Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead is the author of ‘The Great and The Good’ series, which takes a look at the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) transfers and strategies of some noted managers.
One of those Fantasy bosses is arguably the best on the planet: Fábio Borges.
Fábio is top of our Career Hall of Fame and is on course for a sixth successive top 2k finish, currently sitting at 865th in the world and with a Free Hit still left to burn.
Greyhead caught up with the elusive Fábio in the last few days for a special Q&A on his FPL strategy.
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can’t hit what the eyes can’t see.”
The Greatest? I’ll let others argue over that one, but there is no doubt that Fábio Borges is quite good at this FPL lark.
He is no.1 in the Fantasy Football Scout Career Hall of Fame, has finished in the top 2,000 for the last five consecutive years, has never ended a season outside of the top 20,000, came 95th in 2018/19 and currently has another triple-digit rank this campaign.
All this and he is a member, in fact, the reigning champion, of The Great and The Good, my made-up mini-league of some of the more prominent FPL managers.
You can probably tell I’m a fan, and so having gazed admiringly from afar penning my FPL love letters through my weekly articles I was delighted when, through a mutual acquaintance, I was able to get in touch and he agreed to answer some of my burning questions (Pras and SonaldoTM)
So, let’s get to it…
Has your management style changed over the last few seasons?
Fábio: To be honest, I don’t think it has changed much over the years. I don’t consider myself either a conservative or an aggressive manager since I think it is very important to adapt to the circumstances.
Of course, this season was a bit different than any other given the number of cancellations and Double Gameweeks, which forced me to take more hits and play a bit more aggressively than in previous seasons.
Again, I think being able to adapt to the circumstances is one of the most important skills in FPL.
Comments: Fábio has taken nine hits this season, compared to four in 2019/20, but the point about adaptability being the key skill rings true and rather than considering ourselves maverick or conservative, perhaps we should all strive to be better situational managers.
You had a slow start this season, up to about Gameweek 11/12. How do you manage such a situation, did you ever have doubts about your approach?
Fábio: Yes, of course, I am not immune to bad runs, and I probably complain a bit too much about it with some of my friends and it is something I am trying to improve on.
It is hard not to be upset when your goalkeeper loses a clean sheet at the last minute but, nowadays, whenever things don’t go my way, I just log out for a couple of days and try to forget about FPL.
Then, when I feel motivated again, I start preparing for the next Gameweek and try to make the best decisions I can possibly make with the information I have available at the time.
Comments: It’s refreshing to see that even one of the best managers gets frustrated over a captaincy blank or clean sheet wipe-out. A lesson to us all that taking time away can be the best approach.
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