Latest / FPL Pod / S3 Ep3: Off The Bench: Essential Salah and Haaland

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S3 Ep3: Off The Bench: Essential Salah and Haaland · FPL Pod

0:16
Speaker 1: Welcome back to this week's Off the Bench podcast from
0:18
Speaker 1: the Premier League. I'm Sam from FL Family.
0:21
Speaker 2: And I'm Andy f PL Sonaldo.
0:23
Speaker 1: Oh, it was another week Handy and another Earling Harlan
0:27
Speaker 1: hat trick. The man feels completely unstoppable at the moment,
0:30
Speaker 1: doesn't he? And managers who don't have him will likely
0:34
Speaker 1: spend the rest of the international break now wondering how
0:37
Speaker 1: they're going to afford to bring him into their teams.
0:40
Speaker 1: But of course, then Sunday rolled around and Salah decided
0:43
Speaker 1: what was good enough for Harlem was good enough for
0:45
Speaker 1: him to a match point for points. So I'm going
0:47
Speaker 1: to spend my international break wondering how on earth I
0:51
Speaker 1: afford to bring Salah into my FPL team. Honestly, it
0:55
Speaker 1: was one of those, wasn't it where the two most
0:57
Speaker 1: expensive players in the game.
0:59
Speaker 2: Absolutely no, correct? I mean, Sam, I think if we
1:02
Speaker 2: go back to the start of the season, you know,
1:05
Speaker 2: a lot of the narrative was it's too expensive to
1:08
Speaker 2: afford both of them. But it looks like the true
1:11
Speaker 2: winners right now are Sala and Holland Owners and you're right,
1:15
Speaker 2: we have to really think about how to bring them
1:18
Speaker 2: into our teams. Because Sala looked quite unstoppable yesterday and
1:22
Speaker 2: two assists and one goal doesn't really do justice. He
1:25
Speaker 2: could have had way more from the way I saw it.
1:27
Speaker 2: So it'll be interesting how the international break goes. But
1:31
Speaker 2: definitely both on my radar, for sure.
1:33
Speaker 1: It's really difficult because I had both of them for
1:36
Speaker 1: ninety percent of pre season and it was only that
1:39
Speaker 1: last week when Selanky joints Spurs where suddenly I was like, right,
1:44
Speaker 1: I need to find some money in my forward line.
1:46
Speaker 1: It meant I wanted to sell Joe Pedro to bring
1:49
Speaker 1: in Slanky. Had I just stopped at that point and
1:53
Speaker 1: not done anything and started the season with Harland and
1:55
Speaker 1: Salo and Jael Pedro, i'd have been flying right now.
1:58
Speaker 2: As it is.
1:59
Speaker 1: I'm still doing well, but every week it just hurts
2:03
Speaker 1: a little bit more for me. This week on Saturday evening,
2:06
Speaker 1: I was doing really really well up about five hundred
2:09
Speaker 1: thousand places, really brilliant green arrow, and I was thinking, Okay,
2:13
Speaker 1: this has been a really successful start to the season.
2:17
Speaker 1: Saturday finishes, Sunday rolls in and the Spurs Newcastle game.
2:23
Speaker 1: Nothing for Pedro Poro. We'll talk about him later, obviously,
2:26
Speaker 1: Esach returning his first points of the season. But then
2:30
Speaker 1: that Liverpool game, as a JOTTA owner, watching Salah go mad,
2:34
Speaker 1: it just really hurt my rank and it sent me
2:37
Speaker 1: on to a tiny, tiny, tiny little red arrow of
2:41
Speaker 1: a few hundred thousand places. So it was nothing really,
2:44
Speaker 1: but you know, when you just think what could have been,
2:48
Speaker 1: and it is difficult to not have to not have
2:52
Speaker 1: Saloh on my team. But then equally, I think this
2:55
Speaker 1: is the season where we just have to make peace
2:56
Speaker 1: with the fact that you can't have every bolly because
2:59
Speaker 1: if you do have team that's got Saloon Harlan in it,
3:02
Speaker 1: then you're probably not having players like Sakka or Son
3:06
Speaker 1: or Trend or you know, there's other sort of mid
3:10
Speaker 1: price premium assets. It's a compromise regardless of which way
3:15
Speaker 1: you swing on it.
3:15
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, I think we can't be too harsh on ourselves, Sam,
3:19
Speaker 2: because a lot of the narratives at the start of
3:23
Speaker 2: the season was there are very decent seven million priced
3:27
Speaker 2: midfielders such as as A and Kunku, you know, Gordon
3:32
Speaker 2: Jota to name a few, and then we also considered
3:36
Speaker 2: all these five point five category players as well. Right,
3:39
Speaker 2: there's Emmett Smith, Row Rogers and this and that. But
3:43
Speaker 2: in the end, what's happened was you had to get
3:47
Speaker 2: lucky with that price tier of bracket of players. Some
3:50
Speaker 2: people got really lucky, got brought in the right one.
3:52
Speaker 2: Some people didn't. But what's been proven is the premiums
3:56
Speaker 2: are premiums for a reason. And the top two players
3:59
Speaker 2: in the game of Fantasy Premier League is Salah and Holland,
4:03
Speaker 2: and they did not let us down. So now the
4:07
Speaker 2: attitude has to shift towards bringing them both in because
4:11
Speaker 2: it's also hard to go hokey coki here and think
4:13
Speaker 2: that because Salah has bad fixtures, we can get away
4:16
Speaker 2: with it when they're delivering fifteen plus points weekly. So
4:21
Speaker 2: I don't think I think their frixture proof certainly from
4:24
Speaker 2: here on out.
4:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree with you, and I'm looking at my team.
4:27
Speaker 1: I got sixty nine points this week, so a decent
4:30
Speaker 1: enough week, you know, not a terrible week. It was
4:31
Speaker 1: above average. I think I lost four percent on rank
4:35
Speaker 1: this week, so again a reasonable a reasonable week. And
4:39
Speaker 1: I think if you go without Harland or if you
4:42
Speaker 1: go without Salah, you go into each game week knowing
4:46
Speaker 1: that there is a risk here, and that risk grows
4:51
Speaker 1: every week because the way that they're performing, the way
4:54
Speaker 1: that Liverpool have started this season, and it feels kind
4:57
Speaker 1: of important that we start, I think with that Liverpool game.
4:59
Speaker 1: Because the way Liverpool has started the season under the
5:02
Speaker 1: new manager, I think a surprised a few people. I
5:05
Speaker 1: was expecting him to be good. He was quite heavily
5:08
Speaker 1: linked with Spurs a season or two ago when we
5:11
Speaker 1: were looking for Posta Cooglu and at that point I
5:14
Speaker 1: did quite a lot of research on him, and when
5:16
Speaker 1: he started getting linked with the Liverpool job, I was like, oh,
5:19
Speaker 1: I think this might be a really nice fit. Actually,
5:21
Speaker 1: it feels like the sort of coach with the players
5:23
Speaker 1: and the personnel that Liverpool have, but could gel together
5:27
Speaker 1: really nicely. And so far that's what we've seen. There's
5:30
Speaker 1: been an increase in defensive solidity from Liverpool this season.
5:34
Speaker 1: They were the only team in game week three to
5:36
Speaker 1: keep a clean sheet across the rest of the league,
5:39
Speaker 1: and I think when you look at how they've started
5:42
Speaker 1: the season, they are full of fire. They're full of fighting,
5:46
Speaker 1: they're full of running. The press is immense, and particularly
5:50
Speaker 1: with that front three with Dotta and Das and Sala together,
5:55
Speaker 1: they look unstoppable. They look like they're going to score
5:57
Speaker 1: at every given opportunity. So as a Jottter owner, this
5:59
Speaker 1: week I was disappointed not to see him involved in
6:03
Speaker 1: those attacking returns because obviously Dass with the brice this
6:08
Speaker 1: week Salah with the assistant and his goal.
6:12
Speaker 2: It was hard.
6:14
Speaker 1: It was hard to watch that happen. As a JOTTA owner,
6:17
Speaker 1: I agree.
6:18
Speaker 2: What we can say is Jota was involved in the celebrations,
6:22
Speaker 2: although that doesn't mean anything in terms of Fpeel points.
6:25
Speaker 2: I think under slot there's a sense of calmness within
6:29
Speaker 2: the buildup of Liverpool, whereas when you think about clubs
6:33
Speaker 2: era it was really heavy metal football, right press, press, press, attack, attack, attack,
6:38
Speaker 2: But there seems to be a sense of calm in
6:40
Speaker 2: the back line. Granted it's only been three games, so
6:43
Speaker 2: let's not get too ahead of ourselves. Liverpool has always
6:46
Speaker 2: been strong against Manchester United, at least in recent memory,
6:50
Speaker 2: so I think this was a game where I knew
6:53
Speaker 2: Salah was going to do well. Did I think he
6:55
Speaker 2: was going to do this well? I don't think so,
6:57
Speaker 2: but I would like to wait and watch a little bit. However,
7:00
Speaker 2: what yesterday did tell me in the first three game weeks.
