I am sure that you have been devouring our coverage over the past few weeks, as well as peeking elsewhere. Admit it! (It’s o.k., really, just as long as you promise that we are your real, true love here.) Never Manage Alone is a fantasy advice site, so naturally much of what we delve into deals with prognostication... Expectation... Trying to see the future, or at least the most likely outcomes. We get some right, and we get some wrong, but I like to think that we do an awful lot better than tossing a dart at the board. We are, of course, a collection of individuals coming together (or diverging separately) at a single blog site. As such, there is always a danger of group think — when the hive mind becomes one in an echo-chamber and everybody fails to think for his or her own. Then again, there can also be a problem when everything gets too individualistic for the sake of novelty and brashness. Perhaps a happy medium is ideal, but just as perfectly impossible. Just like you, we’ve been tossing and turning, biting our nails, gnashing our teeth, racking our brains, trying to figure out what’s going to happen, and ultimately figuring out our perfect fantasy teams. After all of the insight, the poring over data, the reading and analyzing and venturing into the brink of madness, then doing that over and over and again and again, it is finally time to lay everything out there for posterity. So, then, now that we are at that point, where have we (the staff) arrived? And how are you thinking, when it comes to predicting what will happen for this sure-to-be-majestic 2018 World Cup summer in Russia? Now we come up with concrete reasons for why we’re picking our fantasy teams just the way we are, and perhaps why we are phoning our bookmaker down at the corner delicatessen or jetting off to Las Vegas to splash the cash at our favorite casino sports book. Because ultimately, how we fashion our brackets and who we figure will win the awards has an awful lot to do with how we contemplate putting together our fantasy teams, even at the start of the group stage. So let’s take a look at our staff picks, shall we? World Cup Staff Predictions CATEGORY CHRIS DARRYL DAVID OMAR SANTIAGO STALL CATEGORY CHRIS DARRYL DAVID OMAR SANTIAGO STALL Grp A 1st&2nd URU/RUS URU/EGY URU/RUS URU/EGY URU/RUS URU/RUS Grp B 1st&2nd SPA/POR SPA/POR SPA/POR POR/SPA SPA/POR SPA/POR Grp C 1st&2nd FRA/DEN FRA/PER FRA/PER DEN/FRA DEN/PER FRA/DEN Grp D 1st&2nd ARG/NIG ARG/CRO ARG/CRO ARG/CRO ARG/CRO ARG/ICE Grp E 1st&2nd BRA/SWI BRA/SER BRA/SER BRA/SER BRA/SER BRA/SER Grp F 1st&2nd GER/MEX GER/MEX GER/MEX GER/MEX GER/MEX GER/SWE Grp G 1st&2nd BEL/ENG BEL/ENG BEL/ENG BEL/ENG ENG/BEL ENG/BEL Grp H 1st&2nd POL/COL COL/SEN COL/POL POL/SEN COL/SEN COL/SEN CHAMPION Brazil Brazil Spain Spain Spain Germany 2ND PLACE Spain Spain Brazil Argentina Uruguay Brazil 3RD PLACE Germany Uruguay Germany Brazil Germany Spain 4TH PLACE Portugal Germany France Germany Brazil Uruguay DARK HORSE Nigeria Senegal Peru Denmark Uruguay Iceland GOLDEN BALL Neymar Neymar Neymar Messi T. Alcantara Neymar GOLDEN BOOT Neymar Messi Griezmann Neymar L. Suarez G. Jesus MOST ASSISTS Kimmich Coutinho D. Silva Messi D. Silva Neymar GOLDEN GLOVE Alisson Alisson De Gea De Gea Neuer Neuer #1 FANTASY FW Neymar Neymar Griezmann Neymar L. Suarez Neymar #1 FANTASY MID Coutinho Coutinho Isco Mueller Isco Coutinho #1 FANTASY DEF Kimmich Marcelo Marcelo Pique Alba Kimmich #1 FANTASY GK Alisson Alisson De Gea De Gea De Gea Neuer ~ Maybe We Are Just One Big Hive Mind After All We had loads of things in common: In Groups A, D, E, and F, everybody had Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, and Germany, respectively, winning. In Groups B and G, we all had the same two teams going through (Spain & Portugal; Belgium & England). We all went with three of the big favorites to win the World Cup: Spain, Brazil or Germany. On top of that, everybody had Brazil, Germany and Spain finishing in the top four. Otherwise, Uruguay was a popular pick to do well, with Santiago pegging them 2nd, Darryl 3rd and Stall 4th. Four of us pegged Neymar to win the Golden Ball, and to have the most points at the forward position. Keeping the Brazil love going, a quartet of us picked Philippe Coutinho to have the best output in midfield. ~ No, We Are Individuals with Independent Thoughts of Our Own! Thankfully, we weren’t completely the same, with some differing opinions: The second spots in Groups A and C were split (to varying degrees) between Russia & Egypt, and Peru & Denmark. While the two teams were the same, Omar had them finishing in a different order than the rest of the staff for Group B (Portugal #1, Spain #2) and C (Denmark & France). Similarly, Santiago and Stall were the only two to pick England to win Group G and Belgium to finish 2nd in Group G. Stall went against the grain in picking Sweden to take 2nd in Group F, as everybody else had Mexico. Chris was the only backer of Switzerland in Group E, compared to the otherwise consensus Serbia. Chris