UM fantasy premier league 2015/2016 (SOCCER)

[no country for old wainds]

ok here's a new thread, sorry ozz didn't mean to make you simultaneously cry and shit yourself.

i assume there'll only be a few people interested but i figured i might as well make one. this is for the english premier league - i don't play any from other leagues, don't really know enough about them to do well.

Step 1: go here and register a team.

Step 2: click Leagues at the top, click "join a league", click "private league" and paste the following code: 179137-87922

Step 3: get owned by me.

 

[Nephilim96]

I'll join within the next day or so.

 

[EspaDa]

Done. Only two of us?

 

[0Marty]

Gonna join too, hope I don't forget about it hlafway through season this year.

 

[no country for old wainds]

i guess i could advertise it on other UM subforums or something if yall want more people

 

[crimsonfloyd]

I love soccer and the EPL is the league I watch most, but I've never played a fantasy sport before. I'd probably be willing to try it. Wainds, do you have a link to a site that explains the rules we would be playing with?

 

[0Marty]

I love soccer and the EPL is the league I watch most, but I've never played a fantasy sport before. I'd probably be willing to try it. Wainds, do you have a link to a site that explains the rules we would be playing with?

http://fantasy.premierleague.com/rules/

tl;dr version - you get 100 mil to buy 15 players/11 + bench/. Players are valued by performance in the season(or previous season when in pre-season). You are limited by 3 players from same team. Captain gets double points. Your players get points for their actions in the match - saves(GK's), clean sheet(GK's, DEF, MID), assists, goals etc. Each player gets points separately and the points are counted for whole team.

It's all stats based mind you, so if you have a player that had a good match but hasn't done anything "visible", you don't get many points. Also the team your player plays in is important, especially for clean sheets.

 

[no country for old wainds]

Players are valued by performance in the season(or previous season when in pre-season).

they're valued by performance in the previous season and then their prices rise or fall based on how many people buy/sell them in a given week.

It's all stats based mind you, so if you have a player that had a good match but hasn't done anything "visible", you don't get many points.

there is a bonus system in place that's supposed to help with this but i've never found it particularly effective except in low scoring games. three players get bonus points each match based on a ton of factors (stuff like tackles completed, pass completion etc) but it's a pretty small thing, almost an afterthought for me tbh, and the points tend to go to the highest scoring players anyway which to me renders it pointless. *shrug*

but yeah, it's pretty simple really. one thing you didn't mention is you get one free transfer per gameweek and you can carry one over, meaning that if you don't do a transfer after the first gameweek you get two transfers the second gameweek. it can only carry over once though, so you never have more than two free transfers in a given gameweek. if you want to do more than your allotted amount of free transfers, each one will cost you four points, which tends to be very risky. the exception to all this is you get two wildcards per season; if you play your wildcard you can do as many transfers as you like.

they've also added something new this season: three special 'chips' you can play only once, each with a different effect. you can read more about those on the site. i'm not sure if i'm a fan of this, seems kinda gimmicky, but we'll see how it plays out this year.

as someone who's finished in the top 1% on the site for the past three seasons i can reliably tell you that it makes watching the EPL even more fun, but it does reward effort; the more you analyse fixtures, form etc before making selections, the more you're likely to benefit. there's an element of luck too of course and it's super frustrating, but that's all part of the fun too! i love it personally, it's addictive as hell.

 

[EspaDa]

Hazard is so fucking expensive. And what if for example Azpilicueta gets transferred to Primera Division during the window? It is fucking possible, as it is almost a month and a half till the deadline.

 

[no country for old wainds]

the pricing is actually really savvy in general lol, everyone seems fucking 0.5 too expensive. and yeah, there's always that issue and i tend to avoid players who are linked to transfers for that very reason. i personally just hate the idiotic transfer window setup in general though, why on earth it encroaches into the start of the season i'll never know.

