Keeping in touch with the football world in long term games

I'm currently playing a career game at the mo. and i've just taken over at Deportivo and i need to rebuild the team and club. But since i'm 15 years into the game most of the players are regens and i'm wondering how ppl who play long term games keep track of the worlds best, in the game.

As most ppl who play we have a good knowledge of players at the games start but when you 14 years in how do you know who are the world class players and the players who are right for your level.

Just wondering if anyone does anything to familurise themselfs with the fm world in order to have the best knowledge of the world within the game.

It's hard to keep in touch and has been since SI bizarrely split competition news from the manager's inbox. I only really get a feel for opposition players in matches on FM2009, rather than in news reports as well. I hope SI change it back to how it used to be for FM2010.

Player search and look at the most expensive players maybe? That will generally give you the majority of the established world class players...simple

That ain't foolproof though hazzabee.

Personally, I run a wide scouting network across the major leagues and sporadically check on their progress - and occasionally target one.

Like reality really - a real Football Manager will have a working knowledge of the big leagues, but certain players escape you. Sure, you know the Messi's, the Ronaldos, the Kaka's. But I wonder how many managers know about the "good" players such until the media reports about them. I didn't know about Per Kroldup until he signed for Everton, or Materazzi, or Dacourt - just to highlight Italy.

That's how scouting networks work.

My scouts inform me naturally. That and from playing against them/reading the news concerning big transfers.

I'm 9 years in now and I spend a bit of time about 3 times a season just checking out the other leagues I have running. It helps alot.

I keep and eye on U20s World Cup and U20s Continental Competitions.

Player search and look at the most expensive players maybe? That will generally give you the majority of the established world class players...simple

One flaw with that is that Man city overspend on average players.

Meaning the players value becomes the transfer fee, and your suggestion could bring up average players with a high price.

Personally I find that you can only really achieve the knowledge through a wide-scout network (make sure your scouts are ALWAYS searching somewhere, as soon as they leave their knowledge decreases) and keeping an eye on the youth tournaments. Once you find someone with promise, either sign them and nurture them OR stick them in a shortlist indefinitely - means they are all together when you want to check up on the promising talent.

It's hard to keep in touch and has been since SI bizarrely split competition news from the manager's inbox. I only really get a feel for opposition players in matches on FM2009, rather than in news reports as well. I hope SI change it back to how it used to be for FM2010.

I agree with that to a certain extent. While at the time I found it annoying that I had to click through loads of meaningless stories, now I'm unhappy that I feel detached from the football world. Seems like a no win situation.

Personally, I keep in touch with extensive scouting. I literally try and scout every player I can.

Scouting is the way to go. Sure, it's not full-proof, but that's what it's like in real life, too! I almost exclusively use scouts by about 5 seasons into the game in order to 'keep in touch', and then personally look at players that pop up that seem interesting.

Get those scouts up and running and send them out. A half-decent scout sent to the main leagues in Europe will return bountiful amounts of information and potential signings. Troll through, and if you find someone that looks the part, add 'em to your shortlist (makes them much easier to find again) and remember to check in on them (also get your scouts to watch them for a few games).

It's going to take more time, but that's the reality that you have to face once the game-world is populated by regens.

The only other suggestions I have would be to look at the best performers at international tournaments, European tournaments and the major leagues around the world - but often I think that is even less reliable than a scout report!

The suggestion I've made to address this is that we be able to "opt in" to receive news of specific types in our Inbox. We would be able to opt-in by:

Team

Competition

National

Global

Team would allow us to follow both Club and National teams in detail. Teams we manage would be selected automatically. However, we could also select other teams. So, for example, if I managed York City for four years, then moved on to Sheffield United, I could sign up to continue receiving York City news.

Competition would allow us to receive transfer, injury, award, and result news from a given competition. Our league competition would be selected by default, but we could select, say, the F.A. Cup, the Champions League, and the World Cup as well.

National news would give us high-profile (reputation) news affecting players based in, clubs based in, competitions, and players of that nationality. So, for example, selecting England I would hear the highest profile news regarding the Big Four, late stages of Cup competitions, who clinched the Premier League, and awards .. while not hearing a peep out of League Two unless Sven accepts a job there.

Global news would be limited to the highest-profile news: major injuries to worldwide-rep players, World Footballer of the Year style awards, late-stage Champions League and international results, etc.

(this wasn't in reply to Amaroq's post... we cross-posted and I agree with the above).

You can check the news from other leagues running by going to the league through the 'world' menu and hitting news. Occasionally you'll find a good story or be reminded to scout a particular player this way.

As to judging which players are right for your team's 'level', this does fluctuate through time depending on your reputation and the team's reputation (not to mention the usual things like facilities, etc..). Other than scouting, I think the way I keep appraised of this level is by attempting to sign players of various superior levels. When the leagues that used to be beyond reach start getting some bites then I know its time to reassess the team level and increase the ambition of signings. Its painfully slow going and frustrating to get bids accepted and then have the player himself scoff at the prospect, but this will give you valuable information.

i really think if they merged the two different types of news into one would be the best way to give a better feel of the fm world

One problem with news about up-and-coming stars is that in the real world this happens all the time but is wildly speculative. Everyone is 'the next Ronaldo'. We wouldn't want to be too flooded with this info, so, as in the real world, real scouting has to be done to keep up with the true prospects. It is never enough to look at just player ratings (per league), or just disciplinary records, or just scouting reports, or just player personality profiles. It really has to all be done to keep up.

Oh, another shortcut I remembered is: Track players that the really big clubs are tracking on a special shortlist. As you find players to scout, if you notice "Interested Clubs: Arsenal, Barcelona, Man Utd" in the transfer profile, this can tell you certainly about their PA. You can nickname the player to help you notice them in the news as well: "Bojan **" for example. This helps keep a focus on rising stars as they appear in the media.

I also keep a eye out on the rumours list, as every so often I will spot a player who would do a job in my team. Also if you get the players young, at 16 or 17 you can mould them to your on liking (to some extent). As a result my Barca U-19 team is on a 71 game unbeaten streak, only through scouting and promotions, plus a few gotten through random trawling through the lower nations on FIFA rankings.