Here’s a few thoughts on the up coming fantasy premier league season and why it could be the most difficult yet
fantasy premier league – could this be the most difficult season ever?
Last season was probably the most difficult fantasy premier league season ever. The top 10 FPL managers I follow had 3 years never finishing outisde the top 10k. Last season 5 finished outside the top 10k. Could this season be even more difficult? Here’s some food for thought and some ideas on how it may effect our thought process.
Here’s some of the reasons why:
Packed defences
Last season Leicester and West Ham showed the success that can be gained from a defensive attitude and the ability to beat teams on the counter attack and with set pieces. Northern Ireland, Portugal and even Italy carried this on with success in the Euros. The success of this tactic is bound to permeate through the Premier League and we will see teams pack the defences and counter attack especially on the title chasing teams
Increased money in the Premier League
Crystal Palace and West Ham offered £30m for Batshuayi. Stoke buying Shaqiri, West Ham buying Payet. Vardy turns down Arsenal. Suddenly there are now maybe 6 teams in Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool that could win the title. Liverpool and Chelsea not having European football helps their cause even further. I haven’t even talked about the Champions Leicester in that group. This and the above packed defences mean that a few teams won’t be just hammering everyone turning up to their ground and the pool of players will get wider. Could it even end a template with a bigger pool of players to choose from? It didn’t happen last season and most of the time there were a decent number of players owned by over 50% of active managers but could this be the season that changes that.
The conundrum is will the increased money negate the amount of teams that need to have the main tactic of packed defences?
Euro fatigue
Giroud, Ozil, Ramey and Koscielny could not start for GW1. Kante, Payet and others are unlikely also to be fit after arriving late for pre-season. When was the last time Kane had a decent rest in the summer? Could players without a full summers rest under perform?
Rotation
Everyone remembers the infuriating rotation that occurred with Liverpool in the DGW34 last year. We’re likely to continue to see this as a factor which is difficult to predict. Generally players in the top tier teams are the most attractive but these are the ones that are at the most risk of rotation. The bigger squads through increased TV money and the Euro fatigue effect is bound to increase that rotation even more
New managers
The first 10 rounds before patterns and form are established are hard enough as it is. However, with new managers at Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, Everton, Watford, Southampton plus newish ones at Liverpool and Swansea and likely to be a new one at Sunderland. That’s nearly half the premier league where we have to work out tactics and player selection with little history to rely on.
History can mean nothing
This was particularly the case for midfielders and epitomised by Eden Hazards fall from grace last season. Silva, Fabregas, Yaya Toure and Chadli all who were great in 2014/15 were poor in 15/16. Even Sanchez, Aguero and Kane all had quite long barren spells even if they came good in the end. You knew they would come good but when was the often asked question.
The more informed FPL manager
There’s so much advice out there that it seems less and less people spend 5 minutes on Saturday morning doing their transfers with minimum thought. Add to that this season could be one of the most exciting and competitive ever then interest will be greater than ever in FPL.
So what does it mean for FPL managers?
Less goals?
Could it be the end of 3-4-3 with more clean sheets? That would be some change.
Greater concentration on stats and games?
With a wider pool of potential players more information and analysis and watching of games will help give that edge. We hope we’ll give you those stats to make the best decisions for your team
Learning from others
I find the top 10 FPL managers articles one of the most useful of mine as it is a thought provoking way of being challenged on my own thoughts. We’ll also be increasing the “meet the FFGeeks articles” to see how other players approach FPL.
Hope you found this interesting and any comments are welcome
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