FPL Expert Season Review

In this article we take a look at a FPL expert season review. We bring in one of the most successful FPL managers around in @dmpwright as he looks back on his season so far and highlights what has gone right and what has gone wrong.

The Twitter (X) community is full of some of the most experienced FPL managers around. Because of that we can learn a lot from some of them. Our FPL expert season review can help to clarify decisions within our own teams moving forward.

Introduction

I came into this season with high hopes following three consecutive top-10K ranks, including back-to-back top-5K finishes that propelled me into the top 50 of the Fantasy Football Scout Hall of Fame. I’ve done ok so far. I currently sit at 250K going into the international break. However, like most, it’s fair to say my season to date has been a bit of a rollercoaster!

What has gone well?

I started the season very strongly and was ranked ~16K after the first three gameweeks. I tapped into Spurs assets from the outset. From Gameweek 1 I owned Destiny Udogie and James Maddison until their respective injuries, and transferred in Heung-Min Son relatively early as well.

After a run of four red arrows from Gameweeks 4–7 that saw me fall to OR ~475K, I decided to play my wildcard in Gameweek 8. That decision enabled me to deal with several issues, including injuries to Sven Botman and Pervis Estupiñán. It also allowed me to bring in players with favourable fixture runs, such as Jarrod Bowen, Moussa Diaby and Ollie Watkins. I would also have been comfortably priced out of my wildcard team by Gameweek 10, which, like many others, was when I originally planned to wildcard.

Notably, I kept Erling Haaland when I wildcarded while many FPL managers have made significant gains without him. I think there’s more to be said for the timing of wildcards than going with or without Haaland. I picked up four consecutive green arrows on the back of my wildcard and rose to OR ~185K, although my progress took a hit in Gameweek 11 – the less said about that, the better!

What could have gone better?

If I’m honest, this section was easier to write, which is quite telling! One of my main issues has been a lack of goalkeeper clean sheets. In fact, I’ve only banked two all season! Things haven’t improved since selecting Matt Turner and Alphonse Areola on my wildcard, with Turner now out of favour after a series of under-par performances and West Ham ranked fifth-worst in the league for xGA. My decision to ‘cheap out’ at this position may be one I need to rectify soon.

I haven’t had much luck with defenders either. I don’t think I’ve owned Kieran Trippier at any point this season, which has definitely hurt my OR. I’ve also benched a haul from one of my defenders four times in the last five gameweeks – including Kostas Tsimikas’ 15 points in Gameweek 12!

Further forward, my decision to start the season with Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford proved incorrect and, in hindsight, I held on to them for too long given Manchester United’s indifferent form. I was also one of the FPL managers who held on to Nicholas Jackson for his string of 1-pointers.

Elsewhere, while Diaby has done OK for me on my wildcard, my decision to replace Bryan Mbeumo with him is another one I will probably reverse shortly. Fortunately, I’m well placed going into the international break. I have two free transfers in hand to address any issues ahead of the new round.