7:03
Speaker 2: Is that regardless of a new coach, regardless of a
7:06
Speaker 2: new philosophy being implemented into the team, the players themselves
7:11
Speaker 2: look informed, rested, inform, look confident and as FPO managers,
7:16
Speaker 2: you want to select the guys who look confident, are selfish,
7:20
Speaker 2: want to get the points, want to get wins, want
7:22
Speaker 2: to get goals. And you know, Jota sala I mean
7:25
Speaker 2: it could have been Jyota's day in any other given week,
7:28
Speaker 2: so I wouldn't panic as a Joe to owner. You know,
7:30
Speaker 2: Diaz's two goals came for a good reason. It could
7:33
Speaker 2: be Yodah next week, so let's not panic over there.
7:36
Speaker 2: But it was just unfortunate that Diaz was the one
7:39
Speaker 2: that got their returns and not Yota.
7:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's difficult though, I think because you look at
7:43
Speaker 1: Salah and he's had three double digit holes to start
7:47
Speaker 1: the season fourteen points in game week one, ten in
7:49
Speaker 1: game week two and then seventeen this week. He's got
7:52
Speaker 1: three attractive fixtures coming up next against Forrest, Bournemouth and Wolves.
7:57
Speaker 1: Now the next two are at home and we've seen
8:00
Speaker 1: over many years how impressive Liverpool are when they're playing
8:04
Speaker 1: at anfield, and how at home. Salah is when he's
8:08
Speaker 1: at anfield in more ways than one. So I'm looking
8:12
Speaker 1: at Salah with his seventy five attacking returns against the
8:16
Speaker 1: Big Six, which is more than anybody else has got,
8:19
Speaker 1: more than the likes of Zola and Bale and Soarez
8:22
Speaker 1: and Cantonara and all of these huge FPL legends and
8:27
Speaker 1: Payur legends of the past, knowing that Salah has already
8:31
Speaker 1: beaten them, and he hasn't played his whole career yet,
8:35
Speaker 1: so we've still got plenty of opportunity for him to
8:37
Speaker 1: add to those seventy five attacking returns that he's picked
8:39
Speaker 1: up so far. And I am honestly worried about not
8:43
Speaker 1: having him, but I think there are plenty of players
8:46
Speaker 1: that are worried about not having him. When you look
8:49
Speaker 1: at the XGI data, the expected goal and involvement data
8:51
Speaker 1: for Salah, though his XGI so far this season has
8:55
Speaker 1: been two point seventy three, so he's been expected to
8:58
Speaker 1: be involved in two point seven three goals in the
9:01
Speaker 1: opening three game weeks of the season. Now his actual
9:03
Speaker 1: goal involvement has been six, so he's massively overperforming his
9:07
Speaker 1: XGI right now. It's the same for Lewis Dias as well.
9:11
Speaker 1: He XGI so far for the opening three game weeks
9:15
Speaker 1: was two point four to nine, so again expected to
9:17
Speaker 1: be involved in basically two and a half goals, but
9:21
Speaker 1: his goal involvements has been four. So we are seeing
9:24
Speaker 1: and over performing of the numbers from Liverpool. What does
9:28
Speaker 1: that mean? Well, I guess you could look at that
9:30
Speaker 1: in one of two ways. You could say, well, they're
9:32
Speaker 1: on form and when they start the season on form,
9:34
Speaker 1: it doesn't really matter about the underlying stats. It's what
9:36
Speaker 1: you're seeing with the eye test and it's what we're
9:39
Speaker 1: seeing with the points returns that we're getting, or other
9:42
Speaker 1: managers will say well, eventually they'll level out and they'll
9:46
Speaker 1: come down to what they are expected to be getting. Now,
9:50
Speaker 1: even if he'd returned two point seventy three goals over
9:53
Speaker 1: the opening three games of the season and still said
9:55
Speaker 1: that was a good return in three matches, So how
9:58
Speaker 1: far do you look at that? Do I data and
10:00
Speaker 1: think that should lend us into a decision one way
10:04
Speaker 1: or another.
10:05
Speaker 2: I think there's a third perspective to that, as Sam,
10:08
Speaker 2: like a third perspective would be yes, they're overperforming, but
10:11
Speaker 2: at the same time that just means they're finishing is
10:13
Speaker 2: more clinical, or their assists ratio is good because their
10:17
Speaker 2: finishers are more clinical. I mean, I'm sure we'll talk
10:20
Speaker 2: about Spurs yesterday. They had momentum in the second half
10:23
Speaker 2: and not the best xt chances, but they just couldn't
10:26
Speaker 2: convert and then one counter attack led to an Eesac goal.
10:30
Speaker 2: So that's what I mean by a team in form,
10:32
Speaker 2: a team confident, a team that wants goals. And again
10:36
Speaker 2: they're they're clinical right now, which is why they're getting
10:38
Speaker 2: these results. So I don't want to look too much
10:41
Speaker 2: into the data. I really believe that you need about
10:44
Speaker 2: ten game weeks of data to make a fair assessment
10:47
Speaker 2: on these teams. There's new players coming in transfer market,
10:51
Speaker 2: new system, new coach, a lot of factors at play,
10:54
Speaker 2: so let's not read too much into it. Maybe a
10:56
Speaker 2: little bit of XGI plus it test tells me that
10:59
Speaker 2: these it's are fantastic. And one thing I do want
11:02
Speaker 2: to mention about Lewis Diaz, as we were talking about
11:05
Speaker 2: Jota previously, is that what tactically speaking, Robertson is making
11:10
Speaker 2: a lot of inverted runs, allowing for Daz to either
11:14
Speaker 2: pull out wide or sometimes overlap and come in. Basically,
11:19
Speaker 2: what I'm trying to say is that there's a new
11:21
Speaker 2: found role for Daz where he's sort of left on
11:24
Speaker 2: an island at times to attack one on one and
11:27
Speaker 2: I think we're going to see a lot of involvement
11:29
Speaker 2: with das this year. So it'll be interesting with the
11:33
Speaker 2: Liverpool fixtures turning right now, we're all so high up
11:36
Speaker 2: on Sala, But who do you combine the other two
11:39
Speaker 2: players with? If Trent is the second pick at Liverpool,
11:42
Speaker 2: who is that third pick going to be Joeta? There's
11:45
Speaker 2: always the threat of Darwin, you know, is it going
11:48
Speaker 2: to be Daz you want to go to a little
11:49
Speaker 2: differential or do you want to double up in the
11:51
Speaker 2: defense and go Trent and robertson as well? So I
11:55
Speaker 2: just like Liverpool right now with their fixtures in the
11:58
Speaker 2: form they're in as FPLS.
12:00
Speaker 1: It's interesting what you just said there, isn't it? Because
12:03
Speaker 1: I think for me I'm looking as a dott owner
12:06
Speaker 1: and only a Dottter owner right now with Liverpool. Trent
12:09
Speaker 1: feels like the natural next step for me because how
12:14
Speaker 1: he has not got an attack in return so far
12:16
Speaker 1: this season. I honestly do not know he should have
12:18
Speaker 1: assisted Dotter a number of times in the opening two
12:21
Speaker 1: fixtures of the season. Against Manchester United this week, honestly
12:25
Speaker 1: he should have returned more. There were two opportunities where
12:28
Speaker 1: he put the ball in for Salah where I don't
12:30
Speaker 1: know how it didn't end up in a goal for them.
12:33
Speaker 1: The same later on in the March with a Jotter
12:36
Speaker 1: attempt that he had, And I think having Trent would
12:41
Speaker 1: make me feel better about not having Salah. Having Dotter
12:43
Speaker 1: and Trent combination would be good. But I was saying
12:47
Speaker 1: yesterday watching them, it reminds me of a couple of
12:50
Speaker 1: seasons ago when we were all very heavy on the
12:52
Speaker 1: Liverpool defense. We had Robertson and Trent in a combination.
12:56
Speaker 1: We going both of them absolutely. And this season I
13:00
Speaker 1: thought Big at the Bat was going to be dead again.
13:01
Speaker 1: I was like, no, last season, Big at the Bat
13:03
Speaker 1: was dead. It was really only vardi Ol and he
13:05
Speaker 1: wasn't really that expensive either. Even Poro wasn't that expensive,
13:09
Speaker 1: so you could afford to go budget with your defense.
13:11
Speaker 1: And this season with the number of brilliant looking four
13:14
Speaker 1: point five's, a couple of them will talk about later
13:16
Speaker 1: as we get into the other games. I was thinking
13:19
Speaker 1: I don't need to spend a lot of money. However,
13:22
Speaker 1: I ended up starting the season because I had it
13:25
Speaker 1: with Vardi l and Saliba and Poro as a back three.
