Jatin Arutla sensationally finished within the top 10 of the world last
season out of four million FPL managers (0.00025%!). He also finished top of the FPL Hints League. A die-hard fan of
Manchester United, he started college this year and was born at the turn of
this millennium. This article provides some insight into the tactics that he
followed which catapulted him right up into the FPL stratosphere.
Formation
I favoured 3-4-3 for the majority of the season and
averaged nearly 63 points over 28 gameweeks. I believe that forwards have the
highest chance of returns as they get into more attacking positions than
others. Obviously, it works only when there are at least 3 forwards who are in
good form. However, I've seen many other managers use different formations
through the season and achieve success. It depends on the players you're
picking. Also, I tried to spend the least possible amount of money on bench
players for two reasons. Firstly, it allowed me to spend the remaining cash on
my starting 11 and have the best chance of fantasy returns from premium players.
Secondly, it decreased the dilemma of squad rotation every week and saved me
from the frustration of having points on the bench.
Stick with your players and watching lots of footy
There is an underrated relation between these two.
It is important that you stick with your players even if they're going through
a rough patch. You can't judge the form of a player just by looking at his FPL
points. I feel that this is the main difference between the casuals and the
more serious ones. The player who isn't getting returns might be getting into
good positions but be unlucky with the final product. You can't tell this from
looking at stats. I drafted Townsend in my GW1 squad and he didn't return in
the first few gameweeks. But I saw that he was getting forward well and started
looking more comfortable on the ball as the games progressed. Then he returned
with a double-digit haul. Sticking with a player might not always provide the
results you want but I think it does more often than not.
Early transfers, hits and team value
I always tried to avoid making transfers early in
the week as the player may get injured and you have to take a hit later in the
week to replace him. If you wait until the end of the week, you can watch the
press conferences and get to know which players are unfit for the weekend. This
tactic was fruitful for me in the last gameweek when King declared that he
would be unfit and I transferred in Stanislas who scored. I've never fussed too
much about team value as the main goal is to score the maximum points. But
having a decent team value helps in the back end of the season when the prices
of players are generally higher than the start. I take hits only when a player
is injured, suspended or out of form and I can recover it in the long term.
Also, saving a free transfer and spending 2 transfers the next week has worked
out well for me this season.
Double Gameweeks and chips
Double Gameweeks (DGWs) are that time of the season
where you have the best chance in improving your overall rank. Thus, it is
important to plan ahead and bring in players who are more likely to play both
the games. Also, it may not be wise to ditch in-form single gameweek players
for doubtful DGW players. I took a hit to bring in Sterling expecting that it'd
be only a –2 as he had a DGW. And then Pep did his rotational masterclass. It
is also important to see if players have the right motivation in the final
stretch of the matches, be it for either Europe, a relegation battle or even
individual achievements such as the Golden Boot (7 goals in 2 matches). I
played my wildcard before GW 36 and Bench Boost (BB) before GW37. Triple
Captain (TC) chip and BB are quite a handful but are certainly not season
enders. Generally, the players on your bench should be the four weakest players
from your team. So, it makes sense to wildcard before you BB and bring in four
DGW players who have good FPL potential. The TC chip can potentially be used
during a gameweek where there are fewer teams with DGWs.
