<p><em>In his debut article, Community Hub writer Woodsy who shares his thoughts around embracing the FPL scheduling mayhem, things to consider when picking players, adapting and the need to keep planning!</em></p>
<p>Throughout the last year or so, life has been full of surprises, constant changes and chaos. And so far, the current FPL season is doing a pretty good job of mirroring the real world.</p>
<p>Whilst the more seasoned and engaged FPL managers among us will be well accustomed to making regular plans for blank and double Gameweeks, wildcards, bench boosts and triple captains; even they have never had to jump over so many hurdles as is now becoming commonplace.</p>
<p>Covid-19 protocols have brought about the regular testing of players, which after Project Restart and during the early 20-21 season, only resulted in minimal disruption. However, as an upsurge in cases has again begun sweeping the nation, a huge increase in positive results among footballers has ensued.</p>
<p>If you’re anything like me, you’ll spend an absurd amount of time thinking about your FPL team. Which transfer should I make? Who should I captain? Is it worth me playing my bench boost or should I save it for later in the season? These are all predicaments which probably enter our heads on a very regular basis. But this season has thrown up a whole new set of dilemmas.</p>
<p>In Gameweek 16 for example, <strong>Everton vs Man City and Spurs vs Fulham were both called off after the deadline had passed</strong>, leaving nearly all FPL managers with some decent assets rendered fixtureless. It would be perfectly reasonable in a normal season to double or even triple-up on players from some of the top sides. But with fixtures being called off late due to Covid outbreaks, should we now diversify more? Is it too risky to hold three expensive Man City assets and potentially have one fixture postponement decimating your team?</p>
<p>Another ponderer (which came about from the same Gameweek), is whether to select captains and vice captains from different teams. Managers I know had <strong>captained and vice-captained Son and Kane</strong> (or vice-versa), for what was seemingly a favourable fixture. To their dismay of course, their Gameweek 16 team was left captainless.</p>
<div id="attachment_29312" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-29312" class="size-full wp-image-29312" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GettyImages-1273666147-scaled.jpg" alt="fantasy premier league tips gw19" width="2560" height="1720" /><p id="caption-attachment-29312" class="wp-caption-text">FPL managers who captained and vice-captained Kane and Son in Gameweek 16 were left with a sour taste in their mouths</p></div>
<p>Could it even be worth considering which players have already had Covid? Without making any claim to be a virologist, scientist or doctor of any kind (or indeed, a fully functioning member of society as it goes) … it would seem that those who have previously had the virus will now have immunity from it, thus theoretically protecting them from being at risk going forward. Should we even look at which clubs have had outbreaks? Surely, for immunity reasons again, they would be less likely to suffer another outbreak and lose fixtures again. Does this make them safer choices?</p>
<p>Perhaps I’m over-thinking it and trying to control things which are, essentially, uncontrollable. But over-thinking is what we FPL gaffers tend to do.</p>
<p>Luck and variance will always be a factor in this game. But being a stringent and thoughtful planner in seasons past has tended to give you an incredibly useful edge. How many times have you been planning for weeks on end for a double Gameweek, only to hear one of your mini league opponents seem shocked a week before said doubles come about, and begin planning to take multiple hits to gain some useful players? If you’re anything like me and have mates slightly less nerdy than yourself, you’ll be more than familiar with this scenario.</p>
<p>Every time there’s been a blank or double Gameweek, a player suspended for accumulation of bookings, or even somebody shooting off to the African Cup of Nations; it has always been the case that the more engaged managers benefit over others by having been more aware of this information.</p>
<p>Mayhem favours the planner.</p>
<p>But with games being called off after deadlines, that apparent edge seems to have temporarily dissipated.</p>
<p>And so to the chaos.</p>
<p>Most of us have been preparing our teams for several weeks now, knowing that there would be blanks in Gameweek 18, followed by doubles in Gameweek 19. We’ve been setting our teams up with either blank players, allowing us to free-hit in Gameweek 19, or with double players to free-hit in Gameweek 18. Or perhaps for a wildcard followed by a bench boost to maximise the doubles. There were numerous viable strategies, but the point is, we had a plan.</p>
<p>Then suddenly, Burnley vs Man Utd is moved to Gameweek 18. Then Aston Villa vs Spurs is removed from Gameweek 18. Then Spurs vs Fulham is arranged and thrown into Gameweek 18 at the last minute. Following that, Leeds vs Southampton is removed from double Gameweek 19, to be rearranged at a later date. Then Villa vs Everton is postponed, leaving Villa without a double Gameweek, only to be then be replaced later that day by Villa vs Newcastle, meaning Villa’s double Gameweek was back on. Pure chaos.</p>
<div id="attachment_31356" style="width: 1304px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31356" class="wp-image-31356 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Screenshot-2021-01-15-at-11.14.11.png" alt="" width="1294" height="873" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Screenshot-2021-01-15-at-11.14.11.png 1294w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Screenshot-2021-01-15-at-11.14.11-300x202.png 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Screenshot-2021-01-15-at-11.14.11-1024x691.png 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Screenshot-2021-01-15-at-11.14.11-768x518.png 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Screenshot-2021-01-15-at-11.14.11-610x412.png 610w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Screenshot-2021-01-15-at-11.14.11-1080x729.png 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 1294px) 100vw, 1294px" /><p id="caption-attachment-31356" class="wp-caption-text">Grealish and Villa went from a double Gameweek, to a single Gameweek back to a double Gameweek in a matter of hours ahead of Gameweek 19</p></div>
<p>So what can we do to deal with this? How do we negotiate these hurdles, reduce the variance and regain our edge over the casual player?</p>
<p>Well… we keep making plans. We sit down with our spreadsheets or our old school pen and paper, and we create team plans for different scenarios. We become more adaptable. Despite the fact that we may have spent the last six weeks planning out a chip strategy we were happy with, we have to react to the fact that things are now different. Make a new plan.</p>
<p>Another key component in regaining our edge is waiting as long as possible to use our transfers. There is no point in setting your team up on a Thursday ready for the first Saturday fixture, when a couple of hours before the deadline, a fixture could change or a player could be forced to isolate.</p>
<p>So wait as long as you possibly can to make your transfers. Because you can’t reverse them once they’re done, and you certainly can’t gain any points from them until the bloody football starts. Keep on making your plans, but make them for different scenarios and adapt to whatever new landscape you may be presented with.</p>
<p>Embrace the mayhem.</p>
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‘Mayhem Favours the Planner’ | Fantasy Premier League Tips | 2020/21

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