Playing Out of Position (OOP)
Occasionally a manager may wish, or be forced, to play a player out of his normal position. When doing this, a player does not perform at his usual level of efficiency, due to the strangeness of playing in an unaccustomed role. For that game only, the player will be rated as only half his normal performance level, rounded upwards, when calculating the skill totals per area. For example, if a Level 11 Defender is played in a midfield role, then he will be rated as a Level 6 player for that game (being reduced to a 5.5, and then rounded upwards).
For every match that a player is played beyond his normal position, he gains experience in his new role, to the value of 1 qualifying game for a competitive match, and 0.5 for a friendly game. If a player gains ten qualifying points from playing out of position (OOP) during any one season then he will be able to play OOP in all future games without any loss of levels. This turns him into a Utility player (UT) and thus worth significantly more to his team and his manager. The only restrictions on a player playing out of position are as follows:-
- A player playing as a GK or SW must always be a GK or SW.
- A GK cannot play in an outfield position
- Unqualified APPs and SBY’s cannot play OOP
- A SW may play in DF without losing any levels. Playing him there is not considered as Out-of-Position with respect to qualifying as a UTILITY. If he plays in MF or FW then he starts to qualify as a UT.
Note: that an unqualified SBY or APP Sweeper cannot, under any circumstances, play in defence until he is qualified. He must play all his qualifying games in the SW role.
A UT player can play in any outfield position (DF/MF/FW) without losing any performance levels. His position should be recorded as the outfield area he is playing in, not written as `UT’.
See also…