The Offside Fantasy League: Time for a Breather…

By: Daryl | September 6th, 2007

Time for a breather International football means no action in The Offside Fantasy League this weekend, so time to sit back, take a breather and take stock. How’s it going? Who’s doing the business for you? Can your players play Derby every week?

And what have you learned so far? I’ve learned that the top price big name £15 million players aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Of all those £15 million players, only Frank Lampard is in the top ten points scorers, and he’s about to drop down that list now he’s injured. The likes of Drogba, Rooney and Ronaldo have all failed to get points on the board for various reasons.

It’s also time for sharing. You don’t have to share all your fantasy league secrets, but how about letting everyone know who your star performer is so far, and who your biggest disappointment is?

My star performer so far is Clint “Deuce” Dempsey. Absurdly cheap at £5.5 million, he’s now cemented himself a place in the Fulham team and is weighing in with plenty of goals and assists, especially against Spurs las weekend.

Biggest disappointment has been Yakubu. First he wasn’t trying, then he was dropped, then he was transferred to Everton and then he didn’t get a work permit in time to play. I was finally rewarded for my patience with a goal eleven minutes into his Everton debut, but that’s an awful lot of patience in exchange for one goal.

Finally, here are two things I’ve learned so far:

1. Use your free transfer wisely
I’d argue that you should be using your one free transfer every week. Either to substitute injured players, or to get rid of players who aren’t doing the business. But don’t use it too soon. There’s nothing worse than using your free transfer to bring in a player, only for him to pick up an injury during the week. I’d advise using your free transfer on Friday morning. Likewise, it seems we only get one free transfer between now and the next fantasy league gameweek, so I’d advise saving it until next week when everyone’s back from international duty, hopefully uninjured.

2. Think about who your captain is
Your captain scores 50% extra on all his points, and you can swap the armband around as much as you like. Might be worth doing so according to who your team are playing. For example, the team “fruit” currently top The Offside Fantasy League. A big part of the reason for this is that Fernando Torres scored two against Derby last week AND was captain of the “fruit” team, so he scored 70 points for his manager.

Please feel free to share any of your own fantasy football insights…