With the next Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline almost upon us, we’re getting articles, opinions and team reveals from our panel of Hall of Famers and guest writers.
Here, Career Hall of Fame #16 FPL Milanista – armed with six top 10k finishes – reflects on his Gameweek 20 Wildcard.
This season in FPL has been a rollercoaster but not the exhilarating kind. In my 20 years of experience, I’ve never experienced so much misfortune, adversity and – unfortunately – a lack of motivation.
Following weeks of underwhelming performances, misfires on captain choices – usually Erling Haaland (£14.8m) – and an increasing sense of despair, I found myself at a crossroads. My team was in disarray and something drastic clearly needed doing.
After much deliberation, I decided to pull the trigger and activate my second Wildcard as soon as it became available in Gameweek 20, in a quest to turn things around and salvage what’s shaping up to be my worst-ever FPL season.
THE DAMAGE OF SALAH
To call this season disappointing would be an understatement. For the first time ever, I’m stuck in the bottom half of my mini-leagues, with an overall rank languishing in the depths of mediocrity. The Haaland versus Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) variance was colossal, costing me hundreds of points over these months.
Sticking with the Norwegian was also damaging in the sense that it always felt obvious to captain him when sitting top of each week’s goalscoring odds, yet players like Salah, Cole Palmer (£11.4m) and Alexander Isak (£9.3m) were ripping the league apart.
Even worse for my mind was that the recent picks weren’t ever bad. I was always looking at a healthy green arrow right up until Liverpool’s match. The level of double-digit consistency shown by Salah is unheard of, so repeatedly betting against someone with at least 150% effective ownership (EO) was devastating. He bagged 140 points over a nine-Gameweek period.
I’d be lying if I said that such events weren’t affecting my general mood or my ever-present enthusiasm towards FPL. Variance is part of the game but what we’re encountering this season is a completely different case of despair.
Perhaps my team didn’t need a Wildcard, yet my motivation towards the game was at its lowest. Nothing could fix this better than a magic eraser that resets everything, a last-ditch attempt to rescue this sinking ship. I needed to revamp my squad entirely, cutting ties with deadweight players and bringing in new talent that can hopefully reignite my season.
WILDCARD SO FAR
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