Is anyone enjoying the Nations League?

[Mrrobbied]

As an Australian I rarely get to see the international friendlies so I'm enjoying the Nation's league.

We also never get to see the Semi decent national teams smash the dogshit national teams like North Macedonia vs Gibraltar or Hungary vs England.

 

[antk]

Football has been around for much longer than this pointless competition and will be around for a long time after it’s become a pointless memory. The future of grass roots football won’t live or die based on the success of the poxy Nations League.

Don’t take it too personally that nobody cares about a competition which Norway is doing well in. Deep down we’re all happy for you. Honest.

People complaining about the Nations League today would be complaining about the friendlies that would inevitably be replacing it in the calendar anyway.
Any international break before, during, after the season always triggers complaints on this very forum. Even traditional international tournaments are sometimes met with complacency.

We can argue about whether it's an upgrade on friendlies as a whole, but as far as I'm concerned it's a no brainer.

 

[TMDaines]

Football has been around for much longer than this pointless competition and will be around for a long time after it’s become a pointless memory. The future of grass roots football won’t live or die based on the success of the poxy Nations League.

Odd post considering the Nations League has essentially just replaced friendlies in the international calendar.

Also, let’s reflect back a little. People from the domains of the four British FAs and Ireland generally don’t have a good record at looking down on “pointless competitions” in their infancy. There were plenty who thought a World Cup was unnecessary and a club European Cup too.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

People complaining about the Nations League today would be complaining about the friendlies that would inevitably be replacing it in the calendar anyway.
Any international break before, during, after the season always triggers complaints on this very forum. Even traditional international tournaments are sometimes met with complacency.

We can argue about whether it's an upgrade on friendlies as a whole, but as far as I'm concerned it's a no brainer.

I never complained about friendlies. They are what they are. Nobody really cares about them but they fill a gap in the calendar. This competition is an irritation because it feels like we’re supposed to care about it but it’s impossible to give a shit.

Admittedly, this may be mainly because of the timing. Having this meaningless nonsense foisted on us when we should be enjoying a World Cup is really bugging me. I’m open to revising my opinion in future seasons.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Unless it’s an actual tournament - as in WC or Euros etc I have absolutely zero interest in any International games.

There’s too many International games, give the players a break.

 

[Dumbstar]

Unless it’s an actual tournament - as in WC or Euros etc I have absolutely zero interest in any International games.

There’s too many International games, give the players a break.

I would approach it as a chance to see my (or, if we're looking to buy, potentially my) club's players perform. But all players are either fatigued or under strict club instructions to not give 100% and risk injury which renders the whole process pointless.

 

[SirReginald]

I never complained about friendlies. They are what they are. Nobody really cares about them but they fill a gap in the calendar. This competition is an irritation because it feels like we’re supposed to care about it but it’s impossible to give a shit.

Admittedly, this may be mainly because of the timing. Having this meaningless nonsense foisted on us when we should be enjoying a World Cup is really bugging me. I’m open to revising my opinion in future seasons.

Friendlies we’re never a problem. There was just wayyyyyy too many. Season starts in august, you play like 3-4 games then September comes and it is time for an international break? Why in gods name does anyone want that, at that point in the season. fecking ridiculous.

Theres Not a single person on this earth who gets excited at the international friendly fixture list.

Nations league was Ceferins attempt to address the situation but you still see players only giving a shit at the World Cup. Not even the Euros gets some players going. That’s why the World Cup is actually interesting.Every other tournament really isn’t a good watch.

 

[Red Dreams]

These are glorified friendlies and nothing more.

Some countries are playing almost totally different teams game to game.
The right thing to do.
The results do not matter.
A good manager can see what needs to be done and will take notes.

 

[Cardboard elk]

I like Nations League. The matches means more than friendlies, and you meet teams around your own level. For me it is better than the old friendlies.
Too many matches in total for the players, yes. Would be a lot less if CL was only one match per round, easy fix (I do know many like the double mathes but I liked the old version that allowed more david's to succeed.).

 

[Bangalla]

Of course a team with Robin Olsen, Dejan Kulusevski, Emil Forsberg, Alexander Isak is the Swedish reserve-team Because Sweden have so many good players

No the other half of the team is. And because we don't have that many good players obviously so 3-4 second to fifth choice players make a huge difference. Negatively.

