"Maaaaan, your team resembles a horrible highway accident!"
That was the exact moment I decided that I will no longer be the
laughing stock of my private FPL league. You need to understand two things
before I go into explaining how I managed to get into the Top 50 this season:
#1 – I was dragged into Fantasy
football by my work colleagues. A delightful group of guys, a football referee,
former football player among others and a girl who was probably the most
knowledgeable of us all, decided to organize this and basically force as many
people as possible to join. So I did. Unwillingly. But I was a clear underdog
going into this.
#2 – I really don't follow
football that much and I basically never had. Sure, I did play for a club for
2-3 years when I was a kid and I did watch an odd Champions league game here
and there, but I was a basketball player first and foremost. To the core. But
no one wanted to play Fantasy basketball. So I joined them. Did I mention I
didn’t really want to?
How did my previous seasons
look like?
Well, first year was a disaster, a train wreck. I finished 1,108,706.
But this year hardly counts. I remember using auto fill option to create my
team at the beginning of the season. I logged in perhaps every 5 GWs, just to
see what was happening, but that was it. Second year was a slight improvement.
I found the NeverCaptainNickyButt site
and took all my intel there. Subs? Every 2-3 GWs. I think I remember captaining
Elokobi once and I believe we even scored a goal that week. It was a definite
highlight of the season. Do you still remember the quote from the beginning of
the paragraph?
Well, it was after this season that all of my colleagues were writing
reviews of the season, elaborating on their thinking, best plays…and of course
my team as well. The quote has a continuation – it went something like this: »You know you shouldn't look [at the
accident] when you pass it by, but you just can't help yourself. So you do and
you feel immediate regret. And nausea. This is how we felt looking at your
team.” I mean, I know it was a joke. But it got me fired up.
Enter season #3. The season started with me actually putting some
thoughts into my team (a first), but then leaving for vacation and letting the
team rot. Thank god I selected Rooney for my initial team and even captained
him, because he was on fire at the start of that season and singlehandedly kept
me afloat when the rest of the team stank. But I was actually off to a very
solid start. So I kind of made it halfway through the season, I am doing pretty
well and I decide to look for some other websites offering insight into FPL,
just for the fun of it. Enter Fantasy Premier League Hints.. Oh man, was that a precious find or what!?A stroke of luck! I still
remember when he recommended Petrov for one of the DGWs. Everyone was
absolutely positive I went nuts when I captained him and even mocked me about
it. I think he ended up delivering 2 goals and a couple of bonus points that
GW. And every week there was another differential on the blog that saw me slowly
(but surely) eat into what was once a 300 point lead from the #1 in our classic
league down to around 25 points by the end of the season and finishing in the
second place of our classic league. Trust me, I kept this site a secret from
everyone. It was my differential. And had the season lasted one more GW, I
would have had him. I did however win the Head to Head league and some cash
from all contestants. The cash was nice, but it could not compare to the
disbelief I saw on their faces when they checked my scores week in and week
out. I finished the season ranked 23,811.
And This Season?
At the moment of writing this I am ranked 42 out of almost 2,6 million
players. I have been in the Top 100 for the last 7 GWs and in Top 1000 for
the last 17 GWs. My objective for the season was to be in the Top 10,000 and to
win both my private leagues. I am currently on track to do all three.
Still, when @fplhints asked me whether I would be willing to
write a post for his blog on how I got into the Top 100 and what I would
recommend to others who are hoping to improve in FPL, I felt stomped for a
moment. What was IT? What did I do differently this year? So I made a list, as
follows:
A list of 10 Things to Do to Get into Top 100 of FPL (no guarantees).
1. First and foremost, it
is very much dependent on the LUCK factor. You may argue that all the moves you
do are educated guesses and state multiple reasons as to why a move makes
sense, but it mostly boils down to luck. Second to none. And I have had my fair
share of it this season, no doubt about it.
