International management

I was wondering how people are getting on with the world of international football management, and if any one has noticed any major changes?

The hosting of major tournaments seems to have been overhauled. Especially the world cups where the hosts are no longer hard coded and the bidding for a world cup is announced a few months before the one 8 years previous (e.g. bidding for the 2018 world cup is announced a few months before the 2010) and then the winners announced afterwards.

It seems every other world cup is set to be in Europe though. But the others are never held in the same continent twice. e.g. you will get for example: Africa, Europe, South America, Europe but you will never get Africa, Europe, Africa, Europe.

Has anyone seen a different African nation to South Africa host one?

I'm just about to start my first World Cup, so long-term, I can't offer much. Otherwise;

- Media seems a both inconsistent and a little pointless. I get questions when a key player isn't in the squad through injury along the lines of why he hasn't chosen, but when Beckham (for example) didn't make my squad, no-one was at all curious. Just like in FM08, if you tell a player that he needs more club football, nothing happens.

- Friendlies seem easier to arrange.

- It's good to see reports coming from the U21 and U19 games. That didn't seem to be happening before.

- I didn't get to see the World Cup draw, despite nothing else happening that day.

- There are a few things in the squad menus (club form / international form) that make it little easier to compare players.

- Confidence seems much improved. Even down to England supporters complaining about a 2-0 win.

- There seem to be more reports on players that are eligible for more than one nation. But we could really do with options along the lines of "Tell player X he'll get his England chance if he continues to progress" or "Tell player X that he's unlikely to play for England so should consider his option of playing for Northern Ireland."

- Player withdrawal for friendlies now seem non-existent (I haven't had one yet) but the amount of players asked to play just 45 minutes is greatly increased (I think 16 of my 23 man squad).

- The occasional report of what % of top flight players that are eligible for your nation is a nice touch.

- The ability to assign your scouts to various relevant competitions is good. Unfortunately, they watch the same 25 players time and again rather than searching for promising youngsters, fringe players and other emerging talent.

^ Thanks. Nice to know it's gradually edging towards being a valid part of the game. I might give it a go again.

Scouts searching for other players is poorly done. In club management they get stuck in one country for months and months without taking it upon themselves to go elsewhere.

Nice to know it's gradually edging towards being a valid part of the game.

That's a good summary of what I was trying to imply. Of course, no major changes have been made this year as far as I can see, but it seems to be making a few steps in the right direction.

The hosting of major tournaments seems to have been overhauled. Especially the world cups where the hosts are no longer hard coded and the bidding for a world cup is announced a few months before the one 8 years previous (e.g. bidding for the 2018 world cup is announced a few months before the 2010) and then the winners announced afterwards.

Do you get this announced if you're only club manager too?

Thanks robin_trott_hoof for the summary, good to know some things have been fixed, it would indeed be nice if the World Cup draws halted for us.

Scouting does seem a bit restricted throughout the game maybe this is something SIGames are working on?

Frame, I do believe you get them announced as well, but I'm not 100% sure on this.

Having finished the tournament, there isn't much else to add really. But a few points all the same:

- Assuming media gets improved in the future, it would be nice for a specific conference based around your final squad selection. Obviously with around 35 players challenging for the usual 26 places then reduced to a 23 man World Cup squad, there are going to be some talking points.

- There was huge amounts of media interest in England's 2nd round match versus Scotland and following the eventual win over Brazil which was good. Although surely in a World Cup there would be huge amounts of media attention before and after every game?

- Perhaps we could do with more focus on players retiring after a tournament, or just before it having not made the squad? David James and Gary Neville, for example, have been involved in qualifying but now look unlikely to play for England again but don't seem that eager to declare their international careers over.

- There was space for one (maybe two?) warm-up match immediately prior to the World Cup - previously I think the last game prior to the tournament was months away? If so, that's definitely better.

Great to hear about the warm up matches, something that has been missing for years.

Good that they are adding more to the media side of things, even if it still isn't quite as much as we hope for.

Any one know how World Youth Cup competitors are chosen for Africa and Oceania. I can't see any qualifiers in the game and don't know how they are chosen in real life.

Also while there are Olympic qualifiers for Oceania, there are none for Africa (I know Europe has none due to its U-21 competition being used for it) but Africa doesn't have one of these either.