PlayTheGame

if I played steven gerrard at right midfield and he started for liverpool at center midfield would I loose points?

PTG - All midfield positions are scored on exactly the same categories, so it makes no difference where Gerrard plays

I am confused about passing, if you pass once is that equal to 1 goal?

PTG - Please take a look at clause 15.2 of the rules for clarification of what constitutes a successful pass. Successful Passes are scored in a seperate category to Goals so you cannot compare like for like.

If I play someone like Essien or Elano as a right back, do they still get defensive points for playing in attack?

PTG - The player will get the points for the position that you have placed him in your team. If you played Essien as a Right Back he will score in the defensive categories. If you play him as a Left or Right Midfielder he will score in the Midfield/Forward scoring categories.

When comparing scores with others one thing that appears to be missing is the number of times my rival(s) have played a position. Someone may be leading the Goals category for example, but may have played the forward position 3 times compared to my 2. I'd like to know. Is there any opportunity to find out that I don't know about?

PTG - There is no way of finding out another managers remaining position starts (unless you ask them nicely in your league forum). The important thing is that over the course of the season a position can only be used 38 times, so if a manager chooses to use all their forward positions by Christmas, you have the opportunity to catch up over the remainder of the season.

should you have a starting line up of players that are playing on Saturday and then on Saturday evening should you change you're starting line up to players that are playing on Sunday?

PTG - The key thing is considering how you use the 'remaining starts' per playing position. Each of your 14 active scoring positions can be used 38 times in a season (as per the number of Premier League games). If you were able to put out a different team on Saturday and Sunday, you would have used 2 of your 38 starts for each position, which could theoretically mean that on the last day of the season you would not be able to field a team. A basic principle to follow is to pick a team for the whole weekend, but use your management skills to judge when to use a playing position more than in a single weekend. The number of remaining starts per position can be found under the team graphic on the 'Manage Team' page.

Do my subs only play when my starters do not play or do they play no matter whether my chosen starting players play or not ? For example, if I selected a goalkeeper, a LB, 2 CBs and a RB for todays games and if they all played today, then would I also get credit for 90 minutes played by my Def/GK sub. I thought subs only played if your selected starting players did not, but someone in my league managed to get 540 minutes playing time by his defence today. So thats 6 players playing a full match !

PTG - You have 14 players who can score points for you at any one time, - your subs score points in exactly the same way as your first choice eleven.

I was top of my league, and have dropped to 14th losing 52 points.

How is this possible?

PTG - We are not able to comment on your specific league, in this blog but as explained in the post above you have probably dropped because other managers are now performing better than you in a number of the scoring categories. To see how you are performing in each of the scoring categories compared to other managers, take a look at 'league tables by category' under the 'league' tab in the navigation. You will then be able to see how you are performing in the defensive scoring categories and the midfield/forward scoring categories. If you have a specific query regarding your league, please use the 'contact us' functionality under the 'home' tab

Are final league points and positions tallied at the end of every day with matches, or are they only tallied once after every weekend? ie Do our positions change after every day with games, or do they only change once a week.

PTG - Scores are amended at the end of every day that matches are played.

is it possible to show the slots played/remaining of the 38 for each position for each of the teams in one place so that we can factor in points won and slots used. ideally on the point breakdown page if you just added in the slots used remaining as a memo table.

PTG - Each manager only gets visibility of the remaining starts for their team. Most managers would not appreciate their remaining starts being published because how you use them is part of the tactics of the game.

Hey, just wanted to make sure that amount of goals conceded, yellow and red cards etc are all included...are they amalgamated into the defence category? Cheers

PTG - You need to take a look at clause 15.2 of the rules for clarification on what is included in the defence category. Goals conceded, yellow and red cards do not make up any part of the PlayTheGame scoring categories.

Few questions on the 38 limit: does the 38 limit only apply for the 4-4-2 formation, or does it extend over into other ones? If I stick with the same team across successive days, does the limit go down? If not, does every Premier Game reduce the limit, even if it is a sole game on a Wednesday? If we run out of positions, do we have to keep pitching a team that lacks any players in that position?

PTG - The 38 position limit will be reduced regardless of what formation you use, but you will use certain positions at a quicker rate depending on what formation you use. For example, if you are playing a 4-3-3 formation and your 3 forwards all play, you will have used up 3 forward positions, compared to two in a 4-4-2 formation. The number of remaining plays per position is only reduced if the player you have in that position takes part in a Premier League game. If you use all your 38 starts for a playing position before the end of the season, you will no longer be able to score points for that position.

I don't understand why last season "Def" categories includes both tackles and successful pass for defenders, but this season it's tackles only. I believe this change will greatly disadvantage and unfair to defenders from good teams who holds more possession, because they unlikely to have more SP then tackles. For example, after two games J Carragher only has 23 def, whereas C Samba already accumlated 33, both played their full games, but only because Liverpool is a better team that holds more possession and less opportunity to tackle. The change to Def is not being fair to managers who picked up defenders from top teams. I believe last season's Def calculation method is more fair. Is it possible for PTG to change this?

