The 5 Dilemmas On Every Fantasy Football Manager's Mind

You can feel it coming in the air tonight. Oh Lord. The new Premier League season is so close.

But it's not all excitement and delight, no way, as serious fantasy football managers are coming to terms with the fact that a team must be submitted by 11am on Saturday morning, and then it's goodbye to logging in and changing your team around every day with unlimited transfers.

These are the 5 dilemmas that are keeping fantasy managers up at night.

Can you really trust that new signing?

"Sure he scored 48 league goals in Spain last year, but could he do it on a wet, windy night at Stoke?" Well, yes, and probably with great ease, but the point that every cliche-loving muppet down the pub is trying to make is that you can never know who is going to take to the Premier League like a duck to water, and who is going to sink.

Erik Lamela is one who many thought would crush the Fantasy Premier League scene last year, but barely got a point. Is Diego Costa going to be top scorer? Or is he going to get booked in every game? It's the type of thing that leads to sleepless nights.

Do you splash out on a top keeper?

You've already got an 11.0m midfielder and striker, so you're penny pinching in other areas. Do you go for guaranteed consistent points with a Chelsea or Man City keeper? Do you save half a million on an option like Tim Howard or David De Gea? Or are you the extreme bargain hunter who puts faith in Tim Krul and Brad Guzan because it frees up 1.5m elsewhere?

So many decisions to be made. With the big boys, you leave them in your side and forget about it, maybe even giving them the captaincy on certain weeks. Whereas with the cheap lads, every single week is a decision on who to play based on their opponent. It's truly painstaking.

Do you gamble on a pre-season star?

Every fan of a rival team will tell you that pre-season means nothing, but then again everyone who is defending a new signing's poor form will complain that he didn't get a full season. Who do you believe!?

Ashley Young looks a different player in Van Gaal's new system and with Luke Shaw out injured he could see a lot of action early on, but how many yellow cards for diving are you willing to risk? Stevan Jovetic has been great in the warm-up games, but can he do it when it matters? So many calls to make, but you wouldn't leave a Rooney or a Gerrard out if they didn't have a great pre-season, would you?

Do you want your subs to contribute or save money?

If you've given no consideration to the price tag and lashed all the best players into your side, you could be in that dreaded situation where you need two players and only have 8.0m to spend, in this case you have to scrape the bottom of the barrel for someone who is the cheapest possible player but might actually see some action, and hoping your big names deliver every week.

The flip side of this is a system of Rafa Benitez style rotation where balance is key and your subs can bail you out of a mess. It's about being mentally strong for this dilemma, pick a style and stick to it. Right?

Can you count on last season's stars?

Every year the most expensive players in Fantasy Premier League are those who did it last year. It makes sense really. Last year's top scorer has proven himself in the league. But will it all be like it was before?

Can you count on Daniel Sturridge to bang them in every week without Suarez beside him? Will Yaya stay injury free? These questions are of grave importance because you are paying through the arse to keep these lads in your team, and you need the points every single week. What do you do? What would Jesus Navas do?