Imaginary Report: Preseason Fantasy Draft

With eight days remaining before the start of the 2016/17 Bundesliga campaign, that means there’s also only eight days to finalize your Bundesliga fantasy squads!

That’s right, Bundesliga Fantasy is live for the year and the excitement is palpable. We here at Fear the Wall have teamed up with Bavarian Football Works to form a public league available for everyone to participate.

You can find all the info you need to join our league HERE.

Now that you’ve signed up, it’s important you understand how the game is played. Managers are tasked with drafting a 15 player team with a budget of 150 million budget. Players are given values anywhere from 2M to 15M based on talent and past performance.

Scoring is tricky to describe. To simplify, players receive points based on their performance. For a complete guide to the rules and scoring, click HERE.

So how should you go about picking your players? Obviously you can’t pick all the top players in each position, but here’s seven tricks to making a killer team.

1. Decide your top players immediately. These players will do the majority of your scoring and take up the majority of your budget. Pick those expensive players first to set a benchmark for the rest of the team.
2. Don’t be afraid to select mid-table players. Obviously players like Lewandowski and Aubameyang will be in high demand. But top players from teams like Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen, and Hoffenheim will be doing a fair amount of scoring as well. These mid-table players won’t be as heavily selected and could set your team apart from the rest.
3. Don’t be afraid to look even lower. There are some players priced well below what their current worth could be. While players priced 8M and below seem undesirable, think twice because one of them may be perfect for your lineup. While they may be substitutes on their current teams or average level players from lower-table clubs, they’ll still be scoring points and could serve as impact players. Who are some of these players? Well, by position, here are the top impact players available for low value: GK - Orjan Nyland (ING) 8M; DF - Roberto Hilbert (LEV) 6M; MF - Halil Altintop (AUG) 7M, Szabolcs Huszti (FRA) 6M (personal pick); FW - Alfred Finnbogason (AUG) 8M; Josip Drmic (MON) 6M
4. Don’t overlook your 2-3M picks. These players might not be starters but may prove valuable as injuries mount later in the year. It’s important to choose players who might play or would be immediate backups if an injury occurs. Here our the top picks: GK - Michael Esser (DAR) 3M; DF - Benjamin Gorka (DAR) 2M, Pascal Stenzel (FRE) 2M; MF - Julian Green (BAY) 2M; FW - Ante Rebic (FRA) - 4M (sorry, no solid 3M forwards).
5. Try not to pick players from the same team. There’s rules to limit this, but it should go without saying that a team of players from different teams will likely accrue more points than teams with players from the same clubs. One definite “no-no” is to pick a goalkeeper and/or defenders from the same team. Various defenders and keepers from different teams give you even more chances for a clean sheet. Offensively, if one team has a bad game, having three players from that team might not help you earn points. It’s important to vary your selections among all teams.
6. Value your keeper. The keeper position often gets overlooked and that’s unfair. A good goalkeeper means lots of points. Keepers get points for saves, but also lose points for every goal conceded. So pick a good keeper from a team with a stout defense so you won’t lose points.
7. Midfield is the most important position. Midfielders get more points for scoring and shooting while not being penalized for conceding goals. A scoring midfielder is nice, but midfielders who rack up assists are also good to have.

So there you have it. A handy list of tips for you to have when you go about selecting your team. As the season begins, check back here every week for a look at players to add and drop as well as advice on formations and lineups.

Now these are only suggestions so if you disagree with some/all of them...well sorry...but this is only meant to give you some guidance.

Happy Managing and Good Luck!