GW Points: 60
Overall Points: 1455
Overall Rank: 3,836
Transfers: None used
This game week was a fairly positive result with further progress on the overall leader board. The team is slowly getting back to a position that I’m happy with. However part of me can’t help but think it was an opportunity missed in some places. -1 point across my three midfielders was really not what I wanted to see from a double fixture game week. Man City were particularly disappointing against Newcastle. In all honesty I’m surprised given how badly some of my players performed that the team actually went up the leader board.
Positives:
Fortunately the positives came from players that I was monitoring as potential players to transfer out. Doherty chipped in with a decent 20 points. Aubameyang got 18 points. Given that both Arsenal and Wolves have decent fixtures in February, I’ll probably stick with both players.
When I picked up Lindelof he was less than 2m. As a result I’ve never really expected much in terms of points from him. Man Utd still haven’t been keeping many clean sheets but they’ve tended to concede the odd goal here and there. As a result a late goal against Burnley was a fantastic result. His 10 points for the week are probably a big contributing factor to the team rising on the leaderboard.
18 points for Aguero was another positive. Hopefully most other managers couldn’t make the switch from Kane to Aguero, due to a lack of transfers, so this may have played into my hands.
Potential Issues:
Chelsea’s recent form is becoming a big concern. Conceding 4 against Bournemouth is not a good sign. It’s got me questioning if Kepa is worth the premium price tag that comes with him. Unfortunately my main reason for keeping him was his fixtures in February. Should he feature in the Europa League, as he has done previously, I’d hoped to take advantage of this. However their fixtures either side of this don’t look very appealing.
I’m fairly happy with my front three, but my midfield not contributing any points is a concern. I’m wondering if having Sane, Sterling and Aguero is slightly over the top. Having said that, Man City should come good and I’m not sure there are many better options out there.
My biggest issue for today is what to do with my final transfer for January. Based on the upcoming fixtures, I’m pretty much happy with my team. As a result I’m tempted to lose the transfer and stick with what I’ve got.
Tips for Game Week 23
Man City have a double game week with a couple of tough fixtures. They face Arsenal and Everton (due to the EFL cup final later in the month). Despite the fixtures being tricky, we all know City are capable of blowing any team away, as a result I’ll probably stick with my City coverage for the upcoming game week. Of the other big teams Chelsea and Spurs look like they have the best fixtures as they host Huddersfield and Newcastle. Liverpool travel to West Ham which should be a fairly easy fixture. Man Utd travel to Leicester which could be much more difficult. Arsenal are away at Man City but their fixtures do improve dramatically after this game.
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Hi there again
Help
Ederson
Robertson
Stones
Sanchez
Sterling
Mahrez
I’m 4 th in my mini league
Ali
Kane
Aub
Salah
Hi folks, just wanted to quickly pop back and say thank you for all the kind comments and best wishes. Very much appreciated.
The old man has just got to have another echogram today and if all is well I’ll be bringing him home later today. Good luck with your teams folks!
Hope everything goes well Chris.
Good to hear mate.
Here’s wishing him a speedy recovery
Good stuff Chris. Hope all goes well.
Hi ddt
As I missed your keeper transfer a few weeks back I have been waiting to catch up on a month when you don’t use all three transfers
Am I safe to go for that now if you aren’t going to use that last one?
When is the latest I can wait before I lose it, just in case you do decide to do something after all?
Tough one – I’m going to give the transfer a miss but it makes sense to use yours if you need to change your keeper. If it wasn’t for the Europa League I don’t think I’d go for Kepa and he might be the next player I move on. I’d be tempted by Ederson if I was making the change in your position.
Thanks dtt
I will do so
Have a good weekend
Stuart
Need ideas for transfers for gameweek 23… I have 1.2m in the bank.
Alisson
Robertson
Kenny
Stones
Pogba
Hazard
Sterling
Sane
Aguero
Rashford
Aubameyang
Salah is a possibility but would have to use majority of my transfers and sane to get him in..
Any ideas would be appreciated
I’d be trying to get Kenny out for a point getting defender m8
Morning All
Any thoughts on my team?
Ederson
Robertson
Laporte
Stones
Shaw
Hazard
Mahrez
Sterling
Rashford
Aguero
Aubameyang
I’m tempted to swap Mahrez for KDB
And I’m thinking Shaw has to come out as United just don’t keep clean sheets. Was thinking for Doherty or a cheap midfielder.
I am playing catch up, 80 points behind so I’m open to all suggestions.
Thanks in Advance
I did take Mahrez and Shaw out for KDB and Doherty.
I’m seriously considering Laporte out for William, with Chelsea’s Europa league games but also don’t really wanna use 3 transfers straight away.
Decisions Decisions
I think the reason it didn’t seem that bad is 3 things:
– You managed to save your transfers and offload Kane. This is huge, so many people used their transfers too early
– Your disappointing players are highly owned, so the effect it has vs. Others means nothing. I look around and there seems to be a consistent formula. 3 attacking City players, Salah, Hazard and at least 1 defensive player from Liverpool and Chelsea.
– This means most weeks the fortune of the team vs. the leaderboard will come down to the following players: Doherty (20), Laporte (-1), Lindelof (10) and Aubameyang (18) – 47pts from 4 players is pretty impressive!
I think your strategy is spot on. There will be weeks when Liverpool or Chelsea keep a clean sheet and those with big blocks will make big climbs, but it will never return consistent results. I haven’t included City in that because their defence is changing all the time. I have seen blocks of City defences and every week they have at least 1 DNP I can’t see how it is effective at all.
