FPL Fortress: Recent Episodes
FPL Fortress
Two FPL fanatics have a chat about the weekend's action and look ahead to future gameweeks, throwing around banter and exchanging insight.
Today, Donald Trump mentioned UTDTrey in a Tweet—which can only spell disaster for Trump’s campaign, since nobody can escape the Trey jinx. It’s no surprise, then, that the team he reps has steadily been on the decline since he joined Twitter. As Jacob says, United are towing the line between being hated and being forgotten—and for a franchise like Manchester United, the latter might be worse. Gameweek 6 also saw City draw to Newcastle, Arsenal avoid dropping points at the death against Leicester, and a certain Cole Palmer become the first and only player in Premier League history to score four goals in one half of football. We start our Dilemma Deliberations with this starboy—is now the time? Should he have been included in our discussions about the trifecta of Haaland, Salah, and Saka last week? What even is the word for trifecta, but … four? Quadfecta? Superfecta? We then conjecture about whether or not the Philip Walter Foden train is fast approaching the station, and round off the segment with a theoretical lament on our abysmal team values (but seriously, it’s an important issue!). Finally, captaincy indeed seems to be a decision between our newly minted Fantastic Four—which fixture looks like the friendliest of the bunch?
Mikel Arteta almost pulled off the low block of the century against Man City, condemning City to feed their onslaught through Rúben Dias—hardly the most creative player in their team. Due to the nature of this low block (and perhaps due in part to his ghosting tendencies), Kai Havertz completed a grand total of 0 out of 5 attempted passes over the course of the 90 minutes. Nonetheless, he is a contender for the third best Arsenal asset to own, behind Saka and Gabriel, and this assessment forms the meat and potatoes of this episode of the FPL Fortress. Elsewhere, we also discuss whether the nearly 800,000 managers who have bought Luis Díaz made a good choice, as well as a grave mistake that Wildcarders and non-Wildcarders alike seem to be making. Finally, captaincy this week seems to be a relatively close call between the Trifecta—Saka at home to Leicester, Salah away to a Wolves that conceded 6 to Chelsea, or Haaland against a thoroughly unremarkable Newcastle?
The talk of the town is the Gameweek 6 Wildcard. Are Arsenal’s and City’s good fixtures enough to warrant pressing the button? Just how in the mud does your team need to be in order for the Wildcard to be worth it? In this episode, we try to work through these questions and analyze the cheap Isak replacements—though there are many options, few are all that exciting. And for once, the obvious captaincy choice doesn’t seem to be Haaland—but what do you do if you don’t have Mo?
To borrow a phrase from Noni Madueke: everything about this game is s***. Well, not really—in fact, FPL is a really compelling, well designed game, especially with this year’s pricing—but it can feel pretty awful when the team you spent the entire summer tinkering with, and one that looks quite decent on paper, just kind of flops after the first couple of weeks. Alas, it is what it is—and though that may sound defeatist, I’m using it in the defiant way here, in the sense that we’re accepting what’s transpired and blazing onwards, unfazed. The meat and potatoes of this first midweek episode are about how to deal with a bad start (which, generally speaking, both Jacob and Jiayang have suffered). Sprinkled within is a neat little debate about when the best moment to get Ollie Watkins might be, as well as a bit of light economics chitchat.
Welcome to our fifth season here at the FPL Fortress! And believe it or not, despite being in the business for so long, it’s our very first season preview. We’re very excited to share our thoughts in a couple of different areas: we’ll start with all the new rule changes, then we’ll talk about player pricing through the lens of “pricing tiers” (e.g. the list of midfielders in the £9.5 to £10.5 range), and finally we’ll discuss our first drafts. Given that not a single minute of Premier League football has actually been played yet, our chat is a little more theoretical, and you’ll get to see how the differences in Jacob and Jiayang’s FPL philosophies manifest in our team selections. Happy listening and happy tinkering!
And just like that, the 2023/24 season comes to a close. It’s been a pretty good one—both of us enjoyed our best ever finishes, and there have been a number of memorable moments, from Palmer’s 26-pointer to the mouth-watering Gameweek 34 Free Hit. In what is now customary fashion for the Fortress’s season reviews, we assign our superlatives, which include Player of the Season, Most Consistent, Purplest Patch, most maddening to own, and favorite moments. Then, it’s the classic Breakout XI (Jacob’s second-favorite segment) and Flop XI (Jacob’s favorite segment). Finally, we finish off with our reflections and lessons learned going into next season. We have greatly enjoyed keeping the Fortress going strong during our busy first year of college, and wish everyone a healthy green summer!
A bald striker who likes to tuck in his shirt and bangs in goals for fun? No, he’s not Ronaldo Nazario in the early 2000s while he was playing for Real Madrid. No, he’s arguably even better (and certainly more of an FPL hero at the very least). The club is Crystal Palace, the time is April 2024, the number on his shirt is 14, and the man of the moment is Jean-Philippe Mateta. His whopping 29 points is the capstone of, quite frankly, a feast of a gameweek—one in which the top-scoring FPL team (aptly called “Hakuna Mateta!”) ended on 216 points. Funnily enough, the popular Liverpool assets turned out to be the big disappointments, with the triple-up of Salah, van Dijk, and Robertson getting outscored by Will Hughes. It may be tempting to linger forever on DGW 34, but we must set our sights on the few remaining gameweeks of the season. To that end, we discuss which Chelsea and Spurs assets are good for DGW 35, the Salah problem (crazy that he’s become a “problem”), and overall transfer strategy before the big DGW 37. Since we won’t have time to record an episode next week, we look at captaincy options for GW 36 in addition to GW 35. Jacob presents an enticing idea that Jiayang may just take up next season…
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Unsurprisingly, this episode centers around creating the perfect Free Hit team for GW 34. (And if you’re not using your Free Hit, hopefully the points we hit on will still be valuable in helping you determine who to prioritize with your precious transfer or two). First, we try to figure out the ideal triple-ups from Liverpool and Arsenal; then, we determine who else should be a lock; and finally, we try to logically fill in the remaining spots in our XI. In this last section, we tackle the thought-provoking and delicate act of weighing 1) a good single gameweek player with a good fixture vs. 2) a slightly worse double gameweek player with two slightly worse fixtures. As for captaincy, Jiayang might just channel his inner Sybill Trelawney…
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On paper, this upcoming gameweek seems like it’ll be the last relatively calm one before the inevitable chaos of the tail end of the season ensues. By examining what the best course of action might be for our own teams, we touch on key topics that will hopefully be relevant for many FPL managers right now, such as whether it’s time to move from Darwin/Solanke to Højlund/Isak/Jackson (yes, Nicolas Jackson). Finally, in our captaincy segment, we’re back to pretty much picking between our two old friends, Mo and Erling—though at the moment, it seems like both are stuck in a bit of a rut. Who, then, to go with? Would it be foolish to make this decision based on the famously reliable metric of xNV—expected Negative Vibes?
