FPL

FPL defenders sorted by defensive contributions per 2024/25 game

18 July 2025 78 comments
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The all-new defensive contributions could play a crucial role in how we select our defenders in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) 2025/26.   

By now, you’ll all have probably seen who the leading names would have been for defensive contributions in 2024/25 – the likes of James Tarkowski, Murillo and the now-departed Dean Huijsen.

But what about, for instance, a defender with the potential to be a clearance machine who had a spell out with a mid-season injury? They likely won’t feature in any end-of-year table.

So, it’s for that reason that we’ve gone ‘by match’ in this article, as it levels the playing field somewhat regarding game-time.

We’ve used data from our Members Area for this piece – more of which below…

defensive contributions

BEST DEFENDERS FOR DEFENSIVE CONTRIBUTIONS PER MATCH IN 2024/25

78 Comments Login to Post a Comment
  1. Moon Dog
      17 hours, 29 mins ago

      I hope the official FPL site will provide a "defensive contributions" stat for last season or this game is becoming pay-to-win.

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      1. dan slo
        • 10 Years
        15 hours, 46 mins ago

        Yes , if the dnt do it it's the end of the world as we know it

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        1. Jimmy B
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          15 hours, 14 mins ago

          Its already on the official site for last season you just can only view them individually rather than combined but gives you a good idea of who does what. Clearances for example - https://www.premierleague.com/en/stats/top/players?statMetric=totalClearances&season=2024 just change the metric to the other bits. Opta will have the same stuff on their site too, no need to pay for any of it thankfully.

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    • SM001
      • 9 Years
      17 hours, 12 mins ago

      "The all-new defensive contributions could play a crucial role in how we select our defenders in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) 2025/26."

      NOPE!

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      1. IN SANE IN DE BRUYNE
        • 8 Years
        17 hours, 5 mins ago

        Maybe for some, but nor for me either
        Attacking fullbacks is the most fun!

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        1. All de Gea no iDier
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          16 hours, 36 mins ago

          Look again. Some of the highest performers were from relegated clubs and priced up at £4m.

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          1. SM001
            • 9 Years
            16 hours, 6 mins ago

            I don't need to look again, thanks. Highest performers in a stat where you can only score a max of 2 points a game. Tarkowski is top of the list with 44 points from last season which is a little over 1 point a game. This will have zero affect in how I pick defenders.

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            1. Jimmy B
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 11 Years
              15 hours, 57 mins ago

              But you'll pick attacking defenders who can only get 3 points for an assist but they'll be far less likely to happen than these defensive rewards.

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              1. SM001
                • 9 Years
                14 hours, 19 mins ago

                And score goals which leads to bonus points.

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          2. Cluckfuster
            • 14 Years
            15 hours, 42 mins ago

            I'm going to play devil's advocate and say that 4.0 players won't exist

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            1. have you seen cyan
              • 5 Years
              15 hours, 10 mins ago

              If 4.0 players don't exist, then they are breaking the game IMO.

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              1. Cluckfuster
                • 14 Years
                15 hours, 6 mins ago

                I'm not saying I want it to happen, but I won't be surprised either.

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            2. RedLightning
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • Has Moderation Rights
              • 15 Years
              12 hours, 52 mins ago

              I think they will exist, but very few will be expected to be nailed-on starters.
              Third choice goalkeepers should be 4.0m too.

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        2. Cluckfuster
          • 14 Years
          15 hours, 44 mins ago

          Exactly, if Tarkowski's price rises too much then the attacking fullbacks will be even more desirable

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          1. Jimmy B
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 11 Years
            15 hours, 34 mins ago

            There's an excellent illustration on the official site's analysis of how we may need to change our mindset.
            https://www.premierleague.com/en/news/4361968/which-defenders-will-get-the-most-defensive-contribution-points-in-fpl
            Lacroix would have only scored 8 points less than Munoz last season if these rules had applied. Obviously depends on what they do with the prices but this rule change is significant in defenders. I personally think it makes premium defenders hard avoids because cleans are less common than they used to be all round the league, you get penalised in the bonus for conceding (assuming they haven't reversed last season's bonus changes) and now the defenders at more busy defensive teams are picking up rewards that just closes the gap up on defenders all round. Assists are only worth 1 point more than this new defensive thing and they are nowhere near as frequent as we think.

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            1. Cluckfuster
              • 14 Years
              14 hours, 22 mins ago

              That's a great insight, thank you for bringing it to my attention.
              Ideally I want five defenders, priced at 4.5 each, who play for bad teams that also keep clean sheets. So five Everton defenders seems reasonable.

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              1. SM001
                • 9 Years
                14 hours, 16 mins ago

                "who play for bad teams that also keep clean sheets"

                If they kept clean sheets they wouldn't be bad teams

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                1. Cluckfuster
                  • 14 Years
                  14 hours, 15 mins ago

                  As alluded to in my comment... I present you with... Everton!

