Surely you're not telling me you weren't tempted by the thought of watching the 0-0 between San Marino & Gibraltar.
Was I fuck what a fucking farcical situation these football cunts put us in.
Well,if you didn't fancy the delights of San Marino v Gibraltar maybe you didn't know you could have watched the Faroe Islands battling away in Latvia.
I have to agree with you. International football, apart from the World Cup, is a waste of fucking time and effort. Why doesn't someone in FIFA have the cojones to say it.
Why Is There Only One Monopolies Commission. Isn't That A Monopoly?
OK, playing the devils advocate. Firstly, what about the Euros? Are they a waste of time? Secondly, Do you go into the World cup with an untried and tested team not having played as a team together? Do you pick the best players from clubs not knowing if they meld ? Which in itself is reverting back to the media picked sides.
Do you count the Nations league as a friendly? the very thing UEFA tried to lessen, admittedly there are some outright friendlies, and yes, with the introduction of the Nations league could be scrapped, but do we do away with internationals all together and concentrate solely on the world cup?
eskimo joe wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 7:25 am
OK, playing the devils advocate. Firstly, what about the Euros? Are they a waste of time? Secondly, Do you go into the World cup with an untried and tested team not having played as a team together? Do you pick the best players from clubs not knowing if they meld ? Which in itself is reverting back to the media picked sides.
Do you count the Nations league as a friendly? the very thing UEFA tried to lessen, admittedly there are some outright friendlies, and yes, with the introduction of the Nations league could be scrapped, but do we do away with internationals all together and concentrate solely on the world cup?
From what I've seen of the Nations League, which I'm happy to admit isn't very much apart from 15 minutes or so of the odd match, usually involving Spain, Germany or France it looks as if most of the players would rather be somewhere else. I suppose the Nations League is an improvement on friendlies and another thing in it's favour is that it's done away with those turkey shoot matches when the likes of Germany and Spain lined up against outfits like Gibraltar or Malta.
I take your point about testing to see if a team can play together. But the other side of that particular coin is that "testing" a team in a glorified practice match where the main concern of the players is not to get injured, doesn't really give much of an indication what they will perform like when the chips are down and the result matters.
Why Is There Only One Monopolies Commission. Isn't That A Monopoly?
eskimo joe wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 7:25 am
OK, playing the devils advocate. Firstly, what about the Euros? Are they a waste of time? Secondly, Do you go into the World cup with an untried and tested team not having played as a team together? Do you pick the best players from clubs not knowing if they meld ? Which in itself is reverting back to the media picked sides.
Do you count the Nations league as a friendly? the very thing UEFA tried to lessen, admittedly there are some outright friendlies, and yes, with the introduction of the Nations league could be scrapped, but do we do away with internationals all together and concentrate solely on the world cup?
From what I've seen of the Nations League, which I'm happy to admit isn't very much apart from 15 minutes or so of the odd match, usually involving Spain, Germany or France it looks as if most of the players would rather be somewhere else. I suppose the Nations League is an improvement on friendlies and another thing in it's favour is that it's done away with those turkey shoot matches when the likes of Germany and Spain lined up against outfits like Gibraltar or Malta.
I take your point about testing to see if a team can play together. But the other side of that particular coin is that "testing" a team in a glorified practice match where the main concern of the players is not to get injured, doesn't really give much of an indication what they will perform like when the chips are down and the result matters.
.
Seems like playing for your country has gone from being an Honour to becoming a burden, The system has advanced, all be it slowly, and maybe it needs some more radical thinking. It appears that money has kept one half of the sport alive at the expense of the other.
From what I've seen of the Nations League, which I'm happy to admit isn't very much apart from 15 minutes or so of the odd match, usually involving Spain, Germany or France it looks as if most of the players would rather be somewhere else. I suppose the Nations League is an improvement on friendlies and another thing in it's favour is that it's done away with those turkey shoot matches when the likes of Germany and Spain lined up against outfits like Gibraltar or Malta.
I take your point about testing to see if a team can play together. But the other side of that particular coin is that "testing" a team in a glorified practice match where the main concern of the players is not to get injured, doesn't really give much of an indication what they will perform like when the chips are down and the result matters.
.
Seems like playing for your country has gone from being an Honour to becoming a burden, The system has advanced, all be it slowly, and maybe it needs some more radical thinking. It appears that money has kept one half of the sport alive at the expense of the other.
I think it probably has. I'd guess most players and fans, in Europe at least, now consider the ultimate prize in football to be the Champions League. I would bet that the national champions of Europe's major leagues would beat the international team representing that country. Obviously that's due to tghe multi national composition of most of the major clubs.
I would say international football is probably more important to the South American nations because their leagues are perceived to be weaker than the European ones because of the massive player exports. So for an Argentina or Colombia to beat a major European country is a big deal.
And as an aside I think it's fair to say the vast majority of football watchers I know put club above country every time. Even though many support clubs that are never likely to feature in the Champions League or Europa League. Our fans reaction, for example, to Declan Rice's international call ups is more along the lines of I hope he doesn't get injured rather than Great he's been picked for his country again.
Why Is There Only One Monopolies Commission. Isn't That A Monopoly?
Whiskyman wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 1:12 pm
And as an aside I think it's fair to say the vast majority of football watchers I know put club above country every time. Even though many support clubs that are never likely to feature in the Champions League or Europa League. Our fans reaction, for example, to Declan Rice's international call ups is more along the lines of I hope he doesn't get injured rather than Great he's been picked for his country again.
A midfield tonight of Mount,Henderson,Grearlish would solve that problem nicely.
Whiskyman wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 1:12 pm
And as an aside I think it's fair to say the vast majority of football watchers I know put club above country every time. Even though many support clubs that are never likely to feature in the Champions League or Europa League. Our fans reaction, for example, to Declan Rice's international call ups is more along the lines of I hope he doesn't get injured rather than Great he's been picked for his country again.
A midfield tonight of Mount,Henderson,Grearlish would solve that problem nicely.
It certainly would. But unfortunately we've got other squad members poncing around Europe playing internationals in front of---errr---well----no one.
But at least the players get to pretend to know the words of their country's national anthrem.. At least the Spanish don't have that problem.
Why Is There Only One Monopolies Commission. Isn't That A Monopoly?