 

[EspaDa]

But there are not so many players who are likely to leave England this summer. I can only think of Soldado, earlier mentioned Azpi, Cuadrado who is a fucking joke, de Gea, Stambouli and maybe Chiriches. Perhaps there will be many swaps between PL teams, but I suppose it doesn't alter anything, does it?

 

[no country for old wainds]

some general tips:

- pick players who are guaranteed to start for their clubs. don't assume that because they played a lot season they will this time - incoming transfers/managers can change that.
- fixtures are crucial, pay attention to what's coming up in the next few weeks. no matter how in form your players are they will often struggle if they're suddenly up against the big boys week in week out.
- pick attack-minded midfielders. just because matic is a class player doesn't mean he's a class FPL prospect.
- keep an eye out for injuries/suspensions.
- it's better to have a really good first 11 and fairly cheap bench than spreading it evenly across the squad (although one of the new chips lets you have points from all 15 in one week so that may change this a little).
- it's also, in my opinion anyways, better to be top-heavy than bottom-heavy because over the course of the season the top strikers and midfielders tend to outscore the top defenders. in other words, it's better to spend big on strikers/mids than pack your defense with cash. this is especially true at the start of the season when defenses are often unsettled and unpredictable in my experience.

 

[no country for old wainds]

But there are not so many players who are likely to leave England this summer. I can only think of Soldado, earlier mentioned Azpi, Cuadrado who is a fucking joke, de Gea, Stambouli and maybe Chiriches. Perhaps there will be many swaps between PL teams, but I suppose it doesn't alter anything, does it?

well, it can do, but it's hard to predict. for example, you'd think sterling would do better at city than liverpool when he's playing, but will he play as much? you'd think benteke would do better at liverpool than villa, but liverpool have struggled with target man style forwards before, and some players thrive as a big fish in a smaller sea but struggle when they make the step up. it's worth thinking about, anyways.

and yeah, you're right that there aren't many leaving, but a bigger problem is the players who arrive in england and oust previous regular starters from their first team place. that can be a pain in the ass

 

[EspaDa]

Yeah, Sterling will vanish in City. Yet if they buy De Bruyne he will have nothing to do there. I don't see a point in buying Benteke from Liverpool's perspective, they have just acquired Ings for nothing, a lad with lots of potential. My hope is that Balotelli will finally score some, and Lambert isn't that awful as people think, but he's aging quickly. Oh, and Borini is almost out, that's great. This season, unfortunately, is going to be dominated by United whether we like it or not, it's just imfuckingpossible for them not to win league this year. Not with player like Bastian.

 

[0Marty]

based on how many people buy/sell them in a given week.

Didn't know this, I assumed it was performance based.

there is a bonus system in place that's supposed to help with this but i've never found it particularly effective except in low scoring games. three players get bonus points each match based on a ton of factors (stuff like tackles completed, pass completion etc) but it's a pretty small thing, almost an afterthought for me tbh, and the points tend to go to the highest scoring players anyway which to me renders it pointless. *shrug*

Yeah, it's pretty pointless because usually best scoring player gets it and it's just 1-3 points.

one thing you didn't mention is you get one free transfer per gameweek

Forgot to write about that, I'm not gonna bother with editing now you explained it.

But there are not so many players who are likely to leave England this summer. I can only think of Soldado, earlier mentioned Azpi, Cuadrado who is a fucking joke, de Gea, Stambouli and maybe Chiriches. Perhaps there will be many swaps between PL teams, but I suppose it doesn't alter anything, does it?

Do you really think Azpilicueta is gonna leave? I don't think José is ever gonna let Dave go, he's probably the most consistent Chelsea player.

 

[EspaDa]

We will see, I heard that Madrid is interested in him. Also, I am really curious what will be Remy's task, as long as Mou loaned Falcao in. I find Loic a really talented player and he shouldn't be wasted as a third choice striker.