13:29
Speaker 1: Now I'm looking at them thinking I need to add
13:31
Speaker 1: Trent in there. But I'm also thinking maybe adding Trent
13:34
Speaker 1: and Robertson might be a good combination because, as you say,
13:38
Speaker 1: Robertson is allowing brilliant stuff to be going on down
13:42
Speaker 1: his side and looks like getting returns. The clean sheets
13:44
Speaker 1: look likely to stick every week as well. And Trent
13:48
Speaker 1: is so attacking. He's got the set piece threat as well,
13:51
Speaker 1: and again he has got that natural ability to get forward.
13:56
Speaker 1: And what I'm quite enjoying actually watching from Liverpool is
14:00
Speaker 1: that has it. He seems to have settled this is
14:04
Speaker 1: my level that I like. And then about seventy minutes,
14:07
Speaker 1: once they've won their game and they're comfortable, you start
14:09
Speaker 1: to see players being removed. Now so far, we haven't
14:12
Speaker 1: seen that with Salah because he hasn't had a natural
14:15
Speaker 1: like flight replacement. We've seen Das coming off and Gagpo
14:18
Speaker 1: coming on. We've seen Jotta coming off and Darwin coming on.
14:22
Speaker 1: We now have Kiezer who signed for Liverpool in the
14:24
Speaker 1: transfer window who plays in Salah's position. So maybe with
14:27
Speaker 1: the champion Zeue kicking in after at the international break
14:30
Speaker 1: as well, we might just see Salah coming off with
14:33
Speaker 1: them in this kind of seventy minute swap of players.
14:37
Speaker 1: Same with Trent and Bradley. You've got this kind of
14:41
Speaker 1: second layer of Liverpool players who are so good and
14:44
Speaker 1: can come in and do the job when the game
14:46
Speaker 1: is already pretty much won in most cases. So I'm
14:49
Speaker 1: looking at Liverpool thinking just having Jotters not enough. I
14:53
Speaker 1: want to have Trent as well, and if I could,
14:56
Speaker 1: i'd have Salah too. But troubling up on Liverpool feels
14:59
Speaker 1: like a sensible thing to be doing right now.
15:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you make some great points there. And
15:05
Speaker 2: first on Trent, you're right, I can't imagine myself not
15:11
Speaker 2: owning Trent, And if I didn't own Trent, I'd be real,
15:14
Speaker 2: real nervous because he looks like a Hall a game
15:17
Speaker 2: or two away from a massive haul. And again I
15:21
Speaker 2: go back to tactics a little bit where it's really interesting.
15:24
Speaker 2: As FPO managers, we assume if they're closer to goal,
15:27
Speaker 2: they're automatically a better asset. So What I mean by
15:30
Speaker 2: this is last season, when we were talking about Trent
15:32
Speaker 2: becoming an inverted, you know, center made type of thing.
15:36
Speaker 2: We thought he was going to be an exceptional option.
15:39
Speaker 2: Turns out we would rather have him at right back,
15:41
Speaker 2: bombing down the right wing, making some inverted runs here
15:44
Speaker 2: and there, but crossing NonStop. And that's what we're seeing
15:49
Speaker 2: this season, where he's playing the position he's most comfortable in,
15:53
Speaker 2: playing the position he's best in. I mean, you know,
15:56
Speaker 2: we think about the Euros this season for England, no offense,
15:59
Speaker 2: you guys, he struggled a bit inside the middle right.
16:02
Speaker 2: So I really like word Trend's playing. If I didn't
16:06
Speaker 2: have Trend, I would definitely bring in first thing possible.
16:10
Speaker 2: So that's where I'm at with Trent.
16:12
Speaker 1: Just a quick word then before we move on on
16:14
Speaker 1: Manchester United, because they are still fairly highly owned in
16:17
Speaker 1: the game. Players like Garnaccho, players like rash Ford's garn
16:21
Speaker 1: A show. I think for me anyway was the best
16:23
Speaker 1: player on Manchester United pitch on Sunday, yet he was
16:28
Speaker 1: the one taken off early and Rashford not really for
16:31
Speaker 1: me worth the money in FPL right now. The same
16:34
Speaker 1: with Bruno Fernandez. I'm looking at the Manchester United assets
16:38
Speaker 1: and I'm thinking I'm struggling to justify having to pay
16:42
Speaker 1: the level of budget that we do for the likes
16:45
Speaker 1: of Bruno at eight point four now, because he's obviously
16:48
Speaker 1: taken a price drop, he still feels on the expensive
16:53
Speaker 1: side for the returns that we are seeing from him.
16:55
Speaker 1: I mean, so far he's got three, two and two points,
16:58
Speaker 1: but it would be quite a hard set well going
17:00
Speaker 1: into game week four, given that they've played Southampton in
17:03
Speaker 1: that one. So it wasn't particularly impressed by Manchester United,
17:07
Speaker 1: but I think if I owned one of their assets,
17:09
Speaker 1: I'd probably just hold them for now, see how game
17:12
Speaker 1: week four pands out, and then make a decision on
17:15
Speaker 1: what to do with them after that, especially if I
17:17
Speaker 1: had Garnacho, because I actually thought that he was probably
17:21
Speaker 1: their best player this week.
17:23
Speaker 2: Yeah. Actually, one of my best friends in real life
17:26
Speaker 2: is that I'm in a mini league with owns Garnacho
17:29
Speaker 2: as his differential, And you know, as you were saying,
17:32
Speaker 2: he was very close to a couple of returns throughout
17:34
Speaker 2: the season and was complaining yesterday because he thought he
17:38
Speaker 2: was the best player on the pitch as you mentioned,
17:39
Speaker 2: so it's tough. I do not think you should let
17:43
Speaker 2: go of your United asset, especially with Southampton next, because
17:46
Speaker 2: Southampton is a team to target at this point in
17:49
Speaker 2: time in terms of attacking assets. So you don't want
17:53
Speaker 2: to let go of your assets. But if you let
17:56
Speaker 2: go of Bruno in order to enable someone like a
17:59
Speaker 2: Sala or even a Palmer, it is something to consider
18:03
Speaker 2: because what's the best case scenario you can get with Bruno.
18:07
Speaker 2: I can only imagine at this point in time from
18:09
Speaker 2: what I'm seeing is maybe one goal, one assist, maximum
18:13
Speaker 2: two attacking returns plus bonus. Yes, you're getting your ten
18:17
Speaker 2: pointer twelve pointer, but that's about it. I just don't
18:21
Speaker 2: see United scoring many goals, is the point I'm trying
18:24
Speaker 2: to make, especially with the clinical finishing lacking right now.
18:28
Speaker 2: So it is about who you're letting go in order
18:31
Speaker 2: to fund for. So if you're letting Bruno go to
18:34
Speaker 2: get Salah, that's something to consider. But if not, it
18:38
Speaker 2: is Southampton, So just stick for it, stick with it
18:41
Speaker 2: for one more game Weekause what I would suggest, all.
18:44
Speaker 1: Right, well, let's move on from one set of title
18:47
Speaker 1: contenders in Liverpool to another in Manchester City, because I
18:51
Speaker 1: think if you're talking about salary, it makes sense in
18:53
Speaker 1: the next breath to have a conversation about Harlan now
18:57
Speaker 1: before we talk about Erlin and his hat trick to
19:00
Speaker 1: back hat trick, first away hat trick by the way
19:02
Speaker 1: in the Premier League for him, So that was interesting.
19:04
Speaker 1: I thought of the weekend, I just want to have
19:06
Speaker 1: a quick conversation about Kevin de Bruyn because more chances
19:10
Speaker 1: created than anyone else across the game week with six,
19:13
Speaker 1: he had more touches in the opponent's half than any
19:16
Speaker 1: other player, with the exception of Koptic who had slightly
19:19
Speaker 1: more than him, but again across the game, he had
19:23
Speaker 1: more attempts on goal than any other midfielder in game
19:27
Speaker 1: Week three, his six were more than Samania and Brennanton
19:30
Speaker 1: d s and Tavernier who got five attempts each. Is
19:35
Speaker 1: outside of Harlan, KDB the best pick right now in
19:41
Speaker 1: that Manchester City team, because I'll be honest, I'm struggling.
19:45
Speaker 1: I'm doubled up on Manchester City. I have Harlan and
19:49
Speaker 1: currently I have Vadiel who's very quickly about to become
19:52
Speaker 1: Trent because I made a mistake there in terms of
19:55
Speaker 1: the defensive solidity of those two sides. But I am
19:59
Speaker 1: looking at Manchester City and the constant goal scoring that
20:03
Speaker 1: we are seeing from them regularly return a huge goal
20:07
Speaker 1: holes each week. I'm thinking I would like to add
20:13
Speaker 1: to Harlan, but it's really difficult to know where you
20:16
Speaker 1: go because you've got Savo who last week looked fantastic
20:20
Speaker 1: and I thought maybe he was going to be the
20:21
Speaker 1: way at like six and a half million. Foden is
20:24
Speaker 1: apparently still ill and missed another game, so can't really
20:28
Speaker 1: go there. But kdb's underlying stats for this one in
20:31
Speaker 1: particular look really nice. So is he an option? Do
20:34
Speaker 1: you think?
