Verona Beach

“Go wisely and slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall.”

The TV appears on the TV, slowly increasing in size leading to the opening scenes of Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet which are in disparity to the original 16th-century theatre experience. The film is an overload of images which sets the scene for the viewer and your brain is in recoil trying to segment an age-old classic tale of tragedy against the back drop of 20^th century settings and strife.

The methodology of Luhrmann in establishing the location of the film with high temp visuals which reels in the viewer is a juxtaposition when one considers that Shakespearean drama was written to be heard as an auditory experience. Shakespeare's audience referred to going to hear a play rather than see it, emphasizing that the Elizabethan theater was an aural rather than visual experience.

Shakespeare's “5 Act” structure commenced with the prologue which helped to set the scene for the audience, Luhrmann presents the Prologue as a news bulletin that gives the events a feeling of immediacy — the urgency of an on-the-spot news report.

"Two households both alike in dignity in fair Verona, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star crossed lovers take their life, whose misadventured piteous overthrows doth with their death, Bury their parents strife. The fearful passage of their death marked love, and the continuance of their parents rage, which but their children's end not could remove, is now the two hours traffic of our stage."

Regarded as one of the most significant and widely read playwrights, Shakespeare has skillfully explored diverse themes such as loyalty, the dichotomy of love and hate, violence, greed, and insanity in his tragedies. "Romeo and Juliet" is perhaps Shakespeare's most significant contribution with various themes. 

Romeo and Juliet can teach us life & FPL lessons as well. The first lesson is: Don't make rash decisions. The second lesson is: Think through decisions. The third lesson is: Infatuation with a bandwagon can cause squad upheaval or inversely love is blind.

“For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” For the period GW 26 -28 never was a story of more woe than FplRogue and his Vardy.

Before I divulge further on Shakespeare and FPL, first the regular;

Rearview Mirror

For FPL Rogue the “Totally Stochastic” Strategy outlined in Da Vinci cannot be blamed for my demise over that 3 week period 26-28. After finishing GW24 on 54,536 I experienced 2 consecutive red arrows in GW26 & GW27 dropping to 93,283 and 127,007 respectively. A culmination of wrong captain picks Salah (6 pts) v KDB (14 pts) and 2 defenders on the bench with 12 pts in total versus 2 playing defenders with 3 pts in total.

⚽ Moneybags ⚽

Mané’s injury left me with loads of money (Is that lorry loads? as a former teacher would ask when we used the word loads in class) but my squad was decent and I could see very few options available to spend all that dosh.  Where should I spend all of this cash? In my forward line, shore up the back, strengthen midfield? Do nothing?

⚽ Baby Blues ⚽

Vardy blanking was not helping either and although his from slumped the fixture list always looked in his favour. With 10 Mids and 15 Defs above 5.0 in the Form metric on the official Fantasy Football site but yet only 4 FWDs above 5.0 left very few options in that area. Jota, Auba, DCL, & Deeney with 6.7%, 22.5%, 15.7% and 1.9% respectively were not exactly increasing confidence with the recent hot form of DCL perhaps the only exception, so “stick” was the decision and after his return to form versus Villa I am glad the above factors worked to my advantage.

While brainstorming for this post a link between DCL and LDC (Leonardo Di Caprio) came to mind but I must credit @FplUncorked for a vey good joke he shared. Thanks Cian for the laughs.

⚽ Terminal Velocity ⚽

At one point in GW28 my OR was plummeting (circa. 141k) like the homemade parachute from Da Vinci but I held my nerve and tried not to panic. There was enough panic in the air globally for other reasons. I bounced back slightly at the end of GW28 ending up at 114,107 and at the time of writing with the end of GW29 I have ended up on 54,599.

Strategies

As mentioned earlier Shakespeare's deployed a Five Act Structure. When you read a Shakespeare play you'll probably notice that it's divided into acts and scenes – and always has a five act structure. The number of scenes in each act vary but there are always be five acts, no exceptions. Reflecting on my recent FPL Seasons I can also break my season down to 5 Acts as follows:

• Out of the traps (GW 1-7)
• The opening spring where your well laid plans fall apart or provide a solid base for moving on up.

• Wildcard injection (GW 8-15)
• After the first international break is out of the way and you have had a chance to review the form players and new season “gems”

• Pre festive & Xmas mania (GW16-23)
• Mounting games where your squad picks come into play.

