Fantasy Premier League Season Review

So, the Fantasy Premier league season has ended and despite a fairly poor start, I ended the season really quite well. My secret weapon was the faithful Alexis Sanchez who began to motor through the points through the back end of the season but also scored 25 points the week I chose to triple captain him. Due to the performance of certain other players, Sanchez was under utilised by many and so I was provided with many exclusive points that allowed me to claw my way back into my leagues. 

Success Stories

This years team of the season could be afforded from the get go. In fact, if you had picked the dream team players from the start, and left the team with Mahrez as captain, you would have reached 2286 points by the end of the season. Correct captain choices on the right weeks and you could well have challenged the winner of fantasy's total of 2458.

This means there was some big success stories. Most notable of course, Vardy and Mahrez. Andre Ayew also sneaked in and it's actually surprising to see Lukaku and Eriksen actually break into the dream team across the entire season. 

Other notable mentions go to Payet, Delli Alli and Ighalo. These players were reasonably priced and fairly unknown, while Ighalo dropped off, they scored big points across the season with decent consistency. In fact, had Payet not have been injured, he more than likely would have made the dream team. 

Fantasy Failures

Chelsea, in general, provided the biggest Fantasy failures. I mentioned how strong I thought Pedro would be as a fantasy pick, a 'cheaper Hazard' I labelled him. Well, that was actually kind of true however, I anticipated them both doing a lot better. 

While, I have many times noted why Chelsea were so poor, I think most of us believed that the players, such as Hazard and Pedro, would have enough quality to overcome their issues and at least move Chelsea near the top 4. This wasn't the case and while each of them ended up having their moments, they were both expensive disasters. The entire Chelsea team essentially offered the same failure. 

Then you had Wayne Rooney. Rooney ended the season on a high but ultimately underwhelmed this season. He was injured, but has been so woeful in front of goal he has essentially given up that position. I expected more from him, as did many. He was not helped by United's playing style but next season it will be interesting to see where he fits into a possible Mourinho team.  

Bent eke is the major failure. I could have told you that from the start. However, he was the top picked striker for much of the first half of the season. I just don't know why. I really don't know why!

The Big Names

Sanchez

Because of Sanchez's injury, he struggled to gain points this year. His form was poor when he returned from injury. However, he managed to get back to his old self, seemingly at the expense of Ozil.

Ozil

Ozil had a great season although, if I were to be critical, it could have been even better. As Arsenal mounted a title charge, Ozil disappeared into the background and only managed 3 assists in 2016 I believe. That is not good enough and those who had him in fantasy at the back end of the season were constantly frustrated by him.

Kane

He took a while to get going but then became the main man. This time next season Kane could well be the fantasy top scorer, but he will need to add some assists. 

De Bruyne

He came in expensive and there were question marks over him. However, this guy is still massively underrated. He looks to be one of the very best. If fit and if Guardiola decides to play him (which he definitely should) then De Bruyne will rack up well over 200 points next season. 

Aguero

In typical Aguero fashion, he managed to score a large number of goals while spending a lot of the season injured. If he ever completes a full season then he could get a huge score. Ultimately, he was fairly disappointing to have as a captain but you could never take him out as he was always capable of scoring 5 in one game like he did against Newcastle. He also scored 26 points with a hat-trick against Chelsea in a double game week. 

Mahrez scored the most points with 240

In the end, this was an entirely unpredictable season, although many of the players actually scored fairly consistently. There was times I though Vardy would stop scoring but he didn't. I thought Chelsea would find form, but they didn't. I wish I had backed Spurs to do better when they began to look like a really good team. What does this mean going into next season? Well, it means that we have, as always, learnt very little. Next season I back Spurs to do well again, but I back Chelsea and City to vastly improve. There will be staples in my team, such a Sanchez but to succeed in Fantasy, you have to adapt!