The Pre-Match Preamble – Gameweek 2

As starts go, my Gameweek 1 sneaked into the above average category. Achievement unlocked.

That’s all I could wish for. The only season where I have started well – edging into the top 6k – I followed it up with my worst ever campaign. A fast start is handy but, it can often have little or no bearing on what is to come.

Similar to twelve months ago, my best-laid plans to carry over the Gameweek 2 transfer have quickly been extinguished.

Zaha’s blank against Huddersfield Town was inconvenient but his injury bordered on calamitous. I rarely need an excuse to fidget on my initial line-up, so Zaha fully justifies my early knee-jerk tendencies.

Jonty’s cautious approach – Aaron Mooy in and money kept in the bank – clearly has its merits. But I was never likely to be so reserved. Having adopted an aggressive transfer policy last season, that’s how I full intend to approach this campaign.

When I save my transfer, it will be to couple it with a hit to conduct minor surgery. Equally, when a hit is required to move quickly for a bandwagon, I’ll make that move, although it has to have “legs”.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has those legs. A cultured playmaker – just my type – there’s a danger that I’m allowing my admiration for the player cloud my Fantasy judgement.

But the omens are good. Jose Mourinho seems to have developed some trust for the Armenian and the player looks to have responded: three goals and three assists in pre-season and two more in Gameweek 1.

Romelu Lukaku already appears to have changed the attacking dynamic at Manchester United and, if Mkhitaryan starts as his number 10, he will surely prosper.

When I see this kind of scenario develop, I’m compelled to act. I’ve seen players get away from me before, rise 0.3 or more in price and, at that point, I begin to talk myself out of them. I find it galling to pay more for a player than the early adopters when they’ve also benefited from the points.

Back in that aforementioned ill-fated season, this happened twice. Both Aaron Ramsey and Yaya Toure got away from me. Those were the bandwagons with “legs”, and I was slow to react. They escalated in price, and then I refused to back down. Such stubbornness murdered my season.

Recognising that weakness in my Fantasy Football manager DNA, I now attempt to counter it. If I’m convinced on a bandwagon, I try to get on it early.

Looking back to Gameweek 2 last season I did exactly this. Ironically, I followed much the same route, seeking out Lukaku’s No 10.

I took a points hit for Ross Barkley. The rest is history.

Good luck for the Gameweek.