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Season 3, Episode 60 of the Pitch & Pint Podcast recorded Tuesday, September 15, Give Me Mo! Mo! Mo!
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Hello and welcome to Episode 60 of the Pitch & Pint podcast, my name is Stephen and you can find me @6thGoal on Twitter.
The first week of the Premier League is over and FPL seems to be melting down after a rousing 40-point captain showing from Mo Salah. And yes, he was my captain. One goal I wanted was a strong start to the season and it appears I have just that, on which to build. Even toying with the possibility of Salah being a set and forget captain.
Excited to see that Watford also picked up their first win in the EFL Championship, 1-0 over Boro. Believe me, that will bet the ONLY time I mention Watford in this podcast.
While scrolling through Twitter, I’ve realized one thing, which is how I, play the game already. No knee jerk or hasty decisions. I am not going be follow the lemmings, moving off certain players because of a single performance. Patience is the name of the game this season and I will continue to follow that mantra.
Now with business out of the way, let us get started.
INTRODUCTION (01:18)
I have got to say, it was great to be back behind the mic a few weeks ago writing, recording, and producing Episode 58. Last week, intentions were to wander into the FPL Beer Club, but schedules being what they are, we couldn’t get the group together. Instead, the FPL Roundtable reconvened. It was great talking shop with Casey, Gabe and Garf ahead of GW1.
Have a strong show today, as we look back on the highs and lows of planning, how players faired and what to look forward to in the coming weeks. It’s early, very early, so if your squad stumbled in GW1, have some patience, your team will rebound. Yet, as I’ve seen on Twitter, managers are already pulling out the first wild card. WTF?
BEER REVIEW – DEATH & TAXES (01:58)
Before I get ahead of myself today, it is time to get into my first beer of the afternoon. If memory serves me correct, I had heard of Moonlight Brewing because they are in Santa Rosa, which is home to Russian River Brewing and Pliny the Elder. But not to be cast aside, this microbrewery has much to be excited about. And this is what makes craft beer so unique. They brewery began in 1992 with the goal of creating the best tasting been possible. They believe “that traditional processes have a place in the modern brewery. While much of our protocol extends the time from kettle to glass, we continue to practice these long-established techniques because the beer deserves it. Respected beer is tasty beer.”
The 20-barrel brewhouse has no computers, requiring no kinship between raw ingredients, equipment, and brewer to produce their beer. They use sight, smell, and taste to deter when a beer is ready to be released to the world.
Untappd references 46 different beers that have been brewed by Moonlight Brewing, who also sells cases online in California only. While out drinking with a few friends a week ago, someone mentioned black lagers.
Now, I am not a lager or pilsner guy. Never been a big fan of these “light” beers, maybe because of all the poor quality, mass produced light beer I drank growing up before finding Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams.
So, these are usually two style I avoid. However, a black lager got me interested. Based on their website, Death & Taxes is a 5% “San Francisco-Style black lager. Deceptively light bodied and highly drinkable. Drinks like iced coffee with a different effect.” Never knew there was a style for San Francisco and maybe it’s only because Santa Rosa is withing shouting distance of the Bay Area. Who knows?
That said, the style is part of the “dark lager” category knows as Schwarzbier (“shvahrts-beer”), which is simply German for black beer. It doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily heavy or light in body, although most examples tend to be lighter.
Unlike Porters or Stouts and other dark beers, they are not overly bitter with the burnt and heavily roasted malt characteristics that these styles tend to depend on. Instead, hops are used to achieve a good portion of the bitterness.
Smooth on the palate, soul lifting, and refreshing with a dry finish, Schwartzbiers make a great alternative for the winter months, especially when you’re looking for a lighter beer, but one with depth of color and a bittersweet taste that might bring to mind coffee, cocoa, or licorice.
Today, we will get the show started with a pint of Death & Taxes from Moonlight Brewing. Let us see how this 16-ounce can pours.
Really it is no surprise to see this black lager pour thin, with a very dark color letting a bit of light shining through you get a very dark brown that looks quite inviting. The head is a full finger worth, dark khaki in color with a nice thickness and retention, looks like it will leave some good lacing.
