Time for a more in-depth look at our Kneejerkers squad and potential transfers. This post will be used to explain the overall goal of this team I introduced last week, and (hopefully) answer any questions which may be confusing anyone.

So to put it simply, this is a team which will be managed by someone with more injuries than Jack Wilshere. Our knees aren’t great, and if there’s a bandwagon leaving the station, you can be sure that we are first class all the way, baby! Obviously, there were no bandwagons to start the season, and so I decided to use take the players with the highest % ownership to begin with. From now on out, people can only join this team if they are certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and causing a dislocation epidemic around the country. The biggest bandwagon(s) of each week will join the all-star line up. I have no control over the transfers, and will try to keep this project as objective as I can in regards to them. I will always try to explain my reasoning, which will sometimes simply be due to transfers in, and on occasions I may have to look at % transfers in compared to % ownership to work out the best choice for that week (in case of 6 bandwagons appearing at once). Any questions feel free to ask. So let’s meet the team we started GW1 with:

de Gea – Elliot

Alonso – Cedric – Daniels – Mee – Rangel

Alli – Salah – Zaha – Loftus-Cheek – Kante

Lukaku – Kane – Chicharito

These were the people the masses chose in their thousands, and they were correct to do so, for the most part, with that team scoring a GW1 total of 72. What’s interesting was that this was 14 above the average, which I expected this team to be around considering most people have these players.

There’s not much else to it than that. Although the transfer decision will be made by the transfers of the masses this week, let’s take a look at the potential bandwagons regardless:

Xhaka (5.6m) – The Swiss enforcer is currently the most transferred in player of the week (250K at time of writing) after he produced a performance resembling nothing of what people have become accustomed to in his short time in the premier league, helping Arsenal to come out 4-3 victors, with 2 assists. I believe Xhaka to be a good player, and he looked pretty good in his first season at Arsenal. In FPL however, transferring him in is unlikely to bear much fruit. Last season, he produced 4 goals / 3 assists in all competitions last year (2/2 in 28 games in the league) which isn’t a terrible first season for a defensive-minded mid, but therein lies the crux of the problem. Xhaka is a DM, he isn’t going to be getting points week in week out, that’s not his game. His penchant for a card is another thing which people should be careful about, picking up 5 yellow and 2 red cards last season. At 5.6m, he is correctly valued and probably one of the better choices in that unfavourable range, but there is a reason people stay away from DMs, and a reason why people stay away from that price range. Money, that could be used elsewhere in the team, put into a DM with an inconsistent points potential, is not the best strategy. For now, I would avoid. But that assessment could change in time…

Vardy (8.6m) – is there a party on the horizon? 2 goals against Arsenal has resulted in Vardy being put back on the menu. I would take that with a pinch of salt, considering how leaky the defence in that game was. Not that Vardy didn’t play well, that’s what Vardy does best, he works his balls off and is there to punish poorly set up defences. Looking at his expected goals (xG) for that game, he was a definite overachiever getting 2 with an xG of only 0.78. With the lack of data currently, it is hard to really look into and give this too much consideration. Perhaps his goals were due to a clinical nature, making the best of the chances he got, or it may be that he got lucky and is unlikely to continue that sort of scoring. We need more data to confirm or deny his potential as a bandwagon, but he does look like a promising option. However, one look at his fixtures is the deciding factor for me, with Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool in his next five games. That’s a tough run, but is sandwiched between favourable games against Brighton (GW2:H) and Huddersfield (GW5:A). He has potential to score goals in that run, but for now, with better options available, I will avoid. Great pick for GW7 onwards.

Hegazi (4.6m) – is he nailed once McAuley comes back? Who knows, one performance won’t be enough to hold his spot, but if he keeps playing well there’s obviously potential. If you have him in, hold. If not, again, I would suggest waiting. For now, the safe option would be to pick another WBA defender due to their favourable run. But, if you have a penchant for risks, and a need to save the pennies, then this could be the short-term guy for you!

Fuck I’m boring today, you came here for bandwagons, rather than me listing 456 players and placing an ‘avoid’ sticker beside them. It is only week one though, and as a cautious player, one game is not enough to persuade me of any bandwagons.

The player I’m keeping an eye on (for my normal team, not the Kneejerkers) with potential of bringing into my team for GW3 is Mkhitaryan. Getting 2 assists with 1.24 xA (expected assists) is solid, and if he can keep the minutes up, he could definitely be a bandwagon of the future. May well be worth it this week, I’d just be wary of minutes. And as always, there’s Lukaku… although I’m not entirely sure he can ever become a bandwagon whilst already being on everyone and their grandmother’s teams.

That’s it for today. The Kneejerks transfer looks like it will be Zaha -> Xhaka, which means there will be a bit of cash next week, whether it will be able to be used remains to be seen. I’ll confirm the starting line-up in my usual post (he says after only one) later this week. I just set up the twitter for the blog, so follow me on @2ndSeaSyndrome. Until next time, happy tinkering!

SSS.