had Nigeria and Stall had Iceland getting through Group D, whereas the rest went with Croatia. We had five different players winning the Golden Boot. Everybody’s dark horse team was different! Along the same lines, almost everybody picked a different player to end up with the most assists! [Ed. Note: The above predictions were all turned in prior to the news of Spain’s managerial sacking. Be sure to read in the comments section of that article and/or this article with thoughts on how, or whether, that news has impacted any of our predictions.] What do you think will happen in the World Cup? How do your predictions differ from ours, and how are they the same? And just how do our picks — and your expectations — impact how you are putting together your fantasy teams?<doc-sep>Also, be sure to join Never Manage Alone’s Beat the Bloggers League there! Hopefully you’re ready and raring to go for some fun Dream Team fantasy World Cup action! If not, be sure to read our primer on the rules, scoring and strategy: Now let’s go over some Player Picks! During the pre-tournament tinkering period, you’ll want to be sure to consider players at various price points before the deadline restricts further transfers. After all, we can’t afford 11 best-of-the best players from the elite teams, so it’s important to mix in some possible diamonds in the rough that could pay off nicely in the end from a perspective of value. Gotta choose where to maximize bang for minimum bucks... er, pounds! ~ GOALKEEPERS You only get one keeper, so it’s an important pick. You’ll want a sure starter who ideally has a good chance of getting at least one and probably two clean sheets on his way to advancing to the knockout stage — and with a fair shot at surviving beyond that. After all, 20 sounds like a huge number of allotted transfers, but it’s usually the case that you won’t have as many in your pocket at the end as you’d like. Of all the positions, keeper is one where you’re not going to want to burn too many of those changes. However, if you don’t mind burning one transfer at keeper in the group stage, a savvy strategy would be to pick a keeper with a great game one match-up, then switch to a keeper who had a tough fixture to start but has easy looking tasks for the second and third games (and thus, will be expected to go through). For instance, Spain and Portugal face off in the first game, so David De Gea or Rui Patricio would be ideal to pick up for games two and three; in that case, perhaps you could go with someone like Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois (vs. Panama, before coming up against Tunisia and England) or France’s Hugo Lloris (vs. Australia, prior to facing Peru and Denmark) to kick things off. As far as price goes, if you spend for the most expensive keeper, you’ll feel safe, but that leaves you less money to play with when it comes to the rest of your team. Oh yes, it’s quite a balancing act. PREMIUM: If you’re looking to pay up and want a keeper for all three group games and beyond, I’d suggest Brazil’s Alisson (£4.5m). I’ve already discussed De Gea, and Germany’s Manuel Neuer (£4.5m) will similarly be favored to win the group and go far in the tournament, but could easily give up a goal or two to Mexico and/or Sweden. Group E is not the easiest group top to bottom, but Brazil will go into each of its three games — Costa Rica, Serbia and Switzerland — thinking it can get a clean sheet against those defensive-minded teams. MID-PRICED: There are plenty of good options in the mid-tier price range. Any of Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois (£3.5m), France’s Hugo Lloris (£3.5m), Portugal’s Rui Patrico (£3.0m), David Ospina (£3.0m), Jordan Pickford (£3.0m), or Costa Rica’s Keylor Navas (£2.5m) could work well. Courtois is probably the best bet of the bunch, as Belgium looks to have a strong chance to go deep and return a good number of clean sheets. BUDGET: Here is where you risk a keeper not getting through the group stage, but if you have a good hunch about an under-respected team, that type of bargain could reward you handsomely. If you feel that Switzlerand will get through a tricky Group E, don’t hesitate to go with Jan Sommer (£2.0m). Likewise with Egypt’s even cheaper Essam El Hadary (£1.0m) in Group A. Neither of those defensive-minded teams finishing second would be a surprise. That said, third would not be out of the question, either. ~ DEFENDERS You’re generally looking for players here who can return clean sheets along with some offensive contributions. Of course, if you don’t want to blow your budget on an entire defense of premium studs, mixing in cheaper players who can do one or the other can work well. PREMIUM: I never think twice about paying up for players such as Brazil’s Marcelo (£4.5m) or Spain’s Jordi Alba (£4.0m) because they can usually be counted on to be complete two-way fantasy points machines. Germany’s Jonas Hector (£4.0) does not quite have the historical pedigree of the aforementioned pair, but he