Latest / FPL Pod / S9 Ep6: FPL Pod: Time to Triple Captain Haaland?

Transcript

S9 Ep6: FPL Pod: Time to Triple Captain Haaland? · FPL Pod

0:00
Speaker 1: It's Thursday, it's that time again and this FPL pod
0:03
Speaker 1: is only for people who got in the 100 club
0:05
Speaker 1: so sorry Jules, you're off.
0:08
Speaker 2: I expected something like that, well done to you too.
0:12
Speaker 1: And of course I'm only joking because if you're listening
0:14
Speaker 1: to this as well and you didn't get in the
0:16
Speaker 1: 100 club do not worry but it's not often myself
0:18
Speaker 1: and Sam can brag. We both got exactly the same
0:21
Speaker 1: number of points in the end despite playing slightly different
0:23
Speaker 1: players but yeah it was a good game week and
0:25
Speaker 1: I think it was a good game week for a
0:27
Speaker 1: lot of players. So if you listen to this, I
0:29
Speaker 1: do hope you had a good game week as well.
0:30
Speaker 1: Welcome back, Kelly, Sam and Jules, as you just heard,
0:33
Speaker 1: back with you. And we'll start on the positive, Sam,
0:35
Speaker 1: of your game week. Hurrah, 100 Club. I always love
0:39
Speaker 1: 100 Club and I didn't have many of them last year.
0:41
Speaker 1: So we enjoyed this one. And for the first time
0:43
Speaker 1: in maybe forever, I picked the right goalkeeper as well.
0:45
Speaker 1: So that was nice, despite the fact that you only
0:47
Speaker 1: got one, at least the one on the bench got zero.
0:50
Speaker 1: But another week was where I kind of felt like
0:52
Speaker 1: I probably should have played the bench boost. That's two
0:54
Speaker 1: weeks in a row now where I've gone, I probably
0:56
Speaker 1: should have played that chip. Unlike you, I made the
1:01
Speaker 1: wrong decision with Sangari versus Calvert-Lewin. And I said to you,
1:05
Speaker 1: didn't I, beforehand that one of us was going to
1:06
Speaker 1: get it wrong. I posted on Instagram saying how nervous
1:09
Speaker 1: I was about it. And Sam replied and was like,
1:10
Speaker 1: I've done the opposite. So one of us is going
1:11
Speaker 1: to be happy. And I thought, well, it won't be me.
1:13
Speaker 1: And for once it was.
1:15
Speaker 3: It was, yeah. And it wasn't the end of the
1:17
Speaker 3: world in the end, but obviously I was on holiday
1:19
Speaker 3: last week and it flashed up that Leeds had scored
1:22
Speaker 3: and I was like, oh, it's going to be Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
1:25
Speaker 3: And my son was just like, don't worry, mum, it
1:27
Speaker 3: won't be. I was like, it will be. It will
1:29
Speaker 3: definitely be Calvert-Lewin. And then within a couple of minutes,
1:31
Speaker 3: it came through that it was him. And Max was like, oh, mum,
1:34
Speaker 3: you've been really unlucky. I was like, that's not unlucky.
1:36
Speaker 3: That's just stupid on my part to not play him.
1:38
Speaker 3: But It was what it was. At least Sangari got
1:41
Speaker 3: the four points because he picked up Defcon. So it
1:42
Speaker 3: didn't feel quite as bad as it would have done otherwise.
1:46
Speaker 3: But otherwise, yeah, a really good week. Captain and Bruno
1:48
Speaker 3: obviously was the highlight. 46 points out of him. Again,
1:52
Speaker 3: I can't help but feel like we did sort of discuss,
1:54
Speaker 3: didn't we, in pre-season that maybe the triple captain on
1:57
Speaker 3: him in game week two might be there. And I
1:59
Speaker 3: think because of the performance in game week one, very
2:02
Speaker 3: few people went there. And there were 34,000 in the
2:04
Speaker 3: end that triple captained him. I think that would have
2:05
Speaker 3: been a lot higher if he'd got something in game
2:07
Speaker 3: week one. But everyone else doing quite a good job.
2:10
Speaker 3: Calafuri and Mbombe with their 11 points each. Got a
2:13
Speaker 3: bit lucky with Thomas going off just before the clean
2:16
Speaker 3: sheet went and then also picking up the two bonus
2:18
Speaker 3: points for an eight-pointer. That was nice. So Bozzola and
2:21
Speaker 3: Sangari with their DEFCONs at four each and then Jalpejo
2:24
Speaker 3: and Haaland. Solis, the disappointment going off at half-time for
2:28
Speaker 3: a zero-pointer. I know we'll talk about him a bit
2:29
Speaker 3: more later, but yeah, definitely a bit disappointing watching the
2:32
Speaker 3: Arsenal game on Monday night to see that happen. And
2:34
Speaker 3: then my two Spurs boys with their one-point each points.
2:38
Speaker 3: I wasn't really expecting a clean sheet anyway. I was
2:41
Speaker 3: just hoping for Defcon and Van Heck missed it by
2:42
Speaker 3: two again on the back of same last week. But yeah,
2:46
Speaker 3: the bench, Calvert-Lewin, Roden, who obviously went off injured and
2:49
Speaker 3: then Leif David, who scored, was definitely bench boostable, but
2:53
Speaker 3: never mind.
2:54
Speaker 1: Jules, your benching headaches continue. Had you benched or sorted
2:57
Speaker 1: your bench out a bit better, you would have been
2:59
Speaker 1: in the 100 club because that first sub is painful.
3:02
Speaker 2: Yes, it's Pascal Gross with 13 points. I didn't expect
3:06
Speaker 2: him to have that kind of game against Chelsea anyway.
3:09
Speaker 2: And the whole game week, obviously, was all done, I think,
3:13
Speaker 2: to the right captain in Bruno. If you're captain Haaland,
3:16
Speaker 2: you're probably a bit happier than if, like me, you're
3:19
Speaker 2: captain Joao Pedro. Although Joao Pedro had a decent game.
3:21
Speaker 2: He had nine points. That's 18. He's great. The problem
3:24
Speaker 2: is Bruno had 23, as Sam said, which makes him
3:27
Speaker 2: 46 if you're captain him. And that's the difference here
3:29
Speaker 2: because I'm 14 points behind you two. I'm still on 94,
3:34
Speaker 2: which is great. But I would have, obviously, if you had...
3:36
Speaker 2: 23 and take away the nine from Joel Pedro as captain,
3:41
Speaker 2: I would have had a much better game week. So
3:43
Speaker 2: it's still okay. I was happy with Joel Pedro as captain.
3:46
Speaker 2: I expected Haaland to do well, but I thought Joel
3:48
Speaker 2: Pedro would do well as well at home against Brighton.
3:51
Speaker 2: And it's just the Bruno Fernandes. I just hadn't seen
3:54
Speaker 2: this one coming off such a massive hole for him.
3:56
Speaker 2: I thought he would do well against Ipswich and United
3:59
Speaker 2: as a whole. And despite the first half not being
4:02
Speaker 2: that great, the second half, he just ran riot. And
4:05
Speaker 2: Great for the people who captain him, like you two.
4:07
Speaker 2: It's great when you see that happening. When it's not
4:10
Speaker 2: your captain, you're a bit gutted.
4:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, so as it stands in our league at the moment,
4:14
Speaker 1: Jules is still ahead on 1.66. Sam's on 1.64 and
4:18
Speaker 1: I'm on 1.60. I'm very much a don't look at
4:20
Speaker 1: the league table when it comes to the Premier League
4:22
Speaker 1: or the Championship for my club until the end of September.
4:25
Speaker 1: But that's where we are standing at the moment. Just
4:27
Speaker 1: six points difference. I'll quickly run through. In fact, no,
4:30
Speaker 1: let's quickly talk through the main headlines because we've touched
4:33
Speaker 1: upon some of them there. um I think after game
4:36
Speaker 1: week one and being worried Sam about Erling Haaland I
4:39
Speaker 1: think our worries were probably put to bed on Friday
4:41
Speaker 1: night and it was nice that they were put to
4:43
Speaker 1: bed early in the game week I think yeah it.
4:46
Speaker 3: Was also one of those though I think Kels where
4:48
Speaker 3: you obviously Haaland's always in the captaincy conversation isn't he
4:51
Speaker 3: so when you're looking at the game week and you're
4:53
Speaker 3: thinking about who's captain Haaland's obviously always part of that
4:56
Speaker 3: and I was looking at that game against Crystal Palace
4:58
Speaker 3: who have started the season not great to be honest
5:01
Speaker 3: I was expecting a bit better from them in the
5:03
Speaker 3: early weeks, thinking, well, that is a really good opportunity
5:05
Speaker 3: to go with a captain who has a good fixture.
5:10
Speaker 3: But I wasn't sure of the performance in game week
5:12
Speaker 3: one and the fact that it was the early game.
