Fantasy football is incredibly fun, you celebrate goals you never thought you would and, like the real game, so often decisions are made with your heart, rather than your head. I am no master, but I am a six-season veteran, experience which has now led me to The Gooner Talk Fantasy title.
The Beautiful Virtual Game
How can you not be romantic about football, it is the beautiful game after all and the virtual game raises the stakes even further. Many a discussion take space on captain choices, possible upsets and the biggest questions like, “how can you not have Trent Alexander-Arnold?” Be it in the office, the pub or, more recently, confined to the safety of the WhatsApp group chat, each conversation invokes ideas and doubts.
This year, after some notable second and third places, I decided to get serious. I did my research; Twitter became my guide and pre-season match reports my bible. All in the hope to finally trump the friend who had bullied the league for years.
Story of the Season
Two themes revealed themselves from the off. Ensuring to captain a player who is explosive against a team that tends to concede goals and not worry too much about the goalkeeper decision because it will almost always be wrong.
The decision to play with only two defenders for the first handful of Game-weeks (GW) had me nervous as Jan Vertonghen and Matt Targett remained out of favour and Charlie Taylor recovered from injury.
The first wildcard was played by the fifth round of games and I never looked back. I found myself 53rd and 40 points off the top of TGT league. As the season wore on, I only finished top of the monthly leader board once – in July after an exceptionally long wait. The key was consistency, one bad GW and it could all suddenly look vastly different.
Key Performers
Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah remained my only ever-presents all season besides the use of a fantasy chip – usually in the form of a free hit, a single GW with unlimited transfers which reverts the team back upon completion.
It is always worth having two or three of these premium-player options as the choice of captain, something I realised early in the season. There are points to be found in lower cost players, but these heavy hitters should be where your armband rests. There is little doubt the season’s success story was forged by the top two-point scorers consistently fielded on my virtual pitch.
Luck or Judgement?
The short answer is most certainly the former. In GW21 I purchased Jamie Vardy who, at the time, was scoring for fun and a real belief was growing he could again break his Premier League goalscoring record. But then, disaster. Brendan Rodgers decided to leave out the former England international and I was left questioning my judgement.
With no idea who I had chosen as vice-captain, I scrambled to open the Fantasy app to see Jack Grealish adorned with the responsibility. Relief. The Aston Villa talisman had both scored and assisted in their 2-1 win over Burnley earlier in the GW. Whilst Grealish had been my vice-captain for several weeks prior, it was pure luck to receive the 26 glorious points and certainly the last time I would take this choice so lightly.
Yet, the element of good judgement would arrive sooner or later. As GW35 approached, I took the brave decision to remove the in-form Christian Pulisic and my mainstay Kevin De-Bruyne. Raheem Sterling and Michail Antonio took their place in the team.
Whilst City had been scoring for fun, their goals lacked the Pep elegance and instead had been rather messy. This was, in part, down to the absence of Aguero. Lacking this deadly finisher, I had a thought that this may suit the diminutive Sterling and my choice would be vindicated. A hattrick and 21 points in the bag, but more was to come.
The decision to field Antonio was bore, rather simply, from the knowledge that Norwich City had been dire. This, in combination with Antonio being listed as a midfielder yet playing as a striker seemed too good to be true. His bullish speed and strength against Timm Klose only solidified my choice.
This paid dividends, 4 goals and 26 points in my pocket, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel appear and my name beginning to be etched upon the trophy.
That was a bad move!
Whilst top 1700 is, what I would consider, a great achievement, it is with some regret that had I not made some key choices the top 1000 may have been feasible. My great learning experience regarding goalkeepers manifested from a decision between Nick Pope and Aaron Ramsdale. I replaced the former for the latter, favourable fixtures the motive for my switch. 56 points later for the Burnley keeper and I could only think of what could have been.
Trying to be smart with your captain picks is, in my opinion, ill-advised. Several attempts early on with Callum Wilson and Gylfi Sigurdsson evidenced this well. I didn’t stray far from the trademark picks of Mohamed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane from then on in. Players who can have explosive GWs can bring you great hauls, yet consistent players with occasional ‘mad ones’ will bring you home.
What next?
There’s always room for improvement, losing around 80 points from goalkeepers is proof of that. Being smart, not clever is certainly the way forward here. Captains are massive, a rotation of consistent premium players is best advised. Starting with the expensive players early on to avoid price rises seems obvious but very effective, the end-game will thank you for this diligence.
Final tips
Watch football, whether it is games or highlights and look for these gems. The player who misses the target but get lots of chances and the defender who valiantly heads away many crosses and puts his body on the line. These talents could be the players your team needs to dominant your mini leagues and earn you the bragging rights I look forward to holding for as long as I can.