Fantasy Football (World cup edition)

[Adar]

Interesting game week with the top 3 all playing different formations and different captains.


Sören (3-4-3)
------------------Cech---------------
--------------------------------------
Coleman(D)---Cahill---Ward(D)
----------------------------------------
Gerrard-Silva(D)-Touré(D)-Eriksen
----------------------------------------
Lukaku (VD)-----Agüero(CD)-----Suarez


Adar (4-3-3)
----------------------Speroni (D)-------------
-------------------------------------------------
Azpilicueta-Coleman(D)-Kompany(D)-Baines (D)
-------------------------------------------------
------Eriksen---Touré(CD)---Johnson(D)------
--------------------------------------------------
Lukaku (VD)-----Agüero(D)--------Suarez------


Adam (5-5-1)
----------------------Mannone (D)-------------
-------------------------------------------------
Azpilicueta-Coleman(D)-Mariappa(D)-Zabaleta(D)
-------------------------------------------------
Mirallas (CD)-Lallana-Gerrard-Touré(VD)-Puncheon(D)
---------------------------------------------------
-----------------------Suarez---------------------

Going with my "high variance" theme I am going into this game week with double defenders from Everton and a maximum number of players from Everton as well as Manchester City. I also got the highest number of DGW players with 8 to Adams 7 and Sörens puny 6.

Key areas for the different coaches will be:
Sören:
Sergio Agüero and David Silva are key differentials
Edin Dzeko and City defense should not score well

Adar:
Everton needs to keep clean sheets
Spot kicks for Agüero and Gerrard will hurt as I got neither one.

Adam
Mirallas need to play consistently
Puncheon and Mariappa are major differentials

Interesting to note is also that we all got defensive cover for Crystal Palace and Chelsea. Individual players unable to affect the outcome are Seamus Coleman, Luis Suarez who are owned by all of us. We all also got Steven Gerrard but he only made the bench for me.

[Charlatan]

No Lukaku as (c) is what's standing out to me, he seemed to be the obvious (c) pick as he has both form and fixtures in his favor, may be a classic case of over thinking by the top three. I fancy my chances for another MOM against these line ups

[Azog 150]

Forgot to change my team around for this week and its definitely going to cost me. Mirallas is on the bench even though he's got two matches to play. Mertesacker is also on the bench, and Sturridge is my captain.

[Adar]

No Lukaku as (c) is what's standing out to me, he seemed to be the obvious (c) pick as he has both form and fixtures in his favor, may be a classic case of over thinking by the top three. I fancy my chances for another MOM against these line ups

I didn't even have Lukaku in the team until this morning. With more thought I would probably have captained him rather than Touré.

[Søren]

No Lukaku as (c) is what's standing out to me, he seemed to be the obvious (c) pick as he has both form and fixtures in his favor, may be a classic case of over thinking by the top three. I fancy my chances for another MOM against these line ups

I didn't think Lukaku was a particularly exciting captain choice, despite how common a decision it seemed to be. Sunderland away is obviously a nice fixture for an opposing striker, but Crystal Palace have had a very good defensive record recently. His points per game and form was good but not outstanding, too. He's undoubtedly a decent pick, but not really much ahead of some of the other alternatives for me.

Adam has a liking for risky captains, and has surpassed himself this time with Mirallas. Got to say I was surprised by that, given his recent lack of playing time and overall record, but I guess he's decided to go all in on a very high risk/reward strategy. Disappointingly for Adam he didn't play today, though in the unlikely event of him also not appearing against Crystal Palace the captaincy will pass to Yaya Touré and Sturridge will come off the bench in replacement,

[edse]

I believe I've had Yaya in my team since the beginning but before this week I transferred him for Puncheon to afford Lukaku .

[Charlatan]

No Lukaku as (c) is what's standing out to me, he seemed to be the obvious (c) pick as he has both form and fixtures in his favor

I'm feeling a few Sturridge goals today so I've given him the armband over Suarez. Lets hope it pays off.

Yeah, we're both now officially banned from bigging up our teams chances of doing well till next season or at least waiting till it pays off (Jinx). Lukaku has never delivered when I've given him the (c) this season.

I believe I've had Yaya in my team since the beginning but before this week I transferred him for Puncheon to afford Lukaku .

Nobody would have recommend you do that before this GW but it's great when decisions like that pay off.