The smell is slightly roasty over the nose the with a slight hint of cold-brewed coffee, dark baker’s chocolate, and bready crust.
Let us see how it goes down. This is a real joy to drink. It’s a very light, but dry roasted malt goodness on the palate, somewhat creamy but incredibly smooth. The roasted malts dominate but do get the dark chocolate and coffee.
Remarkably simple and well balanced. Even if you are not a lager fan, this beer is damn good. Fantastic to drink, there is a reason why this beer is ranked as the #1 European Dark lager on Beer Advocate.
Now with our first beer poured, let us get started.
FPL THOUGHTS (05:38)
Is it me? Or has the FPL community on Twitter becomes a circus? Okay, more like a shit show. Much like the game I continue to participate in the league. Now 8 years in, it is participating because of the friends I’ve made and talk to daily. THEY make the game fun.
I have got no desire to be an “influencer” or have thousands of people hanging on my every word. I do not tell others how to play the game, who to captain or what strategy to play. I do not feel like holding my team a secret only to have a team reveal. And why are those even a thing? I’ve got no expectations to meet, which is just how I like it.
Yet every season we experience more Twitter accounts going behind a pay wall thinking they can survive using a Patreon account. I guess overall rank is more important than we think. That is not to say I don’t support paying for content…well let me clarify that. I pay for two sites because of the statistics and tools offered, not because of the articles. I have quit reading the opinions of others and just go with how I want to play the game.
Just last week…I saw that being supported by a betting site is now wrong? Come one…should I not drink beer, as that could cause me to go to an alcoholic? Get off the fucking high horse!
Maybe I am getting old and crotchety…maybe it is because I see FPL going the way NFL fantasy football did. As I have mentioned in the past, I have lost all interest in watching the NFL but, with those in my league, we continue to play some 37 years later! The longevity is unmatched, the friendships, priceless.
Like the FPL Beer Club, I refer to, these guys in my NFL league have been friends for some 40 years. So, it is those relationships that keep us returning, year after year. Season after season. Yet unfortunately due to COVID, this was the first year we have not drafted in person, as a group.
This is also the first year since 2015/16 that Watford is not in the Premier League, which means I probably won’t watch many games this year. Not sure I am going to shell out $50US on NBC Sports and their poor coverage of the Premier League or worse $180US to watch the Hornets in the EFL. Sure, wish there were better Premier League coverage in the US. But that is an entire rant I won’t tackle today.
I tinkered up until Friday morning, but felt confident with my teams. As I mentioned in the last episode, I am running two teams this season. The second account will focus on a 5-man defense for the entire season, all premiums in a 5-3-2 or a 5-4-1 formation. I will talk about how that team is organized a bit later in the show.
This team excites me a bit more than my 6thGoal squad, coming off the back of an asterisk studded 207k finish last season. This season I am really keeping my expectations in check. I do not care how I finish. I would however, like to progress deeper into the cup than I have in the past. But most of all I want to keep the game fun. If the fun is lost, why play?
RUSH TO JUDGMENT (08:51)
A few nights ago, I was in discussion with Casey and Gabe from the FPL Roundtable, two FPL managers, who’s opinions I value. With Everton’s win, Casey was quite excited about the prospects of his team this season with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm and all the new talent that was brought in. Can’t blame him, I am excited for the Toffees and agree with an assessment from Casey they are just a defender and goalkeeper away from being a legitimate contender for a UCL spot.
How Pickford is the England #1 but so lackluster for the Toffees is scary. If he puts together just an average season, Everton could make great headways into the elite of the Premier League. Now what drew my attention to this discussion was the fact that Gabe was looking closer at Luca Digne. This is a defender I did contemplate prior to GW1, but his VAPM was too low (0.24) to consider for my starting XI. That said, we know how instrumental this wing back can be, bombing down the flank, crossing the ball and on set pieces.
That led to the suggestion to sell TAA to fund Digne and provide money ITB and some flexibility. Is that showing patience? Are we going to judge Liverpool on the back of just one game? Sure, they didn’t make but one move in the off season and some pundits believe this will hurt the Reds this season, as the top four all made improvements to their squads.