5:14
Speaker 3: So I think it kind of works in one of
5:15
Speaker 3: two ways, doesn't it? So it was good to see
5:17
Speaker 3: him back on the score sheet again. Good to see
5:19
Speaker 3: a good performance from Manchester City, especially heading into game
5:22
Speaker 3: week three when they've got a really good fixture. I
5:24
Speaker 3: think a lot of us will be looking at that
5:26
Speaker 3: and thinking, how do I enhance my investment in Manchester
5:30
Speaker 3: City and for those that don't have Harlan and there
5:32
Speaker 3: are a few that kind of decided to go against
5:35
Speaker 3: owning Harlan in the early weeks of the season based
5:38
Speaker 3: on the performance in the community shield I think you'll
5:40
Speaker 3: be looking at this fixture that he has coming up
5:42
Speaker 3: in game week three thinking I feel a bit uneasy
5:45
Speaker 3: about not having him moving forward and maybe trying to
5:48
Speaker 3: find a route to him.
5:50
Speaker 1: Yeah I think a lot of people are going to
5:51
Speaker 1: be thinking that and I do wonder if there's going
5:53
Speaker 1: to be a bit of a shift with your premiums
5:55
Speaker 1: depending on on who you've got Cherky, Jules, any opportunity
5:59
Speaker 1: for you to talk about him?
6:00
Speaker 2: Do we all need him? Yeah, I mean, second half
6:04
Speaker 2: outstanding with the two goals, first half a bit disappointing,
6:07
Speaker 2: himself too, frustrated by his own level and telling Maresca half-time,
6:11
Speaker 2: don't take me off now, give me five minutes and
6:13
Speaker 2: I'll show you. And that's all he needed, really. That
6:15
Speaker 2: first goal is a wonder goal that only him, I think,
6:17
Speaker 2: in the Premier League can score. So, he's there. He's had, remember,
6:20
Speaker 2: a really good... game week one, where he came off
6:24
Speaker 2: the bench and gave the two assists for the two
6:27
Speaker 2: late goals against Bournemouth. This was, from the start, this
6:30
Speaker 2: was even better. And I think he's going to keep
6:32
Speaker 2: getting better and better the more the fitter he is, really.
6:35
Speaker 2: So I can't see Maresca taking him off for the
6:39
Speaker 2: game this weekend at all. And like Sam said, it's
6:41
Speaker 2: a great fixture. It's a home fixture too for City.
6:44
Speaker 2: And I think it's the right time, especially with Arsenal
6:47
Speaker 2: facing Chelsea. So the other two two teams with two
6:53
Speaker 2: wins in the first two games. So at some point,
6:55
Speaker 2: somebody of them is going to drop points. So it's
6:58
Speaker 2: a great opportunity for City to probably go top of
7:00
Speaker 2: the table on their own. So I expect a great
7:03
Speaker 2: Schalke at the weekend. I expect a great Haaland at
7:05
Speaker 2: the weekend. We also saw Phil Foden playing with Schalke
7:08
Speaker 2: and doing quite well and assisting goals too. So it's
7:12
Speaker 2: probably maybe the right time before this game to think
7:14
Speaker 2: about your City assets.
7:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, it does feel that way, doesn't it, Sam, in
7:19
Speaker 1: terms of Because I know a lot of people went
7:20
Speaker 1: with Semenya at the beginning of the season as well.
7:23
Speaker 1: It feels a bit like Haaland maybe now isn't enough,
7:25
Speaker 1: particularly with this fixture on the horizon, though it is
7:28
Speaker 1: the Manchester derby a week later.
7:30
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's really difficult with Manchester City because obviously you're...
7:34
Speaker 3: I'm looking at the fixtures that they have in game
7:35
Speaker 3: week three and thinking, well, I really want to be
7:38
Speaker 3: more invested than I am in just Haaland right now.
7:41
Speaker 3: But then equally, I'm looking at the fixtures that Arsenal
7:44
Speaker 3: and Chelsea have beyond... game week three and thinking well
7:47
Speaker 3: if I could just save the transfer then I can
7:50
Speaker 3: invest more heavily in those two that follow so it
7:52
Speaker 3: is a bit of a balance and a bit of
7:54
Speaker 3: a juggle at the minute I guess that's why we
7:55
Speaker 3: have the wild card as well though right so that
7:57
Speaker 3: we can play a bit of kind of in and
8:00
Speaker 3: out play the hokey-cokey with these players invest in somebody
8:03
Speaker 3: for a week because they've got a really good fixture
8:05
Speaker 3: and have we done that with some of the players
8:07
Speaker 3: we don't.
8:07
Speaker 1: Do that as managers very often though do we it
8:09
Speaker 1: feels a bit weird doing that.
8:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think historically that's maybe because we've only,
8:14
Speaker 3: like we've had, when we've had less of the chips
8:16
Speaker 3: to play, maybe we've been a bit more reluctant to
8:19
Speaker 3: kind of play havoc with our team. And I think
8:23
Speaker 3: it feels very luxury to be able to bring in
8:25
Speaker 3: a player for one game week and then sell them
8:27
Speaker 3: again for the week after. But if you've had a
8:30
Speaker 3: good start to the season, if your team is set
8:33
Speaker 3: up and you're not looking at your team thinking, oh
8:34
Speaker 3: my goodness, I've got fires everywhere that I need.
8:36
Speaker 1: To put out.
8:37
Speaker 3: Then maybe this is exactly how we should be using
8:39
Speaker 3: our transfers in the early week to target the teams
8:42
Speaker 3: and the players that have got good fixtures and then
8:45
Speaker 3: know that we can switch them out later on. Because
8:47
Speaker 3: I think there is becoming a bit of a template
8:50
Speaker 3: across the rest of the team that we're all kind
8:52
Speaker 3: of happy with. So if you can use those positions
8:55
Speaker 3: to really focus in on getting the teams with the
8:58
Speaker 3: best fixture for that week, maybe that's a really good
9:01
Speaker 3: use of the transfers that we don't normally do, but
9:03
Speaker 3: perhaps we should do more often.
9:05
Speaker 1: Are any of us planning on shifting our premiums, Jules?
9:11
Speaker 2: It's really interesting because I think we discussed the fixtures
9:16
Speaker 2: after the Arsenal-Chelsea game on this Sunday. And if you
9:18
Speaker 2: want to add Cole Palmer to Joel Pedro or Rodgers
9:21
Speaker 2: to Pedro or Rodgers to Palmer, it'd probably be a
9:24
Speaker 2: good time to do that after the game on Sunday afternoon. Bruno.
9:30
Speaker 2: Maybe we had a little worry after the first game
9:32
Speaker 2: against Hull, but after what he did against Ipswich, you
9:34
Speaker 2: don't want to not be with Bruno, really. Even in
9:37
Speaker 2: the derby against City, even, I don't know, away at Everton,
9:40
Speaker 2: even in those kind of tougher games than Ipswich, I
9:44
Speaker 2: still think that he's a must-have and he's going to
9:47
Speaker 2: get better, better and better. I think because United are
9:49
Speaker 2: going to get better and better too, collectively. So it's
9:53
Speaker 2: a bit tricky because Saka is on good form too
9:55
Speaker 2: and we can talk about Arsenal being really solid against Villa,
9:58
Speaker 2: be more of the Arsenal of Last time. season in
10:00
Speaker 2: that kind of defensive mindset and being super solid and
10:04
Speaker 2: not giving anything away to the opposition not allowing any
10:07
Speaker 2: short target for a team like Villa at Villa Park
10:09
Speaker 2: super impressive but yeah you still have a great performance
10:12
Speaker 2: from Calafiori and from Saka and it's two two and
10:15
Speaker 2: two for Saka now Okay, Chelsea's a tough game, but
10:18
Speaker 2: after that, Saka in your team would make a lot
10:20
Speaker 2: of sense, I think. So maybe just not for this
10:24
Speaker 2: game week, but I think after that, and I expect
10:27
Speaker 2: maybe a few people to already have in mind to
10:29
Speaker 2: play their wild cards after that Arsenal-Chelsea game. And I
10:33
Speaker 2: think that then we'll probably be a lot of people
10:35
Speaker 2: bringing Saka in, bringing Palmer in as well. And I
10:38
Speaker 2: think that'd be the right thing to do. How you
10:40
Speaker 2: can all have them in your team, that's another story though.
10:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, and Saka's an interesting one because obviously I had
10:46
Speaker 1: him in my team for a lot of pre-season, desperately
10:48
Speaker 1: wanted to keep him. But in the end, solace felt
10:50
Speaker 1: like a bit of a gift and a gift too
10:52
Speaker 1: hard to ignore. And after game week one, I was
10:54
Speaker 1: pretty happy with that. I wasn't so happy after the weekend, Sam.
10:59
Speaker 2: Don't mean either.
11:01
Speaker 3: I was not a happy bunny. Kind of ruined the
11:03
Speaker 3: final night of my holiday, watching him disappear off at
11:06
Speaker 3: halftime and then not come back. I was like, what
11:08
Speaker 3: are you doing, man? But he didn't have a particularly
11:10
Speaker 3: good match, did he? Obviously got the booking. In that
11:13
Speaker 3: game on Monday night, he didn't complete a single cross,
11:15
Speaker 3: didn't complete a take on, didn't have a pass into
11:17
Speaker 3: the Villa box. And at a time when we were
11:19
Speaker 3: all expecting, I think we had high expectations because of
11:22
Speaker 3: what we'd seen from Villa in game week one.
11:24
Speaker 1: We were all thinking, well, Arsenal are going to go there.
