EVERYTHING you always wanted to know....

 

.... about FPL.  (But were afraid to ask??!!)

I've been quite busy over the past couple of weeks compiling content that - I hope - might be helpful in selecting a first Fantasy Premier League squad for the new season, about to commence tomorrow.

Here's a list of links to all the resources I've so far assembled (including a handful of key 'How to....' posts from earlier in the blog's history):

How to choose the INITIAL SQUAD

A fairly comprehensive guide to all the principles you need to keep in mind for squad building.

And a checklist you could run over that squad afterwards: How should you judge if your squad is any GOOD?

Possible Picks [Pt. 1]

My roundup of the most promising options this year among the goalkeepers and defenders.

Possible Picks [Pt. 2]

The companion piece on the most tempting possibilities in the midfielder and forward categories.

A few HINTS & TIPS

A helpful catalogue to my 'In a Nutshell...' series: a collection of 'shorter' posts on key points about the game of FPL that I've learned over the past several years.

And.... This year's EARLY 'Sheep Picks'

A warning against some of the most popular picks among the premature drafters - tempting selections that might be better avoided...

The shape of things to come...?

A heads-up on some of the less expected changes we need to watch out for in the new season!

The ONES you should be watching...

Some recommendations for the tactical analysts (NOT 'FPL experts'!!) I find most helpful in improving my understanding of the game.

From longer ago....

Pounds EQUAL Points

An explanation of how BUDGET works (amazingly, very few people seem to properly grasp this!).

Goal setting

Some thoughts on the kind of 'targets' you can set for yourself to gauge your FPL performance. (Subsequently revisited, and somewhat expanded, in this post.)

And a brief rundown on typical 'levels of achievement':  What counts as A GOOD SCORE?

A couple of key early posts: Why people are BAD at FPL...  and  How to get better...

A warning about all the ways that LUCK can impact your FPL outcomes: What's LUCK got to do with it?

And finally...  my ultimate guide to how to get better at the game:

Are you a good FPL manager?

BEST OF LUCK FOR THE SEASON AHEAD!

What can we DO....

... to prepare for the new FPL season??

Well, the best advice is really..... to do NOTHING.

I, for one, will be spending at least the next two weeks or so enjoying a beach view, a cold beer, and a good book. (Figuratively, at least! The scene above was reality for me a couple of months back; but now I just have to rely on my imagination.)

 

I wouldn't pay any attention to the constant swirl of transfer 'news'. So much of it is unfounded speculation, wishful thinking.... It's only likely to frustrate you. And confuse you as to who's playing for which club next season!

And I certainly wouldn't waste any time 'drafting' possible squads. Too much can and will change before the Big Kick-Off: transfers, injuries, players falling out with their managers, surprising new formations/tactics/team selections emerging in the last of the warm-up games....  We just don't have a complete picture of the selection landscape yet; and we won't until Friday the 15th of August. Making 'preliminary' selections now is way premature: it only clouds your thinking and locks you into poor decisions. It is a very bad idea, harmful to your eventual squad selection.

All you can reasonably do to start getting ready for the new season is:

Check out the League fixtures (and FPL's preliminary - probably not very helpful! - estimation of their relative 'difficulty').

Make a mental note of the FA Cup and League Cup schedules too (this lets you know where the Blank and Double Gameweeks are set to occur later in the season).  And perhaps take a gander at the schedule for the European competitions (though this UEFA official page is a bit of a mess; there's probably an easier-to-read resource out there somewhere; the Sky Sports summary of the Champion League situation, for example).

Also, note the dates of the international breaks this season, and of the African Cup of Nations, which will take a lot of players away from the Premier League in December/January.

And while I warned just above against obssessively following transfer 'news', I think it's OK to check in occasionally on the emerging landscape of confirmed transfers. I find Fantasy Football Scout's Transfer Updates page the best resource for this.

Be aware of the unfolding schedule of pre-season friendly matches - and try to watch as many as you can (at least, those involving the teams you're most interested in).

And although there's such a gulf in class these days between the Championship and the top flight that the performance of the newly promoted sides last season is of little or no relevance to how they might get along this year,.... well, those teams do generally offer up one or two handy budget options for FPL (especially early in the season, when your squad finances are very tight!), so it might be worth doing a bit of research on them, digging out highlights of some of their games on Youtube.

But that's it - that's all you can usefully do at this stage,.... all you should do.  NO 'drafting'!!

Take it easy for another couple of weeks!!