WSL Gameweek 1 Review: 85 Points and a Perfect Captain

Well. That went rather better than expected.

Gameweek 1 is officially done, and LJ & the Gang have somehow started the season with 85 points. That was 27 points above the average of 58, good enough for a top 6% overall rank and a much nicer start than I was expecting after spending the entire build-up convincing myself that at least three of my decisions were probably terrible.

As it turns out, some of those decisions were actually quite good. Lauren James delivered with the captain's armband, a couple of my slightly less obvious picks turned up in a big way and, perhaps most importantly, I managed to make a substitution at exactly the right time.

There were still a few disappointments, because apparently Fantasy Football cannot simply allow me to have a peaceful weekend, but for a first matchweek, I'm very happy with how things went.

A very decent start.

Before we get into the individual players, let's just enjoy the numbers for a moment.

85 points. An average of 58. An overall rank of 1,556, putting me in the top 6% after the opening matchweek.

Now, I'm fully aware that it is Gameweek 1 and there are approximately a million matchweeks still to come. I'm not ordering a trophy cabinet or printing my rank on a T-shirt just yet.

But I am absolutely going to enjoy it.

After all the tinkering before the season started, seeing the team actually come together like this was a very nice surprise. Especially because there were a couple of decisions that could have gone very differently.

Lauren James. Obviously.

Let's start with the important bit.

Lauren James scored 13 points against Aston Villa, thanks to a goal, bonus points and a strong all-round performance. With the captain's armband, those 13 points became 26 points.

Which means, yes, I am very pleased with myself.

James wasn't actually the highest-scoring player in Gameweek 1, but I'm not about to start pretending the captaincy decision didn't go brilliantly. Only seven players across the game scored more than her 13 points, and two of those players were already in my team anyway.

Endemann scored 14. Gaupset scored 14. Both finished just one point ahead of James before the captaincy doubled her score. There were bigger individual hauls elsewhere, of course, but getting 26 points from my captain in Gameweek 1 is not something I'm going to complain about.

And, more importantly, I picked Lauren James because I wanted Lauren James as my captain.

Sometimes the biased decision is also a pretty good Fantasy decision.

Who knew?

The players who did the heavy lifting.

Lauren James might have been the captain, but she wasn't the only player carrying this team.

Signe Gaupset was absolutely brilliant for Spurs, scoring 14 points after a goal and an assist against West Ham. Considering she was one of the players I spent far too long debating before Gameweek 1, seeing her reward the decision immediately was very satisfying.

Then there was Vivien Endemann, another player who finished on 14 points. A goal and an assist helped Liverpool to a 4-0 win over Charlton, and suddenly that slightly riskier forward pick was looking like an inspired decision.

I'm going to be completely honest here: I would love to say I expected both of them to deliver 14 points in Gameweek 1.

I did not.

But I'm very glad I picked them.

Kerstin Casparij also had an excellent start, scoring 11 points for Manchester City. An assist and a clean sheet gave me exactly what I was hoping for from the City defensive double-up.

Those three players, alongside James, were responsible for a huge chunk of the final score.

Sometimes Fantasy Football is complicated. Sometimes four of your players simply decide to turn up.

Defence did its job.

Casparij was the standout defender with 11 points, but the rest of the defence was solid enough without doing anything too dramatic.

Ona Batlle picked up 6 points thanks to Arsenal's clean sheet against Brighton. She didn't deliver an attacking return, but six points from a defender in Gameweek 1 is absolutely fine by me.

Mapi León scored 3 points for London City. Not a huge score, but she played the full 90 minutes and contributed enough defensive actions to add an extra point to her total.

In goal, Yamashita finished with 2 points. Manchester City won 3-1, but the goal conceded meant there was no clean sheet bonus to enjoy.

So no huge drama at the back, apart from Casparij quietly deciding that she was actually a midfielder for the day.

One massive haul, one worry and a very good Sunday.

We already know Lauren James was brilliant, and Gaupset was not exactly hanging around either.

Olivia Smith scored 4 points for Arsenal. She got 63 minutes and benefited from the clean sheet, which made for a perfectly respectable start even if I was secretly hoping for a little more attacking chaos.

Then there was Ashleigh Weerden.

Weerden only managed 1 point, playing seven minutes for Crystal Palace. That's obviously not the start I was hoping for, particularly after selecting her as one of the more interesting midfield options in my squad.

One matchweek is nowhere near enough to make any huge decisions, though. The problem with Fantasy Football is that one quiet weekend can make you want to throw someone out of the team immediately, even when there might be absolutely no reason to panic.

