Fantasy Managers’ Summertime Blues

The summer is a challenging time for the Fantasy Football addict. The heady days of August to May have passed and the nine months of the Fantasy Premier League (FPL), Sky game, analysis, statistics, tables, fixtures, planning and transfers are over. Almost a year of battling for a mini-league, to grab a high rank or, for the select few, to win a Fantasy Football competition, have turned to dust in a second. The final whistle blew one Sunday afternoon in mid-May and, as Premier League teams across the country collectively exhaled, so did us Fantasy managers.

The professional footballers will reflect on their seasons, be it Chelsea reveling in their triumph, or the relegated clubs wondering where to go from here. For us Fantasy managers, the frantic fight subsides, and we are given time to ponder our standing. For us, mid-May to early August is the longest of seasons as we count down the days to the campaign ahead.

During my long summer break Fantasy Football is never far from my thoughts. Last season’s top 4,000 FPL finish left me with a challenge that I can’t forget about even during these long weeks with no Fantasy football. My mission will be to get back into the top 1,000, as I did in 2013, and even with no Fantasy football it’s a mission that I can not let go.

Already I’m looking ahead, even before the Fantasy games have opened and player prices are known. It may be Fantasy Football limbo but still us addicts are craving our next fix, scrabbling around for transfer rumours, or vague ideas of player pricing to construct a template in our heads.

While most are listening to the waves lap at their feet on the beach, us Fantasy Football managers are keeping a keen ear on whisperings of Karim Benzema or Gonzalo Higuain joining Manchester United or pondering whether Liverpool’s new recruits will be under-priced gems or over-priced mistakes.

There have been the occasional nicotine patches of Fantasy management to satisfy our cravings, in the form of Fantasy Copa America or the UEFA U21 Championships games, as we find ourself cheering a Portugal youngster’s assist or clean sheet. There’s no doubting, though, that this is the despairing fumbling for a fix of an addict – just anything to temporarily satiate that unquenchable need.

There are some Fantasy managers who claim to be able to take time off from the game, enjoy their break in the sunshine and pick up again in August. To us hardened addicts, who stay in with curtains drawn awaiting news of James Milner’s first goal for Liverpool in a friendly, they are mere casuals.

With July now upon us we have already survived a month and a half with no Premier League games and other sporting events, such as Wimbledon, are doing their best to distract us. Just a few weeks to go before the first kick of the season and perhaps just a week or two to go before FPL and other games open, player prices are known and planning can begin in earnest. With the Premier League season starting earlier in August this year FPL could even open its doors as early as next week.  The FPL site is down for maintenance reasons. Oh God, this could be it. Please let this be it.