The first Gameweek of any season is always the most interesting (perhaps excluding double Gameweeks and Gameweek 38); we carry out months of planning and carry out much more research than for any other Gameweek to ensure that our teams are perfectly balanced and organised, only to see the best laid plans seemingly collapse as your new left-back doesn’t start or your new striker fluffs his lines.
With our Watchlists being so drastically changed after this week’s matches and the average points so low (I scored only 29!), this got me thinking: does your team suddenly become bad after a disappointing first week, and should you take action or be patient and trust in your detailed research and your picks?
Action
The reorganisation of the Fantasy Football Scout Watchlist certainly points towards taking decisive action, with Branislav Ivanovic crashing to the bottom of the defender list, Jordan Henderson falling off altogether and Mesut Ozil dropping down the midfielder list while Wayne Rooney slips down on the forwards list.
Does this suggest that they have suddenly become bad picks after one Gameweek? No, of course not, but previous seasons have shown that there are certain bandwagons you cannot miss and need to get on as soon as you can: Aaron Ramsey’s breakout season, when he was priced at 5.5 certainly springs to mind, as did Sergio Aguero’s return to the side last year. If you miss these at an early stage, you can be playing catch-up all season.
Undoubtedly, if any of your punts for Gameweek 1 have not paid off (e.g. they were dropped from the squad) then it certainly makes sense to get rid and bring in someone who has impressed already. As will be important for the season as a whole, there is no point keeping someone who doesn’t play.
There is also the experience of watching players from a newly promoted team that you have backed but have failed to impress, which certainly starts to make your trigger finger itchy. In this situation, giving them another week or two may be sensible, though no one wants to hold onto worthless assets with a misplaced sense of hope, and resisting the switch to, for example, a Leicester midfielder like Riyad Mahrez is tough.
Patience
However, are there any bandwagons this year that merit ditching your first week picks for?
I would suggest not, and despite stand-out weeks from individuals such as Yaya Toure, Mahrez and Marc Albrighton, I don’t think we can conclusively state that they are “essential” and warrant major surgery to your team. At this stage, it’s just not clear that those players will outscore options such as the Arsenal midfielders or other cheap midfielders over the next few weeks, and you will have likely missed their “big” score if you get them in now. After all, Leicester won’t play Sunderland every week.
For the promoted teams, it probably is worth giving them a bit more time. Bournemouth in particular have incredible fixtures, and if you don’t have any of their players in now then realistically there is little point having them in at all. Watford did enough to merit holding for now, and whilst Norwich didn’t look great, again giving them another few weeks looks sensible.
The Fantasy Football Scout Watchlist also shows that there is merit in showing patience and holding; Cedric and Kane in particular stand out as having retained their lofty rankings despite only playing 45 minutes and blanking respectively.
Conclusion
So, is Gameweek 1 really all that different? As with many Gameweeks, it’s sensible to show patience if one of your good picks has a bad week, but it’s important to strike the balance between showing blind faith and having a knee-jerk that backfires spectacularly over the next few weeks. I certainly would not be advocating major surgery at this stage if you have picked a solid squad; remember, you chose those players for a reason that was more long term than just Gameweek 1.
