The Pre-Match Preamble – Gameweek 7

Sergio Aguero may have saved my season.

I genuinely think that, had he not flung his arm in the direction of Winston Reid’s chops, my squad would be on a very different path to the one it now occupies.

Looking back at my Gameweek 3 line-up, aside from the obvious clanger in backing Riyad Mahrez, it’s difficult to see where I was going wrong. Sitting outside of the top million managers having just ranked 2.9 million in the world, I was pretty much clueless on how I would transform my fortunes.

Aguero’s indiscretion changed that. His suspension pushed me into playing an early Wildcard and, from that point on, it appears to have turned for me.

The timing could hardly have been better. Three Gameweeks provided just enough data to go on.

Everton and Arsenal had ridiculously strong fixtures and Manchester City had already revealed themselves as a seemingly unstoppable attacking force.

These factors appeared to signpost moves for Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Raheem Sterling – they all presented convincing arguments and Aguero’s ban offered the means and the courage to seal the deal.

In hindsight, this now seems obvious.

Jonty’s dig at my template midfield in this week’s ScoutCast resonated so much because it’s easy, three weeks on, to arrive at the conclusion that the targets are clear.

The fact that Sterling has increased in price by 0.5, Sanchez 0.3 and Lukaku 0.4, all since arriving in my squad, indicates that it perhaps wasn’t quite so obvious to all ahead of Gameweek 4.

But without that one event – without Aguero’s ill-timed elbow, I doubt I would have moved for any of that trio.

My rank now simmers around the 100k mark; my squad value has increased by 2.2 in the space of just three and a bit Gameweeks.

None of that would have happened without Aguero getting his ban.

I can take some credit for the decisions but judgement on transfers isn’t my biggest issue as a Fantasy manager – we are all capable of making good decisions.

My key flaw has always been my lack of conviction when it comes to backing myself. That’s where the Aguero suspension came in.

It was a convenient twist in the season that played into my hands and one which I was able to exploit. That much was pure luck.

Now I have to maintain momentum. My recent decisions to ship Zlatan Ibrahimovic and now Michail Antonio, reflect a new approach.

I’ve got to take inspiration from the Gameweek 4 Wildcard.

All too often in previous seasons, I find myself backtracking and retreating, only really making a big decision when an injury or suspension makes it feel safe.

Now I have to urge myself to back brave transfer moves without having an event like Aguero’s ban to make it easy.

It could all go badly wrong. I’m losing decent players, explosive assets.

But I have to hope that I win more often than I lose. At least it feels like I’m genuinely playing the game rather than being passive and letting things pan out. I’m on a new path and, while it’s going well, it feels right.

Come back to me on Sunday night after Zlatan and Antonio have spanked me and I will doubtless feel very different.

One way or another, it’s all going to trace back to Aguero – the point of his elbow providing a fortunate catalyst.