Fanager – Euro 2016 recap

You might recall that we submitted a line-up for the inaugural Fanager freeroll, which featured the four Euro 2016 quarter-finals. Our selections fared well – Dimitri Payet and Olivier Giroud delivered as expected but a careless moment from Jérôme Boateng cost us dearly and prevented us from really pushing up towards the top of the leaderboard. Despite missing out on those elusive clean sheet bonus points our two Germany picks – Manuel Neuer and Jonas Hector both went on to play pivotal roles in the penalty shootout but our final pick Kevin De Bruyne was a bit of a disappointment.

Fanager have really upped the ante for the semi-finals, offering £10k in prize-money which includes a £3k top-prize. Managers are also allowed to enter up to 20 teams to give them even more opportunities to finish in the money.

We’ve put on our thinking caps here at Fantasy Football Portal and will attempt to devise a winning strategy, with our goal being to take down the first prize!

As usual we start with those all-important goal expectancies to determine if any team(s) has any obvious advantages.

Portugal have a small edge in terms of expected goals and the best chance of a clean sheet but there isn’t too much between all four sides so no player can really be ruled out.

Being allowed 20 entries means that you could submit 20 random line-ups but we feel you will be better served, combining a number of players in permutations. Remember you need to pick one player from each position plus any outfield player as your ‘flex’ selection. You could opt for 2 bankers then double up in 2 positions and go for 5 players in the final spot to give you 20 combinations and a degree of flexibility.

You must decide which positions to use these combinations in though.  If you go for 5 defenders there’s no guarantee that any of them will deliver but at the same time it makes sense to go for a goalkeeper/defender combo, in the hope that they can both keep a clean sheet.

Fanager Goalkeepers and Defenders

Again we’re going to stick with full-backs who might be able to put in a key pass or two. Cédric Soares seems as good a choice as anyone but Neil Taylor of Wales also catches the eye. With Aaron Ramsey suspended it is not clear who will take corners and free-kicks from wide areas and Taylor looks as likely a candidate as anyone. Obviously Gareth Bale could take them but he does offer a powerful aerial threat. It’s worth noting that the suspended Ramsey has taken all of the 17 corners the Welsh have won at the finals.

Going with this strategy means that Rui Patricio and Wayne Hennessey would be selected between the sticks. We need one of these sides to secure a clean sheet to put us in contention.

Fanager Midfielder

It’s hard to make much of a case for any Portuguese or Welsh midfielder so we’re going to focus on the second tie. Mesut Özil again looks the standout midfield pick from a Germany perspective, while Dimitri Payet looks the pick of the French. When you use one as a banker he needs to deliver but we’re going to go with Özil.

Fanager forward

Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud are sure to be popular choices but Cristiano Ronaldo might just sense that this is his moment to finally taste success with the national team. Portugal are still to win a game in regular time at the finals but amazingly find themselves in the semi-finals.

Fanager ‘Flex’ position

We’re going for Payet but will use our 5 combinations in this position. Antoine Griezmann is impossible to ignore and has to be included. With Mario Gomez ruled out through injury and Mats Hummels suspended Germany coach Joachim Löw  is likely to revert to a 4-2-3-1 with Julian Draxler and  Mario Götze occupying the wide forward positions and  Thomas Müller spearheading the attack.

We’re going to include all three, in the hope that one of them clicks with Özil, so that we have all the bases covered. It’s a risky ploy and they could easily be blown away by the French but if there is one thing we know about the Germans it is that they are resilient!

Here’s the Fantasy Football Portal line-up for the Fanager £10k freeroll:

And a quick reminder of those permutations:

Goalkeepers – Rui Patricio/Wayne Hennessey

Defenders – Cédric Soares/Neil Taylor

Midfielder (banker) – Mesut Özil

Forward (banker) – Cristiano Ronaldo

Flex Picks – Dimitri Payet/Antoine Griezmann/Thomas Müller/ Julian Draxler/Mario Götze 

Good luck!

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