Fantasy Football 2014/15 (EPL - kicks off 16/8/14)

[Charlatan]

Fantasy's back again for all you English Premier League fans out there, never mind the drama of watching your own team's results over the course of a weekend, try taking on the fantasy challenge so that all EPL game's and every goal becomes important. Once again we'll have a hundred million to form our squads with to sort the Van Gaal's from the David Moyes among us.

Website

http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb.html

Classic league code



It'll be a Forum members only league again so post up with your team names please. Anyone new to the game just post up any questions here, the more the merrier.

Aigburth Supreme - Azog
Aland FK - edse
BarcaUK -Jim Katalanos
Flying Eagles - Tim1988
Grofteknuserane - Ishoss
Gripen FC - Adar
Hammeredalways- Hammeredalways
LA Riot - Chilon
Los Pollos Hermanos - Murfmurf
Midsomer Murderers- Gallus
Moderati Athletica- Ybbon
Moreinho's Mojo - Charlatan
Perth United ​- Classical Hero
Q's victory - Omnipotent Q
Soren FC - Soren

This is an old guide written by Adar which could also provide useful information for new players, written before the start of the 2012/13 season. I suppose someone could write a new one for this season if they fancied it.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Adar guide to team selection

Philosophy
Fantasy premier league is about earning points, not creating the best team in the league. This mean that deep lying midfielders like Luka Modric or defensive centerbacks like Coloccini are far less interesting prospects than in real life. It also means that it rarely is a good idea to recruit the maximum amount of players from your favorite team (Newcastle or Swansea were notable exceptions to this last year).

Instead it is all about looking for value in the form of points per cost this mean that a 4.5 M£ player earning 3 pts per game is a bargain while a 7 M£ is a disaster. When I make my team I strive to have 8-9 really high scoring players while the remaining 5-6 players are solid starters in weaker teams. This way I can have 8-9 assured starters and then rotate the last positions between players with favorable fixtures.

Team selection
I always start out by filling my team with "bargain players" and two "captains". The captain scores double points so it is necessary to have two or three reliable high scorers in the team. Then I try to load up on bargain players which tend to be the stars of minor teams. Mark Noble, Danny Guthrie and Steven Taylor are good examples of this category of players which provide room for maximising your number of heavy hitters while still earning a solid points each game.

This mean that you should have a lot of budget room to recruit the true heavy hitters that will earn you the majority of points throughout the season. Personally I find it very hard to find good star backs so my back line tend to be weak to maximise value in the front areas.

Player types to look for

Goal keepers
There are essentially two ways to set up the goalkeeper position. High/low or low/low, high priced goalkeepers like De Gea or Hart are always at the top of the scoring but they are also more expensive to buy. In previous seasons it have therefore been a good investment to buy two cheap (4.5M£) goalkeepers who can rotate instead. This year the low/low strategy has become harder to pull off as all solid starters are costed at least 4.5M£ and good defensive teams got their goalkeepers at 5M£. Getting two decent goalkeepers is therefore likely to cost you 9.5-10M£. I would however not recommend a star keeper and a non-starter combination as that 0.5 M£ very well force you into emergency trades if a goalkeeper suffer a short term injury or rotation due to champions league.

Defenders
There are essentially three kinds of defenders worth buying.

Weakest link players: The worst defenders are also the ones priced the lowest. Getting clean sheets is a team effort so paying premium for the best defender in the team is not worth much unless the player also is good at scoring, passing or getting bonus points. Last season this made players like Danny Simpson and Ryan Taylor just as valuable as widely aknowledged Fabio Coloccini. Just make sure that you make these buys in settled squads and keep an eye out for any break outs where new players are given the chance.

Attacking defenders: Some players are better than other at scoring offensive points. Out of position defenders are worth their weight in gold as they score 6 pts per goal and also tend to get very high EPI scores. But strong attacking players such as Leighton Baines, Brede Hangeland and John Terry can also make worth of their premium valuations thanks to their scoring ability.

Solid defenders: Some teams rotate their defenders more than other. This ment that to get into the Manchester City defense you pretty much had to invest in Kompany and Evra was likewise the only solid starter in Manchester United for long periods of time. Trading players can be costly so saving 0.5 M£ is not always the bargain it seems.

Midfielders
Selecting midfielders is a rather straightforward affair as a defensive player or deep lying midfielder almost never score enough points. Leon Britton who had a huge season for Swansea and played every game for the team only scored a measly 81 pts last season. So when looking at rotating midfielders it is a good idea to look at the most offensive 4.5M£ midfielders you can find.