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                  1. SM001
                    • 9 Years
                    13 hours, 58 mins ago

                    Which is why Pickford was such a popular pick. I won't be picking or starting Tarkowski over an attacking full back just for an extra 2 points every other game.

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      2. TimeDrifter
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        13 hours, 36 mins ago

        I agree but don't you feel bad for whoever was forced to write 9 Scout articles about this 'Huge rule change'. I guess there's a 'huge' shortage of other news to report on.

        https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2025/07/18/fpl-2025-26-huge-rule-change-as-defensive-contributions-come-in
        https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2025/07/18/who-would-have-been-the-top-scoring-defenders-in-fpl-2024-25-with-defensive-contributions
        https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2025/07/18/fpl-2025-26-defensive-contributions-what-is-a-recovery
        https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2025/07/18/fpl-defenders-sorted-by-defensive-contributions-per-2024-25-game
        https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2025/07/18/how-to-find-the-players-with-the-most-fpl-defensive-contributions
        https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2025/07/18/fpl-2025-26-defensive-contributions-what-is-a-clearance
        https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2025/07/18/fpl-2025-26-defensive-contributions-what-is-an-interception
        https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2025/07/18/fpl-2025-26-defensive-contributions-what-is-a-block
        https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2025/07/18/fpl-2025-26-defensive-contributions-what-is-a-tackle

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        1. RedLightning
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 15 Years
          12 hours, 47 mins ago

          Yes. The five 'what is a recovery/clearance/interception/block/tackle' articles could easily have been combined into a singe article.

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    • FPL Virgin
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      16 hours, 49 mins ago

      Excellent article. Exactly what we need.

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    • FPL Virgin
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      16 hours, 46 mins ago

      "....whether centre-backs from sides coming up from the Championship this season are going to be £4.0m again is another question."

      Hmmmm. What do scout know that we don't?

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    • FPL Virgin
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      16 hours, 41 mins ago

      URGENT!

      When will we get a combined defensive contributions stat in the members area?

      It makes zero sense to have to manually add 'Clearances, Blocks and Interceptions' (CBI) and 'Tackles Won' together.

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      1. FPL Virgin
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        16 hours, 38 mins ago

        Please tell me there is a CBIT stat in the members area.

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        1. FPL Virgin
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 9 Years
          11 hours, 51 mins ago

          And a CBIT-R stat for midfielders

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      2. RedLightning
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 15 Years
        2 hours, 9 mins ago

        TopMarx is working on it.

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        1. FPL Virgin
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 9 Years
          2 hours, 6 mins ago

          I knew he would. He's the best. Top bloke.

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    • All de Gea no iDier
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      16 hours, 32 mins ago

      https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2025/07/18/how-to-find-the-players-with-the-most-fpl-defensive-contributions

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    • Jimmy B
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      16 hours ago

      I think the defensive contributions are going to end up like save points for keepers and its going to completely mess with people's heads about how to pick defenders. Bad fixtures for clean sheets will become great fixtures for defensive contributions etc....

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      1. dan slo
        • 10 Years
        15 hours, 45 mins ago

        Save points for keepers has not completely messed with people's heads
        Hahaha

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        1. Jimmy B
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          15 hours, 28 mins ago

          yeah but you only have to pick one keeper and most set and forget. You ever tried rotating them? Messes with your head. You will have to choose between a few in defence and the traditional going for the more likely clean might not be the best way. 'Banker' clean team concedes and then your bench defender/s pick up extras despite not cleaning either. Those extra 2 points when it happens will get annoying just like trying to rotate keepers and the benched one doing better.

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        2. Zalk
          • 13 Years
          15 hours, 25 mins ago

          Yeah, and they've been there since the start I think.

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    • Hazz
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      15 hours, 24 mins ago

      A small bug on web & mobile:

      From the 'My Profile' page, if you tap to view the left sidebar (navigation menu), part of the profile page remains as an overlay that covers the sidebar & makes navigation trickier.

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    • 1912 F.A Cup Winners
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      14 hours, 58 mins ago

      Is this the latest FPL will ever have been released??

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      1. 1912 F.A Cup Winners
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        14 hours, 27 mins ago

        Apart from Covid season

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        1. 1912 F.A Cup Winners
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 7 Years
          14 hours, 26 mins ago

          *reply to myself above haha

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      2. bitm2007
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        13 hours, 54 mins ago

        Was July 19th in 2016, 25 days before the opening PL fixture which is the equivalent of this coming Monday this year.