• Rotation (GW 24-30)
• Rotation of squad, to counter the hectic Xmas season and start of the European & Domestic Cup competitions

• Chip Strategy (GW 31 – 38)
• If you have managed to keep hold of 75% of your chips then the BGWs and DGWs can be navigated with aplomb.

⚽ Act Four ⚽

Last year I got caught up in the “Chip Strategy Hysteria” and if I am honest with myself possibly over-thought the sequence of plays involved. I’m a firm believer that you can half your OR in this closing period but last year I went from circa. 15k in GW28 to circa. 60k in GW38 culminating in 8 red arrows out of the last 10 weeks. I do not intend to repeat that performance again this year.

In order to get to the final Act Five with my FH, WC and BB intact I am more than likely navigating GW31 with my current squad and FT’s with possibly a hit to field 10 players for GW31. Whether I “Dead End” my team in GW31 in order to use my WC in GW32 or use pre and post GW31 to play my FH in GW34 and hold my WC for 35 or 36 will largely depend on the unfolding events as a result of COVID-19.

Let’s just hope that ACT 4 and Five for FplRogue are not a “catastrophe” as categorized by Aelius Donatus in the chart above. And can Vardy be my Mercutio in getting the final party started?

Did you know?

The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613. ( I highly recommend visiting the Globe if you are in London)

William Shakespeare's play Macbeth is said to be cursed, so actors avoid saying its name when in the theatre (the euphemism "The Scottish Play" is used instead). ... If an actor speaks the name "Macbeth" in a theatre prior to one of the performances, they are required to perform a ritual to remove the curse.

⚽ Biochips Predictions ⚽

I add a section each month and ask 3 guest FPL players on Twitter to represent Rogue’s 3 Biochips i.e. Gunner, Bagman & Helm to provide their predictions for the following categories:

•          Monthly Maestro (Top Scorer over calendar month/specific period)
•          Cech Mate (Top Keeper)
•          Bandwagon (Next Pukki)
•          Tom Daly (Biggest flop)

First a recap of the results from our February Biochips predictions & thank you to all 3 for contributing @FPLdrunk , @arogantni_ and @FplFrenzy

February
Prediction	FPL Player	Score (Adjusted)	Month
Monthly Maestro	@arogantni	18 Pts	Feb
Cech Mate	@arogantni	11 Pts	Feb
Bandwagon	@FPLdrunk @FplFrenzy	415.784 Net Transfers	Feb
Tom Daly	@FplFrenzy	1 Pts	Feb

So, our first addition to the Leaderboard in 2020 and @FplFrenzy joins @RenegadesFpl for the Tom Daly category.

Leaderboard
Prediction	FPL Player	Score (Normalised)	Month
Monthly Maestro	@FPL_RubberDucky	27 Pts	Nov
Cech Mate	@Oldirish007 @DhillionAjit @FPL_RubberDucky	16 Pts	Nov
Bandwagon	@FChieftan	1,856,499 Net Transfers	Sept
Tom Daly	@RenegadesFpl '@FplFrenzy	1 Pts	Dec & Feb

So, for the March period (GW30-GW32) we have representation from @DSexton_11, @FPL_ROSSIE and @1tommoriarty with their own deliberations.

BioChip	FPL Player	Monthly Maestro	Cech Mate	Bandwagon	Tom Daly
Gunner	@DSexton_11	Jiménez	Patrício	Jota	Alonso
Bagman	@FPL_ROSSIE	Jiménez	Foster	Sarr	Ali
Helm	@1tommoriarty	Salah	Patrício	Doherty	Guilbert

A particular point of focus for @DSexton_11 with 3 out of his 4 picks coming from the team grafting out the results of late starting with Jiménez as his Monthly Maestro. “Considering 12 teams miss GW31 my focus is on 3 teams with 3 decent fixtures. Bournemouth, Liverpool & in particular in form Wolves BHA (H) WHU (A) BOU (H) AVL (A). Raúl Jiménez is the team’s penalty taker & main source of goals, he has 21 shots inside the box in his last 4 GWs (2nd highest, 1 shot behind DCL) & looks set to be the catalyst in Wolves push for a champions league spot.” The blanks in 31 is definitely on the minds of our predictors this month. And based on the FPL mantra for @FPL_ROSSIE then it’s no surprise that he follows suit with his choice. “I'm very much a fixtures over form player so for my highest scorer I'm going Raul Jimenez, possibly 3 nice fixtures West Ham (A), Bournemouth (H) and Villa (A), not easy but I would expect him to score a few”. But our third volunteer @1tommoriarty goes against the grain in this category. “Liverpool are so close to the title now they can taste it and if City, who have their eye only on the Champion’s league, lose to Arsenal on Wednesday then Liverpool could win it where they would like to most outside of Anfield, at Goodison against a currently abject Everton where all is not going well. That Everton game is followed by Palace at home (parade the trophy around Anfield) and away at City, who they would love to humiliate. My Maestro comes down to a Liverpool player. Step up Mo Salah, recovering some form with 5 goals in the last 6 and a man who will be anxious to chase the boot and make his mark in this momentous season”.

