You can forget the season of goodwill. This, like every Christmas programme, promises to be a punishing affair on the anxiety levels of the passionate Fantasy manager as much as the sinews of the Premier League footballer. We should prepare ourselves for twists and turns; some freakish points hauls, a slew of cruel injuries and unforeseen rotation.
Some will get lucky – probably the guy you’re chasing in the mini-league. At that point, we need to cut the bleating – we’ll have to roll with it and come out the other side having resisted the temptation to chase points, or “knee jerk” proven quality out of our squads. Fight the urges, there are fixtures to come in the New Year.
The nightmares could even come before Christmas. Sir Alex may just go for the experience of Ryan Giggs and the industry of Ji-Sung Park to counter the usual verve shown by Fulham in Wednesday’s Craven Cottage meeting. Roberto Mancini has declared he will make changes for the visit of Stoke – we can only speculate what he has planned to counter the Potters style, or indeed, who he will sacrifice in order to cope with their physicality.
Will Gareth Bale shake off his ankle to face Chelsea? Will players like Ledley King, Rafael Van der Vaart and Demba Ba – individuals cursed by recurrent injury problems – be able to cope with the fixture pile-up?
Then there’s the added confusion of the effects of the impending Tube strikes on the London fixtures – will our gameweek suffer? We should asses the players at risk – and consider saving transfers until we know more so we can counter the issue. With possible Boxing Day absentees, now is not the time to indulge in a “vanity transfer”.
We shouldn’t bottle our wrath for after these events. Ideally, we need to prepare for frustration and have a bench in place to absorb it. If you sitting on Ritchie De Laet or Shane Ferguson, it could be time to prioritise their exit. Now, more than ever, we need a bench lined with active players – willing to contribute and at least offer the prospect of a few points.
So, yeah, enjoy the Bond Film, The Two Ronnies and the awkward gift swapping. Just don’t bank on too many pressies from a Fantasy Football perspective – we’re all set to enjoy “restless” rather than “silent” nights.
