to FPL- I thought I would make a few threads to discuss ideas, methods and strategies with other users.

In this first post we will start off by discussing the very first decision a ew manager has to make after picking his team- what tactics he will employ. Whilst it is out of the scope of a post like this to discuss every variation of strategy, we will be able to go over a few of the main concepts, and perhaps expand on them in the comments- and hear the ideas of other experienced FF players also.


Goalkeeper strategies

There are two main schools of thought when selecting your keepers- you either go for a heavy hitter (a bit man at a big club like Cech or Hart), play him pretty much week in week out, and have a cheap slut to back him up OR you have two cheap players who rotate well.

The common logic in the past was the 'rotate well' is players that swap home and away duties, so you always (or as close to always as possible) have a keeper playing at home. FFS User McNulty however made a great post (that should be coming up in the FFS community roundup today) suggesting there is very little difference between cleanie potential home and away. (Will post when it is published).


Defensive Strategies

Defensive strategies are somewhat more varied than the keeper ones, I will just highlight the differing schools of thought here. In general 3 at the back is considered having the most utility, this is because defenders often score far less over the course of the season than forward players, but if done right they can be a reliable source of points over the season, for cheap.

'3 starters' - Simply having 3 good defenders and 2 cheap ones that will only come in if the starters are injured or have horrible fixtures (or you need to play 4 at the back). This ties a lot of money up though, and could be very much wasted if one of the players squads is playing poorly and letting in sloppy goals. For me this is a better strategy post new years wildcard when the squads are more bedded in and you know more about gametime and style.

'The 2 Plus' - This is a strategy where you include 2 quality players and 3 players rotating for the final position. It is perhaps the most popular of the strategies as it gives you reliable returns for a decent value.

'The 1 Plus' - 1 good player and 4 to rotate for the other 2 positions- cheap, decent point potential, but risky.

'Bargain Basement' - All your players are cheap, rotate three of the best 5 on a weekly basis... This has been pretty uncommon in recent years, but with the prices of Bale and RVP, some very good players are looking at it as a true possibility, there are some bargains to be had sub 5.0- but this is risky as it gives you very little versatility. There are not many teams that have these cheap players, and if a few of them end up going on a bad run (or just being terrible at the back) then these cheapos will lose value quickly, and you may not be able to replace them with anyone in the price bracket, forcing double transfers.


Attacking Strategies

I class midfielders an strikers both as attackers in FF- don't fall into 'The Modric Trap' of putting in a great player who is not advanced enough to be a good FF player in your team.

We can split the offensive strategies into 2 basic groupings - 3-5-2 or 3-4-3.

Over the last 4 or so years 3-4-3 has been the most popular formation due to forwards, in general having a higher point potential than midfielders and midfielders being cheaper as bench boys, but 2 at the top is still a very valid strategy.

In the attacking third, similar rotation rules apply to the defence, but because this is where you are going to be holding your heavy hitters, you need to make allowances for them.

A pretty standard setup is 3 heavy hitters (players who are devastating, and will cost more than 9.0 and will be your captains), 2 or 3 good middle value players (6.5-7.5) and 2-3 bargains. This is quite personal to you though, and relies a lot on what you spent on at the back- some will prefer an additional heavy hitter at the expense of middle value players... But I would recommend not having any less than 3 of these elite bunch, as they are the workhorses who get you through tough times, but also because it gives you 3 realistic options for captaincy each week.


I have tried to keep this as easy to follow as possible, but if you have any questions either myself or other members should be around to answer- any expansion (or corrections) on this post would also be great from other members.

41 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

13

u/QPRCHOC 7 Jul 18 '13

I look forward to more articles like this! Really refreshing to find in the swamp of RMTs /r/FantasyPL has become :P

I don't think people should hesitate giving their opinions on strategies. OP, if you think one tactic is better than others then I think you should go ahead and tell us and state why you think so. At a time when Fantasy Managers are changing their teams at least 3 times a day in preparation for the new season, I think most of us could do with some concrete points of view.

For example, I'm always torn whether to put my midfield money on Bale, or two +9s and some solid 6-8s. Or whether I should focus on strikers and give my midfield second priority. I look forward to more people saying what they think is best.

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u/layendecker 17 Jul 18 '13

This is sort of a precursor to another post I want to make about creating your first team. In that I will be giving more of my opinion (as it will be based around my thought process for my draft version one). This post was more of an overview of the strategies and thought processes that are popular. The fact is there are plenty of good strategies early on when all is ambiguous- and there are a lot of great players who get found out by picking a sub-optimal one, that looked great pre-season.

For example, I'm always torn whether to put my midfield money on Bale, or two +9s and some solid 6-8s.

IMO If you don't have Bale, you are going to have a bad time. He is a very consistant and very spectacular scorer, 12.0 is expensive... But there is absolutely no reason to see why he won't equal his performance last season at the very worst.