20:35
Speaker 2: I really like that you mentioned katb Sam But to
20:39
Speaker 2: be quite frank with you, this is where you have
20:41
Speaker 2: to separate the football from FPL. And in terms of football,
20:45
Speaker 2: you could argue he was the best player on the pitch,
20:47
Speaker 2: even though Holland air Patrick he looked amazing. In terms
20:52
Speaker 2: of FPL, there's a lot of factors here at play. Yes,
20:56
Speaker 2: man City is maybe fixture proof, but they do have
20:59
Speaker 2: our arsenal Newcastle coming up. Maybe the Newcastle fixture is
21:02
Speaker 2: not as bad as it seems attacking wise, but it's
21:06
Speaker 2: not really about who is the second man City option
21:10
Speaker 2: that's best after Holland. It's about who are the players
21:14
Speaker 2: You're comparing KDB two in your FPL team and that
21:18
Speaker 2: tier of players. So now you have to compare KDB
21:21
Speaker 2: to the likes of Palmer, to the likes of Soccer,
21:24
Speaker 2: to the likes of Sun when his fixtures get good,
21:27
Speaker 2: and from there, maybe KTB is the better footballer right now,
21:31
Speaker 2: but Soccer might be the better option in terms of
21:33
Speaker 2: FPL on pens, you know, on set pieces, the focal
21:37
Speaker 2: point of the goals. Sometimes Man City can score five goals,
21:42
Speaker 2: but KDB might not be involved. Sometimes Arsenal might score
21:45
Speaker 2: five goals. There's a very high likelihood that Soccer is
21:48
Speaker 2: going to be involved. So that's the only thing I
21:50
Speaker 2: would like to say about why I hesitate to bringing
21:53
Speaker 2: KDB into my team.
21:55
Speaker 1: It's really interesting, isn't it. And I think you're right,
21:57
Speaker 1: and I think when you're looking at that price point,
22:00
Speaker 1: the ten and a half for Palmer, the sort of
22:03
Speaker 1: ten bracket that you see for the likes of Soccer
22:06
Speaker 1: and Son, the nine and a halves where you're you
22:09
Speaker 1: you've got KDB and you've got Phone, it's hard. They
22:12
Speaker 1: are a very very hard group of players to afford,
22:15
Speaker 1: and to be honest, the opening three game weeks of
22:18
Speaker 1: the season, I've watched KDB and thought you've been brilliant,
22:22
Speaker 1: like he has looked fantastic in each and every one
22:24
Speaker 1: of those games. But you're writing what you say, buying
22:28
Speaker 1: him is really difficult. As a Harlan owner, I don't
22:32
Speaker 1: want to spend nine and a half million on another
22:35
Speaker 1: Manchester City player because I want to spread that around
22:39
Speaker 1: and like you say, I've got soccer in my team
22:41
Speaker 1: and he's so important. We'll talk about arsenalata to the
22:43
Speaker 1: way that Arsenal play. I wouldn't want to be without him,
22:47
Speaker 1: which is why I was thinking, oh, at the beginning
22:50
Speaker 1: of the season, well I'll go with Vardil alongside Harlan
22:52
Speaker 1: because I'm expecting man City to have a good season.
22:55
Speaker 1: Last campaign, Vardiel was so important, particularly the back end
22:59
Speaker 1: of the season, to their attacking play, and he was
23:02
Speaker 1: going forward at will and look like regularly a turning
23:06
Speaker 1: an attacking return even when the clean sheet didn't stick.
23:10
Speaker 1: This season, it's not really the same with Vardio. It
23:13
Speaker 1: tends to be the other side and Rico Lewis at
23:16
Speaker 1: the moment who is going on that inverted role and
23:20
Speaker 1: going forward, which means that vardi Ol I mean, did
23:23
Speaker 1: have three attempts on goal in game Week three, but
23:26
Speaker 1: actually they weren't the level of chance that I would
23:30
Speaker 1: be expecting from him based on what we saw last season.
23:34
Speaker 1: Plus we are still seeing this slightly leaky Manchester City
23:38
Speaker 1: defense and they aren't keeping the clean sheets yet there
23:43
Speaker 1: is always a little mistake in them defensively, it feels,
23:46
Speaker 1: and so for me, I think what's likely to happen
23:50
Speaker 1: this week is I'm going to drop down to just
23:52
Speaker 1: having one Manchester City as set, which fills madness with
23:55
Speaker 1: the level of goals that they're scoring, but knowing whether
23:58
Speaker 1: to go for or a Grealish or a Docu or
24:03
Speaker 1: Bernardo or anybody in that sort of cheaper bracket feels
24:07
Speaker 1: really hard. And until Foden's back, I don't feel like
24:12
Speaker 1: there's a natural, obvious second choice in that midfield. And
24:17
Speaker 1: even when Foden is back, he fits in alongside KDB
24:20
Speaker 1: in that category of the cost. So it's going to
24:25
Speaker 1: be tough, I think, to own that second Manchester City
24:27
Speaker 1: asset without taking some risk on security of starts.
24:31
Speaker 2: Gavardiol was great as that left wing role that we
24:35
Speaker 2: so often saw last year. But that's what's amazing about Pep.
24:39
Speaker 2: He continuously evolves changes, you know, brings in players that's
24:43
Speaker 2: going to fit his new system this year. And you know,
24:47
Speaker 2: right off the top of the bat we can see
24:48
Speaker 2: ricoulu Is playing a different role or maybe like a
24:51
Speaker 2: Gavardial role from last year, where he's way more attacking. However,
24:56
Speaker 2: we also have to think about the return of Grealish
24:59
Speaker 2: and Doku on left as pure wingers. They're playing pure
25:04
Speaker 2: wing on the left and would you rather have Grealish
25:07
Speaker 2: play on your left wing or Gavardio play on the
25:09
Speaker 2: left wing. I'm going to take Greenish all day, every day, Right, So,
25:12
Speaker 2: I think Gavardio is a wait and watch. It's been
25:15
Speaker 2: three game weeks, but he is slowly becoming more of
25:20
Speaker 2: a defensive FPL assets where you have to rely on
25:23
Speaker 2: the clean sheets and the bonus is going to get
25:26
Speaker 2: tougher for him because he's not as attacking as he
25:28
Speaker 2: used to be. Finally, we have Champions League Football coming back,
25:33
Speaker 2: where this year there are so many more group stage games, right, So,
25:38
Speaker 2: you're right, we don't really know who the best second
25:41
Speaker 2: asset is because unless Poton is nailed, maybe it turns
25:44
Speaker 2: out that Rico Lewis is actually the best second asset
25:47
Speaker 2: and he continues to start because Peb also does this
25:49
Speaker 2: too right, like he'll bring a player in, you know,
25:54
Speaker 2: make them have a little bit more experience, a little
25:56
Speaker 2: bit more experience, and then he'll play him a lot.
25:59
Speaker 2: I think voted is a case of it took him
26:01
Speaker 2: years before he got all the starts last year. So
26:05
Speaker 2: Rico Lewis is certainly want to watch, but it's very
26:07
Speaker 2: hard to identify that second asset.
26:10
Speaker 1: I totally agree, and I think for me, just a
26:12
Speaker 1: quick word on west Ham before we move on Jarra Boen.
26:15
Speaker 1: That's his second return in two game weeks. Now you
26:19
Speaker 1: might sit here and go, well, it was lucky. It's
26:21
Speaker 1: an home goal. He just gets the assist for it.
26:24
Speaker 1: But equally he's in the right place, he's putting the
26:26
Speaker 1: right balls in. He's so integral, and I think if
26:29
Speaker 1: you do want to invest in west Ham, then Bowen
26:32
Speaker 1: feels like probably the option. We're going to have to
26:35
Speaker 1: keep an eye on the goalkeeper situation because Ariola was
26:40
Speaker 1: a popular pick in FBL with FPL managers. Obviously he
26:43
Speaker 1: goes off a halftime, Fabianski comes on. Now, I as
26:47
Speaker 1: a Fabianski owner because he is my second second goalkeeper,
26:52
Speaker 1: was kind of like, oh, hang on a minute, might
26:54
Speaker 1: we just see a little bit more of an opportunity
26:56
Speaker 1: here for Fabianski to get some game time. We don't
26:59
Speaker 1: know yet, to wait and see, but it's definitely something
27:01
Speaker 1: to keep an eye on because if we do go,
27:04
Speaker 1: if Arioda is out for a little bit and Fabianski
27:06
Speaker 1: does get some more game starts, then we'd have a
27:09
Speaker 1: four point zero starting goalkeeper, which is what we all
27:11
Speaker 1: look for, and if you're wild carding, that might be
27:15
Speaker 1: something of interest. So keep a close eye on on
27:17
Speaker 1: west Ham over the international break and when we are
27:19
Speaker 1: about ten into game week four, for a little bit
27:21
Speaker 1: of an update there, Let's talk about Arsenal for a minute,
27:24
Speaker 1: because I think after Liverpool and Man City, they're probably
27:28
Speaker 1: the team that most FPL managers were looking to invest in.
