Miles Reucroft is undertaking a different way of playing the ever popular Fantasy Football this season. To understand his methodology, read part one here. The Week 1 review is here, Week 2 transfers & preview here, Week 3 preview here, Week 4 preview here, Week 5 preview here.
Just when it looked like everything was going so well, FC Fakin’ Run Aboutabit took a tumble down the league table in game week 5. From the dizzying heights of breaking into the top 1,800,000 teams in the country, we find ourselves back in more familiar territory; 2,467,160th.
It was also a bad week off the pitch. It’s never nice to see a good man out of work and Birmingham City pulling the trigger on Harry Redknapp was a stark reminder that failing to get the right business done at the right time can be costly. No one would ever accuse him of being a wheeler dealer, but when you can only spend £20m and bring in 14 players over the summer transfer window, you can’t be expected to work miracles. I hope to see you back soon, Harry.
I was unsure of my own business this week. Stick or twist? Dave Silva did a tremendous job replacing the injured Paul Pogba last week and brought in 11 points. KdB, John Stones and Ryan Bertrand also packed a punch, but the overall haul of 45 points was way down on the average score for the week of 58 points. Hence the slide down the rankings.
The misfiring forward line is a concern. Kane looked like he’d turned a corner after the internationals, but reverted to firing a blank this week. Gabbiadini and Rodriguez, too, offered nothing by way of return on their selection.
Should I seek to change things up top? I tried to call Gary but he hasn’t answered his phone all week. The threatening tone of my correspondence from the LMA last week concerned me. Has Gary been on the take? He’s always able to get a deal done, so it’s unlike him to stay quiet.
I’m unsure of the changes I’d make, though. With a transfer kitty of £0.1m available, I’d have to fund any new recruits through player sales and I can’t see the requisite quality in the market at this moment in time. Chris Wood and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are the only names tempting me and I don’t think the time is right to acquire either. I’ll leave it for this week.
That means we head into game week 6 with an unchanged squad. The back three with a four man midfield worked well for us last week, it was upfront that we struggled. With that in mind, I’m fortifying the midfield area for this week, switching to a 3-5-2, with Rodriguez being replaced by Granit Xhaka.
Ryan Bertrand, our vice captain, will also be taking a break this week. He’s looked tired after a busy start to the season in which he has also played for England, so he’ll rest his weary legs and KdB will assume his role as VC, with Michael Keane coming back into the starting XI.
Xhaka will play alongside Kante as a holding midfielder, giving Alli, KdB and Silva a bit of licence to weave their magic closer to the final third. Kane and Gabbiadini will start up top.
I’m happy with the squad at the moment and we’ve got the flexibility to alter the formation at will. Here’s to hoping for a better week than last week.
Team for week 6:
3-5-2: Butland – Stones, Ake, Keane – KdB, Kante, Alli, Xhaka, Silva – Kane (C), Gabbiadini
Subs:
Grant, Bertrand, Rodriguez, Cedric
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