2. Make a mental list of
your must-have players and try to introduce them in your team as much as
possible. These are the players that you know will deliver week in and week out
with an 80/20 probability. These are guys like Bale - when everybody was
unloading Bale after 3 blank GWs at the start of the season, I intentionally
stuck with him. I mean, come on, he is a MACHINE! Santi Cazorla (when I saw him
play, I wanted to have him in my team – just a phenomenal player), RVP (need I
explain this one?), Silva and Mata (my favorite player in BPL and I am no
Chelsea fan) for me.
3. Try to look for that
differential.I built my lead this year with players like Torres (whom I knew
had a lot left to prove and should start the season firing), Hazard (who was
basically an unknown player), Michu (have you had any clue who he was before he
came to England?) and Sterling (whom I got for 4.6 MM and proved to be a great
differential) spring to mind. Sure, you will have your share of swings and
misses, just like I have had with Shane Long and Emanuel Adebayor, but when it
plays out, it feels soooo sweet.
4. Look for great players who are under
delivering at the moment and are being sold in large numbers. After 5 GWs
and several dismal performances, I saw people ditching Suarez. Well, please,
let me jump on this opportunity! There was no way in my mind that Liverpool
will continue with such poor performances as they had in the first 5 GW, so I
brought him in and he rewarded me with a hat-trick immediately. Before everyone
else started buying him, I already made my differential.
5. Try to identify the
players who have something to prove, men on a mission. For me, it was Torres at
the beginning of the season. Sure, he may have lost a step or two (and some
skill, errrr), but man, his first goal of the year was a thing of beauty.
Suarez, proclaiming that he will win the golden boot. Also, players who are
battling relegation fall in this category – for this exact reason I have Remy
in my team at this very moment.
6. Don't leave players out of your team just
because you dislike them or because you hate the team they play for. Or do, but
then face the consequences. Fellaini, Walcott, Suarez and Tevez are players
that I dislike for one or more reasons, but man, there is no way I am not
including them in my team. I refused to put Papiss Cisse in my team last year,
simply because EVERYBODY had him and I didn’t get him while he was still cheap.
Bullshit. It might have cost me one of my leagues. There is no shame in jumping
on the wagon every now and then, if the wagon is really cool and it takes you straight
to the Promised Land.
7. Plan ahead. Or don't.
Personally, I don't really do that. If you have a laid out plan, it is very
hard to step away from it, because you have already committed to it and you
might end up doing a transfer just because you planned it and not because it is
the right thing to do at the moment. However, plan for the DGWs. And don't
forget that after DGWs, there are inevitably also blank GWs.
8. Don't PANIC. If a
player does not deliver for two weeks, think really hard if getting rid of him
is the best decision. How does his schedule look like for the next couple GWs?
Has he had droughts like this before? Does he usually bounce back quickly? And
think what you will do if you transfer him out and he delivers BIG that GW? Will
you transfer him back in?
9. Keep your Wildcard for
as long as possible.The original one that is. I still have it. I plan to use it
as late as possible, most likely in GW36 when there should be some more DGW
games. That is, keep it, if your team is not totally in disarray.
10. Enjoy. It is just a game. And it makes watching the matches so much
more interesting. And tell me, how many of you add the points in your head when
you see your players score or assist? J I do it all the time.
I leave
you with one final thought. I think it is nice to have some sort of a routine
to making the team. I spend 2x10 minutes during the week to read some of the
comments from fans on the forums of the aforementioned websites, just to see
what is happening, who is an injury doubt, who played in CL/cup/whatever. On
Friday, I have one hour to check all four sites and see the players they
recommend and make my team. That's it. Oh, and I am a Twitter buff, so I check
the tweets regularly for information.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed the read and found some useful stuff for
you. If you have any thoughts, feel free to connect with me via Twitter (@matejp23) and follow my Warsaw Hopefuls' bid to finish in the Top 100. All the
best and thanks to @fplhints for this opportunity!
