Dilemmas of the Week - GW13

 

Every week, we need to take a long hard look at our squad, and ask ourselves if we want to make any changes....

And even if we do see a pressing case for a change here or there, we then need to weigh that against the possible advantage of saving our transfer - 'rolling' it over to use in a future week. This option achieves greater tactical complexity this season with the new rule that allows us to save up as many as 5 Free Transfers to use at one time. If we ever manage to do that, it would in effect be a 'mini Wildcard', enabling us to conduct a major squad overhaul in one fell swoop (particularly useful as there are a handful of 'premium' players who cost so much more than everyone else that you can't conveniently move them in and out of your squad without making multiple other changes as well).

Then, of course, occasionally multiple changes may seem so inescapable that we have to consider whether it's worth spending points on 1 or 2 extra transfers (a tactic which obviously deserves a whole post of its own one day).

So, what are the conundrums we face ahead of Gameweek 13?

Does anybody need to be moved out because of injury?

Gabriel had to come off with a problem against Sporting on Tuesday; but it's thought to be just a 'knock', and the man is a tank - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed he'll be OK for Saturday. Ditto, Konate, who also limped out of his Champions League game!

Conor Bradley pulled up with what looked like a hamstring problem near the end of that Real Madrid match; a great pity if he's going to be out for a while, after turning in a 'Man of the Match' display in this game. 

Bruno Guimaraes and Todibo both came off with problems in Monday night's EPL game. Their managers 'hope' they're not too seriously hurt, but Bruno looked to have a muscle strain, which I imagine will keep him out for at least one Gameweek, just for the sake of caution. His absence could be pretty devastating for Newcastle, who are struggling enough to find any consistency as it is. Although the imminent return of Kieran Trippier might lift their spirits a little.

Adam Lallana also appeared to pick up a serious hamstring problem in last week's game, which could be an even bigger blow to Southampton, for whom he has been the creative driving force so far.

And Harry Winks came off quite early in the game against Chelsea with what looked like a pulled muscle in the groin area. This is likely to have the biggest impact in FPL since - unfathomably - he was still owned by around 13% of managers.

Spurs keeper Vicario broke a bone in his ankle against City, and has needed surgery - looking set to be out until March at least. The Italian was not widely owned anyway (though by more people than I would have expected; he must have a large extended family!). However, this unfortunate accident is good news for the 0.3% who'd plumped for his back-up, Fraser Forster.

Ipswich full-back Ben Johnson, who apparently suffered a problem in training just before last week's game against Manchester United, seems set to miss at least one more game; as does Fulham's Joachim Andersen, who suffered a calf strain during the game against Wolves.

At Palace, Eze and Wharton appear to be very close to a return, but will probably only get short minutes, at best, this week.

Do we have any players who are dropped, or not looking likely to get the starts we hoped for?

Christian Norgaard got last weekend's red card overturned on appeal - rather to my surprise (I think it's probably correct to reprieve him; but I can see the incident could be argued both ways, and the FA is usually excessively keen both to protect goalkeepers and to stand by their referees). Brighton's Baleba didn't have the option to appeal, because he was sent off for a supposed (but non-existent) second yellow card offence, and so will miss this week's game.

Semenyo also has a one-game ban for collecting 5 yellow cards.

Tino Livramento is presumably at some risk of going back to the bench, if Trippier is finally ready to start again for Newcastle at right full-back. (It's unlikely he'll be swapped to the left at the expense of Lewis Hall, who has been outstanding in the last few games.)

Did anyone give other cause to consider dropping them?

Marcus Rashford, despite getting the early breakthrough against Ipswich, was so bad for the rest of the game that he must be a near-certainty to be dropped. (If he gets a reprieve, I think he'll probably get a try-out as the left-sided '10' in Amorim's system, where both Garnacho and Zirkzee failed to impress.)

Kyle Walker and Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan also looked very poor in City's shambolic performance against Spurs - but Pep can't drop all of them. I should think Walker is the likeliest omission. And Josko Gvardiol, who's having to do a ridiculous amount of running to try to firefight counter-attacks, is starting to look desperately in need of a rest.

Did anyone play so well, you have to consider bringing them in immediately?

James Maddison produced one of the performances of the season last week against City; but, unfortunately, there are still some huge question-marks over his relationship with his manager and how far his starts or minutes can be relied upon. And Spurs's form yoyos so much, you have to fear that Fulham, Bournemouth and even Southampton could turn out to be tougher fixtures for them than Chelsea and Liverpool. Even if they can start to build some consistency (difficult, wihout their first-choice keeper, or, for another week or two at least, their two best centre-backs), it's a fairly tough December for them, so acquiring Maddison now looks like a bit of a gamble.

Matheus Cunha was also outstanding against Fulham. But I have a feeling his bubble may be about to burst.

Martin Odegaard was immediately hugely impressive on his return; but, while he has some appeal as a less-owned 'differential', he can't really supplant Bukayo Saka as the top attacking pick from Arsenal, and most people want to double up on their defence currently, which just leaves no room for him in an FPL squad, however good he is.

Amad Diallo was the one outstanding success of Ruben Amorim's opening match in charge at United. But it looks like there's going to be a long process of adjustment to his system of play, and possibly quite a lot of experimentation with selection. I doubt if anyone except Bruno Fernandes and Andre Onana can be relied upon as invariable starters for a while yet.

Ipswich's Liam Delap has been attracting warm praise for his recent performances. (Danny Murphy is, I think, the best of the Beeb's pundits, along with Ashley Williams; but his comparing of Delap to Harry Kane was probably straying too far into hyperbole!! But hey, we all stray into hyperbole from time to time: a year or two ago, I compared Evan Ferguson to a young[er] Haaland...)  I'm rather more intrigued about the FPL prospects for his midfield strike partner Sammie Szmodics.

However, my 'Picks of the Week' this time are Jurrien Timber and Georginio Rutter.

BEST OF LUCK, EVERYONE!