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As the title of this episode conveys, we are concerned this gameweek with what words rhyme with Romeo’s close friend in Shakespeare’s classic. The answer we present: TIOotIO (pronounced “ti-OO-shee-oh”). Humor us and take a moment to think about what that might stand for—yes, it’s an acronym. Got a guess? Well, if you landed on “The Ins and Outs of the Ins and Outs,” that you’d be right! And we’re aware of the inconsistency of how the “of” and the “the” are represented in the acronym by lowercase letters while the two “and”s are not; we just like the way it sounds better this way. What this crazy acronym means: we talk about the intricacies of the three most transferred-in and transferred-out players for next gameweek, a topic that is always relevant. Somehow, the topic of capitalization comes up yet again later in the episode when Jiayang talks about his strong—at this point, well-established—preference for captaining a player whose upcoming fixture is spelled out in capital letters next to their name. Near the end of the segment, Jacob gets dangerously close to succumbing to a very self-consciously un-scientific way of making captaincy decisions, though he will hopefully NOT do that by the time the Gameweek 32 deadline rolls around.
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The greater good has rarely outweighed my own self-interest. Specificity breeds universality. The ends justify the means. Are you confused because this sounds an awful lot like a philosophy podcast? No, this is still the FPL Fortress! And in fact, we here at the Fortress pride ourselves in forging connections between the ideas we learn in the classroom and the teams we so painstakingly manage in the game. We cover a tremendous amount of ground in this episode, moving from a short segment on the premise of the new Fantasy Challenge game mode; to a review of our predictions last week in which Jiayang expresses renewed disapproval and doubt about the nature of Jacob’s divination; to a lengthy discussion on Jiayang’s GW 31 Wildcard draft. In this segment, we hit on a bunch of important interlinked talking points, including the benefits of having 5 starting midfielders vs. 3 starting forwards, double Arsenal defense vs. double Arsenal attack, and an enlightening explanation of why most people seem to be leaning FH34 + BB37 rather than BB34 + BB37.
In this latest episode of the FPL Fortress, many exciting things happen: Jacob gets bamboozled, Jiayang successfully lands two puns in a row on the spot, and both work together to contemplate the strategy of the Gameweek 30/31 Wildcard that many managers are considering. It’s particularly exciting because Jiayang is visiting Georgetown—so the recording is finally being done in the same room, with the same microphone (Jacob’s trusty JLab Talk Go). After the admittedly not-so-exciting Gameweek 29 Review, the episode really gets going with the nitty-gritty discussion regarding our second Wildcard. For captaincy, Jiayang and Jacob make hyper-specific predictions for how Salah and Son will fare—as you will hear, Jacob shamelessly finagles his prediction to fit his captaincy choice. Maybe the tea leaves were shifting in real time.
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A common piece of advice: trust your intuition. But when your intuition tells you that transferring Haaland out for Carlton Morris is an insane thing to do, don’t trust your intuition. Seriously, there’s a larger point here—even when a certain action seems insane at first glance, it can be very useful to create some distance between yourself and the action in order to approach it from a more logical, clear-headed place. You might even be swayed! (Hint: this exact phenomenon may or not have played out in this episode…) Jacob and Jiayang also try to resolve their first-world problems of having eight great attackers—key word, “try.” And lastly, yet again, there’s an obvious captaincy candidate! But this time, his first name isn’t Erling, his last name isn’t Haaland, and he isn’t exactly Norwegian…
Now that this round of the FA Cup has finished, the Gameweek 29 fixtures are finally confirmed—and boy, they do not look particularly exciting. In this episode, we conduct a thorough investigation on what the best course of action is to prepare for the blank, covering transfer strategies both going into and coming out of the blank and the most important players to own by the time March 16th rolls around. During the captaincy segment, Jacob, as he so often does, prods Jiayang about the psychological soundness behind something he says—this time, it’s about how much Haaland’s glut (apparently the term for scoring 5 goals in a match) against Luton should affect our affect our perception of him as a captaincy candidate against Man United this weekend. But first, both Jacob and Jiayang rue some transfers that didn’t quite work out for them…
FPL is a game that’s often characterized by the feeling of disappointment. Cold, hard, and unadulterated disappointment. And yet, before every seemingly juicy double gameweek, it seems like we FPL managers have a genuine reason to be hopeful. Double Gameweek 25 was one of those gameweeks—how exciting was it that Man City and Liverpool, two of the best teams in the league, would have two nice fixtures each? Alas, disappointment struck once again, especially when we realized that Darwin and Jota together played a mere quarter of the minutes that they could have played. In MJ’s words, perhaps we should come to expect disappointment; that way, we’ll never be disappointed. But there is reason to be hopeful, surely! The stars of today’s shows are Wolves’s dynamic duo up front, Hwang Hee-chan and Pedro Neto. Here’s a fun fact: Man City and Sheffield United are the two teams who have played the most games since a 0-0 (for diametrically opposed reasons, might I add). I daresay it seems almost inevitable—though that is admittedly a dangerous term—that Hwang and Neto will carve through the Blades’s defense (ironic nickname, isn’t it?) like a knife through hot butter. Or is it a hot knife through butter? Either way, the butter doesn’t remain intact…
In this episode, we focus exclusively on Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal, the three teams that comprise the current top three of the Premier League—as such, it should come as little surprise that they also offer some of the best assets in FPL. Players from Liverpool and Man City are particularly hot property this week, given their juicy upcoming double gameweeks. Salah’s impending return and the potential resurgence of Pep Roulette (Man City’s squad is finally fully fit again), however, might just complicate matters a little … but first, we offer you a bit of roleplay involving an animated American and an elitist European!
With GW 25 and GW 28 finally confirmed to be double gameweeks and a clearer picture emerging overall of the remainder of the season, it finally seems like there are some real choices to be made for FPL managers—choices that, with strategic planning, can result in massive rank gains. To that end, we try to approach the four available chips from a new angle—instead of looking at which gameweek would be best to use a certain chip, we consider which chip would be best to use in a certain gameweek. Though the conclusions between the two approaches are similar, the change in thought process might just yield some fresh ideas. Elsewhere in our Dilemma Deliberations, we also conduct a deep dive on Richarlison, so tune in to hear some thoughts on why he has scored nine goals in his last eight Premier League appearances (a seemingly miraculous fact, but perhaps there’s an explanation for it?). Finally, the captaincy conversation—well, shall we just say, it truly does seem like all roads lead back to Haaland.
