Gameweek 10 - Genie's Corner and Trade Advice

This article will focus on trade advice that highlights players that are either worth trading in on a low, or trading out on a high. This could involve players who could see their minutes reduced, have a purple patch come to an end, or on the flip side involve players who might be starting to heat up. This article will also feature advice and strategy tips from our very own Draft Genie, and his interesting style of playing the game.

Players To Trade-In

This section will focus on players to target in your trade offers. Usually there are two types of players to trade-in. The ones you "buy low" on, who may be in a poor patch of form, injured, or not seeing consistent minutes with all that about to change. The second is where you "buy high". While that will sound contradictory, these players could be showing no signs of slowing down and are en-route to a breakout season. You want to try and trade-in these players before they become unattainable, even if it involves offering more than what their draft-day or early-season value was.

Marcus Rashford (MUN - FWD)

Analysis: Now more than ever Rashford needs to deliver on his "Golden Boy" status of years ago. We know Rashford has the talent to be a world-class winger, but what he is lacking in recent years is the form, consistency, and sometimes even work ethic. Ten Hag is gone, meaning a new manager may not be so quick to play favourites giving every winger an equal chance to earn their spot. We will discuss potential United tactics later in this article, but Rashford has every chance to win an attacking mid/winger role that could be great for points.

Rashford only has 2 games of double digit points in his 8 starts this year. Managers may be hopeful of a complete turn around in his form BUT there will be plenty of managers happy to entertain offers for him. While there is every chance Rashford loses his spot in the XI, I am going to back him to put his head down and get back to his best under new management with a different attacking map for this United team. Rashford can be considered a FWD2 if he gets continuous starts in an improved United attack, but you can probably bring him in for FWD3 value.

Trade Offer Value: I would offer out forwards such as: Hudson-Odoi, Sancho, Jimenez, Rutter, and Wissa in a deal for Rashford. You may need to throw in a MID4/DEF3 + 10 FAB to get this across. Throw in players like: Cook, Lemina, Udogie, or Lacroix to get it across.

Bruno Fernandes (MUN - MID)

Analysis: A 2nd United player to feature in trade-in, was it ever in doubt? Bruno has been a dud all season averaging under 7.5 PPS in his 9 starts, and could finally start delivering on his first round value. Depending on the appointment on who takes the reigns at United will depend on the role Bruno will take, again more on the tactics later in this article. Regardless, whether it be a new manager bounce, or just an improved United attack (hard for them to be worse) Bruno should be in for a huge upgrade. At 7.5 PPS unless he was recently traded, the manager who took him with a top 5 pick is surely getting frustrated/struggling for wins unless they perfectly picked their next few rounds.

Bruno has been struggling, and has lost majority of set-pieces to Eriksen. I fully expect Eriksen to become a strong squad player again, or at least after Mainoo is fit, and Bruno to gain control of sets once again. Hojlund being back has already seen Bruno slightly improve in his last 2 games, and under a manager that actually wants to score goals his ceiling should improve. As most of you know I am not really a big stats guy, but you always need a balance with the eye-test. Bruno currently sits at 0 goals despite having an xG of 2.53, surely he will start delivering if not outscoring his xG, Last season he managed 10 goals from 10xG so expect an increase in his attacking returns very soon. While it looks tough now I would still back Bruno to finish at least in the top 8 this season if not the top 5. Now is the time to see what you can get to add in a MID1 on a huge low to your roster. There are quite a few offers you will need to consider based on how the current manager values Bruno/who rosters him. For example, I roster Bruno in 2 leagues and wouldn't accept anything outside a top 5 asset for him.

Trade Offer Value: I would start with an offer of a MID2 + FWD2 and see if that interests the manager especially if they lack attacking options. An offer of Martinelli + Semenyo/Adama could get the ball rolling. If you need to throw in a 3rd piece look to add in someone like: Rogers/Anderson or even a defender like Robertson/Wan-Bissaka.

