The first Fantasy Premier League manager of the week has been crowned, with Joseph O’Neill’s Stagosaurus squad romping to an untouchable 104 points in Gameweek 1.
Now in his seventh FPL season, Joseph registered goals in six of his seven attacking positions, with two of his three-man defence also finding the net.
The selection of midfield trio Philippe Coutinho (£8.0m; 15pts), Erik Lamela (£7.0m; 9pts) and Anthony Martial (£9.5m; 11pts) all proved to be masterstrokes, while Alvaro Negredo (£6.5m; 9pts) proved an effective foil for a heavyweight front partnership of Sergio Aguero (£13.0m) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£11.5m).
As a Manchester United fan, Joseph’s faith in Ibrahimovic was no surprise, but the decision to overlook the Swede and captain Manchester City’s Aguero is perhaps indicative of his FPL experience; he clearly refused to let heart rule head.
While Joseph’s attack is impressive, it was his selection in defence that really caught the eye.
The decision to opt for Arsenal’s Calum Chambers (£4.5m; 6pts) as a short-term option, paired with West Ham United’s James Collins (£4.5m; 8pts) looked an unfashionable combination.
Nonetheless, both delivered unlikely goals that ultimately pushed Joseph’s squad over the line for the weekly prize, sending him into Gameweek 2 as the top-ranked FPL manager.
Joseph’s achievement was all the more impressive given that he resisted playing a chip.
More than 261,000 FPL managers turned to a chip to enhance their Gameweek 1 tally, with 1,009 teams opting for Coutinho as their triple captain.
The All Out Attack chip was used by 51,000 managers, with Hughie Ferguson the most effective, earning 98 points with all eight of his attacking players scoring goals.
More than 61,000 deployed the Bench Boost chip, with MKanwar Mzahrin fetching the biggest haul among them with 100 points.
How Stephen Duggan could have done with playing that particular chip.
His Dugs11 squad had no less than 40 points on the bench, the highest tally in reserve of any FPL manager in Gameweek 1.
That talented bench was made up of Ben Foster (10 pts), Kyle Walker (6pts), Coutinho (15pts) and Negredo (9pts).