The season like no other is finally at its end point, and the time period since my wild card in GW30 has seen me decline into a position where I can only hope to get back in the top 500k.
If I’d have been offered that as I sat at 1m+ at gameweek 16, I’d have probably taken it, but I still feel disappointed with how the season has gone, and the last few weeks have seen more and more gambles to try and catch back up my OR, and they’ve not paid off (Nat Phillips aside).
With this in mind, I’ve gone back to the “safe” plan which I was always hoping to end the season with, and targeting Sheffield United.
I’d planned for a revolving third striker with the plan to have DCL (gw36) -> Callum Wilson (gw37) -> Chris Wood (gw38) with them all taking on the worst team in the league - Sheffield United. The plan backfired with a disappointing return for Calvert-Lewin, and Callum Wilson bring injured, but as people search for the ultimate hail-Mary in a last attempt to climb their mini-leagues and the like, I intend to play it safe and get Wood (snigger snigger).
Trying to juggle your line-up on the last day, is always tricky. There’s bound to be rotation everywhere. I already know Ilkay Meslier will be missing, but I’m comfortable going into the GW without a keeper, as there’s usually goals in the games, last season there were only 3 clean sheets on the final day (Man City Vs Norwich, Man Utd vs Leicester and Chelsea vs Wolves) and looking at the fixtures, I’m struggling to see where one could come from today, and so I don’t want to take a hit to bring a keeper in.
Bruno Fernandes is also a big risk, with United playing again on Wednesday in the Europa League final. Will Solksjaer rest his star man and make sure he’s fresh and ready for their biggest game of the season? You’d think he would, but again I don’t want to take a hit to get rid of the best player in the game this season. I’ll happily have Ward-Prowse come off the bench if necessary.
One thing I will be doing though is keeping an eye out for early team leaks. If it’s confirmed any of my starting 11 (aside from Meslier) won’t feature ahead of the deadline then I might make a last minute transfer, but as it stands, I’d like to avoid taking any hits as I think there could be lots of people chasing glory that do take hits, but with only one game to make up that deficit it seems a risky strategy to me.
I’ll be back at some point next week with a review of the season, but for now I’d like to thank everyone who’s read the blog, reached out on social media, taken part on the cup competition etc. It’s been a crazy season, but we’ve made it through!