Do I need Jessie Fleming in my team?

Jessie Fleming came into this WSL season off the back of Olympic glory with Canada. Generously priced at £250,000, her heroics in Japan caught the eye of many ShePlays managers, making her one of the most popular picks for Round 1.

Personally, I had my doubts. The Canadian midfielder wasn’t an established starter in last year’s title-winning Chelsea side. She started 3 league matches and made appearances off the bench in 11 more, averaging 18 minutes per substitution when she did. As someone who likes to have a team of starters, she wasn’t getting anywhere near my squad.

For the first couple of rounds, I felt vindicated. 5 points in the first 2 weeks definitely didn’t phase me. But then things took an interesting turn. She’s currently sitting on 64 points, 30 behind leading midfielder Kim Little, but well up there with other popular picks like Mayling, Reiten, and Zelem.

So how good a pick is Fleming, after all?

Playing Time

I was right to think she wouldn’t get a lot of minutes. She’s made 3 starts, averaging 87 minutes per start, and had 4 sub appearances, averaging 10 minutes off the bench each time. This has meant that she’s ranked 144th in the league for minutes played this season, playing 301 of Chelsea’s 630 minutes.

Her minutes played stats put her solidly in the camp of Emma Hayes’ back-up options. 13 players have played more minutes than Fleming for Chelsea in the WSL this season, and only 6 have played fewer. It’d also be reasonable to expect Fleming make fewer starts once Pernille Harder returns from injury.

Her fantasy points have been boosted by her 3 goals. Given her xG (expected goals) for the season is 3.2, you could say these goals are well-deserved, being about what you’d expect based on the quality of chances created. Her xA (expected assists) is 1.0, matching her 1 assist.

Points

However, as fantasy managers, what we really care about is points: getting as many as possible for the lowest price.

Players at Fleming’s price point

A graph plotting total points for midfielders priced £250,000 or lower against their price in the game.

In terms of midfielders priced at £250,000 or lower, Fleming is best in class. Only Villa’s Sarah Mayling comes close, being a regular starter for Villa with good bonus point potential.

Popular picks Remi Allen and Sophie Ingle are relative underperformers, despite Allen playing all 630 of Villa’s minutes and Ingle playing over 200 minutes more than Fleming.

Looking beyond the midfield position, Fleming is still good value. A handful of players, mostly defenders, have netted higher or similar points totals for either the same or less money. Some of these defenders and forwards could be better value alternatives to Fleming, formation allowing.

A graph plotting total points for players priced under £250,000 excluding goalkeepers against their price in the game.

This is definitely a good value price point: players in the Round 7 Team of the Week were priced at £250,000.

Fleming versus players of all prices

A graph plotting total points for midfielders against their price in the game.

Compared to all midfielders, Jessie Fleming has done very well. If you had faith in each player’s continued returns, you might be able to save some money compared to the likes of Zelem. Players with 45 or fewer points aren’t labelled in the graph, but it goes without saying that if you own a midfielder on fewer points than Fleming, for a higher price, you might want to weigh up your options.

Kaagman is an interesting one: her points have dried up in recent weeks with only single digit hauls, much less than her double digit opening two weeks. She might be one to look at replacing with the likes of Fleming or Mayling.

A graph plotting total points for players excluding goalkeepers against their price in the game. — When you compare Fleming to all outfield players with over 50 points, you can see you more or less get what you pay for. Not labelled on the graph is Pernille Harder, who sits as an outlier at £800,000 with a paltry points return. Formation allowing, maybe you could save some money on the likes of Hemp, but there’s so much else at play to consider.

Comparing this scattergram to the one with only midfielders, you can also see that most high scoring players are forwards or defenders. I’ve excluded goalkeepers from the chart, as no one is replacing Fleming with a goalkeeper, but the highest scoring goalkeeper (Zinsberger) has 65 points which is only 1 more than Fleming.

Arguably, there is a case for going for low budget, high value midfielders like Fleming to allow money to be channeled to your attack and defence.

Summary

Fleming has been a very good pick. Despite not playing many minutes, she’s taken her chances and delivered a handful of goal contributions. As a £250,000 midfielder, she’s priced well and plays in a position that many managers may want to save some money on to beef up the often higher-scoring attack and defence. In her position and price band, only Sarah Mayling is really keeping pace with her.

Will this continue? When Pernille Harder returns from injury, Fleming may see less time on the pitch. Alternatively, maybe Emma Hayes will continue to integrate her into the side.

It might be a little bit of a gamble having Fleming in the side. But so far, those who have taken a chance on Fleming have had their faith rewarded.