TFF chit chat 21st, 22nd and 23th December

[edmo33]

I'm not ruling out the cup, as there's always the option of 'topping up' as we progress.
But in the early rounds, the cup normally bites me on the arse.
I'll seen the lineup, stick Kane in..then watch as the 4 Spurs fringe midfielders get overrun by the Grimsby old-guard, cutting off the service.

The fun of the game is that there are various ways of playing.
While i'm top 50 with 22, there are hare teams above me with 9 or less, and tortoises behind me with 25-30.

Those with 9 could see the majority of their players reach the quarters, be lucky with injuries and hold on.
Those with transfers could nail every single one and rise like a phoenix, or see every 'ousted' player out-scoring the replacement.


Any of these tactics could ultimately pay off

[mysteryshopper]

Will be interesting to revisit this in may to see how it went. The cup also causes rescheduled league games which could throw up one or two 3-0 opportunities so anyone with 10 or less probably can't afford to take advantage of these as much. Time will tell. Good luck, see you's at the top end of April.

[Toffeeman]

I had 22 left on 1st Jan when I finished 3rd last year. Can't remember what position I was in but reckon I was 150 off Sandor at that point, if not more.

I always like to think that 20 left and possibly in the top 5000 wouldn't rule out a challenge, but if you hit the right transfers it could be further.

This year seems a bit different as plenty of very good players in the top 100 already who definately won't have spunked most of their transfers.

Gary

[Striker]

@mysteryshopper - Yes you need players involved in the Cup once managers start taking the later rounds seriously but the earlier rounds are a different matter, when one is best off just gratefully accepting whatever points luck throws one's way. Transfer strategy is obviously highly subjective and personal but I 'd hate to have 4 transfers left with 2 weeks to go, as the odds of those transfers producing as many points in the last two weeks as they could have done earlier isn't high. Those transfers are probably as much of a comfort blanket as anything else which make the manager feel at ease in that he can make late strides up the leaderboard, but they come at a cost in putting points on the board.

You mention rescheduling of league games due to the Cup, and this can be a very profitable use of transfers, but remember that there has been a steady erosion of this factor. Now 5th round replays been scrapped this season.

[Jezza3]

Pretty sure I read somewhere (though I may be wrong) that no cup replays after 4th round in fa cup this year so those 3 - 0 opportunities might be less available in March April than in previous years.

[Jezza3]

Just read post above the above and see the point has already been made

[buttonphobic]

To sum it up the early rounds of the cup are a minefield but the latter stages, along with replays and rescheduled prem games offer a better opportunity. However, with that comes a warning. Cup success can lead to teams resting players in the prem league if there's nothing else to play for.
Throw into that Those who've avoided Brexit come the spring. A few Springs ago I loaded up with Man Utd players as they had reached the quarter finals of the FA cup and were still fighting for 4th place in the prem. Unfortunately, Man U proceeded no further in the cup and gave up on fourth spot choosing instead the Europa cup as their best bet of Champions league qualification. The result was a team full of Man U players who were rested in the remaining prem matches!