Fantasy Premier League Season 2015-16: Too many options to choose from
As premier league kicks off on 8th august, FPL managers have started picking their sides. The summer transfer window has already seen a number of players coming in from other leagues (Bastian Schweinsteiger, Firmino, Yohan Cabaye) as well as some key team switches within the league (Sterling, Clyne, Schneiderlin). The problem: you can only pick 17 of them.
In this post, I will be looking at some of the major teams in the Premier League. This post has my analysis on the transfers they have made this summer and how I look at this as a FPL Manager. These views may support or contradict your views of these players and teams. Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments section below.
This post will not serve as a guiding light in terms of what you, as a FPL manager, should select or not select. This is solely my point of view of what kind of performances I expect from new players coming into the league. For players that have transferred within the league, I will focus on how well I see them adjusting to the new sides. With a lot of transfers taking place and hopefully a few more to come before the deadline, it would've become an infinitely long post if I would've decided to cover all the clubs. Hence, I will focus on transfers of a few major teams in this post. I plan to write another post about other teams in the next week or 2. Feel free to share your views on the same in the comments section below.
The Gunners have been silent this transfer window till now. They have added only 1 player to their ranks: the Chelsea goalkeeper. Cech didn't get a lot of minutes last season as their new keeper, Thibaut Courtois rarely disappointed them. As a result, Cech's move away from Chelsea was inevitable.
The problem is, Cech may face a similar situation at the Emirates as well. With Szczesny and David Ospina among their ranks, it is unclear as to who will be the go to keeper for the Gunners this season. Hence, I wouldn't put my money on an Arsenal keeper anytime soon. If you want to rake in points from Arsenal's clean sheets, you should be looking at one of their defenders instead.
With a number of big purchases last season, Chelsea strolled to a comprehensive and dominating title win last season. With all of their star performers still in their ranks and playing well, Chelsea are serious title contenders this season as well but that hasn't deterred Mourinho from further bolstering his squad.
He has brought in Begovic from Stoke to fill the void made by Cech's move to Arsenal but with Courtois doing really well in this department, it is unlikely that he will get significant game time. Hence, not a good option for a FPL team in my view.
Bringing in Falcao on a season loan from Monaco would give him more options up front. Falcao was on loan to United last season where Van Gaal failed to unleash his true potential. Mourinho would be hoping to get more out of the South American footballer this season. That said, it is unclear as to how much game time he will get at the London club. Chelsea have Costa who, despite injuries, ended up the 3rd highest point getter amongst the strikers in FPL. They also have Remy who is quick on his feet. Falcao would help give Chelsea more strength in air and I suspect, he would likely get time against physically dominating sides. Hence, I'll wait a few weeks before I decide to put my money on him.
One transfer that has really caught my eye is the move of the PSG midfielder to Crystal Palace. This is the Frenchman's second stint in Premier League. He played for Newcastle United from 2011 to 2014 before he moved to PSG last season. He made 39 appearances for the French side where he found the net only once. Despite a mediocre season last year, this man is certainly a player to watch out for this season. He is priced at 6.5 only. I would certainly have him in my first week's team as Palace face Norwich City (away). A good performance from him in Crystal's opening match would definitely set the momentum to his favor for the rest of his season at Palace.
Having played on loan with Everton in 2013 -14 and with Sevilla last season, Deulofeu has finally joined the Toffees and he will be eager to prove his worth. He is priced at 6.5 pounds and will accomodate easily in the budget for many of you. Deulofeu can prove pivotal to Everton's performance in midfield along with Cleverley this season.
City might be disappointed at not being able to land Pogba till now but they certainly have enough reason to cheer over Sterling moving to their ranks. He scored within 2 minutes of his first appearance for City against Roma as part of their pre-season tour and seems to be in good shape. Paired with Silva and Aguero up front, he is quite likely to prove worth the 49 million pounds City have spent on him.
City have also signed Fabian Delph who was crucial to Villa's FA Cup success last season (Finalists, losing to Arsenal) but with a star studded Midfield, I don't know how much game time he will get. Hence, he isn't worth my money for now.
After a somewhat depressing season defensively, Manchester United has certainly worked to bolster their defence this transfer window. Bringing in Schweinsteiger from Bayern will certainly add to it. His move to United along with Southampton's Schneiderlin and Italian full back Matteo Darmain (from Torino) certainly has United fans on a high defensively.