was brilliant in qualifying with two goals and four assists, so recent performance is on his side. However, Joshua Kimmich (£4.0) is an even better pick than his German teammate, as an out-of-position midfielder somewhat along the lines of Philipp Lahm in prior years; Kimmich scored twice and added a whopping 10 assists in qualifying for the high-scoring Germans! Naturally, he’s racked up plenty of highlights with Bayern Munich as well. MID-PRICED: Germany’s Mats Hummels (£3.5) plays for a top defense and always offers a chance at a set piece header goal. Spain’s Cesar Azpilicueta (£3.5) comes in slightly cheaper than Alba from the other wing back spot, though he may not get forward as much. We have all seen what England’s Kyle Walker (£3.5) can do from both ends with Manchester City and Tottenham before that, and England’s defense was superb in qualifying. Belgium’s Thomas Meunier (£3.0) will be expected to be group winners. Aleksandar Kolarov (£2.5) plays for a decent Serbian defense, but his value could easily come more on the offensive end, having netted twice with two helpers in qualifying. Nigeria looks to be a sexy pick to fare well, and Victor Moses (£2.5) could play to your advantage if he gets forward regularly as an attacking midfielder rather than merely raiding occasionally as a wing defender. BUDGET: Raphael Guerreiro (£2.0) loves bombing forward from the left with Borussia Dortmund, and he has delivered two goals with five assists across his 23 caps with Portugal, which boasts a tremendous defense.<doc-sep>Who’s excited?! I sure as heck-fire am, and I know that you are, too! The World Cup is always amazing, and World Cup fantasy is always brilliant fun along with it. Before getting started, let’s go over the vital information you will want to know regarding rules, scoring and strategy. Those of you who have played World Cup, Euro, FPL or similar fantasy portals may be familiar with most of this, but it’s always good to have a basic refresher to help you to pick the best team possible and decide which changes to make during the competition. If you’re new to World Cup fantasy, I promise that you will have fun! If you’re a grizzled veteran, welcome back! ~ WHAT ARE THE RULES? If you’d like to check out the complete rules and scoring, go straight to the FIFA source. I’ve tried to summarize them as best as possible below, while mixing in some strategic recommendations. TEAM SELECTION BREAKDOWN BY POSITION Each team has 15 players: 2 keepers, 5 defenders, 5 midfielders and 3 forwards. STARTING LINE-UP AND BENCH The team is divided into 11 starters (one of whom you may select as Captain to double his points) and 4 bench players. BUDGET The 15 players must fit into a total budget of €100 during the group stage. That expands to €105 when the Round of 16 knockout stage begins. Player pricing, value for price, and advancement prospects will determine how you will assemble your team. You will want to put most of the budget toward your 11 starters, but you will not want to be a complete cheapskate on your bench. The bench is where you will want to look for affordable starters (perhaps diamonds in the rough) who can earn you consolation points in the Group Stage, and possibly advance to the next round as well. The good thing about the budget increasing after the group stage is that you should theoretically be able to keep a strong 15 man roster, rather than feeling you have to kill your bench with cheap filler when the Round of 16 narrows selections to strong teams and their high-priced players. INDIVIDUAL PLAYER PRICING Players have variable prices depending on position and expected production. The prices are locked for the group stage, then may change up or down prior to the Round of 16 knockout stage. You will be very well-served if early on you lock down players whose teams advance and whose prices go up! Just like in real life, star forwards tend to cost more than big name midfielders, who then are more dear than stud defenders, who in turn are pricier than even the best keepers. That means that if you want a well-rounded squad, you may only be able to stock your team with one or two of the absolute best players at a given position, particularly at forward. Generally speaking, the key to success is finding value wherever you can, so don’t despair if you can’t fit the trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Lionel Messi into your side. You can’t always have everything in life... otherwise it would be too easy, right? ! MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PLAYERS PER TEAM In your 15-man roster, during the group stage, you may pick no more than three players from any single national team. As the number of teams decreases with each new stage, the limit ticks up, eventually reaching eight players from a single team for the final round. At the start, it’s a good idea to have two or three star players from each of the top teams whom you think will dominate their groups. However, those players tend to come with the