27:32
Speaker 1: And I would say that Brighton had some opportunities in
27:35
Speaker 1: this first half, but Arsenal were comfortable. They were very
27:39
Speaker 1: very comfortable in this game until the declarm Rice red card.
27:43
Speaker 1: He will not obviously now miss game week four, So
27:45
Speaker 1: if you have Declan Rice and your team, you're going
27:47
Speaker 1: to need to think about that whether you're happy to
27:49
Speaker 1: hold him beyond that or whether actually this is a
27:52
Speaker 1: good opportunity to swap declar Rice to somebody else, because
27:56
Speaker 1: he hasn't really been returning from an FBL perspective so far.
27:59
Speaker 1: This is anyway in the way that we maybe saw
28:01
Speaker 1: from him last campaign, where he was offering much better
28:05
Speaker 1: value for your FBL pounds. But actually, when you look
28:08
Speaker 1: at Arsenal, Soccer was top this week for extreet underachievers
28:13
Speaker 1: across the game week, so he was very unlucky not
28:16
Speaker 1: to register a goal this time around. But what I'm
28:20
Speaker 1: really interested in is his relationship with Kai Havertz. The
28:23
Speaker 1: two of them have formed a really nice bond up there.
28:28
Speaker 1: They are linking up really nicely. They regularly are looking
28:33
Speaker 1: for each other. And actually in this one, there were
28:35
Speaker 1: moments where obviously Soccer assisted Harts for the Arsenal goal,
28:40
Speaker 1: but there were another couple of moments in that game
28:42
Speaker 1: where they could have happened in reverse. There was an
28:45
Speaker 1: opportunity where Habits putting across and Soccer just didn't quite
28:48
Speaker 1: get on the end of it. There was another one
28:51
Speaker 1: a few minutes before where Soccer was following up on
28:54
Speaker 1: a have a shot, and I just like the interconnectivity
28:58
Speaker 1: between those two and as a Sakka Haatz is a
29:01
Speaker 1: player that I'm looking quite longingly at and I'm thinking
29:04
Speaker 1: he feels like a really nice option because I'm not
29:07
Speaker 1: particularly happy with my frontline right now. Obviously Harlan aside
29:11
Speaker 1: he's doing fantastically, but my other two forwards Isaac has
29:16
Speaker 1: finally got a goal. We'll talk about Spurs and Newcastle
29:18
Speaker 1: in a minute, but I've got m Knees as my
29:20
Speaker 1: other forward right now, and there's a conversation as to
29:24
Speaker 1: whether do I go up to have it in that
29:26
Speaker 1: position or do I drop it down to Joe Pedro,
29:28
Speaker 1: both of which were playing in this game, both of
29:31
Speaker 1: which scored goals in this game. I think when you
29:35
Speaker 1: look at the underlying stats, and I know that we
29:37
Speaker 1: have to be careful with underlying stats this early on,
29:39
Speaker 1: but when you look at the underlying stats for this game,
29:41
Speaker 1: the stats look like Brighton were on fire, constantly having
29:46
Speaker 1: shots on the Arsenal goal. They had twenty two of them,
29:50
Speaker 1: with fifteen of them coming from inside the box. But
29:53
Speaker 1: of those fifteen goals, fifteen attempts on goal that came
29:55
Speaker 1: from inside the box. Thirteen of them happened when Arsenal
29:58
Speaker 1: were down to ten men. So we just have to
30:00
Speaker 1: be and this is where we have to be careful
30:02
Speaker 1: with those underlying stats, because whilst Brighton did play well
30:05
Speaker 1: in this game, and particularly after the red card, actually
30:09
Speaker 1: Arsenal would they defended really well after that red cab
30:11
Speaker 1: was it not for a mistake from Gabrielle. They go
30:14
Speaker 1: on and they win that game one nil. So if
30:17
Speaker 1: you've got soccer, don't panic. There are a lot I
30:20
Speaker 1: saw a lot of people going on in a cell
30:22
Speaker 1: soccer for Salah. Because of the fixtures. I wouldn't be
30:25
Speaker 1: selling Socca right now.
30:27
Speaker 2: It's an interesting dilemma with the Arsenal assets because sam,
30:33
Speaker 2: as you mentioned, there are two just must have picks.
30:36
Speaker 2: I would say it's soccer and then probably one of
30:39
Speaker 2: Gabrielle or Saliba. So the reason I say that is
30:43
Speaker 2: because what we've learned in the first three game weeks,
30:47
Speaker 2: regardless of the fixtures and regardless of the foreseeable future.
30:51
Speaker 2: In terms of fixtures, Arsenal are top two defense in
30:55
Speaker 2: the league and clean sheets are very very hard to
30:58
Speaker 2: come by this season, as we can feel the effects
31:02
Speaker 2: of Henderson wipeout every week as well as the poos
31:06
Speaker 2: and the other assets in terms of defense. So it's
31:09
Speaker 2: a catch twenty two right, because do you go two
31:12
Speaker 2: defensive assets from Arsenal or do you combine Sokka with
31:18
Speaker 2: the likes of Harts. Speaking on Hards, I think this
31:22
Speaker 2: is a fault of mine and what many FPL managers
31:25
Speaker 2: might also struggle with in terms of having our sort
31:29
Speaker 2: of biases is that I have never really thought of
31:33
Speaker 2: Harts as a very good FPL option. I don't know why,
31:37
Speaker 2: but I've never really trusted him as an FPL option,
31:41
Speaker 2: and it's taken me three game weeks into the season
31:43
Speaker 2: to realize that, Wow, this might be one of the
31:46
Speaker 2: best options in the game in terms of forward assets
31:50
Speaker 2: in FPL. So I am very harids curious. The dilemma
31:54
Speaker 2: for me is do I go too defenders or two
31:57
Speaker 2: attackers from Arsenal, especially looking at the game week six
32:01
Speaker 2: seven eight run that Arsenal have where you need to
32:04
Speaker 2: be tripling up on these players. So that's the only
32:07
Speaker 2: thing I would like to say about Arsenal. But if
32:09
Speaker 2: you did have soccer, I would do everything I could
32:12
Speaker 2: to hold. However, I know you said you wouldn't do
32:15
Speaker 2: soccer to Sala. I might actually convince you otherwise and
32:20
Speaker 2: go soccer to Sala. In terms of that question itself.
32:23
Speaker 1: I just can't quite bring myself knowing soccer's record, like
32:28
Speaker 1: so people will look at the fixtures for the next
32:30
Speaker 1: two weeks and goo, he's got Spurs in the North
32:32
Speaker 1: London Derby and then he's got Manchester City. But honestly,
32:37
Speaker 1: I just I don't know.
32:41
Speaker 2: But I mean, I just don't, okay, I think there.
32:45
Speaker 1: Are other players that I would sell ahead of selling soccer.
32:48
Speaker 1: Like last season he got twenty five points against Spurs.
32:53
Speaker 1: That's more than he did against any other team the
32:56
Speaker 1: White Spurs defend. There's definitely an opportunity for soccer to
32:59
Speaker 1: come to the Tottenam Stadium and registered in attacking returns. Now,
33:03
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that Salah can't do the same, and
33:08
Speaker 1: you know, have this nice time fixture against Forrest and
33:12
Speaker 1: score a load of goals. But if I look at
33:15
Speaker 1: the Liverpool team right now, we spoke a lot about them,
33:17
Speaker 1: so I don't want to go back too much. But
33:19
Speaker 1: there's Salah, there's Jots, there's DS, there's trend Robertson, even
33:23
Speaker 1: there's a Bosla even there's loads of players in that
33:26
Speaker 1: team I think could be involved. If there's a Liverpool goal,
33:29
Speaker 1: there's a load of them that it could be, depending
33:31
Speaker 1: upon which side of the pitch. It comes down the
33:33
Speaker 1: style of play that they're deploying in that moment of
33:36
Speaker 1: the game at Arsenal. If there is an Arsenal goal,
33:42
Speaker 1: I would be fairly confident that soccers involved, and that's
33:47
Speaker 1: what would put me off.
33:48
Speaker 2: Selling him, Sam. I agree. I agree with the statements
33:51
Speaker 2: you're making. There's there's one thing though, right It's it's
33:54
Speaker 2: hard to go to Salah. Besides this soccer p price point.
33:58
Speaker 2: So unless you're selling the likes of home into a
34:00
Speaker 2: cheaper attacker, most likely your only route to Sala is
34:04
Speaker 2: from soccer. Is the first thing I'd like to say,
34:06
Speaker 2: and I get it right. Socca is not a bad asset.
34:09
Speaker 2: Socca is a great asset. But the explosiveness of sala
34:14
Speaker 2: in the next two game weeks is scary stuff. It
34:17
Speaker 2: is very, very scary stuff. I would not be surprised
34:21
Speaker 2: if he comes out with three attacking returns first fourst
34:24
Speaker 2: three attacking returns versus Bournemouth, whether that be a sister
34:27
Speaker 2: goals with soccer, there's a cap here. They're playing Tottenham.