I will contest that Liverpool was relentless in attack. Mo Salah, looked like the player from the 2017/18 season when he blew up for 303 points! Liverpool got the win, 4-3 but was Leeds really that impressive? Jack Harrison had a seeing eye shot that beat Alisson on the short side after a TAA blunder and Gomez overran the play. While van Dijk did pick up a goal, his attempted clearance or pass was miskicked, and Patrick Bamford picked up his first goal. In my estimation, two goals that should have been prevented. I’ll give Leeds the credit for creating their third goal from Klich in the 66th minute.
So much like last season, Liverpool was exciting offensively, but struggled just like they did against Norwich City last season in the opener, 4-1. Several mistakes led to goals for Leeds. That begs the question, are you concerned about their defensive assets?
As of this writing and based off the numbers from Fantasy Football Fix, over 91k managers have moved off TAA. Really? One game and you think there are better options out there? I don’t understand that. Digne on the back of a 12-point performance picking up many new managers. Andrew Robertson also being transferred out, not at the rate of TAA but many going directly to Digne. The irrelevant transfer has 1.3% of managers moving TAA for Robertson.
We have played just one week, keep the scope of the game in mind. I’ll call my shot now and say that Liverpool finishes either 1 or 2 in the league for CS and TAA and Robertson both outscore Digne. Gotta remember the Toffees still have Pickford in goal. That’s always a cause for concern. The bottom line based on the research and planning I did, these knee jerk decisions are hasty and managers usually end up chasing points. If you want to chase, by all means go for it. You went in at 7.5 or 7.0 for a reason, because these attack minded defenders, who have posted 55 clean sheets over the last 3 seasons are worth the investment. Need to look long term.
Now maybe I raise my hand as guilty the last few years, busting the first wild card ahead of GW3, but I’ve seen some on Twitter activating their WC. Crazy? Silly? Just plain stupid. Think I’ll opt for the later. As FPL managers we spend weeks or months putting together our 15-man squads for the first part of the season. In my case I pre-planned for the first 4 weeks but am to but will remain flexible. At this point, I am not going to chase points but there are managers who do.
I do feel it’s a wasted wild card, unless you plan to make massive changes to your team. That also tells me you didn’t plan. I did run across some commonsense suggestions on Twitter from FPL Connect and have interjection my thoughts on them:
- Disengage emotion: best part of the season, not having to worry about Watford. No emotion at all. Don’t care what team wins or loses this season. Also don’t make hasty transfers right after a gameweek
- Log off social media: while I don’t log off, I really don’t let other accounts or websites influence how I want to play the FPL game. The only opinion that counts, is mine.
- Be proactive: not reactive with transfers: TAA to Digne, that’s not proactive, that’s reactive.
- Replace negativity with positivity: suck it up and deal with a bad week, if you can’t then log off and go find something fun to do. This IS just a game.
- Cut yourself some slack: IT’S A GAME not life. Well I guess for some experts and professionals it’s life but not me.
- Don’t dwell on mistakes: learn from your mistakes and move forward, week to week and season to season.
- Don’t let ownership be the sole reason for decision: think that goes for transfers too. Make your own decisions using information you find
- Choose a few sources/people that your trust/value/enjoy: not sure I agree with this one. Make your own decisions, don’t let other influence your decisions. Can’t tell you the last time I read an article posted on Twitter.
- Focus on getting the right players at the right time: one week doesn’t make a season, so have some patience.
- MAKE SURE to celebrate/enjoy good moments: as Connect says, it’s a game, but suck it up and take the good with the bad. If you only gloat when you have a good week, but don’t when you have a bad, remember it’s a just a game. Not that I call it gloating, but I always post my game week reviews and how I did, good or bad and the rational behind the decisions.
I’ve added my opinions to some of these topics, as I don’t completely agree with the detail for each bullet point, but he does make some good points.
As for the GW2, I have no plans on moving off my double Liverpool defense but am watching Digne. However, I feel I would be wasting a transfer and moving away from a strategy I planned before we started the season.
