The new UEFA ‘Nations League’ format to replace friendlies from 2018: what do we make of it?
I’m undecided on it, to be honest. It seems to be a set up where there will be four divisions based on current rankings, with each of those four divisions then split into four other divisions. These mini-divisions are contested home and away and then the winners of each mini-division play semi and final knock-out stages at neutral venues (why?) to win that division overall, the four winners then qualifying for European Championships unless other so qualified, in which case the next team down gets the slot.
England rarely arrange friendlies against the likes of San Marino anyway, so that’s not much of a change, and I applaud the initiative to give friendlies more of a competitive feel rather than just being money-spinners for the respective FAs in which a succession of fringe players get a sub appearance and the game peters out into a meaningless kickabout that fans don't want to pay to watch.
The smaller countries are grouped together and hopefully the prospect of actual competitive football being on display may even stir up interest in the game again, especially with the prospect of a place at a major competition at stake, so that must be a good thing but I just get the feeling that this will ultimately lead to a downgrading of the sport and the finances at the lower end, and that the international game will start to reflect the state of the domestic leagues with a ever-widening chasm between the haves and have-nots.
Thoughts on the new competition..?
League Of Nations Cup: eh?
posted on 27/3/14
I really like it, nobody really cares about international friendlies anyway, at least if the players are actually competing in a league it'll give games a sense of purpose.
It means smaller teams will be playing other small teams too, like San Marino and Wales actually having a chance of competing, rather than ending up in a pointless game against Spain where it's almost a forgone conclusion (almost).
posted on 27/3/14
That cant be right, surely the winners of div 4 will have to play the winners of div 1 to qualify?
Hardly seems fair that England will have to beat, potentially, Spain, Germany and Holland to qualify and Scotland will have to beat San Marino, Luxembourg and Lithuania for the same prize
posted on 27/3/14
^ even though they still may struggle
posted on 27/3/14
What a stupid tournament.There is already enough football as it is.This will just cause injuries to players to the detriment of the football clubs which is in my opinion a disgrace.
posted on 27/3/14
FIFA / UEFA just trying to give purpose to an unloved and uncared for few games a season. They need to do more than that to make it interesting. They should do a televised draw with three hats:
Hat A: All the good countries, who will play one of
Hat B: All the rubbish countries, then
Hat C: The special set of circumstances that will apply to that match, ie how many goals headstart the B team gets, what object should be used in lieu of a football, random sniper attacks on the team that's ahead, multi-ball, zero gravity, making them do it in zorb balls etc etc.........
And of course if they want the games to not be meaningless, then the outcomes should still count towards FIFA rankings.
posted on 27/3/14
How can this possibly fail? The last League of Nations was established to promote international harmony and prevent war. This it did admirably if you ignore the Abyssinian conflict, the Spanish Civil war, countless other minor conflicts and a small disagreement between a certain German corporal and most of the rest of the world.
posted on 27/3/14
I heard a rumour that the Arch-Duke Ferdinand has been elected head of UEFA....
posted on 27/3/14
CR7, the games will only be played on dates that were set for friendlies anyway, so no, it won't cause any more strain on the players than the international friendlies would have anyway.
And frankly if a highly paid professional footballer couldn't handle a couple more games a season, then he doesn't deserve to be playing at such a high level, these are elite athletes we're talking about.
posted on 27/3/14
Bushwacker, I got the impression they weren't just a reshuffle of the qualifications system, I was under the impression they would run alongside the traditional qualification groups? So England will still have the same chance of qualifying as before, but qualification provides the smaller countries an extra incentive to take the league games seriously.
posted on 1/5/14
Only just read about this, seemed really complex. I think it's unfair that some teams in the lower divisions could qualify for Euros/WCs playing much easier teams than one's on the higher end. Unnecessary comp imo.