Handling the Big Guns: The Key to the Rest of the Season?

SlickRic

Aguero back.

Sanchez returning soon.

Arguably, these are the two most explosive players in the game. In years gone by you'd have to have Aguero and Suarez, or Ronaldo and Lampard, in order to compete at all.

This year is nuts - the year of the mid-price option. Vardez has run amok. Ighalo is on fire. Ozil was 8.5, and has no decided to be prolific FF-wise.

A lot of teams that are doing well above me have had neither of these players all season (even when doing the business), and in the case of at least one player (who got to 1st in the world), he has no intention of ever having them because they're 'too expensive'.

I believe they hold the key to a lot of people getting back into their mini-leagues, and overtaking some of the teams that we're slightly baffled we're behind.

What are your thoughts? Will you be getting them at all costs? Or will you be trusting that the 'year of the mid-price option' continues unabated?

FHFC

SlickRic wrote: »

Aguero back.

Sanchez returning soon.

Arguably, these are the two most explosive players in the game. In years gone by you'd have to have Aguero and Suarez, or Ronaldo and Lampard, in order to compete at all.

This year is nuts - the year of the mid-price option. Vardez has run amok. Ighalo is on fire. Ozil was 8.5, and has no decided to be prolific FF-wise.

A lot of teams that are doing well above me have had neither of these players all season (even when doing the business), and in the case of at least one player (who got to 1st in the world), he has no intention of ever having them because they're 'too expensive'.

I believe they hold the key to a lot of people getting back into their mini-leagues, and overtaking some of the teams that we're slightly baffled we're behind.

What are your thoughts? Will you be getting them at all costs? Or will you be trusting that the 'year of the mid-price option' continues unabated?

Very good questions and a good thread.

My season has gone from meh to disaster over the last 2 weeks, so as someone who is very much chasing both OR and mini leagues i am slightly tempted to get both back in almost immediately and hope they explode once or twice.

A key thing about Aguero imo is that there were two completely different injuries. He came back from the hamstring and then hurt his heel, which effectively means the hamstring got further rest. I'd hope that will reduce the risk of him breaking again right away. Plus the need to build up his minutes and get him on form ahead of the CL knockout stages next year may reduce his risk of rest/rotation in the short term.

I'm toying with getting one of them in my team this week, or possibly waiting and getting both next week.

Ziegler1988

I'll be getting Aguero in only after he's proven his fitness, same with Sanchez. Ideally, I'd like to have them both again (or Aguero and Theo/Ramsey) since I've been building team value towards that

alchemist33

SlickRic wrote: »

I believe they hold the key to a lot of people getting back into their mini-leagues, and overtaking some of the teams that we're slightly baffled we're behind.

What are your thoughts? Will you be getting them at all costs? Or will you be trusting that the 'year of the mid-price option' continues unabated?

One of the reasons for my disaster of a season has been my faith in these two, including captaining Aguero for all his blanks (and Hazard too). I believe those who are doing best this year have adapted to this season's reality that form trumps history. I did not.

Earlier in the season I laid my hopes of improvement on big-hitters finding form. Now I think my only hope of improving is to stop putting my faith in players who SHOULD explode, but haven't yet.

FHFC

alchemist33 wrote: »

One of the reasons for my disaster of a season has been my faith in these two, including captaining Aguero for all his blanks (and Hazard too). I believe those who are doing best this year have adapted to this season's reality that form trumps history. I did not.

Earlier in the season I laid my hopes of improvement on big-hitters finding form. Now I think my only hope of improving is to stop putting my faith in players who SHOULD explode, but haven't yet.

This is a good point, however I think particularly Aguero's blanks were something of a statistical anomaly given his underlying stats and City's overall form were equivalent to last year, yet his goals & FPL points were non existent.

Sanchez to some extent is the same, although he has shown previously to be more prone to barren spells, he was still getting in the box and shooting more than almost any midfielder and will be at the heart of whatever Arsenal do attacking wise.

Hazard and Chelsea in general I agree fully on. Their current form and stats mean regression to their mean is not a reasonable expectation. I stayed away from Chelsea for the most part, but twice (mistakenly) took a punt on Hazard for a spell, the latest one based on flickerings of team form and an upturn in his own stats. But as a whole over the season so far Hazard and Chelsea are way behind their form/stats of last season so lack of FPL returns are not unexpected.