GW1 STARTING XI – 6THGOAL (16:09)
Ahead of GW1, I felt more confident with my 5-man defensive team than with my main team. However, at the conclusion of Saturday’s game it was quite evident that things didn’t go according to plan because of one man. Mo Salah. Owned by 33.9% of FPL managers, the Liverpool midfielder hit for the hat trick at home against Leeds United in a 4-3 win for last year’s league champions. Defensively, they were a different story.
Wasn’t surprised that Liverpool scored 4 goals, as that was the number I predicted, but to concede 3 goals. As mentioned earlier, two of those were weak goals, Alisson getting beat on the short side and then a miskick by van Dijk. Kudos where they are deserved, Leeds didn’t play all that bad but feel they did get a bit lucky. Based on their performance against Liverpool, they should remain up.
It is funny, we look back on weeks, sometimes months of planning and start to question what we did ahead of the season. Now that GW1 is over, I am still wondering why I decided to back Southampton. They are shit! Much like last season, their defense is awful, not sure what compelled me to double with Alex McCarthy and Kyle Walker-Peters. The right choice between the posts would have been Mat Ryan, based on previous years and how well he performs with a 4.5 million price tag. Sadly, I think I will stick with McCarthy based on FDR and won’t waste a transfer to swap out keepers. KWP, is a 5th defender and won’t start regularly, since Burnley had a bye GW1, he was forced into a starting role.
Decided on a 4-4-2 to start GW1 and not sit Man City or Man United assets on the bench, planning to transfer those players in the next few weeks. Along with McCarthy and KWP on defense, I made a late change, dropping Matt Doherty and adding Kiernan Tierney to my starting defense. Granted, Arsenal played a very poor Fulham team, so I felt confident in a clean sheet. The Liverpool double up of van Dijk and TAA left me a bit short. Conceding 3 goals, but VVD did pick up a goal to help salvage my defense stumbling to 17 total points.
Up front felt unsettled, I continued to shuffle players in the 6-7 million range until Friday morning. Players included: Antonio, DCL, Wilson, upon his move to Newcastle, Ayew, Bamford, Adams and Mitrovic. I decided on Wilson and Mitrovic for GW1 with intentions of moving one or both in the next few weeks for Wood and DCL. I do feel Callum Wilson could see some big numbers this season for the Toon, as he’s got all sorts of talent in the midfield feeding him balls, as he played in a 3-man front.
Mitrovic missed out on the first 60 minutes of play. Only read rumors of international duty and not being fully fit. But the one truth, Fulham need him starting and playing 90 minutes to be competitive going forward. He failed to return any attacking returns, finishing with 1 appearance point. Thankfully Wilson did pick up a goal in their 2-0 win over West Ham. Based on my initial planning, Mitrovic will be in my squad until GW9, but if we see more limited minutes or missed games, then it might be necessary to reconsider, but after one game I won’t make a hasty decision.
The midfield by virtue of owning Salah was the strongest part of my team. Salah lined up next to Allan Saint-Maximin, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Kai Havertz, another late change in my starting XI, moving off Son. Salah hit for 3 goals, including a PK and looking excellent with two beautiful goals from the field of play. He looked much better than his playing mate, Sadio Mane, who’s been transferred out by over 93k managers with MANY moving to Bruno Fernandes or Kevin De Bruyne.
Much like rolling with a set defense all season long, I might keep the captain’s armband on Salah all season, even while owning Aubameyang and KDB, when I transfer him in for GW2.
What I am looking for is consistency and cutting down on weekly decisions. We have seen those posts in the past, “if you would have captained” a certain player, you would have scored…however many points. Much like Liverpool’s poor defensive showing, rest assured it will even out at the end of the season and Liverpool, like Man City will be at the top of the league with clean sheets. Giving up 3 goals to a newly promoted team doesn’t worry me to the point I am going to move off the double up.
Aubameyang looked sharp, but Fulham, much like the last time they were in the Premier League, their defense is fucking atrocious. Would love to see more 7-point games from him, as he netted a beauty coming in the from the left. Intentions were not to keep him, but I do believe he’s going to remain in my starting XI. Saint-Maximin looked good, didn’t return but picked up a CS point. Based on FDR, I was planning on moving him after GW2 but that is a decision for next week.