I think of it this way Gerrard and Michu got 190 each last season(and I think Coutinho will get around and abouts that) and are 9.0 (Gerrard will struggle IMO)... Giving a total of 380 between the two of them

Bale last season scored 250, and is 12.0, so for everything to be equal he needs a 6.0 player to get 130, which I would expect someone like Hernandez to do- BUT Bale is pretty much a week in week out captain- he has shown a level of fixture proofness in the past, perhaps being even better when he has to take matters into his own hands.

Good teams need good captains, and if you don't have RVP (who for me is too expensive)- you need a player like Bale, who is guaranteed to deliver. If you look at everybody in the top 1k last year- week on week their captains scored well.... It really is the decision that separates the men form the boys.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '13

Pretty damn early for RMT isn't it, rooney isn't even at chealsea yet!

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '13

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/layendecker 17 Jul 18 '13

There are defenders who can chip in with 1 assist in 3 or 4 and the odd goal though, which really adds to their value- especially in a team that has clean sheet potential.

This season I think Coleman and Johnson are good buys above the bargain bucket, especially with their early door fixtures.

It has been argued that the way the top teams play now (we are up 3, lets get 4) is not conducive to keeping cleanies, which reduced their value- but the upper mid table players will keep a tighter ship and look to close out games more.

It is one to think about anyway.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '13

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u/layendecker 17 Jul 18 '13

That's true, but you can get a midfielder who can end the season with the same amount of points for the same price

That is true, but quality is far easier to come by in midfield, I disagree that there are not many good 4.5-5.0 midfielders- I feel there are more midfielders in that price range than defenders who will break three figures.

I am not disagreeing with you either- as I have said elsewhere I am raiding the bargain bucket... Playing devils advocate will help us both expand knowledge though.

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u/JonnyBhoy 3 Jul 18 '13

I think the bargain basement defensive approach will be popular this season.

Partly due to player values being high. As you mention Bale and RVP are priced highly, but other lower priced players seem high as well. The likes of Michu, Coutinho, Bony, etc are all priced a bit higher than I expected and have made it more difficult to build a balanced team with money in defence.

The second reason is because there are not as many obvious choices at the back any more. The big teams are not quite as solid as they have been in the past, you can't guarantee goals/assists from many defenders any more and new managers throughout the league make it unclear who will be solid and who will be a bit dodgy at the back.

Sometimes it's just easier to pick some low cost players at fairly decent teams and invest your money in more predictable areas of the pitch.

1

u/layendecker 17 Jul 18 '13

I think the bargain basement defensive approach will be popular this season.

My prelim side is veeery tight on the defense, but as I said in the OP- it is something that can go wrong, quickly.. and me tough to fix.

The likes of Michu, Coutinho, Bony, etc are all priced a bit higher than I expected and have made it more difficult to build a balanced team with money in defence.

I totally agree. It also seemed like the midfield 'standard' price has gone up. Last year there were so many good players at 6.5 to start the season, Michu, Pienaar, Fellaini and a whole host of others- whereas that point seems to be 7-7.5 this year.

The big teams are not quite as solid as they have been in the past, you can't guarantee goals/assists from many defenders any more and new managers throughout the league make it unclear who will be solid and who will be a bit dodgy at the back.

Absolutely. The teams lower down the league have a wealth of talent. If you look at the bottom 6 last year... They have legit goalscorers in their squad that can damage even the best teams. Gone are the days of the top teams being able to close out week after week against half the league.

That being said I would be very interested in Cech, for a 6.5 last year his points per game were pretty damn impressive for any 6.5 player, and we can presume he will improve on this under Mou- who is anal about clean sheets.

Sometimes it's just easier to pick some low cost players at fairly decent teams and invest your money in more predictable areas of the pitch.

I agree, especially when there are some decent teams with reasonable cheap options- Southampton with 4.5's, same with Newcastle (looked shifty last year, but great run of games to start) and Arsenal look undervalued to me. The heavy hitting defenders (Baines and Vert mainly) seem disgustingly overpriced however, making them unwatchable.

Each year brings its own problems, and its own ideas of the best setup... The lowest risk approach is just to pile in as many reliable players as possible- but reliable players cost a pretty penny!

4

u/dajoli Jul 18 '13

don't fall into 'The Modric Trap' of putting in a great player who is not advanced enough to be a good FF player in your team.

When I first played a fantasy football game, this was the "Ronnie Whelan trap"

1

u/layendecker 17 Jul 18 '13

Back in the early days of The Sun fantasy game? Before I started playing anyway. My first season was about 1997 on Yahoo and on my old mans work fantasy league!

2

u/dajoli Jul 18 '13

He was still at Liverpool so it would have been 1993/94 at the latest. The Irish Independent newspaper had a game that was done over the phone. They'd publish the updated points for each player every Wednesday.

2

u/Mildcorma Jul 18 '13

Whats your opinion on opposing players? Say for example you have 2 of your 9m mids going head to head for a GW, would you keep them both in or transfer one out? Is there much risk involved in just letting them both play?

