Wildcarding

On the back of 3 straight red arrows, I used my January WC at the earliest possible opportunity.  Besides the fact that I'm simply weak-willed when it comes to WC (I revamped my team in GW2 after FPL screwed the pooch in GW1, then used my normal WC in GW7), I also felt the team needed some shake-up after I had dropped out of the top 10,000.  Not that I am used to those giddy heights but to paraphrase a great Woody Allen line, a FF team is like a shark; when it's not moving forward, you've got a dead shark.  Or something.  Anyway, my GW20 team will be on the left, and I'll bold the guys I brought in on the right, then offer some commentary.

GK
Vorm
Friedel >>Mignolet
I seriously thought about riding the American for the rest of the season and dropping Vorm for, say Ruddy, as a pure backup, but I wouldn't have made enough money on Vorm to justify it.  I also think 2 relatively inexpensive GK who rotate well is the way to go.  Vorm is the only guy I've had in my team since GW1 and I can see SWN keeping a few more CS.  I went for Mignolet at 1.3 in savings on Friedel and I think MON has reinstilled belief in SUN, so I like Mignolet in tandem with Vorm.  There are better rotation candidates (Al-Haibsi, Hennessey, Foster) with Vorm, but I think MON has the ship pointed in the right direction and I think Mignolet looks a top keeper.

Defenders
Enrique
J.Evans
Simpson>>Williamson
McAuley>>Clichy
Hanley>>Dawson
A quick look at the left hand column and you can see why I wanted to WC.  I bought Enrique early on and LIV continue to offer good value in defense.  J.Evans is virtually nailed on at MUN on his return from injury and especially so now that P.Jones is out.  On 3.7% ownership, Evans has seven clean sheets in a part-time season.  I like NWC's defense but I think Williamson has a slightly better chance of getting a goal from a set piece than the defensive minded Simpson; this was a sideways move pricewise for me, so an easy one to make.  I'm not going to recap my stupidity in bringing in Hanley but it's quite clear that he had to go; McAuley is cheap but WBA are just too inconsistent to justify anyone in that defense except maybe Foster in goal. I feel a MNC defender is essential and Clichy is the cheapest guy in the bunch, although I'll acknowledge he is under some threat from Kolarov.  I almost went for Lescott but I think he's under threat from Toure when he returns from ACN and I didn't want to burn a transfer later.  I went for Michael Dawson here, although I'm going to acknowledge this was a mistake; I was overly concerned that TOT were playing WW in GW21, and I was afraid all those in my league with BAE would steal 6 points from me.  Of course, Wolves scored and it was a pointless exercise.  I will probably keep Dawson v. Wigan in GW23 (although he too, is under threat from Ledley King as we saw in the MNC game) and then swap him out for a budget guy that rotates well with Williamson or 'big up' to a MNC guy, like Kompany.

A bigger point here about the defense; and that point is the so-called 'Merritt Rule', named after my good friend and manager of ForzaInter, often referred to here (he's 3rd in our minileague and in 5 years of playing this game I've beaten him only once).  The Merritt Rule is simple: a FF team must carry 3 'elite' team defenders, preferably the cheapest ones that start, but 3 even if you have to pay a premium for one.  This was an iron clad rule for me until last year when it seemed like CS became less predictable.  But as you can see above, I'm back as a believer in the rule (Enrique, Clichy, Evans).  I am also thinking about the Merritt Rule + 1; I am toying with the idea of replacing Dawson with another MNC defender.

Midfield
Bale
Valencia
*Nani>>(GW22)Dempsey
Silva>>Sessegnon
Drenthe>>Moses
Bale is cheaper than VdV, so he stays although I think both will score big this year.  Valencia killed last season when he came back into the lineup after his ankle break last winter/spring, and when he came back from injury this year in December, I jumped.  He's been brilliant and offers MUN something few teams have; a true out-and-out winger.  But he's also good in front of goal too; 2 goals and 8 assists since GW14.  I kept Nani for the game against Bolton but switched him out in GW22 for Dempsey.  Jackpot.  My big, big, big gamble: I dropped Silva for Sessegnon.  Sessegnon is on fire though, and seemed strangely under the radar.  I feel a bit like a guy walking around without any pants on without Nani and Silva, especially Mr. Consistent, Silva.  I will only have lost 0.4 on Silva if I get him back; which I am thinking about.  I wouldn't recommend dropping Silva; when you watch MNC and you see the guy get every 3rd touch on that team, you know an assist is coming.  Plus, he's on 46% ownership.  My rationale was: I needed the money for Aguero, and Aguero's points will 'cover' the loss of Silva.  Not so far.  I feel less chuffed about Nani; Valencia looks the more dangerous midfielder for MUN and Dempsey, while playing for a team averaging 0.67 gpg away from Craven Cottage, is a steady performer, who, at the end of the day, will be north of 160 FF points this year.  Until Rooney gets his mojo back, Valencia is plenty of attacking MUN cover.

I also looked at a 2 budget rotation model in midfield (w/3 'elite' mids and 3 'elite' forwards), and guys like M.Davies and C.Eagles(BOL), A.Surman(NOR), J.Morrison(WBA), D.Murphy(FUL), S.Petrov and S.Ireland (AVL), and N.Dyer and way under the radar Gylfi Sigurdsson (SWN), all look like worthy guys you could rotate consistently and expect returns.

Forwards 
RvP
Sturridge
Adebayor>>Aguero
I think you are crazy not to own RvP.  Essentially, I plan to captain him about 90% of the time.  If you don't have him by now, you've got to think about his price and whether you can get good value for that money elsewhere.  But his goalscoring record over the last 12 months is phenomenal.  I kept Sturridge, although I actually dropped him and brought in Yakubu, made money off Yakubu's price rise, and brought Sturridge back.  I'm not sold on Sturridge (well, not sold on Chelsea), but he's reasonably cheap for access to the 4th highest goal scoring team in the Prem.  And he's their leading goalscorer at forward.  But he's the guy I might drop for the cash if I decide to bring Silva back in.  There are a number of budget forward options who might match Sturridge's goal production thi year: Morison(NOR), Helguson(QPR), Graham(SWN), Yakubu(BLA), Fletcher(WW).  My favorite in the high-end budget category is Zamora.

I also don't think Adebayor has forgotten how to score, but I've felt like Aguero is a 'must have' for most of the season, so I sacrificed Adebayor, who I'd had since very, very early in the season.  Unfortunately, I didn't really examine Aguero's record in detail until his second straight 2-pointer for me; 8 goals in GW1-5; 6 goals in GW6-22.  With Balotelli threatened with a suspension, I am looking at Dzeko either in tandem with Aguero or as a replacement for Aguero.  I still feel good about Aguero (good attacking numbers, looks like MNC's main dangerman when you watch MNC), but I'm a little nervous that I sacrificed Silva for him.

So those were my selections and the thinking behind them. I've also outlined some variations I thought about running with; and I've mentioned my trepidation about some of my moves.  Keep the wheat and toss the chaffe.  The WC has paid off so far; 2 green arrows and into the top 3300+ in the world.  But rust never sleeps . . .