In the latest article from our team of Hall of Famers and guest contributors, FPL General reflects on his Gameweek 13 green arrow and reveals his big team decisions for Gameweek 14 and beyond.

GAMEWEEK 13 REVIEW

In what was a tricky Gameweek fixture-wise, the troops managed to come out of the battle with a small green arrow thanks in large part to Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon (£5.9m). I was planning to sell him this week but this 13-pointer has saved him from the chop, coupled with the Eberechi Eze (£6.2m) injury.

Last week’s free transfer was used to sell Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m) for the Crystal Palace talisman, so it’s safe to say that one didn’t exactly go to plan! I fancied a three-game punt on Eze before moving him to Cole Palmer (£5.3m) in Gameweek 16. However, freeing up the Bowen money has made it straightforward to buy my number one transfer target for this week.

It’s been a good few Gameweeks for my rank and the ‘top 100k by Christmas’ goal is very much on. With the first Wildcard still available, I’ve given myself a good foundation to build upon. Hopefully, this will result in a good rank by the time we reach Gameweek 38. 

I enjoy the December madness but it also scares the life out of me when things are going well. I like having a week to think about decisions and not rush them. Having to act fast does not suit my FPL manager style, as I’m not able to watch as many games as I would like or have the time to study stats in detail. But roll on the chaos! 

Getting the Wildcard timing right will be key, as I’ve been very close to activating it a few times. It won’t happen this week but it could be played as soon as Gameweek 15 if I’m concerned about getting 11 players onto the pitch for a midweek round of fixtures. There’s likely to be rotation across the board.

Having an unreliable bench for this period makes me feel uneasy. I certainly need to keep Blank Gameweek 18 in mind when making transfers over the next few weeks, should I decide to hold the Wildcard until after that.

On the other hand, I’m not worrying too much about the blank. If I ended up playing only nine or ten players that week, it wouldn’t bother me. I just want to prioritise getting points on the board from good assets before then, rather than focusing moves on one solitary Gameweek. 

FPL GAMEWEEK 14 BUS TEAM

Best of luck for Gameweek 14, folks.

Check out this week’s episode of ‘General’s Orders’ if you haven’t already. There will be a new 59th Minute Podcast on Friday after the pressers.