Inside The Mind of The Champions: Meet Last Season’s Serie A Fantasy Winner

What does it take to win a fantasy football competition over an entire Serie A season?

Football knowledge certainly helps, as does understanding form, fixtures and player roles. But success also requires patience, consistency and the ability to adapt as the season develops.

After discovering Kickest on X and entering the competition for the first time, Adam (@FantasySocData) finished top of the overall Serie A standings. We spoke to him about his route to victory, the decisions that shaped his season and why fantasy football has given him a new way to enjoy Serie A.

Congratulations on winning last season. How did your interest in Serie A begin?

Thank you. I’m Adam, I’m English and I’ve been watching Serie A since the early 1990s. Shortly after the 1990 World Cup, Paul Gascoigne—one of England’s biggest stars—moved to Italy to join Lazio. Serie A then began receiving regular free-to-air television coverage in England.

At a time when relatively few Premier League matches were shown live, Italian football became a major part of the weekend for many English fans. I started watching then and have followed the league ever since.

I’ve never supported just one Italian club. Roberto Baggio initially drew me to Juventus, and I also enjoyed watching Lazio around the time they won the Scudetto. At the moment, Como are one of the teams I most enjoy following. Their recruitment, ambition and style of football make them one of the league’s most interesting projects.

As long as they continue to master the transfer market while the traditional big teams continue to make terrible decisions then Como can continue to punch well above their weight. 

How long have you been playing fantasy football?

The first fantasy game I entered was organised by a newspaper in the 1990s. You received a list of players and prices, selected a team of 11 and posted your entry with a cheque. After that, there was very little interaction—you largely had to wait until the end of the season to see how your team had performed.

That format was very different from the interactive fantasy games available now, so I only played for a few seasons. I returned to fantasy football through FPL around five years ago, started playing UCL Fantasy three years ago and discovered Kickest on X last season.

What do you enjoy most about playing fantasy Serie A?

Before playing fantasy football, there are naturally certain teams and games you follow more closely. You are going to be focused on when say, Inter are playing Juve. Once you have players from different clubs in your fantasy team, suddenly a match you might not otherwise have watched becomes important.

I remember watching Lecce against Cagliari on a Friday night. Without fantasy football, there is very little chance I would have watched that match—but I had captained Yerry Mina, and he scored! That is what fantasy football does: it gives you an interest in matches across the entire league.

What do you enjoy most about playing Kickest?

The scoring system is the main attraction for me because there are so many ways for players to earn points. It rewards a player’s overall contribution rather than focusing mainly on goals, assists and clean sheets.

That means midfielders who control matches and defenders who perform well can still be valuable fantasy assets, even without scoring a goal or keeping a clean sheet. Generally, if a player performs well in real life, that performance is reflected in his Kickest score.

I also enjoy the active management during each Round. Deciding whether to make a substitution or change your captain keeps you involved throughout the weekend rather than only before the deadline.

The ability to prepare transfers early and revise them later is useful too. You can organise your team in advance and still respond if new team or injury information becomes available.

What do you think about the changes we’ve made this year?

I like them! 

Awarding points for touches in the opposition box and reducing the unsuccessful-pass penalty for forwards means that strikers can contribute without being completely dependent on scoring a goal. Rasmus Højlund is a good example of a goal-dependent forward.

Adding points for big chances created is another positive change because creative players can now receive more recognition even when the opportunity does not result in a goal.

I also think the revised price reduction for players who do not feature should produce a more balanced market. Last season, some high-profile players returned from long injuries at prices that made them almost automatic selections.

What was the process behind your winning team?

I would describe myself as a patient fantasy manager with a consistent process. I kept a spreadsheet containing my squad and noted how long I expected to retain each player. That meant I always had an idea of which positions might need attention.

The day before each deadline, I would:

1. Check whether every player was expected to start. 
2. Make sure I had a suitable captain on each Round. 
3. Review how my players were distributed across the different days of the round. 

I preferred to make the final decisions in one focused session, once the most important team and injury information was available.

Last season I would make transfers based on 2-3 rounds ahead. That was when we had 5 free transfers. Now there are unlimited transfers, but each one costs 5 points. I will change strategy and have mainly players that I want to keep till the next unlimited free transfers period and the transfers I make outside of that are to take advantage of great fixtures. 

Other general things that I do: 

• I remain patient with a player when the reasons I selected him have not changed, even if his recent scores have been disappointing. 
• I do not select someone solely because he is popular among highly ranked managers. 
• I trust my own assessment, while remaining willing to change my mind when the evidence changes. 

Last season, for example, I continued to select Manuel Locatelli despite some criticism of his performances online. Conversely, I did not rate Marco Palestra’s fantasy prospects as highly as many other managers did, so I avoided selecting him even when he was a popular choice. The aim was not to be different for its own sake, but to make decisions I could justify.

What was your biggest mistake?

There were plenty of times where I sold a player who went on to get a great Kickest score or decided to keep a player who did poorly. That happens to every single fantasy manager every year. At the time I made those decisions, I was happy with them, so I don’t consider them mistakes.

My biggest mistake was not fully understanding how the matches rescheduled because of the Supercoppa would be handled. I read the rules too quickly and made transfers based on an incorrect assumption.

I sold players I would otherwise have kept, and because I was already inside the top 10, I thought I might have damaged my chances of winning. Fortunately, I recovered, but it reinforced the importance of checking the rules carefully whenever there is an unusual round or a change to the schedule.

I would recommend everyone makes sure they understand the rules! 

You were in the bottom 20% after the opening round. How did you recover to win the competition?

The most important thing was not overreacting. One poor score does not mean that your overall approach is wrong. It is very easy to become frustrated, make several unnecessary changes and move away from the strategy you originally believed in.

Instead, I trusted my process and concentrated on improving the squad gradually. I reviewed which players were likely to start regularly, looked ahead at the upcoming fixtures and made changes where I thought they would strengthen the team over several rounds rather than just for the following match.

The season is long, and every manager will have disappointing rounds. You do not need to recover all the lost ground immediately. By continuing to make sensible decisions and staying patient, I gradually moved up the standings and eventually put myself in a position to challenge for the title.

What advice would you give someone playing for the first time?

Build a balanced squad of regular starters.
If too much of your budget is concentrated in a few expensive players, the remaining places may have to be filled by players who rarely feature. Regular starters give your team a more dependable foundation.

Plan for several rounds rather than one match.
Use the fixture ticker to identify players you would be happy to retain for a few rounds. Because each transfer costs five points, repeatedly changing short-term selections can quickly become expensive.

Do not chase a strong substitute appearance.
A player may produce a good score in limited minutes, but his returns will be difficult to rely on if he is not expected to start regularly.

And what advice would you give someone who wants to challenge near the top?

Over the course of last season, I owned at least one player from every Serie A club. To challenge near the top, it helps to look beyond the biggest teams and understand the most fantasy-relevant players throughout the league.

You do not need detailed knowledge of every player. Start by identifying the regular starters, set-piece takers and most influential players from each club. That can give you an advantage when favourable fixtures arrive or a player’s role changes.

Think You Can Beat the Champion?

A new Serie A season brings new signings, unexpected fantasy favourites and a fresh opportunity for every manager.

Whether you already follow every Serie A match or want to discover more of the league through fantasy football, Kickest gives you a reason to care about every fixture and every performance.

Last season’s champion has shared his strategy.

Now it’s your turn to challenge for the title.

Build your squad, make your selections and see where you can finish.

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