During the international break, I've probably not been as engaged in FPL thoughts as I'd have liked to have been, due to a number of reasons. Decorating ahead of the impending new arrival (due two weeks today), news about an impending job change, general business at work, and all the travelling that entails, and a heavily pregnant wife coming down with Covid, have meant that any football time has been limited to watching the England games (and a brief highlight of Timo Werner's miss last night).
Luckily, the wife has had very mild symptoms and hasn't been affected too badly and seems to have recovered now. The baby is still active, and we have no concerns on that front at the minute.
One thing I have noticed however is that there has obviously been a lot of talk amongst the community about plans for Gameweek 4 and beyond, and it would seem I'm swimming against the tide as there are several key topics, which I just can't get on board with.
Obviously I'd like to caveat this article, saying that if the moves suit your team, and you're willing to gamble, then go for it, but for my team, and the way I want to play FPL this season.
Ferran Torres
Transferred in by circa 800k managers already this season, Ferran Torres is no doubt basking in the glory of his performance vs Arsenal last time out, but I can't bring myself to go for him.
I get the positives, he's playing as a forward, despite being classed as a midfielder, and hes playing for one of the best attacking teams in the league, and only priced at £7.1m currently... but whilst his owners, and especially the one person I discovered on twitter last week who captained him in GW3,had a fruitful day, Torres is not consistent enough for me to want him. Last season, he blanked in 15 of his 24 appearances, and has done so twice in 3 games this season.
Add in the famed Pep roulette, and I can seem him being a frustrating purchase for those that jump on the bandwagon.
Despite Jesus looking as if he may be suspended this weekend, we have Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden set to return, meaning more competition for the attacking roles for Man City, not to mention the Champions league being set to return, which is when we usually see more rotation in the side.
Wolves Assets
Again, I get the logic. The fixtures are lovely but Wolves are yet to score a goal, or keep a clean sheet this season, and therefore I can't bring myself to jump on. I've seen wildcard drafts with double/triple Wolves assets.
Traore is a player lots seem happy to gamble on based on his underlying stats, but I would argue that although Wolves have had difficult fixtures, these are better suited to Traore's pace on the counter attack, and feel he may not get as many chances against the weaker teams who are more likely to sit back and restrict the space for Traore to run in behind.
Another player people are keen on is Raul Jimenez. Whilst the Mexican has been a great asset previously (despite my captain faux pas last year) but he has only had 1 shot on target (out of 12 this season) and has an xG of just 0.08 so far this season
Wildcard
Yes there's the opportunity to get Ronaldo and/or Lukaku, and total revamp your team. You can argue that we're playing a different game now with the fixtures swings and the addititonal premium assets available.... but it's been just 3 game weeks. We only get two wildcards a season, and it will be another 17 gameweeks until you can play the chip again.... and thats if you don't wait for the January transfer window to close/the usual late season information about blank and double gameweek to navigate. Ideally I want to keep my wildcard until weeks 13/14, to try and split the season into thirds, (thers also a nice fixture swing for Man Utd in GW 14, which coincides with Chelsea's fixtures becoming more difficult)
Getting Ronaldo, for a points hit
In years past, I would be all over this move, but I'm really keen to avoid taking any points hits this year. 4 points is giving away a goal from a striker, or a clean sheet from your defender, and @FPLGeneral mentions in this weeks podcast, FPL points are hard enough to come by, let alone to make up those you give away.
Now don't get me wrong, Ronaldo is arguably the greatest ever goalscorer to play the game. He WILL score plenty of goals, and the showman in him, will no doubt put on a show on his return to Old Trafford, but for most people, it will mean removing Bruno, who also has the same fixture. If anyone would've suggested before the season, that you would be looking to remove Bruno Fernandes, ahead of a home game against Newcastle, and taking a points hit for it, you'd have thought they were crazy. I know Fernandes has blanked in 9 of his last 15 appearance, but it still feels wrong to remove him before such a tasty fixture.
If you can replace Bruno with Ronaldo without taking a hit (or you need to replace players that won't be playing this week), then I'd find it hard to argue against it, but to take a hit, you're already giving up a goal from Ronaldo, just to break even.
I'm fully aware that this blog could come back to bite me on the bum, with Torres, Ronaldo and Traore all hauling, along with a Wolves clean sheet to justify the investments in the likes of Semedo and Sa... but I just can't bring myself to take such a gamble.