11:26
Speaker 1: I think Jules has kind of been talking him up to.
11:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, Jules does, doesn't he?
11:30
Speaker 2: You were super happy with Tullis after match day one.
11:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I also think that, you know, you go
11:35
Speaker 3: into a game where Villa have just conceded four goals
11:38
Speaker 3: to Brighton. It's the champions. We're expecting a massive thing
11:42
Speaker 3: on a Monday night. I was expecting a big return
11:44
Speaker 3: from my Arsenal assets. And so when Solis not only
11:48
Speaker 3: doesn't score or get an assist, but gets taken off
11:51
Speaker 3: at halftime for a zero pointer because he's been booked,
11:54
Speaker 3: it was really disappointing. Now, he wasn't having a very
11:57
Speaker 3: good game. Ezehu came on to replace him, did play
12:00
Speaker 3: really well. It is a little bit of a concern
12:02
Speaker 3: for me now moving forward. But equally, at this point,
12:07
Speaker 3: given what we've just been saying about the fixture that
12:08
Speaker 3: Arsenal have up next, I'm not going to do anything
12:11
Speaker 3: about it right now. I'll wait and see. Would I
12:13
Speaker 3: like to have Saka instead? Yeah, but then equally, he's
12:18
Speaker 3: a lot more money. And the same with Cole Palmer.
12:20
Speaker 3: Would I like to have Cole Palmer in there?
12:21
Speaker 2: Yes.
12:21
Speaker 3: But as George just said, it's virtually impossible to have
12:24
Speaker 3: all of them. You can't fit a Haaland, a Bruno,
12:26
Speaker 3: a Palmer, a Saka, and stay heavily invested in the
12:29
Speaker 3: defence all into your team. It just doesn't fit. So
12:33
Speaker 3: there has to be some compromises. Now, Whether the compromise
12:36
Speaker 3: is Rodgers over Palmer at Chelsea or a different Arsenal
12:40
Speaker 3: midfielder over Saka at Arsenal, that's probably a compromise that
12:45
Speaker 3: you're going to have to decide on. But whether I'll
12:46
Speaker 3: decide on that ahead of Arsenal versus Chelsea this weekend,
12:49
Speaker 3: almost certainly not, because I'd rather have that game.
12:52
Speaker 1: That fixture is a real problem, isn't it? I think
12:55
Speaker 1: we'd all be making a lot of fixtures. Arsenal-Chelsea this
12:58
Speaker 1: weekend and the Manchester Derby next weekend. I almost wish
13:01
Speaker 1: they were the same weekend so we could get them
13:02
Speaker 1: out of the way. They're the tricky fixtures and then
13:05
Speaker 1: we can just go into game week four with all
13:08
Speaker 1: our knowledge and knowing those fixtures are out of the way.
13:10
Speaker 1: But alas, yeah, that is a bit of a problem.
13:13
Speaker 1: There's lots of players we want and there's not enough
13:15
Speaker 1: money to go around as well. A few other headlines
13:17
Speaker 1: from the game week before we get into... More of
13:20
Speaker 1: the league and more of our dilemmas. Rodon coming off injured. Jules,
13:24
Speaker 1: you don't have him, do you? No. Sam, you and
13:27
Speaker 1: I do. That's a real frustration, isn't it? Because I
13:30
Speaker 1: brought him in with how Leeds were looking as well
13:33
Speaker 1: to kind of play in most weeks, really, being honest.
13:35
Speaker 1: And yeah, that causes a bit of a problem in
13:37
Speaker 1: my back line. I imagine it does for you too.
13:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, he was my fourth. So it's not the end
13:43
Speaker 3: of the world. I can leave him on the bench.
13:45
Speaker 3: But equally, I liked playing him because Leeds have been
13:47
Speaker 3: playing really well. It's your fourth, but you've got a
13:49
Speaker 3: Spurs defender. Yeah, he's the third. More on him later.
13:54
Speaker 3: But Joe Roden, I think, it is really frustrating. It's
13:57
Speaker 3: a really frustrating one because I bought him.
14:00
Speaker 1: I'm getting those jibes in while I can because I
14:02
Speaker 1: think Spurs are going to come good.
14:03
Speaker 3: It's just funny doing it while I can.
14:06
Speaker 2: No, we can. Even when they come good, we can
14:07
Speaker 2: still have a go.
14:08
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised, Jules, to be honest.
14:11
Speaker 3: But Joe Roden is really annoying because I really enjoyed
14:16
Speaker 3: owning him. I was expecting to hold him for most
14:18
Speaker 3: of this first half of the season, to be honest.
14:20
Speaker 3: I'm expecting these to have a really, really good season.
14:22
Speaker 3: So to have a problem that I have to deal
14:25
Speaker 3: with now doesn't feel great, especially when the manager's talking
14:29
Speaker 3: about him not being able to run. That's a bit
14:32
Speaker 3: of an issue when you're a footballer. So yeah, probably
14:35
Speaker 3: an issue I've got to deal with. I don't think
14:37
Speaker 3: I'll deal with it this week. I think I still
14:38
Speaker 3: value the time. to make a decision on where I go,
14:41
Speaker 3: because actually I think possibly dropping him down to a 4.0
14:45
Speaker 3: and freeing up a bit of money is probably the
14:47
Speaker 3: right thing. But then there's an Arsenal defender who, if
14:50
Speaker 3: he starts playing at 4.4, maybe I'd like to go
14:54
Speaker 3: there instead.
14:55
Speaker 1: Yes, Esri Konza is an interesting one, actually. Mr. Arsenal jewels.
14:59
Speaker 3: Any insight there?
14:59
Speaker 1: Because, of course, Mosquera went off in that match at
15:02
Speaker 1: Aston Villa. Konza came on. He's had a price fall,
15:05
Speaker 1: which I think a few of us were hoping would
15:07
Speaker 1: happen as well. Could we see Konza coming to the
15:09
Speaker 1: Arsenal team nice and early for us, you reckon?
15:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think it was too serious for Mosquera,
15:15
Speaker 2: more precaution than anything else. But then there's Chelsea at
15:19
Speaker 2: the weekend and if Mosquera is not 100% and you've
15:23
Speaker 2: got Konza there ready, available, who's now played a little
15:26
Speaker 2: bit against Villa, had a great reception. I'm not sure
15:29
Speaker 2: he knew what to expect from his own fans, but
15:32
Speaker 2: it was lovely to see that some fans actually are
15:34
Speaker 2: happy for you to get the move that you wanted.
15:37
Speaker 2: And I think with just no game, it's not like
15:40
Speaker 2: if they played Champions League in midweek too. So now
15:42
Speaker 2: he'd had the whole week to prepare for Chelsea if
15:44
Speaker 2: he plays. And I wouldn't be surprised if Konca started
15:47
Speaker 2: on Sunday for sure.
15:48
Speaker 1: But you wouldn't bring him in though, would you, this
15:49
Speaker 1: week for Chelsea? Or would you before there's a price rise?
15:52
Speaker 1: I guess that's the problem.
15:54
Speaker 2: Yes, because then very quickly... Because as.
15:56
Speaker 1: Soon as a 4.4 Arsenal defender plays, he's going to
16:00
Speaker 1: rise again, isn't he, Sam?
16:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
16:03
Speaker 3: And that's the thing, isn't it? We were hoping that
16:04
Speaker 3: he might drop. But as soon as he gets a start,
16:07
Speaker 3: you know that he's going to rise again. Now, the
16:09
Speaker 3: thing is, the fixture will put a lot of people
16:11
Speaker 3: off this weekend. And the fact that Arteta wasn't saying
16:13
Speaker 3: that Mosquera's like really injured. I think if he'd come
16:16
Speaker 3: out and said, yeah, Mosquera's out for three weeks or
16:18
Speaker 3: four weeks, it would have immediately happened. And we'd have
16:20
Speaker 3: seen people immediately making that swap. But because we didn't,
16:25
Speaker 3: people have kind of waited on it I I think
16:28
Speaker 3: you have to be prepared to move fairly quickly if
16:31
Speaker 3: you want to go there but you probably don't have
16:33
Speaker 3: to go ahead of the game week deadline this weekend
16:35
Speaker 3: I think you will have be out have time to
16:37
Speaker 3: get through the game week but just keep an eye
16:38
Speaker 3: on the Premier League app and website because it's it
16:40
Speaker 3: is telling you now whether they're likely to go up
16:42
Speaker 3: and down so That's something that's really helpful for us
16:45
Speaker 3: in terms of judging when is the right moment to
16:48
Speaker 3: invest in Konca if you want to get him before
16:49
Speaker 3: a rise.
16:50
Speaker 2: It's inevitable that he will be a starter very soon.
16:53
Speaker 2: It's just he needs a bit of time. Mosquera has
16:55
Speaker 2: done well, but Konca, 50 million, you don't leave him
16:58
Speaker 2: on the bench for Mosquera either. So it might not
17:01
Speaker 2: be this weekend, but it will be very quickly. He
17:04
Speaker 2: will be in the starting lineup for Arsenal. And if
17:06
Speaker 2: you get him at 4.4, then I think it's a
17:10
Speaker 2: great value for what he will give you and what
17:12
Speaker 2: he gives to the team.