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Gameweek 22 was full of fun moments, with Haaland completely scuffing his lines (a robot will inevitably be a little rusty after a period of disuse, after all), Maupay taking the absolute mickey out of Maddison, and Elijah Anuoluwapo Oluwaferanmi Oluwatomi Oluwalana Ayomikulehin Adebayo dethroning Addji Keaninkin Marc-Israel Guéhi in his as the player with the best name in the Premier League. Looking forward, in our Dilemma Deliberations, we consider the upcoming blank and double gameweeks, outline a rough chip strategy for the remainder of the season, and debate whether or not you MUST bring in Haaland this week. Of course, if you do bring in Haaland, he easily becomes a top contender for captaincy, and given the lack of genuinely viable alternatives, it seems like the Norwegian may just be inevitable…
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The most stretched-out gameweek in recent memory has bored us to the point of making Starting XIs consisting of animals. Yes, that’s right—Jacob and Jiayang spend about 20 minutes putting together the perfect Animal XI. And to be honest, we don’t see anyone getting past this team—the footballing world should be grateful it doesn’t actually exist, because it would no doubt walk the Champions League every year. With the great white shark leading the line and the kangaroo marshaling the defense … goosebumps. Don’t worry, we do also talk about FPL-related matters: the main topics in this episode are the legitimacy of KDB as an FPL option and the state of the forward position. Though the main event, of course, is the Animal XI. The things I would pay to see a Hawk flying at Zinchenko …
Breaks in the Premier League never come to pass calmly. Our teams just always seem to get derailed—this time, it’s injuries to Bowen, Trent, and of course Charlie Taylor, coupled with the departure of Salah and Son that had been imminent—and as FPL managers, we have to navigate our way through these trainwrecks. After reviewing the key points in Gameweek 20, we spend the bulk of this episode addressing our concerns in midfield and defense by ranking the best replacement options. Given Jacob’s recent infatuation with all things Crystal Palace, there is also a hefty dose of Olise prop—and honestly, Jiayang is feeling moved too.
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I can scarcely believe that this is our last episode in 2023, but here we are! Jiayang and Jacob conduct reviews of Chelsea and Man City respectively, with both landing on a hopeful outlook for the future (though Chelsea might be going through yet another false dawn, whereas City’s hope seems a lot more grounded). We also put Newcastle under strict scrutiny—has the Saudi money finally met its match with the mighty Wood? (There’s an environmentalism joke in there somewhere.) In our Dilemma Deliberations, we discuss four midfield options to consider buying for when Salah and Son temporarily depart our teams. Jacob, it seems, has trouble separating Garnacho the player from Garnacho the person. Finally, in what is perhaps our longest captaincy segment EVER, we break down four candidates, all of whom are quite viable—but ultimately land on one man, and one man only. In classic Fortress fashion, this episode is interspersed with a couple of fun tidbits. For one, we discover that Manchester United and Chelsea transcend categorization, while also exemplifying the cyclical nature of time. For another, we ponder how much we should factor in the past when making our decisions in the present, for the future—through the lens of none other than Richarlison de Andrade.
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All any FPL manager wants for Christmas is a captaincy haul—obviously. Oh, but will Santa come and realize this dream of ours? In this Christmas Eve episode of the FPL Fortress, we conduct a deep dive into decision-making methodology, mainly through the lens of the weekly captaincy decision. Are we all becoming part of the hive mind? Are we victims of groupthink, or even GUILTY OF groupthink? Or maybe, the vast majority of managers don’t possess the capacity to make decisions on any deeper level? How should we grapple with this rather futile-sounding conclusion? As is so often the case with the Fortress, we also sprinkle in some economics to help tackle the topic at hand—this time, it’s the idea of being risk-averse. Would you rather take $500,000 for certain, or have a 50% chance of getting $1,000,000 and a 50% chance of getting $0? In FPL lingo: would you rather get the relatively “safe” points from a Haaland in any given gameweek, or would you try to locate a mega-haul from a lesser-proven asset (the risk being they blank while Haaland doesn’t)? On a more grounded level, we also consider the idea of parting ways with Salah or Son while they’re away at AFCON and the Asian Cup respectively, and what to do with the extra funds if one does decide to redistribute. Above all, we beseech you: think.
It almost seems like this week’s episode of the FPL Fortress should be an episode of Sheldon Cooper’s “Fun With Flags” instead. Jiayang’s team is filled with five flags, which includes all four different flag colors—yes, we are in the thick of holiday season, but this is one instance in which we don’t hope to see festive colors. Our Dilemma Deliberations this week focuses on one binary: playing the game aggressively versus playing the game passively. Jiayang is a member of the former camp right now, while Jacob has leaned towards the latter this season; Jacob is currently 2.2 million places ahead of Jiayang, so make of that what you will. We also dedicate a fair bit of time bemoaning the dry state of affairs within the FPL landscape, and reminisce about the days when there were more than a meager two premium assets in the game.
We’ve got a special double episode coming your way today, given that the first midweek gameweek is fast approaching—a sign of the busy holiday season ahead (which of course could be a good or a bad thing, depending on how your team performs). To help you navigate the imminent fixture congestion, we spend the majority of this episode discussing which one of the top FPL assets at the moment can be characterized as “season keepers” (a term that often gets thrown around lightly, that we here at the Fortress take very seriously). As problems with the rest of your team inevitably crop up, you’ll want a stable core of players who you don’t have to think about to help carry you through the period. Captaincy for GW 14 is unbelievably tight, with Haaland playing a Spurs side that seem to be dead set on playing a high line and Salah playing a Fulham side that—well, they’re Fulham. French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre makes yet another appearance as we consider whether or not he would endorse letting a coin decide this binary decision. Captaincy for GW 15 looks slightly easier, as Salah’s advantage in the quality of his opposition seems to outweigh the fact that Haaland, in a vacuum, is probably the better pick.
With Man City vs. Liverpool looming over us in under 60 hours, it’s time for FPL managers to jump right back into the thick of things, especially after the long international break. First, we review the 4-4 thriller between Chelsea and City, reflecting on both funny moments (Mudryk, Jackson, Palmer…Chelsea have quite a few jokesters on the team) and tactical insights (why can’t City defend in transition?). In our Dilemma Deliberations, we consider mid-priced midfielders (getting déjà vu? It’s always those mid-priced midfielders…) who may come in for Mitoma or Mbeumo and contemplate the implications of Villa’s bad fixture swing. We then trial a brand new mini-segment in which we analyze the top 5 most transferred-in players this gameweek thus far to get a sense of what the masses are doing—making smart decisions, or falling into traps? And finally, in a week where the two top-choice captaincy picks most weeks face each other, there is…no great alternative, much to our chagrin. Although—and this goes without saying—if a certain James Milner were fit, he’d be up there.
