In our multi-agent approach, the player positions itself flexibly such that it anticipates that it will be useful to the team, either offensively or defensively.
Two ways in which agents can use the position flexibility is to react to the ball's position and to mark opponents. When reacting to the ball's position, the agent moves to a location within its range that minimizes its distance to the ball. When marking opponents, agents move next to a given opponent rather than staying at the default position home. The opponent to mark can be chosen by the player (e.g., the closest opponent), or by the unit captain which can ensure that all opponents are marked, following a preset algorithm as part of the locker-room agreement.
As emphasized throughout, homogeneous agents can play different
positions. But such a capability raises the challenging issue of when
the players should change positions. In addition, with teammates
switching positions, a player's internal player-position map 
could become incorrect and/or incomplete.
The locker-room agreement provides procedures to the team that allow
for coordinated role changing. In our case, the locker-room agreement
designates an order of precedence switching among positions within
each unit. When a high-priority position is left vacant, players
currently filling lower-priority positions consider switching to the
recently vacated position. If a player detects that another player is
trying to fill the same role, it either vacates the position or
informs the other player of the conflict depending on which player is
closer to the position's home coordinates.
By switching positions within a formation, the overall joint performance of the team is improved. Position-switching saves player energy and allows them to respond more quickly to the ball.