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            <p>In this article, FPL veteran <a href="https://twitter.com/richclarkefpl">Rich Clarke</a> shares his early thoughts and preparation techniques for the upcoming season.</p>
<p>Rich is a Fantasy Premier League legend and has one of the most enviable records out there, notching two top 500 finishes and eight top 10k finishes over a 16 year FPL career.</p>
<p>He is the only FPL manager in the world to have never finished outside the Top 50k in any season during this time.</p>
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<p>Rich will be revealing how he prepares for a new season over a series of three articles, culminating in his Gameweek 1 team reveal prior to the first round of fixtures.</p>
<p>See part one of Rich's pre-season thoughts <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-pre-season-thinking-preparation-part-one-rich-clarke">here</a>.</p>
<div id="attachment_47341" style="width: 752px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47341" class="wp-image-47341 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Screenshot-2022-07-19-at-17.09.41.png" alt="" width="742" height="634" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-47341" class="wp-caption-text">Rich Clarke's FPL history</p>
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<h2>FPL 2022/23 season: Evolving thoughts</h2>
<h4><strong>How is the template shaping up?</strong></h4>
<p>It has been interesting consuming a lot of FPL content over the last two weeks.</p>
<p>So much has been written or stated about the best formation to start with, whether to have <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/how-to-fit-salah-haaland-kane-into-your-fpl-team">three premium assets</a> and who are the emerging <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-pre-season-guide-2022-23">pre-season</a> gems we need in our squads.</p>
<p>It is becoming clear there are around 30 good options to choose from for Gameweek 1, perhaps more.</p>
<p>It is important though at this point to be around 80% comfortable with your initial squad and just have a few final decisions to make over 50/50 calls in certain positions.</p>
<p>My view on the 'template' is that it is fine to be very template in initial thinking.</p>
<p>Having reviewed a number of <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fantasy-football-hub-ultra-service-the-dream-team">Hub members' teams</a> already, along with a variety of podcast teams, it is clear there is more than enough difference in opinion out there.</p>
<p>Now is not the time for maverick picks. It is fine to go one way or another though on a '50/50' - a <b>Harry Kane (£11.5m) </b>versus <b>Erling Haalnd (£11.5m) </b>or <strong>Andrew Robertson (£7.0m) </strong>over <strong>Luis Diaz (£8.0m)</strong> scenario.</p>
<p>The main thing a Gameweek 1 squad needs is balance and flexibility.</p>
<p>Fantasy managers will often unbalance their squads in a last stretch to squeeze-in a player from the next price bracket up.</p>
<p>They may distort their formation to 'shop the value' and be different to the herd.</p>
<p>By staying flexible and picking wisely, we are better equipped to react patiently to the first bandwagons or injuries that emerge.</p>
<p>We know they are coming!</p>
<h2>First draft: Formation, form and fixtures</h2>
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<p><strong>Sign up to the Hub to read more of Rich's thoughts on planning for FPL Gameweek 1!</strong></p>
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FPL pre-season planning: Rich Clarke’s Gameweek 1 team reveal (Part 2 of 3)

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