Every week this season, two West Ham fans will compete at Fantasy Football to win money for their chosen charities.
Will’s Team
GK: Dubravka
Def: Saliba, Robinson, Tarkowski
Mid: Palmer, De Bruyne (c), Saka, Bowen
FW: Watkins, Alvarez, Haaland
Frankly, this has been coming for ages. A royal walloping for James Jones who could not even manage half of the 55 points I bagged this week which was a full eight above the game week average.
His paltry 27 saw me cruise past him and open up a vast 12 point chasm between us with me on 1,209 and James not even having broken the 1,200 point milestone yet on a meagre 1,197.
James has been stumbling through the season riding on the fragile back of Lady Luck and Fraulein Fluke while I have been receiving blow after blow from the FPL gods despite employing consistently sound strategy and squad picks.
Even this week when I regained my rightful place at the top of the We Are West Ham podcast host leaderboard, I was shafted once again.
My decision to punish previously under-performing Bukayo Saka with a spot on the bench backfired spectacularly as he bagged 10 points in Arsenal’s 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest while Fulham’s Antonee Robinson also collected six while a sub.
Nonetheless, my decision to keep Julian Alvarez involved and captain Kevin De Bruyne instead of Erling Haaland (nice one James) proved to be the difference as they scooped 27 (James’ total for the week) between them.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it is the saying so there’s no transfers this week. I was planning on binning Saka but he’s earned a reprieve and a chance of redemption.
And only two starting XI changes. Fulham go to Burnley so Robinson comes in for Tyrick Mitchell whose Crystal Palace haven’t kept a clean sheet since a win at Turf Moor in game week 11!!! And last time Robinson bagged six points, he did it two weeks in a row (GW15 and 16) so I fancy a repeat.
Mo Kudus makes way for Saka. With West Ham going to Old Trafford it seems unlikely him and Bowen will return and I couldn’t pick between the two so asked my ‘completely apathetic to football’ girlfriend who was more likely to score and she said ‘Jarrod for sure’.
James’ Team
GK: Raya
DEF: Estupinan, Porro, Walker
MID: Richarlison, Foden, Odegaard, Palmer (V)
FW: Darwin, Haaland (C), Joao Pedro
Well, gameweek 22 was a complete shambles.
The decision to replace Ollie Watkins with Darwin Nunez backfired, giving the armband to Erling Haaland was a serious display of misjudgment and, to top it off, there wasn’t a single clean sheet to be seen anywhere in my squad. 27 points in the GW and now 12 points behind Will. Tragic.
If I’m completely honest, I have no idea what to do. I’m desperate for Mohamed Salah and Heung-min Son to return so my team can return to being somewhat respectable. But, until then, I’m wondering whether making any more changes would benefit me long term. I don’t want to tinker too much and I don’t want to make be impulsive by scrapping Darwin for Watkins, even though there’s a voice in my head telling me that would be a good idea.
I’m going to roll my transfer this week because, quite frankly, it can’t get any worse. Can it?
And it’s the same starting XI as last week. Now I just have the dilemma of who takes the armband.
Haaland is the only obvious choice, but I got burned by that being an obvious choice last week, so now I’m second guessing myself.
I could back Richarlison to haunt his old club at Goodison Park, or I could take a huge gamble by choosing Cole Palmer (Wolves, H) or Joao Pedro (Crystal Palace, H).
But Haaland keeps it for now. Surely he starts this week? Surely?!