17:13
Speaker 1: I think it's also, though, important, we've spoken about City
17:16
Speaker 1: as well. Arsenal and City go into the Champions League now, too.
17:19
Speaker 1: So there's more fixtures. And I know Mikel Arteta has
17:22
Speaker 1: talked a lot about rotation and squad size. And I
17:25
Speaker 1: do wonder if we are going to see rotation. We
17:28
Speaker 1: don't know if Maresca is going to be quite as
17:29
Speaker 1: bad as Pep with it. We'll have to wait and see.
17:33
Speaker 1: I mean, Arteta hasn't always really heavily rotated, has he, Jules?
17:36
Speaker 1: But it wouldn't be a surprise, maybe, to see him play...
17:41
Speaker 1: I don't know, would he play in the league or
17:42
Speaker 1: the Champions League? It's a guessing game, but I think
17:44
Speaker 1: that's just another thing for us to consider when we
17:45
Speaker 1: are bringing players that are now going to be active
17:48
Speaker 1: in European competitions as of next week. Any other headlines?
17:52
Speaker 1: I think we probably have to talk about Hull, don't we?
17:54
Speaker 1: I mean, we've spoken about Arsenal there. They've got two
17:56
Speaker 1: clean sheets, so have Hull. Are we thinking they could
17:59
Speaker 1: be the Sunderland of last season, Sam? Are they our
18:02
Speaker 1: little gems? We're always looking for our gems, or is
18:04
Speaker 1: two games too early to say? Am I being knee-jerk?
18:07
Speaker 2: Just before Sam goes. No, no, just before Sam goes,
18:10
Speaker 2: because I think it's an important start. That was a
18:12
Speaker 2: scary point. No, no, no, it was not. It was
18:14
Speaker 2: made to, they've conceded 3.12 XG in those two games.
18:18
Speaker 2: They didn't concede, but this is not sustainable. You can't
18:21
Speaker 2: have an XG against you of 1.8, 1.6 in every game.
18:24
Speaker 2: There's my answer.
18:25
Speaker 3: And not concede.
18:27
Speaker 2: So no, no, but Sam can say maybe Ajayi, she
18:29
Speaker 2: loves him and maybe she loves whoever her defender is.
18:33
Speaker 1: She's got a commentary defender that's conceding goals, but still
18:36
Speaker 1: getting her points.
18:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, true somehow.
18:38
Speaker 1: What's going on?
18:39
Speaker 2: There's some black magic, dark magic that she does on
18:42
Speaker 2: this game.
18:43
Speaker 1: I can't believe it when I checked her team and
18:45
Speaker 1: I thought, how has she got a commentary defender that's
18:47
Speaker 1: got eight points?
18:48
Speaker 3: Do you know what? The best thing about that was
18:50
Speaker 3: that we were away and my other half, he doesn't
18:54
Speaker 3: have a Coventry defender. And obviously a lot of people
18:56
Speaker 3: that bench boosted last week in our friend mini leagues
19:00
Speaker 3: had double Coventry defence. So we were sat by the pool.
19:03
Speaker 3: He goes, yes, Coventry have conceded. And I'm like, no,
19:07
Speaker 3: I'm playing Thomas. And he's like, oh, I'm really sorry.
19:09
Speaker 3: I didn't realize this affected you. I was like, you've
19:11
Speaker 3: put me in a rage now. And then two minutes later,
19:13
Speaker 3: he goes, just to make it better, Thomas went off already.
19:17
Speaker 3: So you will get your clean sheet. And then I
19:18
Speaker 3: said to him a bit later on, and also, two
19:21
Speaker 3: bonus points. I was very, very happy with that.
19:24
Speaker 2: Like magic, I'm telling you.
19:25
Speaker 3: Well, sometimes luck's in your favor, George. Not other times,
19:28
Speaker 3: but just occasionally. But the whole defense is really interesting, right?
19:31
Speaker 3: Because George is right. They should have conceded in the
19:33
Speaker 3: opening two fixtures of the season.
19:34
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
19:35
Speaker 3: They shouldn't be keeping two clean sheets.
19:39
Speaker 1: But they have.
19:40
Speaker 3: And I think the thing is, you know, we said
19:42
Speaker 3: it was Sunderland last year. If you go back and
19:44
Speaker 3: listen to our pods for last season, a lot of
19:45
Speaker 3: the time we were saying, can Sunderland really keep sustaining this?
19:48
Speaker 3: Can they keep keeping clean sheets? but we are seeing
19:51
Speaker 3: defensive contribution points we are seeing goal threat from their
19:53
Speaker 3: defenders and so actually I think owning the likes of
19:56
Speaker 3: Ajayi or Mendy or Giles or whoever it is that
20:00
Speaker 3: you like in that back line does feel like a
20:03
Speaker 3: decent option I wouldn't go with the goalkeeper I think
20:05
Speaker 3: eventually they will start conceding goals but the Defense itself,
20:10
Speaker 3: I think there are options there. And at 4.0, you
20:13
Speaker 3: might want some 4.0 defenders if you're going to have
20:15
Speaker 3: Zaka and Palmer and all of these other guys up front.
20:18
Speaker 3: So it could be worth it.
20:20
Speaker 1: Okay, let's bring you up to speed then what's happened
20:22
Speaker 1: in the FPL pod mini league. Because as I said,
20:25
Speaker 1: I don't like looking at the league till Christmas, but
20:27
Speaker 1: we want you guys to get involved. So I'm going
20:29
Speaker 1: to read out how it's going so that you are
20:32
Speaker 1: encouraged to get involved. And here's a reminder, the code
20:34
Speaker 1: is Q0HV1Q. Never too late to join. So at the moment,
20:41
Speaker 1: it's actually changed a lot. This always happens at this
20:43
Speaker 1: stage because it's so tight. Of course, we haven't had
20:45
Speaker 1: many game weeks. We've got Mohamed at the top. He
20:47
Speaker 1: got 134 points in game week two. He triple-capped in
20:51
Speaker 1: Bruno on the back of a 92-point bench boost in
20:53
Speaker 1: game week one. That's a chip well executed too. He's
20:56
Speaker 1: one point ahead of Carl Apuzzo in second. Carl also
20:59
Speaker 1: triple-capped in Bruno. Wow. And played the bench boost in
21:02
Speaker 1: game week one. That is a real show of faith
21:04
Speaker 1: in Bruno, given what happened in game week one. It's
21:07
Speaker 1: a fair play to Carl. A couple of seasons ago,
21:09
Speaker 1: Malachi Fox was in the running to win the FPL
21:10
Speaker 1: Pod Mini League. He's back in the top three now.
21:12
Speaker 1: Welcome back, Malachi. He's got 224 points. He also played
21:16
Speaker 1: the bench boost and he triple-capped in Bruno. bruno in
21:19
Speaker 1: game week two so very similar strategy there and also
21:22
Speaker 1: a big shout out to dipesh sakaya who's in sixth
21:25
Speaker 1: he got a very impressive 142 points in game week
21:30
Speaker 1: two okay then jules before we talk even more about
21:33
Speaker 1: our plans for this week and our panics maybe uh
21:36
Speaker 1: just bring us up to speed because we saw the
21:38
Speaker 1: end of the transfer window the other day didn't we
21:39
Speaker 1: and what a transfer window it's been is there any
21:43
Speaker 1: interest for us in terms of fpl.
21:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so. Let's start with Bradley Barcola because
21:49
Speaker 2: it's the most expensive signing of the summer for Liverpool
21:53
Speaker 2: from PSG. A left winger with devastating pace, skills. I mean,
21:58
Speaker 2: I know loads of our listeners and people who watch
22:00
Speaker 2: us on YouTube would have seen him before in the
22:03
Speaker 2: Champions League, for example, or things like that. So I
22:05
Speaker 2: can remind you that PSG are back-to-back Champions League winners,
22:08
Speaker 2: for example. £ 8 million. I think it's a fair price
22:12
Speaker 2: for Barcola. Let's wait a little bit because he's not
22:15
Speaker 2: ready yet. He's not fit. He didn't really have a
22:17
Speaker 2: pre-season because of all this transfer saga. So I don't
22:20
Speaker 2: think we'll see him this weekend. We don't know yet
22:22
Speaker 2: the squad at Liverpool, but And then next week is
22:25
Speaker 2: Champions League in midweek, as you said, Kels, before for
22:27
Speaker 2: teams like Liverpool and all the others. So let's wait.
22:30
Speaker 2: But there'll be a point where I think he will
22:32
Speaker 2: be very interesting and I think he will be great
22:34
Speaker 2: for Liverpool. I think he'll be great potentially in the
22:36
Speaker 2: game too. So that's definitely a name to keep in mind.
22:39
Speaker 2: Dezenzo Fernandes, the other big, big, big transfer of the summer.
22:43
Speaker 2: similar price to Barcola from Chelsea to City, is currently
22:47
Speaker 2: at 6.9 million. The thing I think with Enzo is
22:52
Speaker 2: he will start, him and Maresca have such a strong relationship.
22:54
Speaker 2: And again, you don't spend that money to live on
22:56
Speaker 2: the bench. I expect Bouadi to be the one of
22:59
Speaker 2: the three new midfielders of City to be more on
23:01
Speaker 2: the bench than Enzo. And I think in a team
23:03
Speaker 2: like City, in the way they will play, Enzo arriving
23:06
Speaker 2: late in the box, scoring all those goals, I think
23:08
Speaker 2: might be potentially great for us to have in midfield.
