Why FPL managers should be thinking about their Bench Boost now

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Here, former FPL champion Simon March addresses one chip that many of us aren’t even thinking about at this stage of the season: the Bench Boost.

There’s so much to talk about in FPL at the moment; Wildcard strategies, fixtures swings, Blank Gameweeks, the looming World Cup – the list goes on.

It might surprise you, therefore, to learn that we’re not going to address any of those topics in this article at all and, instead, we’re going to talk about the one thing that absolutely nobody is talking about, but perhaps should be: the Bench Boost chip.

In the same way that it’s a surprise each year to find that Michy Batshuayi is still technically a Chelsea player, it’s equally surprising to find that the Bench Boost chip has made it into another season. The surprise comes largely from the fact that its resilience comes contrary to the general sentiment amongst players of the game, that few managers actually like the Bench Boost chip. The reasons for this include the fact that it is awkward to deploy, it is usually quite disappointing and, many believe, it is more trouble than it’s worth.

While there is merit to these criticisms, it is a bad workman who blames his tools and a big part of getting the most out of the Bench Boost is timing. This article will critically consider when might be the best time for FPL managers to play this chip.

Option 1: Right Now

It has been said that a good return on the Bench Boost would be considered to be around 15-20 points but predicting this is very difficult, so the minimum expectation when using the chip is that you have a fully (or mostly) playing bench to boost. Because of the Blank Gameweeks that came ahead of the current international break, some FPL managers might now be sitting on stronger benches than normal, either as a result of using their Wildcard or as a result of having drafted in reinforcements to allow them to bench non-playing assets like Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (£12.9m) or Chelsea’s Reece James (£6.0m).

If you’re looking at your squad and have a benching headache that concerns 2-3 players, maybe it’s best not to overthink things and play the Bench Boost now. Most of us will have passed up opportunities to play it early in the past that would have paid off more than the Gameweek we ended up saving it for, and playing it now brings the added bonus that you won’t have to think about this chip for the rest of the season.

Option 2: After Wildcarding or After Gameweek 16

Logic would dictate that a Wildcard or the unlimited transfers we’ll be granted during the World Cup break after Gameweek 16 would allow managers greater capacity for picking a strong overall squad and, therefore, be able to maximise their return on their Bench Boost. This might also apply to the second Wildcard with the added benefit that you might have a higher squad value to invest by then.

The downside to this strategy is that, the following Gameweek, you might be left with a lot of budget spent on your bench. This might not necessarily be the case as good budget options do exist, but it isn’t generally conducive with maximising the output of your first XI.

Option 3: During Double Gameweeks

Playing your Bench Boost during a Double Gameweek was the go-to strategy when the chip was first introduced but became less popular after the Free Hit came into the picture, given that the latter was a generally far more effective chip to play in a Double Gameweek, or indeed any time really.

That said, the only thing better than your whole bench playing is your whole bench playing twice and so, if you can pull it off, there is no higher potential scenario than playing your Bench Boost in a Double Gameweek. It also saves on those inevitable headaches over whether to play the player with a great single Gameweek fixture or the player with a Double Gameweek fixture. You’ll be thankful for your Bench Boost if you ever find yourself in that scenario.

Option 4: During the Final Gameweeks

If you enter the final Gameweeks with your Bench Boost still intact, you might be tempted to just sacrifice it whenever, but there is a scenario where this can actually be the most effective use of the Bench Boost possible.

When things are tight during the run-in, we are far less inclined to take hits because we fear we might not have time to make them up if they don’t pay off immediately. However, in such a scenario, a hit or two or a ‘mini-Wildcard’ can offer a huge advantage over our rivals, allowing us to re-invigorate our squads when others are stagnating or to fully attack Double Gameweeks knowing we have a viable exit plan.

This is where the Bench Boost comes in, acting as a sort of credit card onto which you can defer your points spent. Say you took two hits the Gameweek you played your Bench Boost, all you would need from the Bench Boost to cover it is 8 points, yet your return on making up to four transfers late in the season could be far greater than that. Of course, this strategy does rely on you scoring at least some points from your Bench Boost, something we know is never entirely guaranteed.

You could argue that the points you spend on hits could be gained via the Bench Boost at any time during the season so this strategy only really offers a psychological benefit. That is somewhat true, but it is also true that being able to take multiple hits and offset their cost late in the season offers a very big and unique advantage. As I said in the intro, ‘timing is key’ when it comes to the Bench Boost and this particular strategy embodies that entirely. 

Summary

Like Michy Batshuayi, the Bench Boost chip is not inherently bad, it just needs to be used in the right way. Timing is everything and, for some, the best time to play the Bench Boost might well be right now given the unusually strong benches many of us will currently have. 

A Wildcard or unlimited transfers offers the best route for fully maximising the potential of the Bench Boost in terms of personnel, but what it gains in this respect it may well surrender through the structural problems it might invite in the squad later on. We typically don’t want to go long periods with a lot of money on our benches.

Double Gameweeks offer a different means of maximising the potential of the Bench Boost, but it’s debatable whether you’d want to use this chip then anyway given that better alternatives may well exist. If you do use it in a Double Gameweek, however, it can instantly resolve what might otherwise be severe benching headaches.

Finally, a ‘progressive’ option might be to use it as a means of offsetting points hits later on in the season, allowing you to make potentially substantial changes without the detrimental effects that spending points will normally have on your rank. This method has its own risks and it does rely on a bit of ‘mental accounting’, but any advantage late in the season can be disproportionate in its effect and this is a strategy that most managers will not be considering, improving its potential even further.

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