How much has to go wrong for you to concede three goals to Nicolas Jackson? The answer: two disallowed goals (albeit rightly so), two red cards (absolutely rightly deserved), two injuries (wholly undeserved), and a frankly ridiculous high line (this one’s on Ange). The star of this episode is no doubt the London showdown between Spurs and Chelsea, which has, in recent times, become an instant classic. The energy doesn’t dissipate after our in-depth dialogue about that derby, though—Jiayang gives a rather impassioned response to Jacob’s suggestion that one ought to bring in Mbeumo before Brentford play Liverpool and Arsenal. We also revisit the question of how to psychologically deal with a bad gameweek—it really isn’t that deep!—and round the episode off with a discussion about captaincy, which proves not to be so clear-cut this week.
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It’s a (relatively) peaceful week in the FPL landscape this week. We still do our classic Gameweek Review and Captaincy segments this episode, but instead of the Dilemma Deliberations, we embark on a brief philosophical interlude regarding, among other things, Paul Tillich’s ontology of courage and Henri Bergson’s views on the connection between time and free will. We promise, it all connects back to FPL! Our favorite Jean-Paul Sartre makes a reappearance as well. Oh, and before all that, we tackle the Problem of God that has gripped Manchester United since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Considering the dramatic episode title, it may come as a surprise that the nature of the following 70 minutes is actually rather light-hearted. (Don’t worry—Jiayang does go off on a mini-tangent about the subtlety behind how French Existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre might view FPL managers’ decision to keep Haaland or not!) The bulk of this episode revolves around the nitty-gritty of Jiayang’s Wildcard draft: we go through the “non-negotiables” and compare a couple of combinations. Finally, we dedicate a significant amount to our Captaincy segment for the first time in recent memory. Is the power of real choice a blessing or a curse? Sartre, I surmise, would advocate for the former.
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Today, we all witnessed the divinity of Daniel Johnson Burn, the lanky lad who just scored against PSG in the Champions League. To quote Newcastle’s Twitter admin: “Hang it in the Louvre.”
Jacob has just activated his wildcard, and we spend this episode breaking down his current draft. Jiayang explains why Darwin is a personification of entropy, Jacob questions whether FPL managers should consider the aura surrounding a club, and we laugh at all the bad records that Erik ten Hag is breaking.
Note: Keep an eye out for a couple of biblical allusions.
We’re back on the grind here at the Fortress—as college students now!—and, as always, there’s a ton to talk about this week in FPL. Our Gameweek 6 Review encompasses the high-quality North London Derby, the clash between mid-table mediocrity and a team that’s contending for Europe (Chelsea and Aston Villa—in that order), and the massacre that happened in Sheffield. In our Dilemma Deliberations, we answer key questions about Chelsea assets (or shall we call them liabilities?), how we should treat Salah (essential or not?), and initial preparations for a potential GW 9/10 Wildcard. Following that, we introduce a brand new segment: Differential Equations! And finally, a brief conversation about the captaincy “debate” rounds off the episode.
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This is our fourth season, and yet, for some reason or another, we still have yet to produce a Gameweek 1 episode. If we had, it’s obviously safe to say that anyone who listened to it would be ranked in the Top 1K right now, because our advice is just simply that good. In all seriousness though, it’s wonderful to be back for the 2023-24 season. Reviewing Gameweek 1, we debrief City's comfortable victory, Liverpool's imbalanced and dysfunctional midfield, and United's unpromising performance. In our Dilemma Deliberations, Jacob draws upon his philosophical side to answer the question of whether or not a manager should try to save a transfer going into Gameweek 2; we also look at the list of most transferred in players and attempt to identify whether or not they're fool's gold. Finally, Jiayang posits that Salah might be a better captaincy option this week than Haaland. Also tune in for some comments about James Milner and the inherent irrationality of FPL managers.
The final episode of the 2022/23 season on FPL Fortress is here! It’s been another wild ride—it always is, whenever FPL is involved, at least—and we want to find some sense of closure with it all. We’ve all faced so many stressful last-minute decisions right before the deadline, experienced so many memorable moments, both good and bad, and (hopefully) taken away so many valuable lessons for the future. In this episode, we hand out our superlative awards of the season, go through our Breakout XI and Flop XI, trauma-dump our horror stories, reminisce about our favorite moments, and share our takeaways for next season. It’s been a true pleasure and honor to be with you all this season, and—well, there isn’t any green arrow to wish everyone, so Jacob and I will simply wish you all a lovely summer. Until August!
Time Stamps:
00:00 - Superlatives
32:38 - Breakout XI
47:15 - Flop XI
63:21 - Horror Stories
70:30 - Memorable Moments
78:37 - Lessons Learned
This episode is all about narratives. After all, it's the last gameweek of the season—what better time to indulge ourselves? We deliberated over the best one-week punts, ranging from a Colombian troll to an English cult hero. The captaincy should probably go to Erling, but Jiayang is tempted by more alluring options (he is rather bullish about another 9-0 as a nice send-off for Southampton into the Championship). Finally, we round off the episode with a brief discussion on rank and the value of risk-taking with one week left—the highs can be so high, but the lows can be low beyond the limits of our fathomability.
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Sir Callum Eddie Graham Wilson MBE the Great (has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?) has officially crowned himself the King of Tyneside. Just how Howe has been such a roaring success at Newcastle? We also talk about the "real Brighton" and the "fake Brighton" that we saw, as well as Liverpool's fine form of late and Arsenal's alleged "bottling" of the league. Then, we take a deep dive into the best options from Man United and Man City for their upcoming double gameweek, with a particular focus on City assets. We round this penultimate episode off with a brief discussion about captaincy—though it may not be much of a decision, as per the usual this season.
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There was a coronation in England recently, but it's not the one you're thinking of, as Erling Haaland set the new single season goalscoring record in the Premier League. He may be the king of the Prem, but he isn't the FPL king yet, unless he eclipses Mo Salah's high-water mark of 303 points in a single season. After breaking down Big Sam's return to the Premier League, Haaland's curious decision to give Ilkay Gundogan his penalty kick, and some EFL-level defending from many of the teams in the relegation battle, we discuss the Isak/Wilson conundrum, ask whether the opportunity to get Trent Alexander-Arnold into our teams has come and gone, and solve many a manager's benching dilemmas. We also discuss the merits of captaining a double gameweek player over some of the best single gameweek options.
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It seems like everybody and their mom is playing their Free Hit this week; but sometimes, you just gotta do what you gotta do. After a compelling Gameweek 31 recap, we tackle the Free Hit head-on, covering everything from the locks to the differentials (for those who have the cojones). In particular, we spend a lot of time discussing which trio of Arsenal and Liverpool players are optimal. Finally, Jacob poses a philosophical question that can be applied to not just the Gameweek 32 Free Hit, but also the game of FPL as a whole, and indeed life itself.
*NOTE: WE SPEND 37 SECONDS ON CAPTAINCY.