34:31
Speaker 2: Yes he might get one or two returns, but it's
34:34
Speaker 2: Man City in the next game. So I just think
34:38
Speaker 2: sala over soccer is the right way to do it
34:40
Speaker 2: for the next two game weeks.
34:43
Speaker 1: I mean Spurs on my team and I could see
34:45
Speaker 1: him geting three attacking returns against just the way that
34:47
Speaker 1: we play defensively, and I think that's what puts me
34:50
Speaker 1: off because I also know that in two game weeks time,
34:54
Speaker 1: I'm definitely gonna want Socca back in. Maybe this is
34:57
Speaker 1: an opportunity moment for us to move to because Palmer,
35:01
Speaker 1: I think is an interesting question. But just before we do,
35:04
Speaker 1: just interesting to know on Brighton that it was ver
35:07
Speaker 1: Brogan who was in goal this week rather than Steel
35:10
Speaker 1: was we've seen in the opening two weeks. Now. In
35:12
Speaker 1: the press conference before game week three, Herzeler did say
35:16
Speaker 1: that he wasn't going to rotate the goalkeepers in the
35:18
Speaker 1: same way that Deserbe did last season. He was going
35:21
Speaker 1: to pick a goalkeeper, and then in game week three
35:25
Speaker 1: we see the return of the Brogan, who's finally fit
35:27
Speaker 1: and able to play, so that suggests to me that
35:30
Speaker 1: he is going to be Brighton's number one this season.
35:34
Speaker 1: If you have Steel, therefore, you might think you might
35:37
Speaker 1: need to make a goalkeeper change at that point, because actually,
35:41
Speaker 1: although ver Brogen obviously doesn't keep the clean sheet this week,
35:45
Speaker 1: I think he did get six saves. He was one
35:49
Speaker 1: of only four goalkeepers to do that. It was him
35:52
Speaker 1: and Kepper, Henderson and Pope that returned four saves this week.
35:55
Speaker 1: So two safe points, so that additional opportunity for points
35:58
Speaker 1: is definitely there. I don't think i'd do it right now.
36:01
Speaker 1: I don't think having a Brighton defender at the moment
36:04
Speaker 1: is where you want to be investing your money. If
36:06
Speaker 1: you're going for Brighton, is Jeal Pedro or it's well Beck,
36:09
Speaker 1: or it's Matma or Mentor in my opinion, But come
36:13
Speaker 1: game week twelve there is a nice fixture block. So
36:15
Speaker 1: if you're holding your wild card for a little bit longer,
36:18
Speaker 1: then looking at the Bruggan in game week twelve might
36:21
Speaker 1: not be a bad idea. But let's continue on to
36:23
Speaker 1: Chelsea because talking about soccer and selling him makes me
36:27
Speaker 1: feel slightly uneasy. If you had Palmer, would you sell
36:31
Speaker 1: him for Salah this week because I think there's going
36:34
Speaker 1: to be a lot of managers who were really disappointed
36:36
Speaker 1: in Cole Palmer this week. He was the second highest
36:39
Speaker 1: captained player this week, behind obviously Erlin Harlan who had
36:42
Speaker 1: like four point six million captains. Palmer was captained by
36:46
Speaker 1: nearly one point two million managers this week. He was
36:50
Speaker 1: more highly captain than Salah going into a fixture at
36:54
Speaker 1: home against a Crystal Palis side that had been struggling
36:59
Speaker 1: I think in the opening too game week so the season,
37:00
Speaker 1: not converting the chances. They had plenty of opportunities, but
37:03
Speaker 1: they hadn't been converting them. I think there'll be a
37:07
Speaker 1: lot of managers that look at that result for Palmer
37:09
Speaker 1: and feel really disappointed to just get an assist. Plus
37:12
Speaker 1: he picks up a yellow card late on in that game,
37:14
Speaker 1: so lost another FPL point there. Would you do the
37:18
Speaker 1: Palmer to Sala move.
37:20
Speaker 2: It's very interesting because that's how quickly a narrative can shift.
37:25
Speaker 2: One week ago Palmer was the golden boy, the chosen one,
37:30
Speaker 2: and just because he comes away with one assist where
37:33
Speaker 2: the other popular captain options absolutely destroyed the field, I e.
37:38
Speaker 2: Holland Sala even soccer, we're quick to think that Palmer
37:43
Speaker 2: is not as good of an option. But it's also
37:47
Speaker 2: weird for me to say this because actually, when I
37:50
Speaker 2: was thinking about my transfers before game week three, I
37:54
Speaker 2: have Son in my team by the way, I was
37:57
Speaker 2: thinking of going Son to Palmer, and then pre pre
38:02
Speaker 2: thinking the move that I was going to make this
38:04
Speaker 2: week was Palmer to Sala. Now it's a waste of
38:10
Speaker 2: transfers because you're premium hopping over here, but I was
38:14
Speaker 2: toying with that idea. So I don't think I would
38:17
Speaker 2: fault anybody for making that move because I just trust
38:21
Speaker 2: the consistency that Sala is about to show us in
38:24
Speaker 2: the next few game weeks because his fixtures are also good.
38:27
Speaker 2: But I also think you have to really assess it,
38:30
Speaker 2: be patient, don't make that decision right now. There's still
38:32
Speaker 2: international break, so anything can happen. And also know that
38:36
Speaker 2: Palmer is capable of a nineteen twenty pointer. He has
38:40
Speaker 2: it in his system, he has it in his bag,
38:43
Speaker 2: and he's got Bournemouth West Ham Brighton Forest next, which
38:47
Speaker 2: is as good of a fixture run that you're going
38:50
Speaker 2: to get this season. So it's a tough one. I
38:53
Speaker 2: would wait and think about it before I make the
38:56
Speaker 2: decision on that.
38:58
Speaker 1: I think if you put in Maduakei this week, you
39:00
Speaker 1: would definitely hold him. I mean, he was the most
39:03
Speaker 1: transferred in player this week after his hat trick in
39:05
Speaker 1: game week two. He had nearly one point one million
39:08
Speaker 1: transfers in this week, partly because of this fixture, but also,
39:12
Speaker 1: as you've said about Palmer, because of the longer term
39:15
Speaker 1: fixtures that Chelsea have coming up. So if you bought
39:18
Speaker 1: in Madawake this time, then I think you can consider
39:22
Speaker 1: yourself a little bit unlucky actually, because he had three
39:24
Speaker 1: attempts on goal. Two of those were classified as big chances.
39:28
Speaker 1: Probably could even should have returned Semethl points for you
39:32
Speaker 1: in this one. But I think you have to hold.
39:36
Speaker 1: If you've brought him in now, you hold him because
39:38
Speaker 1: we've seen what he can do in game week two,
39:41
Speaker 1: we stew signs of the repetition of that in game
39:44
Speaker 1: week three. With the fixtures that they're coming up in
39:47
Speaker 1: game week four and beyond, I think you have to hold.
39:51
Speaker 1: I think the other player that was interesting this week
39:53
Speaker 1: was Esa. He finally returned on all of those chances
39:57
Speaker 1: that he's had in the opening tea game weeks of
39:59
Speaker 1: this season. Going in to game week three, he and
40:02
Speaker 1: se Menu would have more goal attempts than any other
40:04
Speaker 1: midfielders in the game. We finally saw him return this
40:08
Speaker 1: week as he's the fourth most transferred out player ahead
40:10
Speaker 1: of the game week so seven hundred and seventy eight
40:13
Speaker 1: thousand managers parting with him. Ahead of this goal that
40:16
Speaker 1: he scored, I think if you've got a day in
40:19
Speaker 1: your team, I would be keeping him. I think it's
40:21
Speaker 1: seven million. He still feels like decent value for money.
40:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, just on Maduiki. First, I don't think he's a bye,
40:31
Speaker 2: but he's definitely a hold and certainly not a sell.
40:34
Speaker 2: Maybe he is a bye because you're right, he looked
40:37
Speaker 2: amazing yesterday and it was so threatening down the right.
40:40
Speaker 2: But we just don't know what the Chelsea rotation is
40:43
Speaker 2: going to look like. So that's the only concern I have.
40:46
Speaker 2: I feel like we have good confidence that Palmer are
40:48
Speaker 2: continuing to start. Maybe Maduiki is locked up to be
40:52
Speaker 2: a starter in the Premier League. Who knows, But I
40:54
Speaker 2: don't think you and I can answer that question. So
40:57
Speaker 2: I would just wait a few more maybe one or
40:59
Speaker 2: two more game weeks if you really want him before
41:01
Speaker 2: you bring him in. But I wouldn't fault anybody for
41:04
Speaker 2: bringing him in this week. In terms of Essa last week,
41:07
Speaker 2: I could not believe the amount of people that were
41:10
Speaker 2: selling him. That just tells me Sam that maybe people
41:14
Speaker 2: aren't watching the games enough. He was so so brilliant
41:18
Speaker 2: the first two game weeks. He could have gotten more
41:20
Speaker 2: attacking returns, absolutely underperforming his XG XGI and I was
41:25
Speaker 2: so happy to hold. I had no problem holding him.