Both, Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger are listed as midfielders under Manchester united and while many of you would want to put your money on these 2, they come at a price of 5.5 and 7 respectively which will make you reconsider your decision while allocating your 100 pounds. Paying that much for a defensive midfielder isn't too wise an option on most days.
Darmian is priced similar to Schneiderlin at 5.5 and considering the strong defensive line-up, they're likely to keep a lot of clean sheets. I personally consider Depay a very good bet. Although, I don't have any idea of how much play time he'll get in the early stages of the tournament. United fans would know better.
United may have bolstered their defense their summer, the exit of Falcao (who was there on a season loan) and Robin Van Persie has given them a drought offensively. To counter this, United have brought in Memphis Depay. Although he is listed as Midfielder, he is likely to play an attacking role in the United line up alongside Rooney who is expected to be playing his original position this season unlike the midfielder role he held for a major part of last season. At 8.5 Depay seems good value for money as well.
Firmino is the Reds' flagship signing this summer. With Suarez moving to Barcelona and Sturridge missing out majority of the season due to injury, Liverpool suffered a serious goal drought last season. Bringing in Firmino seems like a good solution. With Benteke and Ings also moving to Liverpool, Rodgers will hope to put up goal scoring performances similar to the 2012-13 season.
Both, Benteke and Firmino are priced at 8.5. Firmino is a player many Liverpool fans will have in their FPL team, along with either Henderson (7 pounds) or Coutinho who seem to be improving every single day they play. Even Milner seems to be doing well for the Reds in pre-season after his move from Manchester City. The England winger didn't see a lot of game time last season and he seems to be working hard to ensure that he gets more starts here.
At the defensive end, Liverpool have brought in Clyne who was one of reasons for Southampton's success last season. They have also bought in a young Joe Gomez from Charlton. Gomez is likely to develop into an key defensive player in the years to come and I would certainly like to see him groomed well by Rodgers over the course of the next 2 seasons. Additionally, Adam Bogdan will play the role of a back up keeper.
Just like last season, Southampton has lost its star performers to the big guns of Premier League this season. Clyne made a move to Liverpool and Schneiderlin to United. Alderweireld, who was on loan last season, signed for Spurs. Add to this goalkeeper, Forster has a knee injury. Just like last season, they have made up for it by bringing in a a bunch of new players:
Juanmi: Striker
Martina Cuco, Cedric Soares: Defenders
Clasie: Midfield
Stekelenburg: Goalkeeper (loan)
Koeman seems to be doing well with his troops in pre-season and I would personally suggest each one to have atleast 1 man from St. Mary's in their ranks. Southampton had one of the best defensive stats in the premier league last season and I am pretty sure that isn't likely to change this season as well. Personally, I would suggest Fonte in defense and Sadio Mane in midfield for the first few weeks. I just hope that just like last season, they surprise everyone and play beautiful football.
Stoke City put up a very good performance last season. They finished in the top half again and this included a 6-1 route of Liverpool on the last match day. Mark Hughes was definitely going to get some funds to add to his squad and he has certainly gone on to do the same.
He brings in Shay Given and Haugaard to replace to loss of Begovic. Also, Johnson joins Stoke on a free transfer from Liverpool and he will certainly add to their defense. Wollschied's move has been made permanent after an impressive show on his loan spell. This season, having a defender from the Potters' in your squad wouldn't be a bad bet. Van Ginkel joins the midfield on a loan spell and Joselu will add to the attacking options alongside Crouch and Diouf.
Stoke will certainly add to the list of teams who will fight tooth and nail this season for a chance to play in Europe next season. That said, their defense will be put to test in their very first game. They play Liverpool who have worked immensely on their offense and will be eager to seek revenge for the 6-1 defeat. If you're going to have 1 of their defenders, make sure you bench them in the first gameweek at least.
With limited resources, Gary Monk made an impressive performance last season. Swansea finished 8th despite losing their star striker in the winter transfer window. This included defeating teams like Southampton and holding many other majors to a draw at home. They owe this performance to their creative midfielders Sigurdsson and Ki Sung-yeung.
