Rate My Team thread

OK, my latest draft:



I know Cerny won't play but I think I'll be better off with a top goalkeeper playing every week (which De Gea should do if fit) rather than trying to rotate between say, Krul and Mignolet to hit a clean sheet every week. It also avoids a lot of frustration trying to choose between two goalkeepers week in, week out.

Lescott and Cole will be two of the highest scoring defenders without a doubt IMO. Jenkinson will do for the opening gameweek before I replace him with Cuellar as Arsenal's fixtures get tricky early on. McCartney has a great set of opening fixtures but if he doesn't start can be replaced with another £4.0m West Ham defender such as Demel.

In midfield there's great coverage from the top teams, although a couple of people have mentioned switching Yaya Toure and I think I'll look into doing that. Perhaps I'd be better with a £6.5m midfielder such as McClean, Pienaar, Walters etc and using the extra £1.5m elsewhere. Everyone seems to be jumping on Hazard for the DGW at least and I think he could hit the ground running. Kagawa has looked very good in pre-season, seems to be playing in the hole behind Rooney and Manchester United fans reckon he'll start from week 1 so looks good.

Up front, Rooney and Aguero should score 20 + goals this season and Pogrebynak is the best cheap striker option I can afford, although I'd prefer to get Graham in due to Swansea's very kind opening fixtures and the fact I play with 3 strikers virtually every week.

Things to consider:

Transfer Yaya Toure to a £6.5m midfielder, which would allow me to get Danny Graham up front instead of Pog and replace Cerny with a £4.5m goalkeeper who starts every week (in case Fergie starts giving Lindegaard games).

I would like to get some Tottenham coverage in my team due to their kind start. After week 2 I could transfer Hazard for Bale I guess. Getting one of their defenders in would be helpful and Kaboul and Dawson (at £5.5m and £5.0m respectively) are very nicely priced, but no one seems to know which one will start alongside at Verthongen at the minute.

I do tend to use my wildcard early anyway so I might change things slightly and see how the above team pans out for the first week or two, use the free transfer to make changes for a couple of weeks and then make wholesale changes with the wildcard shortly after that when starting 11's etc are established.

Actually, here's another team I've just made with the above changes mentioned already made. Which do you prefer? Bare in mind the £6.5m midfielder which is currently Pienaar can be changed to any of McClean, Walters, Hoillet or others, for example:



Possible changes to be made:

Jenkinson to Cuellar after week 1
Hazard to Bale after week 2
Look to see what the Tottenham defensive situation is like and possibly try to squeeze Dawson or Kaboul (whoever is first choice) in.

Of course things might not work out exactly as I want due to points rises and drops etc but overall I reckon that the 2nd team is better.

Your thoughts please?

What do people think first draft.

De Gea

Shawcross
Heitanga
Collocini

Ireland
Allen
Toure
Kagawa

Aguero
Rooney
Bent

Subs: Jasskelainen Dyer Fabio Collison.

smokingman wrote: »

Y'know, I had a team put together based on all the good advice that everyone here was contributing and after looking at it, it was pretty much the same as a lot of other guys. Had to change it after that as it's no good picking the same team as everyone else.

Was going to get Lallana in but was horrified to find he's 6mill. He may be the Saints best player but I was hoping for a 5.5mill price tag. Ah sure maybe when I'm drunk one night (like plenty of choices last year! :rolleyes: )

If you've got a similar team to everyone on here, then you're going to do better than 90% of FF players.

If you're looking to beat friends and co-workers in private leagues, there's absolutely no harm in having a boards-made team. Presuming you're the only one on here, you'll be favourite to win those leagues by a mile.

If you're looking to do well in the Boards leagues, then making a bunch of changes probably won't work either. The key to beating the rest of us isn't in finding a bunch of alternative players, it's in making the right captain choices, and making maybe 1 or 2 great transfers earlier than the rest of us.

Seriously, all last season I watched so many players with good scores go down the route of trying to find players the rest of us didn't have... and it turned out the rest of us didn't have those players for a good reason, and every single one of those boards members dropped from contention.

I'm finally starting to settle on my GW1 team. Can't post a picture cause I'm in work.

So far I have:

Both keepers play for solid mid-table sides, cost 9.5m total and rotate home/away perfectly until GW16. Begovic being dropped for Sorenson is my only worry but Stoke concede a lot less when Begovic plays so I'm pretty sure he'll be first choice.

In defence, Lescott will play every week. The other spots will be filled by two from the other four. STaylor and Cuellar rotate perfectly all season and both teams are strong at home. McCartney (or whichever West Ham 4.0m is a guaranteed starter) and Clarke rotate perfectly until GW16 and both play for teams with great opening fixtures.

In midfield, I've gone with Hazard and Siggy who I both think will be class for their teams. Nice opening set of fixtures for both teams too. They're both expensive so if they're not scoring well they can easily be replaced. Pienaar and Walters at 6.5m should be pretty reliable. Plenty of options in that price bracket so, again, both can easily be replaced if need be. Noble is unlikely to see much gametime in my 3-4-3 formation but is on penos and frees so should do a job if needed.

Up front, I've gone with the popular Aguero, Graham and Torres option with 2.0m in the bank to upgrade Torres to Rooney in GW2/3 depending on how things pan out in the first GW. I really wanted Bent for his fixtures but Graham's are just as nice and Bent is 2.5m more expensive.