PTG - We debated long and hard about the changes to the defence category before removing successful passes. In the end we decided to give more weight to blocks, clearances etc even if the net result is that posessioon reverts to the attacking team. Defenders in successful teams will do better in clean sheets and team points in any case, which should more than baoance out a loss of defence points.

can you tell me if you have a facility on the game for when some one goes on a long holiday .

PTG - To the right hand side of the manage team page where you set your line-up, there are five date links which you can use to set your line-up for dates in the future. Please be aware that if (for example) you set your line-up for September 15th and then change your team for August 30th, this will overwrite changes made for September 15th.

I had 83 points after game week 2 excluding the Pompey Man united game, Darren Fletcher scored (my only player from man utd or pompey), yet i now have 81 points. Ive read the scoring rules and im slightly confused, since i havent got pompey players, so i cant of lost points (from defence) , and surely i should of gained points since Flecther scored, just wandering if you could clear things up please? thanks :)

PTG - We cannot comment on your individual situation in this blog. It is likely that you have 'lost' points in defence because other teams have improved their defensive scoring as a result of the Manchester United victory. Keep tabs on how you are performing in each of the scoring categories by using the 'league tables by category' link under the 'league' tab. For a fuller explanation please use the 'contact us' link under the 'home' tab to talk to customer services.

Further to your answer to the post by Talon1579, why don't Essien and Elano show scores in both the clean sheet and defence categories on the player statistics?

PTG - This was a display issue and has now been rectified.

I am slowly getting to grips with the scoring, but it seems to me that it is entirely possible for a team to have a nightmare all season and by having a lucky last game go from nowhere to top of the league? What am I missing?

PTG - It is unliklely that this scenario would happen unless the league was very close between all teams up to the end of the season. At the moment things are very, very fluid because we have only had 2 weeks of games. A couple of goals in one team or a few clean sheets in another can turn the league table on its head. As time goes by this will settle down and it's then up to you to identify the scoring categories in which you are not doing so well and use your management skills to improve your standing.

When do players appear in the 'pending notice claims' box on the out of contract homepage? Also if someone has submitted a bid for a notice player is it possible to find out before submitting your own claim? Finally is it possible to know the time players were added so as to know when they are no longer on notice?

PTG - if you have tried to sign a player who is on notice then you will be able to see that you have a pending notice claim. You are not able to see the pending notice claims of other managers as it would be unfair to publicise the plans of your rivals.

Let me remind your answer to D.O. 25.08.2008:

PTG - The number of remaining plays per position is only reduced if the player you have in that position takes part in a Premier League game.

Is it means that if the only LB of my team will be injured or he will stay on a bench during, say, 10 matches, I'll still have just the same 38 limit LB position?

PTG - correct.

So, points of my team (and my team's place at the table) depend mainly from the SUM of my players' points received playing for my team during the season.

PTG - Your players points within a particular scoring category are added together. Your score in each of the 10 scoring categories are then compared to other managers within your league to dictate your position within your league table. Take a look at the 'league tables by category' link under the 'league' tab to see how you are performing in each of the 10 categories.

What are the rules for own goals? Does the player who scored it get credited with the goal and the player who took the shot get credited with an assist?

PTG - No goal or assist are awarded for an own goal.

Is there any link inside the game that will tell me how players performed last week or last time they played? I seem to only be able to find a "season" stat per player.

PTG - You can see how your players performed on a daily basis by clicking the 'Team Statistics' under the 'My Team' tab. We will add 'last 5' games and 'last 10 games' statistics as the season progresses.

In statistics table one of the category is SP. I have not been able to find anywhere what that means! Not in rules section nor in the key/ legend! Help please!

PTG - Thanks for pointing this out, we will get the key updated. SP = Successful Passes.

Why Is there no option to field a three man defence?

PTG - The reason for this is because of the game scoring. Midfielders and Forwards are all scored using the same categories, therefore whether you are playing with three Centre Midfielders and one Forward, or one CM and three FOR, you always have eight players being scored in exactly the same way (i.e. as offensive players). Whilst we did consider giving users the ability to build a smaller or bigger defence, it was not implemented at this time due to the complications it would cause to the scoring of the game.

I want to change to 4-3-3 formation but I notice that I still have the amount of appearances available for CM and FOR as if I was playing 4-4-2. What is the point of offering a change of formation if it is no use in the long term? Is it just to be able to catch up for the odd missed appearance?

PTG - As you say, each playing position can only be used 38 times regardless of the formation you play. Compared to last season it does have the benefit over a fixed formation of allowing you to play more or less centre midfielders or forwards. This could be useful depending on the general make-up of your squad, as a result of injuries to your players or because you make a managerial decision to change your formation based on the real life opposition your players are encountering in the Premier League.