As the Premier League kicks off for another season, the Jigsaw Fantasy Football competition is also underway. The hard task of picking your team follows the even harder task of picking your team\u2019s name. This more often than not reflects your own allegiance \u2013 we have \u2018Hallervside\u2019 from a West Ham fan, \u2018His teeth are offside\u2019 from a Liverpool fan, \u2018Luka Mile Jedinak\u2019 from a Palace fan and \u2018Last kick of the game\u2019 from (me) a Spurs fan (a reference to THAT game in Amsterdam in case that\u2019s not evidently clear!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then there\u2019s Unibol. The one to watch. The one to always bloody watch. Our reigning champion for the past three seasons. And who does Unibol\u2019s manager support? Bolton. That\u2019s right, League One\u2019s Bolton. So, on the face of it, his achievements are even more remarkable \u2013 to keep abreast of a league your team has no involvement in to the extent you can pick the right players to steer you to victory three years running appears quite the accomplishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I say \u2018on the face of it\u2019 because I\u2019ve begun to wonder whether us Premier League team supporters are hamstrung by this very fact. Unibol\u2019s manager (Critical\u2019s Jon Wood to give credit where it\u2019s due) doesn\u2019t have to worry about whether putting Harry Kane in his team will jinx him, whether transferring in Mo Salah will mean he would suffer a similar curse or whether it\u2019s ethical to put Arsenal or Chelsea players in your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead he can more clearly look at the whole league & select the best players for his team free from the biases that afflict those of us with an emotional vested interest, such as \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Confirmation bias \u2013 we all spend time around supporters of our own teams, either in real life or on social media. Jon is less susceptible to this. He doesn\u2019t think that Formals will be dark horse of the league, or that Milivojevic is a right bargain at \u00a34.1m because @bolyenbarry or @selhurstsimon said so on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Availability bias \u2013 we all watch our teams week in, week out. We probably know more about our own teams than we do about some members of our own families (I know Pochettino was born in Murphy, but would struggle to name the birthplaces of many of my nearest & dearest). But this may mean we have a more limited number of players on our radar. If my team loses, in a sulk I\u2019ll avoid football for the rest of the weekend, no Match of Day, no game of the day on Sky. Jon \u2013 being less prone to such behaviour \u2013 will watch and learn about the more in-form players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And of course, there\u2019s the beginning of the season \u2018optimism bias\u2019 \u2013 \u2018surely this is our year\u2019 we cry \u2018to win the league\/FA cup\/Champions League\/qualify for Europe\/achieve a top half finish\/stay-up\u2019* (*delete as applicable). And this can be reflected in our player choice, I can\u2019t possibly decide between Sonny & Moura (it\u2019s like Sophie\u2019s choice) so I\u2019ll put both in my team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This could all of course be me demonstrating \u2018clustering illusions\u2019 \u2013 seeing patterns in random events. And Jon just might pay attention to his team all season, while some of us get to April with the best part of 40 transfers intact. But hopefully being aware of some of the more common biases we exhibit as football fans might help me be more objective about selecting players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still can\u2019t have any Arsenal player in my team though, that would just be plain wrong\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n