Aguero and Sanchez fit and back in their respective teams could still be expected to deliver FPL wise, and potentially explosively, which could be crucial while they are still differentials.

iroced

SlickRic wrote: »

This year is nuts - the year of the mid-price option. Vardez has run amok. Ighalo is on fire. Ozil was 8.5, and has no decided to be prolific FF-wise.

A lot of teams that are doing well above me have had neither of these players all season (even when doing the business), and in the case of at least one player (who got to 1st in the world), he has no intention of ever having them because they're 'too expensive'.

I think Chelsea catastrophic form is giving us a deceptive view on this. Agüero & Sanchez got injured but did get explosive return(s) while Hazard/Costa have been an almost complete total waste of money.

Granted Agüero & Sanchez have overall been disappointing but the former got a 50 pts captain return that compensated several GWs where these players you're talking about got good scores and the latter got a 46 pts haul over 3 GWs from which all of us should at least have gotten a 26 pts benefit over 2 GWs!

I feel it's not THAT different from the previous seasons. We had Michu 3 years ago, Ramsey/Yaya 2 years ago, Kane/Austin last year. Every season, mid-price mids and cheap forwards emerge and perform!
This year, KDB is doing a pretty good job for his first season. Ozil took Sanchez boots on as Arsenal premium (lower range premium alright) mid.
At the back, globally Kolarov/Bellerin/the fit premium United def have justified their price.

Again and like every season, the key in this game IMO is to be reactive and adapt quicker then your opponent and not to be stubborn.

FHFC wrote: »

Very good questions and a good thread.

My season has gone from meh to disaster over the last 2 weeks, so as someone who is very much chasing both OR and mini leagues i am slightly tempted to get both back in almost immediately and hope they explode once or twice.

Beware my friend! My season was going great to good to just OK a couple of GWs ago and to try beating and being cleverer than everyone else I did exactly that. Consequence: my season went from OK to meh.

I hope you noted my tremendous effort to use the appropriate vocabulary about my season to describe it the fairest way possible relative to the other players :pac:...

---

To conclude, I'd just state the obvious. The season is still very long. We haven't yet reached the hectic Christmas period which will be a premiere this year since we won't be able to plan it with a January WC in mind. January is also a very long month football-wise with all the various cups rounds to be played. Then February/March will see the return of European Cups games which will affect a few teams (City got lucky in their CL draw for once, they may focus a bit more on this comp' this year, will that trigger more rotations?). There could also be some major new signings in January. Many, many things to deal with and games to come. Plenty of time to recover. And a lot fo damage to potentially be done by our fresher big guns .

Iused2likebusts

I'll be on sanchez the week after he plays a game and continuing with my 2 arsenal mids strategy that I've had most of the season. I'm going to wait a bit longer for aguero as I'd be fearful of reduced minutes over the Xmas period. Aguero will come in for me for the 2nd gw in jan

Benimar

I'd be different to most here. Aguero will be in my team as soon as he shows fitness (probably next week). Sanchez I can take or leave (probably leave). I've made my views clear on him before, I think he has far too many blanks (18 of last 27 GWs he has played) to justify an 11m outlay.

I might look at him if Ozil gets injured and Ramsey is a rotation risk, but I regard those 2 as better 'value'.

Hazard I wouldn't touch. He's done nothing all season and Chelsea are a mess.

CSF

I need to take risks, so I'll be going with the explosive lads like Sanchez and Aguero who lots of others won't.

These guys are definitely not the worst risks to have to take, and going without Vardy is thankfully not similar to going without Aguero, Suarez and RVP in previous years which was FPL suicide.

km79

Aguero in as captain for me for the Sunderland game
Sanchez in ahead of their 2 juicy Xmas games
At this stage Ozil is more likely to be rested for one of them than Sanchez .....;)

dahat

CSF wrote: »

I need to take risks, so I'll be going with the explosive lads like Sanchez and Aguero who lots of others won't.

These guys are definitely not the worst risks to have to take, and going without Vardy is thankfully not similar to going without Aguero, Suarez and RVP in previous years which was FPL suicide.

Exact same boat as you, Aguero, Sanchez and Ozil to Ramsey possibly will all be in pretty soon.

