Selecting your Fox Sports Fantasy A-League starting squad is far more difficult than it seems and even the people who end up at the top of the rankings sometimes don’t quite get it right. In my title-winning season I had some dud selections in my starting team, and I then repeated this mistake last season (Bernardo Ribeiro, anyone?), resulting in me occupying 7,675th position on the table after Round 1.
There are a few reasons for this, which I will discuss here along with my advice for working out which players will provide the best value for your fantasy dollars. Do you have any strategies for picking your Fantasy A-League team? If so, sound off in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
There are a few reasons for this, which I will discuss here along with my advice for working out which players will provide the best value for your fantasy dollars. Do you have any strategies for picking your Fantasy A-League team? If so, sound off in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
The A-League is unpredictable
A major reason why nailing your starting team is difficult is that the A-League is a salary-capped league, keeping the competition relatively even in terms of how much a team can spend on players. Also, unlike the AFL, where teams have to rebuild through structured trading and drafting systems, A-League clubs have access to a virtually never-ending stream of experienced players available to sign if they have the cap space - or if they wear sky blue. So it’s very difficult to say who are going to be the top teams and who has the best draw at the start of the season with any real conviction.
A glance at the predictions in the latest issue of FourFourTwo will show you that the panel of experts has, between them, tipped every team except Wellington to make the top 6 – and personally I wouldn’t rule them out either. Nor would I be assuming that Melbourne Victory will be claiming any silverware, despite 6 of 7 FFT panelists predicting exactly that (Ol' Les meanwhile has gone for a Wanderers double). I would suggest picking players from a variety of teams to begin with – this way if the Victory or Wanderers flop early you aren’t saddled with four underperforming players and having to consider pulling the trigger on the wildcard, or trying to ride their slump out. You get a free trade every week, so use this to add players from teams coming into form to your squad rather than starting off with a huge risk by limiting your selections to a minority of clubs and hoping to fluke it. Even if you do score well in Round 1 by using this strategy, it could still fall apart quicker than the Socceroos defence in Brazil.
A glance at the predictions in the latest issue of FourFourTwo will show you that the panel of experts has, between them, tipped every team except Wellington to make the top 6 – and personally I wouldn’t rule them out either. Nor would I be assuming that Melbourne Victory will be claiming any silverware, despite 6 of 7 FFT panelists predicting exactly that (Ol' Les meanwhile has gone for a Wanderers double). I would suggest picking players from a variety of teams to begin with – this way if the Victory or Wanderers flop early you aren’t saddled with four underperforming players and having to consider pulling the trigger on the wildcard, or trying to ride their slump out. You get a free trade every week, so use this to add players from teams coming into form to your squad rather than starting off with a huge risk by limiting your selections to a minority of clubs and hoping to fluke it. Even if you do score well in Round 1 by using this strategy, it could still fall apart quicker than the Socceroos defence in Brazil.
The Nix no chance? These two might have something to say about that...
preseason IS A GUIDE ONLY
While the preseason is useful for scouting potential recruits, form doesn’t always translate into point production during the main season. So don’t be shocked when that 18 year-old jet banging in the goals against state league sides doesn’t even jag a bench spot in Round 1. Or if the Argentinian gem your club has recruited doesn’t cut the mustard once it’s time to play against A-League level defenders. Hence, the friendlies most worthwhile paying attention to are the ones between two A-League clubs. The outcome of those games is far more likely to provide you with useful information, especially if the sides are fielding nearly full strength teams. If there’s one being played near you, get out there and have a look, or else jump on the web and do some research – read match reports and analytical season previews such as this one, have a peek at supporter forums to see what the club’s fans are saying about preseason games and who they think will be getting games this season.
Pick 15 starting XI players
It might be appealing to pick super cheap youth league players in order to have more cash to spend on your starting XI, but this will result in you becoming hamstrung very quickly if you cop injuries – and you will cop injuries, especially if the likes of Terry McFlynn have anything to say about it – and then you’ll have no one to sub onto the field. You also could have a player pull out late and no one to come off the bench as an automatic substitute. Having a full squad throughout my championship year played a huge role in my success – while others were suffering because of multiple injuries, suspensions or international call-ups, I was cruising, wildcard safely tucked away – I’ll talk about wildcard strategy in my next post. So try to find some cheaper players who will play regularly and fill your bench with them instead of random youth league player #5. Or if you have the cash left over, pick some more mid-priced players you see as potential fantasy stars and rotate your squad to suit the fixtures. This allows you to enjoy some flexibility with your squad... or make you tear your hair out when you bench someone who scores a hat-trick… it happens to the best of us!
PICK ATTACKING PLAYERS
Fantasy football history tells us the players who score the most points are generally the ones scoring and creating goals. Therefore you’ll want your forwards to all be strikers (think Shane Smeltz), not wingers (like Henrique), as they will be the ones finishing off the chances and scoring the most points. You’ll want your midfielders to be attacking midfielders (Marcelo Carrusca) and advanced wingers listed as midfielders (Fabio Ferreira), not holding midfielders (Nick Montgomery) who are likely to be more concerned with kicking lumps out of opposition attackers than scoring you points. For defenders, you’ll want to look for cheaper options, unless you can afford players noted for their goal scoring, like the now retired Patrick Zwaanswijk, who took penalties (defenders who take penalties and free kicks are always worth considering). Full backs (Josh Rose), at the right price, can be a decent option, as in the right team they will get forward and score points from goals and assists occasionally, along with picking up clean sheets. There are exceptions to all of these rules of course – but not many. In most cases it is best to follow the above guide IMO.
pick undervalued & out of position players
Here’s where the knowledge factor I spoke about in my first post comes into reckoning (missed it? Go read it now!). Out of position players (e.g. a striker listed in the game as a midfielder) in most cases must be considered, but especially so in defence, as not only do defenders earn more points for goals, they also can generate clean sheet points. Of course there are obvious exceptions, for example holding midfielders listed as forwards should absolutely be avoided. You’ll also want to jump on any underpriced players – I suspect some imports and returning Aussies will be massively overpriced, while others could be given a ridiculously low price tag. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that because a player costs an arm and a leg they are a gun – you need to do some research so you know who is who and what they are really worth. Probably every A-League fan has heard of Jacob Burns, but only people who have knowledge of the fantasy game will tell you he won’t net you many points while he’s busy collecting those yellow cards. Of course, I’ll be here to help you work out who are the fantasy studs and who are the fantasy duds in my forthcoming team previews.
Pick the Glory skipper and expect this to be a regular - and frustrating - sight
That’s all for team selection strategy. Next up I’ll be answering a couple of "frequently asked questions" that weren’t covered in my first two posts. If you have any general questions about Fox Sports Fantasy A-League you’d like me to tackle, submit them in the comments section or hit me up on Twitter. Thanks for reading, and if you are enjoying my posts please do me a huge favour and tell all of your mates, and share them on Twitter and Facebook using the buttons below. Cheers!