41:29
Speaker 2: And if anything, he's still a by He is the
41:32
Speaker 2: talisman for the team. Could walk into any team in
41:35
Speaker 2: the Premier League. Maybe not start straight away for the
41:38
Speaker 2: likes of Man City, but certainly we would be fighting
41:41
Speaker 2: for that spot. So just a brilliant footballer, brilliant fpl
41:45
Speaker 2: asset on everything, selfish, maybe carries the ball too long,
41:49
Speaker 2: but that's exactly what we want in terms of fl assets.
41:52
Speaker 2: So Sa for me is firmly in my team for
41:55
Speaker 2: the foreseeable future.
41:57
Speaker 1: I think now that the transfer windows closed as well,
41:59
Speaker 1: and we start to see teams settling into with the
42:04
Speaker 1: new players that they've bought in, getting used to the
42:06
Speaker 1: players that have disappeared off Like with Pallas, it was
42:08
Speaker 1: definitely a very unsettled transfer window. They obviously lost to Lesay.
42:12
Speaker 1: There was a lot of rumors about who might go where,
42:15
Speaker 1: who might come in. And I feel like now with Essay,
42:19
Speaker 1: if you've held him to this point, he is a
42:22
Speaker 1: player that you hold more longer term now because he
42:25
Speaker 1: is a really nice price point in terms of affordability.
42:28
Speaker 1: He's talismanic in that Crystal Palace team, and as you say,
42:33
Speaker 1: I think the underlying numbers were always there for him.
42:37
Speaker 1: He always looked like he was about to return on it.
42:41
Speaker 1: But I think in these early weeks of the season,
42:43
Speaker 1: I can understand why managers were selling him because there
42:45
Speaker 1: were so many other players in and around that price
42:47
Speaker 1: point who were returning on their underlying numbers, and so
42:52
Speaker 1: you can see why people go, well, I've got this player,
42:54
Speaker 1: but he hasn't returned for two weeks, whereas this player
42:56
Speaker 1: has returned for two weeks, So I'm just going to
42:58
Speaker 1: make that move. And for some managers it was moves
43:01
Speaker 1: like to Smith Rowe, for example, who was significantly cheaper,
43:05
Speaker 1: going to free up some budget. That budget might enable
43:07
Speaker 1: you to get to saler, it might enable you to
43:10
Speaker 1: have a trend in your team. If you didn't have Harlan,
43:13
Speaker 1: it maybe gets you a little bit closer there, so
43:15
Speaker 1: you can see the way that minds move in terms
43:18
Speaker 1: of making decisions. But I think for me with Essay,
43:21
Speaker 1: he's a player that I would definitely be holding. But
43:23
Speaker 1: I was interested in what you were saying before about
43:25
Speaker 1: one of your other midfielders because you just said I've
43:28
Speaker 1: got son in my team, which, of course, as you are,
43:30
Speaker 1: I feel Sonaldo. I'm absolutely not surprised to hear that.
43:34
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the Newcastle Spurs game, because I only
43:38
Speaker 1: have Poro from a Spurs perspective and I only have
43:41
Speaker 1: Esak from a New coastle perspective. So I was going
43:43
Speaker 1: into this one. I wasn't really expecting Poro to keep
43:47
Speaker 1: a clean sheet. We don't ever travel away to Saint
43:49
Speaker 1: James's Park particularly well, I think that's the understatement. Maybe
43:53
Speaker 1: I've ever said Spurs' record at Saint James's Park is terrible,
43:56
Speaker 1: So I was expecting something from Esak, but Poro was
43:59
Speaker 1: hoping for an attacking return from He had six attempts
44:03
Speaker 1: on goal in this game week, more than any other defender,
44:05
Speaker 1: and significantly more than any other defender the next best
44:08
Speaker 1: was Vardiol and Michael Keena Everton, who had three each.
44:12
Speaker 1: All of his attempts on goal, though came from outside
44:14
Speaker 1: of the box. One of them, I'm not sure how
44:16
Speaker 1: it didn't go in. It was the long way Jeff
44:18
Speaker 1: that came off the bar and I was like, oh
44:19
Speaker 1: you joking, Poro, like that would have been lovely, creating
44:23
Speaker 1: plenty of opportunities as well. He was up there in
44:26
Speaker 1: the top five for touches in the opponents half as well.
44:29
Speaker 1: Let's remember he's a defender because everybody else that was
44:32
Speaker 1: in that touches graphic, It's like Bernardo Silver and Kevin
44:36
Speaker 1: de Bruyne. It's players that you expect to have you
44:38
Speaker 1: having touches in the opposition's half. I'm holding Poro even
44:42
Speaker 1: with the North London Derby up next, because his attacking
44:45
Speaker 1: threat is extreme this season. But what are you planning
44:48
Speaker 1: to do about.
44:48
Speaker 2: Son For any new listeners of the Marvelous Off the
44:53
Speaker 2: Bench pod, you have to understand that my FPL handle
44:58
Speaker 2: is FPL Sonaldo. I am one of, if not the
45:01
Speaker 2: biggest Hung and Sun fans from the start where he
45:04
Speaker 2: began in Bundesliga, and this is something that I've always
45:08
Speaker 2: wrestled with Sam. Is I move up and down the
45:12
Speaker 2: rankings with Sun because at the start of the season
45:17
Speaker 2: I really wasn't convinced that Son was the answer because
45:19
Speaker 2: I saw the preseason. I saw a lot of the
45:21
Speaker 2: Spurs game. I thought Sun didn't look fantastic. He looked okay,
45:26
Speaker 2: of course, and I thought Socca was the answer. And
45:29
Speaker 2: I think I've gotten a way with that battle in
45:31
Speaker 2: the last three game week. Soccer probably has a little
45:33
Speaker 2: more points because of his assist in gaming three, But
45:38
Speaker 2: I just am not convinced from a very unbiased perspective
45:42
Speaker 2: that Sun is the better premium asset at that price
45:45
Speaker 2: point against the likes of Socca for example, and Palmer
45:49
Speaker 2: as well. And you have to think when game week
45:52
Speaker 2: six starts to roll around, when man City plus Arsenal's
45:56
Speaker 2: fixtures get good, you're going to have Holland and a
46:00
Speaker 2: Socca in your team, no matter what I mean. It's
46:02
Speaker 2: just an absolute right. And so how do you afford Sun.
46:07
Speaker 2: You really can't unless you give up the likes of
46:09
Speaker 2: Soccer and or you sacrifice a lot in the rest
46:14
Speaker 2: of your team, which is not possible because we're going
46:16
Speaker 2: to want three Arsenal three man City by that time.
46:20
Speaker 2: So the answer is looking like Solanki is going to
46:23
Speaker 2: be the more popular and more often used Tottenham ascid
46:28
Speaker 2: throughout the rest of the season. So this is tough.
46:31
Speaker 2: It's tough for me because as a fan, I want
46:34
Speaker 2: him in my team always and I'm probably one of
46:37
Speaker 2: the few that have him over the likes of Soccer
46:39
Speaker 2: and Palmer. But I would not advise to bring him
46:42
Speaker 2: in right now. He's playing way too wide. He's playing
46:45
Speaker 2: multiple different positions, sometimes up top, sometimes on the left,
46:49
Speaker 2: and it feels like he's the past to assist a
46:51
Speaker 2: guy Madison is just ball hogging all the free kicks.
46:55
Speaker 2: I'm a Sun fan, That's why I'm a little annoyed,
46:58
Speaker 2: and you know, not on set piece is Porols taking
47:01
Speaker 2: all the set pieces and it's just tough to watch
47:06
Speaker 2: as a sunfan and an FPL manager as well, because
47:10
Speaker 2: I am not convinced he's the best asset right now.
47:13
Speaker 1: No, I agree, and I think as a manager he
47:16
Speaker 1: went into game with one with Selanki. I find myself
47:19
Speaker 1: feeling quite flat about about that because he the last
47:25
Speaker 1: few game weeks, Spurs have been very, very creative so
47:28
Speaker 1: many and the second half against Newcaster was a prime
47:31
Speaker 1: example of this. So many chances created no finishing. Yeah,
47:36
Speaker 1: and that's the problem is that had SLANKI been fit
47:38
Speaker 1: for the last couple of weeks, we would have had
47:40
Speaker 1: a natural finisher in that position and you would have
47:42
Speaker 1: expected that there would have been goals that come on
47:45
Speaker 1: the back of it. We've seen changes in the personnel
47:48
Speaker 1: at the top. I didn't think it worked without Brennan
47:50
Speaker 1: Johnson this week. If you're a Brennan Johnson owner, you
47:52
Speaker 1: would have been disappointed not to see him on the
47:54
Speaker 1: starting eleven this week. I think he proved a point
47:57
Speaker 1: in the second half when he came on, and I'd
47:58
Speaker 1: expect to see him back. If you own Brennan Johnson,
48:01
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be selling him unless you want to sell
48:03
Speaker 1: him because you want to change out of your Spurs investment.
