Discussion 2024/25 EPL Dream Team Discussion: GW21 starts WEDS 15th JAN @ 5:30am AEST [3 GAMES]

[vsberlina]

There’s no chance of us competing with your all-star league. Our league is more like a reflection of the Premier League, with a few teams in contention for the overall title, a hard-fought mid-table, and the inevitable relegation battle.

A lot of us have been in the same leagues for over twenty years. Some drifted away in the latter days of the Official Fantasy League Classic game—there were a lot of technical problems with the site. Others found that Sportsdeck wasn’t for them, but over half of the league has its origins in OFL. And we’ve added some new members along the way. It’s a really good group of people, with many different nationalities represented.

On a personal level, the last few seasons have been disrupted by my other commitments. Sadly, those other commitments are no longer with us. I go into this season undercooked and lacking in enthusiasm, but I know it will return, so it’s important to make the effort now.

What are your thoughts on the future of Sportsdeck? The number of players seems to be fairly stable, but it’s relatively low, especially when we know that some people have multiple teams. It’s a great game and deserves a far bigger audience than it currently has. The worry is that another game succumbs to the dominance of FPL—a game I’ve struggled to connect with.

I do think the help sections could be redesigned to make it easier for newcomers to get to grips with the game. Maybe put some video tutorials on the site and YouTube. Also, the apps aren’t available worldwide—I know the game is aimed at the Australian market.

By the way, it’s great to see the help that you and the others are giving to newcomers here.

The Official Fantasy League Classic game. Not sure I remember that. Was that similar to DT, but you scored half pts for the bench?

Yeah, it gets tough keeping up commitments for the whole season. Fortunately, I had a little lull in life, so had the opportunity to at lease set up a fair SD DT and FPL team. But I'll probably disappear soon.

Don't know what SD can do to attract more players. Bigger prize money? Even AFL DT doesn't have many players relative to Super Coach.
I think Vapormedia are in charge of both, but there seems to be 10x more players in SC. $50k 1st prize is a likely factor.

Many here do their best to help as it's boring winning a league playing against 'school boys'.
We can all benefit from pushing each other to be our best.
If there's interest in the game, then there's banter on the forum, and I truly believe most of us are here for the banter.

 

[vsberlina]

Wasn't working overnight so chose to have a nice 6.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Mavididi benched. Could have started Ndidi for 3 extra pts if I was up. The sleep was worth it. No P. Diddy in my bed.

Premiums all delivered. Salah vice came up trumps.
Apart from Hall, all other of my cash cows failed.

Of the usual suspects that I didn't have, only Martinez did well.
Two tough games for him to come, so might not end up a cash cow I need to worry about.

Winks better than Ndidi so far. Still early though.

Quick turnaround for LEI. Hopefully it means Vardy will do the cameo and Mavididi starts. If not, he's gotta be replaced.

I was right about Porro not getting an assist when Maddison plays.
I forgot he scored 3 times when Maddison returned. Make that 4 now.

 

[AJB]

The Official Fantasy League Classic game. Not sure I remember that. Was that similar to DT, but you scored half pts for the bench?

Yeah, it gets tough keeping up commitments for the whole season. Fortunately, I had a little lull in life, so had the opportunity to at lease set up a fair SD DT and FPL team. But I'll probably disappear soon.

Don't know what SD can do to attract more players. Bigger prize money? Even AFL DT doesn't have many players relative to Super Coach.
I think Vapormedia are in charge of both, but there seems to be 10x more players in SC. $50k 1st prize is a likely factor.

Many here do their best to help as it's boring winning a league playing against 'school boys'.
We can all benefit from pushing each other to be our best.
If there's interest in the game, then there's banter on the forum, and I truly believe most of us are here for the banter.

The history of the Official Fantasy League game:
https://fantasyleague.com/about

In the old days, we had to make transfers by post! And then you could do them by calling a premium phone line. They had pre-recorded messages from Bobby Robson and Graham Taylor, and they spoke very slowly, so it took a while until you could enter the player codes.

As you know, my focus has always been on the overall competition rather than the leagues, even though I’m not eligible for the prizes. It’s the banter that makes our league work, and it's one of the reasons why I wouldn’t remove anyone just because they weren’t a good player. There's also a sense of loyalty after being in the same league for so long. It’s good that there are choices, and at least I know I’m not encroaching on your leagues.

By the way, the old Starting11 (yourfantasyfootnall) forum seems to be struggling.

 

[Gazza's Treats]

I just had a look on how many trades we get in EPL... 38 RD and we get 44 including 6 booths.... wowwww Trigger happy Coaches will struggle rather sooner than later... 1 trade per week max is my guess is the best advice, right?

 

[Courtesans]

Two weeks and then price changes come into play for rd 3?

 

[Ironhawk]

I just had a look on how many trades we get in EPL... 38 RD and we get 44 including 6 booths.... wowwww Trigger happy Coaches will struggle rather sooner than later... 1 trade per week max is my guess is the best advice, right?

Use them all by Christmas if you can.

Seriously, it's easy to burn through them. You do seem to get better cash generation options early, which is very handy, so trading hard early does have merit, but plan to keep at least a third of your trades for the final half of the season. There's a lot of weeks later on with no games / double games to take advantage of if you can.

I managed to keep quite a few trades last time I played, mainly as I missed a lot of lock outs, but other years I've had maybe five trades left by new years. You will miss them a lot when you have none left.

 

[Connoisseur]

Excellent start. Lineups will dictate the formation of 2-5-3 or 3-4-3.