Another disappointment was the 8.5 spent on Havertz. Wasn’t impressed with Chelsea. Havertz, showed me nothing that I can’t find in an established player in the Premier League. Sure he might score 8-10 goals, but he’s not long for my squad and was poor decision as a one-week punt, only to be removed for KDB.
Sadly as the weekend progressed my OR continued to slide down. Finished Saturday at 12k, Sunday it was down to 125k and at the conclusion of Monday’s fixtures, setting at 376k.
Now that isn’t all that impressive, score 78 points, but I will take that score every week! I use 60 points the medium for a good game week, which gives you close to 2300 points a season, but more importantly, is keep up or exceeding the top 1k score weekly. No longer can i rely on keeping up with the top 10k or top 100k. The movers and shakers are the top 1k and this is the group I pay close attention to.
So, 78 points, a GW rank of 376k, which bests the last 2 years by at least 600k. So I am rather pleased with my first week. Now the hard part comes, improve weekly or at least keep up with the pack, not to drop too many points over the early part of the season.
BREWERY OF THE WEEK (BotW) – TBD (23:20)
What’s better than good craft beer at your local bottle shop? How about a local craft brewery in your neighborhood! Now, I live in a rather small community, when compared to other cities, here in bay area of Northern California. California, arguably is one of the meccas of craft beer. Up and down the state, by 2019 numbers there were 907 breweries! Compare that to 425 and 423 in Colorado and New York. California DOES craft! Like many places in the US, each area seems to have some good craft going on. Living in San Diego was great but so was Los Angeles. Each offered some great breweries, but being stuck in NoCal, I do feel a bit fortunate with the offerings we have up here.
Now many will turn to breweries like Russian River, Fieldwork, Cellarmaker or go a bit older school and conjure up Sierra Nevada and Anchor Steam. While I don’t favor the later, having a small, local microbrewery in Brentwood, the neighboring city has been awesome!
A few years ago, Brandon Freel and his wife, Jessica, the owners of Imperiale Beer Project opened up one of the first bottle shop/pubs in the area. Located in a high traffic commercial center, their draft offerings were excellent and had a small freezer section for purchase.
But their plans were not to stay in the bottle shop and got city approval to open the first brewery (and I don’t count BJs Restaurant as a true craft brewery) in the city. Unfortunately COVID has tossed a wrench into many of their plans. I can only guess their opening was a bit delayed, but like many California brewers they quickly got into the online order game and consumers were buying local produced craft online for pick up.
I’ve been a BIG supporter of the project and with my refined palate I have really enjoyed every beer that has been released. To date they have released 27 beers that run the style gamut from pale, blonde, sparking and imperial ales to wheats, reds, sours, pilsners and lagers. I have sampled them all. Based on Untappd I’ve recorded 73 of the 371 unique check ins. To say I like their beer is an understatement.
Based on my ratings at Untappd their Ruby Red Chongo and Purple Chonso, both kettled sours top the list. This is a soured beer with raspberries, pineapple and mango. Not to be outdone, Cloud Therapy, a 6.1% NEIPA brewed with Sabro and Idaho 7, then dry hoppsed with Rakau and Nelson Sauvin. Again, all the beers are good and very refreshing.
While you can’t mention them in the same breath as Pliny the Elder or Julius, Vito Delucchi, head brewmaster at Imperiale has put together some very good, local craft that has consumers returning. With strict rules in place for COVID, Imperiale also has a nice menu, food that a bit more than “just pub food.” I’ve sampled their vegetarian options from Elote or Mexican corn to their fries, buffalo cauliflower tacos and red lentil burger. My son’s new favorite restaurant, I get this regularly, “Dad, can we get pub food?” The burgers are amazing looking, as is the chicken sandwich. He loves their Notorius P I G fries that are covered in shredded pork, braised pork belly, green onion, jalapenos, diced tomato, Imperiale’s Beer BBQ sauce and chicharrones! It’s a meal in itself!
