In the first publication in our new section “Conversations with Champions” we present to you Emil Manchev, the winner in Bulgaria and 634th in the world in the 2013/14 season. We are grateful to Emo for agreeing to share his experience and impressions with us, as well as his plans for the new season.
FFStars: Hi Emo, we’re glad you’re with us. For starters, would you introduce yourself in a few words to ffstars readers?
Emil: Hello, nice to meet you 🙂 My name is Emil, 29, from Sofia. I have been playing FPL for eighth seasons, but this one is of particular importance to me as it will be my first since I returned after ten years in England. Moreover, a few days before the start of Premier League, my son was born. I don’t know how, but I still managed to find the time to put my team together and for now I’m looking at a decent campaign. Let’s see how long I can hold the front.
FFStars: One of the first things to mention is the fact that you are the champion of Bulgaria in the 2013/14 season. Congratulations on the amazing result! If I’m not mistaken, it was Luis Suarez’s big season, as well as the season of Stephen Gerrard’s notorious slipping into that Chelsea game. Tell us a little more about how the season went for you from an FPL perspective, and what was the key to having a great performance then.
Emo’s Team: https://fantasy.premierleague.com/entry/206460/history
Emil: This season remains perhaps one of the craziest in the history of the Premier League to date. Crazy season in which Jose managed to “slip” Liverpool for the title and virtually give it to Manchester City. This was only my second season playing FPL, and in fact the first one to actively make transfers after season before I had a bet with a friend not to make transfers except due to a long-term injury of a player. You can imagine what FPL is without transfers. There was one constant in the 2013/14 season, and that was Louis Suarez. This simplified the game a lot for me from a captain’s perspective. Every match against a team outside the Top 6 was a fiesta of goals for Suarez. And when he was injured or playing against a stronger opponent, I used Dzeko, Aguero or Sturridge, depending on who was fit. Injuries to key players made the captain’s choice much easier. And that was great for me. Over the years, I have realized that I am extremely strong in selecting, but what is hard for me is the choice of captains. The following seasons, I lost points exactly from this – the wrong choice of captains.
Most memorable for me, however, remains one transfer from my championship season. I remember this transfer because, with Company’s clean sheet, it was he who practically won the ACS Managers mini-league for me, which will be discussed below. My opponent this year was very strong, being ahead of me through almost the entire campaign, and finally finishing, if I’m not mistaken, in the top 1500 in the world, and about 30 points away from me. By the way, if you are reading this, thanks for the motivation this season, you really helped me do the best I can! And finally, I had an insane amount of points this season, 2486… I don’t know if any BG player has made such a result to this day.
FFStars: Over 5 years have passed since the 13/14 season and the game is now more popular than ever. What do you think has changed the most in FPL since then?
Emil: The classic way to play FPL was the premium striker, the expensive midfielder and the back five defenders under 5 million for most of the season. And the cheapest possible goalkeepers. The only exception was Leighton Baines in his strong years because of his penalties and assists. And Company for one gameweek at the end of the 2013/14 season! Today, the game offers many more options, with the bonus system allowing defenders to become even more important than forwards. Today we have defenders like Lucas Dean, TAA, Robertson and many other “premium” defenders who carry more “points per million” than FPL midfielders and strikers.
FFStars: Looking at the present, what are your predictions for the 19/20 season? Will only 2 teams compete for the title again? Do you see Lester, Wolves or Everton getting involved in the battle for the top 6? Also, what are your favourites for dropping out?
Emil: It’s too early to tell who will fall out, but it looks like Newcastle won’t be saved this time, and Villa will return to the Championship. I can’t tell who the third team would be. Maybe Sheffield or Norwich. I see Wolves in the Top 6 as they drop out sooner than Turin and finish their campaign in the Europa League. If they reach the group stage, they will lose many Premier League points and stay out of the Top 6. Lester and Everton will be out of the Top 6. For me, assuming that Liverpool, Man United, City, Arsenal, Tottenham will be Top 5, then 6th it might still be Chelsea or why not Burnley or Bournemouth.
FFStars: We can see that this season you also started very well – you are currently ranked 2066th in the world and 10th in Bulgaria after the first two gameweeks! Tell us a little more about your team and why you chose these players. Have you already planned when you will use your first Wildcard?
Pukki captain and 92 points for Gameweek 2!
