December is a month of giving. People give each
other presents. Liverpool give away at least 6 points and Joey Barton often
gives a team mate facial injuries at the annual Christmas party. In fact, every
now and then, us Brits become so generous at Christmas that we assemble a load
of musicians that people don’t really like and raise millions and millions of
pounds for Africa. Quite a gesture I am sure you will agree. And how does
Africa pay us back in the New Year for our ongoing generosity? They put on a
tournament in January; stealing a shed load of Premier League player and fuck
our fantasy football teams right up. Typical.
The African Cup of Nations isn’t exactly a stand
out in the footballing calendar and gets more ratings from “Paddy McGuiness
Footballing Gaffes” DVD sales than it does live coverage but it can be the
undoing of a forgetful Fantasy Football manager. You might think it is just a
tournament created just to Robbie Earle gets work (even though he is, rather
offensively, Jamaican) but AFCON is more than just a reason for Ron Atkinson to
shut his curtains. A total of 20 Premier League players could be involved in
the tournament and there’s a few thing to keep your eye on.
Star Players
At first glance, you might think these are few
and far between but Swansea and Crystal Palace fans will tell you otherwise.
Wilfried Bony has been one of the best strikers in the league this year and it
would be frankly illogical if a club doesn’t make a 25m offer in the Summer or
even when he’s away on pesky international duty. In FPL terms, you will
struggle to replace those goals and points at that value. The only saving grace
for FPL managers is that two games in the period are Chelsea and Southampton,
perhaps harder places to score points. No such consolation from a Swansea point
of view, though. Palace face losing potentially their most creative player in
Yanick Bolasie. A 53 point return on a guy you could pick up for under 5m is
not to be sniffed at and the decision now has to be made whether to leave him
rotting on the bench, knowing that the rebuy is now at nearly 5 and a half
million. Damn you AFCON!
Injuries, Injuries, Injuries
I think this one explains itself. There will be
plenty of football fans watching through fingers as they see their star player
marauding across the (not famously well maintained) pitches of Equatorial
Guinea, riding challenges are players ranging in quality, from World Class to
School Class. It doesn’t bear thinking about. For those of you who think I am, perhaps,
stereotyping, we are talking about a tournament in which players were shot at
on a bus. Stay Safe Wilfried!
It’s a Team Game!
Sadly it isn’t as simple as one player leaving
and replacing him. At least that’s what I tell my girlfriend when it takes me 2
hours to do my line up. Yaya Toure leaves for Africa, you just bring in another
midfielder right? Well yes, actually but it affects more than just his points.
What about the system City now play? Will Milner play in a more attacking
role? Who will replace Toure? Who’s on set pieces? It all matters! Not only
that but take West Ham for example. On league evidence, they are a top 6 side
and are about to go 3 weeks without Sakho, Song & Kouyate, but without the
squad depth of the big guns. Song provides real grit in that midfield as well
as flair and you can bet your bottom dollar they will be conceding more goals
than they usually do in that period so having Adrian at 5m outscoring the more
expensive Mignolet or Howard could now change, even though it’s a striker and 2
midfielders leaving for Equitorial Guinea! It’s a fucking minefield!!
Know Your Squads
There is obviously an upside to all this, if you
study your squads. The really obvious effects for instance are that Andy
Carroll will play every minute of every game if he stays fit and they will
cater to him with Sakho going. More often than not, that will mean goals given
his talent. If you fancy Swansea to carry on winning even without Bony, then
Gomis at 2m cheaper but now starting for a few games could be a swoop.
Newcastle United lose Papass Cisse and Tiote for the tournament and Ayoze Perez
at 4/8 million could be an excellent addition to your squad, as could Jack
Colback at 4.8m who seems to be improving every week. Although Tiote’s
customary bookings might now switch to him if he plays more of an enforcer
role. The point is, if you can get clued up on who will start games and you can
pounce on them cheap, you will get a leg up on your lazy friends. Who knows, if
these players perform they might keep their place. Not you Gomis, sorry mate.
Don’t Forget!
Yes there’s darts on. Yes, you want to play with
your new space hopper/PS4/Loom bands (delete as appropriate) but don’t forget.
If you have African players in your squad then start planning their exit soon.
You don’t want to take minus points on the chin just because you forget to do
it gradually.
If you started reading this at the last section, this might read
like ethnic cleansing, it really isn’t. Please read the rest and please listen to
the The Gaffer Tapes, The UKs biggest comedy fantasy football podcast at www.thegaffertapes.com.