The only concern I have for the team is Sane. With Mendy supposedly close to a return, this could limit his game time. I don’t think it is a risk at this point to transfer him for KDB. Still not at his best, but he is going to be a huge player in this fight to the Premier League title, plus they are still in all competitions, albeit a pretty tough Feb. Other consideration I had was Sane > Pogba for the near future with an eye on KDB as the long term selection. Problem is that Man Utd has some very tricky fixtures coming as well (if you still class Chelsea as a difficult game!)
Hi Dean,
I’m with you in sane > Pogba then to KDB
Seems like a very sensible move with other city coverage I assume you have.
Thanks Dean interesting analysis. I think you’re spot on with the players who are making the difference. I’m not a huge fan of Pogba but agree if Sane’s game time does start to get limited that he will need to go. I think for the time being (this game week), I’m going to hold fire but he could be the next one to go. Ultimately we might need a plan for getting Kane back in. If Kane was fit now, I think I’d be tempted to go Kepa out/Ederson in, Sane out/Mane in and Aubameyang out/Kane in. However given the fixtures and the fact that Kane isn’t fit and probably won’t be until March, I may just stick with what I’ve got for the time being and hope for another good game week.
Agree. Absolutely not need to change anything this week
I’m swapping Doherty for mane. I’ve same team as you Dtt but I’m 5th in the league and nobody has him going to a 3 at the back. Gl all
Morning guys:
My team is currently with 3.1 mil in the bank and 3 transfers remaining:
With Pogba looking like he’s fit, and a new goal keeper needed. . . How about Fabianski – Ederson and Laporte – Pogba ???
Fabianski
Laporte
Robertson
Lindelof
Doherty
Sane
Hazard
Sterling
Auba
Aguero
Salah
I’d appeciate any feedback
Ryan
Very Good moves in my opinion.
Ederson looks like a decent move. Not sure about Laporte to Pogba, think it could go either way and might be worth holding the transfers.
Thanks DTT. Won’t be moving for Pogba this week with the 2 games for City.
I’ll keep 2 in the bank and pogba in my thoughts moving forward.
It would be nice to fit other top midfielder into the current set up espically with clean sheets so hard to come by for all
Hi All,
I hope everyone is enjoying the snow !
Great Analysis dean.
Thoughts/opinions on my team ?
Ederson
Robertson,Laporte,VVD,Digne
Sane,Richarlison,Hazard
Salah,Auba,Aguero
1494 – 2.5m in the bank.
Any input greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Good score and position to be in. I’d probably swap Digne for someone like Sane, Pogba, Walker, Azpilicueta. All seem like an upgrade to me.
Would most people agree that fixtures wise Arsenal have the easiest for february?
I’d say so however there’s question marks around who will play in the Europa League.
All my transfers seem to be available for February is this the case for everyone? I thought they became available on the 8th?
They are available now – the 8th was an error on their website.
I’m worried about Aguero being rotated and perhaps Sane now Mendy is on his way back.
Current transfer considerations are;
Mahrez to Sane/KDB, I feel Mahrez is rotated too much and is certainly behind these in the pecking order. I’ll probably opt for the latter as i am concerned over Sane as mentioned above.
Aguero to Aubameyang, again i feel his game time could be shared with Jesus and Arsenal have a good month of fixtures, with the being knocked out of the FA Cup last week, I feel he will want to win the Europa league for the 4th time and go strong with his selection.
I was also considering Rashford to Auba and keep Aguero but I’ve been impressed with him and still think he can score well.
Other players to consider, Kolasinac good attacking left back with good fixtures and potential clean sheets.
Lacazette, is anyone consodering him? I had him before and has started to play well again but he always seems dropped at times which is holding me back.
Thoughts welcome, good luck all.
Also worried about this potential Sane issue. Probably way too difficult to predict but does anyone have an opinion on who will score more / get more game time out of Sane and Sterling over the course of Feb?
Well I had an awful GW with my team last week (although it was the least of my worries in all honesty), this despite me being reasonably happy with it (bar Kane of course). Doherty and Ederson were the only players to post scores in the positives! 😳 A measly 20 points and fell way back again in the leaderboard.
Onwards and upwards though and as Ive said I’m pretty happy with my team having now taken Kane out. He’s my team as it stands:
Ederson
Doherty
Laporte
VVD
Robertson
Sterling
Hazard
Sane
Salah
Aguero
Rashford
Transfers left: 2
ITB: £2.8m
League pos: 6470
Quite a few people seem to be worrying about Agüero rotation but I’m more than happy to draft him in now. He appears to be scoring again regularly and I think he remains the main striker option. Even if he does face some rotation, the extra games that City have should help to negate this somewhat and there is always the chance of 30 minute cameos if he is benched. I’ll monitor the Sane situation, but Dean’s Sane-Pogba-KDB idea could be a decent shout if his minutes indeed are reduced.
Does anyone have the balls to consider ousting Hazard yet? 😉
I must admit I considered it but he just keeps scoring.
I can’t see how I can take him out atm.
Great looking team👍🏻
Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing such potentials this month.
Odoi has run his course. His purpose is served and now he needs to go, but being valued at 0.5 I will need to make 2 subs to replace him (which I was always aware of). The player to leave with him has to be Anderson.
I have 2.9m in the bank but am very conscious of retaining 2m of that in the event of an early return for Kane, so my options are possibly getting Doherty back in and maybe switching 433 for Lindelof.