The substitution that actually mattered.

This was probably the most interesting part of my Gameweek 1.

Remember, WSL Fantasy allows you to make changes between match days during a matchweek. If a player hasn't played yet, you can bring someone else into your starting XI, reorder your bench or even change your captain.

The catch is that once you make a manual change, automatic substitutions are switched off for the rest of the matchweek. So you are very much taking responsibility for whatever happens next.

On Saturday, Malard didn't play for Chelsea.

That left me with a decision.

I could leave the team alone and hope automatic substitutions sorted things out at the end of the matchweek, or I could use the window between match days and bring in a player who hadn't played yet.

I decided to make the change.

Emily Syme then played the full 90 minutes against Sunderland and scored 2 points.

Two points might not sound like the most exciting return in the world, but the important thing here was the decision itself. Once I made that manual substitution, automatic substitutions were turned off for the rest of the matchweek.

So this wasn't just a case of pressing a button and letting the game sort the rest out. I was taking control of that position and accepting whatever happened next.

Thankfully, Syme played.

Because there is nothing quite like making a clever-looking manual substitution and then watching the player you brought in sit on the bench for 90 minutes.

Two points. We'll take them.

One brilliant, one quiet and one who never got on.

Up front was a very mixed bag.

Vivien Endemann was obviously the star of the show with 14 points. A goal and an assist in Liverpool's 4-0 win over Charlton made her one of the standout performers in my entire squad.

Alessia Russo, meanwhile, scored just 2 points. Arsenal won 1-0 at Brighton and Russo played 88 minutes, but she didn't manage a goal or an assist.

Am I worried? Not really.

Arsenal won, Russo played almost the entire match and this is Gameweek 1. I'm not going to start tearing up the squad because one of the best forwards in the game didn't score in the first matchweek.

And then there's Malard, who didn't play at all.

Thankfully, that gave me the opportunity to make the switch to Syme before Sunday's fixtures. Otherwise, this review might have included a few more complaints.

The full Gameweek 1 team.

Here's how LJ & the Gang finished Gameweek 1.

The players left waiting.

My final bench consisted of Nnadozie, Pattinson, Aspin and Malard.

Nnadozie scored 4 points, Pattinson scored 1 and Aspin also scored 1. Malard, of course, didn't play.

Normally, a player failing to play would open the door for an automatic substitution, but because I made the manual switch from Malard to Syme, automatic substitutions were no longer active for the rest of the matchweek.

Which makes the Syme decision even more important.

How are we doing in the league?

I also set up theFFM WSL Freshers, and after Gameweek 1, LJ & the Gang are sitting in third place.

There are currently eight teams in the league, so I'm quite happy with third after the opening weekend.

Of course, the season has barely started, which means the rankings will probably move around approximately seventeen times before I finish writing this sentence.

Still. Third place is third place.

So, what now?

The big question after any good Gameweek 1 is whether to start making transfers because somebody disappointed you, or whether to leave the team alone and give your original plan another week.

Right now, I'm leaning towards patience.

I have two free transfers available, but I don't think Gameweek 1 gave me enough information to start ripping the squad apart. Weerden's one-point return is definitely something I'll be keeping an eye on, particularly after only getting seven minutes, but one matchweek doesn't automatically mean a transfer is needed.

The good thing about the transfer system is that unused transfers can be banked, up to a maximum of five. So there is value in sitting on my hands for a week when there isn't an obvious problem that needs fixing.

Which is probably easier said than done.

Fantasy Football players are not naturally gifted at leaving things alone.

Honestly? I'll take that.

Gameweek 1 gave me pretty much everything I could have asked for from a first weekend of WSL Fantasy.

Lauren James rewarded the captaincy. Casparij delivered. Gaupset and Endemann both scored 14 points. The manual switch from Malard to Syme worked out. And LJ & the Gang finished the matchweek on 85 points, comfortably above the average.

More importantly, I'm actually excited to see what happens next.

There are obviously things to watch. Weerden's minutes are a concern, Malard's lack of involvement wasn't ideal and Russo will hopefully start turning Arsenal's performances into points. But there are no fires to put out just yet.

This is exactly why I don't think I'm rushing into transfers. Gameweek 1 gave me a very good score, a strong start and a few things to monitor, but nothing that feels like it needs fixing immediately.

So, for now, the plan is simple. Enjoy the 85 points.

Try not to overthink everything. And absolutely, under no circumstances, spend several hours staring at the transfer screen.

I'll let you know how that goes....