While there is great beer in NoCal, it feels better to buy local and support small businesses in my local area. Brandon and Jessica have a great following and their outside seating is always full. Many on staff were employees who worked at Imperiale Beer Café, the bottle shop/pub before the opening of the brewery.
So if you have some local breweries, go out, show them your support and pick up some cans. Maybe in a future episode I can get an interview with Brandon and/or Vito to share.
BEER REVIEW – TIKI TINCTURE (27:41)
In honor of Imperiale Beer Project, it’s time to crack open our second review of the show. It’s one of the newest offerings brewed in collaboration with Danville Brewing Company, a locally owned brewery/restaurant about 35 minutes south of where I live. Never been there, but I do have a coworker who says they brew some good beer.
Today its one of the newest beers on the menu at Imperiale, Tiki Tincture, a 6.7% American IPA brewed with Sabro and Citra hops delivering a pineapple inspired beer with a hint of spice. A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in alcohol. That could account for the spice in this beer.
Sabro is an aroma hop with complex fruity and citrus flavors. There is a distinct tangerine, coconut, tropical and stone fruit aroma with some hints of cedar and mint.
Citra is one of the classic ‘C’ hops that imparts aromas and flavors of citrus, tropical including peach, apricot with lemon, melon, lychee and a citrus zest.
Let’s pop the top on this 16-ounce can…
This is touted as a WC IPA on Instagram, but the dark orange pour comes off quite hazy with a light, off-white rocky head.
The smell is packed with hints of citrus and tropical fruit with quite a unique spice that I can only describe as grassy or basil-ish.
Let’s see how it goes down…it’s got a fair bit of mild pineapple flavor with hints of stone fruit and some lychee, which imparts a mild sweet and tart flavor that pairs well with the tropical in this IPA.
Overall, it’s a nice beer, better than the previous two cans I’ve drank. Both of those seemed to still be a bit green, as I refer to them being freshly canned. Sometimes IPAs need a bit of time in the can before they are ready to drink.
Final piece of this review, the can art reminds me something that feels a bit Disneyland inspired from the 1970’s The label is dotted with a South Pacific feel with totems and idols over a turquoise vans with pinks, oranges and yellows. Some nice work by Brandon’s wife, Jessica on the can art.
Now with our second beer poured let’s get back to some FPL.
HIGHS & LOWS OF PLANNING (30:18)
Planning for any fantasy game is usually a must. I say that, yet I do not waste my time planning for my NFL fantasy draft any longer, but unlike FPL, I don’t give two shits about the NFL. With COVID ruining last season, causing a short break, FPL managers did not have as long a period to build their teams. There was still PLENTY of time to put together a 15-man squad, even though the transfer window remains open until October 5.
I spent maybe 10-12 days, at work shuffling players, chopping and changing my squads, making the final preparations on Friday morning before I called both my squads final. Now with GW1 over, I figured it was worthwhile to look back on planning, what worked and what didn’t.
This season I decided to focus my pre-season planning on two factors. The first a key metric, something I’ve not used in the past when crunching data and putting together my team. This season I decided to rely on VAPM or value added per million. It’s no sillier than using xG and xA data when it comes to decisions or average per 90 or any other metric. Use what you want and apply how you see it fit. What this did do was allow my to really shorten up my want list for each position.
While there were players who I did bring in that didn’t meet the VAPM minimum of 0.35, I knew there would be some compromise in my squad. I also left 3.5 million ITB, in order to bring in Kevin De Bruyne as my GW2 transfer, replacing Havertz. Based on metrics, I’ve got a good mind to stay on Aubameyang, Salah and KDB all season.
Yet one week doesn’t give any FPL manager enough information, based on my score of 78 points after Monday with a ranking of 376k, I did something right to start off with a strong and competitive GW1.
Yet there were still some poor decisions, I mentioned already. Backing Southampton, a perennial midtable club. Their fixtures look good on paper, but their performance on the pitch was Championship level. Doubling up was a mistake and I can’t see McCarthy playing out the year as their starter. However, I am not going to waste a transfer on another 4.5 GK to start the season.
