There simply isn't the interest in international football for it to warrant breaking up the club football season like it currently does.
There will always be huge interest in World Cups and Euro Championships and rightly so but the qualifying system for these international tournaments seems ridiculously outdated.
So what is the solution? Surely there is a way to shorten and minimise the whole qualifying process. Maybe one way would be to relegate the very small and lesser nations like San Marino to a pre-qualifying round.
That way the nations with a higher seeding would simply be fast tracked to a more compact and shorter qualifying round that could even be played over a shorter time.
Nations below a certain seeding would have to play a pre-qualifying round or rounds.
Now some might argue that this process would be unfair on the smaller and lower seeded nations but there is a seeding system for a reason and it should be used to the full.
I would argue that the current format is unfair on the many club football fans around the world who have to see our season continually broken up by far too many dull and uninteresting international fixtures.
International football format must change.
posted on 14/10/14
Really? Thats why I'm arguing it?
Don't be a fud all your life, the world does not revolve around England. Using your logic we should just do away with the early legs of the FA cup because what chance do the likes of Hereford, Nuneaton, Exeter, Shrewsbury et al have of causing an upset?
posted on 14/10/14
The FA Cup is completely different, it's a knockout tournament which is what makes it so exciting.
By comparison qualification for international tournaments are a long, drawn out league.
The format is totally different and can't be compared to the FA Cup.
posted on 14/10/14
Whoosh! right over your head.
I don't know anyone from San Marino but I bet they still go on about that goal in 8.3 seconds against England just the same as Hereford fans go on about humbling Newcastle, regardless of format it's the same.
You may think it's all about the main show and getting there, but it's not, for the minnows playing the big boys IS their main show, who are you or I to deny them the opportunity to be a giant-killer?
As for your wee Scotland are 5hite jibe, I'll come looking for you on the 19th of next month.
posted on 14/10/14
So your argument is that we should continue to play uninteresting and often dire international qualifiers in a boring league format that seems to drag on forever and totally disrupts the club football season around Europe just to keep some San Marino fans happy ??
Now who's not seeing the bigger picture ? I think it's you.
posted on 14/10/14
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 14/10/14
No it doesn't worry me and never would, we always play above our ability against the better teams, and even if we were as bad as you say we were, why should we be denied a pop at England or any of the other 'Big' teams?
BTW, take off the Billy Bigtime blinkers, Scotland are 29th in the World rankings and 18th in UEFA's, where is the cut-off point for your theory of pre-qualifying to work?
posted on 14/10/14
I never said Scotland were bad. I inferred it in relation to possible reasons why you personally would be against a pre-qualifying round.
As for the cut off point I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult for UEFA to work that out.
posted on 14/10/14
even if we were as bad as you say we were, why should we be denied a pop at England or any of the other 'Big' teams?
posted on 14/10/14
comment by Hector (U3606)
posted 53 minutes ago
even if we were as bad as you say we were, why should we be denied a pop at England or any of the other 'Big' teams?
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I never said you shouldn't be. If you didn't reach a certain seeding then you need to qualify in a pre-qualifying round.
Same would apply to England or any other team that wasn't seeded high enough.
There's no favouring of any nations in that system.
posted on 14/10/14
comment by Hector (U3606)
posted 1 hour, 12 minutes ago
even if we were as bad as you say we were, why should we be denied a pop at England or any of the other 'Big' teams?
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England...big...you take that back...
Damned cheek