Pre-Match Preamble – Gameweek 33

Wildcards normally mean only one thing: my season is in trouble.

I turn to the nuclear option to enact urgent repairs on my squad. Historically, it’s been a last resort when my stubbornness has cost me dear – when I’m forced to cave in on two or three assets that I’ve left to drift away in price, leaving me with no option but to carry out emergency surgery.

This time is different.

This time I’m playing the Wildcard off the back of six green arrows in seven Gameweeks. There are smiles throughout my squad and yet, yesterday’s “night of the long knives” wiped them clear, as I mercilessly gutted the team that had restored respectability to my season.

This morning I have to continue to think that it’s for the best. I have to be happy to have said goodbye to Harry Kane and my Leicester contingent and put faith in shaky, inconsistent assets on the basis that, by buying more raffle tickets, I’ll have more chance of winning the end of season tombola.

I’ve often approached Double Gameweeks with a “speculate to accumulate” approach and that has certainly shaped my strategy with the Wildcard. However, the bench boost Chip is another variable that’s significantly impacted on my thinking.

While there are undoubtedly some cheap and potentially profitable assets courting their business, my obsession with maximising 15-players for Gameweek 34 has meant I’ve been more cautious in my approach. In some cases I’ve opted for the unfashionable and unspectacular, in order to increase my chances of booking those 15 slots. I’m hell-bent on achieving two Gameweek 34 starts from that Bench Boost squad.

I’ve also concentrated effort on Gameweek 33. In doing so I’ve left myself exposed for Gameweek 35, but my tactic is to attempt to bank more points, making spending extra on transfers all the more palatable later. It’s far easier to risk transfer points off the back of a heavy haul.

The selection process was arduous and carried me into the early hours of this morning. As usual, I’m convinced I’ve overlooked something obvious – some subtle machination I’ve missed that will doubtless cost me points.

However, Wildcards are a Fantasy Premier League manager’s work of art – you have to know when to back away and leave well alone. Further brush strokes now will only taint the final impression.

The Bench Boost and Triple Captain undoubtedly make the Wildcard masterpiece all the more abstract. They provide a new twist, offering a perceived opportunity to exploit information, knowledge and graft and turn that into cold hard points.

These next few weeks will confirm whether that really is the case; whether the Wildcard has been transformed from an emergency sticky plaster to a weapon wielded by the dedicated and diligent.

All I really know right now is that we’re set for a ride – one we’ve never really experienced previously in an FPL season. I’ve targeted my Wildcard to ensure that I’ve strapped myself in the front seat.