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        1. 1912 F.A Cup Winners
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 7 Years
          13 hours, 29 mins ago

          Ooo really, can’t see it being this Monday unless they are going to surprise us and not to any price reveals

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      3. RedLightning
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 15 Years
        13 hours, 43 mins ago

        19th July in 2012 and 2016. My records don't go any further back than that.
        15th August in 2020 (following Covid the previous season).

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        1. 1912 F.A Cup Winners
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 7 Years
          13 hours, 29 mins ago

          Ah interesting…. We must be very close then… surely next week

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          1. RedLightning
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • Has Moderation Rights
            • 15 Years
            13 hours, 25 mins ago

            Yes. I am hoping that they might start revealing a few prices tomorrow and then launch early next week, as long as they have finished testing the updates by then.

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            1. 1912 F.A Cup Winners
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 7 Years
              13 hours, 18 mins ago

              Fingers crossed mate!!! Certainly hope so!! I’m itching to start tinkering again!!

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    • TheBiffas
      • 4 Years
      14 hours, 30 mins ago

      Erik Ten Hag's Leverkusen just lost 5-0 to Flamingo U20's

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    • CoracAld2831
      • 4 Years
      14 hours, 20 mins ago

      In order to get to the top 1% league, one's end rank has to be lower than 115 018

      My end rank was 183 797 so i am 68 779 places short.

      Unlucky.

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      1. CoracAld2831
        • 4 Years
        13 hours, 48 mins ago

        *had to be

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    • Moxon
      • 10 Years
      14 hours, 9 mins ago

      100% set on BB GW1 and WC GW2.

      Excited to get to tinkering. What is everyone else thinking?

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      1. Punned It
          13 hours, 27 mins ago

          I was sold on BB1 even before the double chips.

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        • Admiral Benson
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 4 Years
          12 hours, 54 mins ago

          I think the BB chip is rubbish and all for getting it out of the way. But BB week 1 usually means WC week 2 and you’re therefore giving up your most powerful chip (WC) for the sake of maybe 10-15 points max from BB1.

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      2. The Legend Squad
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 10 Years
        13 hours, 57 mins ago

        WC into double BB? WC17, BB18, BB19?

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        1. RedLightning
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 15 Years
          12 hours ago

          The second batch of chips only become available after the GW19 deadline, so you won't be able to play your second Bench Boost till GW20.
          It's an idea, but it might be dangerous to leave the first Bench Boost that late, and there might be more rotations than usual around Christmas time.

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      3. THAT'S LIFE
        • 11 Years
        13 hours, 22 mins ago

        Never saw Mark Sutherns going down a road like this but effectively a simple game has ate itself a little bit like football itself. No surprise and I guess its just a young/new persons bag now. Adapt to survive etc

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        1. RedLightning
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 15 Years
          12 hours, 47 mins ago

          They can't please everyone, however hard they try.
          And we don't know how many of these changes were recommended by Mark and how many were decided by others.
          Also, we don't yet know what they are going to do with the prices.

          I don't like the doubling up of the chips, but the defensive contributions points could lead to fairer rewards for central defenders, defensive midfielders and others.

          The defensive contributions points will make it initially more difficult to compare players based on last season's points, but after a few weeks those of us who don't want to dig into the intricate details of how the scores are made up should again be able to just look at this season's scores without having to worry too much about their defensive contributions element.

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          1. Moon Dog
              12 hours, 10 mins ago

              Triggerlips put it best:
              https://x.com/NickTriggerlips/status/1946132656095379649

              You can no longer play the game by only watching games and making a judgement on players. Now you have to read stats tables to compete. I disagree that you'll be able to ignore it after a few weeks. When you see a defender making forward runs that aren't picked out, and think they might have a nice attacking potential, you now have to cross-reference that against defensive stats to see if that attacking potential is worth it. The beauty of FPL, and what sets it apart from other fantasy games, has been its simplicity and focus on attacking returns, allowing all types of managers to compete. It's now tied at the hip to data & stats tables.

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              1. IN SANE IN DE BRUYNE
                • 8 Years
                12 hours, 6 mins ago

                Yes, you can. He must be confused.

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          2. Sheffield Wednesday
            • 5 Years
            11 hours, 59 mins ago

            What I like about the changes most is that I can now pick a fantasy football team that more closely resembles a team that I would pick in real life [budget allowing. and if they get the prices right] complete with a couple of CB and one or two DM. No more four LB and 5 AM.

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        2. noquarternt
          • 10 Years
          13 hours, 15 mins ago

          Be interesting to see how the pricing reflects the point scoring changes, is it a case of players like Rice and Rodri having a higher base point level and then getting the odd mega haul on the cheap?

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          1. magyarhyperion
            • 2 Years
            6 hours, 32 mins ago

            Rodri yes but Rice is actually very bad at deffensive stats. Semenyo and Bruno will be essentials.

