Hi and welcome to my 2nd mini article of the 1st international break. In this blog, we take a look at Gray as an FPL asset and offer his FPL scouting report. If you checked out during the IB (bravo) and missed my article on Ronaldo and how non-owners sleep at night, you can find it here
To afford CR7, many managers are looking at Demarai Gray who has a goal in each of the last 2 matches. He showed his value to Everton in the preseason as he played a variety of different positions to some acclaim. Everton paying only £1.5m for that kind of versatility is not only good business, it’s straight-up gangsta. The question is whether he is worth £5.6m to us in #FPL.
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Demarai Gray FPL Scouting Report
Gray has become a consideration for those looking to free up cash to move to the forward line. He may even be a starting consideration for those who are venturing into the 3 and 4 premium Twilight Zone, or those dealing with injuries and suspensions.
We will begin by taking a high-level look at Gray’s role in the first 3 gameweeks by looking at the heatmaps, then we will take a look at how he executes this role with in-game screenshots from highlights footage.
To begin I would like to examine how EVE set up when attacking. The images below show the touch heatmaps for Townsend, Doucoure, DCL, and Richarlison. We can see a clear front 3 with Doucoure a way deeper as a hybrid 8.
If we then look at Gray’s heatmap, we can begin to see his role in this offense. There is a hole in the left side of the attack, just behind the front 3 that is designed for Gray to penetrate. This is confirmed when looking at the shot heatmap. The 2 shots in the box were his two goals and they both came from that open space that Benitez has designed for Gray.
This design is highly encouraging for Gray’s prospects as a fantasy asset, but let’s examine his execution to determine how sustainable this design is.
In this first image we see Gray providing a link option for Alex Iwobi. What he does next, however, is what truly impressed me.
Gray receives the ball on his right (trailing) foot, indicating to Ayling that he has a thought of turning and running through the center of the field. This action causes Ayling to pause and opens the right flank for Gray to penetrate.
After a few concerning touches that allowed LEE to recover, Gray is finally able to leave Ayling behind and confront Cooper 1v1. In this image we can see Cooper’s feet are planted and his hips turned thanks to Gray first angling his run inside before turning up the wing once again. This is a skill that Gray has mastered and will come up again.
My concern with Gray is in the final product. In this scenario, Gray just blindly hits the ball into the area where there is the most space without consideration to the type of ball needed. He either needs to whip a bending ball around Struijk to reach DCL in stride or chip allow DCL to take Struijk out of the play and chip the ball to the trailing Iwobi.
We see Benitez’ design in full effect here as Richarlison and DCL on holding the right side, keeping the space open for Gray to attack with his pace. Gray is known to be speedy, but what is impressive is his speed with the ball.
This image shows how Gray was again able to turn the defender’s hips with a dribble inside. Webster has taken a step away from Gray thinking Gray will come at him. Instead, Gray angles his dribble towards goal.
The finish is not great, but it is enough in this case. Both of Gray’s goals came from very similar prefabricated situations and neither ended in a good finish.
The shaky final product leads me to believe that Gray’s production is not sustainable. I believe he is riding on some confidence from some lucky finishes and there could be a payoff in the short term. At the very least, he is drawing attention from managers and could provide a little profit if he continues to ride his confidence.
For me the decision to bring Gray in is circumstantial. If Son and DCL are out, then Son will become Gray and DCL will become CR7 (-4). If Son is out and DCL is fit, then Son will become Jota. If they’re both healthy, then I roll the transfer.
THE ALCHEMIST
“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.”
— Paulo Coelho
This week’s Alchemist is Conor Gallagher.
TOT have conceded the 2nd most chances from the left (20) and Gallagher is still flying coming off a brace in GW3 at WHU. Gallagher doesn’t have the stats but he has the opportunity from a tactical perspective against Spurs exposed left side.
To add, TOT have conceded the 6th most ICT to opponents so far (88). The table below, created by @NickTriggerlips tracks ICT conceded stats, and he calculates them himself every week. I want to thank him for this research and for his permission to use it here. It goes without saying that this data is still highly subject to change since we only have 3 matches worth of data.
Video on ICT index (working!!)
Originally tweeted by Nick (@NickTriggerlips) on September 9, 2021.
Good form and a couple of good tactical situations are enough to breathe life into the Alchemist for #GW4.
Thanks once again for spending some time with my thoughts. Good luck with the big #FPL decisions before you this GW and may your arrows be green.
Further Reads from ALLABOUTFPL Ahead of FPL Gameweek 4:
New Players from Russian Premier League: An FPL Breakdown
FPL GW4 Transfer Trends Analysis | Popular Transfer Combinations
The Must Have FPL Players On Your GW4 Wildcard Team
FPL Gameweek 4 Analysis- Players To Buy | Hold | Sell Ahead Of FPL GW4
FPL GW4 Watchlist – Stand Out Players Who Impressed In GW1-3
A Guide To FPL Team Structure | Wildcard FPL Gameweek 4
FPL GW4: Goalkeepers Analysis | Best Goalkeeping Option
FPL GW4 Wildcard – Best Combinations, Strategy Tips, And Team Reveal
FPL Gameweek 4 Fixture Swings: Teams and Players to Target and Avoid
Why You Don’t Need to Wildcard This Early Into The 2021/22 FPL Season
Bruno Fernandes Hold or Sell Going Into FPL GW4 | Stats Analysis
FPL GW3 Fixture Wise Stats Review | Key FPL Stats that Caught our Eye
2021/22 FPL Chip Strategy: What to do with the Elusive Boosts
Fixture Analysis For Optimal Wildcard Strategy | FPL 2021/22 Season
We have also made an elaborate guide covering every rule and chip available in FPL for the 2021/22 FPL Season ~ 2021/22 Fantasy Premier League Season Rules, Tips | The Ultimate Guide
Check out our Rules and Basics Guide, FPL Chip Strategy, FPL Chips, FPL Team reveals, FPL History, team reveals, FPL Tools here.
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What’s next from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL Gameweek 4?
We’ll be covering fixture analysis, players to watch out for in FPL Gameweek 4, differential picks, Wildcard drafts, captaincy metrics, transfer trend analysis, expected line up, press conference summaries, Buy, hold, sell analysis for FPL gameweek four, our expert panel team reveals and more. Keep checking allaboutfpl.com for all our blogs and subscribe to our free newsletter through the link below. We’ll also be posting regularly about the same on our social media accounts so follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook keep our notification ON.
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