During the 22/23 EPL season, I took on the seemingly impossible task of trying to win a Fantrax EPL 12 team league with NO draft picks. Only free agents. The whole purpose of this exercise was to try and show the importance of Waiver Wire and Free Agents pickups, staying active all season, and thinking "outside" of the box. In this three part segment, I will break down how I went about this experiment, the end results, and of course all the relevant advice that could help you in the upcoming Fantrax season. For more incredible analysis and insight for the upcoming draft season take a look at our 23/24 Draft Kit and our Pricing Plans.
Check out our 23/24 Draft Kit for all the pre-season information you could ever need. We've got a Live Draft Aide, Draft Rankings, Team Previews, Cheat Sheets, Strategy Articles, Draft 101. Dominate your draft!
Draft and Post Draft
In this 12-team draft, the 11 other managers all drafted as normal, while I was set on auto-pick, only drafting reserve GKs and players who would probably never see the field. To add to the difficulty of the league I started with 0 FAB, while every other manager started with the default 100 FAB, meaning I would really need to think outside the box when identifying new players to pick up. My selections in the draft can be seen below, and aside from Kepa's late season masterclass all these players were useless to any team throughout the season, and all (including Kepa) were dropped immediately after the draft.
At the conclusion of the draft, all players were sent to waivers, and the experiment started with me agreeing not to submit ANY bids for the first waiver run. A crazy idea, but one that added to the difficulty of this experiment. After the first waiver run, there were new signings picked up and some obvious players who should have been drafted, then my experiment truly began. There was about 2 weeks until the season started, so I knew I had to be extremely active in swapping players in and out based on: injuries, transfer news/rumours, pre season form, and any speculative upside GW1 starters.
As you can see I tried to get as many high upside players as possible who could hit the ground running from GW1 or within the first few weeks if they weren't an immediate starter. Almiron and March will probably jump out to you as the best pickups of probably the whole season. Both players ended up being near set and forget until trade offers came in (more on that later). The hardest position to try and pickup players was in the forward position. It was literally just me throwing darts. There were barely any starters available in the free agent pool, and those that were just weren't very appealing. I ended up deciding to pickup 4 higher upside forwards and hope just 1 sticks, Edouard, Rodrigo, Jimenez, and Iheanacho were overlooked in this league as well as most, but stuck out to me as the ones with the most potential. The two gameweek 1 starters of Edouard and Rodrigo had mixed results, but Rodrigo getting on the scoresheet gave me some hope I at least had 1 forward I could rely on for the next month or so. The lesson here was that my forwards would be very goal dependent and the best possible strategy would be to start just 1 or at most 2 of them depending on matchups. Loading up on midfielders and defenders would be the way to go here.
The midfielders had a mix of safety and upside, with me hoping for a Nididi and Kante resurgence this season. Unfortunately this didn't come to pass. But there always seemed to be a plethora of midfielders available in the Free Agnets pool especially of the CDM variety, so I wasn't too worried about finding a solid 3-5 to start every week.
Regarding the defenders and goalkeepers, I decided to go with players I knew had a history of scoring decently or at least maintaining some upside value, minus the uncertainty of Toffolo who was dropped immediately after GW1. I was sort of banking on some "Top 6" defenders and goalies to stack, hoping they would get me some cleansheets and ghost points. Both Spurs and United failed to deliver cleansheets in the first week, and ultimately Spurs would become a frustrating option for Free Agents FC throughout the season. Emerson and Davies at least showed some ghosting and high upside potential.
Looking back on this now, I think the best strategy would have been to hold more "upside" players, especially in the midfield and defence with the likes of Ndidi, Kante, Mykolenko proving easily replaceable. As we all know, Mwepu unfortunately had to retire due to health issues. Here is a takeway for next season - after your draft, scroll through the Free Agent pool and pick up some more attack minded assets who maybe had a disappointing season the previous year (Almiron and March), or ones that may finally get their big break (Rodrigo).
Navigating the Early Season Fantrax EPL Free Agents and Waiver Wire
Those who have been playing Fantrax EPL for a while will know early season pickups can be one of the keys to a proper title charge come the latter stages of the season. Some lesser known players might establish themselves as the new stars of the year, or may get an unexpected opportunity due to injuries or late transfers, and take the chance and run with it.
The early season waiver wire is key, and as you know I unfortunately had 0 FAB to work with so I had to take some outside the box players and think ahead of the curve. The likes of: Iwobi, Varane, Casemiro, Pickford, Che Adams, Willian, Stones, and Gibbs-White became my most prominent and useful picks between GW2-10. All of these players were dropped by other managers for various reasons, or left undrafted and unclaimed throughout the first few gameweeks. Looking back these players were all massive season changing pickups that really helped to improve a roster of no draft picks. The others - Stones, Pickford, Che Adams, and Varane - all proved their value from time to time but faced injuries or poor runs of form that made them expendable. The key for me was being very ruthless with my pickups. That didn't mean I dropped a player after a 1 pointer, but I couldn't afford to hold injured players who were out for more than 3 games, ones who had a serious drop in form for 3-4 weeks, or others that were being constantly rotated.
I realized early on to Free Agents FC the importance of having as much flexibility as possible, allowing for surprise pickups, upside holds the night before the start of a gameweek, and of course picking up players I believed in after other managers dropped them. I usually tried to have 6-7 core players that I listed as undroppable barring a long term injury, and was happy to chop and churn the rest of the roster to ensure the highest "form" team possible. It took a few weeks for me to figure this would be the best way forward, but I really consider this applicable to your drafted teams.