That said, the performance last season has certainly made a case for Gary Monk to go out and spend some to bolster his squad. He brings in Andre Ayew to further add to his impressive midfield. They bring in the tall Portuguese striker Eder from Braga although I am still not too convinced about him.
Tabanou would certainly add to their defence alongside their new keeper Nordfeldt. While Tabanou is likely to play an important role in Swansea's defense, I would wait a bit to see how much game time Nordfeldt gets. Fabianski was nothing short of amazing last season and it would take a lot of hard work on Nordfeldt's part to replace him as the club's number 1 keeper. Swansea is another side that would be in contention of a Europa league spot next season.
As far as FPL is concerned, Sigurdsson is a very good bet this season as well. The attacking midfielder is very happy at Swansea and is likely to be as impressive as last season. A defender or perhaps their goalkeeper, Fabianski wouldn't be a bad pick from their side as well but you should make sure you pick a defender that gets enough game time.
Riding on an impressive goal scoring run from Harry Kane and a midfield that backed him up well, Pochettino's side did well to finish 6th in the league last season. This season, the Argentine manager has brought in players to ensure that his team doesn't under perform randomly like last season.
One of the key problems for the London side was their defense and signing 3 defenders just shows how concerned their manager is about it. It will be interesting to see how their defenders combine and develop an understanding during pre season training. Their defense will be put to the ultimate test in the first game week itself as their opening match in against United.
Personally, I think it will be a good bet to have a defender from their ranks in your team but not just yet. I'll wait for a bit to see their defense settles in first. In addition, you would definitely want to keep their star striker Harry Kane in your ranks. Their midfielder Eriksen was brilliant last season and should be considered as good a midfield option as well.
In this post, I will be looking at some of the major teams in the Premier League. This post has my analysis on the transfers they have made this summer and how I look at this as a FPL Manager. These views may support or contradict your views of these players and teams. Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments section below.
This post will not serve as a guiding light in terms of what you, as a FPL manager, should select or not select. This is solely my point of view of what kind of performances I expect from new players coming into the league. For players that have transferred within the league, I will focus on how well I see them adjusting to the new sides. With a lot of transfers taking place and hopefully a few more to come before the deadline, it would've become an infinitely long post if I would've decided to cover all the clubs. Hence, I will focus on transfers of a few major teams in this post. I plan to write another post about other teams in the next week or 2. Feel free to share your views on the same in the comments section below.
Arsenal
Petr Cech (Chelsea)
The Gunners have been silent this transfer window till now. They have added only 1 player to their ranks: the Chelsea goalkeeper. Cech didn't get a lot of minutes last season as their new keeper, Thibaut Courtois rarely disappointed them. As a result, Cech's move away from Chelsea was inevitable.
The problem is, Cech may face a similar situation at the Emirates as well. With Szczesny and David Ospina among their ranks, it is unclear as to who will be the go to keeper for the Gunners this season. Hence, I wouldn't put my money on an Arsenal keeper anytime soon. If you want to rake in points from Arsenal's clean sheets, you should be looking at one of their defenders instead.
Chelsea
Nathan (Atletico Paranaese), Radamel Falcao (AS Monaco), Asmir Begovic (Stoke City)
With a number of big purchases last season, Chelsea strolled to a comprehensive and dominating title win last season. With all of their star performers still in their ranks and playing well, Chelsea are serious title contenders this season as well but that hasn't deterred Mourinho from further bolstering his squad.
He has brought in Begovic from Stoke to fill the void made by Cech's move to Arsenal but with Courtois doing really well in this department, it is unlikely that he will get significant game time. Hence, not a good option for a FPL team in my view.
Bringing in Falcao on a season loan from Monaco would give him more options up front. Falcao was on loan to United last season where Van Gaal failed to unleash his true potential. Mourinho would be hoping to get more out of the South American footballer this season. That said, it is unclear as to how much game time he will get at the London club. Chelsea have Costa who, despite injuries, ended up the 3rd highest point getter amongst the strikers in FPL. They also have Remy who is quick on his feet. Falcao would help give Chelsea more strength in air and I suspect, he would likely get time against physically dominating sides. Hence, I'll wait a few weeks before I decide to put my money on him.
