Infrequent matches and a limited selection pool mean international football poses a unique challenge for players and coaches alike.
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00:00After a busy year on the global stage, Europe's top domestic football leagues are back in action.
00:06Players have spent the summer representing their countries, instead of a team in a league anywhere in the world.
00:12So, just what are some of the key differences between club and international football?
00:22Hello and welcome to Football Now.
00:25While there are clear differences between club football, where players are part of a diverse squad who play in domestic competitions week-to-week,
00:34and international football, where they represent their nations in occasional tournaments,
00:38on this week's episode of the show, we're investigating just how does this play out, both practically and tactically.
00:45I think the main difference is time. It sounds maybe cliché or it sounds, of course, obvious,
00:52but the international teams only have six or seven periods in a year where the national team coach can work with the team.
01:00And I think it's a very hard task to integrate lots of different club styles into one international team.
01:08I mean, players are coming from different leagues, from different football philosophies, and they have to perform at the international level.
01:17This is the biggest difference. I think the finance, the time and the coaches who are working on club level
01:23and the coaches who are working on international level, it's a different job to work every day at the football club
01:30or to work six or seven periods a year, for example.
01:34International teams are only able to select players who are eligible to play for them by nationality.
01:39This means that some countries have a huge geographical advantage.
01:43For example, Brazil has a population of 213 million to draw from compared to Uruguay's 3.4 million.
01:51However, that doesn't always necessarily translate on the pitch.
01:55Both teams featured at the recent Copa America, with Uruguay getting past their much larger neighbours in the quarterfinals.
02:02How difficult is it for a manager to scout their players for an international team when they may play in a different part of the world?
02:09The amount of data that exists on players these days is fantastic and makes the job a lot easier.
02:14Data allows you to filter what you look at and basically we would always say raise flags.
02:21So we were monitoring over 200 players when I worked with the Australian national teams.
02:28And you would have a sort of tiered approach.
02:30So you're watching players all across the world to see who's playing, how regularly they're playing.
02:35At each stage, you're doing more and more in terms of the depth that you're looking at the players.
02:40So it's certainly a challenge.
02:42You're not going to watch 200 players play each weekend, but you're going to use the data to monitor how they're going.
02:49While you're sitting in an office, maybe in Sydney, or we had staff all across the world,
02:54you're still watching football in all different parts and seeing how the players are going.
02:59One of the most fundamental differences between international football and club football is the sheer amount of games that the teams play.
03:06Given the lack of squad consistency and time together to train,
03:10the challenge for international managers to establish the team's identity and a game plan becomes far greater.
03:17But it's also a challenge for the players, some of which find that while they are the stars at club level,
03:22it's hard to replicate that form on the international stage.
03:26In a league competition, in league level, you have almost 40 matches and games to perform and to give your best.
03:34For some players, it's more comfortable to give 100% just on three, four, five games.
03:40Another factor is, I think, the coach's vision, the coach's philosophy.
03:45Because in a league, if you want to be the best, you have to play a possession-based style of football to control the games.
03:53But if you think about this Euro, for example, or last World Cup,
03:57teams can be successful if they are not dominating the games.
04:00In the aspect of Foden, he has to adapt to a very different style under Gareth Southgate,
04:05because Gareth Southgate wanted to minimize the opponent's attacks.
04:10But on the other hand, Pep Guardiola is another kind of coach,
04:14and Phil Foden has a very complex profile.
04:18He has a lot of important skills.
04:21If you play one style at your club, and if you have to play a very different style in your national team,
04:27you need to be also successful. It's very, very hard.
04:31Outside of the major tournaments, breaks in domestic football to make way for international games are often met with mixed feelings.
04:39Is that drop in quality the reason some fans roll their eyes when the elite leagues are paused?
04:45I think the Premier League, you know, if it's the Premier League you follow,
04:48leagues like that, they're so entertaining.
04:51International football is constantly trying to evolve in terms of the format of qualifiers and friendlies.
04:58But yeah, look, a friendly is just that.
05:01Because of the nature of it, it's going to lack the intensity,
05:04unless it's a big, big game, it's two big teams, but it's going to lack the intensity.
05:08But I will say this, I think it's only really the case with nations who have top leagues.
05:15For all the other leagues in the world, when there's an international break,
05:20and the league stops, and they gather as a national team,
05:24and it's an honour for those guys to represent the national team,
05:27and they're playing against a bigger nation.
05:29That is a real significant experience for fans of the country.
05:34So I don't think it's across the board.
05:36The football world is massive, and there's many, many countries that are passionate about football.
05:40Representing their country is still a career highlight for many players,
05:44but the increased prevalence and quality of club football means the two have never been further apart.
05:51Do you prefer to watch your club or country in action?
05:54Let us know using the hashtag FootballNowClubVCountry.
05:58That's all we've got time for from our studio here in Doha.
06:01We'll see you next time. Bye for now.