Premier League 2015/16 Lessons In Hindsight, Lessons Roundup, Part 3

Premier League 2015/16 Lessons In Hindsight is a series that forces me to look at the ugly face in the mirror and determine what to let go of past history and what to bring into next season. For Lessons Roundup, the past moves, Good and Bad, will be compiled & crystalised for future reference. Part 3 looked at Gameweeks 9 to 12 where I undid 3 weeks of hard work in 1 cursed GW12.


Good Moves:

• S. Taylor to Bellerin - 18 points gained (4 games)
• Alternatives: None
• Myhill to De Gea - 5 points gained (1 game)
• Alternatives: Butland (similar points)
• Richards to Bertrand - 7 points gained (1 game)
• Alternatives - None

Bad Moves:

• GW9: Sterling(27) to De Bruyne(16) - 11 points lost (4 games)
• Alternatives - Payet (13 points), Ozil (35 points)
• GW 10: Westwood(1) to Sissoko(8) - 7 points gained (3 games)
• Alternatives - Lanzini (13 points)
• GW 11: Sturridge(0) to Bony(2) - 2 points gained (2 games)
• Alternatives - Lukaku (22 points), Kane (16 points)

Big Players I missed out on GW9-12:

• Coutinho
• Lukaku
• Kane
• Ozil

Good Lessons (To Keep for next season): 

Lesson 1: BE RUTHLESS WITH BAD KNEEJERKS

• Richards was a "leadership kneejerk" in my head and I duly replaced him with Bellerin. The results were magical.
• Conversely, I didn't deal with kneejerks Sterling, Sissoko and Bony quickly enough. They really cost me.

Lesson 2: TRUST THE RESEARCH ON DATA/FIXTURES

• Myhill to DDG, as well as S. Taylor to Bertrand were moves made on clear bench policies based on fixtures. 
• Myhill/DDG had perfect overlap. I picked up the CS points for both, only to be unfortunately matched by kneejerk pick Butland. Oh well.
• Bertrand was brought in to cover for Evans. Worked so far.
• Picks that I ignored were also ones that I should've picked up early and decisively - Lukaku. End of story.

Bad Habits (To Ditch for next season): 

Lesson 3: IF A PLAYER DOES POORLY OVER 2 WEEKS FOR THE SAME REASON, SELL

• Sanchez to Ozil was a horrendous oversight that I assumed was a "sideways transfer". 
• The key indicators were there - Ozil had his break, Sanchez didn't from Copa America. Good lesson to keep in mind for EURO 16.
• Ayew to ANYONE could've been good. I wouldn't have blamed myself for keeping him for a bit, I guess. Perhaps I should've just gone 3-5-2 instead.

Lesson 4: WHEN CAPS AREN'T OBVIOUS, GO WITH THE FORM PICK, NOT THE "BEST OF THE REST"

• How many times could I have capped Vardy instead of all those other rubbish picks?
• KDB was inconsistent or outshone at the hindsight vantage of GW9
• The Vardy capped delivered in GW10
• Another Bony cap could've been Vardy
• I went for Pelle instead of Vardy in 12, losing 8 points

Lesson 5: AVOID DIRECT DOWNGRADES UNLESS NECESSARY

Sterling to KDB and Aguero to Bony were "lazy" in hindsight. There so many alternatives that I could've been bathing in those points instead.