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It's that time of the season again: the run-in. High time for even more blanks and doubles, European knockout games, domestic cup finals, mounting injuries, the whole shebang. Each of these final eight gameweeks feels like it can be season-defining, as there really isn't that much time to pull ahead of your competitors, or indeed make up for lost ground. We here at the FPL Fortress hope to be a beacon of rational thought (maybe coupled with a little bit of vibes) to help you managers out there make your big decisions. Our Dilemma Deliberations this week focus on the best teams to invest in for the run-in, and we sprinkle in a little bit of discussion about why Liverpool's fullbacks are certainly fun picks, but perhaps not the best choices tactically. Let's shoot for the path with the pot of gold at its end, shall we?
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To keep Haaland or not to keep Haaland? That is the question, and we have the answer (spoiler alert: we think there are other fish in the sea). We also mull over how Jacob's Wildcard panned out and how Jiayang's imminent chip strategy might look. Perhaps it's time to take Chelsea's assets along with us for the ride—the blue flag might finally be rising from deep within the mud.
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One, two, three, four ... no, that's not how we do it around here at the Fortress. We find that there are much more creative ways to count to 7. On board? Ok, great! Now that we're all on the same page, we can move on to acronyms: in today's episode, we introduce SDG and MMM (hint: we're NOT talking about the Sustainable Development Goals). The eternal debate of head vs. heart comes up yet again with the Brighton boys, and there truly is so little to separate them. Captaincy is another interesting discussion, as we pit Toney against the Brighton midfielder of your choice (spoiler alert: we're willing to BET that Toney will come out on top).
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Funny, isn't it? Last week, no one in the FPL community had even considered wildcarding in GW 26, but now it seems like everyone's considering it. Perhaps a hive mind thing. Or, more charitably, once people start talking about something, it catches on. Jacob is deeply unhappy with his team, so he's pretty set on activating his Wildcard; we walk through his draft, and talk through a few of the hottest debates in each position. Oh, and it may be a good idea to brush up on English litigation with regards to betting infractions in the meantime. Just for your own sake, y'know?
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Liverpool are back! Is what we all thought for 21 minutes. And then they weren’t. We’ll talk about how much we should trust their assets this episode, as well as strategies for navigating the upcoming barrage of blank and double gameweeks. It's shocking how we've gone from having little to talk about to having SO much to talk about—and so little information with which to make our decisions. If you're also feeling overwhelmed, fear not! Using Jacob's psychoanalysis of the Free Hit, we put forward a Fortress-recommended Free Hit strategy. We also discover that Jacob may have a secret vendetta against Harry Kane (well, not so secret anymore). Jiayang does his best to defend the Spurs and England darling, but Jacob remains unrelenting in his onslaught.
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It’s a bit of a quiet week in FPL, but we here at the Fortress still hope to provide you with some quality insight and banter. We tentatively sing João Félix's praises, postulate the POSSIBILITY of getting excited for Liverpool fans (out of the mud at last?), and consider Haaland's "fit" within this City side, courtesy of a piece of analysis from Thierry Henry. We also discuss the best goalkeeper options (I still have Danny bloody Ward), as well as the third striker slot, a contest between Mitrović, Nketiah, Toney, and Félix. Captaincy may not be as obvious as it seems . . . regardless of what happens though, we have access to some basic expected data, thanks to a lovely new update of the FPL website. Viva la xG revolución!
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Managers who triple-captained Marcus Rashford won. By this time next week, will we be saying the same thing about those who triple-captained Erling Haaland? We review Rashford's stunning form and our not-so-stunning predictions; beat the dead horse whose name rhymes with Ssdflkjhiverpool; and talk about how unfair it is that Man City only play 37 games every season (you'll find out why we say that). For our Dilemma Deliberations, we come to a conclusion about the prospect of a Man City triple-up (the answer would baffle a time traveler from a few years ago), get excited about an Arsenal triple-up (that time traveler is in for a rollercoaster), start thinking about Hybrid Gameweek 25 (What?! We're inventing new terminology now?!), and consider the possibility of investing into the Chelsea defense (Chelsea spending money, however, is nothing new).
Oh, and spoiler alert: we think Haaland is the best captaincy option. But you knew that already, didn't you?
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Brighton have just beaten Liverpool 2-1 thanks to a stunner from Kaoru Mitoma. Is anyone surprised? Not us. That's the latest in a thrilling round of FA Cup ties, so what better time to take inventory of all that action than right now? We also refresh our memories about GW 21 (recall: Mudryk's Hazard-esque debut, Haaland's "easy" hat-trick, and the return of the glorious United-Arsenal rivalry). For this episode's Dilemma Deliberations, we select the best Man United options are for their upcoming double gameweek; consider how much we should factor in the impending blank Gameweek 25; and analyze City's newly established Starting XI (or so it seems). Finally, we round off the episode with a discussion surrounding sticking the Triple Captaincy on Rashford. (Hint: We think it's a good idea. Jacob thinks he'll go BANG. Then BANG, BANG.)
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With City staging a second-half comeback against Spurs, this past mini double gameweek draws to a close. But unless you owned Solly March, Bruno Fernandes, or Riyad Mahrez—the triumvirate of 19-pointers—it was quite a barren scene. In attempt to figure out some spicy differentials to break the template (which is ridiculously strong right now), we also review Liverpool's plateau, Manchester United's swell in form, Pep's potentially concerning comments about City's stagnation. Captaincy appears elusive—is it time to finally entrust Kieran, Mr. Bonus Points himself? Tune in also for a heartening story about Kaoru Mitoma's graduation thesis, and an explanation for why Levi Colwill likes to have his studs on the ball.
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This feels like deja vu, but we're back (again)! It’s been a month (or two) since our last episode, but with college applications firmly behind us, we are committed to looking firmly ahead for the remainder of the season. In this comeback episode, we review the notable FA Cup and EFL Cup results before Jacob proposes an amendment to the structure of English football. For our Dilemma Deliberations, we consider Man City's mercurial nature that has seemed to get even more pronounced in recent years, as well as the best double gameweek targets. Then, as a little fun game, we gave it a shot predicting how many points Wilfried Zaha would get in his upcoming double, points breakdown included. And finally, we question the viability of using the Triple Captain chip on Haaland, and even toy with the potential option of sticking it on a certain man named Marcus (no, not Aurelius).
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For our inaugural midseason review, we nominate our players of the season so far, pay respects to the breakout stars, and laugh at the players who simply haven't performed up to expectations. Then, we gather a couple of important lessons learned, which includes an excerpt from James Clear's "Atomic Habits" and a discussion about the fundamental purpose of a Wildcard. Finally, we look back on memorable moments and make predictions for the second half of the season.