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        3. FPL Virgin
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 9 Years
          12 hours, 45 mins ago

          This article is incorrect.

          https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2025/07/18/how-to-find-the-players-with-the-most-fpl-defensive-contributions

          Tackles and not 'tackles won' is what counts towards defensive contributions.

          Mark has confirmed this on the above average FPL show today.

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          1. Sheffield Wednesday
            • 5 Years
            12 hours, 6 mins ago

            Have you a link to where Mark said this? I don't follow live media much so pardon my ignorance.

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            1. FPL Virgin
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 9 Years
              11 hours, 53 mins ago

              Watch the latest episode of above average FPL on YouTube.

              It's also in the official FPL announcement. It just says tackles and everyone has assumed it is tackles won.

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              1. Sheffield Wednesday
                • 5 Years
                11 hours, 43 mins ago

                Oh I see, 'Above Average FPL' is the title. thanks.

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                1. FPL Virgin
                  • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                  • 9 Years
                  11 hours, 40 mins ago

                  Yep Mark was in the chat and text one of the hosts to confirm it was him.

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          2. All de Gea no iDier
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 6 Years
            6 hours, 52 mins ago

            You spend so much time sniping and knocking this site I wonder why you are still here.

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        4. shorey143
          • 3 Years
          12 hours, 31 mins ago

          Nice to see considered changes but ultimately where the CBs score points is against teams they will be on the back foot and ultimately concede against. Which means more bench points ultimately

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          1. Silecro
            • 7 Years
            10 hours, 57 mins ago

            Thats why Tarkowski is mentioned, predominantly defensive team with great chance for clearances, but still good enough of a defence to warrant a semi-regular clean sheet.

            NFO defenders should also be up there

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        5. Pep Roulette
          • 7 Years
          12 hours, 2 mins ago

          Hey fam! What happened to this site?

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          1. Herger
            • 3 Years
            11 hours, 4 mins ago

            Why was my reply to this deleted?

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            1. Herger
              • 3 Years
              11 hours, 3 mins ago

              Nevermind. Didn’t realise he was just posting it everywhere. I replied to one of his others

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        6. Herger
          • 3 Years
          11 hours, 37 mins ago

          Appreciate everyone’s doing their best but it’s a struggle to understand how the website’s somehow got worse after such an overhaul.

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          1. have you seen cyan
            • 5 Years
            8 hours, 44 mins ago

            Yea. If some things don't get reverted back, I suspect this place is going to die.

            1. Website is now useless on mobile
            2. Live comments box does not auto update and now only shows 5 comments
            3. At least 5 other more minor issues, but still issues

            Not sure who at FFS has passed off these changes, but they have made the website worse. Which is quite a feat.

            I will see how it goes when this place is busier, and maybe they will fix some things in the coming weeks. But if its left like this, I personally won't be frequenting this place like I used to, I will go to another site. Who is going to sit here refreshing the page to see the last 5 comments all the time? On match days there are 5 comments every 15 seconds...

            I think there changes are financially motivated, as in, we refresh the page more often and they get more ad views. If that is their motivation behind this, then they have made a very bad judgment, because they will end up with no one here refreshing the page.

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            1. WVA
              • 8 Years
              4 hours, 26 mins ago

              Yep I’m getting really frustrated, loved the site as it was too!

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        7. have you seen cyan
          • 5 Years
          8 hours, 42 mins ago

          Is anyone familiar with Ndiaye's defensive stats? I know he was classified as a forward last season, but maybe he gets reclassified to a mid. If so, he might be one of the players to benefit the most form these changes, especially given he has actual goal threat. I can see him being reclassified too.

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          1. Holmes
            • 11 Years
            6 hours, 43 mins ago

            Nothing special

            6 CBIT is his best score in entire season

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          2. Holmes
            • 11 Years
            6 hours, 23 mins ago

            I think his recovery numbers were pretty good, picked him in FPL challenge for that.

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            1. Sheffield Wednesday
              • 5 Years
              6 hours, 16 mins ago

              172 recoveries over the season, 19th in the league for that stat.

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          3. have you seen cyan
            • 5 Years
            1 hour, 49 mins ago

            Ok thanks, nothing amazing then.

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        8. MADCHESTER UTD
          • 10 Years
          6 hours, 5 mins ago

          Another way of trying to get all players involved such as CDM’s would’ve been to separate the positions eg of the 5 mids, 2 of them have to be from the CDM list. That way we would have to have the likes of caceido in (but without this defensive point bonus). Or could have the CDM’s extra point for a CS

          As for double chips I was going to BBGW1, WC2 just to get rid of the annoying BB chip early but the 2nd BB chip will still be an annoyance now.

          But same for all so willing to give it a chance without moaning so much. At least the AM chip has gone

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