23:11
Speaker 2: So again, Enzo to keep in mind. Illiman Ndiaye probably too.
23:15
Speaker 2: He was really good at Everton where he was the
23:16
Speaker 2: key player. I'm not sure exactly what his role will
23:19
Speaker 2: be at City, if he's a backup to one of
23:21
Speaker 2: the wingers, if he's actually going to be a starter.
23:24
Speaker 2: So if you already have him like me, I don't
23:26
Speaker 2: really know what to do with him, to be honest,
23:28
Speaker 2: even including for this weekend. But I'm happy to have
23:31
Speaker 2: a look and see where that goes and then I
23:33
Speaker 2: can always change him. I'm going to wait to see
23:38
Speaker 2: what Maresca says in his pre-match press conference because I
23:42
Speaker 2: think that should be interesting. I think there's a case
23:45
Speaker 2: for him to start in this game at the weekend
23:49
Speaker 2: against Ipswich at home or Coventry at home, I can't remember.
23:52
Speaker 2: So I think this potentially be okay for NGI for
23:56
Speaker 2: this game week certainly to leave you in your team,
23:59
Speaker 2: to start him because I think he might start and
24:01
Speaker 2: if he starts, I think He would want to show
24:03
Speaker 2: and he wants to do well. It's a home debut,
24:06
Speaker 2: home crowd, Haaland, Schalke, all of that. I think there's
24:09
Speaker 2: a case for him to have a lot of fun
24:11
Speaker 2: and to be interested in this game.
24:14
Speaker 1: Okay. Anything else that caught your eye, Sam, that Jules
24:16
Speaker 1: hasn't mentioned there?
24:19
Speaker 3: Aston Villa doing some decent work at the final part
24:22
Speaker 3: of it. And I think I was a bit worried
24:24
Speaker 3: about them, to be honest. But deadline day, we had
24:26
Speaker 3: a couple of sign-ins from them. obviously got Harwood Bellis,
24:28
Speaker 3: who we have owned in FPL before. If you think
24:31
Speaker 3: back a few seasons, we all had, or a lot
24:33
Speaker 3: of us had Harwood Bellis anyway, when he played for Southampton.
24:37
Speaker 3: He'll come in and replace Konza. So he could be
24:39
Speaker 3: a decent option as Aston Villa. And I do suspect
24:42
Speaker 3: that they will. They already looked a lot better on
24:44
Speaker 3: Monday night than they did the weekend before. So I
24:46
Speaker 3: do think that we might just be having a slow
24:48
Speaker 3: start to the season like we did last year where
24:49
Speaker 3: they didn't win for the first five matches, but then
24:52
Speaker 3: went on to have what ended up being a really
24:53
Speaker 3: good campaign for them. So, Both of their new signings
24:56
Speaker 3: on deadline day, both ones to keep an eye on.
24:58
Speaker 3: I don't think you go there straight away with either
25:00
Speaker 3: of them, but I think you can keep an eye
25:03
Speaker 3: on them and see why a time we hit wildcard
25:04
Speaker 3: might be the right moment for Villa.
25:06
Speaker 1: Okay, we touched upon our players that we are looking
25:09
Speaker 1: at and kind of want, and the problems maybe with
25:13
Speaker 1: the fixtures ahead earlier when we were talking through the
25:16
Speaker 1: headlines from game week two. But I'm just wondering if
25:19
Speaker 1: we can go a little bit more in depth in
25:21
Speaker 1: our plans in terms of which players are the ones
25:23
Speaker 1: that we really want and are planning our routes to. Sam,
25:26
Speaker 1: planning is more your thing than Jules's. So at the moment,
25:29
Speaker 1: what are you thinking? With the fixtures that we mentioned
25:32
Speaker 1: on the horizon, what do you think you're going to
25:35
Speaker 1: do and what managers should be doing to get certain
25:37
Speaker 1: players in?
25:39
Speaker 3: It's really tough because I think that, I mean, we
25:42
Speaker 3: were all sort of hoping that either Harlan or Bruno
25:45
Speaker 3: wouldn't start the season particularly well and then you could
25:48
Speaker 3: go without them because that frees up a load of
25:49
Speaker 3: money and you can use it across your squad. But
25:51
Speaker 3: as we've already said, For the managers that did go
25:53
Speaker 3: without Harlan or Bruno, in game week two, they've massively
25:56
Speaker 3: punished and it's been a really difficult week for them
25:59
Speaker 3: to not have those two players in their teams. With
26:02
Speaker 3: the fixtures that they have coming up, I think you're
26:04
Speaker 3: still going to need to have Harlan. He's a non-negotiable
26:07
Speaker 3: in my eyes, which means that I'm already down 15
26:10
Speaker 3: and a half million and therefore I'm looking at a
26:12
Speaker 3: budget that's a lot smaller. Bruno's the tough one. Because
26:16
Speaker 3: you can't sell a player having just done what he
26:19
Speaker 3: did in Game Week 2. Like in my mind, I
26:22
Speaker 3: have to keep him for this week. What I do
26:26
Speaker 3: longer term is more challenging. And I think I'd be
26:28
Speaker 3: in a different position right now if Saka and Palmer
26:30
Speaker 3: didn't face each other this week. Because Saka and Palmer
26:33
Speaker 3: facing each other means that I'm less compelled to sell
26:36
Speaker 3: Bruno Fernandes heading into Game Week 3. If they were
26:40
Speaker 3: both playing a slightly easier game, if the whole versus
26:43
Speaker 3: Chelsea game was this week rather than next, I definitely
26:47
Speaker 3: think I would be pushing towards getting an additional Chelsea
26:50
Speaker 3: asset into my team. Now, in my head at the minute,
26:53
Speaker 3: I'd kind of compromised with the start of the season
26:56
Speaker 3: with having Solis over Saka and I'd gone without a
26:59
Speaker 3: Chelsea midfielder altogether. We'll see what we see from Solis
27:03
Speaker 3: in game week three and whether he remains an option
27:06
Speaker 3: that we can go with as a replacement for Saka.
27:08
Speaker 3: I'm also thinking about can I do Morgan Rodgers instead
27:11
Speaker 3: of Cole Palmer because I need to, I feel like
27:13
Speaker 3: I need one of these two, but I don't know
27:16
Speaker 3: Which one I can compromise for having their teammate instead.
27:19
Speaker 1: Also, every game for me, it changes. Like, I was like,
27:21
Speaker 1: after game week one, I was like, well, it has
27:22
Speaker 1: to be Cole Palmer. And then kind of watching them,
27:24
Speaker 1: I think it was in the cup against Luton, and
27:27
Speaker 1: admittedly a different league of opposition. But I was like,
27:30
Speaker 1: maybe we can get away with having Morgan Rodgers. And
27:34
Speaker 1: it does feel like some weeks Morgan Rodgers will outscore
27:36
Speaker 1: Cole Palmer. It feels like overall Cole Palmer's going to
27:38
Speaker 1: get more points, but it's working out, isn't it, if
27:40
Speaker 1: Cole Palmer's worth that extra. And actually, for me, sorry
27:44
Speaker 1: I interrupted you, by the way, but for me, maybe...
27:47
Speaker 1: That's the best. You know, we don't have many good
27:49
Speaker 1: alternatives at Man United to Bruno. We hoped Mbembe would be.
27:51
Speaker 1: I know he got 11 points last week. At Arsenal, yes,
27:54
Speaker 1: you've got Solis, but it feels like it's quite a big,
27:56
Speaker 1: I don't know, it feels like it was early days
27:58
Speaker 1: with him. Whereas Rodgers, we know what he can do.
28:01
Speaker 1: And maybe he's the best compromise out of all of
28:04
Speaker 1: the premiums, if you know what I mean. I could
28:05
Speaker 1: be left with egg on my face here when Cole
28:07
Speaker 1: Palmer completely upscores him. And let's not forget, I didn't
28:09
Speaker 1: have him for his four goals a couple of seasons ago.
28:12
Speaker 1: So maybe I'm talking absolute rubbish, but that's my thought
28:16
Speaker 1: process at the moment when we're trying to cram premiums in.
28:19
Speaker 3: You have to have a compromise, right? You have to
28:20
Speaker 3: have some compromises because we can't have.
28:23
Speaker 2: You can't have them all.