Kevin Mirallas outscoring Lukaku, Aguero and Yaya this GW, who'd have thunk it after Saturday.

[Adar]

After last weeks disaster this was a nice turn of events. Finally getting ahead of Adam only to have him catch up with me would have been very frustrating.

Coleman got an assist and Baines got a goal along with their so doubling up on Everton proved successful this week.

[Adar]

And the battle for second continues.

This week the double up Everton backfired as Coleman scored in the wrong goal and Adam selected Wilifred Bony as his captain. But I got Ramsey (C) and Podolski yet to play so if they score at least 5 points between them I will still be ahead of Adam.

[Azog 150]

Yeah, we're both now officially banned from bigging up our teams chances of doing well till next season or at least waiting till it pays off (Jinx). Lukaku has never delivered when I've given him the (c) this season.

I hear that!!



And The Aigburth Supreme continue to drop to mid-table obscurity!!

[Charlatan]

Seems form has been key in settling the MOM result as this is the third time in a row a manager has been able to double up in winning the award, Christian Eriksen of the Spurs looks to have been Adar's key signing of the month as he's delivered a more than impressive 38 points for FC Gripen over the course of April, couple all of this with FC Gripen's GW ranking of 3,263 in GW 33 and it's an award well won. Well played mate.


Classic league


The top three have been trading blows since January but the status quo of Soren's 60 point lead has generally been maintained, Ash does however still have a WC in his back pocket which I'm expecting to be played on this final DGW of the season so it is still possible for a late charge and I doubt Adar would be willing to give an inch of ground yet, all three however are on course for very high finishes in the overall leagues. Ash again this season has lots of 1's in his mini league tables, Ishoss looks more than likely to win one and Omni still has a fighters chance of winning a mini league so although our table looks rather settled their is still lots to play for even this late in the season. All this plus one final MOM for the two GW's that May has to offer.


H2H League


No one has hit untouchable form at the crucial time of the season as the top three teams have all decided to impersonate Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City and have a free for all type finish. Introducing first Chelsea (Gripen), needing both of the other top two to slip up although now it looks unlikely, secondly Liverpool (Soren), yeah you had it in your hands but that final slip may just have cost you the lot and finally Citeh (I>Luis Garcia) just win baby and their's nothing anyone can do to stop it, I'll take the role of Arsenal in this as if I didn't I'd have nothing to say about my own team at all as I've hit nowhere land and I also feel that Champion's league football next season is an award unto itself.

[Søren]

H2H League

No one has hit untouchable form at the crucial time of the season as the top three teams have all decided to impersonate Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City and have a free for all type finish. Introducing first Chelsea (Gripen), needing both of the other top two to slip up although now it looks unlikely, secondly Liverpool (Soren), yeah you had it in your hands but that final slip may just have cost you the lot and finally Citeh (I>Luis Garcia) just win baby and their's nothing anyone can do to stop it, I'll take the role of Arsenal in this as if I didn't I'd have nothing to say about my own team at all as I've hit nowhere land and I also feel that Champion's league football next season is an award unto itself.

Looks like you actually play an Everton role here. I am reasonably favoured to win my two remaining matches, while Adam is equally the favourite to win his final one. However the match against you is more tricky. A win for Adam will likely see him take the H2H league, but a victory for you will quite possibly hand it back to me.

Here are our remaining matches with points differences in April to show recent form:

Søren FC:

Middlesex Middlemen = +62
Tartan Army = +105

I <3 Luis Garcia:

Moreinho's mojo = -5
Perth United = +76

[Adar]

This is a real nail biter.

Both Adam and Sören got Agüero as their captain while I have Touré as captain and Baines on the pitch.

Edit: I really hope that Touré got an assist for that goal and it looks like Aguero may be hurt as well.

[Adar]

Damn, both Rooney and Ramsey missed their games.

Ironically this put me in a situation where Rooney not playing his next game may be an advantage as Kieran Richardson would come off the bench with a goal for Fulham .

[Ybbon]

Looks like I have cemented 13th. As it is the first time I have played a fantasy team all through the season I am not too disappointed. Errors were playing the Arsenal players too long - having Szecesny, Szcesny, Arsenals goalie in for all their big losses was a mistake, also Van Persie at the beginning of the season, especially as when I picked the team I contemplated Suarez instead but went for RVP as he would "play more". Also, I went for a few Utd players such as Cleverly. Oh well, roll on next season.