It is okay to drop even a 5th round pick after GW5 due to benchings and a very poor run of form to allow for pickups of more upside players. Look at it this way. The likes of Richarlison, Ronaldo, Neto, Matip, and Harry Wilson were all drafted in rounds 4-6 in this league. Within the first 4-5 weeks all these players should have been on the FA and swapped for better players. Holding bigger names who are either injured or just not seeing the field like Richarlison and Ronaldo really prevented managers from better and more useful pickups such as Iwobi and Willian. Fantrax isn't an emotional game, the less attachment you have to your players the more likely you are to get those gems in early season waiver runs.
For reference here is the Free Agents FC roster at Gameweek 12 - you can see some big names. How did I get them? Time to talk trades!!
First Half Season Trades (Gameweeks 1-17)
Between gameweeks 1-17, I made a total of 7 trades. Below we will look at 3 of the "key" ones, with a screenshot at the end showing the rest.
Trade 1 - Gameweek 3:
Free Agents FC Receives:
Brenden Aaronson (M, LEE)
Free Agents FC Trades Away:
Dan Burn (D, NEW)
Emerson Royal (D, TOT)
Trade Analysis:
My thinking here was based on the need for a high upside midfielder. I really liked what I saw from Aaronson in the first 2 gameweeks despite Fantrax scores of 0 and 1. He showed promise, and was all over the pitch, so I just figured it would be a matter of time until he got the points. Lucky for me that started gameweek 3 with an impressive display vs. Chelsea. After that, he managed to show some consistency and give me a semi-decent floor with the potential for a 15+ score when he nicked an attacking return.
Giving away two defenders who started off the season really well was a weird one, but I was paying for the capital that Aaronson cost a manager in the draft. I figured my streaming ability would be able to replace both these defenders with ease, and was starting to get worried that Emerson would lose his starting spot based on comments on him leaving, and his poor display vs. Chelsea in GW2. Aaronson gave me more flexibility for streaming other positions as he was a set and forget midfielder. Looking back on this, given the roster needs, I think I would do the trade again. But I would have looked to capitalize on the early season success of Royal and Burn and get a little more out of the manager, maybe a solid DEF3 or a FWD3 with poor ghosties but is a consistent starter.
Trade 2 - Gameweek 9:
Free Agents FC Receives:
Andreas Pereira (M, FUL)
Free Agents FC Trades Away:
Ivan Perisic (M, TOT)
Trade Analysis:
A straight mid for mid swap might be confusing to some. But at the time, I was looking for a ceiling type trade. Perisic had shown in the first part of the season that he would be a consistent MID3-4 type asset with a decent floor, the odd set piece, and a rare assist giving up little upside. Andreas, in my opinion, hadn't reached his full potential and was a strong buy low candidate. He had a near monopoly on set pieces, and was slowly finding his feet in his first season as an every week EPL starter. A floor for upside trade is what this was, and with the kind of manager I am, these are the trades I am always looking to make!
Trade 3 - Gameweek 9:
Free Agents FC Receives:
Demarai Gray (M, EVE)
Free Agents FC Trades Away:
Andreas Pereira (M, FUL)
Willian (F, FUL)
Trade Analysis:
Well, Andreas's stay on Free Agents FC was very brief - within the hour, he was sent packing in a larger deal to bring in a favourite of mine, Demarai Gray. Gray was a set and forget 90 minute player for Everton at that time, and before McNeil's rise to fame, he was getting a lot of set pieces and was one of the focal points of the Everton attack. I was also light in the forward department, with really only Brennan Johnson there. I did believe Everton were going to find their feet and Gray would offer a lot more upside than two Fulham players. Looking back on this deal, I think I let my Demarai Gray love get in the way of a logical decision. I probably wouldn't have done that deal again, given the fact I gave up two upside players, one being a forward, for 1 upside player in a similar range.
First Half Trade Conclusion:
While I was looking to churn the team, get some more high upside pieces, I think I was blinded here too much by name value. I probably would have been better off holding off on a lot of these deals unless I truly was trading floor for upside. I see this quite a lot in Fantrax leagues where managers overpay for big names and end up regretting it. Going forward, I think it would be best to look at how a player is performing that season, and take name value out of any equation unless you can truly buy low. Sometimes trading a free agent pickup for a draft pick player isn't always the smartest move.
That's it for PART 1 of the FAFC story; stay tuned for PART 2!
Check out our 23/24 Draft Kit for all the pre-season information you could ever need. We've got a Live Draft Aide, Draft Rankings, Team Previews, Cheat Sheets, Strategy Articles, Draft 101, plus so much more. Dominate your draft!
For all the latest from The Draft Society , follow @Draft_Society on Twitter!
And for more in-depth and exclusive resources, become a member of The Inner Circle.
Have you heard about our revolutionary new Draft Fantasy Football app? We call it The Fantasy ToolKit. Expand to read more!
Each gameweek, The Fantasy Toolkit will bring you:
Recommended waiver adds & drops
Optimal lineup suggestions
Matchup projections
Trade calculator
All in one customized and personalised package
It's included in our Ultimate Pass and Season Pass plans and will give you a massive leg up on your league-mates. Check out a full demonstration video HERE for more info!
For all the latest from The Draft Society, follow @Draft_Society on Twitter!
And for more in-depth and exclusive resources, become a member of The Inner Circle.
Kommentarer