28:24
Speaker 3: No, you can't. You can't have Haaland and Bruno and
28:26
Speaker 3: Palmer and Saka. You just can't do it, especially if
28:28
Speaker 3: you then want to have some 5.5 million defenders. And also,
28:31
Speaker 3: you know, if you want a Sabozlai or a Barcola
28:34
Speaker 3: when he comes good, you're going to need to find
28:36
Speaker 3: that budget, right? So I think you... You have to
28:39
Speaker 3: look at options. Deciding between Saka and Palmer isn't necessarily
28:44
Speaker 3: just about deciding between Saka and Palmer. It's also about
28:46
Speaker 3: deciding if you don't have Palmer, are you happy to
28:52
Speaker 3: compromise by having Rodgers and save yourself two million? If
28:55
Speaker 3: you don't have Saka, are you happy to compromise and
28:57
Speaker 3: have a Salisa or an Odegaard or somebody else from
29:00
Speaker 3: Arsenal and save yourself three million? And you have to
29:03
Speaker 3: accept that the one that you compromise on is probably
29:06
Speaker 3: not going to get the same level of points as
29:08
Speaker 3: the one that you would ideally have wanted. But you
29:11
Speaker 3: can only have probably one of Saka and Palmer unless
29:14
Speaker 3: you're prepared to go without Bruno. If you're prepared to
29:16
Speaker 3: go without Bruno and probably therefore no Manchester United attack,
29:22
Speaker 3: then you can comfortably have both Saka and Palmer in
29:24
Speaker 3: your team. So it's those decisions. And that's why I'm
29:27
Speaker 3: not prepared to make it heading into game week three
29:29
Speaker 3: because I'm feel like we'll learn a lot about Arsenal
29:32
Speaker 3: and Chelsea watching them play each other this weekend.
29:34
Speaker 1: Jules you're not good at compromises how are you going
29:36
Speaker 1: to do this.
29:37
Speaker 2: No it's a great question it's an absolutely massive headache,
29:41
Speaker 2: to be fair. And you know, I'm all about planning
29:44
Speaker 2: and vision and all of that, but it's... No talent
29:47
Speaker 2: this year.
29:48
Speaker 3: Just planning and vision. Yeah, at least he admits that.
29:50
Speaker 2: The talent. I was born with the talent. The talent
29:52
Speaker 2: is always there. Sometimes I show it, sometimes I let
29:54
Speaker 2: you win, you know, that kind of stuff. You know
29:56
Speaker 2: what I wish? I really wish Cesco has had a
29:59
Speaker 2: decent start of the season because if Cesco had been good,
30:02
Speaker 2: he's one of your forwards. That means if you don't
30:05
Speaker 2: have Bruno... it's okay in a way because, as Sam
30:08
Speaker 2: rightly said, you can invest in Saka and Palmer, for example,
30:11
Speaker 2: but you still have the other guy at United who,
30:14
Speaker 2: even more than Mbomo, should be there and get you
30:17
Speaker 2: some points that United will get through Bruno Fernandes, for example.
30:20
Speaker 2: And the fact that even Mbomo, Mbomo should have had
30:23
Speaker 2: 15 this weekend. He should have had 15 the weekend before.
30:26
Speaker 2: He's not even in that great of form. But Bruno
30:29
Speaker 2: is the one right now. And really, there's nobody else
30:31
Speaker 2: at United where you think it's probably okay to compromise
30:34
Speaker 2: and not have Bruno to reinvest all those 12 million
30:37
Speaker 2: or so. And instead of having that other guy, even Mbomo,
30:40
Speaker 2: I would not feel comfortable not having Bruno and having
30:43
Speaker 2: Mbomo instead as a United asset. So it's a bit tricky.
30:48
Speaker 2: I think in a way we can have another weekend
30:50
Speaker 2: where we can think about it. And then for the
30:53
Speaker 2: next weekend, have a proper strategy and say, okay, this
30:55
Speaker 2: is it now. I've decided if the Manchester Derby come in,
30:58
Speaker 2: I don't fancy Bruno against City. So even at Old Trafford,
31:02
Speaker 2: so I'm going to let him go. I'm going to
31:04
Speaker 2: invest in Cole Palmer and Saka. I'm going to have,
31:07
Speaker 2: I don't know, somebody from United maybe or maybe not even.
31:11
Speaker 2: And then just reassess your team like that. I'm thinking
31:15
Speaker 2: about not making a transfer this week so I can
31:17
Speaker 2: have three free transfers to do that bit of working
31:20
Speaker 2: on the squad.
31:21
Speaker 1: It feels a smart move, doesn't it?
31:23
Speaker 2: For game week four. It's all about planning and talent
31:24
Speaker 2: and vision, you know.
31:26
Speaker 1: Okay then, so there's a lot of players we want
31:28
Speaker 1: to get in and we can't quite work out how
31:29
Speaker 1: we're going to fit them or how we're going to
31:31
Speaker 1: manage it all. But conversely, Sam, are there players straight
31:34
Speaker 1: away that you're like, I need to get you out
31:36
Speaker 1: of my team? I'm looking at Joe Rodon and I
31:37
Speaker 1: feel quite sad about the fact that I might have
31:39
Speaker 1: to get rid of him. We'll have to wait and
31:40
Speaker 1: hear a little bit more on the extent of his injury.
31:42
Speaker 1: But is there anything for you that's jumping out and
31:44
Speaker 1: you think, maybe even not even a player that you have,
31:46
Speaker 1: but maybe is highly owned elsewhere? Yeah, I think if
31:50
Speaker 1: you've got one of the players that's now left the league,
31:51
Speaker 1: so obviously the transfer window closing this week has made
31:53
Speaker 1: a big difference to our thinking, right? So there will
31:56
Speaker 1: be managers who went for players who... Then I've now
32:00
Speaker 1: gone and left the league. They've got Watkins in their
32:03
Speaker 1: team or somebody messaged me saying, oh, I've got Gabriel
32:05
Speaker 1: Jesus in my team.
32:06
Speaker 3: What should I do about that? Well, clearly you sell them.
32:10
Speaker 3: You're like, no, sell him now easily. It's fine. And
32:13
Speaker 3: I think so those players probably are your immediate focus,
32:17
Speaker 3: the ones that you definitely know you're not going to
32:18
Speaker 3: get any points out of. And Joe Roden is in
32:21
Speaker 3: that camp as well, not because he's left the league,
32:23
Speaker 3: but because unless we hear something majorly different in the
32:26
Speaker 3: press conference, we're unlikely to get any points out of him.
32:28
Speaker 3: And those players should be the ones that are your priority.
32:30
Speaker 3: So if you're looking at a player that's injured, has
32:32
Speaker 3: left the league or has made a move somewhere else,
32:35
Speaker 3: but doesn't look like they're necessarily going to get the
32:37
Speaker 3: start straight away because either of match fitness or just
32:40
Speaker 3: settling in or whatever, they need to be your kind
32:43
Speaker 3: of focus areas. Now, if you can carry a player. Now,
32:47
Speaker 3: I'm looking at my team and thinking very much in
32:49
Speaker 3: the same lines that Jules just said, which is a
32:51
Speaker 3: bit scary in itself. But I would rather have three
32:54
Speaker 3: transfers heading into game week four because I think I'm
32:56
Speaker 3: going to learn quite a lot from the Arsenal-Chelsea game.
32:59
Speaker 3: And I'm also thinking about moving money around in different
33:01
Speaker 3: positions and taking it out of players and investing in others.
33:03
Speaker 3: And I don't want to take a points hit to
33:05
Speaker 3: do that. So Joe Roden probably can just take a
33:07
Speaker 3: seat on the bench for this weekend as much as
33:10
Speaker 3: I want. that will frustrate me unless he looks like
33:14
Speaker 3: he's going to drop in price. I probably won't do
33:16
Speaker 3: anything about him because I think there's a good opportunity
33:19
Speaker 3: there to just wait and see. But yeah, anyone that's injured,
33:23
Speaker 3: anyone that's left the league prioritize selling them first, but
33:26
Speaker 3: if you can carry them through on the bench and
33:28
Speaker 3: you're watching the price change predictor and they don't look
33:30
Speaker 3: like they're going to drop in price, then I think
33:32
Speaker 3: it's okay. As long as you're not planning to bench
33:34
Speaker 3: boost anytime soon to just carry them for a couple
33:36
Speaker 3: of weeks while you gain information, as long as you're
33:38
Speaker 3: starting 11 is okay.
33:40
Speaker 1: Have either of you got any plans to wildcard? I
33:42
Speaker 1: heard you mention, Jules, that some people might wildcard after
33:45
Speaker 1: game week three earlier. Have you got any plans to
33:47
Speaker 1: use it?
33:49
Speaker 2: No, not yet. But I think it could be smart
33:52
Speaker 2: to do that, to wait for that big Arsenal-Chelsea game
33:55
Speaker 2: that we've mentioned, knowing that the following weekend, obviously, as
33:58
Speaker 2: we've been saying a few times, is the Manchester derby.
34:01
Speaker 2: And then I think it may be a good time
34:03
Speaker 2: to do it, especially if you haven't started well. You know,
34:06
Speaker 2: we've said there's there was potential in those first two
34:08
Speaker 2: game weeks to have really good game weeks if you
34:10
Speaker 2: pick the right captain. And we heard the guys who
34:14
Speaker 2: are top of our mini league, for example, it's like
34:16
Speaker 2: 94 points in game week one, 125 in game week...
34:19
Speaker 2: So there was potential for a lot of points in
34:22
Speaker 2: game week one and game week two. However, some would
34:24
Speaker 2: have had average game weeks because it happens. You make
34:28
Speaker 2: different choices. It's the wrong captain and And then suddenly
34:31
Speaker 2: you find yourself way behind everybody else in all your
34:33
Speaker 2: mini leagues. So this might be the time after game
34:36
Speaker 2: week three to look at your team and say, okay,
34:38
Speaker 2: it's time because we've started to have good trends. You
34:41
Speaker 2: know who's starting well. You know who hasn't started well.