 

[no country for old wainds]

Yeah, Sterling will vanish in City. Yet if they buy De Bruyne he will have nothing to do there. I don't see a point in buying Benteke from Liverpool's perspective, they have just acquired Ings for nothing, a lad with lots of potential. My hope is that Balotelli will finally score some, and Lambert isn't that awful as people think, but he's aging quickly. Oh, and Borini is almost out, that's great. This season, unfortunately, is going to be dominated by United whether we like it or not, it's just imfuckingpossible for them not to win league this year. Not with player like Bastian.

i think sterling will be a regular starter at city given what they've shelled out, but there's certainly the possibility he'll be another navas or, worse, another scott sinclair lol. i think liverpool probably do need a striker but idk if benteke's the right one, seems to blow hot and cold and isn't necessarily suited to their style... this habit of mopping up the best players from mid-table teams is not gonna get them silverware any time soon, anyways.

i'm a utd fan and i think you're slightly overselling our chances haha. i really don't think we can compete with chelsea unless we buy at least a remy/ba/etc level back up striker and, most crucially, an experienced, top quality centre back. i love schwein, one of the most complete players in the world at his best, but he's getting increasingly injury prone and i hope the pace of the prem doesn't make that even worse. i'm really excited about schneiderlin, he's exactly the kind of player utd fans have been calling for for like a decade now.

 

[EspaDa]

Haha, had no idea you're in van Gaal's horde! I heard and all time I am hearing that you're still interested in our lad, Kane. But no way he would be a back up striker! Btw, I love United's present squad, I am really fond of Shaw, Rojo, Darmian and Schneiderlin. I guess you should get rid of Evans, Blackett and Valencia. Young had really good season and he is worth keeping at OT. It was a great move that you let RvP go. Now, the only player I'm not keen on is Di Maria, never liked that lad.

Still have no idea how could Evans have captained several matches this season. Horrible player.

 

[no country for old wainds]

evans is off to everton for 8m by the sounds of it! pretty happy with that fee tbh.

the keeper situation is strange. DDG is still up in the air, valdes is going, amos is gone. i've heard we're after romero... eh, idk. i just hope DDG signs a new deal.

a back four of shaw, smalling, jones/rojo and darmian/valencia is simply not good enough. it's barely top 4 standard; we have no ability to deal with set pieces, no organisation, too many stupid errors. experience at the back is a must for winning this league, and so is height; we have neither. i like shaw and rojo too BTW (and darmian from what i've seen), lots of potential there, but they've yet to prove they're championship-winning quality, and all these young guys need proven winners to look up to and learn from. it's a real shame the likes of evra, rio and vidic all ended up leaving at the same time. i think that could fuck us for a while if we're not careful.

it's really nice to be spoilt for midfield riches for the first time in a loooooong time, though. i'm actually not sure which three i'd play in the middle; i guess schneiderlin, schweinsteiger and herrera, with carrick, blind and *shudder* fellaini for backup? that's a pretty awesome bunch to choose from. and then depay and young scrapping it out for the LW (assuming di maria leaves, and i think he will), mata on the right and rooney up top.

and as previously mentioned, the likes of wilson and depay are not adequate backup for rooney at this time. i'm fine with RVP and falcao going but we need someone else. i know hernandez is still here but i get the feeling he won't settle for a bench role any more, doubt he'll be here by the end of the window. i don't really want us to shell out on cavani or higuain; we need an equivalent of chelsea's remy or city's bony, imo.

 

[0Marty]

I think Schweinsteiger is obviously good player, but don't know how LVG sees his midfield. One very defensive mid and one quite ofensive or two more similar?
Di Maria I think is gonna have better season than last, he's on Hazard/Sanchez level IF he's gonna play like he can. And I don't get the hype about Darmian. Seen many UTD fans excited about him, and he is quality player, but is he PL winners quality? I don't think so.

And I'm sitting here waiting for more signings than one goalkeeper and a bunch of youngsters (you can guess the team )