Firstly, let me just say thanks to everyone who has shown great support for the blog already. It just goes to show how great the SkyFF and FPL communities really are, and I can’t encourage people enough to get involved with some of the amazing accounts out there.

As many of you have already seen, in my first post I made the statement that I would be playing FPL the Sky way. In the short time since it was published, I’ve recieved a few comments asking what exactly that means, and how it’s possible given the games obvious differences?

Both very valid questions which I think require further explanation:

Team Selection

Sky’s budget is set solely for picking a playing team of 11, as opposed to a squad of 15, so I fully intend to do the same. The idea being that by essentially writing off the bench and allocating minimal funds to it, that should allow me to focus all my time, effort, and budget on getting a high scoring starting 11 each week.

It may go against the normal FPL consensus of having a fully playing squad, but you can only get points from 11 players so why not try and max them out to the fullest extent!!

Transfers

This will be the main contentious issue in this little experiment of mine, as the process behind transfers is very different between the two formats. However, with Sky being a limited transfers game, patience is an absolute must and I hope to apply the same logic here.

Let’s be honest, even the best players know how easy it is to rage transfer someone out in haste, so if I can limit myself to the same 40 transfer limit, it should in turn force a similar level of patience.

I do envisage a problem here though, in that FPL is nowhere near as flexible as Sky. A simple formation change using 1 transfer in Sky, will be completely out of the question and I don’t mind admitting that I’m a little unsure how to combat that. Can I give myself an added allowance for this without compromising what I’m trying to achieve???? If anyone has any ideas, hit me up on twitter as I’m open to suggestions.

Captains

Sky’s daily captain changes are a big part of why I love the game so much. By default, it forces a real strategic element to plotting your team selection, and gives the planners amongst us a real edge.

I am however, quite thankful that it won’t be an issue for this as I’m applying enough restrictions without having to find 3 players a week to take the armband too!!! I will attempt to include enough captaincy options to cover the main protagonists each gameweek though.

The Overhaul   

Last season, Sky introduced the concept of the ‘Overhaul’ i.e. the Wildcard in FPL terms. The difference being that they have to be used during a given week, as opposed to having a choice.

The first one this year is in week 5, which actually lends itself well to FPL this season given that many of the leagues star names will be taking extended breaks after their exertions in the World Cup.

Plus, it also happens to correspond with an international break so it will provide that extra bit of thinking time to formulate a plan to see me through to the new year.

Chips

This is probably the main difference between the two games, and something that will be extremely difficult to apply a Sky strategy to.

The Triple Captaincy and Free Hit chips will just require me to be opportunistic in their use, whereas the bench boost will prove worthless unless I can generate enough team value during the early stages of season to improve the bench at the 2^nd Overhaul. Given that prices remain static in Sky though, I will be giving them little heed and makes this tactic unlikely at this stage. However, a good bench boost seems to only generate around 16-24 points so it’s not a huge loss in the overall scheme of things.

I think the above has covered the basic premise of what I’m trying to achieve with this blog, but if anyone has any suggestions then I’ll be happy to discuss them over on twitter (see the links page for details, or use the shortcut below).

Future Posts

I have our annual Fantasy Draft scheduled for this week (I can’t recommend the head-to-head draft format enough if you’re one for having bragging rights over your mates on a weekly basis!!!), but I’m hoping to get another 2 blog posts out before the big kick off. The first will note my thoughts on team structure and formation, with the second coming nearer the deadline and revealing the team I’ll be starting the season with.

Please be assured, not all my posts will be this long so a big appreciation from me if you’ve stuck with it this far. Remember, the deadline in most fantasy formats this season will be Friday so start getting your teams set and I’ll be back early next week.