Emil: I will traditionally use the first Wildcard for Christmas unless I have a lot of injured players, though I would also use penalty transfers for them. There is an unwritten golden rule in the FPL not to make one, but in the second gameweek I made -4 points this season. This was to correct my mistake for not putting Sterling in my final draft pick in the first round. I took Kane out so I could do it, and I replaced him with Pukki from Norwich. I honestly tell you, I don’t know why I took it, much less I can tell you why he was my captain. I read absolutely nothing about him, did not even see his goal against Liverpool. I just played a video of the best of Pukki last season and decided he was my captain against Newcastle’s weak squad. The rest of my line-up is pretty much common – Salah, Van Dyke (still I couldn’t give 7 million to either Robertson or TAA – ah these old habits), Digne and King. My other players are probably your usual suspects too. The second gameweek was also very lucky as Barkley did not play, as did my West Ham defender. This meant that a 4 million Sheffield defender was coming off the bench. Without a pinch of luck you cannot play this game!
FFStars: Do you have a favourite formation in FPL (3-4-3, 4-4-2, etc.) or is that not a factor for you when assembling your team? Do you think there is a best formation for FPL?
Emil: Definitely years ago, and in my championship season, there was only one way to get maximum points in the FPL and it was 3-4-3! The forwards and midfielders had the most points, and the bonus system gave almost no points to the defenders. The game has since changed, as I mentioned earlier. However, I remain faithful to 3-4-3 in 90% of the cases as the difference today is that I play with 3 premium defenders, and years ago that would have been 2 4.5 defenders and Baines most likely. Perhaps the only other formation I’ve gone through many times over the years is 3-5-2 and in rare cases I was forced to 4-4-2, but this can happen 1 or 2 times during the season. And now watch my next gameplay with 4-4-2 or 5-3-2 formation.
FFStars: Various chips have been added to the FPL for several years, with 2 Wildcards, Free Hit, Bench Boost and Triple Captain in the last two seasons. Do you think the chips enrich the game? Do you have an original idea for a new chip that you would like to see in FPL?
Emil: I remain a hell of a traditionalist here. I am aware of the importance of chips to make the game more interesting, but it also gives many not-so-skilled managers the opportunity to make pretty lucky performances. If I had to choose, I’d even remove the captain option. As I said, my selection has always been steady over the years, but hundreds of times I have suffered more from a poor choice of captain. Yes, I’m sure it’s cool now as Pukki scored 3 goals and he was my captain, but this gets hit once every 100 times, if not less often, and I prefer not to have to take that risk in the second gameweek. Last year, I played in a “perfect” way all the chips, but in the end, in the mini-league I was left with players who used the chips in the most absurd situations like Bench Boost in a single gameweek.
FFStars: What are some of your favourite game-related sites and tools you use when making your transfer decisions?
Emil: Lately, I just love to follow the videos and articles on FPL’s official website. I stopped visiting forums like Reddit unless I came across something through Google. Over the years I have liked Fantasy Football Geek and All Things FPL. Many people use betting odds to determine their captain or selection for the gameweek, but I rarely follow such things (would I put Puki captain if I followed those odds?). Of course I always check the status of the injured players and the price increases, but they are no longer very accurate from what I see.
FFStars: We know you are the organizer of one of the oldest and most successful FPL mini-leagues – ACS Managers. Tell us a little more about it
Emil: The league actually made its debut during my championship season and was kind of a league only for people graduating from the American College in Sofia (hence ACS, American College of Sofia). I’m glad people didn’t give up and I see that 6 years later, we continue to give away a prize pool to everyone from the Top 4 in the mini-league at the end of the year – just like in the Premier League, the top 4 are the best. This prize pool in recent years has always been a four-figure sum, and the league is accessible to a wider range of people and friends of past participants. Over the years, I plan to expand the league, and maybe bring a little more surprises and extra prizes from sponsors outside the prize pool collected from participant fees. For example, this year, for the first time, in addition to the prize pool, there will be a bonus prize for the player with the highest gameweek score of the whole year.
FFStars: Lastly, we will be organizing the first ffstars gathering live and it would be a great pleasure for us if you came!
Emil: I would be glad to attend as long as the little one lets me go lol. I will bring some other “pundits” to laugh with as it is customary in Bulgaria… prove that everyone is a pro when it comes to women, politics, football and FPL 🙂