Changing Commentary Language under Sound Settings works well for Spanish, Italian and German teams. Mainly because the commentary usually bears no similarity to what's actually going on in the game - or is so delayed that it's irrelevant.
Just listening to their level excitement in a foreign language without understanding it, is better than listening to Brackley and Brooking wittering on all the time.
Playing short Konami tournaments or round robins builds the atmosphere up nicely. e.g. 2 players, 2 groups of four, each player picks two clubs to play in each, and off you go.
I've revivied the Anglo-Italian Cup!
Then you realise, if you injure say Giggs or Del Piero in a game, they could be out for quite a while.
Or, maybe if you can hold the opposition to a draw, they can't get through to the knock-out stages.
It puts a bit more edge into games.