The Pre-Match Preamble – Gameweek 24

My Diego Costa poster is on the wall as promised. The “missus” wasn’t best pleased by our bed being looked over by a monobrowed Brazilian-born brute but I explained the circumstances of how the studs-up striker helped prompt my 89-point Wildcard and I think she understood. Certainly, she seemed happy enough whilst she fetched my suitcase down from the loft.

I jest of course. I’d never let a pregnant woman climb that rickety loft ladder.

Costa is definitely a hero in my world, though. As I stated in last week’s little episode, should his ban be perfectly timed to allow me to fully exploit my Winter Wildcard, I would have to reward him with a place in my personal Fantasy Football Hall of Fame. His contribution to my season will never be forgotten, even if he’s unlikely to grace my team screen again.

As I’ve so often said, such significant bans and injuries almost instantly dissolve the dilemmas faced by us Fantasy managers. Costa gave me very little option and the rest was down to a few sensible picks and the finger of fate that allowed a pair of my new defenders to fetch unlikely 12-point hauls.

This week’s decisions looked equally straightforward. I’d already committed to Sergio Aguero having reserved the funds but, for the rest of us, Alexis Sanchez’s twanged hamstring looked to have sealed the deal.

That was until Arsene Wenger complicated things by reminding us that, unlike the aforementioned, Aguero, the sinews that make up Arsenal’s Chilean are constructed from Teflon wire. Sanchez’ desire to play his part in the north London derby has cast doubt on the situation and, as we near 11.30, the decision to part company with the season’s best player is far less clear-cut than it was 24-hours ago.

Such events can shape our season. Those who absorbed the cash loss to show Sanchez the exit will probably have the opportunity to make up ground should their recruited replacement do a job. For me, this was a risk too far. There were contenders who could repay a possible trade but when you throw in a four-point loss, a 0.5 cash deficit and the very real chance that Sanchez will get a run at Leicester in midweek, there was enough to prompt me to sit on my hands. Wenger’s words only compounded matters: I’m starting Sanchez just in case we’re “blessed” with the most unlikely of outcomes.

Could fate swing in my favour once again? If it does, I’d have little option but to ask “the boss” for permission to position an Arsene Wenger statuette in hallway.