FHFC

dahat wrote: »

Exact same boat as you, Aguero, Sanchez and Ozil to Ramsey possibly will all be in pretty soon.

I think the three of us who are trailing are thinking the same way!

dahat

FHFC wrote: »

I think the three of us who are trailing are thinking the same way!

Bloody hope we are right.

skippy15

FHFC wrote: »

I think the three of us who are trailing are thinking the same way!

ye i'm in the "big gun boat" too- form is temporary class is permanent...I hope!!
Have Aguero, and KDB- will be looking at Barkley to rambo then Ozil to Sanchez too.

stephenl15

dahat wrote: »

Exact same boat as you, Aguero, Sanchez and Ozil to Ramsey possibly will all be in pretty soon.

Wouldn't be too keen on Ozil to Ramsey at all. In fact it would never even cross my mind had you not mebtioned it. Unfortunately this isn't two seasons ago

Mr.Prodston

For myself the key to this game is as follows:

"Bring in players before/as soon as they begin a run of form/scoring before everybody else does"

It's as easy and as impossible as that. Get it right and you'll be laughing all the way to the green arrow bank. Get it wrong and you'll see a season like I'm having this year. I was at around 1k or certainly top 10k this time last year before it fell apart.

That's how I try to play the game and it's how I feel I could win the whole bloody thing some year if I get things right.

There's the safety first approach as well in picking the players that score well and hold them until they stop performing, and that's perfectly fine too and you'll have guys inside the top 20k every year doing that. But can you actually achieve the elusive World Number 1 that way?

So to me it's really down to when it's the right time to bring those players in, assuming they're the players that are likely to score highly! I won't achieve any gains by sticking with the crowd now and I'm happy to have write off seasons if it goes wrong.

Simple eh?

SlickRic

Bump.

Aguero seemingly back. Sanchez back soon.

You have the likes of Payet returning. Maybe Sturridge too.

You have teams figuring out Vardez to an extent, so I don't think they'll be as prolific.

You have so many viable option in midfield in particular with KDB, Sanchez, Ozil, Yaya (seemingly), Payet, Alli (going by recent hauls), Barkley, Mahrez. Ayew if he hits form again maybe. I'm sure there are others.

You then have the conundrum of if you want Aguero, then you'll struggle to have KDB and Sanchez too...as well as Lukaku and Kane up front.

I know everything is fluid, injuries will come, form will come and go...but if the majority of those mentioned stay fit, it's going to get a he'll of a lot more interesting.

There may be a way back for those struggling yet.

FHFC

SlickRic wrote: »

Bump.

Aguero seemingly back. Sanchez back soon.

You have the likes of Payet returning. Maybe Sturridge too.

You have teams figuring out Vardez to an extent, so I don't think they'll be as prolific.

You have so many viable option in midfield in particular with KDB, Sanchez, Ozil, Yaya (seemingly), Payet, Alli (going by recent hauls), Barkley, Mahrez. Ayew if he hits form again maybe. I'm sure there are others.

You then have the conundrum of if you want Aguero, then you'll struggle to have KDB and Sanchez too...as well as Lukaku and Kane up front.

I know everything is fluid, injuries will come, form will come and go...but if the majority of those mentioned stay fit, it's going to get a he'll of a lot more interesting.

There may be a way back for those struggling yet.

Basically any week where Aguero outscores Vardy/Ighalo will be a good week for me for the next while. Those who have those lads may be slow to dump them even if their output tails off due to value tied up.

I'm hoping those weeks will be the norm!

I can accommodate KDB, Sanchez and Aguero, its keepng Ozil as well that will prove tricky. More down to lack of spots in midfield as I'll be reluctant to let Mahrez go. I'm still not feeling desperate to get KdB just yet though.

iroced

FHFC wrote: »

I can accommodate KDB, Sanchez and Aguero, its keepng Ozil as well that will prove tricky. More down to lack of spots in midfield as I'll be reluctant to let Mahrez go. I'm still not feeling desperate to get KdB just yet though.

Maybe Yaya could be better value than KDB and allow for Sanguerozil? £2m+ less expensive and found some very good form in the last 5 GWs.

SteelyDanJalapeno

I dropped Mahrez 2 gws back, a stroke of genius tbh and a big differential as I replaced with Arnie.

