Southampton’s Sadio Mané is a Fantasy Tease

Oct 28

#FPL OCD – Gameweek 10: Coin Toss Decisions

by @JohnOC1991

Give John a follow on twitter at @JohnOC1991

It was easy, in the wake of a few solid, and one excellent, weeks, to forget just what a frustrating season this can be. Just as it was all seemingly falling into place, a week arrives to bring back all of the feelings of the opening stretch. 43 points is simply not good enough, but again, I am left slightly perplexed as, on paper, my team is still not suffering.

The strangest aspect was that the area of my side that caused me the most concern, my defence, suddenly popped up with points all over the place. Dawson and Nyom delivered 14 in my backline, while Robert Huth, sat on my bench, reaped the rewards of Leicester’s first clean sheet of the season. It was the rest of the squad that struggled. De Bruyne, Martial, Pelle and Sanchez scraped together 9 points, and once again, I got my captaincy wrong. For the second week in a row, I was left with a 50/50 decision involving Sanchez, and while I erroneously opted for Pelle last week, this week I selected Sanchez over Vardy, switching the armband less than 10 minutes before the deadline. While the loss of 3 points will not define a season, that is 11 points lost from toss a coin decisions, and I now around the 35k mark, when the right calls would have left me firmly in the top 20k.

My week was topped off by a moment of jubilation – Mané SCORES!

Very quickly followed by utter deflation. Mané SENT OFF

Sadio Mane, with a couple of minutes to spare, looked to have saved my game week, before from nowhere, he picked up 2 bookings. While it is fortuitous that he misses no league games, those 3 points (plus potential bonus points disappearing) add to my woes. It quickly becomes a game that leaves you wondering “what if”, an all too familiar feeling from the early stage of the season.

Having saved my FT last week, I have some room to manoeuvre. The extremely promising Martial has been shunted out to the left wing to accommodate a lumbering striker who has looked like a Sunday League player for the past year. I have not seen Rooney have a decent, let alone good, game in as long as I can remember, yet there he is, untouchable and undroppable, living off his obscene contract, the captaincy, and his past glories. It is clear that no manager has the balls, or for whatever reason the option, to drop him, so the excellent Martial will be wasted out of position while Wayne wheezes around the opposition half, with all of the nous and unpredictability of a Mills & Boon novel. With any other scenario, that number 9 spot would be Martial’s, but it is clear to anyone who follows British football than Rooney now plays regardless of how the depths his performances reach.

Therefore, even with their upcoming run, Martial out is a necessary move. My defence, despite their good display this week, needs freshening up, so I believe I know my 2 moves already. I am still weighing up the possibilities of Lukaku and Smalling, but I think I will be ditching Francis and bringing in Virgil Van Dijk, who is an attacking powerhouse from his centre back position, and has an excellent run on the horizon, alongside the rejuvenated Harry Kane. I have been critical since last season of the massive overhyping of Kane, but he is, when in form, a very good goalscorer. He too has promising fixtures ahead, and this week has the most enticing of games – Aston Villa at home. I may well give him the armband.

So, onwards we go then. This week, if nothing else, has served as a reminder that this is not a season in which to get comfortable. Just when I thought I had a foothold, the game has pulled me back a couple of steps, making me reassess once again. The fixtures in my squad look good, and hopefully I can arrest this mini slump and make headway once more.

Written by @JohnOC1991

John went to University, finished his degree, and got a good job in the City of London. He is now in the process of throwing it all away in favour of FPL, a game with no notable rewards for success. He firmly believes this to be the correct decision.