DTT – If I decide to go with this option, our teams will identical except our keepers (I have Alisson).
Very poor game week for me as highlighted in the previous thread. Expected so much more from the team particularly given the fixtures
Kepa
Laporte
Robertson
Doherty
Sane
Hazard
Pogba
Sterling
Aguero
Salah
Rashford
3/3 transfers and £3.3m ITB
Onwards and upwards. Doubt I’ll make transfers tomorrow but I have question marks over the below.
Kepa – not been great since transferring him in, and despite having 7 fixtures this month, four of them are City (twice), Utd and Spurs. Ederson is cheaper, but for how long?
Laporte – very disappointing points return in my team since transferring in, despite City’s recent clean sheets. Low priority at moment, but transfer to Gomez / VVD, especially if I do Kepa – Ederson
Sane – same reason others have pointed out, questionable game time now Mendy is returning.
Hazard – boils down to Chelsea. Something isn’t right there!
Rashford – only just transferred him in, know he can’t score every game but was disappointed with his – 1 last GW. I have the funds to swap back to Auba, which I may consider for GW 24.
Auba, a keeper swap, VVD/Gomez are all in my radar this month. If I wasn’t top of my league I’d also be looking at gambling on Jimenez for Wolves. Great return last two weeks and Wolves have great fixtures up to GW28, including Huddersfield, Cardiff and Shrewsbury
Apparently Gomez may require surgery now so he could be out for longer than anticipated. It could scupper my Doherty to Gomez plan for GW 28. 😬
Current team
Hart
Robertson
Luiz
Doherty
Sterling
Hazard
Maddison
B.Silva
Rashford
Salah
Aubameyang
3 transfers and 5.5 ITB
5 in my league and over 100 points behind.
Was thinking of
Hart to Ederson
Maddison to Mane
Any thoughts welcome
Both transfers are big upgrades and leave your team looking much healthier.
In need of some help please.
I’ve got 5.6m in the bank
Ederson
Shaw
Robertson
Doherty
Mane
Hazard
Richarlison
F. Anderson
Salah
Rashford
Aguero
I was looking at swapping out Mane but he’s popped up with a bit of form so I’ll leave him for now.
I wanted to transfer Anderson out for Sterling as everyone below seems to have him but was looking towards Pogba maybe scoring more points in the near future due to fixtures and City rotation?
Any other ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks 👍🏻
Hi Lee.
I’d be thinking of taking Anderson and Richarlison out as they only have 4 games this month compared to Chelsea and City’s 7 and United’s 6. Sterling will definitely get you some points but like you say will he be rotated! KDB is back on the scene and will the stand in Skipper Silva be rotated!
Pogba is a shout and I’d be tempted but I’d also look at what the teams around you in your league has.
Good Luck
Yeah you have to stick with Mane now probably with his upturn and the same can be said if Richarlison. Anderson is certainly worth offloading now as I reckon the Arnie situation has really unsettled the dressing room at West Ham (Zabaleta has pretty much said as much when interviewed). I’d certainly be considering Pogba if I were in your shoes too.
Chris_Sutton
Any thoughts on my team above please m8?
Cheers
The changes you mention seem like good upgrades to me. KDB is still moving through the gears after his injury but you might get ahead of the curve if you bring him in now. Pogba would be my other consideration for that midfield position.
As for Doherty, whilst Wolves are struggling to keep many clean sheets he seems to have a knack of still racking up the points.
Have you made any of these moves today? Doherty has an extra FA Cup this week you see v Shrewsbury. Good luck mate! 👍🏻
I put both of em in mate. I see Doherty had a extra game.
Still scored 5 points without a clean sheet.
Hazard just keeps scoring 👍🏻
Yeah, he’s pretty much guaranteed 3 points every week no matter the result. Another budget defender who scores in a similar way is Wan-Bissaka. His match rating is usually up at 7 by half-time and seems to get close to getting Star Man awards too.
Thanks for the help lads. I’ve gone for Sterling in for Anderson for now. Everyone below me has Sterling so it’s a safe bet.
I’ll probably go for Richarlison out after this game week for Pogba.
That’s more like it Eden! 👏💪👍🏻
Due, had it not come against Huddersfield I really would have worried
Kept Hazard in for the hudd game and it was a good choice. However not sure about Chelsea fixtures for the rest of the month?
Man City
Malmo
Utd
Malmo
Man City
Spurs
Can’t see him playing in the Europa. I may just leave him in as I could use the transfers elsewhere? Thoughts
Keep him now in my opinion and see what happens in Europa.
Yeah, I think we’ve got to keep hold now after seeing the beginnings of a good link up with Higuaín this weekend.
Chelsea and Arsenal are having fairly similar seasons to each other (inconsistent) and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see United pip both of them to the 4th CL slot.
Sane benched.
Any last minute thoughts to make a change?
Not for me – if he doesn’t start against Everton in the week then he’s gone but happy to hold the transfers for now considering they’ve got that extra fixture.
I’d be flabbergasted if he didn’t start against Everton now. I can see Sterling being rested (he played the full 90) and Mahrez and Sane operating the flanks.
Do we think Pep has got the balls to bench Aguero after his hat-trick? Looks fresh and bang on form so I think it would be a gamble to bench him. Just so so glad I chose him as my Kane replacement. My standing would have been severely damaged if I hadn’t with all my main ML rivals owning him. 😅 40 point lead with VVD, Robertson and Salah to come. What I’d give for a VVD goal. 🤞
Yeah, just seen that Dean, is Sane on borrowed time now, used 2 transfers already, so I’ll hold for now.
