The new Premier League season is just around the corner and thus, the dawning on Fantasy Football is upon us once more. So, once again, the annual selection headache begins. With all those players to pick from, I feel like Vicente Del Bosque already...
Whats the secret ingredient in the formula that will make up the winning fantasy Football? Modibo Maiga. Okay, that's not true, in fact he epitomises everything that was wrong with my team last year.
Weeks of painstakingly tinkering with my team, proved to be a thankless exercise as I tried to uncover that unique player.
Every season without fail produces a surprise package, be that in the form of an individual or an entire team. It's merely a guessing game at this stage of the season.
Last year saw almost entirely every fantasy football manager scrabbling back to the drawing board in order to squeeze Swansea City's new and Spanish sensation Michu into their fantasy teams. After netting a neat brace on his debut in the opening game of the season, Michu quickly found himself as the most popular transferred in player after game week 1. This was much to the amusement of those of you who already had him from the offset. They were the lucky ones. Essentially that's what you need in this game...
Another one we all missed a trick on was Christian Benteke. Relatively unknown Belgium International Benteke was a summer steal form Genk and slipped under the radar of every Premier League and Fantasy League manager in the country, eventually grabbing a hugely impressive 19 goals in his debut season. A few weeks later and just about every fantasy team in the country featured Benteke or Michu along side Robin Van Persie or Liverpool's Luis Suarez. In some cases a combination of 3 out of the 4. Strikers will grab you a majority of your points so pick them wisely...
The question is, who do we take that early gamble on? How many of you took a backfiring gamble of Fulham's Mladen Petric after he, just like Michu grabbed an impressive double on his debut? Own up those of you that took a disappointing risk in Manchester City's Javi Garcia. Who could blame after the £16m summer signing was another who found the net on his debut.
Everyone on Fantasy Football knows that Robin Van Persie, Juan Mata and Gareth Bale are going to earn you top points. And that is exactly the trouble, every knows it. The best way to earn yourself those extra points that will take you to the top, is to find that something no one else has. Find a Michu, find a Benteke, take that gamble on the new Eden Hazard and Santi Cazorla. We all want to know who it is going to be this year? We're going to help you, with a guide to the new signings and a successful fantasy football season...
First of all, take a gamble. But an educated one. Every year I'll look at the player selection % and find that someone somewhere is that 0.01% of managers that have selected Manchester United's Federico Macheda or Chelsea's Lucas Piazon. This is not what I mean by take a gamble. Take an educated guess at who you think may have a good season that might be under the radar. Look at the likes of Norwich's Ricky Van Wolfswinkel, Aston Villa Jores Okore or a more expensive alternative in Man City's Fernandinho.
Secondly, you don't need to be afraid to look at players that have come into the Premier League via a promotion. Picking promoted players wisely can sometimes earn you double the points for half the price. But be warned, you don't want another Pavel Pogrebnyak on your hands.
Anyone who selected the likes of West Ham's Jussi Jaaskelainen in goal or Winston Reid as part of their defence will tell you what a valuable asset they were, for a bargain price. Similarly, anyone who opted for Southampton's Rickie Lambert can tell you about the impact he made on a budget price.
My selection tips from the promoted teams this year, would firstly be Hull's new loan signing Danny Graham, who enjoyed a successful debut campaign when playing for a newly promoted Swansea. The Sunderland striker failed to capture his previous form after his move from Swansea in January but I expect him to be leading the line for The Tigers this year. Another Hull City player to keep an eye on could be Robert Koren who finished as Hulls top scorer last term, with 9 goals from midfield and is also Hulls' designated penalty taker.
From Welsh new boys Cradiff take a good look at another penalty taker Peter Whittingham along with defender Mark Hudson, striker Fraiser Campbell and summer signing Andreas Cornelius who are sure to be Cardiffs highest point scorers this season.
Crystal Palace appear to be the weakest of teams arriving via the play-offs. The same could of been said of West Ham who achieved a very respectable 10th place finish. The Eagles have some good talent on offer, not least in Midfielder Yannick Bolasie who was often over shadowed by Wilifried Zaha. Bolasie has a good eye for goal and like Zaha possesses a great ability to run at defenders with a great array of skills. Glenn Murray might be an injury concern early on but will be sure to find the net for Palace as often as he can, Murray netted a really impressive 30 goals in the Championship last year as should continue to score this season. My last tip from Palace is goalkeeper Julian Speroni, Speroni has bags of experience and is a top goalkeeper, I expect him to have a similar season to West Ham's Jussi Jaaskelainen did last year grabbing some clean sheets and bonus points along the way.