I have Kun and Rom and I'll be doing my best to accommodate sanchez and kdb

hufpc8w3adnk65

Getting in Kun is easy but who too drop for him is the thing. Current front line is Ighalo Kane and Lukaku

ElTel

I've Aguero Vardy and Lukaku up top and will go without Kane in all likelihood.
My dilemma will be KDB or Ozil to go with Payet Mahrez Sanchez and Alli say,
Iroced Yaya suggestion could be an option even though I don't think he is playing well but he has the class to get the fpl points. I've Ozil ahead atm.

SlickRic

If Costa hits form, everything's going to get very interesting.

There are a lot of people above me who are screwed as they won't get him or Aguero in.

km79

Chelsea have back to back home games now too
zouma and willian may be in my team after fa cup

greedygoblin

km79 wrote: »

Chelsea have back to back home games now too
zouma and willian may be in my team after fa cup

Zouma may be a risk though with Cahill back.

hufpc8w3adnk65

What about a costa Kun (Kane lukaku Vardy Ighalo) front line lads?

Lemlin

MrMac84 wrote: »

What about a costa Kun (Kane lukaku Vardy Ighalo) front line lads?

I'm looking at Costa Kun and Lukaku. Can afford it with Alli in midfield.

FHFC

Lemlin wrote: »

I'm looking at Costa Kun and Lukaku. Can afford it with Alli in midfield.

Are you going to get rid of Kane before Leicester and Sunderland at home? Or maybe you don't have him actually. If so change that to a hypothetical question!

hufpc8w3adnk65

FHFC wrote: »

Are you going to get rid of Kane before Leicester and Sunderland at home? Or maybe you don't have him actually. If so change that to a hypothetical question!

My current front line is Kane Ighalo lukaku. Maybe I'm over reacting after two Poor game weeks. Selling Kane and lukaku when all my rivals have them seems like madness tho.

Lemlin

Lemlin wrote: »

I'm looking at Costa Kun and Lukaku. Can afford it with Alli in midfield.

I have the same dilemma.

Going with Costa, Kun and an other.

Currently keeping Kane over Lukaku as their fixtures could not be any more different.

Kane - LEIC, SUNDERLAND, crystal palace, norwich, WATFORD

Lukaku - man city, chelsea, SWANSEA, NEWCASTLE, stoke

Everton have 2 extra games in the league cup in that time frame.

Kane is on penos also.

LucidLife

MrMac84 wrote: »

What about a costa Kun (Kane lukaku Vardy Ighalo) front line lads?

I fielded Costa Aguero and Kane this week.

Barring injury seems good for a while.

Lemlin

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I have the same dilemma.

Going with Costa, Kun and an other.

Currently keeping Kane over Lukaku as their fixtures could not be any more different.

Kane - LEIC, SUNDERLAND, crystal palace, norwich, WATFORD

Lukaku - man city, chelsea, SWANSEA, NEWCASTLE, stoke

Everton have 2 extra games in the league cup in that time frame.

Kane is on penos also.

Form over fixtures though. Lukaku is on a crazy run at the minute.

Lemlin

FHFC wrote: »

Are you going to get rid of Kane before Leicester and Sunderland at home? Or maybe you don't have him actually. If so change that to a hypothetical question!

Nope. I have 2 fts. Walcott to Alli and Vardy to Aguero will be my moves this week.

I'll then assess Kane and move him on probably after the Sunderland game for Costa.

Alli will be my Spurs attacking coverage.

FHFC

Lemlin wrote: »

Nope. I have 2 fts. Walcott to Alli and Vardy to Aguero will be my moves this week.

I'll then assess Kane and move him on probably after the Sunderland game for Costa.

Alli will be my Spurs attacking coverage.

Those 2 transfers will I think leave your front 8 very similar to mine currently. Except I'm still carrying a strong 8 with Arnie where I think you have Wanyama. Edit. You've KdB too actually where I'll probably do Walcott to Payet.

I'll probably hold fire on Costa till then too. Kane could seriously punish non owners in the next 2 games.

SlickRic

Lemlin wrote: »

Nope. I have 2 fts. Walcott to Alli and Vardy to Aguero will be my moves this week.