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We’ve had to take a bit of a hiatus, but we’re back now and ready to provide all the insight you need for the last gameweek before the World Cup. It’s a bit of a strange time in FPL, isn’t it? We’re only halfway into the season, but we’re talking about dead-ending our teams and looking at just this one gameweek for all of our transfers. We give you our best one-week picks, position by position; discuss the absolute freak of nature who goes by the name of Miguel Almirón, and the overall rise of Newcastle; and marvel over Haaland's underlying data.
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It’s felt like an eternity, but we’re back. As a lot of managers are planning to use their wildcard, we’ll cover exactly which players are right for your team. We break it down into three categories: locks, ones to considers, and differentials. With so many locks, managers only have a few spots left to fill out their team, and we tackle whether a second premium striker or a premium midfielder is the way to go—and if you go with the latter option, whether that name should be Salah, Son, or KDB. Finally, we talk about differentials to round off your team and win the Wildcard.
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Once again, VAR has dominated the headlines—it seems like there's a new controversy every week. I mean, the Argentine Lionel Messi (none other than Alexis Mac Allister) would've gotten a hat-trick were it not for a certain Chris Kavanagh sitting in front of a monitor in west London. Regardless, there were many incredible moments from this week’s action, like Ivan Toney’s hat trick and Man United’s statement victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford. We also discuss when the optimal time to Wildcard is, and grumble about the lack of exciting captaincy options for GW 7.
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This past gameweek was defined by one man: Erling Haaland. He’s truly unlike anything we’ve ever seen before; it’s almost hard to put into words how dominant he has been through the first month of the league. And to think, just a few weeks ago we thought that he couldn’t cut it in the premier league because he missed a chance in preseason. How innocent we were back then, and how different things are now. Elsewhere, we talk about the potential of some deadline day arrivals as FPL options, ruminate over why Chelsea look so poor, and voice our thoughts on United's rise.
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Well, we didn’t see that coming, did we? All that talk of Liverpool’s glory days being over and they come out and absolutely hammer Bournemouth. It just goes to show how quickly things can change in FPL. In other news, Pep thinks the Premier League is too easy a competition, which is why he’s made it a personal mission of his for City to go down two goals every game. Because why not? We also discuss how will the Champions League affect City's lineups, is Salah still a viable option, and the right areas of the pitch for managers to invest their money.
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It’s only been three gameweeks, and it seems like everything we thought we knew about this game has been flipped on its head. I mean, Man United? Where did that come from. But the question is: did that game reveal more about United or Liverpool? That's what we try to figure out in this episode. Keep listening for more about Newcastle's inspired performance, Arsenal's resurgence, and Leeds' American renaissance. We also break down the best captaincy options for GW 4.
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Well, this is it! The end to yet another season. It all feels a bit surreal, but we will give our FPL Fortress awards, detail our Breakout XI and Flop XI, consider lessons learned from this season, and reminisce about some of our favorite moments from this wild ride. We thank each and every one of you for listening to what we have to say and supporting us. Wishing everyone a healthy green summer!
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The final pre-gameweek episode of the FPL Fortress is upon us. It’s been a great season, but also a tiring one, and we’re finally about to reach its end. All this time, we’ve been thinking about our strategy for the last few gameweeks, like what chips we’d use, which players to target, and how to dead-end our team. But now we’re actually living in that moment. We talk about the best differential Salah replacements, which teams are already in their Ibiza headspace, and how I fundamentally disagree with Brentford. As an entity.
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We’ve got just two more weeks to go, and the finality of all is really setting in now. But not everything is set in stone yet; there are still two big gameweeks to take advantage of, and getting these last gameweeks right will be essential. We’ve made it thus far with smart planning, rational thinking, and good strategy. Now is not the time to throw caution to the wind and throw your progress out the window, nor is it the time to take unnecessary risks—only calculated ones. In this episode, we talk all things Free Hit, marvel at the two most in-form players in the league right now, and ponder the necessity (or lack thereof) of team structure at this stage in the season.
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Although the fate of our gameweeks are still up in the air, there have certainly been some dramatic moments this past weekend. At the same time, this weekend has felt like the calm before the storm—we’re all gearing up for what is poised to be a pair of massive double gameweeks, and right now, all we can do is prepare. Prepare to be surprised, that is. We praise the lord Jesus, revel in Newcastle's improvement, and preach about Sterling's dilapidation.
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It’s been a while, but we are back, with perhaps our most important episode of the season. We’re getting into crunch time now, and every decision you will make in the next few weeks could have a massive effect on your rank at the end of the season. We’ll break down the important questions for the upcoming gameweek, including the Mount vs. Havertz debate (one, the other, both, or neither?), the merits of Free Hitting in GW 36 or GW 37, and a purely hypothetical thoughts experiment—if, say, you didn't own Salah, how would you get him back? Oh, and we spend a bit of time talking about Timo Werner.
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It’s been a long, hectic, but ultimately rewarding couple of weeks of FPL. 26 more games of the Premier League are now in the books, and with it, we’ve had some massive gameweeks. Many activated the Triple Captain chip on Mo Salah, and one can only describe it as a mixed bag. Now, we’re coming upon a barren gameweek, with just four fixtures, so the focus will now turn towards simply surviving, rather than thriving. You don't get the highs without the lows!
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In this episode, Jacob and Jiayang recap the last two FPL gameweeks, including the disaster that was Wout Weghorst and Leeds' horrific run of form that led to Bielsa getting sacked. They also discuss whether now is the time to wildcard, which teams to target in the coming gameweeks, and whether always captaining double gameweek players is a smart idea.
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We’ve got a massively consequential gameweek coming up this weekend, and it’ll be absolutely essential to get it right. We’ll break down everything you need to know right here. This gameweek has some of the juiciest fixtures you will ever see in this game, and with that comes the potential for massive point swings. Of course, capitalizing on that is easier said than done, but we’ll do our best to figure it out. As a special segment this episode, we will dissect Jiayang’s team and find a way to improve it for the weekend.
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Welcome back to the FPL Fortress! It’s been far too long without the Prem, but that’s set to come to an end soon. Granted, my mental health has largely benefited from the hiatus, but it’s good to be back. The FPL landscape is about to become very interesting as we head towards the tail end of the season. This week, we focus on the host of new arrivals who have made their way into the Prem. This means that we as managers will have a lot more decisions to make, but around here, we welcome the challenge.
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We’ve just witnessed one of the best Premier League weekends in recent history, in which a Champions League Final rematch wasn’t even close to the best game of the weekend. The good news is that GW 23 is set to be yet another cracker, and may even give some suffering managers some respite. We deliberate over the best City triple-up to have, Philippe Coutinho's potential, and address the urgent state of Jacob's team. In doing so, we talk through the full thought process of making transfers: locating issues and finding targets to replace them. Captaincy is wide open with Salah's absence, which should make for a very exciting gameweek with lots of upside!
