Normally at this stage of the summer, we are knee deep in an International tournament and fantasy booking who will win the whole thing. Sadly, the 2022 World Cup has been switched to the winter due to the intense summer heat in Qatar, which means a lack of summer football (for a month or so). But what if you created your own international fun in Football Manager 2022, by taking on a nation to either win trophies or even just reach the Finals for the first time? A lot of fans get turned off by this believing managing a nation with fewer games to play is boring, but it is all about how you approach the experience. With that in mind, below are the Top Five tips for International Management in FM22.

Tip 1: Sort out National pool

So you have selected you chosen nation and are currently staring at your Inbox wondering where to begin. My first tip is the National Pool as a good place to start in international management!

On the left hand menu, the National Pool is where you will find every national team player available to you. Only problem is you have generic information staring back at you, so you have no idea who is any good or a regular in previous squads. Using the nation I took control of in my save, France (starting high here!), I had this problem at the start and was wondering where to get better selection information from.

Luckily, you can use a custom view for this, which if you use on the Squads screen for your club save, you can use here too. I would recommend this even if you do not normally use one, because it separates out the relevant player information much more easily. Below is a screenshot of the custom view I use on the National Pool screen.

The one I chose is the LOLLUJO SQUAD View FM22, which can be found on the Steam Workshop (along with other choices). I can then filter by best players or in-form players to see who I should be selecting for my future squads. Truly a time saver and something I highly recommend, as it saves you some time.

In addition, ensure ALL players in your National Pool are scouted by your national team scouts – this is NOT automatically done when you take over, so you will manually have to ask for scout reports for lesser known players.

Tip 2: Management of your Tactics is key!

Remember my point earlier about fewer games to play in International management? Well that means you have less time to get your tactics right as a result!

Selecting a tactic to get the best out of your players at short notice may seem like a no brainer. But what happens when your best player(s) gets injured (for my French team, Kylian Mbappe is the golden boy)? And I am talking about a few of them here. Would your chosen system be viable to use in this situation?

These injuries are likely to happen during the club season, so backup tactics are mandatory to make sure your squad can cope with the sudden changes. Figuring out potential replacements in  the National Pool in case of key injuries is also vital, so you know which players to rely on to get you out of trouble. No dipping into the transfer market here, you only have players in the National Pool at your disposal.

Depending on which nation you take charge of, you may have goodwill with the nations governing body to get it right, especially if you’re a low ranking country. Or you could be me in charge of France and have World Cup winning aspirations hanging over you. No pressure then to get it right!

Tip 3: Attend, Watch & Leave Games… Quickly!

Each week during the season, you are sent a list of club games to your Inbox, asking which one you would like to attend to scout national team players or potential call ups. Two tips I have for this choice:

1. Select the game with the most number of national players involved, so you can cover more in one viewing;
2. OR you can select the game which involves a player you have an eye for a call up to your next squad.

Whichever game you select is up to you (the tips above are the best places to start) but when you actually go into the match engine screen, you can skip the game entirely once it begins if you wish. Select the button on the top right and click the PC Screen icon that shows up to leave the match and advance the game forward.

You should have an Inbox message saying you attended the game once you click Continue and which player(s) you were watching. This will keep them on your radar and possibly your news feed going forward. I found it useful for keeping tabs on my young French centre back, Gregoire Bernard, who I called up to the senior squad.

Tip 4: Scout Best National Team Youngsters

When taking over at your chosen national team, having your eye on the next generation of players coming through will always be a priority. This is especially true given how little time you will have with them in training or matches.

On the menus at the bottom, you will see all your National Youth Teams, with the most recent player squads included. It is worth keeping an eye on these teams and how the players perform, particularly if they have high potential. Remember the scouting tip above? For this reason you can see if any youth players are deserving of a call up to the senior squad.

It is worth noting the youth squads will use the same tactic as you (just like at club level), so any youth players that perform well will be familiar with your tactic and style of play when promoted to the senior squad. How handy!

Tip 5: Use Friendlies (and Nations League) to Play Youngsters

No-one likes managing friendlies. Unless you are one of those people who likes managing friendlies (Why?). If you do, international management is the perfect place for you.

In between major international tournaments and any Nations League games, you will have a few friendlies to play in. A perfect time to maybe test out some younger or uncapped players to see if they can handle international football.

Players from your youth squads may be worth checking out in these scenarios, but I would not put eleven new players in the starting line up. Mix the younger players in with some of the experienced pros and see if they can compete well within the team. Worst thing to happen is they gain some experience but are not quite ready yet. Or at all. And that’s the beauty of experimentation.

So those are the top five tips for international management on FM22. Are you looking to give international management a go? Or have you taken on a national team already? Let us know in the comments below who you have taken over and your story with them so far.

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Follow me @Craig_FM1 for more FM22 content or find us on Twitter @DictateTheGame for more Football Manager News and content.

Check out these articles below for more on FM22:

•  Guide to the 4-2-4 Tactic in Football Manager 2022
•  Motivation in Football Manager
• Scoring Tips for Struggling Teams in Football Manager