Referee, marking and specialists

Referee	Default	Escalation	Main warning
Green — Soft	Aggressive	Reckless only if must-win and depth is strong	Green does not eliminate red-card risk
Blue — Lenient	Aggressive	Reckless rarely	Still assess suspension exposure
Yellow — Average	Normal	Aggressive with caution	Dismissal risk becomes meaningful
Orange — Strict	Careful / Normal	Aggressive only in desperation	A red can erase tactical gains
Red — Trigger-happy	Careful	Normal if context requires	Avoid Reckless

Reduce risk further when:

• using only three defenders;
• the bench is weak;
• irreplaceable starters are near suspension;
• the next match is more important;
• the tactic already uses very high pressing.

Default: Zonal.

Consider Man Marking only when all are true:

• the opponent depends on one or two focal attackers;
• your direct defenders are comparable or better;
• your shape retains cover if a marker is dragged away.

Stay Zonal against three forwards, fluid attacking midfielders, wide rotation, or superior attackers. Public community advice conflicts on universal man-marking rules, so treat Man as a controlled experiment.

Default: No.

Consider Yes only when most are true:

• you use three/four defenders rather than five/six;
• your defensive idea is proactive rather than a deep block;
• defenders are fit and not clearly inferior;
• you accept higher transition variance;
• you have tested the combination.

Always prefer No with 5-4-1, 5-3-2, 5-2-3, 6-3-1, Counter Attack, tired defenders, or when protecting a lead.

Exact specialist algorithms are unpublished. Use these supported defaults:

Role	Recommended profile
Captain	Best credible leader; experience and quality are useful, but “oldest always wins” is not proven
Penalties	Best reliable attacker/finisher
Free kicks	Strong attacking/technical forward or midfielder
Corners	Strong creative midfielder or full-back

Select from the starting XI and use match commentary/repeated results as feedback. Do not weaken the XI merely to follow an unverified age rule.

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