Mahrez our for b Silva, d silva or debruyne. Only don’t wanna pick kdb cos money in bank won’t leave anything
Sane not starting was disappointing but we all know that’s the risk with Pep.
Aguero though, love that man! 1,546 points more and up to 1,653 in the leaderboard. No doubt that’ll change after Liverpool’s game but I do have Robertson and Salah.
Lost the lead in my ML this weekend.
I cannot believe that both 2nd and 3rd own Schlupp and Luiz who both bagged last minute goals and a collective 31 points between them!!
They bagged over 100 points!!..
To say I was pissed was an understatement! Crazy luck for them both!!…
Any ideas why sterling didn’t get 2 assists on sun dream team but he did in FPL?
Apparently because the keeper got a touch after Sterling played the ball across. Stupid rule but there it is. 🤬
*For the final goal that was.
Shocking!! Thanks for clearing up though
I am fuming !!! What has Lindelop got to do earn his 3 points on top of his clean sheet. He has had about 3 clean sheets recently and never gets a mark above 7 to merit him an extra 3 pts. the paper in the know MEN rates him as one of the better United players yesterday!!
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester-united-player-ratings-leicester-15774116.
OFFICIAL: Liverpool confirm that Joe Gomez is to undergo surgery to assist his recovery from a lower leg fracture sustained in early December.
There is no timescale on an expected return date however they say “it’s likely he will feature again this season.”
That’s a blow for my Doherty to Gomez tactic for GW 28. I could perhaps look at going for Pogba, Mane or KDB instead. This would make it difficult to bring back Kane later down the line though for Rashford. Can Rashford keep up this form for the remainder of the season?
I’m really happy with my team at the moment but still feel like I should switch from 4-3-3 to 3-4-3:
Arrizabalaga
Robertson
Doherty
Laporte
VVD
Sterling
Mane
Hazard
Aguero
Salah
Rashford
1529 points (at half time in Liverpool game)
Top of my ML by 68 points
3 transfers available
2.2 million in the bank
I’m comfortable that I can bring Kane back in if needed but any suggestions on who to switch out / in if I wanted to go 3-4-3?
My team is very similar to yours Stuatt except I have Ederson and Sane to your Kepa and Mane. With Liverpool’s defensive injury woes I’m wondering if we could afford to lose one of our Liverpool defenders to go 3-4-3 as you say. The players I’d be thinking of for my team would be Pogba, KDB or Mane.
Spurs are understood to be optimistic Kane could return for their huge Champions League game versus Borussia Dortmund.
Who’s bringing him straight back in and who’s thinking of holding off?
I’d probably hold off for a week or two in case it flares straight up again, but the question now remains who to swap him for!?
Aguero – He may be involved in a lot of rotation, but he proved at the weekend how dangerous he is.
Aubamayang – Blows hot and cold, but gets decent points and has decent fixtures coming up.
Salah – Lose him at your peril, however Liverpool have scored just one goal in 6 of their last 7 games which is really poor for them. Are they due to turn a corner?
Yeah, I’ll admit I’ve got no real plan of how to bring him back yet so I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.
I’m getting “one of those gut feelings” again after watching MOTD at the weekend. De Bruyne was heavily involved in the forward play and got quite a few shots off. Just get the feeling he’s about to explode into life quite soon. Will monitor Sane game time as a possible route to him or as I’ve mentioned before, look at losing one of the Liverpool defenders.
I put KDB in for Mahrez before the game on Sunday, he was unlucky not to score more than 3 points and as you say he,s looking very dangerous. He seems to be involved in everything and is getting forward into good positions.
With City fighting for all comps he will be essential in my opinion.
Although I like having Rashford, I’m currently debating swapping him for Aubameyang purely to stop any progress of the teams behind me in my mini league. Although I would like to see the lineups for the Europe league first 😄
For the time being I’m very happy to keep hold of Rashford. As long as he plays as the main striker I can see him getting another 10+ goals before the end of the season. So rapid and his finishing has been second to none just lately.
Sometimes feel that Aubameyang needs three chances to score one. I guess you can’t argue with his scoring record though which kinda shows that Arsenal do provide him with plenty of chances.
As for KDB I’ve earmarked GW 25 as the week to possibly draft him in. City have an FA Cup game along with the CL league tie with Schalke. This will give me a little bit of time to gauge Liverpool’s defence and Sane’s game time (as potential fall guys for KDB).
Bosh! Doherty scores in the first minute! 💪👍🏻👏 DT Legend. 😍
There goes the CS again though…😥
Disappointing after such a good start – hopefully he can hold star man.
Not to sure with my chelsea players Kepa and Luiz. Transfers left, thoughts on taking them out? And who for if we think I should?
Yeah, I’ve been looking at the fixtures and I must say I’m not keen on Chelsea’s in the short term. Ederson could be a good replacement for Kepa? Extra fixtures, nailed on spot from now on (with the exception of the EGL Cup final I’d imagine though), and he’s at a good price.
Don’t know who to say for your Luiz replacement though as I don’t know your team, cash itb etc?
I’ve also been considering the Kepa to Ederson transfer. Kepa will have the most games in Feb from Friday, with two of those being “easier” fixtures against Malmo. But will be play?
The two fixtures against City are obviously a concern, and Man U are scoring again in their other fixture.
