THE TUCKSTER is ready for the Fantasy League season to get cracking, but isn’t sure how many City players will make the grade.
It`s that time of the year again, when the talk in offices and work places up and down the land turns to Fantasy Football.
I work for a reasonably large organisation and we have an in firm, online intranet. On the noticeboard in the last week alone there have been four people stating their intentions to run mini-leagues. The ease of which is facilitated by most major newspapers running fantasy football features that are simple to run, cost next to nothing and don`t require regular work or effort – they run themselves.
It`s up to the individual player who he buys, who he transfers in or out during the transfer windows and how seriously he takes it in general.
I myself have got involved and for the first time in six years have a choice of Norwich City players, and this got me thinking – how will these players perform in “Fantasy Football” terms?
The mini-league I have joined is based on the Sun newspaper – I know we shouldn`t generally be supporting News International, but they do seem to be giving away a massive top prize in cash as well as it being very easy (they even have an iPhone app) and free.
So, on to business. If you`ve never got involved in fantasy football before (what have you been doing?) I`ll try and explain it in brief terms.
Each team has eleven players – The sun version allows you to choose formations from 4-4-2 or 4-4-3, so you need a goalkeeper, four defenders and either four midfielders and two strikers or three midfielders or three strikers.
Each player has a value and you have a budget, in this case up to £50m.
At the end of each round of Premier League or European matches points are awarded to each player based on performance – goals scored, assists, effort, discipline etc.
There is a definite skill to running a successful fantasy team and although it hurts me to say it – You won`t win the top prize or mini-league with City players alone.
So, how will Norwich City players do this season?
We have a choice of one goalkeeper, John Ruddy and he is valued at a paltry £1.0m, compared to Joe Hart at £4.5m. This suggests that the Sun think he`s going to ship a lot of goals and let`s be honest, they may be right. The Sun also only give you a choice of only two defenders Marc Tierney and Ritchie de Laet both valued at £1.0m. Where`s Russell Martin? The Norfolk Cafu is conspicuous by his absence.
The general rule of thumb here is that you lose points for conceding goals but add points for clean sheets. So, should you buy Ruddy or a City defender? Probably not, as it looks to me as though we will be stronger going forward – best stick to players who won`t concede too many and maybe score the odd goal such as David Luiz or Nemanja Vidic.
On to midfield now and this is where the majority or fantasy leagues can be won or lost – points are awarded for performances here, same as any other position but the “Midfield General” award to any midfielder scoring 7 out of 10 for his performance is worth an extra 5 points a week.
What you need are goal scoring superstar heroes with boundless energy and effort who make goal assists as well as never misplacing a pass.
Now, that`s a tricky combination and the most valuable players tend to be the likes of Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard – but both are knocking on now and have suffered with injury in recent months.
Who do City have that will fit this bill?
The great thing about being new in the league is that Norwich players are very cheap in league terms. Bearing in mind the above criteria, Bradley Johnson is available for £1.0m and may score the odd goal but is likely to get a few bookings as well.
My pick of City central midfielders would be Andrew Crofts also at £1.0m. He will surely get a midfield berth and showed he has an eye for goal as well as boundless energy. Another easy choice for me and personal fave is Wes Hoolahan at £2.0m – you mark my words, Wes is going to have a regular slot on Match of the day where Shearer and Hansen marvel at this week`s skills and show boating.
I can just hear Shearer saying “He`s put the ball through Ferdinand`s legs before taking Vidic and Evra out of the play with that silky drag back and then chipping De Gea to score…” He`s full of assists, goals and the skills to become a general.
Surman and Fox are good value at £1.0m but will Fox play every week? It`s a gamble. Elliot Bennett is untried – so a complete gamble.
Someone will need to score the majority of your teams goals, and while I wouldn`t suggest you should go for a Norwich City only frontline, there are a few options to supplement a big name striker such as Van Persie or Drogba etc (I can`t bring myself to ever go for Rooney – his performance at the World Cup, the way he allegedly treated his wife when she was pregnant, not to mention his ridiculous hair transplant mean I`ll have to win it without him!) there are a couple of City players who could get you a few goals.
Budget restraints mean you will need cheaper players to supplement the established big guns and this is where a lot of the skill in Fantasy Football comes from.
Every year there are players that come up from the Championship or are bought in from Europe etc and are unknowns in the league editor`s eyes. These players get small values, for example, last year Charlie Adam was £2.0m this year he is £4.5m.
My regard for Grant Holt is well known on this blog and at £2.0m he is the first name on my team sheet. He`ll pick up points for performances and assists as well as getting an easy ten goals – the only downside is that premiership refs may not approve of his muscular game, which could lead to bookings.
Of the others, Jackson, Vaughan and Morison are all cheap but won`t always play – you must have regular players to accumulate points most weeks. Holt is the only dead cert to start in my eyes but I fancy Vaughan or Jackson to play with him most weeks. Unless we`re playing Arsenal when Holt and Morison would terrify their notoriously weedy back line!
You also need to go 4-4-2 because the extra midfielder`s weekly performances will usually score more points than an extra striker will get you goals.
So that`s my guide to City players in this season`s fantasy leagues. The great thing about this is that it`s just my opinion – others may read this and think “Utter rubbish”. Colleagues at work, Craig, Rich – you know who you are, have told me as much already. But as they support Blackpool and Leicester and their teams players aren`t even available to pick from then I`d say an element of jealousy may be creeping in.
If you have an argument, or preferably a point of view for including or not including City players (unlikely, I`d say) then I`d like to hear it.
Thanks for reading and see you at the top of the leader board…
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