48:07
Speaker 1: But I don't think you need to sell him in
48:09
Speaker 1: terms of I don't think he's going to be benched
48:12
Speaker 1: again after the performance that he put in in game
48:14
Speaker 1: week three when he came off the bench. But yeah,
48:17
Speaker 1: all eyes on Posta Cooglu and his comments on Slanke
48:21
Speaker 1: for after the international break. I'm expecting Slank to be
48:23
Speaker 1: back and then I think a lot of managers will
48:26
Speaker 1: probably give it a week because it's the North London Derby.
48:28
Speaker 1: But after that, if Spurs continued to be creative in
48:31
Speaker 1: the way that they were in the second half against Newcastle,
48:34
Speaker 1: then I think sank is a really nice option because
48:37
Speaker 1: you'll find him he's a natural finisher in that position. Defensively,
48:40
Speaker 1: we got exactly what you would expect from Spurs defense.
48:43
Speaker 1: They played well in the game, they dominated it and
48:46
Speaker 1: then one opportunity Newcastle got in behind it was a
48:50
Speaker 1: tap him. For Esac to get his first goal of
48:52
Speaker 1: the season would have upset everyone that sold him because
48:54
Speaker 1: he was the most sold this week. But Spurs well
48:57
Speaker 1: without Van der Venn and that does make a big difference.
49:00
Speaker 1: Expect him to be back after international break as well,
49:02
Speaker 1: so if you are without, if you've got fand of
49:04
Speaker 1: ending your team, he's probably a hold at four point five.
49:07
Speaker 1: But before we sign off, just a quick word on
49:09
Speaker 1: two other four point five defenders in the ipswich Fulham
49:14
Speaker 1: game this week, because Anthony Robinson that is back to
49:17
Speaker 1: back assists for him now in the last two weeks
49:20
Speaker 1: and Leaf Davis the most chance is created by a
49:23
Speaker 1: defender with three this week. Level with Lewis Dunk and
49:26
Speaker 1: only three defenders in the game suppled more crosses than
49:29
Speaker 1: Davis did two this week. He also took four corners,
49:31
Speaker 1: which was more than any other defender in the game.
49:34
Speaker 1: So those two for me are the standout four point
49:38
Speaker 1: five defenders right now. They are the most attacking. They've
49:41
Speaker 1: also got nice fixtures, so there should be some clean
49:44
Speaker 1: sheets on the horizon. Would you disagree? Is there anyone
49:48
Speaker 1: else in that four point five category that you think
49:50
Speaker 1: is better than Davis and Robinson because they just to
49:54
Speaker 1: the standouts.
49:54
Speaker 2: For me, not much to add here. I fully agree
49:57
Speaker 2: with you. We do not own Robinson for the clean chet.
50:00
Speaker 2: We own him for the attacking returns. And he has
50:02
Speaker 2: been absolutely brilliant so far this season. And at that price, Braadcat,
50:07
Speaker 2: you can't expect much. But for someone like Robinson to
50:10
Speaker 2: come up with already to assist right is fantastic value.
50:15
Speaker 2: You know you're getting exactly what you want for his value.
50:18
Speaker 2: And yeah, I would not swerve too much from Robinson
50:22
Speaker 2: or Davis.
50:22
Speaker 1: Well, one last team, just to mention briefly before we
50:27
Speaker 1: sign off, and that is Brentford, because if you own Andromo,
50:31
Speaker 1: he was the best differential pick for this week in
50:34
Speaker 1: my opinion, he well, he just was fantastic in this
50:38
Speaker 1: game in the same way that he was last season
50:41
Speaker 1: when Tony was suspended. Now Tony has been sold, you
50:44
Speaker 1: would expect him to become the main man for Brentford
50:46
Speaker 1: and I was very very close to bringing him in.
50:49
Speaker 1: But a little shout out for Visa because he had
50:53
Speaker 1: the most attempts on goal of all the forwards in
50:56
Speaker 1: game Week three. He had six. There's one more than
50:59
Speaker 1: Harlan who had five. He also created three chances more
51:03
Speaker 1: than any other forward. It was Canuin Haverty with the
51:06
Speaker 1: next best, with two each. I think he's going to
51:09
Speaker 1: be overlooked this season because a lot of manager will
51:12
Speaker 1: look at you know, I've got hard and I'm going
51:13
Speaker 1: to have Jael Pedro because he's cheap, and then maybe
51:16
Speaker 1: I go back to Solanki or Havertz is in great form,
51:19
Speaker 1: Visa feels like a really good option who is going
51:23
Speaker 1: to be neglected by a lot of managers. And then
51:26
Speaker 1: then Bomo. The next two are difficult. He's got two
51:29
Speaker 1: difficult fixtures coming up next against Manchester City in four
51:32
Speaker 1: and then Spurs in five. But after that the fixtures
51:35
Speaker 1: look phenomenal for Brentford. So if you haven't already got
51:40
Speaker 1: a Brenford player in your team from game week six,
51:43
Speaker 1: maybe even for five, because actually in Bomo scored twice
51:47
Speaker 1: against Spurs on the opening day last season, you definitely could,
51:51
Speaker 1: could and probably should be investing in Brentford at that point.
51:54
Speaker 1: And just a commiserations to Flecken owners because that consolation
51:57
Speaker 1: goal at the death, that's the sort of thing that
52:00
Speaker 1: upsets me greatly.
52:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I'll add a quick word on that.
52:04
Speaker 2: Whoever brought it in Bomo this game with game with three,
52:07
Speaker 2: I'm talking about, you know, great, great job, because trust me, Sam,
52:12
Speaker 2: by game week six, it's almost going to be like
52:15
Speaker 2: a dead spot because everybody and their dogs will own him,
52:19
Speaker 2: like every single person that plays FPL, that's engaged, that
52:23
Speaker 2: knows the game, it'll be crazy not to own him
52:25
Speaker 2: for his value. Just on Wissa, I think it's brilliant
52:28
Speaker 2: acid as well, brilliant footballer. But you forgot to mention
52:31
Speaker 2: two other strikers there isak Watkins. We're probably missing a few,
52:36
Speaker 2: so he's not a priority transfer, is the issue, unless
52:40
Speaker 2: you're enabling him to bring in the likes of a
52:42
Speaker 2: different premium or you're wildcarding him in in game week six.
52:46
Speaker 2: But even in a wildcard situation, I just don't see
52:50
Speaker 2: space for him. But it's a catch twenty two in
52:52
Speaker 2: the sense that it's tough to bring him in. But
52:55
Speaker 2: in order for you to differentiate from just having Enbuemo,
53:00
Speaker 2: going to need another Brunford Acid. The same goes for
53:04
Speaker 2: Arsenal's name goes for Liverpool, same goes for man City.
53:06
Speaker 2: So it really depends where your priorities will end up
53:09
Speaker 2: at the right time. So I just think we so
53:11
Speaker 2: will be a tough act to bring in throughout the season.
53:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I tend to agree with you, but
53:17
Speaker 1: he's probably going to be one of those players that
53:18
Speaker 1: I look at and think, oh, I wish I'd brought
53:21
Speaker 1: him in, But it's going to be difficult to sell
53:23
Speaker 1: somebody in order to But that's.
53:24
Speaker 2: The season, right Sam, Like, it's actually really interesting. The
53:28
Speaker 2: price point to whoever did it over at FPL just
53:32
Speaker 2: an amazing job because you really cannot own them all
53:35
Speaker 2: for the first time I feel in years where I
53:39
Speaker 2: just want everybody and I can't afford everybody.
53:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to make for a really, really interesting season,
53:45
Speaker 1: isn't it.
53:46
Speaker 2: Sam. It's been great to talk to you today. I'm
53:48
Speaker 2: very happy to be back on the Off the Bench
53:50
Speaker 2: pod with you this season, and I'm very excited to
53:53
Speaker 2: continue to pod with you throughout the season.
53:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been fantastic, lovely talking to you.
53:58
Speaker 2: We now have the first international break of the season.
54:01
Speaker 2: It's a time to sit back and reflect on how
54:03
Speaker 2: the season has started. It's also a time where a
54:06
Speaker 2: lot of FPL managers traditionally play their wildcard. It doesn't
54:10
Speaker 2: look like this season will be any different. Two hundred
54:13
Speaker 2: eighty seven four hundred and twenty five managers currently have
54:17
Speaker 2: the chip active.
54:18
Speaker 1: So with that in mind, Jeors, Kelly and I will
54:20
Speaker 1: be back on Wednesday with the FPL Pod. We will
54:23
Speaker 1: be talking about strategies, the best players to tuget on
54:25
Speaker 1: your wildcard, and all of those things that you might
54:27
Speaker 1: need if you're paying the chip this week.
54:29
Speaker 2: If you haven't already joined the FPL Pod, Binni leigue,
54:32
Speaker 2: the code is Q seven y C zero.
54:37
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us, guys.
54:38
Speaker 2: Bye.