We have a problem in FPL; we all have very similar teams. Yes, every season we all end up on the same rough group of players. But with just 3 weeks gone, Wildcards played, pre-season plans ripped up, 5 at the back a distant GW1 memory we are mostly all rushing to conform our team to a combination of this standard. Then when our choices from this fail, we panic and take structure reductions of points deductions to move to the most recent in-form player.
Take Salah and Mane for example, both have returned 13+ points when the other has blanked, taking it in turns to score big. Managers who kept Salah or advocated him online then appeared to be proven right that the 1m extra was all the difference. But if that 1m difference helped you for example get Pukki and Martial in, you beat the points of Salah + a 4.5m dud player. Now there could be some credit to look at this list of players who we are all picking from, and really look at their mid to long term chances of staying in our teams and worth the investment, offset, points deduction or Wildcard that we are contemplating going into the international break. Then we will look at the potential Template busters who may appear in the next few weeks so we can scout before and over the international break.
Most teams are made up of these 27 players;
The Template
Goalkeepers
Pope
So close to 2 clean sheets, and brought home a tonne of save points and BPS system points vs Arsenal. Fixtures turn better soon.
Mid to long term asset rating: 4/5
Ryan
Brighton's defence has looked better under Potter with 5 at the back but their fixtures turn rough soon. Bonus that he has his back-up at 4.0m also in the game.
Mid to long term asset rating: 2/5
Henderson
Sheffield United have shown their ‘steely' side. Henderson racks up save points.
Mid to long term asset rating: 3/5
Ederson
City will keep clean sheets, they dominate the ball so much. Expensive though.
Mid to long term asset rating: 4/5
Defenders
Alexander-Arnold
Unbelievable contributions from set pieces, seems to not get rotated as much as feared. Liverpool will start getting clean sheets.
Mid to long term asset rating: 5/5
Robertson
The clean sheets will come, Robertson has gone close to scoring a few times already and it has gone under the radar.
Mid to long term asset rating: 4/5
Van Dijk
Bonus point magnet. Will play every game. Gets on the end of crosses.
Mid to long term asset rating: 5/5
Laporte
Will play every game. City will get clean sheets.
Mid to long term asset rating: 4/5
Zinchenko
Rotation is coming.
Mid to long term asset rating: 1/5
Digne
Fantastic underlying stats. Contributes all over the pitch. Sigurdsson went off to make room for Attacking 3 behind the striker in the last game leaving Digne on all set pieces. Everton underwhelming up front so make up for it with hopefully a defence.
Mid to long term asset rating: 5/5
AWB
Tackles. Bonus Points. Possible clean sheets. Fixtures look good going forward (with a few hard ones). Shaw's injury means rotation from Young or Dalot a lot less likely.
Mid to long term asset rating: 4/5
Lundstram
Our God. (May see rotation at some point but if he keeps up his stats he should keep his place)
Mid to long term asset rating: 4/5
Midfielders
Salah
Nothing to say
Mid to long term asset rating: 6/5
Mane
Gives you an extra million.
Mid to long term asset rating: 5/5
Sterling
Simply the best.
Mid to long term asset rating: 6/5
de Bruyne
Will drop deep sometimes, don't be alarmed. Keep the faith. He is on set pieces also.
Mid to long term asset rating: 4/5
Martial
Oop gem (Out of Position). If he plays he scores. If he would've played a full FPL season's worth of minutes he would've been on for 200+ points in each of the last 3 seasons.
Mid to long term asset rating: 4/5
Mount
Lampard loves him. Plays in the pocket behind the striker. Good fixtures. Rotation always possible from the far more experienced Barkley and Willian (but they may be preferred in the Champions League).
Mid to long term asset rating: 3/5
Cantwell
With Onel Hernandez out for 3 months and the other wingers playing and underwhelming in the Carabao Cup. Cantwell is a budget gem who is rewarding managers in an attacking team.
Mid to long term asset rating: 4/5
Forwards
Kane
Sigh. He must return soon. Denied a series of stonewall penalties (yes, don't even argue) in the first few games. He plays 90 mins every game, up front (mostly) for a team who should get their act together soon. However, Spurs' 2019 calendar form has been poor.
Mid to long term asset rating: 3.5/5
Aguero
Risk worth taking. Jesus injuries need to be taken advantage of. Things may change when Saturday/Wednesday football kicks in with the UCL
Mid to long term asset rating: 4/5
Pukki
Party time. Defences may start to figure him out.
Mid to long term asset rating: 4/5
Barnes
Personally don't believe he can keep up his scoring, but keep being proven wrong
Mid to long term asset rating: 3/5
The Busters
So there we have the current template team. The template busters going into GW4 and the international break are:
Goalkeepers
Alisson
He will take his place back. He will play every game while fit. Liverpool's defensive record could always return to the same as it was in the first half of last season. Denies you a 3rd Liverpool spot.
Mid to long term asset rating: 3/5
Defenders
Vertonghen
Spurs have been bad so far, Sanchez and Alderweireld are not forming a barrier to the opposition. If Vertonghen can force his way back in, either at CB (in a 3 or 2) or a LWB as he did fantastically in last years UCL he could be a steal at 5.3m.
Mid to long term asset rating: 2/5 (Risk)
Midfielders
Willian
In a summer of change at Chelsea, Willian stayed at the club and was given the no.10 shirt. His cameo appearances have been underwhelming but at 7.0m and with the injury to Pedro, he and his set pieces could come back into play ahead of a good run for the Blues.
Mid to long term asset rating: 1/5
Grealish
The boy is special.
Mid to long term asset rating: 3/5
Forwards
Haller
Good fixtures, great record of scoring goals, cheap cost in FPL and will be on pens when Noble is off the field.
Mid to long term asset rating: 4/5
With all this in mind, know that we pretty much all have a combination of 20-30 players. Keep calm, don't take hits just yet if your players aren't injured.
Good Luck!
