With the complaint in about FIFA and numerous players publicly bemoaning the football schedule it looks like something has to give. International football, especially mid-season, is always the target for fans of the English "big six". Could they get their way?
The fact is there is still a massive hunger for international football. Chile had 43k for their game against Brazil last Thursday. Argentina got 82k for a game with Ecuador in this WCQ campaign. Saudi got 56k for their match with Japan while 46k went to watch Australia beat China last week. Iraq got 44k and Uzbekistan got 38k.
Most of these countries don't get to see their best players in club football, most play in Europe. However, the figures for the "glorified friendlies" in Europe weren't too bad either. 79k went to Wembley on a Thursday night to watch a second tier game! The Greeks also filled their stadium for the match against Ireland. 68k treated themselves to Germany vs Netherlands last night.
Players pulling out of internationals and retirement from international football has always happened, but Kylian Mbappe saying he will only play in the 'important' games is a big statement from one of the biggest names in the world. Of course he is in a strong position to say that compared to the majority of others who if they made a similar stance would probably never play for their country again. But if more top players follow this then international football becomes a lot less attractive for the fan.
On the flip side international football is still a massive deal for many players, and we continue to see players making themselves available for teams they qualify for through a grandparent.
It seems certain we are going to see change somewhere. Domestically the League Cup could be under threat, a reduction to 18 or even 16 teams in the PL has oft been a though. Stopping mid-season internationals is another strong thought, although technically that alone wouldn't solve the issue of the number of games. It would give clubs a bit more control of a players schedule during the main season and cut the travel.
For many football fans and players across the world International football is still the pinnacle. There is still a hunger for it, but something has to give somewhere...
Is International Football at risk?
posted on 15/10/24
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 5 hours, 36 minutes ago
Perhaps something like 60 games - 50 club and 10 international - would be doable.
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I get where you are coming from but can see carnage! Imagine getting to the CL final and missing half your squad because they played 50 games because you had an injury crisis. Or a nation like Morocco doing better than expected in the World Cup, reaching the final but you have to leave out your core because you didn't expect to get this far and they played 4 massive games in qualifying just to get you there.
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Not fully thought through, obviously, but teams would just have to make the most of their options, hedge their bets and decide where to take more risks. A lot of top clubs already do that now, deciding how to spread games and minutes ahead of important fixtures; this would perhaps add a layer of complexity, but it would do so in order to protect player welfare, which is what is being demanded.
Also, it's not like the limit would suddenly fall on them out of the blue; they'd know at all times how many games each footballer's played and how many they'd still be eligible for. As for injury crises, teams have them even now and find it hard to cope at times.
Not saying it would as simple as an outright/absolute limit, but something along the lines couldbeworkable.
posted on 16/10/24
Change the format of the league cup to remove PL teams, make it a true Football League Cup. Teams outside the PL don’t have the same level of players playing international fixtures so it’s less burdensome for them.
Get rid of FA Cup replays, and revert the CL / EL etc to go back to 6 games rather than 8.
Then make the PL 18 teams by relegating 4 teams for the next two seasons.
Reduces the number of games quite substantially.
posted on 16/10/24
If you want to reduce to 18, it's probably better to get it over and done with in one season. 2 up 4 down, or 1 up 3 down.
posted on 16/10/24
League Cup without PL teams would appeal to no-one.
posted on 16/10/24
comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 38 seconds ago
If you want to reduce to 18, it's probably better to get it over and done with in one season. 2 up 4 down, or 1 up 3 down.
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We want that 19 team season!
posted on 16/10/24
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 13 minutes ago
League Cup without PL teams would appeal to no-one.
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Isn't that already the Johnstone Paint Trophy or something like that
posted on 16/10/24
EFL Trophy that they put U21 PL teams in to jazz it up.
posted on 16/10/24
comment by Fabián Caballero (U1734)
posted 15 minutes ago
comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 38 seconds ago
If you want to reduce to 18, it's probably better to get it over and done with in one season. 2 up 4 down, or 1 up 3 down.
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We want that 19 team season!
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Be great if one of the big sides was drawn to complete its fixtures first and had to sit out the final weekend waiting on other results to see if they won the title.
posted on 19/10/24
I don't watch international football outside of the Euros and WC. Just have zero interest
posted on 19/10/24
Needs to be stopped. Completely.
Pointless, disjointed, boring and like all matches between 'invitational' teams not actually very 'team-like'.