SOS RULES

Each player has a name, a Skill Level (SL), an age, a certain number of Disciplinary Points (DPs), and an Endurance Level (EL).  In addition, a player may either be qualified to play at one position (GK, SW, DF, MF, or FW), or more than one position (SD, DM, MA, and UT).

Player Names
 

Managers may use player names from 1 to 19 characters. A player is named by the manager of the club that the player joins when he first enters the league. The name of a player may be changed at any time.  If the change occurs during the regular season, the cost is 10k per change.  If the change occurs before the beginning of the season, the change is free for the first 5 player names changed and 5k thereafter.

Player Positions
Six positions exist in SOS Soccer Manager:

• Goalkeeper (GK)

• Sweeper (SW)

• Defender (DF)

• Midfielder (MF)

• Winger (WG)

• Forward (FW). 

A player is generally qualified to play at one position when he enters the league.

A player may play in a position for which he is not qualified, but he will not be as effective, this is due of Out of Position penalty or OOP.

Multi Position Players
However, some players are designated as "multi-position players".

These players include SD, DM, MA, and UT.
 

• SD can play at SW and DF with no SL penalty for OOP.

• DM can play at DF and MF with no SL penalty for OOP.

• MA can play MF and FW with no SL penalty for OOP.

• UT can play at DF, MF, and FW with no SL penalty for OOP.

Note that SD, DM, MA, and UT are not match positions and may not be used as such.

Multi Position Player Restrictions

You may acquire/trade as many multi-position players as you want in a season.  However, your roster may never exceed 5 multi-position players.  If you exceed 5, you must downgrade a multi-position player immediately to a normal position player.  That downgraded position must be one of the positions the player plays at normally.

For instance, an MA would be downgraded to a MF or FW but not a GK, SW, DF, or WG.

At the moment this has to be done by the league commissioner
 

You cannot bid on a multi-position player in the auctions if you already have 5, the bid will be voided.

Wingplay
Wingplay is a method for teams to create some extra OFF production by playing the ball wide and spreading the defensive line of the other team.  WG is considered one position removed from MF or FW for OOP purposes.  There are no multi-positional WG combinations.

WGs shoot from halfway between MF and FW for offside and on target. There can be no more than a total of 4 FW and WG players total on the field at any time.  There must still be a minimum of 1 FW playing at all times, as without at least 1 FW there is no one to cross the ball to easily.  Teams are allowed 0-2 WG on the field at one time.

The main advantage to WGs over FWs or MFs is that WG have a higher SL multiplier for creating OFF.  For all match Tactics the WG OFF Production is SL * 1.25.  The exception being "Early Cross" where the multiplier is 1.75.

The main disadvantage to WGs over FWs or MFs is that WG have a lower chance of getting shots allocated to them.  This is because they are often wide of goal in non-scoring positions.  The WGs get credit for OFF production for shot allocation purposes at the rate of SL * 1 / the current OFF production multiplier.

The more players playing at FW/WG at one time, the more the WG advantages and disadvantages are increased.  For each other FW or WG on the field, the OFF production multiplier is increased by 0.05. 

Examples:-

WG FW WG Normal Tactic
WG OFF production is SL * 1.35 for each WG
WG OFF production for shot allocation is SL * 1 / 1.35 (~0.74 about the same as a MF)

In this example the WG players are kind of like a MF player that has converted all the DEF production into OFF production.

WG FW FW WG  Early Cross Tactic
WG OFF production is SL * 1.90 for each WG
WG OFF production for shot allocation is SL * 1 / 1.90 (~0.52 about the same as a MF)

In this example the WG players are the core of the teams offense.  A pair of SL 28 WGs would produce 106.4 OFF.  This is a massive OFF production from just two players, but is balanced off by a reduced production in the rest of the team, and the fact that with marking coming into play WG OFF can be quickly chopped down to size.  So yes it can be lethal, but also deftly controlled by the right team as well.

Skill Level
 

Each player has a skill level (SL), which is an integer that quantifies his ability to perform on the field at the positions for which he is qualified.  The SL will decrease with age (see ageing) and can be increased by Coaching or Training.
 

Coaching/Training
 

The SL may increase with training (TP) for young players (Ages 0 and 1) or with coaching (CP) of older (age 2+) players.

The effect from coaching or training is an increase of 1 SL for that player, which takes effect at the END of the match provided that player has played 45 minutes in the match.

The first CP and TP used in each match are free.  A club may elect to coach or train more than once per match (if the CP/TP are available) at a cost of 25k per additional coaching/training. 

Subs can be trained or coached as any other player can, provided they meet the requirements above (45 minutes played).

No player can be trained or coached more than 10 times in a season, this is reflected in the Points Used (PU) field on the rosters

To reiterate (as it's a common mistake by new managers):

• ONLY age 0 and age 1 players may be trained

• ONLY age 2 and older players may be coached

Note that you may only use 4 CP slots and 4 TP slots (total of 8 slots) per match.