highest price tags, so you may have to spread your investment and speculate a bit. You just don’t want to have an overload of players from the bottom teams who you don’t expect to advance. That would limit your capital gains and require you to blow up your team entering the Round of 16. There is always some gold to be mined from the smaller streams, but it is unlikely that too many players from bad teams will score well for you, especially those known for “parking the bus” against stronger foes. ~ TEAM MANAGEMENT FORMATION You may utilize any of the following formations: 5-3-2, 5-2-3, 5-4-1, 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-5-1, 3-5-2, or 3-4-3. Is your head dizzy yet? Relax, don’t worry about it, no need to put too much strategic thought into it, really. You might think that you will want to select the formation that is ideal for the strength of your team. For instance, if you have three great forwards, selecting a 5-2-3, 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 would seem to be optimal. However, your formation should actually vary depending on when your players actually play, as I elaborate here in the “Substitutions” section: SUBSTITUTIONS Following the games of the day but before a round is over, you may swap a bench player with a starter, and you may change your captain selection, as long as the original starter has not been sent off with a red card. You lose any points that the now-benched player had earned. A former captain’s points are undoubled. If you forget to make a move, don’t fret too much. If a player in your starting line-up does not play, a player from the bench who did play will be substituted in automatically. The players who come in from your bench will enter in the order that you have slotted them. That said, ideally you will want to stay on top of things and keep an eye to changing up your line-up as needed daily. The number of substitutions (internal swaps) you may make is unlimited (that is, it is limited to the one extra goalkeeper and the three extra field players you have on your bench). Captain changes are also unlimited. A good strategy is to front-load your starting XI with your players who have early games in the round, using whatever formation fits.<doc-sep>Are you fantasy football fans prepared for the World Cup? There are just three days to go until the greatest show on Earth kicks off and time is running out to enter your Dream Team World Cup side! Those of you who have already submitted your teams can now sit back, relax and wait for the opening game between Russia and Saudi Arabia this week. These are the top five most picked players in Dream Team World Cup so far, with one or two surprising omissions from the list. 1 Neymar – 47.9% selected PA:Press Association 6 Neymar is fit and raring to go in Russia The whole of Brazil breathed a sigh of relief when Neymar was declared fit for the World Cup this summer. The PSG man made a scoring return in Brazil’s friendlies before the tournament, netting against both Croatia and Austria. Almost half of you have selected Neymar for your Dream Team World Cup side this summer, making him the player who has been picked the most. If you haven’t already picked Neymar, he’s available for selection in Dream Team World Cup for a cool £7.5m. 2 Lionel Messi – 42.2% selected AP:Associated Press 6 Lionel Messi came so close to World Cup glory in 2014 Lionel Messi came within a whisker of becoming a World Cup winner in 2014, reaching the final with Argentina. The Barca man was on the losing side against Germany however and will hope to right some wrongs in Russia this summer. Over 40% of managers have backed Messi to do the business in their Dream Team World Cup side, compared to the 24% who have selected his old nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo. The diminutive No10 is the most expensive player in Dream Team World Cup and is available for £8m. 3 Philippe Coutinho – 38.9% selected AFP or licensors 6 Philippe Coutinho is tipped to have an impressive tournament Philippe Coutinho is expected to have a standout tournament for Brazil in Russia. Surrounded by a wealth of talent in, the former Liverpool man has the perfect setting to express his creative talents in Tite’s side. Coutino showed his goal-scoring touch in Brazil’s most recent friendly, netting in their 3-0 victory over Austria in Vienna. Barca’s record signing has been selected by almost 40% of managers and is available for a modest £5m in Dream Team World Cup. 4 Antoine Griezmann – 37.2% selected Getty - Contributor 6 Antoine Griezmann will look to guide France to World Cup glory Antoine Greizmann is one of the world’s most clinical finishers but boasts a distinct lack of major honours in his career so far. The French forward will be hoping to address his trophy drought by winning the most prestigious of them all, the World Cup. Greizmann formed an impressive attacking duo with Olivier Giroud at the Euros in 2016 and will hope to reignite that partnership this summer. The Atletico Madrid man can be snapped up for £6.5m in Dream Team World Cup and is guaranteed to get you points considering France’s favourable group. 