[edse]

Hehe, you won't catch me . I, on the other hand, have 73 points up to eleventh with Mata(C), Dzeko, Kolarov, Amalfitano and maybe Agüero left as an advantage this week while he has Yaya. If Mata and Dzeko score a hattrick each it might get exciting

[Charlatan]

Well after last night's Man Utd game I hope Giggs doesn't get the job, and I was thinking David Moyes line ups were hard to predict

[Adar]

Captain Touré really saved me this week.

It looks like Sören is going to win unless I can guess is user name and password as he is 42 points ahead of me.

But 2nd place is really tight and I got a 5 point lead thanks to Adam selecting De Gea ahead of Vito Mannone in the goal. Maybe it is time for mindgames ?

Hhm, I wonder if I should replace Rooney with either Bony or Dzeko...

[Adar]

Congratulations to Adam for beating me to 2nd place by a 4 point margin after I captained Suarez who failed me completely.

[Charlatan]

MOM


Well May might have been short and sweet but I'm sure Adar won't mind as he picks up his third manager of the month in a row, 19 points from Manchester City's Vincent Kompany over the final two GW's were a helping hand as he seems to have pipped Ash by a single point for the final MOM of the season.


Manager of the season


I'd never have thought this back in March but Adar's team have been in full flow in the final quarter of the season and as he's collected more MOM's then anyone else (3) it's an award well won.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Manager of the Month

August - MurfMurf
September - Azog
October - Ash
Quarter 1 - Ash
November - Soren
December - Soren
Quarter 2 - Soren
January - Charlatan
​​February - Charlatan
Quarter 3 - Charlatan
March - Adar
April - Adar
May - Adar
Quarter 4 - Adar

Classic league

Soren's lead in this has been cut down over the last few weeks but it's never really been under threat, the 2nd quarter seemed to be the deceisive move where Soren was able to have a good spell of picking the correct (c) for his team on a regular basis and being able to have a very high priced forward line of Rooney - Suarez - Aguero. He's finished the season with a overall ranking of 3,943 though at one stage he did have a ridiculously impressive ranking of 989. Ash and Adar chased hard through the final months but in the end it was to no avail although they will also both be pleased with their final rankings for the season.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

User Name	Overall Points	Overall Ranking
Soren	2432	3943
Ash	2406	8553
Adar	2402	9453
MurfMurf	2223	229939
Charlatan	2198	29947

H2H League


The H2H was far tighter this year than last where Ash was able to run away with it, all of the top 3 teams still had a good chance of winning it in April and although all of them managed to slip up in the end the league was only won on points differential as Soren was just able to pip Ash with both having collected 82 points for the season with Adar trailing in only three points behind the pair of them.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

User Name	Points	Points Differential
Soren	82	+26
Ash	82	-26
Adar	79	-
Charlatan	73	-
Omnipotent Q	68	-

This is the second season in a row where we've had a double winner in the TWC leagues and as their's no rep for this game here's the best prize I can offer to Soren.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Well played Soren

That's it then for the 2013/14 Fantasy season then, thanks all for sticking it out as I know how infuriating it is when you've little to play for in your mini - leagues.

The TWC HOF

Well this game looks like it's here to stay now as we have a regular base of players who look likely to continue so we may as well add our own Hall Of Fame for previous seasons in fantasy land and something for us all to chase in future games

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

User Name	Overall Ranking	Season
Soren	3943	2013/14
Imb	8398	2006/07
Ash	8553	2013/14
Adar	9453	2013/14
Adar	14782	2011/12
Ash	17630	2012/13
Classical_hero	106529	2007/08
MurfMurf	125740	2011/12
Classical_hero	136635	2006/07
Adar	153455	2012/13

Fantasy World Cup


I'm hoping to boost up another game of fantasy for the world cup although I think the rules differ slightly to our normal FPL game, I'll be using the official Mcdonalds fantasy game which you can find here


http://en.mcdonalds.fantasy.fifa.com/


and register here


http://en.mcdonalds.fantasy.fifa.com/


The rules/FAQ for the game can all be located here


http://en.mcdonalds.fantasy.fifa.com/rules_help/index


The game starts on the 8th of June and teams will need to be sorted by the start of the first game which is on the 12th for anyone interested.