Substitution plans

The Substitutions tab on the Tactics page pre-programs changes the match engine executes automatically. This matters most when you skip past a fixture and don't watch it — without a plan, your bench is used only by the assistant's own judgement.

When the engine evaluates your rules

The match is simulated in 5-minute segments. Substitution rules are evaluated from the segment that covers minute 45–50 to the one covering minute 85–90, so no planned change can happen before roughly the 46th minute. A rule only becomes eligible once the segment's minute is at or past its own minute setting — which defaults to 60. At most one planned substitution per team can be executed in any single segment.

Anatomy of a rule

• Player out / player in — the exact swap. If either player is not on the pitch or on the bench when the rule fires, the rule is discarded.
• Trigger — exactly one condition per rule: at minute, if losing, if winning, if drawing, if tired, or if injured.
• Minute — the earliest minute the rule may fire. Default 60.
• Energy threshold — used by the "if tired" trigger. Default 60%.

Score-state triggers

• Holding a lead — swap an attacking winger for a defensive midfielder in the last third of the match.
• Chasing a deficit — swap a defensive midfielder for a second striker after the hour mark.
• Drawing — fresh legs in midfield if you need a winner; a fresh centre-back if a draw is acceptable.

Limits

A team may make up to five substitutions in a match, and the tactics screen allows up to five rules. Each substitution that happens swings momentum by +0.5 for the team making it, so a well-timed double change can visibly tilt a tight game.

When no rule fires, the assistant decides

An empty plan is not a safe plan — it hands the decisions to the assistant manager, who reacts to injuries, protects a player on a yellow card at risk of a second, reviews tired players around half-time, pushes an extra attacker on when losing after the hour, defends a lead late, and rotates fatigued legs in the closing stages. That behaviour is reasonable but generic: it does not know which of your players you trust. A specific plan beats it.

There is no extra time

Matches are 90 minutes — 18 segments, full stop. A cup tie that is level after 90 minutes goes straight to a penalty shootout (each side takes three to five penalties, and the shootout can never end level). There is no extra half-hour to plan for and no sixth substitution: don't hold a change back "for extra time".