34:44
Speaker 2: If you had a Virgil van Dijk, for example, disappointing
34:46
Speaker 2: so far. Nico Reilly, disappointing. Viet, disappointing. Harry Wilson, disappointing.
34:51
Speaker 2: Igor Thiago, disappointing. That doesn't mean they're not going to
34:54
Speaker 2: score from now on. But suddenly you have a bit
34:56
Speaker 2: of an idea already who's in form, who's not in form.
34:58
Speaker 2: And if you're chasing already, which is early, I know,
35:01
Speaker 2: but it might be the case for some of the
35:03
Speaker 2: people listening, then maybe that's where you do your wildcard.
35:07
Speaker 2: Your target is the one who are really informed. You
35:10
Speaker 2: never guarantee points, but you know the ones who have
35:12
Speaker 2: decent fixtures, who will potentially bring you a lot of points,
35:16
Speaker 2: and then you can get back on track that way.
35:18
Speaker 2: So I think a wildcard after Game Week 3 can
35:22
Speaker 2: make sense for some people, for sure.
35:23
Speaker 1: Sam?
35:26
Speaker 3: No, I think I'm quite happy with my team right now.
35:29
Speaker 3: And I think with a little mini wildcard with three transfers,
35:31
Speaker 3: I can kind of get where I want to be.
35:33
Speaker 3: I am looking at the international break. The international break
35:36
Speaker 3: feels like a really good moment for doing it. It's
35:39
Speaker 3: obviously an extended international break. So I think wildcarding then
35:42
Speaker 3: probably is where I'll be. But equally, I'm looking at
35:46
Speaker 3: the majority of my team and thinking if I wildcarded,
35:49
Speaker 3: would I actually take that many people out? I don't
35:52
Speaker 3: think I would. I'd shuffle the premiums, but can I
35:54
Speaker 3: shuffle the premiums with, three free transfers. Yeah, quite comfortably.
35:59
Speaker 3: I don't think, I wouldn't change much about the rest
36:02
Speaker 3: of my team right now. Like even my front three,
36:04
Speaker 3: like I've got Dominic Calvert living in that third slot.
36:07
Speaker 3: Do I think there's a better option? Well, maybe. I mean,
36:09
Speaker 3: Evan Ilsen's been the six million forward of choice in
36:12
Speaker 3: the opening couple of weeks, but I'm not absolutely convinced
36:15
Speaker 3: that I'm on the wrong one still right now. So
36:18
Speaker 3: I think if you can hold, but Jules is right.
36:21
Speaker 3: Like if you're looking at your team, you've got lots
36:22
Speaker 3: of problems and you're feeling like, now is a good
36:26
Speaker 3: moment then there's nothing wrong with an early wild card
36:28
Speaker 3: like we said last week eric the last year's winner
36:30
Speaker 3: played it really early last year and it worked out
36:32
Speaker 3: well for him so i think you do have to
36:34
Speaker 3: really look at it in terms of how you feel
36:36
Speaker 3: about your team and then if you can you hold
36:39
Speaker 3: but if you're feeling like you need it now then
36:41
Speaker 3: it's okay to play it now i wouldn't.
36:43
Speaker 1: Be surprised jules this week in terms of chips if
36:45
Speaker 1: we saw a few triple captains activated on harland.
36:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, I will do it, I think, simply because I
36:51
Speaker 2: missed out points on Bruno. And again, it's not that
36:55
Speaker 2: I was not disappointed, I was gutted because I was
36:57
Speaker 2: on the train back from Manchester after doing the radio
36:59
Speaker 2: show and the reception is dodgy, the Wi-Fi is dodgy
37:02
Speaker 2: on the train, so I could not really watch it
37:04
Speaker 2: properly like I wanted. He would like the, the screen would, uh,
37:08
Speaker 2: freezes that we said the freeze. And then next time
37:11
Speaker 2: he would not freeze, he had scored another goal. And
37:12
Speaker 2: I was like, are you kidding me? Like, this is,
37:14
Speaker 2: this is like Sam's dark magic, like cursing me. And
37:18
Speaker 2: then it would freeze again and then it would come
37:19
Speaker 2: back on. It's good again. And I was like, come
37:21
Speaker 2: on now it's ridiculous. So, um, but, but I was
37:24
Speaker 2: happy with the draw Pedro pick at the start of
37:25
Speaker 2: the weekend. So I can't, but I missed out on
37:27
Speaker 2: some points and I feel. Holland is getting stronger. The
37:30
Speaker 2: city team. has a bit of momentum. It's exciting new signing.
37:35
Speaker 2: It's a home game. It's all of that. And it's
37:37
Speaker 2: against a team that, let's be honest, is struggling. So
37:40
Speaker 2: I think it makes sense. And I think some people
37:42
Speaker 2: will play that, triple captain or Haaland. So I'm going
37:44
Speaker 2: to go for it. It should be fun to watch certainly.
37:47
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's on for me.
37:50
Speaker 1: Tempted Sam?
37:51
Speaker 2: Yep.
37:51
Speaker 3: I think I'm doing it as well. I think there's another,
37:54
Speaker 3: the other factor is the Champions League. So the players
37:57
Speaker 3: that we normally want to hand the triple captain's armband to,
38:00
Speaker 3: the Harlins, the Brunos, the Sackers, the Palmers, the majority
38:04
Speaker 3: of them will play Champions League football this year. And
38:07
Speaker 3: we don't have that many midweeks where we don't have
38:10
Speaker 3: Champions League or League Cup or other action in play
38:15
Speaker 3: in the period of time when you have to play
38:18
Speaker 3: your first triple captainship. So I'm looking at this thinking,
38:22
Speaker 3: this feels like a good opportunity at a time where
38:24
Speaker 3: we still have Just the one fixture to play at
38:27
Speaker 3: the weekend. Champions League coming in soon.
38:29
Speaker 1: They do have a game on Tuesday though, don't they,
38:30
Speaker 1: away at Porto?
38:32
Speaker 3: They do, but normally I wouldn't like to play it
38:35
Speaker 3: if I can avoid it having played that. Like in
38:37
Speaker 3: game week four, it feels a bit more difficult potentially
38:39
Speaker 3: because you're playing it after. They've just had a midweek round.
38:42
Speaker 3: Whereas this one, they have had midweek off going into it.
38:47
Speaker 3: That plays into my thinking because if I leave it
38:49
Speaker 3: until game week 16, where I was possibly thinking about
38:52
Speaker 3: playing it before, which is the game against Hull, one,
38:55
Speaker 3: Hull have started better of the three newly promoted sides.
38:57
Speaker 3: So maybe that's not as nice as I once thought
39:00
Speaker 3: it might be. And two, we know kind of where
39:05
Speaker 3: we are right now. We've not got injuries. Planning it
39:08
Speaker 3: for the future always feels a bit more difficult because
39:10
Speaker 3: what happens if? you get closer to that time and
39:13
Speaker 3: then something happens. Right now, I know where I am.
39:15
Speaker 3: I know what we saw in game week two. I
39:18
Speaker 3: know what they have coming ahead in game week three.
39:20
Speaker 3: So I think I'm very likely to triple Captain Holland
39:23
Speaker 3: this weekend.
39:24
Speaker 2: And as I discovered last season, it's never too late.
39:27
Speaker 2: It's never too late. You can activate the chip now.
39:30
Speaker 2: for triple captain. And if you're not sure anymore, before
39:33
Speaker 2: the deadline, obviously, you can deactivate it. If you don't
39:36
Speaker 2: feel like, oh, no, no, no, no, I've got cold feet,
39:38
Speaker 2: which is never my case, but you know, for others.
39:40
Speaker 2: So this is a good hack, is that what you say?
39:43
Speaker 2: It's a good hack to know if you didn't know
39:45
Speaker 2: already like me last season.
39:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think if I'd have bench boosted, I wouldn't
39:48
Speaker 1: be triple captains. I hate using my chips early, as
39:50
Speaker 1: you know. I just can't decide every day I look
39:52
Speaker 1: at my team and I'm like, is it too early?
39:53
Speaker 1: Are there better opportunities? But I don't think there's, it
39:57
Speaker 1: ticks a lot of boxes. I think Sam's right there,
39:59
Speaker 1: isn't she? In terms of, it's a newly promoted team
40:01
Speaker 1: that haven't started well at home. Harlan's now amongst the goals.
40:04
Speaker 1: He's got a new haircut. I don't know, it just.
40:06
Speaker 3: Aerodynamic.
40:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. I don't know, there's a lot of things
40:11
Speaker 1: that point to it. What about the other chip that
40:13
Speaker 1: people might do is, free hit if you're loaded up
40:15
Speaker 1: on Arsenal, Chelsea? Either of you, would you think that?
40:19
Speaker 1: If you've got maybe four, five, six. I like using that.
40:24
Speaker 1: I don't know, it doesn't sit as right with me.
40:25
Speaker 1: I just like playing those kind of players. But what
40:27
Speaker 1: do you guys think?
40:29
Speaker 2: I think it's tricky.
40:30
Speaker 1: Silence says it all.