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It’s been a while, but it’s good to be back. These last couple gameweeks have been dragging on for what has felt like years, but we’ve got a fun one coming up, with eight different teams having double gameweeks. There’s certainly been a lot happening though, even if the Prem was on pause, including the AFCON, FA Cup, and COVID postponements. It’ll be a challenge to sort through all of that and assemble the best team you can for next week, but we’ll give it a try. This episode, we discuss whether or not the upcoming DGW 22 is a trap—are there really any good fixtures to target? In addition, we try to think of some Son replacements, but it's slim pickings. Finally, we divulge on this question: are we legally obligated to captain a double gameweek player?
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We were certainly treated to plenty of goals on Boxing Day, with Man City putting 6 past Leicester and Arsenal putting 5 past Norwich. Spurs saw out a comfortable victory against Crystal Palace, while Man United barely managed to scrape a draw against the mighty Magpies. In this episode, we really break down this underwhelming Man United side. Jacob tries his hand at building the perfect Man United XI, but we soon see it might be a good thing that Jacob doesn't have Rangnick's job. After a gameweek in which many managers transferred out Mo Salah, the captaincy race is wide open, and we highlight a few potential candidates.
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We didn’t exactly have the biggest week of Premier League action, but to be honest, the games that were played were pretty good. And these postpones fixtures will be played at some point, so be ready for some fun double gameweeks. In the meantime, we can be sure that even more games will be canceled, so we’ll help you beef up your squad and survive the coming winter. We also bring you a rebranding of your favorite segment: the "Questions" section will now be called "Dilemma Deliberations"!
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Welcome back to another episode of the FPL Fortress. Apologies that we were not able to get an episode out last week, but we’re back this week. But the thing is, the Premier League might not be back for this upcoming week, at the rate postponements are happening right now. Covid is wreaking havoc all over the world, let alone on our FPL teams. Five of GW 18’s games have already been canceled, and who knows what will happen in the next few days; it’s practically a blank gameweek! But we’re here to make the most out of it.
Salah continues to tick over, Trent continues to produce with that magical right foot of his, and Chelsea continues to look absolutely diabolical. City, on the other hand, are demolishing teams all over the place. Pep may be an admirer of Bielsa, but Bielsa got absolutely schooled this week.
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It’s only been a week since the last episode, but so much has happened since then—midweek gameweeks are absolutely nuts. But it's also been an incredibly rough few gameweeks for some FPL managers out there. Unless you own Bernardo Silva. Especially if you own Harry Kane. This episode is centered around ways to deal with a bad run of gameweeks psychologically, and how to not let that cloud your judgement.
We'd also like to thank all of our listeners—yes, you, reading this right now—for supporting the podcast this year! Our Spotify Wrapped came out, and we could not be happier and prouder about the past 9 months, churning out content for you guys.
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We have a special double episode today, where we will be covering Gameweeks 14 and 15. There are a bunch of things to discuss, from the Curious Case of the Crap Cheap Forwards to Rangnick's prospects at saving the sinking United ship. Buckle up, FPL managers, and get ready for a load of fraudulence and pain over the busy December period!
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We’ve got an exciting episode for you today after the weekend’s stunning events. I mean, who could have imagined United getting thrashed by Watford? 17% of the game still owns Luke Shaw! Getting thrashed by Liverpool is one thing, but getting dismantled entirely by Watford is just something else. To cap it off, we had multiple 6-goal thrillers from the unlikeliest of games. After our usual gameweek recap and question segments, we have a special discussion about an intriguing hypothetical that was brought up last week: if you had a full team consisting of 11 of the same player, who would that player be?
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Welcome back to a new episode of the FPL Fortress. We’re coming to you right in the middle of what has been a very boring international break. They say that the only thing worse than having a bad gameweek is not having a gameweek. Depending on the state of your team, it might be the opposite, actually. Regardless, the next matches are not far away, and we’ll be answering the vital questions about this upcoming gameweek to help you prepare. We’ll also look at the best captains, which is an important question for maybe the first time this season.
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Welcome back to another episode of the FPL Fortress. This weekend was a rough one for many FPL managers - that is, unless you had Reece James, who came out of nowhere and delivered for his owners, all while other big name players struggled. We'll discuss how Spurs played 4D chess by losing to United so they end up with Conte, as well as going big at the back to take advantage of the lack of options in the midfield and striker departments. Finally, we try to predict teams who are on the upturn and teams who we should be jumping off of.
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In this episode, Jacob and Jiayang break down a bizarre FPL gameweek, highlighted by Liverpool's 5-0 demolition of United and Chelsea's striker blanking in a 7-0 win against Norwich. We also discuss whether you should get City and/or Spurs attackers, how you should manage your budget, and remind you to captain Salah.
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Welcome back to another episode of the FPL Fortress. This past week has been nothing short of tumultuous, with the weekend’s drama shaking up our entire outlook on the upcoming fixtures. The weekend was full of exciting fixtures, with some small-name players showing us why they deserve to be in our team and many of the players we once considered mainstays got flat-out exposed. But Salah remains king. It should be an axiom at this point.
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Welcome back to another episode of the FPL Fortress. This week was another rough one for FPL managers, with very few players rewarding your faith. The big strikers, Ronaldo and Lukaku, both failed their owners in very different ways. But just as nothing looked like it would go right, we were treated to the scintillating game of the season between Liverpool and City. Later on, we discuss the prospect of permanently sticking your captaincy on Mo, the unreliable nature of Man United assets, and Jiayang's new philosophy on taking hits.
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Welcome back to another episode of the FPL Fortress. This past weekend may have been the most exciting of the season, with multiple top six clashes and lots of late drama. Unfortunately, it was a tough one for most FPL managers, with almost no big assets living up to their price tag. Here, we’ll analyze what went wrong and what you should do to make sure it doesn’t happen again next week. And of course, we’ll also look at the best captaincy options for the upcoming weekend.
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We had yet another week of exciting premier league action, including Chelsea’s second-half domination of Spurs and David de Gea’s last-minute penalty save to secure yet another away win for United. Mo Salah furthers his case as the FPL goat, while a few other players, especially Watford’s Ismalia Sarr, propelled themselves into our managerial considerations. We’ll be breaking down which of these players you’ll want in your team going forward and which of the big names to captain next week.
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Welcome to the latest episode of the FPL Fortress! It was a rough couple of weeks without any Premier League action, but this past weekend was certainly worth the wait for many managers as Cristiano Ronaldo’s debut deservedly got the limelight. It wasn’t all good though, as owners of Michail Antonio and DCL can tell you. We’ll be taking a look at what went wrong for so many teams and how you should respond in the transfer market. Of course, we’ll put next week’s best captaincy options under the microscope and guide you to the best picks.
