I don't wish to brag, but I had a particularly good weekend where my Fantasy League team's concerned. My team is entered into the official FA Premier League competition and is one of 63 teams taking part in our very own SPAOTP.com mini-league (see right for entry details).
After a poor start which saw my team labouring in the bottom half of the table, I managed to hit a bit of form from November onwards which culminated in my tremendous score of 108 at the weekend. Like I say, I don't like to brag, but it was tough down there in the bottom half...
All of which led me to reflect on the decent players I've been lucky enough to pick just recently. Think about this for a moment: aside from Fantasy League competitions and the like, if someone asked you to pick a 'squad' of the best fifteen Premier League players, who would you pick?
Would you pick Rob Green of West Ham in goal? Martin Petrov of Man City in midfield? What about Silvain Distin of Portsmouth in defence? Perhaps not, although they are all great players in their own right, and yet they're among the best players you can buy in the FA's Fantasy Premier League competition at the moment.
Here are the highest scoring players so far:
Goalkeepers
Green (West Ham)
James (Portsmouth)
Defenders
Laursen (Aston Villa)
Ferdinand (Manchester United)
Lescott (Everton)
Vidic (Manchester United)
Distin (Portsmouth)
Midfielders
Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Fabregas (Arsenal)
Gerrard (Liverpool)
Petrov (Manchester City)
Bentley (Blackburn)
Forwards
Tevez (Manchester United)
Adebayor (Arsenal)
Berbatov (Tottenham)
Now before we carry on, we know that a Fantasy League competition isn't the most scientific way of judging who the best players are, but this is just a bit of fun, after all. So with that in mind, what can we discern from the above?
Well the first thing that springs to mind is that over half of the players aren't even from the top four in England (i.e. Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool). Come to think of it, where are the Chelsea players?
Using the FA's scoring system, Rob Green comes out on top as the best keeper. He's yet to convince many of his credentials as a future England player, but for David James - just behind Green on points - he's got the same problem, but in his case he's already had an England career.
In defence, we have a selection of people that can not only stop the goals going in but also score at the other end too. Just this last weekend, Rio Ferdinand, Joleon Lescott and Martin Laursen all got on the scoresheet - a good skill to have if your Fantasy League team needs that kind of thing.
In midfield, who wouldn't pick the likes of Ronaldo, Fabregas and Gerrard. Their legendary status grows bigger by the day, and though Petrov and Bentley still have some way to go before they reach similar heights in the game, they can both pick up the occasional goal too, as well as putting in regular performances of considerable quality.
And then up front we have three exciting players, each of whom are bringing much in the way of excitement to their respective teams. Tevez, Adebayor and Berbatov are rightly among the most sought-after players in Fantasy League circles, and the 31 Premier League goals they've scored between them this season prove just why.
So there it is, the FA Fantasy Premier League's best-possible squad as it currently stands. Fifteen great players, and they're all yours for a virtual sum of £120.9 million.
Shame they only give you £100 million pounds to buy some players with, really...
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
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10 comments:
I had a really good weekend on my pub's league
I too have had a good run of luck the past few weeks. I'm nipping at your heels Chris!
I'm in a Squadgod fantasy league, and Clichy is the highest scoring defender in that scoring system. Since they keep track of tackles and interceptions, he can be at the top despite not scoring any goals and only providing three assists.
But who wants to be a manager? If there was any realism in the game you'd be sacked the moment you dipped into the bottom half or insisted you needed to do to some transfers.
No, being a football agent is where the future lies. ;)
Further to previous blogs - I wonder how adapatable Fantasy Football games like squadgod sit with the people at DataCo
Names of towns in which people will be happy tonight (in my opinion):
west London
Norwich
Millwall
Birmingham
Liverpool
north London
Good for you Chrissy! So who would you say were your prized possessions as far as your team goes?
Yes indeed, Chris B - You did even better than me this week! How dare you!!!!
That Squadgod system sounds interesting (and very fair), Adam. Any other aspects of it that you think could sway us for next season?
I love the Fantasy Football Agent idea, Sp3ktor! How well are you doing at that so far this season?
Squadgod has a very balanced scoring system. In the top 10 scorers for the season, so far, there are 3 forwards, 3 midfielders and 4 defenders.
Players get points for attempted passes, and tackles, and successful interceptions, passes, tackles, assists, goals and clean sheets (minus points for goals conceded and cards). The scoring is based on player position, so a defender will get more points for a tackle than a forward, for example.
You have an 11 man squad in either a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 formation, and can make one transfer per week (and 'buy' additional transfers for 20 points). All of this stuff is the "base" game, though, since you can become a group administrator and set up the rules however you want (i.e. there's a league that gives positive points for red cards).
I highly recommend it. In addition to the rules, they have a great analysis page, where all the stats and points accumulated are neatly presented, so you can make transfer decisions easily.
www.squadgod.com Check it out
p.s. - I should go into advertising.
Well I'd just like to have a self-congratulatory moment myself, if indeed such a word exists. Being a kiwi, my first love is rugby. Followed by cricket (although this is an emotional roller coaster for most kiwis), then netball. I've only really cottoned on to this football thing since meeting Chris O. He persuaded me to try the Fantasy League thingy last season with little success. No surprise considering I could only name a few Premiership teams. However... this story has a happy middle. After a few good weeks I'm now in the top 20 of the SPAOTP league and very proud of it I am to! And a little bit addicted.
I still crave a little bit of oval ball action every now and then though!
I'm 8th Chris, but a mile behind the leaders.
Quizking and Wardonkey are just far too good - it's incredible that at this stage in the season and amassing over 5000 points each they are still just 1 point apart.
I think I might have to give SquadGod a go next season, Adam. Sounds all very fair to me!
Ah, Chalkgirl, I can see I've taught you well. You've been a fine apprentice... x ;-)
Stick at it, Sp3ktor - one day your moment of greatness will come! :-)
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