Players To Trade-OUT

This section will focus on players that you should be actively trying to trade out over the next week or so. These players could be on course to see a minute reduction or be having a bad season that it seems they can't recover from. A lot of times name value players will feature here, as you will still find managers who believe they can return to their glory days. Each season brings new challenges and as we have seen even the very best assets can fall off a cliff in just a single season (Rashford of 2024). Look to trade out these players before their value becomes so low that you may need to consider dropping them.

Stephy Mavididi (LEI - FWD)

Analysis: Mavididi has not been the asset many have hoped for. After being drafted in the "mid-rounds" in the summer he didn't get his first start until mid-September, and outside of that game and the following vs. Everton he has been horrible in fantasy. He is more likely costing you wins than helping you at this point. He will be a very tough sell, but ahead of a matchup of a leaky Ipswich will be your last chance to get any value before he becomes droppable. After the Ipswich game Leicester face United, Chelsea, and Brentford where I wouldn't be surprised to see him combine for 7 points across those three games.

Leicester are a very hit or miss team, and one that will probably be relegated this season. Mavididi will also face rotation in the tougher games where Cooper may go for the more "defensive-minded" Ayew and Reid. I fully believe that if you don't sell Mavididi this week you will either be stuck holding him or forced to drop him. I have already dropped him in a league even though my only other forwards are Adama and CHO there. That is unfortunately how little faith I have in him going forward. At least in the medium term.

Trade Offer Value: I would offer out Mavididi in a package for a better FWD3. Try to package him with someone like Rutter or Rogers and aim for forwards such as: Jimenez and Hudson-Odoi.

Josko Gvardiol (MCI - DEF)

Analysis: Gvardiol has had himself back to back double digit returns for the first time this season. Gvardiol had a slow start to the season but is starting to show some of the form he did at the tail-end of last year. The only issue is I just think he will have a different role this season. His more advanced nature in the last 2 games are a combination of opposition talent and injuries. The like of KDB, Doku, and Grealish all were absent last game, but with KDB's return imminent, and Grealish having a chance to make this weekend we could see Gvardiol go back to that early season hit and miss form.

On top of returning players, City will enter a "tougher" few games vs. Brighton, Spurs, and Liverpool where Gvardiol may be asked to actually defend more than try to score. While there is obviously a chance he continues his good form, I am looking to sell him on a high. This is not a panic sell, this is a sell where you try to get a better overall ROS player. If you don't get yourself an upgraded defender or an attacker that improves your team, than holding Gvardiol is not a bad option. It is worth noting he had 4 goals and 1 assist last season. He already has 2 goals this year and I would be surprised to surpass 5/6 for the course of the year.

Trade Offer Value: I would offer Gvardol + some FAB/a MID4 to try and get back either Porro or Van Dijk. If you cannot get either of those two, then you should look to get an attacker. Maybe you can use Gvardiol to get Bruno F.? Package Gvardiol with midfielders such as: Tavernier/Iwobi/Madueke to get back Bruno.

Strategy Section

This section will highlight some of my unique strategies I use in Fantrax, and how you can apply them to your own style. I will look to discuss trends I am seeing in leagues, or tactics that I may shift to, that will better my chances of winning my league. A lot of these strategies could involve a high-risk high-reward approach, or be tactics I see my fellow managers using that I will be advocating against.

Which "Top" Assets Are Worrying Right Now

Obviously every season has it's own course of events, but with 9 weeks done now is the time we can look at some assets that could have been drafted in the first 5-6 rounds that are looking to be frustrating or worrying as the season progresses.

• James Maddison (TOT - M) - Maddison has been getting hooked early the last few games. Even starting with the B team in Europe last week. Poor Spurs performance vs. Palace may mean we could see him rotate with Sarr for more midfield security. See if you can "sell high" on his nearly 15 PPS.

• Morgan Gibbs-White (NOT - M) - Been awful this year, currently hurt, lost set-pieces. Lots of reasons to worry here. Forest are playing well even without him being "the guy", I worry this MGW is here to stay. Trade out if you can.