I'll then assess Kane and move him on probably after the Sunderland game for Costa.

Alli will be my Spurs attacking coverage.

This is more and more my thinking.

Costa is a different player to the start of the season. He's running in behind and is actually a goal threat. He will score well for the rest of the season.

manual_man

SlickRic wrote: »

Aguero back.

Sanchez returning soon.

Arguably, these are the two most explosive players in the game. In years gone by you'd have to have Aguero and Suarez, or Ronaldo and Lampard, in order to compete at all.

This year is nuts - the year of the mid-price option. Vardez has run amok. Ighalo is on fire. Ozil was 8.5, and has no decided to be prolific FF-wise.

A lot of teams that are doing well above me have had neither of these players all season (even when doing the business), and in the case of at least one player (who got to 1st in the world), he has no intention of ever having them because they're 'too expensive'.

I believe they hold the key to a lot of people getting back into their mini-leagues, and overtaking some of the teams that we're slightly baffled we're behind.

What are your thoughts? Will you be getting them at all costs? Or will you be trusting that the 'year of the mid-price option' continues unabated?

It's hard to argue with form. For that reason i'm keeping Lukaku Ighalo and Kane as my front 3. I'm on wildcard currently. I'm not dismissing Aguero or Sanchez, but they have to prove themselves basically. Explosive is definitely one thing they can both be though. For that reason i'll be keeping £4M+ in the kitty, which should enable me to get either one in pretty easily.

This season is fc*king nuts though. For that reason i'm not ruling out getting in Lewis Grabban at some stage

Lemlin

manual_man wrote: »

It's hard to argue with form. For that reason i'm keeping Lukaku Ighalo and Kane as my front 3. I'm on wildcard currently. I'm not dismissing Aguero or Sanchez, but they have to prove themselves basically. Explosive is definitely one thing they can both be though. For that reason i'll be keeping £4M+ in the kitty, which should enable me to get either one in pretty easily.

This season is fc*king nuts though. For that reason i'm not ruling out getting in Lewis Grabban at some stage

Is Kane in form though? He has three goals in his last seven games which were against decent opponents for opportunities.

manual_man

Lemlin wrote: »

Is Kane in form though? He has three goals in his last seven games which were against decent opponents for opportunities.

keeping him, for the short term at least. he's looked sharp and immediate fixtures are nice. Kane->Aguero in a few gameweeks time is one option i definitely have in mind though. I need more convincing on Aguero. I know he scored late vs Watford, but i watched the whole game and he looks still a fair bit away from his best. That may well change as he gets more game time under his belt, but i think Kane for now is the better call.

Boskowski

I've been with the cheapies all season with the exception of Sanchez up to his injury. I had Vardy, Ighualo, Marez not quite from the start but from the moment they showed any sign of consistency. I had your man from West Ham until he got injured. I got Alderweireld almost since day 1. Oezil since he took off.
Only a couple of weeks ago I decided to bring Aguero in and that adventure has been costly. Not so much in the finance department because all those cheap players performing means this year I have loads of cash in the bank. But it cost me in the table. I dropped 3 or 4 spots from top or near top in my private leagues and I was going really well. I made the wrong captian/vc picks with him and I fell back 50 points or so within 3 weeks. I was trying to be cute but I brought him way too early.

So I think you're right. This season is a funny one. Money is no object this year. You take a wildcard and you can transfer the actual dream team in and you'll have change left. Everyone can have the best team. So as always its about spotting player trends early and that applies in particular to the big guns.

But as you can see from my example its all about timing. I got burned w Aguero.

Lemlin

manual_man wrote: »

keeping him, for the short term at least. he's looked sharp and immediate fixtures are nice. Kane->Aguero in a few gameweeks time is one option i definitely have in mind though. I need more convincing on Aguero. I know he scored late vs Watford, but i watched the whole game and he looks still a fair bit away from his best. That may well change as he gets more game time under his belt, but i think Kane for now is the better call.

I'm growing fairly tired of Kane to be honest. I'll keep him for his next two but I see his returns recently as poor given the opposition.

Aguero is a class act and you can't keep than under lock and key forever. Every season there are discussions about whether he is worth it at some stage, mainly because of his injuries.

I still see him as a better player than Suarez, although Suarez is less injury prone.