I have just completed my fourth season playing TFF and so far in my short TFF career I have had my best ever season. I thought I would do a review of my best team, not an outstanding one by any means (I hope better ones are posted here, I enjoy reading them) but once the season is finished I like to highlight the transfers and decisions which were good and bad and how I can improve my strategy for the future.
Due to not keeping a record of my team throughout the season, the monthly breakdown is according to TFF months. Special mention to Jackpot who did a great review last summer and inspired me to do this review.
Starting 11 (5-3-2):
De Gea
Valencia, Alonso, Kolasinac, Milner, Van Aanholt
De Bruyne, Salah, Willian
Lukaku, Jesus
A decent starting 11 with all players expect Palace's Van Aanholt from the top six sides. 3 players from Man Utd as they have got good fixtures to start off with so gone with their established players at the back: De Gea and Valencia. I have doubts on their first choice central defenders and the left back position. Ashley Young is out of the reckoning as he is listed as a midfielder in TFF game.
In my team, I have gone for defenders with the attacking threat mainly those players that play as full back/wing backs and got in advanced positions further up the pitch to provide assists and goals. One such player is Alonso who had a very goalscoring record in the previous season. I like what I hear about Kolasinac in pre season and feel he can excel in a attacking Arsenal team and he is cheaper than Bellerin.
For the rest of the team, Hazard is ruled out for the start so Willian seems a good replacement and is on set pieces, Salah looks good at 4.6m after impressing in pre season, Klopp seems to be happy with his arrival and Man City have also got good fixtures to begin their campaign so I put in the double threat of De Bruyne and Jesus. I think Jesus has great potential and can challenge for the golden boot one day. One absentee is Harry Kane but I want to see how he and Spurs do at their new temporary home.
Month 1: 11th August - 4th September 2017
Weekly scores: 49, 49 and 47. Total points: 145. Overall position: 33k. 40 transfers left.
Relatively quiet month. I tend to let my teams alone in August, no need to make transfers. The September international break allows ample time to figure my next moves. Star of the month is Alonso who scores two goals at Wembley vs Spurs.
Month 2: 5th September - 2nd October 2017
1) Milner
Davies. So Milner seems to be no longer a first team regular. I had hoped he will back to midfield but seems rooted to the bench. Meanwhile, Davies continues his good form from last season and with Danny Rose being injured and seemingly out of favour, I transfer in Davies for an immediate return of 13 points. 2) Van Aanholt
Jones. Crystal Palace have made a dreadful start to the season so I spot that Phil Jones looks like the manager's favourite defender right now. His price of 3.2m looks too good to turn down. The only question is can he remain fit. It's a risk but with so many transfers in the game it is worth taking.3) Valencia
Ward. A few weeks into the season and I am beginning to spot some enablers for my team. Burnley have made a great start to the season and their defence looks good value for money. Ward has already scored at Chelsea and at 2.3m could be like everyone's favourite budget defender Steve Cook. Ward immediately brings a nice return of 10 points which suits me just fine. Injury permitting, he looks like a season long choice. 4) Willian
Hazard. Funds from Valencia sale allows Willian to be upgraded to fantasy football favourite Eden Hazard. Chelsea need his match winning ability in order to retain the title. Weekly scores: 57,76,54 and 78. Total points: 410. 36 transfers left.
A good month sees me just outside 5k. The transfers have made the team stronger. Highest scoring player for the month is De Bruyne with 31 points with a goal and gains 6 key contributions in 4 games.
Team at end of month: (5-3-2) De Gea, Davies, Jones, Ward, Alonso, Kolasinac, De Bruyne, Hazard, Salah, Lukaku and Jesus.