City have the better fixtures, but will Ederson feature in the Cup games? He did in the FA Cup but hasn’t in the EFL.
Doherty now has a second. Surely it couldn’t be a hatrick for the right back. Leeeeegennnd
Get in there. Come on Doherty, cement your place firmly in cult status with a hat-trick. #beyondourwildestdreams
Just slightly annoyed that the guy lying second in my ML drafted him in this week too.
He throws in an assist to make it 3-2! Anyone remember Wayne’s World? We’re not worthy!!!
Now the second highest scoring defender in Dream Team. Incredible. As much of a fan I’ve been of him since fairly early on in the season, even I wouldn’t have predicted these kinds of returns!
Yeah he’s been buy of the season in my opinion. The points vs value has been exceptional
Rumours of Real going for Hazard seem to be gathering momentum. Will this be his final season in the Premier League? I could see him doing well there and if he is to go, this is probably the time in his career to do it. I for one will be sad to see him go though as he’s given us many great moments of skill during his time in England.
I took him out briefly when he had his poor run of fixtures, but relieved that I brought him back in last weekend!!
An immediate 24 point return was much needed after 2nd and 3rd in my league got lucky with Schlupp and Luiz!!
Back on top, but just marginally…. 7 points, but I’m back in the game!
Nice one Doherty!!
Have any of you folks listened/watching the FFS Scoutcast this week? They move onto a really interesting topic about how playing fantasy football can effect mental health. My instinctive reaction was to initially think “for gods sake it’s just a game!” The more I listened however, the more I found that I too was having the same thought processes as these guys and how it can say, make your weekend or really piss you off for the next few days. I think the crux of it can be that if you put a lot of time and effort into playing the game and then it all goes wrong, that’s when it can impact you the most. Really useful words from the guys about putting things into context.
I’m generally quite a positive person so I try to always look forward no matter how bad something has been (with FF or in life) but we are all susceptible to having rough patches which can be triggered by the most trivial of things. I can’t recommend giving it a listen highly enough if you get a bit of spare time.
Here’s the link:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T5eMZTq9OFo
They talk about the mental side of the game about half way through if you want skip the other stuff.
Thanks Chris,
That is very interesting and I will certainly have a listen to that because I have to say, I am guilty of that almost every weekend!!
Without sounding big-headed, I’ve got used to winning my mini-leagues most years, so when I’m having a crap week or season (this season isn’t going great) I do find that it bothers me.
I’m try to be an advocate of not getting stressed about things you have no control over, but the paradox in fantasy football is that there are certain things you do have control over, such as subs.
Just listened to the link… yep, that sounds exactly like me!! Some great points raised which resonate how most of us feel at some point.
I see that they also echoed my poker analogy and how the luck element can compare to fantasy football.
The guys in my Telegraph league cannot believe that I win most years because I point blank refuse to watch match of the day! Have done for years! They question how I manage to win so often when I don’t even watch games to see how a player is looking, but I read reports!
I simply refuse to subject myself to the frustration of watching MOTD and seeing my players hit posts, miss sitters, not getting star man awards when they were the best player on the pitch, etc etc!
It’s bad enough dealing with shit weeks, without watching it on TV too!! 😂😂
Occasionally I take a year off from it, but then I miss it during those seasons… sounds like there’s an addiction going on right?
Yeah, Az spoke about it kind of being an addiction and I can resonate with that. David also made a good point about trying to compartmentalise things which I think could help some. I reckon I might try to have a day off every week where I don’t look at Twitter, this site or the internet in general. Maybe Thursdays would be a good day to re-set the mind.
They also mentioned ‘The General’ and how sometimes he’ll switch off his phone for the whole of Saturday and watch MOTD that night knowing nothing. All that angst can then be compressed into an hour and a half instead of fretting the whole day long. Might be worth a shot? (Maybe not for you though Lee by the sounds of it 😉).
That’s why I do it Chris.
For me, not watching MOTD is my way of ‘compartmentalising’ it somewhat.
Sounds strange for someone made about fantasy football but it helps. Watching MOTD just irritates me!
Another thing I find myself doing is placing cover bets (not much, just £5 a week) on outcomes that would be detrimental to my team, so in the event of a disastrous week, I have a silver lining!
For example, if a competitor has 2 Chelsea defenders, Jesus and Son, I would place a treble on a Chelsea clean sheet, and both Jesus and Son scoring.
