The Stag surveyed the expanse of colours laid out before him. The jerseyed knights jostled for positions, snarling as they sought the upper ground and over enthusiastically celebrated their triumphs. However, The Stag required a differential. Only a knight less than 20% of the herd would do. Only one knight could help him vault the others over the next 3 gameweeks. Only one knight could bring him the fabled Green Arrows. A knight to brighten his day.
For some I’m sure Gameweek 11 was great. I’m sure you had
goals galore, a few clean sheets and Man U defenders rather than City ones.
Nice for some. My gameweek was distinctly average and frustrating. Southampton
and City’s failures to put more than 2 goals each past two of the league’s worst
defences meant I was caught rotten. I also decided to hold off getting Lukaku
for one more week. Everton were very poor against Man U, uninspiring against
Arsenal, and my front 7 had all favourable fixtures or had proven themselves to
be undroppable. Consequentially, one Arouna Kone was sitting pretty on the 1st
slot on my bench. Each time he found the net against Big Sam’ Black Cats was
torment. The fact that he did it three times had me writhing. But that’s what we
FPL managers put ourselves through, especially wannabe FPL geniuses like myself
who ought to be further up the rankings by now, back to my usual top 100k
minimum. Alas that’s not the case… yet!
I’ll preface my pick by highlighting other teammates of this
week’s Stag’s Knight who would be more than worth having or keeping. Big Rom
Lukaku is obviously Everton’s best known and most prolific attacking option.
His ownership is well above Stag’s Knight’s 20% threshold so I couldn’t choose
him, but he is highly recommended. One thing myself and many more longer term
FPL managers will be painfully aware of is that Lukaku can be a massive let
down. He has done so in the past multiple times and will certainly do so again.
That said, when he gets that big points haul, we’re never surprised. Ross
Barkley also comes with good ratings from me. A powerful midfielder who has
proven himself adept to notching up goals and getting assists shouldn’t be
discarded. I’ll put his apparent inconsistent point hauls down to a mixture of
inexperience and Everton’s team’s inconsistency as a whole. However, even if
his ownership was below 20%, I probably wouldn’t have chosen him purely because
he failed to play an FPL point accredited role in any of the SIX goals the
Toffees managed to put away. That’s just unforgivable. I wouldn’t think it
prudent join the rush to bring in Kone yet either. Before last weekend, his
game time was very limited. In the 4 previous 4 games, he had appeared for 19,
12, 45 and 2 minutes. Do I think he’ll start this weekend? Honest answer is I
wouldn’t be so sure. Logic dictates that the guy who scored a hat-trick should
start, but Martinez has rarely played 2 strikers from the start in my memory.
If you have him, hang on, but please don’t chase last week’s points without
thought.
Without further ado, Gameweek 11’s Stag’s Knight is
Everton’s Spanish midfield maestro Gerard
Deulofeu. The La Masia graduate has been outstanding recently, and has
cemented his role as the team’s primary creator since his return to Merseyside.
Last weekend was his best performance yet, when he picked up 2 assists and a
well-deserved goal. He also provided the pass for Ross Barkley’s goal at
Arsenal in Gameweek 10. He has a goal and 5 assists in total so far this
season, and looks to have finally nailed down his starting positions for the
foreseeable future.
The Toffees travel to London this weekend to tackle Bilic’s
West Ham. The Irons’ defence has been leaky of late, especially in front of
their own fans. Next, they’ll have to Garde against complacency against
strugglers Villa at Goodison before travelling south again to put a few past
Bournemouth. All in all, these are 3 games that our favourite Spaniard could
romp home with a decent haul. The 6.2 million price tag and staggeringly low 0.4%
ownership means you’re likely to be one of very few (if any) that reap the
rewards.
A maestro, a differential. Your Stag’s Knight for Gameweek 12-14
is Gerard Deulofeu.
(Click to enlarge)