Month 3: 3rd October - 6th November 2017
5) Kolasinac
Walker. Kolasinac now starting to be rotated with Monreal so thinking of making a change. Walker has settled down well at City and they are scoring goals for fun. Walker may benefit from 2nd KCs and he is positioned on the side side as assist king De Bruyne. So Walker's assist potential draws me in. Maybe I should have gone for his team mate Otamendi instead who is cheaper and has greater goal threat from corners and indirect free kicks but Otamendi's love for bookings put me off. 6) Jones
Doucoure. Jones suffers injury so look for a replacement. I want to move away from 5 at the back formation and so target a cheap midfielder. Doucoure is one player I kept my eye on since he scored against Liverpool on opening weekend. He looks like the ultimate enabler in the game in 2.0m playing every game so far and scoring goals. He reminds me of his teammate Capoue who did well in the previous season. Doucoure scores against Chelsea in the early kick off so don't benefit immediately from this transfer but it does free up 1.2m in funds which will be beneficial in the long term. 7) Lukaku
Kane. It's been a long time coming but I feel now is the time to bring in the main man, Harry Kane. He is the favourite for the premier league golden boot and is such an explosive player, it makes him dangerous not to own. I believe he is due to score at Wembley with 28 attempts at goal so far with no success. I'm watching the Spurs-Liverpool game on TV and witness Kane bring in the points with two goals and an assist.8) Jesus
Vardy. Jesus blanks against a poor WBA side and picks up a booking. In rage, I don't wait too long to take him out. The next day I replace him with Vardy. Leicester have appointed a new manager so I hoping the Leicester team has new desire in their play to impress. Leicester's opponents Everton are in shockingly in bad form and there for the taking. Vardy scores. Weekly scores: 53, 49, 50 and 48. Total: 610. 32 transfers left.
A decent month. Player of the month is De Bruyne with an identical record as the previous month. I seem to recall City scored 7 goals vs Stoke City and De Bruyne gained 5 key contributions with no direct assists.
Team at end of month: (4-4-2) De Gea, Davies, Ward, Alonso, Walker, De Bruyne, Hazard, Salah, Doucoure, Lukaku and Kane.
Month 4: 11th November - 11th December 2017
9) Vardy
Lukaku. Expected Vardy to score vs Stoke at home but blanks. Same evening Man Utd hosting Newcastle who have lost their last games so I expect Utd to win comfortably. So my team needs Utd attacking threat so in comes Lukaku. He returns to my side with a goal but really wanted more from him. 10) De Gea
Courtois. Tinker coming up but with Chelsea's fixtures looking great for the next two months, I feel I got to go with a Chelsea semi block and hope for a run of clean sheet points.11) Davies
Christensen. Danny Rose is back in the Spurs team so expect Davies to be rotated frequently now. Over at Chelsea, David Luiz is injured (or out of favour) so there is a vacancy for a ball playing defender at the heart of Chelsea's defence. Christensen looks to have taken that role and looks a good price at 2.9m.12) Lukaku
Morata. Looking back a poor transfer, not needed to be made. Very easy to tinker in this game when you don't have to.Weekly scores: 76, 40, 115, 40. Total: 881. 28 transfers left.
My best month of the season sees my side shoot inside the top 1k. Player of the month is Salah. My highest weekly score of 115 points is gained by teams playing twice in that game week.
Team at end of month: (4-4-2) Courtois, Ward, Alonso, Walker, Christensen, De Bruyne, Hazard, Salah, Doucoure, Kane and Morata.
Month 5: 12th December 2017 - 1st January 2018
13) Morata
Lukaku. I don't why I just didn't stick with Lukaku. So many transfers wasted on Lukaku in and Lukaku out. I didn't realise at the time, mainly more concerned about thinking forwards than to reflect backwards. One benefit of this review is to highlight mistakes and hope to avoid them for the future. Unnecessary tinkering will help.14) Walker
Sterling. I decide to change formation and go more attacking with 3-5-2, one of my favourite formations along with 3-4-3. Sterling only 0.4m more expensive than Walker and more likely to score more points through goals and assists through his ability to get in those dangerous areas of the pitch.15) Kane
Firmino. On Boxing Day, Liverpool have a 3-0 over Spurs so I bring in Firmino to double up on Liverpool attacking assets as already have Salah in my team. Liverpool have got great fixtures with Swansea, Leicester and Burnley to play over this period. One of the best transfers of the season as Firmino brings in 21 points in Kane's absence.Weekly scores: 94, 64, 121. Total: 1,160. 25 transfers left.
