One of the fastest growing fantasy games is the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) - a season-long version of fantasy soccer for the English Premier League (EPL). With millions of players each year, the FPL game is becoming a fixture for soccer enthusiasts across the globe.

Having played the game for the last twelve seasons and largely languished in mediocrity (apart from a top 30K finish in 2009/10), I was ready to finally put my largely wasted knowledge of football statistics to use and strive to become one of the game's elite players. Last season, I finished around the 250K mark and in the process won my family league - but that is not enough for me.

Tired of wasting my time with meaningless, emotion-fueled transfers, I have decided to make a concerted effort to not only destroy my fantasy league this year, but improve on last year's finish and - hopefully - have a good amount of fun in the process. Thanks for joining me on my journey through EPL's Fantasy Premier League. I hope you enjoy the embarrassment that is about to unfold and, just maybe, pick up a piece of advice from a self-described non-expert on the game.

EPL Diaries - Fantasy Premier League

The Squad:

GK: Joe Hart (4.5M), Maarten Stekelenburg (4M)
DF: Marcos Alonso (6.6M), Benjamin Mendy (6.2M), Andrew Robertson (6M), Aymeric Laporte (5.5M), Ryan Bennett (4M)
MF: Eden Hazard (10.5M), Sadio Mane (9.8M), Christian Eriksen (9.5M), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (7.1M), Richarlison (6.8M)
FW: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (11M) , Aboubakar Kamara (4.5M), Isaac Success (4.5M)

Analysis:

Go ahead. Laugh. Yes, I played my wildcard after two subpar performances from my team. Yes, my actions epitomize the name "Kneejerk United," as I failed to give the team that I had "logically" assembled and toiled over in the weeks leading up to the start of the season a chance. But, being ranked at the 2.4 million mark will do certain things to a man - namely, question every decision that got him to this point. So let's look at how my team did last week, and why I have decided to play my wildcard so early in the season.

Finishing last week with 55 points, I was left dissatisfied at another underwhelming performance. Benjamin Mendy was once again the hero of my defense, as his two (it should have been three!) assists demonstrate just how valuable of an option he will be for City as well as fantasy teams. However, with three combined points from the rest of my defense and goalkeeper (Rui Patricio, longtime fantasy servant Ben Mee, and Connor Coady), I decided it was time for a change at the back.

In the midfield, Mkhitaryan (could've had another goal, mind you) had a solid twelve point outing that was boosted by my captain, Mohamed Salah, and his eighteen points. However, the injury to De Bruyne and my decision to transfer him in too early last week cost me, as I had to play Dale Stephens, the only man in Brighton's team who could possibly not contribute to their stunning victory over Manchester United. Finally, Eriksen, although he played a great game, didn't deliver on the stats sheet and finished with a measly two points.

At least my Balkan forward Aleksandar Mitrovic was able to put the ball in the back of the net. That is more than Aubameyang and Chris Wood, my two other options, can say. All in all, my team's effort was subpar and enough to make me seriously consider swapping out every last one of them for a new lineup.

At the end of the day, that is not what I did. Rather, I am attempting to get ahead of the curve by stockpiling several high-ownership options across the pitch and banking on the performance of the top teams in the EPL this season. By performing my wildcard late Sunday night, I was able to capture significant value of price movements so that my team, all of a sudden, is worth 100.5M rather than less than 100M that it would have been. This could come in handy down the line if I need to make further upgrades. The drawback of my new approach is that I had to let go of Mohamed Salah, the highest-owned player in the game. His 13M price tag was too much to justify keeping him, even if he has a season just like last year. Try and tinker as I might, I couldn't find a way to include him in my lineup without losing even more premium options across the team. So, let's take a look at who I brought in and why I have decided to do so.

Despite Burnley's defensive frailties, I believe in their playing style enough to invest my budget goalkeeping option into Joe Hart, who is the starting goalkeeper for now. If he ever gets replaced, I will move on to another 4.5M option. Although it was too much for me to keep Ben Mee and have two Burnley options in the back, I still have faith in the team and Hart to put together a decent season with several clean sheets.

Keeping Mendy from my original team, I have augmented my defense with premium wingback options Marcos Alonso and Andrew Robertson. Although I definitely expect some regression from their first two weeks, both options play on top-quality teams and are constantly finding ways to get involved with scoring opportunities, making them nailed-in starters and must-have options despite their premium prices. As my fourth defender, I could have gone with a fullback from a lesser team, but I decided to ride the Man City hype train and bring in Aymeric Laporte. Although he will certainly go through some rotation this season, he seems like the best budget option on a defense that is loaded with clean sheet potential. I mean, Man City didn't pay 57M to see him ride the bench - at least that's what I am banking on, Pep you rotational snake. Finally, 4M Ryan Bennett looks to be a locked-in starter who should improve as Wolves settle in the league and who can come in should any of my starters not play.

The strategy that worked for me last year was capitalizing on premium midfielders who over-performed (Salah, Sterling, Hazard, Eriksen, and Mkhitaryan was my actual for much of the back half of last year). Unfortunately, price inflation at the position has made it difficult to keep all of the top options. Nevertheless, I still have Hazard, Eriksen, and Mkhitaryan in my team, as I believe that they can continue to play well this year and provide similar returns that justify their prices. To augment them in my lineups, I have added Sadio Mane and Richarlison. If Richarlison does the same thing he did last year (start strong, then fade away), I can swap him out for another breakout player. With Mane, I have decided to take a gamble and hope that he outperforms the Egyptian King this year. If he does, I will reap the rewards, and if not, I believe that the Senegalese winger will be involved with the offense enough to where he still gets plenty of points. Furthermore, my midfield can match Salah's expected points total and hopefully out-play it, justifying my decision to leave him out of the team.

The real risk in my strategy is up top, where I only have one premium option. I could have brought in Aguero, and I may do that in a few weeks if my striker still doesn't perform, but I still believe in Aubameyang to produce this year. He had the chances last week against Chelsea, he just needs to start converting them. His track record indicates that he will, and a Golden Boot contender as my main striker is good enough for me to choose him over a rotational risk like Sergio Aguero. Aguero has much less of a chance of reaching 30 goals this year, due to a variety of factors. I believe that that is a milestone that Aubameyang can reach - if so, I am in for a good season with him up top. My two bench forwards are Kamara and Success, rotational options for their sides who should chip in with a few goals this season and who should definitely be considered budget forwards, emphasizing the word budget.

So, what do you think of my new team? I know that changing so early in this marathon is not conventional and often laughed at, but I am justifying it all to myself with the mantra that it's better to abandon ship early on than continue to watch it sink and do nothing about it.

That's all for this week - good luck gents!