Crystal Palace
Yohan Cabaye
One transfer that has really caught my eye is the move of the PSG midfielder to Crystal Palace. This is the Frenchman's second stint in Premier League. He played for Newcastle United from 2011 to 2014 before he moved to PSG last season. He made 39 appearances for the French side where he found the net only once. Despite a mediocre season last year, this man is certainly a player to watch out for this season. He is priced at 6.5 only. I would certainly have him in my first week's team as Palace face Norwich City (away). A good performance from him in Crystal's opening match would definitely set the momentum to his favor for the rest of his season at Palace.
Everton
Gerard Deulofeu (Everton)
Having played on loan with Everton in 2013 -14 and with Sevilla last season, Deulofeu has finally joined the Toffees and he will be eager to prove his worth. He is priced at 6.5 pounds and will accomodate easily in the budget for many of you. Deulofeu can prove pivotal to Everton's performance in midfield along with Cleverley this season.
Manchester City
Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Fabian Delph (Aston Villa)
City might be disappointed at not being able to land Pogba till now but they certainly have enough reason to cheer over Sterling moving to their ranks. He scored within 2 minutes of his first appearance for City against Roma as part of their pre-season tour and seems to be in good shape. Paired with Silva and Aguero up front, he is quite likely to prove worth the 49 million pounds City have spent on him.
City have also signed Fabian Delph who was crucial to Villa's FA Cup success last season (Finalists, losing to Arsenal) but with a star studded Midfield, I don't know how much game time he will get. Hence, he isn't worth my money for now.
Manchester United
Memphis Depay (PSV Eindhoven), Matteo Darmian (Torino), Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton)
After a somewhat depressing season defensively, Manchester United has certainly worked to bolster their defence this transfer window. Bringing in Schweinsteiger from Bayern will certainly add to it. His move to United along with Southampton's Schneiderlin and Italian full back Matteo Darmain (from Torino) certainly has United fans on a high defensively.
 |
| Schneiderlin (left) and Schweinsteiger |
Darmian is priced similar to Schneiderlin at 5.5 and considering the strong defensive line-up, they're likely to keep a lot of clean sheets. I personally consider Depay a very good bet. Although, I don't have any idea of how much play time he'll get in the early stages of the tournament. United fans would know better.
United may have bolstered their defense their summer, the exit of Falcao (who was there on a season loan) and Robin Van Persie has given them a drought offensively. To counter this, United have brought in Memphis Depay. Although he is listed as Midfielder, he is likely to play an attacking role in the United line up alongside Rooney who is expected to be playing his original position this season unlike the midfielder role he held for a major part of last season. At 8.5 Depay seems good value for money as well.
Liverpool
James Milner (Manchester City), Danny Ings (Burnley), Adam Bogdan (Bolton Wanderers), Joe Gomez (Charlton Athletic), Roberto Firmino (Hoffenheim), Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton), Christian Benteke (Aston Villa)
Firmino is the Reds' flagship signing this summer. With Suarez moving to Barcelona and Sturridge missing out majority of the season due to injury, Liverpool suffered a serious goal drought last season. Bringing in Firmino seems like a good solution. With Benteke and Ings also moving to Liverpool, Rodgers will hope to put up goal scoring performances similar to the 2012-13 season.
Both, Benteke and Firmino are priced at 8.5. Firmino is a player many Liverpool fans will have in their FPL team, along with either Henderson (7 pounds) or Coutinho who seem to be improving every single day they play. Even Milner seems to be doing well for the Reds in pre-season after his move from Manchester City. The England winger didn't see a lot of game time last season and he seems to be working hard to ensure that he gets more starts here. At the defensive end, Liverpool have brought in Clyne who was one of reasons for Southampton's success last season. They have also bought in a young Joe Gomez from Charlton. Gomez is likely to develop into an key defensive player in the years to come and I would certainly like to see him groomed well by Rodgers over the course of the next 2 seasons. Additionally, Adam Bogdan will play the role of a back up keeper.
