Are we all overlooking having a playing bench?

We all know how stressful the build-up to the start of the new FPL season can be, especially when you’re trying to fill your 15-man squad with as many top players as possible.

But with many players across the UK and Europe currently testing positive for Covid-19, there is a strong possibility that more will have to quarantine at one point or another. This is the worst case scenario admittedly (fingers crossed), but it’s something that us FPL managers must consider.

Therefore, is it worth having as much of a playing bench as possible? In my opinion, yes it is.

In previous seasons, it’s been very rare that many of us will have needed the second player on our bench, let alone the third. But given that there is another international break early on in the season (and don’t even get me started on the stupidity of that), there is the distinct possibility that some other players may unfortunately test positive, or if nothing else, quarantine themselves.

This is why I’m making sure that I have at least two or three players on my bench that are likely to get regular minutes. Personally, I’m avoiding the trap of having a £4.5m striker as I don’t expect any of them to play, unless Brewster gets a loan move to another PL club. The £4.5m midfielders and defenders are a little easier to predict and even Ferguson at £4m may well become a regular starter once he’s fit again.

Of course, the layout of your team is entirely up to you (and I’m certainly not going to claim to be an expert) but if you want my two-pennies worth, I’d suggest trying to shore up your bench a little where possible!

Let’s face it, we’ve all been there; we spend weeks and weeks tinkering with our team and finally get to a point where we’re happy with it. And then….

“Oh, I wouldn’t have that player in your team. He’s not going to do anything. You’re better off spending the money elsewhere.”

Before you know it, changing that one player has led to you chopping and changing half your team and it now looks a shadow of its former self.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve done exactly that (this season perhaps more than most), but it’s important to base your team around your own thoughts and feelings rather than someone else’s. Of course, if you’ve filled your team with non-playing players or five CDMs, then yes, you’ll need to listen to other people’s advice! But, here’s why my first tip comes in;

Go with your gut

If you’ve done your research, paid attention to pre-season games and listened to the managers, you’ll already have a rough idea of not only the likely starters but also the sorts of players you’ll want in your FPL team.

Of course, the major names are easy to pick (harder to choose between, sure) but finding the other players to fit in alongside them is often the harder task; and finding the diamond in the rough is even tougher!

That’s where your own opinion and gut feeling comes in. Players in the £5-6m bracket for instance are great money savers to enable you to spend more on the larger points-haulers but it’s very easy to be influenced by others on which ones to pick.

Online templates soon form but it’s important to note that there are also plenty of people playing FPL that aren’t posting their teams online every five minutes so don’t be afraid to pick a player that isn’t in many other teams if you’ve done your research and have an inkling that they’ll score well for you.

Try and give yourself options for the future

The famous saying ‘It’s a marathon, not a sprint’ couldn’t be more apt for FPL. Choosing your team for GW1 is incredibly tough, especially given we don’t know player form, club form or all the likely starters, but it’s incredibly important to create a team that is flexible for future gameweeks too.

What you don’t want to do is put too much money in one particular area of the pitch and make it very difficult for yourself to bring in form players in other areas later in the season.

Joe from Fantasy Football Scout uses the term ‘price points’ and he’s spot on. It’s well worth trying to give yourself options for the future. For instance, if you’ve got someone like Werner or Martial up front, if they’re not doing well at the start of the season and there’s a midfielder or striker that you don’t have that’s performing above and beyond expectations, you can very quickly and easily downgrade to them in a maximum of two transfers (quite often, just one).

Similarly, if someone like Kane (who’s priced just a little above them) is scoring bucket-loads of those delicious FPL points every week, moving up to him may only take you two transfers once more.

One of the most important aspects of FPL is flexibility, so don’t load up too much in one particular area of the pitch to avoid having a potential headache in the future.

Don’t be afraid to take risks!

It would be remiss of me, given my name is FPL Maverick, to not talk about taking risks once in a while!

If you’ve spotted a player that’s potentially about to hit some form or you’ve noticed something in the stats that others aren’t talking about, don’t be afraid once in a while to bring them in; even if nobody else is. That transfer could make the difference between you finishing in the top 25k and the top 100k. Okay, that’s a bit of an extreme generalisation, but you get my point!

My point is, that it can be occasionally worthwhile to move away from the herd and try something bold. It doesn’t always work out (trust me, I should know) but it can pay off and it’s not something to be afraid of.

Likewise, taking out a high-profile player that maybe isn’t on form to bring in another that is isn’t something to be sniffed at either. It can be difficult, especially if they’re massively owned, but don’t be afraid to try it.

To give you an example, at the beginning of Project Restart, I took the bold decision to remove Salah from my team and bring in Sterling in his place. That one decision allowed me to dramatically move up the rankings and was the main reason why I ended up finishing in the top 36k (my highest ever finish).

I know that this was just one occasion where taking a risk paid off and it’s not always going to work out like this, but my point is that making a risky decision like this, as long as you base it on sound logic too, is worth doing once in a while.

FPL is about fun!

It’s very easy to get wrapped up in all things FPL and forget that it is a game at the end of the day.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve had weekends, and even weeks, ruined by a 20 point score in FPL but I also then remind myself that it’s a game that’s meant to be fun and not taken too seriously!

So enjoy it (as much as you can when your captain’s taken off in the 59th minute after missing a penalty) and try not to let it affect other aspects of your life. After all, in these turbulent times, we should be using FPL as a form of escape!

With Manchester City and Manchester Utd both missing Gameweek 1, not to mention Aston Villa and Burnley too, FPL players across the globe are all currently debating whether it would be in their best interests to pull the trigger on the wildcards for Gameweek 2.

I’m quite happy to state that I won’t be joining them if they do. That’s not to say that I don’t see the benefits of doing so but I personally think there will be a better time to utilise it later in the season.

For those naysayers amongst you, hear me out; if you plan your transfers sensibly, you won’t need to use it so early. For instance, if you bench either one of your City or Utd attackers, you’re already saving yourself some potential hassle down the line.

What I’m most likely to do is bench Martial and then swap Aubameyang for De Bruyne or Sterling in Gameweek 3 when Arsenal’s fixtures turn for the worse. Other players that we’re all likely to want, like the cheap clean sheet magnets at Burnley, can easily be brought in at any point.

Also, given the current situation we find ourselves in regarding the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, saving your wildcard for a future gameweek that could suffer major cancellations of matches or significant numbers of players being quarantined, may well be the better option.