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[Football] UEFA Nations League
- Thread starter Postman Pat
- Start date
MattBackHome
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 11,722
Impossible to understand the full mechanics, though I'm led to believe that it simply replaces friendlies with a quasi-competitive game against a team of roughly equivalent standing which can only be a good thing.
Reminds me of the current edition of Viz which has a fantastic double competition feature where they spend a whole page explaining the ridiculously over complex rules.
Reminds me of the current edition of Viz which has a fantastic double competition feature where they spend a whole page explaining the ridiculously over complex rules.
Postman Pat
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #3
Kuipers Supporters Club
Well-known member
Once you get your head around it, it's a really good idea.
Means competitive football but also creates a pathway for smaller nations to qualify (although I'm sure Scotland will still manage to F it up!)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41580638
Means one crap team from League D will qualify.
Here is some UEFA Propaganda on the subject:
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=2079553.html
Means competitive football but also creates a pathway for smaller nations to qualify (although I'm sure Scotland will still manage to F it up!)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41580638
Means one crap team from League D will qualify.
Here is some UEFA Propaganda on the subject:
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=2079553.html
How have I never seen that before!
beorhthelm
A. Virgo, Football Genius
- Jul 21, 2003
- 35,292
so this takes over completely from friendlies? cant play Brazil or Japan or whoever because all friendlies have to be in League 1? confused 
Publius Ovidius
Well-known member
Whoislloydy
Well-known member
Will this do away with us playing the usual whipping boys in a Friendly? We need to be playing more competitive friendlies anyway IMO so this can only be a good thing
beorhthelm
A. Virgo, Football Genius
- Jul 21, 2003
- 35,292
thats not a spoof, is it?
brakespear
Doctor Worm
This is running alongside the qualifiers for Euro 2020?
Postman Pat
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #15
So is this instead of Euro 2020 qualifying?
No, that would be too simple. Euro 2020 qualifying is set back until March 2019 and will end in November 2019. But the Nations League will a) decide the seedings for the Euro 2020 qualifiers and b) provide another route to the tournament, with four non-qualifiers being given another chance according to their Nations League rankings. We will come back to this later, but the important information is that these games are instead of friendlies rather than instead of qualifying.
Right, so that all sounds fair enough, if a little pointless. What was that stuff about Euro 2020 qualifying?
Only 20 of the participating 24 teams (yes, 24, yes it is ridiculous) in Euro 2020 will be decided by the usual qualifying process, with the top two teams in each of ten groups qualifying for the tournament, which is being held across Europe.
So the final four places at Euro 2020 will come from each of the four leagues, with play-offs (of course) to decide those four teams. Remember the groups? Well, the winners of each group (if they have not already qualified for Euro 2020) will play one-off semi-finals against each other (at the home of highest-ranked team) before a play-off final to be held at a pre-determined venue in March 2020.
If the winners of the groups have already qualified for Euro 2020 (as is likely in League A), they will keep going down the groups until they find enough teams for the play-offs. And if they cannot find enough teams for the play-offs from a certain league (as is likely in League A), then they will go and grab some teams from a lower league to make up the numbers.
This means that the usual Euro 2020 qualifying competition will actually only irretrievably knock out 19 countries; 20 will qualify as group winners or runners-up and another 16 will go through to those UEFA Nations League play-offs.
It does sound like it might be designed to ensure that no big country ever misses out on a European Championship place again…
It does, doesn’t it? Though we expect the Netherlands to manage somehow.
But wait a minute, does it also mean that a League D side is guaranteed a place at Euro 2020?
It does indeed. Which means one of Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus etc will get a place. Which is making us think that it might be worth Scotland getting relegated to give themselves a chance of making it to Euro 2024, by which time they might have got a bit taller.
brakespear
Doctor Worm
Cheers
edit: does this mean England will get the finals in 2019 to make up for not getting a World Cup or Euro tournament
D:
Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 30,564
So for England this will mean playing 6 games in Sep - Nov then - if successful - 1 or 2 games in June.
On the plus side:
1. No more meaningless friendlies.
2. Better marketing opportunity for England as a structured tournament will attract sponsors so more money for the FA.
3. A chance to win some silverware - a lucky group draw, i.e. England, Switzerland, Iceland could see you in the semi-finals.
On the negative side:
1. Less chance for friendlies against non-European countries like Brazil, Argentina.
2. Fixture congestion in Sep - Nov. Nightmare for domestic league - 6 international games in a 13-week window, with attendant injuries / loss of focus for players.
I can't see the Premier League being happy about this. With the new transfer window there will be a whole host of players changing clubs in late July with barely 2 weeks of pre-season training. The season proper will start in August, then be disrupted by the international group stages until November. If you then have a bad winter with postponements the season might not get going until Christmas or later.
On the plus side:
1. No more meaningless friendlies.
2. Better marketing opportunity for England as a structured tournament will attract sponsors so more money for the FA.
3. A chance to win some silverware - a lucky group draw, i.e. England, Switzerland, Iceland could see you in the semi-finals.
On the negative side:
1. Less chance for friendlies against non-European countries like Brazil, Argentina.
2. Fixture congestion in Sep - Nov. Nightmare for domestic league - 6 international games in a 13-week window, with attendant injuries / loss of focus for players.
I can't see the Premier League being happy about this. With the new transfer window there will be a whole host of players changing clubs in late July with barely 2 weeks of pre-season training. The season proper will start in August, then be disrupted by the international group stages until November. If you then have a bad winter with postponements the season might not get going until Christmas or later.
- Apr 5, 2014
- 23,524
They're not the groups. Well, they are, sort of. There are groups within those groups. And then there will be more groups.
It's a tournament where it's easier to qualify for Euro 2020 than not. Oh, it's not Euro 2020. But it kind of is for the smaller teams.
In the end it will be so hideous that even Scotland will qualify.
I’ve always liked the idea of an international league as it gives a better measure of a country’s ability to create a strong squad rather than a team.
The fact that 4 teams get relegated from league A means no one will field weakened teams and there’s actually something to play for, ie, we won’t see 7 subs at halftime and all the players jogging around for the last half hour.
Have a couple of bad games in league A and next time round you could be deemed on a level with Estonia, or even worse, Scotland.
The fact that 4 teams get relegated from league A means no one will field weakened teams and there’s actually something to play for, ie, we won’t see 7 subs at halftime and all the players jogging around for the last half hour.
Have a couple of bad games in league A and next time round you could be deemed on a level with Estonia, or even worse, Scotland.
Birdie Boy
Well-known member
- Jun 17, 2011
- 4,108
Like Germany and Brazil? I think you will find teams in qualifying are more like whipping boys it's just we don't whip them.