Equilibrium team selection in football under win or profit maximisation

Abstract

This article applies mathematical methods to investigating (extremely) simplified versions of the team selection problem for football managers. The team selection problem - obviously a game problem - is analysed game theoretically, but some funny results of a combinatorial nature are also added. In general, the findings indicate that the problem of selecting a football team is a very demanding task. Still, a simple comparison between win and profit maximising game models indicate surprising complexity in game prediction.