The Premier League season is five weeks old, and we’ve started to get a feel for who has started the campaign well and who has yet to get going.
While there’s still plenty of time for bottom three Newcastle, Sunderland and Stoke to get their season up and running, some fantasy league managers don’t have the same luxury.
If you start slowly then it’s tough to recover, and plenty of us have already gambled on the wildcard option after apparent dead certs have struggled in the opening weeks.
We’ve picked out a few of the players who fantasy league managers up and down the country are cursing and shaking their fists at.
Eden Hazard
The first name on many a teamsheet, Hazard top-scored in last season’s game and showed no indications that he’d fail to keep that run going.
Chelsea’s attacking game was more or less built around the Belgian last season and not much has changed in terms of personnel, but the entire team has started slowly and this has filtered through to Hazard himself.
A total of 12 points for the season is not as poor as some, but it seems like a bit of a let-down for someone who has set such high standards for himself.
John Terry
With Chelsea sitting just outside the bottom three, it is unsurprising that more than one of their bigger names finds his way onto this list.
Terry is somehow on a negative points total five games in, with his red card against West Brom – coupled with the club’s lack of clean sheets – affecting his progress.
Last season’s solidity makes this year’s defensive struggles even more surprising: Chelsea’s 12 goals conceded, as well as being the worst record in the league this season, matches the total number shipped by the Blues in the final 15 games of the 2014/15 campaign.
Harry Kane
After a breakthrough season, there were always going to be question marks as to whether Harry Kane would prove to be a flash in the pan.
The England striker has not been especially poor this season – indeed he took his goal against Switzerland brilliantly – but a return of no league goals is all that will matter if you’ve put your faith in him.
Sometimes it's hard to let go of your fantasy league captain. #FPL pic.twitter.com/kNwQbc3Ddg
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) August 29, 2015
Aleksandar Mitrovic
We all make that bold pick at the start of the season. An unknown quantity who has the potential to catch fire in his first Premier League campaign and leave you bragging to your mates about your foresight.
Just don’t try to get too cocky too early, or you’ll open yourself up to mockery when he gets booked 22 seconds into his debut and sent off in the opening 20 minutes of another game.
He’s been great to watch, but you don’t get fantasy league points for car-crash entertainment.
2/1 – Aleksandar Mitrovic has now been given a red card and two yellow cards in his first four Premier League appearances. Mist.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 29, 2015
Carl Jenkinson
Many of us rejoiced when West Ham confirmed Jenkinson’s return to Upton Park on loan.
The Arsenal man had spent a great year at Upton Park, showing defensive solidity and also getting forward well to contribute to attacks.
It’s been a different story this season, with ‘Jenks’ putting in a contender for worst performance of the season against Bournemouth and playing a total of 48 minutes in the Hammers’ three wins to nil. Even a surreal stint in goal wasn’t enough to keep him out of our selection.