I can relate to this and it’s an interesting topic. Personally I don’t get effected by it – it annoys me briefly if I have a bad weekend and I’ll have a moan about it but I tend to see the funny side and it definitely doesn’t effect my mental health. However I can absolutely see how it could. For me there’s too much luck involved to get too bothered by it – it’s not a perfect art and I wouldn’t ever blame myself if things didn’t go my way. I think it’s about expectations as well – if anyone realistically goes into it thinking they’ve got a chance of winning the whole thing then you’re setting yourself up for a bit of a fall. There’s over a million teams, so the chances of me winning is very slim no matter how much time I put into it. I have to confess as well, I don’t watch any football on a regular basis. I don’t have Sky or BT Sport so getting access to live football games is tricky. I really enjoyed watching as much of the World Cup as possible last year but I don’t see nearly enough Premier League football. This is mainly due to other commitments in terms of my day to day job, other work and family. If I’m being honest, I don’t even think it’s important to watch football as long as you have a decent knowledge of the game. For me it’s more of a logistical/mathematical problem than anything to do with football. Most people can win small mini leagues by studying points scored from last season (or the current season to date), checking upcoming fixtures and remembering to make transfers. This season I’ve taken a more methodical approach by logging ownership of certain players every game week in a really competitive mini league of around 350 teams. This has allowed me to spot trends in terms of which players other successful managers are picking. My team is pretty much made up of the highest owned players in this mini league in an attempt to have more coverage of the key players than everyone else has. Getting back to the original point about mental health – I’m definitely not a “gamer” but I bought my son a playstation a couple of years ago and wanted to roll back the years by getting Fifa as I’d never played the online version before. Having played the ultimate team game during the season I don’t know how they get away with it. You basically earn coins and can then buy packs but you rarely win back the value of the coins spent in terms of player value. You can even buy these packs with real money, yet you rarely ever get anything to show for it. I can really see how this could become a problem for some people who really get into the game. It almost breeds a culture of failure, to get some of the big name players you’d need to invest some serious time in the game. There’s also a weekend game where you’re challenged to play 30 games for rewards, how anyone has the time for that I’ll never know but it basically encourages you to be sat in front of the game for a huge length of time. When I was younger games were much more fun and much more simple. After playing Fifa to me it just looks like a money spinner where no one ever feels good about playing it as you constantly fail in trying to land the player you want. I know it’s off topic for here but I’d be interested to know if anyone else has played it/experienced this.
You touch upon a good point there DTT in that it helps to see the funny side when things go tits up, it certainly something I do myself as well. I think approaching 40 this year for me (how did this happen so quickly?!) and having a bit of life experience helps put things into perspective as well but I could see how someone younger could get dragged down a little from DT or FPL.
The thing to remember is that we play this game for fun at the end of the day and if we’re not having fun then what’s the point of it all? The lows we experience from one week help to make those bumper weeks taste all the more sweeter.
With regards FIFA DTT, I find that pretty abhorrent. I used to love gaming back in the days of the Spectrum and Amiga days and spent many fun hours playing Sensible Soccer and Championship Manager. No way should they be ripping kids off in this way. Boooo EA Sports! 👎
Couldn’t agree more – it’s meant to be all about fun. I do struggle to enjoy things when I’m not winning though but as long as I’m competing I’m usually happy. I had a terrible season last season and it was the first full season that this blog had much interest – that was incredibly frustrating. I can’t say I found it overly fun but I still managed to chuck out a blog every week to document the game week. I think the key word you’ve used is perspective, which is probably why it doesn’t really bother me if I don’t do well – in the grand scheme of things it’s not overly important although it can be incredibly frustrating when you invest a lot of time in picking a team and then someone who you know full well has just plucked a few players out of thin air in 15 minutes is on par with you. But I generally can’t help but laugh when that happens.
Ahhhh sensible soccer, I used to love that game, we would have half the estate round our house playing that game most weekends.
Watched the first half of the Everton City match. City have been quite pedestrian and imo are not moving the ball forwards quickly enough, especially on the counter attack. Hopefully now Laporte has put them ahead (whooo hoooo 👏) they can kick on second half.
Although it would mean three of my other players drawing a blank I think I’d take Laporte’s 18 points now and the 1 – 0. I’d welcome a goal from Sterling or Aguero though. Up to my highest position on the leader board to date at the moment.
Even the best teams have to grind out results sometimes and this was certainly that kind of game. Everton created very little it has to be said (although I’m not surprised with Sigurdsson and Richarlison benched!?!?). Silva has a habit of starting well with teams he manages and then they fall off a cliff for some reason. Pleased with the bumper score from Laporte and CS for Ederson though. Gloss taken off a little with Jesus scoring at the end (my main ML owns him) but I can’t have everything I guess. A very satisfactory 114 points for the week. 👍🏻
Sorry, 117 points. 👍🏻
111 for me in the end – happy with that. Agreed about the Jesus goal though, could have really done without that but will hopefully hold the top 2,000 position. Not sure the leader board has adjusted yet though.
111 is an excellent score too DTT. Hopefully we can follow in Dave’s footsteps and break into that top 1000.
Could have done without that Jesus goal right at the end. Still, that Laporte goal gave me 124 points for the week and has just fired me in to the top 1,000.
1,583 points now, still three transfers in the bag, not sure where to improve. Kepa to Ederson potentially, but hard to judge whether they’ll play in the European (Kepa) or Cup fixtures
Kepa
Laporte
Robertson
Doherty
Sane
Hazard
Pogba
Sterling
Aguero
Salah
Rashford
Top 1,000 is good going. I’m hoping Kepa plays in the Europa League, if I remember rightly he’s played in the previous rounds but also looking at the same swap with Ederson coming in for certain if Kepa doesn’t play.
👏 Cracking effort Dave to break into that top 1000! Very strong looking team moving forwards too. Nice one bud! 🙌
Nightmare, my DT app hadn’t updated 😭. That Jesus goal knocked me back just above 1k, by two points. Roll on the weekend.
Grwest scores chaps!!
Really really stupid question coming. I only really look at mini leagues, but how do I find out where I’m positioned on the overall leaderboard. Had a good week this week with 109, which is very surprising given Salah, Auba, Sane and Robertson all blanked…
From a transfer perspective, I Am tempted to lose Sane now for Pogba. I think i’ll Make a call based on champions league showings.
If you open the app up and click on your team as normal, then there’ll be a “Leaderboard” tab on the top, to the right of “Leagues”.
Select that and it shows the overall leaderboard. You can then select the button that says “my teams” and it’ll show your ranking overall.
