The absence of international fixtures

[TallReed]

Thought this would be about international fixtures ala England etc.

Playing competitive European football is at the top of every player's list and it's at the top of mine as a viewer.

Hopefully this will be the only season for a long time in which we are absent from those competitions as I miss it dearly.

 

[Sandikan]

Hmm. Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter

The tournaments just about make it worthwhile.

But in my proposal, I'd state that international football was a construct from a time the vast majority of players played in their own country, and was the top level of football. There was a sense of intrigue about these exotic footballers, as we'd simply never see them play, or as time moved on, only see their highlights.

These days, international football isn't close to the top level, we have countless European competitions and we're constantly seeing all the best players.

 

[bgoodall]

We absolutely needed a season away from Europe to try and get into the top 4. Losing that final while rough might have been a blessing in disguise. We don’t have the depth needed to compete on all fronts and fewer games is going to help us establish some stability.

 

[Deewill]

"Losing the Europa league final was a blessing a disguise"

I read that many times on the caf and twitter but nah I'm sorry this is just cope mechanism at its finest. Losing an European final could never be a blessing when you're Manchester United, especially when you're facing fking Spurs. Given the scenario against Lyon we had to win this, but now it just feels like a useless win despite the fact that it's obviously one of the most legendary games in our history

Playing once a week is a double edged sword, yes we're less subject to injuries but players may lack fitness and we don't have enough fixtures to implement new tactics. In 22-23 Arsenal was playing once a week at a certain point in the title race and it didn't help them as expected. Keep in mind that the 100M win prize would have enable us to revamp the midfield and maybe sort out our left wing issues.

Plus, although it's just a personal feeling, I think fixtures congestion at least gives fresh air (for fans mainly) when we have a bad patch. Losing on the weekend then having to wait a whole week leave a lot of room for doubts, dwelling and media commentary. Can you imagine what our last season would have been like if we hadn't had the Europa league breakaway?