Předmět: PPM Reprezentace

Most often, talking about the size of player bases makes me smile, because here, as in the real world, it's not the overall number that matters, but the active minority. And judging by the numbers, Austria is doing quite well in this regard: the 377th strength at the start of the World Cup is, roughly speaking, second-tier, above only the big NTs (400+).
The Austrians were simply lucky to get a coach with competent management who cleared away the rubble and put everything in its place. And since the soccer engine in PPM has limited capabilities, and it’s enough to know a couple of lineups and not screw up tactics too much, management here becomes the key. Anyway, congratulations on the bronze, good job.

You are right about this. We were "lucky" in qualifying, in the first season we won 19 out of 21 points, in the second half we were also winning points with the B/C team and thanks to that we came to the tournament in maximum possible strength. Such conditions will not be easy to repeat.

On the other hand, if you look at the rosters of Hungary and Austria, there is a noticeable difference in OR (of course, experience etc. also comes into play). In this and the next cycle we are expecting a large departure of experienced players and unfortunately the younger ones are not so visible yet (especially in terms of experiences). But other countries may have similar situations.

The Slovaks and Hungarians are a different story. They're the 2nd and 3rd-largest countries in terms of player pool size. Just imagine how strong they'd be if they were led by, say, you, Tandem, or another competent manager.

Yes, you're not the only one with problems with players; it's a general trend, as managers are becoming fewer and fewer, and even if new ones appear, it takes years of real life before you can help the national team. For example, I can say with certainty about the current WC champion's prospects: in a few seasons, the "B" and "C" teams will look very sad.

In this regard, I'm amazed by those created long ago clubs that exist solely for the sake of their name. They don't aspire to anything in the domestic championship, they don't train players for the national team, they're underdeveloped and stagnant, and I find it difficult to understand the point of their existence. Probably, the point is just in pulling prospects from the draft and kill them with their underdeveloped facilities.

Gratuluji.