Thanks Dave, much apprecited
Very good topic above on the effect of fantasy football on mental health. One suggestion is that maybe DTT can put this topic as a separate article, maybe call it ‘the debate’. I think the comments regarding this area are very good (great insights by Chris, Lee H and DTT – my favourite people on this blog apart from myself lol) and interesting to read. Sometimes very good points can get lost in the comments section if there are 100 plus posts.
Happy to post something about this up if someone wanted to put something together. A little pushed for time at the minute.
Well I was thinking just a copy and paste of the relevant bits as the topic is different from the usual stuff discussed here. No major write up required.
Or maybe doing a hot topic section – where these areas are highlighted so easy to find – something FFS does as they have loads of comments on their website.
Good idea RR.
I think that most people who take fantasy league seriously feel the effects and angst. Granted some more than others, but as time goes on, it does seem to get worse.
I’ve been doing fantasy league for some 20-25 years now. Years ago, there was no mobile phones, apps, live score feed, etc! The way to determine my points was by buying a Sun newspaper on a Monday morning and looking at the ratings in the ‘Goals’ section.
Turning back to the game, does anyone feel that Pogba has become an essential now? Most people chasing me now have him and he’s dangerous almost every game.
After their next game against Fulham, Utd have some tough fixtures but looking ahead to the end of March, their finale to the season looks very good (other than facing Chelsea).
I have just one sub left and wanted to preserve it for the possibility of getting Kane back but am wondering if swapping Sane for Pogba is wise given Utd’s fixtures which follow Fulham?
Thoughts?
Not Pogba’s biggest fan but it’s hard to overlook him. I think at the moment I’ll stick with Sane.
What are Sane owners thoughts on the following. Next game week, Manc city have Chelsea at home. No given that Sane will start.
Man Utd have Fulham away and PSG at home.
The following week Man City have Newport away and champs league away. Man Utd have Chelsea at home. Again no guarantees that sane will play, I expect one of those 2 likes champs league. Pogba will ply against Chelsea.
I have 3 transfers left, looking at the players profiles, this week I expect Sane will drop in price and Pogba rise again.
I am tempted to make this change ahead of Friday, monitor things next week and get 2 weeks price rises (this Friday and next). I could always change this sub later, but seems like a good short term opportunity.
Current team
Ederson
VVD
Laporte
Doherty
Robertson
Hazard
Sane
Sterling
Aguero
Auba
Sane
Would be good to get people’s thoughts here.
Thanks
Assume your bottom striker is Salah? If so, switching Sane to Pogba would make your team look very strong with good coverage.
Yeah sorry lee. Salah is my third striker…
Cheers
I was looking at swapping Sane for KDB but looking at the situation you talk of Dan I think you could be onto a winner. The fixtures from GW 24 to the end of GW 27 are as follows:
United play:
Fulham A
PSG H
Chelsea A
Liverpool H
Palace A
Soton H
PSG A
City play:
Chelsea H
Newport A (would KDB play?)
Schalke A
Chelsea A
West Ham H
Bournemouth A
That essentially gives Pogba an extra fixture at least (as long as he plays of course) within that time period. After this run of fixtures it looks like it would be a good time to then switch Pogba for KDB (injuries and form permitting) as he would then have the extra (CL) fixture the following week. Great spot Dan.
PS my team is now identical to yours except I have Rashford to your Aubameyang. He is the player I fear this weekend as Huddersfield away looks to be a very juicy fixture for him.
Essentially this is the move Dean spoke about previously also. 👍🏻
Yeah I like it. I think if you have 3 subs left it’s a great move. Man U kick off earlier on sat so you can check Pogba is starting as well. If he gets injured or anything you can swap back out…
The value piece is what’s good about the move as well, if I’m right about sane dropping (which i don’t know for sure but expect) then you potential gain .4 mill in 2 weeks with Pogba rising both weeks and sane dropping.
I personally also want Man U coverage in my team and with Pogba on pens, plus uncertainty about sane (more so once mendy comes back) I think i’ll Make the move
Son has the better fixtures to Rashford at the moment and hes in red hot form
I’m not sure about the Pogba/Sane swap. I think it’s very like for like and what if Sane gets a run out against Newport? I’ve really got no idea what I’ll do with my transfers this month.
One of the main reasons it appeals to me is that my main ML rival has Pogba so this move could help keep him at arms length. He’s also already made two transfers to my one so I have him covered there.
The rest of his team I don’t really fear too much but Pogba could damage me if he scores well.
The extra fixture does appeal to me also and Pogba will probably only be in my team for those games that I listed above before I again look to another City midfielder, thinking KDB for then but could even be back for Sane depending of circumstances. This then potentially gives me an extra CL fixture for the City player over Pogba.
Kind of using this transfer as a get out of jail free card. Think I’m going to push the button and go for it.
I like most of us on here have the Sane conundrum too.
Kepa
Laporte
Robertson
Lindelof
Sane
hazard
B Silva
Pogba
Salah
Auba
Aguero
£2.5 mi in bank on 1591 points top of my league but only by 8 points. Huge weekend for me as I have Auba Aguero Pogba which my rival doesnt and pogba and auba fixtures look good. He has 7 man city and chelsea players in total so could carve himself up with that game alone.
Still got all 3 transfers left and the thinking was do I need to swap either Sane or B Silva NOW or Sterling or KDB and hold the other 2 transfers back
What do people think is that a transfer for transfer sake man city midfielder for man city midfielder – guy in 2nd only has sane in man city midfield and jesus instead of aguero.
