Fantasy UCL MD-1: Rate My Team

Ignorance is bias... And (outside the English Premier League), I am as ignorant as fantasy managers come. So I am biased toward EPL players (on Manchester City, Arsenal FC, Manchester United & Newcastle) and a few stars who produced points for me in last year’s UCL.

Sadly (for me), these tend to be the most expensive players in the UCL Fantasy game. Is that because EPL and famous players are really the best? Or did the fantasy UCL game see me coming and go out of its way to boost the prices of the players I know?

I tend toward believing the latter (which is not paranoia if they’re really out to get me). Whatever the reason, I find myself grateful for the advice I have edited here at NMA — Yes, I am “that guy”, the copy-editor / grammar-Nazi who translates NMA’s articles from our diverse authors around the world into a somewhat consistent (and hopefully readable) style.

So you can understand why I need fantasy management advice — I’m an English expert, not a fantasy UCL expert. So for my benefit (and maybe yours too), I humbly submit the current draft of my squad for your consideration and feedback.

Initial Draft

There’s no last week, so I have no excuses for the wretched hive of scum and villainy that currently populates my roster:

Jeffry R Fisher, 18-Sep-2023

Day-1 (Tuesday) captain Haaland is “captain obvious”. If he fails, then I plan to give Real Madrdid’s Bellingham the captain’s armband on day-2 (Wednesday).

Rodrygo’s start should be secure, and he should get more opportunities since Vicious Jr is out injured.

I’m a little worried that I have too many Wednesday players, which could reduce the value of my bench. Do you see any lateral (like-for-like) moves I should make to shift my balance toward Tuesday?

I went with the NMA player-picks keeper pair, saving 2 whole euros that instantly went into upgrades elsewhere.

Kamada (Lazio) is left over from the auto-populate function I used to make my team instantly legal so I could join the NMA mini-league. He may well be the only such player left over from the AI’s attempt to bury me — so I have no idea of he is even likely to start. With zero in my bank, who would be better in midfield at his price?

Is anyone else here unlikely to start?

Leao (AC Milan) & Otamendi (Benfica) are personal favorites who managed to earn points last season even after I picked them and word went out through the Illuminati that players on Jeff’s team were commanded to fail. So naturally, I am biased toward selecting them again, even though I don’t know if they hold the same productive roles they had previously. Is there any news saying either of them is no longer in position to deliver points like before?

So there you have it. These are my current picks and my current thoughts. Please, Rate My Team!

~

If you also have draft worries / questions, this is the place to float your current roster and ask the community for feedback. This is how we as a small pack pull away from the 90% main peloton!

Please register at NMA, login to post your thoughts and questions in the comments below!

~