GW37 Bench Boost- Terrible Idea?

[MGPT]

Judging by the posts on FPL forums, it seems everyone is kind of planning to use the WC/BB combo for the 'juicy' GW37 DGW. It looks like it will have the most DGW teams in it compared to GW34 but is using the WC/BB really a good idea?

Firstly, it looks highly likely that the best TC options will be in GW37 (Sanchez vs SUN/sto, Aguero vs LEI/WBA, Haz or Costa vs wba/SOT) with no good option in gw34 (although if Chelsea lose to Utd in FACQ they could face WAT/SOT). The rearranged league cup games (MCI vs MUN and SOT vs ARS) aren't great fixtures for Zlatan or Sanchez so aren't likely to create a good TC option if moved to a random GW.

Secondly, as has been discussed a lot on here already, bench boosting can seriously compromise your team in the week before and after you use it. If you choose a strong bench on your gw36 wildcard with relatively expensive players it means you are leaving significant money on the bench in weeks 36 and 38. If you choose a weak bench with cheap players there's no guarantee you will get significant returns, certainly not enough to justify using your WC so late.

Then there is the fact that teams can face heavy rotation if they have two fixtures in GW37. MCI could be still in CL, United and Spurs in EL and Arsenal, City, Utd, Spurs and Chelsea all still in FAC as it stands. Plus all these teams are likely to be fighting hard for league position. So there's every chance you don't get anywhere near the amount of dgw players you want with the likes of Sterling, Walcott and Aguero massive rotation risks.

I think there is far more value in just putting out a really strong XI in GW37 with double or triple ups on City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs players (assuming these teams have a DGW), a 3.9gk and a couple of serviceable cheap bench players. Obviously this team would include your TC as well.

My plan for doing this is to slowly build a decent 15 for GW34 using my free transfers then WC in GW35 with a team that has great fixtures for the final four games and includes a really strong XI of GW37 DGW players.

Looking at GW34 it looks like Mboro are most likely to have a decent DGW (bou/SUN) if City knock them out of the FAC so having 2 or 3 Mboro players could work well (they also have good fixtures leading up to 34). Also, one of Utd/Chelsea should have a DGW in 34 which means you can load up on those players for BB too.

This is my current strategy and reasoning but obviously depends a lot on when rearranged fixtures fall. Would be interested to hear opinions.

[Stemania]

Judging by the posts on FPL forums, it seems everyone is kind of planning to use the WC/BB combo for the 'juicy' GW37 DGW. It looks like it will have the most DGW teams in it compared to GW34 but is using the WC/BB really a good idea?

Firstly, it looks highly likely that the best TC options will be in GW37 (Sanchez vs SUN/sto, Aguero vs LEI/WBA, Haz or Costa vs wba/SOT) with no good option in gw34 (although if Chelsea lose to Utd in FACQ they could face WAT/SOT). The rearranged league cup games (MCI vs MUN and SOT vs ARS) aren't great fixtures for Zlatan or Sanchez so aren't likely to create a good TC option if moved to a random GW.

I guess the prevailing advice would be to wait and see until the fixtures come out and then look at all strategies available to you before deciding on anything.

I think it's way too early to be counting out or wedding yourself to any strategy. There will be 3 DGWs (at least!) this year so a lot to consider. Personally I would say that recent events have improved the potential prospects of a DGWBB compared to where we were a month ago, but the fact there's no blanks in between 34/37 could easily lead any potential WC36-BB37-ers into preferring an earlier wildcard for the whole DGW period. For example, if we get DGW33 & 34 again it may look best to WC33 TC34 BB37, which isn't something that was particularly viable last year due to the blanks in GW35. Perhaps GW33 is unlikelier than last year for the third DGW though, since the FA will probably be less keen on giving teams an extra game 3/4 days before the Cup Semis - in fact I imagine GW33 is very unlikely for that reason.

In terms of when the best fixtures (i.e., TC opportunity) will be, I don't think there is any particular reason to expect the rearranged fixtures to fall chronologically in terms of when they were cancelled, and so there are so many possibilities for the big teams, many of whom may need a non-34/37 DGW - in fact, all the FA Semifinalists will need one I think, meaning the potential of quite a big third DGW somewhere! The third DGW may as a result turn out to be the better BB bet, or the best TC bet etc. I suspect they'll pick what they think is best for TV(/policing), could that actually make City vs United as an end of season GW37 extravaganza more likely? It could all look so different depending on the week chosen for the third DGW(s). Imagine if it's something like GW31 for one team, GW32 for others, GW35 for others still etc - UEFA would kick up a huge fuss so I would guess it'll be one big third DGW, but it could be really strange indeed!

[Sutter Kane]

Yeah the arrangement of the fixtures is paramount. As mentioned by the OP, some of the rearranged games don't seem that enticing especially if coupled with a medium-difficulty game as well. There's also the fact that at GW37 some teams will be on holiday already with nothing to play for, and those teams may have double game-weeks; also teams in the latter stages of cup competitions might rest players AND I found last season my GW37 BB potential was lessened as I simply couldn't afford to get who I wanted in my XV which meant my choices were sub-optimal. (of course for some that worked out; Kone, Ward spring to mind - don't see that sh** happening again) There is a lot to consider and information is everything; we don't have enough of it right now, thus our plans will probably change.

[blahblah]

The trouble with playing cards so late is the number of "dead" matches, not to mention the unpredictability of the "live" ones.

[cesc408]

I'm going to just play it week by week.

I am currently about 60p behind in my ML which is easily catchable, And he has used his WC which I haven't. My plan was to use my WC before a DGW, (like alot) and hopefully maximise points by having lots of DGW players and half decent active players on the bench. The best week would possibly be GW36/37BB.

Problem will be how my team looks after GW28, and going into GW29/30 onwards. I don't want to fall further behind, and using my WC so late could backfire if I'm already too far behind. There's a swing in fixtures coming up shortly, with my 2 WBA defenders possibly top of my exit list come GW29.