A busy Christmas period sees a lot of games being played and a lot of points being gained. Looking back, I am surprised at using only three transfers and head off into the new year with 25 transfers left. My team reaches its highest position of 203 on Boxing Day and my aim is to finish in the top 100.
Team at end of month: (3-5-2) Courtois, Ward, Alonso, Christensen, De Bruyne, Hazard, Salah, Doucoure, Sterling, Lukaku and Firmino.
Month 6: 2nd January - 29th January 2018
16) Lukaku
Aguero. Jesus out for a couple of month so high scoring City are down to one striker. So it seems like a good time to bring Sergio Aguero into the team. He goes onto enjoy a rich goal scoring run with a hat trick against Newcastle in January. 17) Firmino
Kane. Kane comes back into the team before Spurs play West Ham at Wembley. Kane has a good goalscoring record against teams from the Capital but frustratingly blanks on this occasion. He makes up for it as he starts two goals in the FA cup in front of me on a cold chilly Sunday afternoon at Wembley. Lovely jubbly. 18) Ward
Bong. Been carrying the injured Ward in my team for a while now and it dawns on me that he might be appearing back in the Burnley team any time soon. Plus Burnley are out of the FA cup so none of their players now don't appeal to me that much. I browse through the TFF list of very cheap players and 2.1m marked Brighton defender Bong catches my eye. Brighton have been decent at the back and they are still in the FA cup. This is one ugly transfer as he only brings in 5 points before I get rid. My next transfer made on the same day is even more uglier.19) Christensen
Masuaku. Chelsea's good fixtures are coming to an end and Christensen has been in and out of their team plus the Chelsea defence has not kept as many clean sheets as I hoped. I have been hearing great things about Masuaku: very attacking wing back and also West Ham's forthcoming fixtures look good. They are also still left in the FA cup. Bringing in Masuaku looks good on paper but he turns out to be one of the worst transfers in my TFF history. 20) Kane
Sanchez. There is a buzz around Old Trafford as Alexis Sanchez joins Utd on a free transfer. I bring Sanchez for his debut against Yeovil Town in the FA cup where he picks two key contributions. I took out Kane as I thought he would not play against Newport in the FA cup but he does and scores. 21) Masuaku
Christensen. Masuaku gets himself sent off and a six game ban for spitting at a opponent in the FA cup. In a fit of rage, I bin this player the next day for Christensen as Chelsea have selected him to play in the FA cup. Weekly scores: 75, 56, 69, 61. Total: 1,278. 19 transfers left.
A new year brings heavy transfer usage as the FA cup comes into play. The striker transfers pay off but the rotation of cheap defenders ends in disaster. Star of the month is Sergio Aguero with 42 points.
Team at the end of the month: (3-5-2) Courtois, Alonso, Christensen, Bong, De Bruyne, Hazard, Salah, Doucoure, Sterling, Aguero and Sanchez.
