Thought I’d take a few minutes to talk tic tacs …
Different game, different scoringIt’s easy to get swayed by schools of thought / wisdom from other games. Most of my “fantasy knowledge” comes from FPL / TFF. PTG is a slightly different animal.
You’ve effectively got an offensive and a defensive team … a bit like American football – and there’s no distinction between positions. Each of the scoring categories carries equal weight and you can choose to either tread water in all areas or focus on a particular aspect. It’s not purely about building up the biggest total … but scoring more than the next man. Unless you’re superpretzels … who almost finished the season with a perfect 10
Points – Fairly self explanatory … field players from teams that are winning. I’ve tried to load up on Big4 but equally valid is fielding players facing weaker opponents. A tactic I employed last season was to keep a pool of players on rotation, fluidly exchanging out of contract players with bench fodder depending on opposition / form. Once this season’s Derby have been exposed, this will be easier to sustain.
Defensive / Successful Passes – Generally speaking, the more possession a team enjoys, the more successful passes they will string together ... essentially the dominant or winning team. Central midfielders of the box to box / creative variety will see more of the ball than wide men. Defensively, GK’s will be the highest scorers as they play every minute and are the lynch pin at the back that everything goes through. Got a horrible feeling I’m gonna regret releasing Almunia
Assists / Goals – Speaks for itself. The more attacking players you field, the more goals and assists you will rack up. Strikers that can play on the wing in PTG will let you field 6 out of 8 (including subs) offensive players. However, this is likely to affect your SP total. Goals and assists are a rare commodity for defensive players and are gold dust for your ranking. Again, player flexibility can be a real bonus here. Wingers classed as full backs in PTG should pick up a few assists … note, there is no distinction between goals for defensive players. Although no harm in having Laursen / Lescott though …
Minutes played - No brainer, you want your active players putting in a full 90mins week in, week out. Effectively, a team of promoted first teamers could out score a squad of big4 peripheral players in this category. The dilemma is when to play safe and when to take a punt on an impact sub appearance. Theo and Babel pose this quandary for me. A tactic worth considering is having both players for a specific position eg: Chelsea / Liverpool right back and then rotate according to line up.
Clean sheets – Again, not much needs to be said. The tighter at the back, the better. Big distinction this season is no average goals conceded category. Case in point … last season, Wigan kept as many CS’s as Arsenal!
My main approach has been to load up on Big4 players, regardless of how peripheral. My rotation will be based on whether they make the starting line up rather than weaker opposition. On paper, it looks great … but could all go horribly wrong.
In Rafa I trust 
