Welcome to a new segment in The Draft Society library. Here, I (DraftGenie) will be providing you with my thoughts on all things draft! Each segment of Genie's Corner will focus on something specific and relevant to current events in the Draft Fantasy EPL world. Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know I tend to take a bold and differential approach to the draft game, which has led to many fantasy titles. In these articles I will be giving you my unique insights, bold takes, sage advice, and much more throughout the season.
Genie's Corner
Check out this weekly dive into the mind of our mercurial Fantrax EPL manager and analyst Draft Genie! Each week he provides his thoughts on strategies, players to watch, trades to push for, and much more!
Post-Draft Moves
Don't Panic Trade/Drop
Most drafts probably have finished a little over a week ago. With no EPL for 7+ days you probably have been staring at your team, overthinking every decision made during the draft, and looking at other teams with some envy. Your draft was done based off your rankings, and odds are, barring any injuries/transfers, they haven't changed much with no EPL action even played! Don't panic sell players for lower than their draft day value. Drafted Kai in round 5, but worried about new striker rumours? Don't settle for a round 8 Bamford. If you are set on trading out certain players, look to get the exact same value you paid on draft day or 2:2 type trades where you get an upgrade in another position in which you may need reinforcements.
Dropping players you picked up in rounds 12-16 is no issue. You may have found another punt you like better or took a punt on a player getting a move who is now set to stay (Ake). But don't panic drop!! Two prime examples come to mind here - Calvert-Lewin and Jimenez. Both are going to miss at least the first few games of the season, but could be back as early as Gameweek 4. In a 38 gameweek season, that is not a lot of time to miss. Dropping them basically means losing your FWD2/3 you took in the 4th-6th rounds. Unless you hear they are out for 4+ months, hold them, and restructure your roster slightly to account for those injuries. There is no need to dump them unless a quality offer comes in. Some managers may smell blood, looking to get these high upside forwards for 5 cents on the dollar. Don't fall for it. You should not be trading out these players for the likes of Ings and Undav. Use the waiver wire effectively to make up for their absence and, if needed, try to perform a 2:1 type trade in order to get extra room on your roster to help make up for these injuries.
Get In Your Favourites ASAP
There will always be 1 player that you really believe in but you missed out on him in the draft. Whether that be a player in round 3 or one in round 11, there will always be at least 1. If you believe this player will hit the ground running, then trade for them before Gameweek 1. If it is a later hidden gem type player, try to do a 2:2 type trade where you add them in as the secondary piece - the other manager will likely not know that the player is actually your main target. For example, if you were really looking forward to grabbing Stuart Armstrong in the 9th but he went 1 pick before you, you could offer your 8th round pick of Ait-Nouri with your 4th rounder of Trossard to get their slightly better 4th rounder of Neto and your main target Armstrong, especially if they need a more high upside midfielder.
If it is a top player you are after, these deals may be tougher to push through before the season. Your hope here is to offer the manager some extra FAB, fill some positional needs, or hope said player has a really poor GW1 before you come swooping in. BE warned that if approached wrong, the manager will be weary of your interest, and probably look to get something extra out of you for a player they know you are a huge fan of.
Gameweek 1 Advice
Avoid Southampton, Fulham, Bournemouth Defenders.... and Kyle Walker
Some of these may be self explanatory, but I have seen many a manger excited to start Salisu again, take a punt on new boy Mbabu, and yolo start Bournemouth wingback Zemura. These players are prime candidates for negative points this week. I don't expect any of these three teams to keep a clean sheet and can even see them losing by 2-3 goals. Fulham and Bournemouth are getting their first taste of the EPL in over a year, and don't have the friendliest of matchups (Liverpool and Aston Villa). If you are insistent on rostering these defenders, it is best to bench them and see how they do week 1, and go with a more safe or boring option on your bench.
Kyle Walker... the gift that has stopped giving. With Cucurella on his way to Chelsea, Walker is being picked up everywhere. City just conceded three goals last weekend, and with West Ham being no slouch could easily concede another. City's tactics do not allow Walker to get forward enough to provide any fantasy value, and without a clean sheet, he can easily get negative numbers. Walker is currently 96% rostered, and last season did not score 20+ points even once (not even with a clean sheet and an assist vs. Norwich). Last season, he averaged 4.2 ghost points per start, which is worse than the likes of Lindelof. Avoid Walker this weekend, even with a clean sheet, he could get less than 10 points unless he gets a very rare attacking return.
Take as Many Upside Punts as Possible
In Gameweek 1, it is very hard to predict who will hit the ground running, especially with the players who are lesser known and/or were drafted in the later rounds. Refer back to our drafting for first or last article. It is important who you choose to roster in your "bench" and "extra" spots; opt for upside. For example: choose to pick up Aribo over Jorginho when you see both are starting. We know Jorginho, penalty-taking notwithstanding, lacks output despite him being on Chelsea. Meanwhile, Aribo is a fresh face, playing in an advanced role, and if he does well, could be added into trade deals. You will always find those safe players like Jorginho available for pickup on the waiver wire, but taking a punt on an unexpected starting winger, or someone playing more advanced is well worth it in the early gameweeks. The main goal is to have as many high upside players, hope some hit the ground running, then look to trade them out on a high for players you believe will offer more consistent upside value all season.
There is very little downside to using this strategy in terms of your Gameweek 1 pickups. Even if they all perform miserably, you can easily drop them and try again next week! Losing Gameweek 1 isn't the end all of your season...leading into the final topic of discussion
What if I Lose Gameweek 1?
Everyone always wants to get that first win under their belt, see themselves in the top half of the table, and even maybe score the most points that weekend. Obviously, there is every chance that no matter how much prep you did, Gameweek 1 will be a loss. If that happens, don't panic. Accept defeat and move on. My best recommendation is to watch highlights of your players, dig a bit deeper into their stats, and evaluate. It could have just been an unlucky week or they faced bad matchups. It happens. Let's say your 3rd round pick of Watkins got only 1 shot off vs. Bournemouth and finished with just 2 points from headers won. At that point, I would be a tad concerned, as he underperformed against clearly inferior opposition. In this type of scenario, I may actually look to shift Watkins for someone like Vardy if he passed the "eye test" a bit more.
On the flip side, if Watkins only managed 2 points, but did so with 6 shots, and looked like he was just unlucky to hit the post and not score, then not only is he worth holding, he may be worth trading in (if you don't roster him). Sending out offers for players you may get cheaper than draft day value is always worth a go.
Good Luck to Everyone in Gameweek 1, and stay tuned for Genie's Corner Gameweek 2 edition!!
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