Month 7: January 30th - 26th February 2018
22) Courtois
McCarthy. I remember in late December 2017 watching on TV, Man Utd playing Southampton at Old Trafford. The Saints put in a very fantastic defensive display to gain a well earned goalless draw. A player came upon my radar whilst watching was the goalkeeper Alex McCarthy. He seems to taken the number 1 spot from Forester and doing well. He is also the cheapest playing goalkeeper in the game at 2.0m. A risky transfer as it would be difficult to replace if McCarthy lost his place but one of my best transfers of the season as he did a good job for my team as he brought a respectable 40 points from 12 games. The transfer also freed up 1.9m to strengthen other areas of the team. 23) Christensen
Maguire. Very soon I begin to think of whether Christensen will play or not. I begin to notice that Christensen seems to make errors that lead to goals (akin to John Stones at Man City the previous season). Chelsea are looking to more likely to keep a clean sheet if Christensen is not playing which is not a good sign. So I decide to cut my losses once and for all. I am a big fan of Leicester's Harry Maguire. I think he has the makings to be a top defender: big, strong and able to bring the ball from the back. He has a good threat to the opposition goal but needs to improve upon his finishing. In March vs Bournemouth, I couldn't believe that Maguire had seven efforts at goal and didn't score (must be a record). Leicester's form in the second half of the season fell apart and while I didn't regret putting in Maguire in my team, it just didn't work out as I hoped. 24) Sanchez
Kane. Striker rotation as I bring back for the Sunday afternoon game vs Liverpool where he has a penalty saved but still scores a penalty in the last minute. Kane then scores winners against Arsenal and Palace this month.25) Bong
Mawson. A new manager arrives at Swansea so I hoping their fortunes may turn around, so in comes a Swansea defender as they are still in the FA cup. It was a 50/50 choice between Mawson and Naughton but I decide that Mawson has the bigger goal threat at set pieces. Naughton goes on to gain more points at a cheaper price as Mawson is rested for the FA cup replay and gets injured in a pre league match warmup. Star of the Swansea defence is Mike Van Der Hoorn who turns out to an outstanding enabler playing every game, keeping clean sheets and even scoring. With funds in the bank I didn't even consider him. 26) Aguero
Sanchez. Aguero scores four goals vs Leicester but the next day I transfer him out as City have no more league games left in February and Aguero may be rested vs Wigan in the FA cup as Sterling played in the forward position in the last round vs Reading. Man Utd have easy games on paper with Newcastle and Huddersfield coming up. Sanchez comes in and then misses an open goal at Newcastle but then picks two assist points vs Huddersfield in the FA cup. 27) Hazard
Vardy. Chelsea have got Utd and City away in the league and it seems likely Hazard will be rested in the FA cup. Leicester have got good fixtures upcoming and Vardy as a Sheffield Wednesday fan will like to score against their city rivals United in the FA cup. So in comes the Leicester front man. Vardy goes on to score the only goal that knocks out the blades. 28) Sanchez
Aguero. I bring in Aguero back for the FA cup. Not a pre planned move but I saw that Sterling was surprisingly missing from the squad and De Bruyne was on the bench. I felt I needed to bring some attacking city cover and as Aguero was starting, I transferred him into my side. I expected City to win comfortably but it was a shock when Wigan knocked them out. 29) Sterling
Eriksen. I find out that Sterling has suffered a hamstring injury so he needs to be replaced. Big fan of Eriksen: good at long range shots and takes set pieces for a top side. He started off slowly but scored well in April and remained in team till the end.Weekly scores: 91, 81, 30, 30. Total: 1,539. 11 transfers left.
Heavy transfer usage in February to fix the mess I make in January in choosing the wrong defenders. I also go my usual formation of 3-4-3 for the first time of the season. Highest scorer of the month is Salah with 39 points. He is the only player that never leaves my team. The team swings from overall position of 200 to 500.
Team at the end of the month: (3-4-3) McCarthy, Alonso, Mawson, Maguire, De Bruyne, Eriksen, Salah, Doucoure, Aguero, Kane and Vardy.
Month 8: 27th February - 1st April 2018
30) Alonso
Davies. I feel that Tottenham's upcoming games are easier than compared to Chelsea's. Davies comes in with a clean sheet vs Huddersfield. In hindsight, I should gone for the more secular Vertonghen instead but I generally tend to favour the defenders that operate on the flanks. 31) Aguero
Lukaku. Aguero suffers a knee injury in training in early March and is ruled out for the rest of the month. In comes Lukaku who then get 7,5,7,7 points before I decide to move him again. 32) De Bruyne
Hazard. City rotation happening in the league due to their focus being on the champions league quarter finals. In comes Hazard as Chelsea are still fighting to gain a champions league spot and are still in the FA cup. Hazard has a disappointing month as he gains only 6 points from 3 games. 33) Kane
Firmino. Kane looks to be out for a while with a serious ankle injury. Liverpool have got good fixtures incoming and even though they are out of the FA cup, they are a side that scores goals for fun. I bring in Firmino as he is a good source of points as he gets goals and assists in abundance. 34) Lukaku
Aubameyang. Arsenal have nice fixtures to play with two games against Stoke and Southampton at home. Their away form is pretty poor but at home they have found the net on a regular basis. Aubameyang is fresh and likely to play in all league games as he is cup tied for the Europa League campaign. He brings in 12,7 and 5 points before I rotate my forward lineup again. A short term transfer but one I felt one that worked out well. Weekly scores: 63,32,76,59. Total points: 1,771. 6 transfers left.