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Welcome back to another episode! This week, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the transfer window and discussing the most exciting deal of the summer: Ben White! No, let's be serious here. It is, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo’s blockbuster move to Manchester United. After all these years, he’s back and ready to provide our teams with a spark. A lot of managers are also considering triggering their first wildcard, so we’ll be giving you all the info you need to make the best out of the most powerful tool at a manager’s disposal. Finally, we’ll be looking ahead to after the international break to discuss the best captains for next gameweek’s fixtures.
Time stamps:
GW 3 Review (0:10)
GW 4 Transfers (11:27)
Jiayang's Wildcard (19:03)
GW 4 Captaincy (30:45)
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Welcome back once again to the FPL Fortress. We’re so excited to be finally getting back into the swing of things for the 2021/22 season, which is shaping up already to be a great one. With FPL often comes a lot of frustration, but this season has started off really well for a lot of us. But we here at the FPL Fortress like to look towards the future, so we’ll also be discussing who the next big hitters will be and who you should captain. All aboard the Antonio-Benrahma Express!
Time stamps:
GW2 Review (0:51)
GW3 Transfers (20:05)
GW3 Captaincy (31:38)
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After a long and grueling 38 gameweeks, we have finally finished the 2020/21 season! Congratulations to all you FPL managers out there for surviving the topsy-turvy twists and turns and trials and tribulations that this year presented us. For this final episode, we’re gonna have a few special segments. First, we’ll give out our very own FPL awards to a select few players that really made their mark on this season. Next, we’ll run through eleven breakout stars and the eleven biggest flops of the season. Then, we’ll discuss some lessons that we have learned over the course of the season that we can keep in mind for next year. And, finally, we’ll look back on some of our favorite moments that happened this season.
Time stamps:
FPL Fortress Awards (0:49)
Breakout XI (22:05)
Flop XI (36:08)
Lessons Learned (1:01:49)
Memorable Moments (1:07:21)
Conclusion (1:18:11)
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Welcome back to another episode of the FPL Fortress. Because of the fixture scheduling, this episode is going to be a double episode and cover everything that you need for Gameweeks 37 and 38. We’ll be bringing you all the information you need to make your team the best it can be for the last games of the season. But first, we’ll recap last week’s Premier League action, headlined by Alisson’s extraordinary goal that might just have saved Liverpool’s season and a surprisingly entertaining match between the champions Manchester City and Newcastle.
Timestamps
GW 36 Review (0:10)
Transfer Questions (19:07)
GW 37 & 38 Captaincy (33:42)
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This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
At the time of recording, thirteen of the fifteen games in this action-packed gameweek have been put in the books. We’ll be breaking down what the recent results, including Newcastle’s shock victory at Leicester and Chelsea’s Jekyll and Hyde performances mean for your FPL teams. We’re approaching the business end of the season, so we’ll also be discussing what strategies you should use to optimize your team’s performances heading into the final gameweeks.
Time stamps
GW 35 Review (0:48)
Key Transfer Questions (19:35)
Captaincy (37:30)
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This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
This weekend was an absolute shocker, so we ask ourselves the all-important question: how do we deal with a bad gameweek? But first, we bring back special guest Nicolas to debrief the protests at Old Trafford and the debacle of the Glazer ownership.
Time stamps
GW 34 Review Part 1 (0:10)
Man United Interview (15:12)
GW 34 Review Part 2 (30:30)
Transfer Questions (34:09)
Captaincy (49:21)
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This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Following our special European Super League episode last week, we revert back to our normal FPL content. This episode, we recap the notable events of GW 32 and GW 33, including a moderately successful Triple Captain chip, Chris Wood's best impression of R9, and Brighton's polarized performances. We wrap up the episode by debating the most pressing questions ahead of Gameweek 34.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
In a slight departure from our normal fantasy content, this week's special episode will be all about the news that's taken the whole world by storm: the formation of the European Super League. To mark the occasion, we're joined by Zach Cohen and Nicolas Nemati, two of our friends, to discuss our collective qualms about the Super League, rally behind Bruno Fernandes's slogan of "Dreams can't be buy," and answer the question of all questions: what would YOU do with $350 million?
notosuperleague
dreamscantbebuy
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This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
On today’s episode, we’ll discuss Gameweek 31, including another inspired comeback from United and Spurs hemorrhaging points once again. We’ll also talk about Jesse Lingard and Kelechi Iheanacho’s massive performances that rewarded their managers, as well as Leeds’s impressive win at Man City. We’ll answer key questions, such as whether the Chelsea defense is finished as FPL assets, and wrap up the episode by affirming why Kane is undoubtedly the best captaincy option for what looks like a tasty Gameweek 32.
Time stamps:
Intro (0:00)
GW 31 Review (0:44)
Transfers (24:41)
Captaincy (34:00)
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Twitter: @FplFortress
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
With wildcard season fast approaching, it is prime time to discuss must-haves, short-term punts, and long-term investments on our own wildcards. But first, we break down an entertaining return of the Premier League which saw Callum Robinson turn into the second coming of R9, a new Egyptian King by the name of Trézeguét, and Lingardinho continuing his rich vein of form.
Time stamps:
GW 30 Review (0:10)
Wildcard Discussion (30:24)
Captaincy (56:04)
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Instagram: @fplfortress
Twitter: @FplFortress
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
On today’s episode, we’ll discuss blank Gameweek 29, which actually wasn't the horror show that many of us feared. We’ll take a look at the past week’s action, including a 3-3 thriller between West Ham and Arsenal, and examine the performances of some popular captaincy picks. We’ll also dissect the weekend’s FA cup action and its potential FPL implications. Finally, we’ll look ahead to GW 30 and discuss captaincy, transfers, and wildcard strategies.
Time stamps:
GW 29 Review (0:10)
FA Cup Review (17:27)
Captaincy and Transfers (25:13)
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Twitter: @FplFortress
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
On today’s episode, we’ll discuss Gameweek 28, including the newest edition of Pep Roulette that took many victims, Chelsea’s inability to put together a string of passes in their front three, a pulsating North London Derby, and a much-needed win for Liverpool. Then, we’ll look ahead to one of the blankest blank gameweeks ever, answering key questions such as how many hits to take when preparing your team.
Time stamps:
GW 28 Review (0:10)
Team Rundown (17:32)
BGW 29 Preparation (22:34)
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Instagram: @fplfortress
Twitter: @FplFortress
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
With one more game left to play in Gameweek 27, hosts Jacob and Jiayang discuss the bizarre Manchester Derby, Liverpool’s shocking home performances, Kai Havertz’s false hattrick, and the beautiful man with the stunning left foot whose name is Aaron Cresswell. Then, all attention will be directed ahead to Gameweek 28, with captaincy choices and potential transfers.
Time stamps:
- GW 27 Review (00:10)
- Team Rundown (18:15)
- Captaincy and transfers (26:15)
Instagram: @fplfortress
Twitter: @FplFortress
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app