The midfield section is also the category of players most likely to create huge bargains where 5.0-6.0 M£ turn into top scorers (like Gylfi Sigurdsson last year). As an example I can reveal that I currently got 13 midfielders on my watch list just to monitor if they turn into point scoring machines so I quickly can optimise the team.

Forwards
Are always a bit of a headache for me as the game managers tend to put a high price on any quality attacker. Therefore I tend to put my two expensive "captain choices" in the forwards category (Van Persie and Aguero last year) and then a third quality striker to support them (Ba/Cisse last season).

Team management
Overmanaging the team is one of the biggest threats to a coach. Knee jerk reactions to band wagons tend to cost a lot of points (selling price only increase by 0.1 pts for every 0.2 pts the buyer price increase since you bought him) so a well thought out team should not be changed too quickly. My favorite tactic on deciding to sell a "cold" player and buy a "hot" is to look at the EPI index. A player who have a 3 game points drought but retain a high EPI score is likely to hit his form again while a drop in the EPI score tend to correspond to new team tactics or poor player form.

Saving the wild card for April is also often a good idea as rescheduled fixtures and injuries can disrupt even the most solid team.

[Ybbon]

Oddly I was wondering when this would be starting, I'm in and hopefully will be doing better than a stranglehold on 13th this year,

[Charlatan]

Oddly I was wondering when this would be starting, I'm in and hopefully will be doing better than a stranglehold on 13th this year,

It normally comes online about a month before the competition starts which is great for sorting out your initial squad by checking out all the pre-season friendlies for form or for some cheap starters, it's looking difficult to start with an overpowered midfield with the price hikes to Yaya and Ramsey but I'm sure some deals will come apparent before kick off time comes, maybe more of the regular posters from the EPL thread will take part this time around. Either way good luck.

[Adar]

I am unable to log in with my Galaxy Tab =(. How much does Ramsey cost?

Also, remember that the guide is writen by a guy who only came third last season :-)

[Charlatan]

I am unable to log in with my Galaxy Tab =(. How much does Ramsey cost?

Also, remember that the guide is writen by a guy who only came third last season :-)

Some notable price spikes

Coleman 5.5 -> 7.0
Ramsey 5.5 -> 9.0 (Lots of competition in the Arsenal mids as well)
Yaya 8.5 -> 11.0
Sturridge 9.0? -> 11.5

All of these were to be expected as they all had quality productivity last year especially Ramsey when he was fit (If only we knew then what we know now). I wouldn't worry about the guide as it still holds water as the rules are nigh on practically the same and I'd rather have ours written by someone off the forums then a copy and paste job from another site.

[Murfmurf]

I'll join again! Started well last year, but then slumped. Can't remember where I finished tbh, was called Obiwan Kenobinil last yet.

This year's team is called "Los Pollos Hermanos", though I may change that to "Los Perros" for a giggle.

Can I also recommend Fantasy Football Scout for those that don't know about it. The Fixture Ticker is really useful (right-hand side, scroll down), and it's good for brain-storming teams in the comments to.

See you in there!

[Charlatan]

I'll join again! Started well last year, but then slumped. Can't remember where I finished tbh, was called Obiwan Kenobinil last yet.

This year's team is called "Los Pollos Hermanos", though I may change that to "Los Perros" for a giggle.

Can I also recommend Fantasy Football Scout for those that don't know about it. The Fixture Ticker is really useful (right-hand side, scroll down), and it's good for brain-storming teams in the comments to.

See you in there!

Fixture ticker/trackers are a quality tool, I actually tried my hand at making one for another website for the WC and ended up getting group D all wrong (seriously Costa Rica), at the minute Man U are looking promising whereas Leicester will no doubt be avoided like the plague, I just might sacrifice fixture for form this year though as I got far too carried away with the better fixture last season rather than sticking it out with the man who can. I'm also a big fan of using the fantasy based websites to pick other peoples brains and see what sort of line ups other people are coming up with.

Glad to have you back on heartbreak ridge Murfmurf, the game gets a lot harder to keep up with at the back end of the season when their's little chance left of winning any of your mini leagues, good luck.

[Murfmurf]

Well there was no chance of winning my main mini-league; my friend who was top finished in the top 250 in the world, was about 400 points ahead!! Crazy.

Good luck to you too Charlatan and to all who participate

[Ybbon]

Joined, Moderati Athletica - some of the new players are not available yet (Sanchez? unless I missed him). Last year I spent big bucks initially on RvP and Rooney - should have gone Suarez and Sturridge and that killed me.