I sometimes focus on the positives of my team too much so if anyone has any criticism of my guys, I'd appreciate it.

massdebater wrote: »

I'm finally starting to settle on my GW1 team. Can't post a picture cause I'm in work.

So far I have:

Begovic - Foster

Lescott - STaylor - Cuellar - Clark - McCartney

Hazard - Siggy - Noble - Pienaar - Walters

Aguero - Torres + 2.0m - Graham

Both keepers play for solid mid-table sides, cost 9.5m total and rotate home/away perfectly until GW16. Begovic being dropped for Sorenson is my only worry but Stoke concede a lot less when Begovic plays so I'm pretty sure he'll be first choice.

In defence, Lescott will play every week. The other spots will be filled by two from the other four. STaylor and Cuellar rotate perfectly all season and both teams are strong at home. McCartney (or whichever West Ham 4.0m is a guaranteed starter) and Clarke rotate perfectly until GW16 and both play for teams with great opening fixtures.

In midfield, I've gone with Hazard and Siggy who I both think will be class for their teams. Nice opening set of fixtures for both teams too. They're both expensive so if they're not scoring well they can easily be replaced. Pienaar and Walters at 6.5m should be pretty reliable. Plenty of options in that price bracket so, again, both can easily be replaced if need be. Noble is unlikely to see much gametime in my 3-4-3 formation but is on penos and frees so should do a job if needed.

Up front, I've gone with the popular Aguero, Graham and Torres option with 2.0m in the bank to upgrade Torres to Rooney in GW2/3 depending on how things pan out in the first GW. I really wanted Bent for his fixtures but Graham's are just as nice and Bent is 2.5m more expensive.

I sometimes focus on the positives of my team too much so if anyone has any criticism of my guys, I'd appreciate it.

A well thought out team, for sure. I do think, however, that pretty much everyone is going to need a United defender as well as a City one this season. Just like we all got Johnny Evans last season, I'd keep an eye out for the cheapest United defender playing regularly. Rafael being the main one on everyone's radar, I suppose.

I'd worry about how you'd do that without doing too much damage elsewhere. For me, starting with a Chelsea defender is key, with plans to swap him out for a United one in GW3.

But as I said, looks like a great team, I'm just being picky to try help.

tom_k wrote: »

Hi all long time lurker here. This is a first attempt for this years comp.

Having three PL newcomers may be a risk in midfield but all these have huge potential, I believe. Have sufficient funds for an early Torres to Rooney transfer and would appreciate any observations on this team.

Thanks in advance.

Hey, and welcome to the posting world!

You currently have 4 players in your team who won't be playing on GW3. That could be a worry, especially since, as you say, 3 of your midfielders are new to the league and we don't know what to expect from them. It's not a total disaster that you're missing 4, because you'll have 2 free transfers before then, but it's definitely something to keep an eye on.

Another thing that jumps out is the 10.5m you've invested in Newcastle's defence. Seems like a lot for a team that were really punching above their weight last season. I personally would downgrade Krul and keep Coloccini, but that's definitely a matter of personal preference, not a "this is definitely right" thing.

And at some point I think you're going to regret having Britton. I understand it's nice having a cheap midfielders to warm the bench, but he'll pretty much never play for you ahead of your other MFs. And when he does, you'll have to hope it's during the 1 game of the season when he gets a good score (0 goals and 0 assists last season. Also 0 bonus points). He's the one I'd upgrade with the money saved replacing Krul.

Then finally, with all the transfers you'll probably have to make, you're also going to be looking at replacing Jenkinson after a few weeks too, since Sagna is apparently back at the beginning of Sept.

I've typed a lot there, so it may seem overly critical, but I honestly don't think you've got a bad team. Just one with some niggles that could give a a nightmare week or 2 over the first 4 or 5 GWs if you need to make too many transfers so soon..

carlcon wrote: »

I've typed a lot there, so it may seem overly critical, but I honestly don't think you've got a bad team. Just one with some niggles that could give a a nightmare week or 2 over the first 4 or 5 GWs if you need to make too many transfers so soon..

Not at all, Carl, this is exactly the kind of advice I'm looking for. I'm not comfortable with the team as it stands and what you've said gives me plenty of areas where i can improve on it.

Let me know what you think..

Still have 2.5m in the bank to play with..

Am I crazy with Ferdinand?

carlcon wrote: »

If you've got a similar team to everyone on here, then you're going to do better than 90% of FF players.

I hear ya Carl, I do.
However, last year there were a core of about 7 players that everyone had and all did well with them. Where the extra points came from was indeed the right captain choice and getting in early on future bandwagons but in the first week, there's always a risk that doesn't exist when things have settled down.
N'Zogbia was one of those sure things when the year started but he never delivered and everyone this year is risking having one of him in the team at the start. My team isn't hugely different from people here but there are a few of the players that are obvious gambles in other teams that I think may be riskier than what I'm going for.

All in all though, that's what's great about this game. The risk, the gambles paying off and the proving of your opinions on this wonderful game we all follow.

Best of luck this year by the way, and that goes for everyone.
Let the games commence!

Nozebleed wrote: »

this is it..the final draft..opinions,please.

No City players is the first thing that pops out at me. Then Lampard's position in the Chelsea first team is up in the air. Question mark over Nelsen too.

Crouch has Arsenal, City and Chelsea in his first 5 games, so I'd be worried there too.

I definitely think you can save money by dropping Lampard for a 6.5 MF, so you can improve elsewhere.

Nozebleed wrote: »

this is it..the final draft..opinions,please.

Why no Man City players?