Football at the top level is a game of squads rather than teams – and now, so
is fantasy football, thanks to PlayTheGame. This season, you can rotate your
forwards, change your lineup to suit the opposition or to allow for injuries
and suspensions, pick up out-of-contract players and negotiate transfers
with other managers.
In other fantasy leagues, any team could have any player depending on a
transfer budget – so everybody owned Thierry Henry, which was not realistic.
In your PlayTheGame league, as in the real world, there will be only one
Wayne Rooney, or Frank Lampard, and only one team can own him. Like the
Barclays Premier League, your fantasy league will have a maximum of 20 teams
and the top-flight players will be distributed among them. What is more, the
higher you rate a player, the more likely he is to end up in your team.
Each team will be allocated 20 players, of which 14 will be active at any one
time. The players must fit into a 4-4-2 system of goalkeeper, right back,
two centre backs, left back, right midfield, two centre midfield players,
left midfield, and two forwards. The three extra active players – the
substitutes – are a defender or goalkeeper, a midfield player and a forward.
Players can only be used in a position for which they are eligible. For
example, at the moment you can only use Joleon Lescott, of Ever-ton, as a
centre back. But if he plays a Premier League match at left back, he can
play there for you too for the rest of the season.
It is not difficult to PlayTheGame but it is unlike any other fantasy football
game. First, you will need either to create or join a league and then the
fun starts (see facing page).
PLAYER ALLOCATION RANKINGS
On this page you will see a list of all the available Premier League players.
When your league was created, a date was set for players to be allocated to
teams by the game computer. There is a random element in the computer’s
choice of the order of teams, but after that, each fantasy manager has a
considerable influence over which players come his or her way. This is your
chance to alter the preset rankings, which are based on last season’s
performances in the case of established players, or on predicted fantasy
performance in the case of players new to the Premier League. Because the
other managers in your league will also be ranking their players, these
moves do not guarantee that you will be allocated the players you want, but
they improve your chances considerably. It is worth bearing in mind that the
computer will make sure it fills your 14 team slots before it allocates your
reserves. So depending on how your competitors’ lists are ranked, you may
not have a particularly well-balanced bench.
TEAM MANAGEMENT
Once the players have been allocated, you can pick your team for the opening
weekend of the season. You can make team changes between Saturday’s matches
and Sunday’s games, and again before the midweek matches. But beware – each
slot in your team can only be used 38 times. So if you have Lucas Neill in
your right-back position for West Ham United’s home game with Manchester
City on Saturday, August 11, then replace him with Gary Neville to take
advantage of Manchester United’s home game with Reading the next day, you
have only 36 more starts for that position - yet every Premier League club
have 37 matches still to play. Careful scrutiny of the fixture lists will be
required to see where your resources can best be deployed.
The size of your squad may allow you to negotiate injuries, suspensions and
loss of form, but you have two other recourses. First, there is the
unallocated player pool so you can drop an underperforming player and sign a
replacement. Or you can negotiate a player exchange deal with another
manager in your league.
SCORING CATEGORIES
PlayTheGame strives to capture the true value of players by tracking a number
of statistical categories as well as qualifying those performances with the
ultimate judge of any performance: the result. To capture the truest measure
of all the players on the pitch, we have split the starting XI into two
groups - one consisting of a goalkeeper and four defenders whose primary
task is to stop the opposition from scoring and one covering the midfield
players and forwards whose primary task tends to be the scoring of goals -
and tailored their statistics accordingly.
Goalkeepers and defenders score points in five categories: clean sheets;
goals/assists (goalkeepers can score goals - remember Paul Rob-inson’s
against Watford); defence; average goals against; and team points. Midfield
players and forwards score in five categories: goals, assists, successful
passes, average goals for and points.
SCORING SYSTEM
PlayTheGame uses a rotisserie scoring system, a name that has less to do with
the roasting of chickens than the name of the restaurant where a group of
supporters invented it. Teams are ranked first to last in each statistical
category with the highest point total available in a category equal to the
number of teams in the league. The lowest point total available for that
category is one. The manager’s overall score is determined by adding the
manager’s points in each category. The manager with the highest overall
score is in first place.
The accumulation of points and the constantly changing table in leagues using
rotisserie scoring will keep many a manager mesmerised by the many possible
routes to success.
As you can see, PlayTheGame is the most sophisticated online football game yet
devised and requires José Mourinho's gift for squad management, Arsène
Wenger’s eye for a player and Harry Redknapp’s ability to wheel, deal and
pick up a bargain. We are confident that this will be your most complete
fantasy football experience ever. All you have to do now is think of a team
name - and PlayTheGame.
£50,000 worth of prizes for football fans
SEPTEMBER Barclays Premier League game of your choice with three
friends, including hotel and spending money
OCTOBER Premier League sitting room makeover, including TV, sofa and
Sony PS3
NOVEMBER Watch David Beckham in LA, including flights, hotel and match
tickets
DECEMBER The complete fan’s package, including TV, fridge, lager and
table football
JANUARY Barcelona weekend for four, including flights, hotel and Nou
Camp tickets
FEBRUARY Madrid weekend for four, including flights, hotel and Bernabéu
tickets
MARCH Milan weekend for four, including flights, hotel and San Siro
tickets
APRIL The Armchair Supporters Kit, including a Lazy Boy Armchair,
fridge and inflatable pitch
MAY Munich weekend for four, including flights, hotel and Bayern tickets
FINAL Euro 2008 final tickets, including flights and accommodation for
two in Vienna
