With seven Top 10k finishes to his name, Mark Mansfield is one of the most elite managers in the game. But the 2024/25 Fantasy Premier League season didn’t go his way — and he’s not sugar-coating it.
In this exclusive interview, Mark from the Elite XI: Team Reveal shares his biggest regrets, cult favourite, chip strategy and the moment his season unraveled.
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“Semenyo was absolutely painful from the first wildcard to the second,” Mark admits. “Relentless points dodging — except when he was on my bench.”
It’s a familiar story for many FPL managers: the budget midfielder who flatters to deceive. In the XI? Blanks. On the bench? Brace. Mark’s experience with Semenyo was a weekly source of frustration.
The numbers underline the pain. Among midfielders, only Salah (130) had more shots than Bournemouth’s Semenyo (126), according to the Opta Stats Sandbox. But despite a healthy xG of 15, he returned just 11 goals.
So much promise. Just not enough payoff.
While many managers labelled Foden as overpriced, Mark had a more measured take.
“Foden is the easy answer, but that just turned out to be the case based on a poor season — the initial pricing was fair,” he explained.
Instead, he pointed to Son Heung-min.
“Son’s price seemed a bit steep from the start, and he was never really under consideration. He probably should’ve been priced around £8.0m.”
Despite finishing the season with 129 FPL points, Son fell well short of previous highs — 205 in 2023/24, 147 in 2022/23, and a monster 271 in 2021/22, according to the Opta Heatmaps tool. Now 32, the South Korean star may have passed his peak.
In a season short on highlights, Mark picked Jurrien Timber as his unlikely cult hero.
“Anybody who's followed my season may be aware this is a difficult one to answer — it's been grim. I'll go with Timber on this one.”
While Timber’s appearances were limited due to injury, he clearly held a special place in Mark’s plans — or perhaps symbolised a season of "what could have been."
Mark didn’t hesitate when recalling his low point of the season:
“Gameweek 36 — the end of hope for a good rank. I had battled back to respectability, but GW36 busted me for no good reason.”
His team managed just 36 points, with a Gameweek Rank of over 8 million. A key transfer — bringing in Cunha — backfired completely, as the forward picked up a yellow card and was subbed early, returning zero points. In FPL, one brutal week can unravel months of hard work — and this was that week for Mark.
As for the high point? It came during chip season.
“Forgoing the Slot Assistant Manager to stick with Salah Triple Captain, followed by Emery/Glasner/Glasner Assistant Manager.”
Mark didn’t mince words.
“Not something that's likely to exercise my mind too much.”
But if he had to name one?
“I'll say Morgan Gibbs-White — after he moves to Man City late in the window and is about £1.5M too cheap.”
We’ll hold him to that!
Mark appreciated the effort from the game developers but didn’t hold back his criticism.
“It’s just so convoluted and doesn’t make much sense in the context of what the game is — picking individual players. I’d prefer not to see it return.”
While others enjoyed the strategic twist, Mark felt the chip strayed too far from the core appeal of Fantasy Premier League.
2024/25 may not have added to Mark Mansfield’s remarkable Top 10k tally, but few managers can match his longevity or insight. Even in a difficult season, his decisions and reflections offer value for anyone serious about improving at FPL.
Stay tuned to the Elite XI: Team Reveal tool to follow Mark’s moves and strategies heading into the 2025/26 season.
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