Strategic FPL Transfers Prioritize Flexibility and Long-Term Advantage

Key Quotes

"I scored 87 which took me from 36k to 21k so i'm still not quite as high up the ranks as i was after free hit 13 which was 18k but i'm pretty close and i'm absolutely delighted with that because once we were past game week 13 i'd used all my chips there will still be people out there that have got some left to play so to keep up without any chips left got to be delighted with that 21k at this stage of the season is fantastic hopefully i can build from here but as i've said previously you can very quickly fall down the ranks all it takes is a couple of bad weeks people play their chips really well let's see what happens after game week 19 and obviously then for the rest of the season"

The author, Andy, expresses satisfaction with his performance in Game Week 16, achieving 87 points and rising to 21,000 in rank. Andy highlights that this success is particularly pleasing as he has already used all his chips, unlike some other players. He acknowledges the volatility of the game, noting that a few poor weeks can lead to a significant drop in rank.

"the transfers worked well the only downside is that dujbury hall got injured so he's currently yellow flagged and i do expect him to miss some games but hopefully it won't be a huge concern moving forward but let's talk about it so this week it's three free transfers for me but nothing in the bank so i do have a little bit of flexibility in terms of being able to move money around with multiple transfers but i don't have any cash to make an upgrade in one move but hopefully it won't really be that important this week anyway the team is quite nicely set up"

Andy explains that while his recent transfers were successful, the injury to Doucouré is a concern. He notes that he has three free transfers available for the upcoming week but no additional funds for immediate upgrades. Andy believes his team is generally well-positioned, suggesting that the lack of funds for a single significant upgrade might not be critical for the current game week.

"i know a lot of people are going to tell me to play him my gut feeling is i shouldn't do that i know wolves is a good fixture even away from home but it's not like brentford are a water tight defense i think i'd rather play van dijk against spurs away potential goal threat even if he doesn't get the clean sheet and then henderson in a home game against forest and then i've got to play saliba against burnley so the only like saliba's easy he's good for defcons he's got a great fixture great clean sheet odds he definitely plays and i probably sell him in the coming weeks but not this week do i play van den berg over van dijk or henderson my gut feeling is i just play the two i've got like could liverpool go away to spurs and get a clean sheet there's some potential there"

Andy discusses his defensive lineup decisions, specifically debating whether to play Van den Berg against Wolves or Van Dijk against Spurs. Despite Wolves being a favorable fixture for Brentford, Andy's intuition leads him to favor Van Dijk, anticipating a potential goal threat even without a clean sheet. He also plans to play Henderson at home and Saliba, indicating a preference for Van Dijk and Henderson over Van den Berg for the upcoming game week.

"i just quite like saka as well i know a lot of people are considering selling him but i just like having him in there i acknowledge that game week 19 is potentially a problem mid week fixture the madouke he could play but outside of that i think saka starts most games and he may even just start that one because it's villa like he is their main man right he's their palmer he's their salah he's their haaland like he will play a lot so i just i don't know i cannot bring myself to sell saka yet and i specifically made three moves last week so that i could get foden without selling saka so i've already kind of made the decision to keep him so i don't see any moves here"

Andy expresses his reluctance to sell Saka, despite acknowledging that some managers are considering it. He believes Saka is a crucial player for his team and is likely to start most games, even potentially in a midweek fixture. Andy emphasizes that he made specific transfers in the previous week to accommodate Foden without selling Saka, reinforcing his commitment to keeping Saka in his squad.

"i need thiago to be fit i need thiago to be fit and if he is and he's just going to miss out one of those midweek i'll probably just cope with it with a defender instead i think i'm okay with that so the plan is to roll this week although thiago might have just put a spanner in the works but we'll see what happens i i just don't see me selling him this week i just don't think there's anyone i want bowen will be the one because he's only 0 5 million more and the fixtures are quite good coming up so i really want to roll to four transfers i didn't really want to have to use three last week but i felt i needed to with foden without having to sell saka so getting back to four next week will leave me in a really good position and maybe i just make a defender move and maybe thiago is absolutely fine or wait and see"

Andy states his strong desire for Thiago to be fit, indicating that if Thiago misses a midweek game, he is prepared to use a defender from the bench. Andy plans to "roll" his transfers this week, meaning he will not make any changes, although Thiago's fitness status could alter this decision. He aims to accumulate four free transfers for the following week, which he believes will provide a strong strategic advantage.