Do I wait this week and look at it next week when city have a double game week?
Thanks
You could wait until the City line-up is announced and then make your play there once you know who’s starting?
I see what people are saying about Pogba because I want him too, but my concern is that after Fulham, they have 3 tough fixtures in PSG, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Since timing is everything in this game, who thinks that getting him in this weekend (and losing Sane) is right?
Bearing in mind that I only have one sub and have Kane at the back of my mind.
Lee
Do you think it could be worth running without kane for the rest of the season, let’s say he doesnt return to after arsenal game on 2nd march – spurs could be close to being out of every tournament and with only 9 – 10 games left. Nearly everyone else would have blown the cash floating around after taking him out and he may not hit ground running, holding on to cash may result in missing points now?
AJF,
That’s a hard one to call as you never know how he will respond. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s to never write off Kane!
There is talk of him returning in the next couple of weeks.
I feel that Pogba will score heavily in Utd’s game against Fulham, but really don’t feel comfortable using my last sub with 3 weeks to go.
i dont think i’d do it with 1 sub left, i have 3 so definitely making the move…probably back fire on me now ive said it though lol.
My current problem with 1 transfer left this month only, is to take out Sane or Azpilcueta, for Pogba or Debruyne, I have Chelsea cover in Keppa, but feel having Azpilcueta aswell is to much looking at Chelsea upcoming fixtures, Keppa should play europa league, I think I need to hold for week, as I don’t want to pick up an injury & have no transfers left, so next week will be same problem, Azpilcueta or Sane out for Debruyne or Pogba, already have Stirling as Man city attacking force, & Rashford for Man – utd, any thoughts most welcome.
Hi David,
I thing holding a week or so is a sensible approach. in my team i have no man utd cover so plan to bring pogba in for sane, but only because I have 3 subs remaining.
Good luck
Cheers Dan, think I’ll hold for week, then have another look at it, if no injuries over week-end, will probably take Azpilcueta out over Sane, as Sane should still get plenty of gametime, & even get cameo roles & do well, favouring Pogba at present only because the guy I’m chasing has De bruyne & 9 other City players.
Yeah, no point bringing in players who the guy above you owns, unless they are absolute essentials of course. Also, short term as I’ve said previously, you could get the extra fixture out of him if you play it right.
Are any of you Lindelof owners not worried about the next three fixtures after the Fulham game? Very tough three games there to negotiate from a defensive point of view. United could well outscore those teams but I’d be surprised if there will be any clean sheets against PSG, Chelsea or Liverpool.
Interesting one, I don’t own but he’s cheap and will continue to gain value. I expect it would take most 2 moves to replace with someone half decent as well. If I owned I’d stick for now
Anyone tempted to put in an Arsenal defender? I know they haven’t got the best defensive record, but could be useful just for February? Especially for possibly Man Utd defenders who have a tough run?
Having said that, they’re not as cheap as Lindelof/Shaw. But I was considering Kolasinac for £3m as he plays in midfield sometimes as well doesn’t he?
They’re obviously not in fa cup, but playing Huddersfield, BATE twice and then two home fixtures against Southampton and Bournemouth isn’t a bad run. It’s finding the right players who could potentially play the BATE games.
Anyone considering it?
Kolasinac would certainly be the pick of those and you’d think they’d have half a chance of clean sheets amongst those fixtures, although it’s always a gamble with that Arsenal defence. Probably just as likely to get attacking returns too so I think he’s a great shout for anyone wanting to remove United defenders from their teams.
Need some help please.
My team is 2nd in the mini League with 1m in the bank
K . Arrizabalaga
A . Robertson
A . Laporte
M . Doherty
V . Lindelof
R . Sterling
L . Sane
E . Hazard
P . Aubameyang
M . Salah
S . Aguero
First place team
Alisson
M . Doherty
A . Laporte
A . Robertson
P . Pogba
E . Hazard
K . De Bruyne
R . Sterling
S . Aguero
M . Rashford
M . Salah
Guys I need some help catching first place, still have 3 transfers. I’m 160 points clear of 3rd so have room for some risks to catch first place.
I’d be tempted to switch Kepa for Ederson. Cheaper price, better fixtures, and by doubling up on City defence you could trump his single City defensive asset.
I’d also be tempted to switch out Lindelof after the Fulham game as United have three tough fixtures to follow. Maybe Kolasinac as mentioned above?
I’ve just switched Sane for Pogba, but being as your rival already has him, I’d be tempted to stick with Sane for now if I were in your shoes. Good luck Matt. 👍🏻
Cheers Chris, like the idea of Kolasinac.
I guess Kepa could be worth holding on second thoughts (as long as he plays Europa which I’d fully expect). Those extra Europa fixtures should help negate (how often am I using that word right now?! 😂) those other difficult fixtures somewhat.
Morning All
Good week for me, collecting 125
Ederson
Robertson
Laporte
Stones
Doherty
Hazard
KDB
Sterling
Rashford
Aguero
Aubameyang
Was hoping for a bit more from KDB but with the games that City have this month I’m sure I’ll get some return. Am tempted with Pogba but with only having 1 transfer left I’m gone keep it as it is.
All the Best for this week.
Looks a strong team to go into the weekend with mate. I can see Laporte playing left back again so I’d imagine Stones will indeed start.
Pogba is killing me…
Lindelof hasn’t travelled for the Fulham match
Kane will return for Burnley match end of the month