The rules regarding substitutions are somewhat confusing as written by FIFA, so I'll attempt to clarify this important facet of the fantasy game's strategy.
Automatic substitutions basically occur only when one of your starting 11 players does not play at all. As far as I can tell, this rule is in case you get drunk one night and forgot to swap out a player who just got injured in training. The rules warn you that if you make active substitutions through the matchday (for instance, the first match day is June 11 to June 16, or the opening round of games for each team), no automatic substitutions will be made. Now that we've finally sorted that out (my apologies for the original misleading post), lets get into why one would want to make substitutions through the matchday. The rules say this on the subject:
An unlimited number of substitutions can be made but only eleven players with one captain can score points each round.
Here are some reasons you may choose to make substitutions:
* One of your players goes off injured after a few minutes
* Your captain wasn't selected to play in the round.
* You are a gambler and decide that one of your substitutes will score more points than someone who already played in the round
The first two examples are fairly straightforward and self-explanatory, but the last one tickles me. IF I am a gambler? IF?!? I am playing fantasy football for the World Cup exactly for the gambling aspect (see my related post on "Prospecting"). So yes, I will be gambling, and of course I will know if one my starting 11 is in poor form, just begging for one of my prospects to relieve him from the bench. Getting past myself, however, this is a departure from the substitution rules in 2006. Basically, it appears that you may now substitute a player who has already played for someone who hasn't. This creates a surprisingly powerful option for managers: If you aren't sure about one of your players' points potential (whether due to their form, fitness, coach, or because when you selected them it was the first time you'd seen their name in print), and their team will be playing on the early side of the match day (i.e. in Group A rather than Group H), put them into your starting 11. At best, your dark horse player scores big, and you celebrate into the wee hours of the morning. At worst, they lose you points, but you can substitute them for a more known quantity on the bench (who has yet to play).
As with prospecting, this is a new feature of the fantasy game in 2010 that adds nuance to the strategy of team selection. A common tactic in 2006 was to wrangle one's limited budget in the pursuit of 11 heavy-hitting (and expensive) stars to score points, and 12 bottom-of-the-barrel nobodies to round out the 23-man roster. After all, if the 11 you select to play are the only people who can score points, what does it really matter how good they are? If someone gets injured you can always transfer them before the next matchday.
But now things are more complicated. While it's still probably a good idea to make some sacrifices to secure a few incredibly talented players, the points games is also much more open to muddling in the middle. Obviously you would expect your highly-priced stars to usually outscore the mid-range, but the fact remains that you are now afforded limited double-dipping, as you can now try players on for size in the first games of a match-day, and so it would be folly to limit the chance of serendipity to only your starting 11.
Evidence shows, however, that this new wisdom hasn't exactly taken hold. When you look at the the top 30 most popular player selections, the old strategy is laughably prominent:
The 4th most selected goalkeeper, and the 25th most selected player overall at the time of this posting, is James Bannatyne, the 3rd-string Goalkeeper for New Zealand. Wait, go back and reread that last sentence. It seems truly absurd until you see Bannatyne's price tag: 1 credit. He's also not alone. New Zealand's momentously-named Thomas Jefferson Smith is also popular, with 8% of managers selecting him, as the 25th-most-picked defender, along with Honduras' Oscar Garcia. Midfielder Jeremy Brockie, from New Zealand, is in the same position, and they all are priced at 1 credit. In fact, by far the majority of managers investing in New Zealand players appear to have the same idea: save money on a throwaway slot-filler.
New Zealand doesn't have the monopoly on bottom-of-the-barrel-scrapings, of course. Sandwiched between Spain's Fernando Torres and Holland's Arjen Robben as the 8th-most picked forward is Honduras' intriguingly-named George Welcome. I'm not saying his name isn't compelling (like South Africa's theatrical midfield duo: Surprise Moriri and N. Macbeth-Mao Sibaya), but I think his popularity has more to do with his price-tag. Also, six times as many people hold one of North Korea's two back-up goalkeepers (both priced at 1 credcit) as hold their starting goalkeeper, Myung Guk Ri (2 credits).For the record, and for my money, the starting keeper is a good investment at 2 credits. If the North Koreans can be said to have any strategy for winning, it is to strive against defeat with an all-hands-to-the-box human entrenchment in front of goal. With his whole team thusly entrenched around him, I think Guk has some space to shine.
If you do decide to fill out your roster with a few cheap players (I'll admit that I do have a 1-credit New Zealender in my midfield), I'd advise selecting ones that are already popular. A player's price fluctuations are partially dictated by the percentage of teams that own them, so while a 1-credit player won't lose you much money, the popular one's might make you money.
Of course, some of this will change after the group stages, as the matchdays get shorter and you have less time to try out players and substitute. Here's a few things to remember about substitution rules before you get too excited:
* If you remove a player who has scored points for your team, these points will be lost. The player cannot be brought back into your team until the next round.
* It is not possible to make substitutions after matches on the last day of the round.
* If a substitution or captain change is made then no automatic substitutions will take place on your team that round.
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