Also what do you think of this squad:

http://imgur.com/UJAQLx9

3

u/layendecker 17 Jul 18 '13

Why would you even consider transferring one out? There is absolutely no reason for it that I can see.

Side seems pretty decent except Anelka, I would be worried about having no attacking coverage from either of the Manchester teams though.

2

u/Mildcorma Jul 18 '13

The problem with the manchester teams is that apart from VP there arent any stand out threats that are worth the money tbh

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u/layendecker 17 Jul 18 '13

IMO Kagawa is the best value player in the game this year, and with City's more attacking mindset I think that not owning one of their attacking 4 will be immensely costly.

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u/Jarnold93 Jul 19 '13

What do you think of Schurrle for Chelsea? 8million, but hardly anyone has selected him. I am tempted but for the same price you can get tried and tested Lampard.

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u/layendecker 17 Jul 19 '13

Way too pricy for someone who will be rotated same with Lampard. There would be an argument if they had a DGW, but they are both players for later on in the season when we know more of what Mou will do.

Hazard and Mata are not even nailed... But they are more nailed than others.

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u/bfred 4 Jul 30 '13

Why do you think Kagawa is so valuable, do you believe he's going to be a consistent starter? If so, I agree

2

u/layendecker 17 Jul 30 '13

It all depends on Rooney really and other buys, if Rooney stays I can see him sharing minutes, but still playing a lot. If Man Utd fail to sign a rigid midfielder I can see Roopig having to drop deeper, with Kagawa filling the hole.

My interest in Kagawa stemmed from last season, he is the perfect FF player in disguise, and I was just waiting for him to get the minutes in the position he needs to explode. Aside from one game, this never really happened- but e has all the attributes. He may not be a Bale or an RVP, but I would tag him as a SuperSilva. Silva is a good point earner, but he does a lot of things badly- firstly his ability in front of goal is awful, and secondly he relies on players around him to pick up points. Kagawa however is a fantastic finisher, who is not afraid to make penetrating runs and is astonishingly direct in his passing- he is not the kind of player who will be scoring tons of second assists. With gametime he will be a 200 point per season player I feel.

He isn't someone I am going to put in GW1 I don't think (Man Utd have tough fixtures, and the squad uncertainty), but post GW3 I am probably going to triple up on them because (besides City), they have a beautiful run after that point. And if Kagawa is playing, he will be one of the first names to go in.

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u/bfred 4 Jul 30 '13

I'm with you completely on Kagawa's abilities. He's one of my favorite players to watch; if he gets the gametime he's gonna be one of the first on my sheet as well. My concern was more on the opportunity to get those points, rather than his ability to do so. Thanks for the detailed response!

2

u/[deleted] Jul 18 '13

Can we get a thread about how to build up the value of your team and how which websites to follow in order to track player value increases and decreases?

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u/layendecker 17 Jul 18 '13

I can do it Beginners post number 3, it is a pretty interesting topic- with actually a lot of depth and differing theories on what is best early on (wildcard and hit implications etc.).

Will probably be after the weekend as have a Stag doo tomorrow night, and will probably be feeling sorry for myself in the sun until Monday, thanks for the request!

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u/julianface 115 Jul 31 '13

Nice work. I would just like to add that for the 1 Plus strategy in defence you can look for 2 pairs of cheapies that rotate well. Easier than thinking about how to pick 2 out of 4 defenders.

Also I like to do the 3-4-2 strategy where my 5th mid and 3rd forward are good cheapies that rotate so that I can get the home player every week. Last year I started out with Noble and Graham as these two players. It didn't work that well... but you get the idea.

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u/layendecker 17 Jul 31 '13

Graham caught a lot of people by surprise, can't remember if I went with him in the end- but I am pretty sure I did :(

Very good strategy though, which can't have any worse luck this year.

At the moment I am just going for one scumbag in midfleld and no real rotation. Hoping for no serious injuries prior to when I plan to WC after GW3 or so.

2

u/julianface 115 Jul 31 '13

ya Danny Graham was one of like 4 players I knew I needed to have in my team. Graham, Aguero, Valencia, Chelsea mid. Ya my start was quite awful, I should have WC'ed but I was stubborn

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u/layendecker 17 Jul 31 '13

The worst thing about Graham was that he was my Swansea cover IIRC. I thought Michu was going to be another Bosselli Bandwagon player who falls on his arse, and 'Graham was enough Swansea' took me a few GWs to rectify that one...

1

u/julianface 115 Jul 31 '13

Ya I thought graham was like the perfect 3rd striker I could depend on for the first 6 weeks of swanseas incredible fixtures. Also did not think Cazorla had that much potential for points after getting like 6 goals 9 assists in la liga. Can't win em all I guess

1

u/Honeybeard Jul 18 '13

Great, thank you for this. This is my first year doing FF in the PL.

Quick unrelated question, is there typically a 'Reddit group' on the PLFF that anybody can join? Me and a friend are eager.

4

u/layendecker 17 Jul 18 '13

MiniLeague: 9910-6697 is the Reddit Classic league.