This is Part 1 in an FPL tips for beginners series.
You can read Part 2 on Common Mistakes Beginners FPL Managers Make and Part 3 on How To Allocate FPL Chips.
How Hard Is Fantasy Premier League?
When it comes to FPL, newcomers often believe that their extensive knowledge of the game automatically guarantees their success.
It sounds simple, right?
You have a £100m budget, and with that, you need to buy 15 players who will outperform those chosen by your competitors.
What could go wrong?
While knowledge of football is a significant advantage for new FPL players wanting to compete against the best managers in the world, they often lack the experience needed to finish the season with a respectable points tally.
In this article, we will discuss common pitfalls and unique tips and provide a general overview of what the best FPL managers do right compared to those who are just starting out.
Top 5 Mistakes Beginners FPL Managers Make
1) Don’t Stick To The Plan
Whether it’s the start of a new campaign, halfway through the season, or at the closing stages, FPL managers must stay calm and stick to their initial plan.
Pro managers often start the season with a core group of premium assets.
These assets aren’t transferred in and out repeatedly based on short-term performances.
The FPL manager accepts that their players won’t provide a return every single week, and hopping from one premium option to another based on last week’s results is self-destructive to the long-term plan.
2) Don’t Understand The Importance Of Fixtures
Most beginners select 15 players they think will provide great returns over the course of the entire season.
While having a small core of premium players who are locked into your team is essential, upcoming fixtures are equally crucial.
Most elite managers review 4 to 6 upcoming match weeks and plan transfers and captaincy options accordingly.
For example, a player like Raúl Jiménez might be in great form for Fulham, and with a home fixture against Wolves coming up, he may seem like a great option to partner your premium forwards.
However, looking beyond his fixture against Wolves, you’ll see that he faces Tottenham, Brighton, Arsenal, and Liverpool in his next five games.
That should make any FPL manager cautious when considering Jiménez.
You don’t want the decisions you made two weeks ago to put you in a position where the majority of your team is facing adamant opposition.
This can only be avoided by planning ahead and considering the upcoming fixtures for the assets you own.
3) Having Cognitive Bias
This may be one of the most challenging aspects to control for all FPL newcomers.
We love the team we support, and we want them to do well.
This often encourages beginners to select players from the team they support or players they like in general without actually considering potential pitfalls that may arise when picking these players.
This might include refusing to captain a player who is playing against the team you support, even though it could be the best option for your FPL team.
Picking players from rival clubs can also cause some emotional discomfort simply because you want those clubs to have a terrible season.
It is often challenging to set aside the love you have for your club when making FPL decisions.
Managers who are unable to do so frequently struggle in the rankings due to their intense loyalty to their club and its players.
4) Trying To Be Different
We all have that one friend with the most obscure football opinions.
Football is an unpredictable game, and some fans often try to go against the current trend, hoping their opinions will be proven correct and establish them as “a genius who is ahead of the curve.” Fans with these tendencies often come across FPL and see it as an opportunity to prove everyone wrong and glorify their unconventional approach to the beautiful game.
While picking differential players can be a valuable tool to boost your rankings, building an FPL strategy solely based on differentials is almost guaranteed to fail.
You don’t need a unique approach to finish among the best in FPL.
Picking proven assets and allowing them to generate returns for your team will always be a safer option.
You can create small opportunities to try something different here and there in the hopes of gaining points where the majority won’t, but limiting these decisions to opportunities that make sense is a much better approach than going against the curve week after week.
5) Not Understanding The Big Game Players
The vast majority of FPL managers hesitate to captain in-form players against big teams.
Liverpool faces Manchester City in a few weeks, and FPL managers who own Mohamed Salah or Erling Haaland, or both, will undoubtedly be scratching their heads when it comes to captaincy.
FPL managers often give the armband to another player with an easier fixture when their usual captain faces difficult opposition.
Managers need to remember why players like Salah and Haaland are considered “big game players.”
The likelihood of either Liverpool or Manchester City scoring in their clash is relatively high.
When these clubs score, who is usually on the scoresheet?
While it might feel safe to captain an asset who is not involved in such a massive fixture, it is not always the best move.
You can read Part 2 on FPL Strategies For Beginner Managers and Part 3 on Common Mistakes Beginners FPL Managers Make.
