Fantasy Eliteserien – Season Review

The first ever season of Eliteserien Fantasy is done and dusted, and we take a look at some highs and lows of the season, what lessons were learned, and some thoughts for the future of this game.

Hot tips that delivered…

Before the season started, people were scrambling to learn the names and potential for what was to many of you a new league.

The big name jumping out was Niklas Bendtner, as the Danish international and former Arsenal striker stepped in as the signing of the century in Norwegian football. As can happen with new strikers in Rosenborg, it took him the better half of a season to find his footing and form in the Rosenborg attack. B

But when he finally hit his stride he dazzled, ending the season with 153 points on the back of 19 goals and an assist. He defended his 12.5 pricetag in the end and even rose to 13.1, despite frustrating for the first half of the season.

Another exciting name was Krepin Diatta, who opened the season impressing on international duty for the Senegal U-20 team.  He was predicted to be one of the big stars of the league, but as with Bendtner, managers had to wait. The youngster barely figured on the pitch for the first half of the season, but once he established his place he came out kicking. His 10 points in the first half were quickly eclipsed as he picked up another 87 in the second half of the season, quickly running up a points-per-90 tally of 6.6 to rival the top players in the league.

Top goalscorers were the pre-season buzz, and in that bracket Rosenborg’s rival team, Molde, fielded Björn Bergman Sigurdarsson, a total package striker up front for a goal-scoring team managed by striker legend Ole Gunnar Solskær. The Icelander did not disappoint, amassing 16 goals throughout the season, putting him joint third in the race for season top scorer. Perhaps the only stable choice up top, he quickly became a mainstay in many teams, and often the captain of choice in any Gameweek. That is before Bendtner woke up, as well as some unfortunate surprise rounds where he did not even figure on the squad lists.

In defence, Rosenborg player Vegar Eggen Hedenstad and Brann’s Gilli Rolantsson were hotly tipped. Hedenstad stepped in as an attacking wingback with some set-piece responsibilities, and while not getting that many major hauls, he has been one of the top players to have all season in large due to his largely uncontested spot in the Rosenborg starting XI.

Rolantsson, on the other hand, came into the season red-hot, playing out of position as a pure winger throughout despite being slated a defender in the game. He tapered off at the end of the season, his form following his team’s form closely, but still a player to match his summer reputation.

Among the big name midfielders to deliver was Brann powerhouse Fredrik Haugen, who stepped up big-time, as the third highest point scorer despite teammates hogging the limelight for parts of the season.While not really producing the big hauls, he nevertheless picked up a steady flow of over-average points to solidify his top choice position.

Also worth noting is silent assassin striker Mostafa “Mos” Abdellaoue , having figured high in the top-scorer lists last season. He once again impressed, delivering a joint third highest goal tally of 16, in one of the relegated teams. Watch out for him the coming season, if he signs for one of the higher-up teams he will be a forceful presence.

… and those that flopped

Having learned some lessons from FPL, many were looking at attacking defenders on each side to grab them points. While afore-mentioned Hedenstad and Rolantsson provided the options, big names from earlier seasons fell flat and did not deliver as hoped. Names like Espen Ruud(Odd), Lars Vilsvik(SIF) and Jonathan Parr(SIF) all failed to produce the dazzling numbers pundits were used to, and falling well short of the top point hauls for the season, despite Ruud’s 11 clean sheets out of 30 pulling him up the lists.

Lillestrøm have a reputation for their prowess in defence, and an exciting new goalie in Daniel Fernandes caught managers eye as a power-option at just 4.0 . Hearts were broken as Lillestrøm failed to uphold their reputation, and things got worse as Fernandes tested positive in a drug-test and was suspended. Lillestrøm went back to their own fumbles-option Origi, and many teams had to spend transfers re-shuffling to get a goalie in place.

Sarpsborg 08 striker Jonas Lindberg was poised for returns as the Sarpsborg team took another step connecting to the fight for medals. His season never really came to fruition though, as his teammates and striker colleague Mortensen stole the limelight, and his time on the pitch fluctuated.

Finally, Sogndal had a real exciting powerhouse in Gilbert Koomson. It is a bit unfair putting him on this side of the equation, as he is a top10 midfielder this season, but the pre-season hype left us wanting more, and he is left down for this reason.

In addition, the Rosenborg midfield, although delivering many points between them, failed to provide the one steady option worth the pricetags fixed to each one of them. Bringing in Adegbenro from Viking helped, but even he got most of his points before the move.

Emerging Stars

Some players rose to the occasion and shined bright this season, giving hope for strong returns next season. 

Torgil Gjertsen – The mid-summer midfielder transfer from Ranheim to Kristiansund took the league by storm. Featuring in only 12 games this season, he came close to the triple-digit mark with an impressive 93 points from his eight goals and four assists. That is an impressive 8.7 points per 90 minutes –  a form that surely can not be repeated next season, but a player worth noting none the less.

Ohikhuaeme “Ohi” Omoijuanfo – Only four goals the season before, not many predicted his conversion to the striker-role would be this successful. Keeping pace with Bendtner he ended up at 17 goals and an assist, despite missing three penalties this season.  This player was a boon for those who had him, and a curse for those trying to get on the train.