Similar pattern for Cech Mate, with 2 from the 3 going for the same pick i.e. Patrício, starting with @DSexton_11 “While Patrício who plays in a system with 3 CBs looks set to benefit defensively from the same fixtures”.  This time @FPL_ROSSIE is the odd one out “Goalkeeper I'm going Ben Foster, I think Watford are on an upward curve again. Thought they were unlucky against Palace the weekend and again they have some nice decent fixtures (H) to Leciester (A) Burnley and home to Southampton, I think he can keep a few clean sheets.” @1tommoriarty is caught in two minds but opts for the Wolves stopper based on the fixtures. “Across GWs 30-32 It has to be a keeper with a fixture in all 3 weeks and also playing for a team with something to play for, not already laying out the beach towels. If Allison was assured fitness and a return to the team he would be a shoe in but as he is doubtful I will pitch between Pope and Patricio. Pope is away to City in 30 then home and away to Watford and Palace respectively. Patricio still has an eye on European qualification and a lovely run of toothless West Ham away, Cherries at home and Villa away. On balance I go for Patricio with more to play for, a nicer run of fixtures and a much improved defence since Boly’s return from injury and 4 clean sheets in the last 5.”

Is @DSexton_11 a closet Wolves fan? For the Bandwagon our man from the Kingdom County opts for Jota. “In form Diogo Jota at 1.7 cheaper is also an option for the budget conscious as well as those doubling up. Callum Wilson is my differential punt as he is posting some decent stats & considering Bournemouth are in a relegation battle, the next few fixtures are sink or swim!”

At this time of year those teams in the relegation zone or close to it can produce some bargains and that’s where @FPL_ROSSIE focused his attention for this category.  “Regarding the Wandwagon I think Sarr will continue to attract players particularly because Watford have a game in 31”. Trends happen in 3 right? Third category to have 2 predictors opting for Wolves assets with @1tommoriarty choosing the man that many have difficulty pronouncing. “Matt Doherty is showing a return to the form he was in last season from both an attacking and a defensive perspective with Wolves tightening up at the back and him being given a free role to roam down the right wing. Wolves are still very much chasing the Champion’s League slots and have three decent fixtures over the next three weeks. As they have a nice fixture in 31 at home to Bournemouth and again in 32 away to Villa and most people will already be stocked up on 3 Liverpool players I can see the masses flocking to the Dubliner over the next couple of weeks”.

Finally, the fun pick breaks the mould on the Wolves love-in by our 3 volunteers, with 2 opting for blank players!!! No fret @FPL_ROSSIE as the sole purpose of these categories is to provide readers with insights to winners and losers in FPL to help with their team picks. Therefore, we will be averaging the points earned over 3 games.

@DSexton_11 makes a bold pick as Marcos Alonso appears to making waves for Chelsea at present “While Alonso looks dynamite bombing up the left wing, one fears it is only a matter of time before Lampard drops the Spaniard who he clearly does not see as his long term number 1 full back”

No holding back from @FPL_ROSSIE on Spurs, Jose and their assets here. “Sound I'll still with Dele Ali as I don't fancy Spurs under Jose and I feel Ali had great potential but has gone backwards”. Swapping one team with another might be hasty at this early stage but @1tommoriarty makes some solid points here “Aston Villa are in serious trouble and they have a couple of very tough fixtures ahead against Leicester, Chelsea, Wolves, Liverpool and Man United. Confidence seems to be shot and 3 losses in a row makes me think my Leeds will be replacing them in the Premiership next season. A man who attracts a few yellow cards is Frédéric Guilbert so he is my nomination for Nul Points this time around.”

⚽ Next Update ⚽

Back prior to the April GW’s of 33,34 and 35 so until then enjoy the FPL madness, interact with the Community and remember rule no.1 “Play your own game”.

#RogueAgainstTheMachine @FplRogue

Credits: WIliam Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare in Love, @FplUncorked, @FPLdrunk, @arogantni_ , @FplFrenzy , @DSexton_11, @FPL_ROSSIE and @1tommoriarty