Fundamental problems with LoL as e-sport and solutions

Problem: One player has too much influence on a match. If one player disconnects, or if the match-making-system pairs players of too unequal skill, or if a player trolls and intentionally doesn't play well, that player has a very big influence on the game for the other 9 people in the matchup. In fact, one player can decide the entire outcome of a game. Compare this with pretty much any team sport (hockey, soccer, etc) where a player can be shown off the field for a time (red card, injury, etc) and the team just adjusts their strategy (box play, etc) and can very well go on to win the game anyways. Solutions

• Have more players on the field. With more players, the significance of every individual is diminished. This will also have the consequence that single individuals will find it difficult to "carry" their team to victory, which means team-play becomes a higher priority - should be a positive consequence in any team sport.
• Reduce the power/influence of champions. If you bring champions closer to minions in power, the presence or absence of one player will make less of a difference. However, that might cause some people to think the game is boring, if they want to "play the hero".

Problem: No substitutions If a player has a bad day, that's it, you lost. This problem doesn't exist in any other team sport, because they have substitutions. If LoL had substitutions, there would be much more elements of strategy to cope with short term problems in the team. Even in champ select you could have interesting strategies where for example you could switch between two different top-laners and thus have twice as large champion pool for every lane. In-game if someone DC's or becomes suddenly ill or whatever, you could bring in a substitute to just take over. Solutions

• Implement substitutions. This could cause the second hand problem of players being bored because they aren't allowed to play the game, just watch. Well, there is also the possibility of looking on this as an opportunity, where the subs could keep the team organized and act as team captains. If subs could take an active part in making calls then it shouldn't be so boring. That could of course cause the third hand problem of having everything in a game predictable, where one sub keeps track of timers, another keeps track of enemies, etc. So the number of subs should be kept fairly low to counteract that problem. Still, even with one single sub, it could make the game much more enjoyable in case of DC's etc.

Problem: Static gameplay Some games are decided in champion select if all players play well after that. This means that the only reason to continue a game is to see if someone makes a mistake. This state of game play does not promote a positive attitude in players, nor in the community. Compare with soccer, where players over and over are quoted to say "it's football, anything can happen". For every meta, there is a counter, and for every counter, there is another counter. The problem in LoL is that many counters are placed in champion select, and not in the actual game-play. Solutions

• Introduce a wider spectrum of items. More items means more diversity, and possibly the opportunity to turn a champion counter-pick into an even matchup if you know what build to use.
• Increase variety of interactions between players. This is at least partly addressed in the new Summoners Rift map and new jungle monsters. Good job!
• Make champions more balanced. If the master of one champion can go up against a master of any other champion, and their interaction is about equal, then there are good chances to see fun and interesting matches.

I would like to see a discussion on this topic, both regarding the problems that exist and the solutions that could be brought in to correct them (and potential problems solutions bring in turn). While LoL is gaining popularity today, and might do so for a few more years, I think addressing problems like this is necessary to keep this sport from becoming a fad that disappears when people find something new to do with their time. If LoL was more like an actual sport, there is nothing stopping it from becoming just as established as soccer or any other sport.