The Community Round Up

The summer months offer Fantasy managers a chance to take stock of the season gone by and get some early preparation in for the next campaign. Our community writers had plenty to analyse as they looked at the key lessons learned from 2015/16. Getting the perfect Fantasy team for Euro 2016 games was a chief issue for our hot topic posters, as was the arrival of Jose Mourinho, and possibly Zlatan Ibahimovic, to Manchester United. We finish this latest round up with a look at a new international-themed community tournament and find out who completed a long and winding 2015/16 Premier League season with top honours.

The Community Articles

Our community writers have been assessing the previous season to see what it can teach Fantasy managers as they look ahead to 2016/17.  Kavali recommends keeping an eye on experienced managers’ moves, rather than the top 10,000 in the overall rankings. His final article on Fantasy Premier League veterans’ progress this season revealed that despite a rocky start it proved to be their best campaign on record. Watch out next season when this article series returns in expanded form.

Ignoring pricey picks and taking risks on cheap players is among the lessons learned by RuthNZ as he recounted how he turned around a ghost ship team for the second half of the season.

Meanwhile, getting to grips with the new chips was among other criteria for success, looked at by Bowstring the Carp in his analysis of 2015/16’s marked differences from previous years.

Could making no transfers at all be the lazy and unlikely secret of success? Red Lightning’s research into the optimal dead team, that is made and left alone from Gameweek 1, found that such a team would have beaten this season’s FPL champion by a massive 79 points.

There were plenty more points to pick up in Ludo’s look at the psychology behind Fantasy Football management.

Don’t forget, if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.

The Hottest Topics

Euro 2016 preparation continued in earnest this week as we took a look at the best midfield options and Balders revealed what the bookies are saying about the tournament. In addition, Konig Luther was on hand to unearth the key player stats during the qualifying matches.

Early discussion around the next Premier League season also came to the fore, as we looked at which team is likely to repeat Leicester’s perfect storm in 2015/16 of good management, fit players, few cup distractions and strong team spirit.

The decision by Manchester United to oust Louis van Gaal in exchange for Jose Mourinho also sparked some interesting debate, as Ryan looked at how the former Chelsea boss is set to affect the Red Devils’ team, once his contract wrinkles have been ironed out. We also considered whether Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is strongly rumoured to be a transfer target for Mourinho, will appeal to Fantasy managers.

Staying in Manchester,  a revolution is brewing at United’s local rivals. We asked for your views on speculation that just three of the current Manchester City squad are set to feature in new manager Pep Guardiola’s plans.

Following on from his 2015/16 retrospective community article, Bowstring the Carp canvassed the community’s thoughts on whether FPL should introduce even more chips, that could be best utilised anytime during the season rather than around double Gameweeks.

We also followed up on Ludo’s community article with a hot topic to find out the community’s psychological pitfalls when it comes to managing their Fantasy team.

The Community Tournaments

Doosra and Ginkapo sent a dispatch from their Long and Winding Road and FA Cup of Tea competitions to detail those who ended 2015/16 with the most bragging rights.

Greenwindmill earns himself a rather smart musical-themed tea set for scooping top honours in the FA Cup of Tea.

Meanwhile, In the Long and Winding Road main league LaterRiser12, who finished 77^th in the overall rankings, was crowned champion.

In the LAWR head to head leagues the winners were Evs, HVT, MsRed19, Giggs Boson, Greenwindmill, Saniul and Doolittle.

Elsewhere, Fantasy Football Frog is launching a community tournament around the Euros 2016. More details can be found here.

If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round Ups please email me a brief summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spread sheet or head to head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.