[Charlatan]

Joined, Moderati Athletica - some of the new players are not available yet (Sanchez? unless I missed him). Last year I spent big bucks initially on RvP and Rooney - should have gone Suarez and Sturridge and that killed me.

Sanchez is in already for a cool 10.5, only yaya is a more expensive mid which is surprising as hazard is only 10 to start with. Arsenal 's rotation may catch out a few this season. Good luck Ybbon.

[Gallus]

I'll join! My team is called "Midsomer Murderers"

I've never played this before so I'm probably going to suck. And is it just me or is there simply not enough money for bench players?

[Charlatan]

I'll join! My team is called "Midsomer Murderers"

I've never played this before so I'm probably going to suck. And is it just me or is there simply not enough money for bench players?

Awesome, fresh meat. I wouldn't worry too much about where you finish just yet, we've all got a long old season ahead us, the games designed so that you can't have a team full of chesea/mancity/arsenal players to begin with but over the course of a season player values will change and you may end up with a brutal looking team. Best advice I can give just now is look to play with a 3-4-3 formation as forwards and mids normally outscore defenders and gk's. Good luck

[Gallus]

Are we allowed to discuss teams? If so, which combination do you prefer, Sturridge+Nugent or Bony+Giroud? I'm kinda torn on Giroud because he might lose his spot in the starting 11 once Walcott comes back and Nugent is an absolute bargain at 5.5
edit: I went with neither in the end

But seriously, Fabregas or Ramsey?

[Charlatan]

But seriously, Fabregas or Ramsey?

Of course this is the place to talk fantasy prospects, both fab and Ramsey could be fantasy gold this season but I'd like to see how they fare in preseason before making a solid call on either as theirs huge competition in both the arsenal and Chelsea midfielďs for places, wilshere looks like he'll struggle to even get a chance at the minute.

I'm waiting till the last week before the season starts at the moment before getting my squad all sorted as if I looked at it properly now I'd probably chop and change every day, RVP is interesting me already though.

[Gallus]

I'm waiting till the last week before the season starts at the moment before getting my squad all sorted as if I looked at it properly now I'd probably chop and change every day, RVP is interesting me already though.

I've heard ManU will play both RvP and Rooney as strikers so I picked Rooney because he's cheaper. De Jong could be a steal at 7m, he will probably be Newcastle's first striker.

What is your opinion on rotating keepers? I have Krul and Mannone and plan on rotating them so that I never have to play them against the strongest clubs.

[Charlatan]

What is your opinion on rotating keepers? I have Krul and Mannone and plan on rotating them so that I never have to play them against the strongest clubs.

I tend to just have the one starting gk and a very cheap back up as I don't like having too much value tied up in the gk position, it is a viable tactic as long as you can find two cheapish starters whose teams look like rotating easy fixtures but I wouldn't be wasting 11+ of my budget on 2 gk's

[Gallus]

I tend to just have the one starting gk and a very cheap back up as I don't like having too much value tied up in the gk position, it is a viable tactic as long as you can find two cheapish starters whose teams look like rotating easy fixtures but I wouldn't be wasting 11+ of my budget on 2 gk's

I actually went for it because I don't want to spend more than 9.0 on keepers and they were both 4.5

What do you think are the chances of Filipe Luis and Debuchy being starters? I really want a Chelsea defender but I'm afraid Mourinho might rotate his defenders.

[Adar]

I am a bit worried about Mannone being nailed on but Kruleand Mannone are very high on my list of goalkeepers. I consider it mandatory to have a viable backup (4,5 but not more) so rotating makes sense.

I have no idea on Ramsey vs Fabregas but I am still in "brainstorming mode" which mean that I am running a lot of oddball ideas. Playing 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 is unconventional in fantasy football (defenders score less seems to be the consensus) but last year mid price defenders were good value so there might be some odd stuff in my team if I do npt change my mind but I will drop some ideas later.

[Murfmurf]

For a Chelsea def go Cahill, nailed on. I'd stay away from Chelsea MFs though.

Rooney is a smart choice imo. I'm debating De Jong but for 7m he's bit too much of an expensive punt, esp for GW1.

[Gallus]

Cahill is 6.5 though, I'd rather take Shaw for 6.0 because he'll be playing in midfield. Yeah I'm torn on de Jong, if I drop Eriksen for Sigurdsson I can upgrade de Jong to Mata or Ramsey but then de Jong is likely to be Newcastle's first striker...