Premier League 2015/16 Lessons In Hindsight, Lessons Roundup, Part 2

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 2 looks at Gameweeks 5 to 8, concluding with the second international break.

Good: 

Lesson 1: BE RUTHLESS WITH BAD PICKS

• I believe that I identified a few players to be flops incredibly early, and I didn't act on them because there were "more important" issues and I was held back by the fact that I had to take ANOTHER hit to rectify it:
• From Gameweek 4's bad picks, Romero, Diouf, Silva, Shelvey, Azpi, Pedro, Olsson and Gomis were promptly dealt with - I have not regretted letting go any of those liabilities.
• In fact, I regret not letting the REST of my liabilities go - I strongly believed that S. Taylor, Sterling and Westwood stayed in my squad for way, way too long as well. 

Lesson 2: TRUST THE TACTICAL LYNCHPINS

• Picks I made that were successful were largely because of the fact that they were an instrumental part of the team's core strategy. Vardy and Mahrez were huge in Leicester's counterattacking plan, Francis' use on the flanks was prominent all the time, Ayew had OoP potential.
• Picks that I ignored were also ones that I should've picked up early and decisively - Mata, Mane and Payet were picks I considered again and again.

Bad:

Lesson 3: DO THE HOMEWORK ON CAPTAINCIES

• I've gotta admit that my captain choice always revolved around Aguero. I would only think if I didn't own him.
• I lost 20 potential points due to Aguero auto caps (Wilson GW5, Sanchez GW6) so I feel like my methodology for next season has to change in that sense, even though it relies on a relatively skewed indicator (Goals Scored).

Lesson 4: FORWARDS PLANNED FOR 8 WEEKS SHOULD BE SEEN THROUGH UNLESS INJURED OR DROPPED

• This lesson refers to the "Pelle merry-go-round" that saw me drop him in Gameweek 2 and finally pick him up in GW9 again. This struck a chord with me:
• Could I have foreseen Aguero's 37 points in 6 games bettered by Pelle's 48? With fixtures, perhaps the way to go was to have both. After all, I could sacrifice Sakho too and cover West Ham's attack with Payet.

Lesson 5: HAVE YOUR LONG TERM PLANS WRITTEN DOWN SOMEWHERE

• Besides the oversight on Pelle, I didn't buy Lukaku in GW8 when Wilson got injured. I think this came about from greed where I wanted Sturridge who hit two goals against Villa on his return.
• Action for next season: Have planned actions written somewhere.