Chelsea. Again, another team that looked good on paper, but with all the new players in the starting XI, I should have looked elsewhere for that starting 4th midfielder. I know better than to back a new player, especially from the Bundesliga to start the season on fire. Havertz was less than impressive and was nothing but a placeholder. The other option would have been Son, so it was just a wash.
A quick comment about the 5-man defensive team, I had backed Azpilicueta at The Amex, but Lampard did not start him. Very disappointed to see that decision made, that defense isn’t good, especially with Kepa still in goal, so that move wouldn’t have benefitted me either.
The last decision I didn’t see coming, Mitrovic not starting. That was probably the most painful, as I did have other options that could returned up front. Again a poor Cottagers team who’s FDR looks good in the early part of the season, but if Parker doesn’t start him, relegation will be common theme early for this Fulham team.
A few positives, well they included captaining Salah and starting with Aubameyang. While the Arsenal player isn’t planned past GW2, this week’s coming performance could shift my thinking. I don’t intend on tinkering too much and won’t hit, like I see some managers already doing because of a single performance.
WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO (34:14)
Not going to review each game or how players fared, I am sure you watched some games and see the points for players you own or want after one week.
So what to look for going forward? If you have a plan and no injuries, then by all means stay with your plan. I have a 4-week plan that I am going to implement.
I’ve read a lot of conflicting opinions on Man United. That said, they have the best attack run the next 3 weeks CRY/bha/TOT but it could be Everton who is even more impressive after their 1-0 win against Spurs. The toffees are WBA/cry/BHA.
In the review of my GW1 team I was disappointed with Mitrovic, but rest assured he returns to the starting XI the next 2 weeks lee/AVL, two championship caliber teams I see a few goals. Fulham then has Wolves in GW4.
Still holding all my Liverpool assets even with their FDR well down the list, che/ARS/avl. As well as they played on Saturday, I see goals against all three opponents. Can’t truly judge the ARS defense until we see them play some real competition. They won’t get Fulham every week.
Depending on which Liverpool team shows up, their defensive assets could be an easy route for those willing to part with TAA or Robertson, but you can’t help but look at the last two seasons for this duo, 391 and 398 points respectively. I say, move them at your own risk, but I can’t see parting with them after one week.
Aubameyang and Tierney are two I will continue to watch but there are also thoughts for Willian at 8.0. ARS fixtures tougher than Liverpool but do have West Ham in GW2 followed by liv/SHU. Based on the Blades first 6 minutes against Wolves, Ramsdale isn’t Henderson and they will struggle defensively this their sophomore season.
Like Liverpool, I am all in on Man City as well. KDB is already slated to come into my team for GW2 and I am keeping an eye on the status of Aymeric Laporte, currently out with COVID. Phil Foden at 6.5 has been on many managers lists but only owned by 4.1%. Mahrez is another at 8.5, rivaling the lads at Chelsea, Havertz and Pulisic.
Oddly enough, I think I am going to hold Callum Wilson through a tough spell that features tot/BUR/MUN/wol. That said, I could move to Chris Wood, Burnley are SOU/new/wba/TOT or even buy in on DCL, even though Everton travels to Anfield in GW5 for the derby, always a tough game.
Spurs failed to impress, which means the high hops I had for Doherty have lost a bit of luster. They do have some favorable fixes in the next two, sou/NEW which should both be wins. At this point, I will hold Doherty on my 5-man defensive team.
Finally, you can’t count Wolves out against MCI next week followed by whu/FUL through GW4. I see more goals for Jimenez, but Daniel Podence (5.5) made waves Monday with an assist. Wil Boly is also planned to come in starting GW3, as the Wolves have a purple patch.
CONCLUSION (37:56)
It was a bit of a mixed bag in GW1, for those on Salah, it was most likely a green arrow. For those less fortunate, better luck in GW2 I am still excited to finish week one on a positive note and carry on into next week that features another long weekend with 2 games on Monday.
It’s just game week two, don’t get caught making hasty decisions this week. Give it a few days and use whatever resources you do to help you make a good decision that will improve your team.
<queue in Spanish Flea>
That is it for Episode 60, thanks for listening.
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