Written by member Big B 1970
I always love the reset in the AG Fantasy League, everyone starting on a level playing field and with the chance to mould a brand new squad into the team you want them to be. It didn't really matter a great deal which squad you ended up with in the sense that they all averaged out at the same rating, so it was more a case of trying to find players that suit the way you want to play. I had a shortlist of a few clubs I liked, but didn't particularly want to pay the full 30m million for any of them. A lot of people got in early and slapped big bids on franchises they fancied so I avoided them and stuck 25m on Bastia. There were no other bidders so its off to sunny Corsica to begin the squad building journey with 5m scudo in the bank.
Sporting Club Bastia play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football, and are from Bastia on the northeastern coast of the Mediterranean island of Corsica. They've been going 120 years and their greatest claims to fame are reaching the UEFA Cup final in 1978 and winning the Coupe de France in 1981. Bastia play at the 16,000 capacity Stade Armand-Cesari, and the Blues have had a few famous names play for them over the years, such as Johnny Rep, Roger Milla, Michael Essien and Alex Song.
Looking at my squad, I just about have the players that fit the 4-3-3 style I've enjoyed playing in the last couple of seasons. The defense looks pretty solid with Derick Poloni and Bohnert as fullbacks, and Guidi as a centre back. I'll probably move my wonderkid Acheampong into the middle as the other CB, and and I'm hopeful he'll have some upgrades the more games he plays for Chelsea. My two highest rated players Ducrocq and Huseinbasic fill the defensive midfield positions but the main position I desperately need to fill is at CAM. The attack will be led by Fuseini, which might surprise a few people as he's only 5'7", not my usual kind of forward, but he's very nippy so I hope he'll get in behind a few defenses. My back-up striker at the moment is my other wonderkid, Chido Obi, currenty of Manchester United, so fingers crossed he gets some first team appearances and the upgrades that would follow.
My aim for the season as usual is firstly to stay up, and then try and push for the play-offs. Its very hard to predict how the division will pan out, as we're staring with players of ratings lower than we ever have, so it'll all be depending on how quickly people adapt. Hopefully its going to be a fun season!