• Trent Alexander-Arnold/Andy Robertson (LIV - D) - Liverpool full-backs aren't what they were under Klopp. Trent is still proving to be decent, but Robertson is borderline droppable. I would look to trade both out if you can, but am desperately trying to sell Robertson if I roster him anywhere.

• Alexis MacAllister/Dominik Szoboszlai (LIV - M) - Two more Liverpool boys. MacAllister is a must drop at this point, given his lack of upside and rotation potential. Szobo has been dreadful for weeks and was just rotated out in the Arsenal match. I would wait on him for a few weeks to hope he improves, if not he could be a very costly drop.

• Bruno Guimaraes (NEW - M) - Bruno G. was a 2nd round pick and it still shocks me. He may be crucial to Newcastle, but he is just hurting your fantasy team. Just one double digit outing in 9 starts, try to sell to someone lacking mids.

• Bernardo Silva (MCI -M) - His numbers are worse than I thought. A very streaky player, but can pop off. Being a City mid he should still command decent value, but with KDB nearing a return I would try to trade out ASAP.

• Rodrigo Muniz (FUL - F) - Seems to have lost his place to Jimenez. Unfortunately, unless you can trade him for some FAB or like a DEF3 to the Jimenez manager I would drop him.

Manchester United Update

Analysis: Another United manager change is upon us. After a dreadful start to the season Ten Hag has finally been let go, and it seems this was inevitable. Ruben Amorim looks set to be the new manager for United, after seeing great success with Sporting in Portugal. Amorim is known for his 3-4-3/3-4-2-1 formation he employed there and logic suggests we could see the same slowly implemented in Manchester. This formation becomes more realistic when you look at the very, very early transfer targets for United. Fellow Canadian, Alphonso Davies is at the top of the list it seems, who would slot in perfectly in that LWB role with Shaw and Malacia proving inconsistent with fitness, and Dalot/Mazraoui both better on the right (or perhaps in a 4 in the latter's case). Anyhow that is still a ways down the road. We should look at a potential United lineup under Amorim that could start to happen in the next few weeks.

Above is my predicted line-up we could see under Amorim. There are a lot of potential moving pieces here as you can see. The biggest what-if for me is the role we see Bruno have. There is every chance he is given the advanced "free role" which could see him cook. Being the chief creator from a more advanced position with the pace of Rashford and finishing of Hojlund there to compliment his creativity. There is also a chance we could see Bruno drop into more of an "8" role as a deep creator. I still expect Bruno to be the chief creator, it just depends where Amorim sees him (and the other many attackers) fitting best. The three CBs will pick themselves once Yoro is fit, but for now we could see Casemiro as a makeshift CB, Maguire(when fit), or Lindelof get some starts. Martinez and De Ligt are basically locks, but it really remains to be seen how either will score in a new formation. For the wingbacks you will likely have Mazraoui and Dalot operating as the starters on either flank. Could we see Amorim get crafty though and rotate in the likes of Antony, Diallo, or Garnacho into those roles? Potentially, but it will take some time to transition them. In the center of the park, Casemiro and Ugarte could be the main two until Mainoo is fit, at which point I would expect him to slot in for the less preferred/in-form one (more likely the less mobile, Casemiro due to Amorim's history with Ugarte). I could see Eriksen slotting in vs. weaker opposition to add more creativity and goal scoring chances.

All in all, we can see there will be a significant shift in the way United plan to operate for the rest of this season. Fantasy wise expect Hojlund to be the focal goal-scorer and whoever wins the attacking midfielder roles to be top assets assuming an improved United attack. This should all come with a warning though. As we have seen before, sometimes United struggle to adjust to a new manager, especially with this current group of players. There could be some time before we see an improvement in both results and fantasy output. Patience could be needed, but no doubt this is the shift we needed to see from United. Whoever misses out of the preferred XI, perhaps Garnacho and Amad, will see a quick decrease in value to the decreased attacking minutes to go around. Zirkzee and Eriksen will likely also be hard done by the change in tactics. I would be surprised to see Amorim on the bench when United take on Chelsea, but expect him there vs. Leicester, then with the International Break just after 2 weeks to implement his new system.

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