Now the defence and midfield looking good for the rest of the season. I now focus my attention on striker rotation. Salah continues to impress with 41 points. The team seemed to be stagnating for a while just outside the top 300.
Team at the end of the month: (3-4-3) McCarthy, Davies, Mawson, Maguire, Hazard, Eriksen, Salah, Doucoure, Vardy, Firmino and Aubameyang.
Month 9: 7th April - 30th April 2018
35) Firmino
Kane. The Tottenham striker is back from injury and is hunting down Salah for tat league golden boot. I bring him as he has a 4-1 over Firmino as Spurs are still in the cup. There is then controversy over a goal at Stoke whether it is a Eriksen or Kane goal. 36) Aubameyang
Lukaku. More striker rotation as I bring Lukaku back for a game against WBA at home. I feel Utd will be a high after winning the Manchester derby but to fail to score and lose this game. Lukaku then scores in midweek vs Bournemouth and provides assist in FA semi final. I was hoping to retain till the end of the season but then he got injured and needed replacing. 37) Vardy
Jesus. Leicester are just looking awful right now so seeking a replacement for Vardy who fails to score in easy looking games. With Aguero ruled out for the rest of the season, I decide to bring in Jesus as City even though have the league are still seeking to break the most goals in the league record. They also a nice run of fixtures till the end. Jesus then misses a penalty but scores against Swansea, another goal comes at West Ham. However, he fails to score in two home games against Huddersfield and Brighton, games I expected him to do better. 38) Maguire
Smalling. I should have done this move a long time ago but I bring in Smalling with the FA cup in mind. Weekly scores: 33,40,64,40. Total: 2,001. 2 transfers left.
I now reach my highest overall position of the season of 95 so I hoping I can hold for a top hundred till the end. It will be tough as transfers have nearly finished. Eriksen does well this month with 31 points.
Team at the end of the month: (3-4-3) McCarthy, Davies, Mawson, Smalling, Hazard, Eriksen, Salah, Doucoure, Kane, Lukaku and Jesus.
Month 10: 4th May - 19th May 2018
39) Lukaku
Lacazette. I fancy Arsenal to win heavily against Burnley in order to give Arsene Wenger the perfect end to his Arsenal reign in front of the home fans. Burnley have qualified for Europe so they may be focusing on their summer holidays. Now I am facing a 50/50 choice between Aubameyang and Lacazette. I opt for the latter as Lacazette plays in the lone striker role and needs to impress in order to go to the World Cup. He scores but the star man is Aubameyang who scores 4 goals in 3 games to end the season. 40) Jesus
Sanchez. I transfer in Sanchez for the extra league game and the FA cup final. My last transfer ends in a disappointing manner as Sanchez picks up 6 points from 3 games. Weekly scores: 29,78,11. Total: 2,178. 0 transfers left.
I stay in the top 100 up until the FA cup final. After the final, my final overall position is 105. Harry Kane is my player of the month with 21 points.
Team at the end of the month: (3-4-3) McCarthy, Davies, Mawson, Smalling, Hazard, Eriksen, Salah, Doucoure, Kane, Lacazette and Sanchez.
Even though I didn't make into the top 100, I had my best ever season in TFF and really enjoyed managing this team. Although my team position is not outstanding, I wanted to share my experiences: the high and lows, the good transfers, the bad and even some really ugly ones. Mistakes were made but doing this review will no doubt help me become a better manager and reach greater heights next time around.
Thank you for reading and I look forward to reading team reviews by other TFF players on FISO over the summer.
but here it is for comparison, copy and paste style and much more early season heavy in changes!
