So far, so good. One week into my big “Sergio Sacrifice” experiment, things have worked out pretty well.
Aguero’s fragility has surfaced almost immediately and, unless Manuel Pellegrini is pulling a fast one, the Argentine will be up in the stands at the Britannia or at home in his crib, scoring goals as himself in FIFA.
For this week at least, I should have peace of mind: Sergio can’t hurt me.
Alexis Sanchez’ injury wasn’t so quite so convenient, although at least it arrived at a time when I’d finally found some stability in my squad.
By ignoring Sergio, I’ve managed to clear some chaff and find a level of contentment – even though Jeffrey Schlupp is still knocking about to remind of errant transfers from Gameweeks past.
More importantly, I’ve been able to bank a transfer; that always makes me happy.
Of all the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) rule changes made in recent seasons, I honestly think that the ability to carry over a free transfer is the smartest. Certainly it’s perfect for the way I play.
While it’s tedious and disconcerting to skip a Gameweek without making a change, the flexibility and freedom granted thereafter is a powerful thing.
I’ve spoken before on how I like to couple a four-point hit with two transfers to carry out surgery. While I’ll attempt to exploit that strategy at some point, this week, having two free transfers allowed me to take immediate action as the vibration of Sanchez’ twanged hamstring lingered in the air.
The Chilean was quickly swapped out on Sunday evening, capturing rises and avoiding falls without anxiety – safe in the knowledge that I had a spare transfer to fix any further issues that may present themselves over the week.
That spare transfer will likely be my most potent weapon in attempting to break my team out of the template in a bid to make up further ground. It’s also sitting there should I have to reverse my Sergio stance.
It had me wondering whether FPL could take matters further: if perhaps the mechanic could be used to repay points hits made for transfers.
Hear me out.
Managers who sacrifice a transfer in one Gameweek could carry over a transfer and, if they choose to skip for a second consecutive week, would earn a repayment of a transfer hit made earlier in the season. For every week they held two transfers, another points hit would be returned.
I’m wondering if this would encourage transfer activity – if managers would be more likely to take hits on changing their team up if they knew they had a method or earning those points back.
In truth, I imagine that hits would be made with managers failing to get their squads in a state to earn repayments. However, that would not be a bad thing if it encouraged more early activity and freedom to shift squads away from settled templates.
It would also hand active managers an advantage over “ghostship” teams who, without taking points hits, would miss out on the benefit of banking transfers. Sorry Sharon.
This would certainly suit me down to the ground. I crave the thrill of rolling the dice with transfers but lose sleep over every four points spent.
The way I see it, the best chance I’ve got of actually winning this thing and going into early retirement is by morphing the game into something tailor made for my playing style. It might just work.
