There is a quite a discrepancy between the good teams and the poor teams, so it can be difficult to be competetive.  Although I have very much liked the idea here.

I would suggest increasing  the GPP allocation to 30 and to also increase the levels that can be applied.  As the manager of Cape Verde I had little chance against Spain (or indeed Urguguay).  So my suggestion is that GK and SW can be raised to a maximum of SL 16 (before fitness)  rather than capped at 3 GPP.  Also that 15 GPP per game can be used.

This I think would mirror real life where the minnows give it all for 2 or 3 games, but have no chance really beyond the group phase.  It would increase the jeopardy for the bigger teams as well.

Two other suggestions that the FW:other area balance be allowed to be 4:1, so you can play more ultra defensively, and that the PFD is increased.

Of course it is always the balance between a game and simulation!

Something I like is the live bracket. It resembles the live tables in real life. Well done!

I think EURO and COPA Cups would be a lot of fun. It would give us another fun game for the years between the World Cup.

I agree with the idea of increasing the FW:MF and FW:DF ratios to 4:1. Giving smaller countries the opportunity to play heavy defense in hopes of getting one point is "realistic" and beneficial.

I don't have a preference about increasing PFD, but I don't think an extra 2-3 points would hurt.

I don't know that I like the idea of alllowing SW's and GK's to be maxed at ~16SL. That would more or less make each nation's GK's equal, which isn't all that realistic. 

I think increasing GPP to 30 total, and perhaps allowing for 15/match, are better solutions than increased SW and GK levels. Could GPP be prorated, for example:

T16 <8.00 - 30 GPP

T16 8.00-9.99 - 25 GPP

T16 10+ - 20 GPP

My original idea was to allow 5 GPP on SW and GK, but that would create monsters for the big teams.  A cap would allow the smaller teams to use more, but prevent the monsters.

I think this might be a good arena to test some things out. One being - getting rid of the SW altogether. No one plays with a SW in real life anymore, but it's so engrained into Olmec that it's hard to imagine life with a back 4/3.

I quite like managing a minnow who is completely outclassed. More tactically interesting than the usual game.  

Having said that, would it work thematically to phase in when teams are allowed to use their GPs?  For Jordan the group stages are going to be as good as it gets, so using GPs then makes sense.  But an Argentina or a Netherlands team should expect to breeze through to the knockouts and would struggle to get excited about playing a Cape Verde or Iraq.  Belgium at the moment seem to be a good real life example!

So I think I'm suggesting the top nations get no GPs in the group stages, and you could make an argument that the real top teams get nothing till the Round of 16.

I'd also like my cloggers (Jordan) to get the option of using up to 20 Hardness.  Now that would make things interesting.

I agree that the difference between the top teams and the minnows is too great. However, I do not think that all teams should be on a level playing field. To replicate RL, in general, it is expected that the usual suspects progress to KO stages, but, also in RL, it appears some of the smaller nations are punching above their weight (not Scotland), which is good to see. For a first attempt, I am impressed with the way this is panning out.

As someone who has managed (in a fashion) a minnow, too many of my players were the same (low) value. This did make it easy to rotate players, but didn't really give me much option formation-wise. The values were too low to realistically switch positions.

I'd like to request that I not have to face Mr Sellers in the knockout round. 

Thank you.

Rob,

If the SW position was removed, would OST still be allowed? What benefits would a team get on defense if there are no SW's?

Make the Dashboard not a spoiler (shows up blank if you've been eliminated).  Need a plan for that to avoid spoilers..

Give the shaman the power to overturn red cards on appeal to FIFA against all their rules.  I know it's a ridiculous idea but.....

The comments on the All page for the knockout games are only showing those for the first game

The Fixtures Preview Banner is also a spoiler - at least it was today

Thanks for the feedback Roger and please keep it coming.  I think I fixed the ALL page and comments thing.  

Adding something Steve mentioned about the Dashboard going blank when you lose out.  I guess I'll have to fake the dashboard in the knockout round or something.  :-)

It's not just when you lose out. Senegal had won and it said orders needed for the next game. And who we were playing. 

To avoid this the next game I set up a bookmark for that game then logged out.

I would like to see the winning nation receive a gold star on the nation's landing. This would be in addition to the gray stars that identify real life championships.

Add to the previews the context.  In knockout sure its a draw through 90 but we'll have extra time and PKs.  Need to factor that in. 

I would like to see the winning nation receive a gold star on the nation's landing. This would be in addition to the gray stars that identify real life championships.