5 Marcelo 35.9% selected AFP 6 Marcelo is expected to shine in Russia this summer Marcelo has seen his stock rapidly rise in recent years to the point where he is now considered as one of the best defenders in the world. The Real Madrid man has had another outstanding season and won yet another Champions League. Marcelo is joint with Gerard Pique as the most expensive defender in Dream Team World Cup at £4.5m. The marauding wing-back is guaranteed to rack up points for not only clean-sheets but also assists and even goals in Russia. How does World Cup fantasy football work? If you’re already a Dream Team fan you’ll recognise the setup.<doc-sep>
World Cup 2018 fantasy football: Who are best strikers to pick? Goal helps you pick your attack for the tournament by taking a look at the best options, plus a few bargain picks Picking the ideal World Cup fantasy football team is not an easy task and requires plenty of thought. Strikers are probably the most important players in fantasy football and that is reflected in their higher overall prices. It is crucial to choose the right players if you want to stand a chance. There are all sorts of strikers present in the modern game: goal-hangers, bruising target men, deep-lying forwards, false nines and more. Article continues below With World Cup fantasy football games into the knockout stage, Goal is here to help you choose the sharp-shooters for your team. Best World Cup fantasy football strikers When trying to figure out which strikers to choose in fantasy football there are a number of important factors to consider, such as the following: Goals Assists Starting status Discipline Obviously, as in real life, the main thing you want your fantasy football strikers to do is score goals and plenty of them. After that, their ability to supply team-mates with assists is crucial. As well as that, you want to pick players who have a good chance of starting every game and, ideally, for a team that will reach the knock-out stages. Below, we run through some of the best possible picks for World Cup fantasy football. *Note - prices based on FIFA's official game Neymar | Brazil | €12m Brazil's chances of winning the World Cup have been given a major boost following the return to full fitness of Neymar and the PSG man has been slowly improving as the tournament progresses. He will be hoping to challenge for the Golden Boot, but has some ground to make up. Harry Kane | England | €11.2m In Harry Kane, England possess one of the best strikers in the world and the Tottenham star has stormed into a lead in the race for the Golden Boot. Gareth Southgate handed Kane the captain's armband ahead of the tournament and he has thrived in the role. Romelu Lukaku | Belgium | €10.1m x Kylian Mbappe | France | €9m While France have started slowly as a team in the World Cup, Kylian Mbappe has been on another level individually. The PSG forward became the first player born after the 1998 World Cup to score in the tournament and showed his class in Les Bleus' last 16 win over Argentina. Luis Suarez | Uruguay | €10.5m Uruguay are considered among a number of tournament 'dark horses' and one of their key players is Luis Suarez, who is one of the best strikers in the world today. The Barcelona man has found the net at two previous tournaments and 2018 could potentially be his last, so he will be champing at the bit to add a few more strikes to his tally. Antoine Griezmann | France | €10m France are among the favourites to win the World Cup and much of that hinges upon the ability of Antoine Griezmann, who has emerged as Les Bleus' star man in the past few seasons. The Atletico Madrid man has forged a deep understanding in attack with the likes of Olivier Giroud, something that propelled them to the final of Euro 2016. Eden Hazard | Belgium | €10.1m Chelsea star Eden Hazard is one of Belgium's chief goal threats and he bagged six goals in qualification as the Red Devils cruise through their group. The captain plays just behind Romelu Lukaku and, as well as being a goal-threat himself, he also has a knack of setting up his team-mates, supplying five assists en route to Russia. Best World Cup fantasy football bargain strikers Arguably the main component of fantasy football success is making your budget stretch as far as possible, which means picking up the odd bargain here and there. Below is a selection of forwards who are somewhat cheaper to buy, but who still offer gamers a strong chance of picking up points. Marcus Berg | Sweden | €8m The retirement of Zlatan Ibrahimovic allowed Marcus Berg to cement his place as Sweden's top goal threat and the experienced striker finished the qualification phase with eight goals to his name. Sweden topped a group containing Mexico, South Korea and Germany, and they have a good chance of progressing in the knockout round, where Berg's physicality could prove crucial.