 

[Seymour Butts]

There's a lot of weeks later on with no games / double games to take advantage of if you can.

There are a lot less this year.

 

[Seymour Butts]

Mavididi benched. Could have started Ndidi for 3 extra pts if I was up. The sleep was worth it. No P. Diddy in my bed. Premiums all delivered. Salah vice came up trumps. Apart from Hall, all other of my cash cows failed. Of the usual suspects that I didn't have, only Martinez did well. Two tough games for him to come, so might not end up a cash cow I need to worry about. Winks better than Ndidi so far. Still early though. Quick turnaround for LEI. Hopefully it means Vardy will do the cameo and Mavididi starts. If not, he's gotta be replaced. I was right about Porro not getting an assist when Maddison plays. I forgot he scored 3 times when Maddison returned. Make that 4 now.

Maddison did well but Porro did better. Question now is one, both or none.

Vardy scored so Mavididi stays benched I think. Add some other rubbish scores by popular cheapos like Nkunku, ESR and Mount and it's going to be hard to work out who to get rid of first. Plus the need for City assets v Ipswich.

But Spurs have Everton at home. Everton were lousy so that's tempting too. Can't have them all. Maybe Isak has to go. 11 at home to Southampton was more like Isuck.

 

[Ironhawk]

There are a lot less this year.

Well, disregard that then. I haven't played for a few years so there's a high likelihood things have changed - I don't think they even had boosts last time I played (luckily, or I would have ran out of trades even sooner).

 

[Under The Dome]

Trades are nice to have for after the breaks

The international breaks will come thick and fast once the 2024/25 season begins, with breaks in September, October and November as the Nations League gets underway. And then later in the season the road to the 2026 World Cup begins, as the qualifying competition gets underway.

 

[Connoisseur]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1825845503671820773

 

[Gazza's Treats]

View attachment 76938
View attachment 76939

Well, disregard that then. I haven't played for a few years so there's a high likelihood things have changed - I don't think they even had boosts last time I played (luckily, or I would have ran out of trades even sooner).

Use them all by Christmas if you can.

Seriously, it's easy to burn through them. You do seem to get better cash generation options early, which is very handy, so trading hard early does have merit, but plan to keep at least a third of your trades for the final half of the season. There's a lot of weeks later on with no games / double games to take advantage of if you can.

I managed to keep quite a few trades last time I played, mainly as I missed a lot of lock outs, but other years I've had maybe five trades left by new years. You will miss them a lot when you have none left.

Excellent start. Lineups will dictate the formation of 2-5-3 or 3-4-3.

Right so it completely a different approach to NRL or NFL due to the Bye Rounds... I shall try to get my head around that Great score by the way...

I bound to tumble next rd but who knows if I spot another former Bundesliga player I like

 

[Under The Dome]

Trades are nice to have for after the breaks

The international breaks will come thick and fast once the 2024/25 season begins, with breaks in September, October and November as the Nations League gets underway. And then later in the season the road to the 2026 World Cup begins, as the qualifying competition gets underway.

View attachment 76940

The first one is annoying with it between R3&4, could jump on a cashcow the round before and end up MIA after.

 

[tso]

Well, disregard that then. I haven't played for a few years so there's a high likelihood things have changed - I don't think they even had boosts last time I played (luckily, or I would have ran out of trades even sooner).

It only started this season with the facup not clashing with the normal league games.
Only at the end is there potential DGW and blanks. GW34 the SF where a max of 4 games could
be off if 4 PL clubs make it and they are not due to face each other anyway. GW37 is the final so max 2 games.
Due to the gap between rounds expect those teams to play their DGW before rather than after unless Europe
is in the way

 

[Gazza's Treats]

So can someone explain the break even and Price increases for me...
Based on Haaland is probably the best example for me to understand it
Currently priced @ 12.4m with a score of 9 his BE gone up to 16 so if he scores say 15 will his price drop by 400k
and if he scores 17 it would increases by 400k

 

[tso]

So can someone explain the break even and Price increases for me...
Based on Haaland is probably the best example for me to understand it
Currently priced @ 12.4m with a score of 9 his BE gone up to 16 so if he scores say 15 will his price drop by 400k
and if he scores 17 it would increases by 400k

Easier to explain the Duckworth/Lewis method in cricket and the meaning of life

 

[Old Big 'Ead]

Sitting in Fiji at the moment, at 12:40am after a few drinks. Got a conference for next few days, but will enjoy it while I can.

FPL - 67 Rank 1,950,328
RDT - 128 Rank 360

Well done to all the decent scores in both comps. Early days though for those of us who didn't do so well.

 

[Old Big 'Ead]

So can someone explain the break even and Price increases for me...
Based on Haaland is probably the best example for me to understand it
Currently priced @ 12.4m with a score of 9 his BE gone up to 16 so if he scores say 15 will his price drop by 400k
and if he scores 17 it would increases by 400k

Haaland is one of the players most likely to fall in price throughout the season due to his high price. The key is to gain cash, so players like Hall, ESR, and Minteh are high on coaches lists due to their gains in prices. Haaland is too hard to ignore though due to his scoring potential.

More cash you have, the more premiums you will be able to buy later on. Like @Ironhawk said trade hard early on, but don't over-do it. Make sure you have some trades left for injuries/strategy later on.

 

[Gazza's Treats]

Easier to explain the Duckworth/Lewis method in cricket and the meaning of life

Right so nobody knows really.... that sounds like a nightmare Thxs anyway Mate... and loved your comment... very humourize indeed