The Community Round-Up

Impatient Fantasy managers have had a bruising few days, especially those making early transfers, triggering Wildcards or being too hasty to ditch failing assets.

Our community scribes document the players who deserve our faith and the Wildcard woes of Fantasy’s elite managers, while our Hot Topic posters offer advice for those who have recently drafted in Paul Pogba, and been left frustrated after the Frenchman picked up an injury midweek.

There’s more advice on replacing the Manchester United midfielder from our Members’ area statisticians, and we finish off our round-up with a look at those with time on their side at the very top of our community competitions.

The Community Articles

Four of the Career Hall of Fame top five managers Top Marx is tracking used their Wildcard ahead of Gameweek 5, but as his analysis of their strategies shows this bold move didn’t quite bring the instant success they craved.

Acekn1ght has been delving into the underlying statistics of poorly performing players to isolate those who are most deserving of our patience. His latest article looks back at those who eventually delivered over Gameweeks 3 and 4 and, for Members only, he reveals the forwards and midfielders who may deliver a surprise points haul in Gameweek 5.

Meanwhile, Hutch_James‘ latest examination of the wisdom of the crowd finds out the key teams and players the masses believe will prosper.

Double Gameweek fever has taken hold of the Fantasy Eliteserien Norwegian top-flight game this week, with Niemi‘s analysis offering some top tips on how to tackle this potentially lucrative shift in the fixtures.

Don’t forget, if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.

The Hottest Topic

An injury to Paul Pogba in Manchester United’s midweek Champions League clash with Basel is likely to keep the 32.0%-owned Frenchman out for between four to six weeks – as the fire sale gets underway, we canvassed your views on the best replacements.

Twisted Saltergater wonders whether an obvious swap for his similarly-priced team-mate Henrikh Mkhitaryan really is the most sensible strategy.

Another option could be to free up some cash and opt for a cheaper candidate, such as Stoke City’s Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who scored a brace against Manchester United in Gameweek 4. Az dropped by to promote the 5.5 priced Cameroon international’s points potential, while William Prunier’s fixture analysis suggests that rotating a Potters asset with a Burnley player could reap rewards.

Newcastle United set-piece taker Matt Ritchie – who costs just 5.9 – is another possible replacement for those looking to divert cash, according to HurriKane. As FantasyNik123 points out extra funds could be especially needed in defence, due to the strong potential of wing-backs this season.

Other Pogba replacements could include some of the cut price gems unearthed by Wakey in his round-up of the latest stars with declining prices. Among these is Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, who scored in the Europa League last night and TheTwelfthMan thinks could soon become hard to ignore.

Pogba’s injury will be particularly frustrating for those who brought him in ahead of Tuesday and prompted many of those taking part in our Hot Topic on this season’s emerging themes to ponder whether 2016/17’s successful tactic of aggressive, early transfers is now redundant.

Elsewhere, Zoumas Bloomers started a discussion on disappointing players, many of whom have already been subject to price drops.

Among those to see their value take a knock is Harry Kane, who failed to score over his first three matches. A return to his starting price of 12.5 looks likely though, given his brace against Everton last weekend and the praise he received in our discussion on whether the England forward is essential.

Those who stuck with Kane – and especially those that captained him – claimed bragging rights in our rough with the smooth round-up of your Gameweek 4 scores.

For those that manage to avoid rough Gameweeks over the next few months, the dream of winning FPL could become a reality. Sanchez wondered what the community would do if they ever found themselves top of the world.

To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page.

The Members’ Tables

Members looking to replace Pogba are advised to take a look at G-Whizz’s table surveying the best replacements. Doosra has also been gathering statistics of middling midfielders below 9.0.

For those in search of a cheap defender, I’ve constructed this table looking at key options priced below 5.0. This is sorted by baseline bonus, but filtering by shots in the box will give added data about their attacking intent.

Elsewhere, They are lost has been focusing on budget-friendly sharp shooters in midfield.

If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how they work. Also, remember to tag them so that people can find the tables with ease.

The Community Tournaments

Dave Hughes, who is 967^th overall, has retained the lead in both Red Lightning’s Top 10,000 Any Season league and PDM’s Top 1,000 Any Season contest.

The top manager in Heels over Head’s R U Smarter than the top 10,000 club (9355-102577), for those who have never finished among this elite group, is Svortingen Hogs.

Evs sits at the summit of the FFScout Moderators and Contributors league with 235 points, one more than second placed Uwais Ahmed, who was last year’s FPL runner-up. Meanwhile, I retain the lead in the FFScout Moderators and Contributors draft league, despite defeat to second-placed Andy.

Phil Appleby takes the summit in the FFS Old Farts Club for our community’s oldest and wisest members.

Elsewhere, in Torres Magic’s Last Man Standing the safety score was 32, which saw 203 players depart, leaving 3,500 to battle it out again.

In the FFS Frequent Summer Posters League Jallegere is in the lead, closely followed by contest organiser QPRUTD.

If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-ups, please email us summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head to head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.