I truly Detest......

International Breaks.

The matches are normally of a low standard which our players have to play in and often come back with injuries that they picked up playing away to The Faroe Islands or Luxembourg.

Add all the traveling time & then the asshole who puts the Premiership fixtures together gives you the chestnut of an away game which is then promptly put as the early game for TV purposes.

It's a necessary evil.

They can't be played in the summer. The players need some time off.

The only thing I could see them doing is making the minnow teams like Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, etc. playing in a "playoff" type format where only 2 of those teams makes it through to the group stage qualifying. That would cut down the amount of games being played to maybe 8 instead of 10.

But then you would get arguments that it's not fair, and those minnow teams need to face tougher competitions to get better, yada yada.

What you need is for the USSR and Yugoslavia to reunite. That would get rid of a third of the teams.

TickTok wrote:

International Breaks.

The matches are normally of a low standard which our players have to play in and often come back with injuries that they picked up playing away to The Faroe Islands or Luxembourg.

Add all the traveling time & then the asshole who puts the Premiership fixtures together gives you the chestnut of an away game which is then promptly put as the early game for TV purposes.

Tend to agree, most of the games are boring. Definitely too many minnows that should do a pre-qualifying set of games. Having said that, it seems that, just as in the Prem, there are quite a few National teams that now punch above their historical weight. Iceland upsetting the Dutch in Holland. Wales only pipping Cyprus by 1 and Italy at home only getting 1 against the footballing giants, Malta.

Such an elitist European view that the top nations should be protected by the minnows having some pre qualifying. This is the pre qualifying that ensures that the European championships doesn't have these clubs in.

If the smaller nations dont have exposure to these matches they will never improve. It is no burden on the bigger nations. Big clubs picking up injuries is just a hazard to overcome. The price you pay for having established internationals. In other big sports (cricket and rugby), the leagues continue while international games go on - meaning those clubs dont have access to those players. Obviously the pay structure is different so not the fairest comparison ill admit.

Though I miss the Premier league during the international breaks, I dont mind international football. It is nice to pull together and support England with friends who support other clubs - instead of being at each others throats!!

abcdef wrote:

Such an elitist European view that the top nations should be protected by the minnows having some pre qualifying. This is the pre qualifying that ensures that the European championships doesn't have these clubs in.

If the smaller nations dont have exposure to these matches they will never improve. It is no burden on the bigger nations. Big clubs picking up injuries is just a hazard to overcome. The price you pay for having established internationals. In other big sports (cricket and rugby), the leagues continue while international games go on - meaning those clubs dont have access to those players. Obviously the pay structure is different so not the fairest comparison ill admit.

Though I miss the Premier league during the international breaks, I dont mind international football. It is nice to pull together and support England with friends who support other clubs - instead of being at each others throats!!

They wont improve because their population to choose from is too small.

If what you say is true, Luxembourg, who I remember seeing at Wembley back in 1977, almost 40 years ago, should be by now a medium strength country.

They are still shocking.

All these stupid no hopers are getting these games and the championships being expanded because Platini needed the votes to become UEFA President.

Gibraltar for fuck sake..... Please advise how much exposure will they need to become better?

I have no problem with these smaller teams playing. England don't play anymore games now than they did decades ago.

The argument that it helps them improve is mostly moot though it should be noted that Iceland which has a population of 300,000 is top of their group. For the real minnows it's never going to make a difference.

They have expanded the tournament which is actually resulting in one more game in France itself. 6 instead of 5.

I do have a problem with comparisons between Wazzer and Bobby Charlton. outside of them both being baldy fuckers, it should pretty much stop there. The parity of opposition Charlton faced v Rooney and co these days should make any new record come with an asterisk.

Do it like Rugby.

Top 3 teams in each group at the World Cup automatically qualify for the next one.

The qualifiers are fine. The friendlies are what I have a problem with. It's needless stupidity. At least after October we'll be done until the Spring.

I'd support a two tier system because you have teams like San Marino, who have scored two competitive goals in their history. This is bad and doesn't help their development. There is no proof that they are any better than they were ten years ago.