Southampton
Juanmi (Malaga), Cedric Soares (Sporting CP), Maarten Stekelenburg (Fulham), Cuco Martina (FC Twente), Jordy Clasie (Feyenoord)
Just like last season, Southampton has lost its star performers to the big guns of Premier League this season. Clyne made a move to Liverpool and Schneiderlin to United. Alderweireld, who was on loan last season, signed for Spurs. Add to this goalkeeper, Forster has a knee injury. Just like last season, they have made up for it by bringing in a a bunch of new players:
Juanmi: Striker
Martina Cuco, Cedric Soares: Defenders
Clasie: Midfield
Stekelenburg: Goalkeeper (loan)
Koeman seems to be doing well with his troops in pre-season and I would personally suggest each one to have atleast 1 man from St. Mary's in their ranks. Southampton had one of the best defensive stats in the premier league last season and I am pretty sure that isn't likely to change this season as well. Personally, I would suggest Fonte in defense and Sadio Mane in midfield for the first few weeks. I just hope that just like last season, they surprise everyone and play beautiful football.
Stoke City
Jakob Haugaard (Midtylland), Philipp Wollscheid (Bayer Leverkusen), Joselu (Hannover 96), Marco van Ginkel (Chelsea), Shay Given (Aston Villa), Glen Johnson (Liverpool)
Stoke City put up a very good performance last season. They finished in the top half again and this included a 6-1 route of Liverpool on the last match day. Mark Hughes was definitely going to get some funds to add to his squad and he has certainly gone on to do the same.
He brings in Shay Given and Haugaard to replace to loss of Begovic. Also, Johnson joins Stoke on a free transfer from Liverpool and he will certainly add to their defense. Wollschied's move has been made permanent after an impressive show on his loan spell. This season, having a defender from the Potters' in your squad wouldn't be a bad bet. Van Ginkel joins the midfield on a loan spell and Joselu will add to the attacking options alongside Crouch and Diouf.
Stoke will certainly add to the list of teams who will fight tooth and nail this season for a chance to play in Europe next season. That said, their defense will be put to test in their very first game. They play Liverpool who have worked immensely on their offense and will be eager to seek revenge for the 6-1 defeat. If you're going to have 1 of their defenders, make sure you bench them in the first gameweek at least.
Swansea City
Andre Ayew (Marseille), Franck Tabanou (St Etienne), Kristoffer Nordfeldt (Heerenveen), Eder (Braga)
With limited resources, Gary Monk made an impressive performance last season. Swansea finished 8th despite losing their star striker in the winter transfer window. This included defeating teams like Southampton and holding many other majors to a draw at home. They owe this performance to their creative midfielders Sigurdsson and Ki Sung-yeung.
That said, the performance last season has certainly made a case for Gary Monk to go out and spend some to bolster his squad. He brings in Andre Ayew to further add to his impressive midfield. They bring in the tall Portuguese striker Eder from Braga although I am still not too convinced about him.
Tabanou would certainly add to their defence alongside their new keeper Nordfeldt. While Tabanou is likely to play an important role in Swansea's defense, I would wait a bit to see how much game time Nordfeldt gets. Fabianski was nothing short of amazing last season and it would take a lot of hard work on Nordfeldt's part to replace him as the club's number 1 keeper. Swansea is another side that would be in contention of a Europa league spot next season.
As far as FPL is concerned, Sigurdsson is a very good bet this season as well. The attacking midfielder is very happy at Swansea and is likely to be as impressive as last season. A defender or perhaps their goalkeeper, Fabianski wouldn't be a bad pick from their side as well but you should make sure you pick a defender that gets enough game time.
Tottenham Hotspurs
Toby Alderweireld (Atletico Madrid), Kevin Wimmer (Cologne), Kieran Trippier (Burnley)
Riding on an impressive goal scoring run from Harry Kane and a midfield that backed him up well, Pochettino's side did well to finish 6th in the league last season. This season, the Argentine manager has brought in players to ensure that his team doesn't under perform randomly like last season.
One of the key problems for the London side was their defense and signing 3 defenders just shows how concerned their manager is about it. It will be interesting to see how their defenders combine and develop an understanding during pre season training. Their defense will be put to the ultimate test in the first game week itself as their opening match in against United.
Personally, I think it will be a good bet to have a defender from their ranks in your team but not just yet. I'll wait for a bit to see their defense settles in first. In addition, you would definitely want to keep their star striker Harry Kane in your ranks. Their midfielder Eriksen was brilliant last season and should be considered as good a midfield option as well.
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