- Captain choice:
One thing that has been a key to my success this season is choosing the best captain. Whilst this isn’t always a straight forward choice I do believe there will always be one option which is a ‘safe’ option. This will be the option I’d choose 9/10 times. Before this season I was a bit erratic with my captain choices but I’ve tried to tighten up this season and so far it has worked. I have had a perfect 17/17 captain returns this season which has helped me achieve a very low rank only 17 gameweeks into the season.
One rule I generally stick too is captaining a player playing at home. Out of my 17 captains this season, 14 have played at home with a few exceptions where those players have hauled big.
My second rule is to captain one of your premium assets (eg Salah, Kane, Aguero, Hazard.) These players are expensive for a reason so they are most likely to get you the best points in your team. This season I’ve only captioned one of the 4 mentioned above (I’d also put Sterling in that premium bracket)
My third rule would be to look for the captain to be playing a “lower” team. This will give you a higher percentage of expecting a captain return. With the players you’re captaining you know the team itself is a top 4/6 team so you should expect a good result against the lower ranked teams.
- Strong bench
This is something that I’ve always believed in but never tried to put into action until this season. Having a strong bench is vital when making it through times in the season where there a lot of fixtures and in particular December.
However, this season we have had some £4.0m starters in Bennett and Wan Bissaka who have made it easier for us playing the game. If you got them early on then the worry of a strong bench isn’t as big. The only annoyance is to see that 6-9 point Wan-Bissaka sat at 3rd sub on your bench but you know there’ll be several weeks in the season where he will come off your bench and boost your rank. It’s just the nature of the game and these players have helped enable a better starting 11 whilst keeping a strong bench.
- Picking the right premium assets where possible. And jumping off the premium assets as early as possible (hard to judge)
This one is hard to put into action but I think it is one thing that allows you to jump up the ranks and be the difference in any mini leagues. We would all like Kane/ Aguero/ Hazard/ Salah and Sterling in our teams but realistically you can fit in 3 of these into your team so sacrifices have to be made. But this doesn’t mean you can’t own all of them at some point throughout the season. I think trying to jump off a premium asset is something worth considering either when that player has dipped in form of their fixtures turn for the worst. This isn’t always going to work but it’s worth considering.
It is also worth considering jumping on to a premium player if they look likely to explode soon. I managed to bring in Hazard earlier on in the season and it benefited me massively. (Don’t have him now and fear the same right now.)
- Don’t jump on bandwagons for the sake of it.
This tip is one that is hard to judge when playing the game. But the example I think of is Ross Barkley earlier on in the season. He had two double digit points finishes within 3 Gameweeks and everyone jumped on the bandwagon. But realistically we all should have known that a player that hasn’t played many minutes for Chelsea wouldn’t cement his place in the team and since hasn’t done a lot.
However, there are some bandwagons that I do think are worth considering and jumping on as early as you can to gain from them. I think if a player is nailed In a team and finds form he is worth considering. For example, when Richarlison was at Watford he was extraordinary in the first half of the season and I was ignorant to get him in. I finally did and his goals stopped coming. Another example that I’m considering at the moment is Robert Snodgrass. He currently has his starting spot nailed due to the injury of Yarmolenko and he seems to be delivering. His price tag is also not that bad so could be worth considering.
- Don’t make transfers too early based on price rises.
I think this is one of the key factors in me succeeding in the game so far this season. This can be a painful but joyous one. The nature of price changes is very volatile and can affect transfer plans massively. However, waiting until press conferences and waiting to make your transfers as late as you can can change your gameweek completely.
Someone might be hitting form and you might transfer them in whilst the current gameweek is still going on. However, come Friday two of your players in your team have picked up injuries throughout the week and now you’re stuck in a rut where you most probably need to take a points hit just to field 11 players.
I think there will always be alternatives if you’re priced out of a player and the wait is worth it 100%.
- I personally don’t advocate points hits/ many points hits.
I have been very erratic in the past years with points hits but I don’t think they’re necessarily worth it. I’ve only taken one -4 this season when I really felt it necessary.
This is my alternative thinking this season:
- Save 1FT where you can.
- Carry this 1FT over as many gameweeks that is necessary.
- This will allow you to make 2FT when your team needs a shake up.
- This also allows you to make a -4 with 3 transfers which could then make a -4 worth it.
However, my overall feeling towards points hits is to avoid them when you can. However, I do see a lot of successful points hits week on week so I do know it works for some people for sure.