Build your own dream team

Football is arguably the biggest sport in the world. It can unite people who are on the same bandwagon with a sense of shared identity, or it can destroy friendships based on apparent club rivalry that in all honesty does not make much sense from thousands of miles away yet it certainly spices things up.

We have all spent countless hours during our school recesses debating about which players deserve their spot in our best XI, and scrawled away our own dream teams in our notebooks during the boring lectures. Like every other medium of entertainment, those scribbles on a crumpled piece of paper are now fully-blown online fantasy leagues. Currently, it is one of the most popular recreational hobbies of sports fans around the world.

Fantasy leagues enable you to build your own team limited by a budget and manage the players every gameweek. The actual league results earn you points on different variables such as goals, assists, clean sheets, penalties saved, etc. by the players in your team. Out of all the fantasy leagues, the official Fantasy Premier League is likely the most popular one due to its well fleshed-out detail and user-friendly interface.

There is a plethora of reasons to try out fantasy football league if you haven't yet. Following are some hopefully compelling points.

GET MORE INVESTED IN THE LEAGUE

Have you ever thought of biting your nails in anxiety or rejoicing triumphantly over a Huddersfield vs. Cardiff City match? Well, you will now. Fantasy leagues completely indulge you in the world of football. Suddenly even matches and updates on minnows become significant as well, making every match super interesting to watch. At the end of the day, watching football is simply a lot more fun when you have something to root for, which will never be a problem if you are in a fantasy football league.

CONNECT WITH YOUR FRIENDS

Fantasy football is a great way to stay in touch with your friends. You can create your own leagues and head-to-head tournaments with your friends and have a fun competition revolving around your shared love for the game. Furthermore, the draft mode in Fantasy Premier League even lets you passively trade players among yourselves. So, you not only stay in close contact with the people who share the same passion but also get to enjoy (or endure) the inevitable bragging rights that come along with it.

LEARN TO THINK TACTICALLY

Managing your team for 38 gameweeks mean you have to constantly make tactical decisions regarding whom to play, whom to captain, and whom to transfer in or out. You start to think like a manager and the more you play the better decisions you can take. You learn to analyse historical date, current forms, influence on the team and more. So, this is a great tool to hone your tactical skills

EARN PRIZES AND REWARDS

Besides the official Premier League, a lot of companies and Facebook entities are now sponsoring fantasy leagues and offering exciting rewards or official merch as prizes. Fantasy Football Players of Bangladesh (FFPB) is currently the largest group which regularly creates interesting tournaments and offers great prizes to the ultimate winners. So, it is totally worth giving a shot.

However, fantasy football leagues can be very addictive. If you think you get too obsessed with things, then it might not be the best idea.

Fantasy leagues create a sense of community knitted by the sheer love for football. If you are a football fan but still have not jumped on the fantasy bandwagon, you should definitely try it out.

Nafis Imtiaz Onish believes grinning is the answer to everything and avidly loves art, astronomy & all things nerdy. Send him Carl Sagan fan art at nafisimtiaz17@gmail.com