Insider's Guide to TFF
This year TFF has secured an exclusive insight into the cutting edge tactics that can guarantee fantasy football glory. Our shadowy figure, known only as 'The Insider', knows the world of Fantasy Football like the back of his hand, and has ruthlessy slain his Super League rivals year in and year out. Taking a short break from polishing his collection of medals and counting the pile of cash built up from the annual crop of side-bets, 'The Insider' has agreed to offer a step-by-step guide to pounding your Super League rivals into the dust.
1 - Make sure you select a solid starting XI.
Don't mess around with calculated risks at this early stage. Now is not the time to think "Mikael Silvestre might get a game at the back for United this year - and if he does, he'll be great value." If you don't know he's going to get a game, then don't take the risk. That comes later, as you manage your generous total of 30 transfers throughout the season.
All eleven of your players must be favourites to start almost every game for their club. Xabi Alonso might be the most talented passer of a football in the Premiership (© Jim Beglin) and he's doubtless a pleasure to watch, but in TFF terms you're far better off with a reliable starter like James Harper or Clint Dempsey. Even if your footballing instincts scream otherwise, always go for a Dave Kitson rather than a Peter Crouch, a Stephen Ireland over a Paul Scholes.
Treat those 2 appearance points as the bare minimum you expect from any of your players - they will snowball into an impressive total over time, and provide the cornerstone from which you can build a stunning season-long points haul.
2 - Manage those transfers wisely
Let caution be your watchword in the early part of the season. Injuries will of course play a part as the year goes on, but every team will endure a fair share of ill-fortune. As a general rule of thumb, if your player will miss more than 2 or 3 matches, kiss him goodbye.
Beyond that, if you've taken heed from Point One then you should not need to use many transfers before the turn of the year. Your players should all be starting regularly, and with no postponements or FA Cup replays to worry about, the fixture list should not be unduly troubling you either.
A certain red-faced Scotsman once famously stated that Premier League titles are won in March, not in August. Exactly the same is true of TFF. If you are in 40,000th position in October, don't even consider pressing the panic button. Look to reach January with 20-22 transfers in the bag, and you'll be primed to move up a gear when the late opportunities inevitably arise.
3 - Recognise the trends as they emerge, and react accordingly
Above all else, you must avoid that hallmark of the poor fantasy football player - the classic knee-jerk transfer. Yes, Antoine Sibierski and David Healy started last season with a bang, but anyone with functioning eyeballs could see that underneath the short-term glory they were still the same old Antoine and David. Knee-jerkers transferred them in in their droves, before moving on to next week's latest sensation and then ultimately watching in despair as their transfers ran out in mid-November. Don't be fooled by an early brace - it's a long old season.
The same rule applies as the season goes on - Marcus Bent's hat-trick against Blackburn last December did not signal the emergence of a new goalscoring superstar hero, and every TFF player worth their salt knew as much immediately. Beware the temptation of signing a player on the basis of one flashy performance - especially if you've watched the same player struggle all season long.
On the other side of the coin, once it became clear last season that Roque Santa Cruz had settled smoothly into life in the Premiership and would start every game for Rovers, then you'd have been a fool not to add him to your shortlist. You'll soon learn to take time to consider your options, avoid the one-hit wonders and perfect the art of jumping onto a player in form at exactly the right time.
4 - Study the fixtures
The average TFF player is held back by one failing above any other, and that's an ignorance of the fixture list. I'll whisper this quietly, but not all teams play the same number of games each month, or even over the course of the whole season
Keep a close eye on proceedings, and the opportunities will always present themselves. Sometimes one club can play up to three matches while, in the same period, another plays none at all. Known coloquially as '3 for 0s', these quirks of the fixture list can offer incredible opportunities to gain a serious points bonanza.
As a rule, rotate high-value forwards during these opportunities and leave your defence well alone. A striker can potentially score several goals in a match; a defender can only keep one clean sheet. If you catch the right player on the right '3 for 0', then you can enjoy the kind of boost Mario experiences when he grabs a mushroom, and your rivals will have no idea what has hit them.
Most frequent once the FA Cup and thus replays become a factor, you'll need to decide whether to revert to your original lineup once the gamble is over (thus doubling the number of transfers required to make the move), or to 'daisy-chain' your players from one fixture opportunity to the next, without ever really settling on what you believe to be your strongest season-long lineup. If you've got the steely resolve to go for the latter, coupled with the judgment to select the right opportunities to take advantage of, then you could really go places and even threaten the Top 100.
5 - Be prepared to take a chance at the crucial time
"Gambling equals debt equals misery" proclaimed a very wise man recently (The Apprentice's Nick Hewer, if you're wondering). Well, The Insider's here to tell you that that's not always the case, Nick, no matter how sternly you look over your glasses as you say so.
Top TFF players will always take the relative difficulty of forthcoming fixtures into account, and this is especially true as the season enters its last few months. If you have Fernando Torres up front, but find that his next four or five games are all against notoriously mean defences, then take a look around. You could easily spot a massive opportunity to steal a march on your Super League rivals.Got a gut feeling that Afonso Alves is going to run riot in those three easy games against Hull, Tottenham and then Stoke? Then go for it, get El Niño the hell out of your team and follow your instincts. All the plodders around you will stick with the big guns, regardless of fixtures, and your gamble could pay huge dividends.
Similarly, the FA Cup offers unique opportunities to get a timely scoring boost. If you've got big Wazza up front and United are without a game that week, then take a good look at, for example, Yakubu's forthcoming midweek FA Cup replay against Nuneaton or Hereford. The Yak might even have a game on Saturday too, while Wayne may not play again until Sunday.
Late season complacency is a killer for TFF teams, and these opportunities are always there in March and April. Make sure that you're the one who spots them and you'll win your Super League with ease.
So, Nick Hewer, I'm not usually one to doubt Sralan's wisest counsellor, but in this instance I prefer to side with another of Europe's great thinkers. "It's no better to be safe than sorry," sang A-ha in 1985 hit "Take On Me". As far as the latter stages of TFF go, no wiser words were ever spoken. Morten Harket, I salute you.
6 - Keep an ear to the ground
Short and sharp this one, but, as Desiderius Erasmus proclaimed as early as the sixteenth century, "In the land of the blind, the man who waits for team news is king." (At least, Des said something like that, I think I've captured the gist, anyway. The Dutch have always known their football.)
Everybody makes mistakes, but there is nothing more schoolboy than transferring in a player without checking on his fitness first. Not every TFF manager's lifestyle allows the luxury of waiting for the confirmed teams for the early kick-off every Saturday, but you must at least check the widely available predicted lineups on a Friday afternoon. If you make an impulsive transfer without first doing 30 seconds of research, then you're a mug. TFF is no mug's game.
Follow the rules outlined above and you'll have no problems cracking the top 1,000 TFF players and hammering your mates to scoop that Super League crown. You have my guarantee.
Make this your season.
The Insider
