Twenty four teams have fallen by the wayside in the last three weeks, and now the final furlong is in the sight-line for the final eight. Fantasy managers looking to steal a march on their rivals at this stage will need a plan of action that’s spot on, perhaps with a cheeky odd-ball selection thrown in or an alternative tactic adopted.

We’ve already brought an old faithful back in the form of the Captains Poll (twice) to aid any indecisive managers out there, and if the results of the last day or so are anything to go by, you would be mad to avoid two of La Liga’s hottest strikers. Diego Forlan is the current leader of the Friday poll right now, and David Villa is miles clear in the Saturday stakes – even leaving Lionel Messi in his wake. If you’ve yet to place your vote why not hurry back to the home page and do so, then head back here to tell us all why you’re picking Dirk Kuyt and Oscar Cardozo. We’ll move on to tactics in the meantime.

The quarter-finals are the last great precipice that we need to tread carefully as we make our way to the semis; the question is how many transfers do we use, where do we use them, or do we even use them at all? Here’s the low-down on a few different trains of thought…

The Transfer Strategies

Balls Out
If you pardon the expression. With more than a few players in most (if not all?) McFifa squads knocked out after the round of 16 many people will be looking to furnish their 23 again. Will you be looking to use all of your free transfers (and then some) to offload that deadwood and give your squad two cracks at the whip in these quarters – 11 men on Friday with 11 as back-up on Saturday if they fail?

Hit and Hope
It’s an odd kind of tactic. How many of you will be investing in Paraguayan defenders this round? Not many, I imagine. But this tournament can throw up a few surprises of that there is no doubt. The odds will be against them, and you, but with only a few rounds left what about taking one wild swing with a few of your transfers – if they pay off the dividends could be bountiful. Though in reverse, they may be the final nail in your McFifa coffin if (and when?) they don’t pay off. The risk outweighs the reward, but managers are rapidly running out of risk-taking chances.

N.B. this obviously doesn’t equate to just Paraguayan defenders, they are but an example in this case.

Practice Caution
You get four transfers to play with ahead of the quarter finals – but what if the person you buy gets knocked out? It could very well happen; we’ve got three very exciting but potentially close-run ties in Netherlands v Brazil, Argentina v Germany and Uruguay v Ghana. For sure there are favourites in every fixture, but you’ll be caught short if you bulk up on Brazilians only for Holland to finally pull out the flair when it’s needed most.

What about using just a handful of your free trades, hope form goes your way and then- if worst comes to worst- you’ve saved a couple of handy extra transfers for the semi-finals, at which point teams can no longer be knocked out, at least in a Fantasy sense.

Back Spain
Simple, in theory. Spain are the favourites to get through the quarter-finals with the least amount of hassle. It’s a risk, it’s always a risk – but the tiki-taka football should get the better of Paraguay so stock up early and hopefully ride the Spanish wave through this round and into the final stages.

Cross Fingers
The ultimate caution. Sit on your hands and do nothing, pray, and save all four free transfers for the semi-finals onwards and wait for the extra £5m credit to be added to you fantasy squad.

Let us know exactly how you’ll be practicing your transfer regime. I’m erring on the side of caution right now and will be looking to use just one or two of my transfers, despite only having 13 active players left – hoard those transfers I say, but what appeals to you?

While you answer that, we stumble finally into the realm of the differential as we highlight a smattering of tasty treats that you may want – or feel you have to – gamble on as the differential doors close in on us sharply…

The Differentials

Fernando Torres – £9.2m
He’s just back from injury, he’s obviously just back from injury. While he may play like Emile Heskey for Spain, at the end of the day he’s still Fernando Torres. If you need a differential and if all else fails, don’t call the A-Team, why not have a stab at Liverpool’s number 9 and hope the last few days of training will have brought his sharpness back. And of course pray that the more impressive Fernando Llorente hasn’t ousted him from the starting XI. The latest indicates that coach Vicente del Bosque will be sticking with Torres.

Dani Alves – £7.5m
As delivered to you last night, Elano is out of the quarter finals – and potentially even further, were Brazil to keep winning – and Alves has been filling his boots ever since replacing his crocked team mate in the starting XI. He gets added clean sheet points, he takes set pieces, and he has picked up the most attacking bonus points (5) in the Brazilian squad since Elano succumbed to injury. Sounds perfect.

Miroslav Klose – £8.8m
Germany knocked out England, it’s done. Now they have to get beyond a much more potent Argentinean strike-force so their most experienced striker could prove essential. He has more World Cup goals than Lineker, Baggio and Maradona and is just 3 shy of Ronaldo’s record of fifteen. At 32 years old this is probably his last chance, more than enough reason he’ll be going for this.

Not only that, he’s selected by a meagre 4.5% of McFifa managers – that’s a pittance by comparision; for example players like Grafite, Pedro and Milito have more owners and they are perennial benchwarmers. If Germany are to succeed Klose will need to perform, and he could prove the ultimate differential.

Maxi Rodriguez – £6.0m
Remember this? Just like Klose before him, Argentina might need that kind of sparkle once more if they are to get past the dynamic and spritely Germany side. He’s not guaranteed to start – no-one can be surprised by Maradona any more – but at just £6m might be the right replacement in your midfield if you’re searching on a budget not of the highest order.

So… Quarter finals eh? Plenty to be thinking about, and you thought you would take a break over your first couple of days off from the World Cup. Think again.