40:32
Speaker 2: No, I think it's tricky because it could be a
40:35
Speaker 2: very open game and we don't know yet. This is
40:37
Speaker 2: probably not likely, I know. But what if Odegaard, Saka... Solis, Rodgers,
40:44
Speaker 2: you know, if not all of them might return, sure,
40:47
Speaker 2: but you might have, if you have four or five
40:51
Speaker 2: combined Chelsea and Arsenal players, like half of them might
40:55
Speaker 2: still return. You know, it might be a really good
40:57
Speaker 2: game where he finishes, I don't know, 2-2, for example,
40:59
Speaker 2: and then you still have an assist for Calafiori, a
41:01
Speaker 2: goal for Joe Pedro, a goal for Saka, you know,
41:05
Speaker 2: an assist for Rodgers or for Cole Palmer, and then
41:07
Speaker 2: suddenly you look at it and say, oh, I was
41:09
Speaker 2: right to play them all still, even if they were
41:11
Speaker 2: facing each other. It's always tricky. We say that every season. However,
41:16
Speaker 2: if you feel like this is not good for me,
41:18
Speaker 2: for my game, and it might end up nil-nil or
41:20
Speaker 2: even 1-1 and none of our assets for either team
41:23
Speaker 2: actually does well, then yeah, maybe you play your free
41:26
Speaker 2: hit and you just avoid that fixture completely. And looking
41:29
Speaker 2: at the fixtures, there's some opportunities there as a free
41:32
Speaker 2: hitter to target some teams that have decent fixtures, including City,
41:37
Speaker 2: for example, and just triple up on City for a
41:41
Speaker 2: game like this. And looking at your team very differently
41:45
Speaker 2: with your free hits.
41:46
Speaker 1: It feels for me like a surefire way of falling
41:48
Speaker 1: behind because so many other managers will have Chelsea and
41:51
Speaker 1: Arsenal assets.
41:51
Speaker 3: That's just the way I look at it.
41:52
Speaker 1: Like early in the season, as you said, if any
41:55
Speaker 1: of those players kind of go off and you've got
41:57
Speaker 1: rid of them, you'll be really kicking yourself. Of course,
41:59
Speaker 1: it could work out. But right, we're running out of time.
42:01
Speaker 1: Differential of the week. Last week, no surprise, Sam won
42:04
Speaker 1: once again, though it was a very low scoring week,
42:08
Speaker 1: which is fantastic. often what it is in this game.
42:10
Speaker 1: Sam Garcia, Garcia who got a whole two points. Jules
42:14
Speaker 1: went for De Kuyper. You were chasing his points from
42:16
Speaker 1: game week one and he went from the high of,
42:18
Speaker 1: what was it, 17 points to nought points.
42:22
Speaker 2: He played 90 minutes. He had one touch in the
42:24
Speaker 2: Chelsea box. I mean, I was watching it saying, where
42:26
Speaker 2: are you, the keeper? I mean, you know the books,
42:29
Speaker 2: Where's Charlie? In France, it's called Charlie. Here, it's called Wally.
42:35
Speaker 2: We call him Charlie in France. I don't know why
42:36
Speaker 2: it's Charlie. You call him Wally. The keeper was Wally
42:40
Speaker 2: or Charlie or the keeper if you want. I could
42:43
Speaker 2: not see him. I could not see him anywhere.
42:45
Speaker 1: Okay, well, he didn't get you any points.
42:46
Speaker 3: At least my guy was involved. He did nearly do something. Sam,
42:49
Speaker 3: who are you going for this week? I'm going for
42:53
Speaker 3: Phil Foden this week.
42:55
Speaker 2: What?
42:56
Speaker 3: So he's going.
42:57
Speaker 2: To cost you seven million. Oh, this young player coming
42:59
Speaker 2: through our city? He's brand new.
43:00
Speaker 3: You've never heard of him, I'm afraid, George. But he's
43:02
Speaker 3: only owned by 4.9% of managers, which really surprised me.
43:06
Speaker 3: And I was looking at the Man City team and
43:08
Speaker 3: I was thinking, they've got all these new players incoming,
43:11
Speaker 3: but they've just had a good result. And I'm not
43:12
Speaker 3: sure exactly how, like, What will we see in terms
43:16
Speaker 3: of Enzo and Ndai? And in the future, I think
43:19
Speaker 3: we might have some issues at Man City in terms
43:20
Speaker 3: of potential rotation around those positions. But this week, on
43:26
Speaker 3: the back of a good performance where he got two
43:28
Speaker 3: assists and a bonus point for a nine-pointer in game
43:30
Speaker 3: week two, think it's a good opportunity to try and
43:34
Speaker 3: get get some returns out of a player that's got
43:36
Speaker 3: a newly promoted team so last week he created a
43:38
Speaker 3: chance every 30 minutes and two of those three chances
43:41
Speaker 3: that he created were big chances he also had three
43:44
Speaker 3: shots in game week two which was the same as
43:46
Speaker 3: Cherokee and everybody's gone mad on Cherokee because of his
43:48
Speaker 3: two performances that we've seen so far which is right
43:51
Speaker 3: but Only Haaland had more shots last week than Foden
43:55
Speaker 3: did in that City team. And it's against Coventry, who
43:58
Speaker 3: haven't started well, and it's a home game. And all
44:00
Speaker 3: the stuff we said about Haaland applies here to Foden
44:01
Speaker 3: as well. So, yeah, I don't think I'd pick him
44:04
Speaker 3: in a few weeks' time because I think we might
44:06
Speaker 3: see a lot of rotation around that Manchester City team
44:09
Speaker 3: eventually until they get a settled formation. But right now,
44:12
Speaker 3: I think Foden's a decent pick.
44:14
Speaker 1: Jules?
44:16
Speaker 2: I mean, I can't wait for them to be on
44:17
Speaker 2: the bench on Saturday.
44:20
Speaker 1: It's better to be on the bench than to be,
44:22
Speaker 1: where's Wally?
44:23
Speaker 2: Where's Wally? Where's the keeper? Mine is Antonio Langa. I
44:28
Speaker 2: think Matias Jassler has done a really good job with
44:30
Speaker 2: Newcastle so far against Liverpool and then against an average team,
44:35
Speaker 2: to be honest, in game week two. But still, I
44:37
Speaker 2: thought the way they played and the Langa for the
44:40
Speaker 2: style of Jassler, which is fantastic. vertical and let's go
44:44
Speaker 2: forward transition all the time. It's perfect that there are
44:47
Speaker 2: two goals already, only owned by 8.2% of the managers.
44:51
Speaker 2: I can't remember his price. It's nearly double mine. I
44:55
Speaker 2: will give you his price now.
44:59
Speaker 3: 6.1, I think.
45:00
Speaker 2: 6.1, exactly. Two goals in two games, as I said,
45:03
Speaker 2: only four shots. So I hear you because you're screaming
45:06
Speaker 2: at your phone or wherever you're listening or watching. It
45:09
Speaker 2: might not be sustainable, but he's in great form. They
45:12
Speaker 2: are home with the atmosphere against Bournemouth, who haven't pulled
45:16
Speaker 2: any trees, let's be honest, so far in this season.
45:19
Speaker 2: So I think Alanga will put a lot of trees
45:22
Speaker 2: this weekend and bring him in your team. It's the
45:24
Speaker 2: right thing to do.
45:26
Speaker 1: Okay. Captaincy, we're all going for Haaland. There's definitely going
45:30
Speaker 1: to be two, maybe three triple captains. If you don't
45:32
Speaker 1: have Haaland, who should you captain, Sam?
45:36
Speaker 3: Ooh.
45:39
Speaker 1: Because there are people out there that don't own him isn't.
45:42
Speaker 3: There yeah there are yeah there absolutely are and it's
45:47
Speaker 3: funny isn't it because you look at it and you
45:48
Speaker 3: go well you just go for Haarlem but then like
45:52
Speaker 3: you say there will be possibly if you've got Turkey
45:56
Speaker 3: then I think you can probably go there would you
46:01
Speaker 3: go for a Manchester United player away.
46:02
Speaker 2: At Everton Bruno still has that momentum I think.
46:06
Speaker 3: Probably Bruno is still okay yeah I'd avoid the Chelsea
46:10
Speaker 3: and Arsenal game.
46:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Arsenal-Chelsea picture is tough, isn't it?
46:13
Speaker 2: It's tricky. It's Harland. Liverpool?
46:15
Speaker 3: If you've got a Liverpool player, maybe against Ipswich.
46:17
Speaker 1: Maybe. Maybe, yeah, I suppose against Ipswich. Okay. Basically, if
46:22
Speaker 1: you haven't got Harland, sit him on your sofa and pray. Well,
46:26
Speaker 1: that's basically what your response told me, because you were like,
46:28
Speaker 1: you hadn't even thought about, it won't have crossed anyone
46:31
Speaker 1: else's mind, but there are people that don't have Harland. Okay,
46:34
Speaker 1: that's all. We'll leave it. Mind of the Fantasy show
46:36
Speaker 1: is back on Friday. I believe it's Harry and Az
46:38
Speaker 1: in the studio with me. Deadline is again on Friday 2, 6.30pm,
46:42
Speaker 1: 90 minutes ahead of Liverpool's visit to Ipswich. Good luck,
46:45
Speaker 1: especially if you don't have Holland. Bye.