Is an FPL perma-captain a good idea?

One of the key aspects of Fantasy Football is who to hand the captains armband too. Get the decision right and the likelihood outcome is a green arrow. However, if the decision goes badly the impact on mini-league positions and overall rank can be disastrous. Should managers perma-captain one player regardless of the fixture? Or should the armband be moved around? We take a look at how to maximise the potential for the captains armband.

Over the last few seasons there have been a number of popular captain picks. During 2021/22 most managers regularly handed the armband to Mo Salah. The midfielder was the most captained player in 35 of the 38 gameweeks last season. However, this doesn’t mean that he was always the right captaincy option.

Perma-captain?

So far this season Erling Haaland has been an ever present in the most captained lists every gameweek. This was even true in Gameweek 14 when the forward was ruled out through injury.

This season Haaland has beaten the record for being the most highly captained player ever in the game. Indeed he now holds the nine top spots for the most captained player ever in FPL. He set the recorded in Gameweek 10 when he was captained by 7,105,791 managers.

But should managers just hand Haaland the armband from now until the end of the season?

Double Gameweeks

In January there are currently three double gameweeks scheduled. Man City will play twice in two of those weeks and therefore handing the armband to Haaland likely makes sense. However in Gameweek 19 Chelsea and Fulham play twice, meanwhile Man City only have one fixture against Chelsea.

At the same time that Haaland faces Chelsea Liverpool play Brentford, Spurs face Crystal Palace and Man United play Bournemouth. All offering up good captaincy options.

Fixtures

It should also be remembered that if Man City continue their involvement in the League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League they will play midweek and weekend fixtures every week until March. As a result we could see even more rotation across the Man City team.

Therefore, maybe the permanent Haaland captain could be swapped on the back of team news from Pep’s press conferences.

However, generally speaking the fixtures for Man City do suggest that captaining Haaland (or another City asset) for most weeks after the restart is a good idea.

Gameweek 22 however could be a good week to move the armband away from the new City forward.

Overall: Is the perma-captain a good idea?

The captains armband is one of the most valuable resources for an FPL manager. Therefore just leaving it on one player without thinking is probably not a good idea. Checking on the form and fixtures of the captaincy options as well as considering the risk and reward of moving the armband away from Haaland is wise. Whilst the perma-captain can work, make sure its done after considering all the options every week.