Defenders, I find, are the most difficult of the selection process to choose. Everybody wants to blow money on Robin Van Persie and Gareth Bale but nobody feels comfortable blowing all their money on the back 4. Defenders can be equally as important and a good selection will enable you to have a well balanced team that will score well every week. Jan Vertonghen came to the Premier League last year and was consistently a top performer who also chipped in with the occasional goals. New Defenders to watch this year are the likes of Aston Villa new boys Antonio Luna and Jores Okore, one is a former Seville full-back and the other, a man who turned down a January transfer to Chelsea respectively Experienced Romanian international Razvan Rat and Stoke City's Dutch international Erik Pierters are other to watch, both of which have lightning pace at full-back. Neither are likely to grab many goals but both will provide a lot of assists for teams that both kept a decent amount of cleans sheets last year.
Midfielders are where you can really earn your points. The right choice of midfielder will grab you goals, assists and clean sheets regularly. My bargain tips are Norwich City's Leroy Fer and Southampton's Victor Wanyama. Fer and Wanyama have previously been chased by top Premier League teams such as Everton and Manchester United respectively. Both have been important players for their previous clubs and also a good eye for goal as well as defensive duties. Norwich and Southampton have grabbed themselves a fantastic asset to the team in these two, will you do the same?
Last season Michu and Benteke proved to be the steals of the season, both in Fantasy Football and in the Premier League. Both strikers were relatively unknown and had fantastic seasons. This year, we have a few new boy's leading the line. Those of you looking for a bargain need look no further than Norwich City's Ricky Van Wolfswinkel, Cardiff's Andreas Cornelius, Aston Villa's Nicklas Helenius and my personal tip in Swansea City's Wilfried Bony . All of which will almost certainly be leading the line for their clubs. All of which will be great additions to your fantasy team. The big name strikers that have came in this year are both playing their trade for the blue half of Manchester, Stevan Jovetic has come in from Fiorentina and boasts great aerial presence along with plenty of goals in his locker. The other new boy in blue in Alvaro Negredo, we'll get to him later...
We know Lambert can pluck a great striker from the depths, that much is obvious from last season. His ability to get the best out of a striker was something that shone in abundance when he got 15 Premier League goals out of Grant Holt during his time as Norwich manager. Those of you who have been following any pre season fixtures will know that Helenius has been in a good vain of goal scoring form, taking only 6 minutes to find the net in his first game, with a very clinical header. This was not the only contribution the Danish striker made. Helenius looked threatening and almost grabbed a second in his debut game. Helenius went on the score in Aston Villas next fixture also. Helenius had a impressive goals to games ratio for his previous club netting 40 goals in just over 100 games. At 6ft 5 the strikers main attribute in his brilliant aerial prowess. The big Dane is my tip to perform well and could be one to watch...
A quick warning though. Pre season is not always something to pin your hopes on, last year it made Mauro Boselli look like a world beater, needless to say, pre season form should be taken with a pinch of salt. Remember my trouble with Maiga. Sigh.
Both Van Wolfswinkel and Bony would also be options to consider. But again are risks. Van Wolfswinkel signed for Norwich way before the transfer window opened and you know what they say, the early bird catches the worm, or in this case, a prolific striker. One thing to be said about the Holland international is that he scores in bursts, maybe wait for him to break his duct before drafting him into your Fantasy team.
With Bony, all looks great on paper, this is a man that scored 37 times in 36 games last season with all the attributes of a top striker. Bony is strong and physical as well as quick, great in the air and a composed finisher, playing along side Michu will give Swansea another dimension which should to goal a plenty. What you do need to consider however, is that this is the same league that Afonso Alves scored 45 goals in 39 games. A few of you probably wont even remember him during his time at Middlesbrough. My point exactly. Bony will either be another Alves or he could be as successful as former Eredivisie players such as Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Luis Suarez. That's really something for you to sink your teeth into...
There will also be a familiar face to mull over this season. The much traveled journey man of football, Nicholas Anelka has signed for West Brom and the sulky Frenchman is sure to have some life left in him. At £5.5m he could prove to be a great investment, especially as the Baggies will be without Romalu Lakaku this year, who has returned to parent club Chelsea.
An influx of Spanish players into the Premier League has given us the likes of Juan Mata, David Silva and Santi Cazorla as well as Fernando Torres (I've still not given up on him), and this year we've been given a few more. Manchester City have added both Seville hotshots Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo and will be hoping that the two take to the English flight just as well as their compatriots. Not only have Navas and Negredo joined us but Liverpool have also added Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto to their squads. Whilst Alberto is only young is likely to be a bit part player, look out for Aspas in the opening weeks, the Spaniard could prove to be a wise investment during Luis Suarez's suspension.
Pick your captains wisely. Choosing the right captain is as important as ever from the beginning. Those who handed their armband to Hazard in Gameweek 1 last season reaped in 42 points, which immediately catapulted them up the rankings. spend you budget correctly, take the occasional gamble and you're looking at a winning formula.
My final tip is to always make sure you check the upcoming fixtures. Robin Van Persie is more than likely going to score you less points if Man Utd are playing Chelsea, Manchester city and Arsenal on the trot, so plan around the fixture list. Tottenham and Chelsea players for the opening game should score you maximum points.
All that is left to do is manage your team for 90 minutes on 38 occasions. Keep on top of your team, stay focused and you could be a winner. Good luck...
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