Eirik Ulland Andersen – Former Haugesund lad had only seven top-flight games the previous season, and was not on many managers radar for this Fantasy season. In the end he turned out to be the highest-scoring midfielder of the league, and one of the DreamTeam four midfielders with 11 goals and six assists.

Some honorable mentions go to Abdoulaye Seck, who was the go-to budget defender for a while, and Benjamin Stokke, a surprise budget striker option.

Team of the season

This lineup is within the rules of the game (valid formation, max three from each team) but ignores price. Top choices endend up sporting a 3-5-2 formation as follows:

Per Kristian Bråtveit (FK Haugesund, 122 Points)

Vegar Hedenstad (Rosenborg, 125 Points) – Gilli Rolantsson (Brann, 117 Points) – Simen Wangberg (Tromsø, 126 Points)

Bassel Jradi (Strømsgodset, 155 Points) – Eirik Ulland Andersen (Strømsgodset, 147 Points) – Fredrik Haugen (Brann, 149 Points) – Samuel Adegbenro (Viking/Rosenborg, 129 Points) – Torgil Gjertsen (KBK, 93 Points)

Nicklas Bendtner (Rosenborg, 153 Points) – Björn Sigurdarson (Molde, 148 Points)

Top haul of the season

Simen Wangberg, Defender from Tromsø, picked up a massive 30 points in Gameweek 22 to please owners. This was naturally a double Gameweek, and the central defender capitalised on this with three goals, a clean sheet and five bonus points spread across the two matches.

For single Gameweeks, Sogndal midfielder Gilbert Koomson excelled in Gameweek 8, producing a hat-trick, shut out and three bonus points for a grand total of 21 points.

The League 

International participants in this seasons Eliteserien Fantasy will no doubt have noted the instability of the league. With no less than 10 of the 16 teams producing a negative goal-difference, it is a league very much in a free-for-all brawl state. As such, bandwagons and in-form captaincy became important issues as few players were slated for a stable season-throughout success. Despite their hapless position, teams like Viking kept on having alluring options for way too long as a result of this. In the other end, Rosenborg went heavy on rotation and the stability behind them was lacking, frustrating managers no end.

Finding a core of steady starters with points potential became an exercise worthy of Sherlock Holmes, and jumping on the right bandwagons a painstaking job equal parts statistics and gut-check. Due to the scarcity of regular points, taking hits in the norwegian version is seldom if ever worth the effort, so careful selection of a full 15-man squad and keeping your wildcard on hand is a must.

The Game

Built on the same premise and by the same company as FPL, the game is very familiar to most of us as old hands in FPL. With sub-100.000 players they were able to have live-update leagues, round score averages and such, something many of us found very likeable.

Keeping to the FPL comparison we have come to expect certain standards though, and there are areas the game fell well short. The manual update tasks were a joke, with things like suspension and injury flags unreliable at best, players in and out in transfer windows seemed oddly random as to when it was updated, and something as simple as slotting Double Gameweeks took an absolute age to get in place. Long time FPL players were also missing the chips, as the features with triple captain and such not available in the Fantasy Eliteserien, although some liked the nostalgia-factor of “old” FPL in this and would prefer it stay chip-less.

The debate will also be ongoing about the “man-in-the-stand” bonus points hand out, vs. statistical objective scores.

Despite all of this, and a few quirks and bugs sprinkled in the season, this was a game built on the pedigree of FPL, and as such very enjoyable. We will even forgive them the large variety in player pricing, as this is an impossible exercise in a league as unstable as the norwegian one.

FFScout Competitions

The community joined in, and in excess of 500 teams participated in the various leagues set up by the FFS community, including Head2Heads, LastManStanding and classic league setups. These are the final winners:

FantasyFootballScout – Roy Rovers (Roy Arve Garvin)

PD KNOCKOUT LMS – Roy Rovers (Roy Arve Garvin)

FFS H2H – Totally Oblivious (TJ Assam)

Another H2H – Ringve Ballklubb (Thorleif Øien)

End of Days – Mince n Tatties (Jamie McComb)

Community Shout-outs

I’d like to add in some thanks to members of the community for their efforts towards this game.

To Team Cruel and Niemi for kicking off the community articles for the game, keeping us all connected and in the loop.

To PHIL DÆGGE® for setting up and maintaining the Last Man Standing league, as well as setting up the H2H league.

To whomever set up the classic league (couldn’t find who it was, sorry).

To Jonty for putting up with us pestering him about getting the articles out, as we glorify this young upstart version of FPL.

And finally, to all of you for participating in a lively comments-field, taking the game seriously enough to make it a fun experience not quite rivaling, but joining nicely with FPL. I’ve enjoyed RMT commentary, homemade fixture tickers, differential suggestions and all manner of useful discussions throughout this season.

Final Thoughts

Fantasy Eliteserien provides a good off-season carry-over for those with FPL abstinences, as it’s pedigree is close enough for comfort. The randomness of the league will also prepare you well for the frustrations to come in the opening FPL rounds. Besides, where else can you with a straight face pick Lord Bendtner as your main man.

We look forward to seeing you there next season (and challenge the FFS-crew to join us in the fun).