 

[Dansk]

It's silly to have this tournament just a few months before these teams will begin their final preparations for the World Cup. I think the Nations League would be fine in the gap years between international tournaments (2023, 2025, etc.) but it's frankly ridiculous to have it now. All the teams that have any shred of clout in the WC are clearly phoning it in and focusing mostly on avoiding injuries. It'll give a chance for teams like Denmark or Hungary to win it, but it would be hollow for the same reason.

 

[Demyanenko_square_jaw]

I liked the last few as a setup for replacing most friendlies, and it was good for the smaller teams to get in a greater amount of competitive games. They were entertaining and i didn't get the impression it was viewed by many as a new important tournament to rival the Euro's.This entry is obviously a mess because of the scheduling issues.

The point raised about it not being as good for teams outside europe that are more isolated against a depth of competition like some of the Asian and concacaf teams was a good one.

 

[Needham]

One thing I noticed and found a bit odd is, how on earth did Turkey end up in the same group with Luxembourg, Faroe Island and Lithuania?

Only countries they wouldn't block entering NATO.
Edgy

 

[moses]

Football has been around for much longer than this pointless competition and will be around for a long time after it’s become a pointless memory. The future of grass roots football won’t live or die based on the success of the poxy Nations League.

Don’t take it too personally that nobody cares about a competition which Norway is doing well in. Deep down we’re all happy for you. Honest.

I think that's harsh. If they lumped this on top of the calendar as it existed then yes, it'd be ridiculous, but I still think that these games are a vast improvement on the previous friendly set up for some nations, including ours. i get your point that we are invested in Kenny but again that match the other night was a proper competitive match from all involved, both teams and both sets of supporters. I enjoyed the Scotland match but Scotland seemed deflated. The Ukraine match was a great watch with bite all the way through, them desperate to win and us actually trying to win it at the end on the break. Yes, I suppose nobody cares about the competition but somehow within that the individual games, for the likes of us, are much better.

Sure France, England et al, should be in a world cup now, and even more bizarrely will be in one at Christmas, but that's a completely separate shit show. So if it's not floating the boats of the top tier nations, that's ok by me, they can pick themselves up for the Euros and WC. I genuinely think that for almost all the other nations this is much much better than it's previous incarnations as utterly pointless friendlies.

And I think catering for the benefit on non elite nations is a much better message to grass roots than a World Cup in Qatar. For all the moaning we do on these boards, that is one thing we cannot moan about enough in my opinion.

 

[moses]

These are glorified friendlies and nothing more.

Some countries are playing almost totally different teams game to game.
The right thing to do.
The results do not matter.
A good manager can see what needs to be done and will take notes.

They are football matches and as an Ireland fan they are infinitely more engaging and entertaining than friendlies. As some say that might be due to things other than the Nations league re-brand but they are definitely better games as there seems to be more investment outside the elite teams, and that is kinda the point?

 

[moses]

I would approach it as a chance to see my (or, if we're looking to buy, potentially my) club's players perform. But all players are either fatigued or under strict club instructions to not give 100% and risk injury which renders the whole process pointless.

Under normal circumstances they would be in the middle of a World Cup though?

 

[Dumbstar]

Under normal circumstances they would be in the middle of a World Cup though?

In which case most PL players would have downed tools earlier in the season in preparation. With no summer world cup they just went full tilt right to the end (look at the likes of Kane and Bowen as examples). I know they would still have had European spots to play for regardless but mentally the world cup would have started to impact their approach.

 

[moses]

In which case most PL players would have downed tools earlier in the season in preparation. With no summer world cup they just went full tilt right to the end (look at the likes of Kane and Bowen as examples). I know they would still have had European spots to play for regardless but mentally the world cup would have started to impact their approach.

Really? most players that are in the England Squad are invested in the season until the very end., literally with the likes of the Liverpool players?

 

[Bilbo]

I'm broadly in favour of it, but there are pros and cons. It's definitely more interesting than your standard pointless friendlies but on the other hand in the build up to a tournament, particularly a World Cup, teams are able to handpick friendly opponents to help prepare for specific fixtures. This competition prevents that possibility, plus we would never have had to contend with a ridiculous 4 game in 10 day schedule such as we have just had to do.

 

[Red Dreams]

They are football matches and as an Ireland fan they are infinitely more engaging and entertaining than friendlies. As some say that might be due to things other than the Nations league re-brand but they are definitely better games as there seems to be more investment outside the elite teams, and that is kinda the point?

I hear you.

 

[Red Dreams]

I used to enjoy the Home Championships matches more than most internationals.

Some great memories.