Alastair McKeever

@tedlassoregen.bsky.social

My core interests are: family, LFC, Tar Heel sports, Golf, Whiskey. But mostly I'll probably post about this silly FPL game I enjoy.

Update: my "path less traveled" BB ended up being BB9 - lucked into my GW1 4.5 fwd having good xmins for a good fix, combined with a ~good fixture for both my GKs. EV on bench was ~13, didn't impact my transfers before or after, scored 14. Overall, happy with taking the opportunistic BB approach.

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Alastair McKeever@tedlassoregen.bsky.social · last yr.

It seems BB1 will be popular. Given the EV differences between any and all chip strategies in the first half look like they will be quite low, but there are (fairly remote) upside cases for later chip strategies, I think I will prefer to choose outcome polarization and take a path less traveled (🌍)

Most interesting intra-PL transfer of this summer has a lot of candidates: Will Eze (who is incredible) fit okay into arsenal's system? Kudus potential could be unlocked now he seems to be given a position within a structure Will Joao Pedro and Delap make Chelsea better than they were w/Jackson?

Some big picture thoughts on #fpl 🧵: 1. The value of our free transfers to start the season is a bit lower than it's ever been before because a) defcon points decreases the impact that fixture difficulty has on expected points for a lot of viable picks (defenders and CMs).

DGW25 including AVLLIV and ARSCHE (on a contingent basis) was a surprise, but this DGW32 announcement for CRYNEW is bigger. There's been a complete change in PL rescheduling policy: no preference between rescheduling in open midweeks vs. European midweeks and prioritization of notice for fans.

Fixture info that you have to react to quickly is my favorite bit of FPL. Had 3 LIV already and decided to just play AM on moyes and roll 2 FTs. But there are lots of other cool, well figured out strategies. And there will be loads more after the CC semi results next week. Good luck all

Bournemouth continue to cook and there's a new starter (🍡!) who warrants evaluating! So I figured I'd make a new (far too long) 🧵. Again, I'm not a Cherries fan (hope they have an off day on Sat), just a regular watcher and admirer of Iraola-ball and their players. So take this for what you will

Alastair McKeever@tedlassoregen.bsky.social · 2y ago

Despite this I think both of these guys are very viable FPL picks - any piece of this lovely Bournemouth attack seems like good value given their pricing. But the money saved going for Kluivert over Semenyo comes with more risk, as he is much more likely to get dropped (rotation possible for both)

The AM chip is going to be very swingy and cause a lot of angst, but it's fun to analyze. After last week, FUL-NFO (GW25) will 100% be table bonus game; that boosts AM24. I think there's likely to be higher EV windows later in the season, but it's worth considering for those well set for it (<3 LIV)

The BEST data we have yet had re: the AM chip (laid out in a beautiful set of visualizations to boot!). Some interesting takeaways from this to be had!

Rob T@robtfpl.com · 2y ago

I went back and calculated #FPL Assistant Manager points for every PL game over the last 8 seasons (and combined with pre-game market WDL odds) These are the top 100 AM scores for games played in GW24-38 between 2016-7 and 2023-24 👇 And a few quick observations below 🧵

Agonized on this one for a while, because I initially (pre-Evanilson news) wanted to roll, and then was sorely tempted by one of the Everton FWDs in prep for DGW24, but eventually went Evanilson to Raul (roll second FT). Hopefully this can be my last transfer for a few gameweeks.

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GW19: Roll to 3FTs. 4 strong defenders this week, which eventually made me decide against Munoz (very much have fomo there) and decided to stay the course with Bruno. Benched the defender who I had very slight benching concerns about. GL all!

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Here's my best guess at the Chelsea XI for this week. So many positions up in the air and it's impossible to know how much Maresca will rotate. He has hinted at it, but said himself that he didn't know how many changes would be made. Lineup and shape similar to the away games at Sou and Lei

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Using league positions & market odds, these would have been the pre-deadline xPts for the #FPL assistant manager chip last season 👇 Outside of a few MCI/LIV games, the highest scoring gameweeks (>10 xPts) were either: - DGWs (red) - 'table bonus' eligible fixtures (yellow)

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Having now seen some excellent sim-based analysis, my gut shot EV estimate was ~10 too high for the AM Chip - looks like it's worth 30-40. The more the actual PL table differs from the xGD table late in the season (GW31-38), the more valuable it's going to be to have held it for the late doubles.

Alastair McKeever@tedlassoregen.bsky.social · 2y ago

I'll leave debate on whether it's a good or bad thing to others. My initial reaction on the Assistant Manager Chip is as follows: - Has EV of 40-50 if used optimally so it's most powerful chip - Probs optimal to chase table-bonus - Using 2FTs on AM changes likely gives a lot of EV, so FT val 📈

After hemming and hawing about it all week I ended up prioritizing getting TAA now (with cash from mbeumo to semenyo) over saving a transfer for future flexibility. Obviously doesn’t look great after Liverpool game, but tomorrow will determine the outcome of the week really.

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I'll leave debate on whether it's a good or bad thing to others. My initial reaction on the Assistant Manager Chip is as follows: - Has EV of 40-50 if used optimally so it's most powerful chip - Probs optimal to chase table-bonus - Using 2FTs on AM changes likely gives a lot of EV, so FT val 📈

Although Liverpool beat Girona, I think a DGW announcement for EVELIV before Jan 21st (pre-GW22) got less likely tonight, because Liverpool look fairly unlikely to be mathematically guaranteed top 8 by the end of this matchday. 7 teams already within 6 points, and up to 5 more can get there tomorrow

Alastair McKeever@tedlassoregen.bsky.social · 2y ago

Feb 19th/20th (DGW25) looks likeliest for EVELIV to me. I'd go something like 15% GW24, 50% GW25, 35% other gameweeks (most probable other individual weeks being 33&36) right now. Unless Liverpool beat both Girona and Southampton in the CC QF, I don't think we'll see an ann't 'til after Jan 21st

Feb 19th/20th (DGW25) looks likeliest for EVELIV to me. I'd go something like 15% GW24, 50% GW25, 35% other gameweeks (most probable other individual weeks being 33&36) right now. Unless Liverpool beat both Girona and Southampton in the CC QF, I don't think we'll see an ann't 'til after Jan 21st

Arsenal have created an open play expected goal in one of their last eight Premier League matches. Across the season as a whole it's three of 15. They rank 13th in the Premier League for open play xG.