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 | Can the Captain Sweep? Posted by |
The concept of integrating a captain has been, I think, an interesting twist to this season. I sort of enjoy (and am still a little surprised) when I create my orders and see the extra SLs getting added.
In our discussions I was ADAMANT that the Captain should not be a Gk or Sw as those players would get a fairly big benefit when you throw on the +2, +3, +4 SLs of a captain and then the +5 of GPP/Hardness.
And then I saw a fixture (note me pretending to know what I'm talking about when I call a match a "fixture") today against my arch, arch nemesis Dave Dohm.
With an APP at SW playing in two games I thought, why not, put a Df at Sw. And it ended up being my captain. Callum Murray was a III/14 to start the match (FIT 1).
So he would play Sw at SL 15 (14 + 3 for CAP -2 for OOP). With the FIT 1 he played at LEVEL 16 as a Sweeper against Mr. Dohm.
A few points:
1) While I didn't really intend for the above to happen, the reality is that with a Captain playing Sw (from their normal Df spot) they can gain 1-2 Levels (based on an age III/IV player with the 3/4 Cap bonus and -2 OOP SL loss).
2) I was pretty adamant about no captains at Gk/Sw for just the above (ability to be 3 or 4 SLs better...then the ability to tack on another 5 for hardness/GPP).
3) The act of changing code to prevent a captain from playing OOP MIGHT (might) be possible.
In summary the rule never said you couldn't play a Captain OOP...merely that you had to pick a Captain whose roster position is at Df, Mf, or Fw.
With all that said...should the scenario above be disallowed in the future (in some fashion)?
Or is it just another wrinkle on the captains bonus aspect (like what position/age you choose)?
Every team is a little different, but I can see a slight advantage in the above if you have a HIGH SL Age III/IV captain.
Al
Readers Comments
Based upon the intent which was to not have additional SL added to the +5 limit perhaps should be upheld however I was in favor of any position being elgible for having a captain assigned. With that said, my captain is lying down in a hospital bed right now.
Al, that was a crafty twist that had not occured to me. I think it is a legitimate twist though as your player i still losing a few levels dropping back to Sw. I wouldn't ban the idea.
My captain has been in the hospital for awhile now.
I would propose an immediate vote, with the following three options:
- Captain's bonus applies for any position the captain plays.
- Captain's bonus applies for any outfield position.
- Captain's bonus only applies for the position he plays.
The Captain's bonus could also count toward the +5 allowed to a Sweeper. Thus an age III Captain playing at Sw could only have 2 Hrd or GPP added, while an age IV would only have 1 able to be added. That would allow a team to allocate their 'inherent' bonus as a counter against OOP penalties while potentially reserving the Hrd or GPP for other positions. Any Captain outside of Df is probably not going to play OOP at Sw due to the penalties on SL, and most teams appear to have allocated their Captaincy at the Fw position, so we're only talking about a few players overall that this is going to impact. If a team opts for the defensive-minded star instead of just adding as many shots as possible, why not add a tactical option that will make the Captaincy decision amount to more than just the easiest ploy to get an extra 3 or 4 scoring chances in two matches each session?
The difference to weigh over playing the Df Captain OOP at Sw vs. another Df is whether or not you'd rather have the additional odds to stop each chance (at 2/4/6/8/10% depending on Captain age) or the automatic preventing of 1-5 scoring chances by the enemy Forwards from ever taking place if he stays at Df. The more tactical wrinkles available, the more managerial choices matter instead of simply luck in the RNG as to whose SL 23 Gk stopped more of the 30+ chances they both faced.
I generally do not have a problem with what Al "accidentally" did. There's an OOP penalty to be paid for the DF playing at SW, which counters most of the Captain's bonus. I see it as an incentive to allow managers a little more freedom and flexibility with their lineups.
Aside from that, I like Kevin's suggestion.
I also like Kevin's suggestion. Otherwise I could see a move towards Age III SL 13 DF being made Captain and then coached. Even with the OOP penalty, he starts the season at SL 14 at SW, and starting the season at SL14 is the holy grail for all of us, right? Coached, he ends the season at SL17 at SW (SL19 at DF, SL17 at MF).
Next season he's now Age IV SL 12, so the same maths applies, and that seems an easy way to get a cheap SW, who can stay at DF (or even move to MF) if the manager wants to play sneaky and use the offside trap. It just seems a little bit too good to me.