Indeed. Why ? This is very wrong and I can prove it theoretically and practically:
Game ID: 874, 876
I set those stats on purpose

If the bot who must have the ball possession (being closer to the ball) has a negative (even normal) speed then he can be reached by the opponent bot having a higher speed stat

First pick of the ball shouldn't be influenced by the custom stats that is optional. You can't constrain players to not set negative speed, right ?
Why did you change the deploy positions ? Nobody complained about it.