Germany v England 7:45pm

MolteniArcore said:
Sadly not. Internationals no longer excite me. I'll maybe watch the quarter finals and beyond if England get through in the WC but have little interest beyond that.
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I can kind of relate to this.

With International football, personally, I think less is more.

I always look forward to the World Cup and the Euro's, however the amount of friendlies, qualifiers and now Nation's League games are just boring. FIFA/UEFA etc are clearly trying to push through as many fixtures as possible now as it's clearly a cash cow for them. The more games = more money. They don't care that the standard could end up dropping, and the players could suffer from fatigue/exhaustion. It's all about the money.
 
MolteniArcore said:
Sadly not. Internationals no longer excite me. I'll maybe watch the quarter finals and beyond if England get through in the WC but have little interest beyond that.
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I was like that up until the Euros.

I think for years it was the same names, rarely did anyone from outside the top 4 get a look in and it was all quite boring but i think my opinion has changed. I'm looking forward to this tonight, when before i've lost count of the amount of non-tournament games (Friendlies, and qualifiers) i haven't even bothered tuning in for.

I'm excited for tonight and look forward to all the England games now - however that been said, i'd still prefer Boro won anything over any success for England at international level.
 
Throughout the season you hear that teams are playing too much football and that players are burning out. UEFA, who are supposed to be looking after the interests of clubs and players, have decided to add this competition and also change the Champions League format to include more games.

Doesn't the season start earlier this year to allow for the world cup. If so, when do the players get a break?

I know our Charlie was back in pre-season training with Wigan two weeks back but that might be to do more with medical checks.
 
Can't get myself excited for these Nations League games, especially when there should really be a World Cup starting around about now. The players look half arsed as well, probably just want to be on holiday.
 
TheYorkshireTerrier said:
Can't get myself excited for these Nations League games, especially when there should really be a World Cup starting around about now. The players look half arsed as well, probably just want to be on holiday.
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They've probably been on holiday already, and they'll get another shortly. Imagine if they played football for a living.
 
Proper game of football tonight. Germany away in Munich. What a fixture and a really big test for England. I'd expect to see the likes of Sterling and Stones back in tonight.
 
Cuthbert said:
I don't agree that it's boring. Each to their own I guess. One of the most exciting England games that I've been to in the last few years (and with decent atmosphere) was when we beat Croatia 2-1 at Wembley to qualify for the finals. Came back from 1-0 down, scoring in 78 & 85.

It was miles more exciting than most of the England World Cup qualifiers since. Admittedly we didn't have packed stadiums for the Euros, but some of those games weren't even as good.

As a player like KDB who plays countless games a season, and football for his job (which might sometimes take the edge off the fun(?)), I can see why he might not be a big fan of it.
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Add Spain 2 - 3 England to that game as well.
 
I’m a bit meh about the results and performances and see the games as a bit of squad blooding and trials…

Winning breads winning though so yeah, results are important and the fact it’s a tourney makes it mildly more interesting than the friendlies they would otherwise be playing…
 
Its much better than pointless friendlies, especially in the lead up to a major competition. We need as much exposure and experience against the top nations as possible - albeit Hungary and Italy wont be in the world cup they do offer the level of quality we will face and styles we may come up against.

Its not a major competition in its own right but gives me much more interest than a standard friendly.

Tonight's game will be competitive - Germany will want to avenge the Euro's defeat and show they have maybe turned a corner and Southgate will want a reaction from Saturday.

I think we will lose tonight. Im not in the camp of moaning about Southgate, i don't mind his more defensive approach. With so called better players, playing the premier league way meant we got dominated in midfield against any half decent nation. International football is slower, more patient and keeping the ball. We do however need goals from other areas, i think Harry Maguire is 3rd top scorer of current squad over a certain period. That said i would like to see us go 433 rather than 343/523. I think Bellingham and Rice need to play every game as that is the future but i think Bellingham suits a 3 in the middle rather than 2. We know Southgate has his favourites, again i have no problem with this, Mount, Sterling, Maguire, Pickford have not let England down and perform much better than they do for their clubs, something i never expected to say of an England team. You would also think Foden has to fit into this system somewhere and then we have Saka - We do need some pace alongside Kane.

That is my worry, we have so much talent but its really difficult to get the right balance and also those with an eye for goal.
 
Marvanelli said:
I can kind of relate to this.

With International football, personally, I think less is more.

I always look forward to the World Cup and the Euro's, however the amount of friendlies, qualifiers and now Nation's League games are just boring. FIFA/UEFA etc are clearly trying to push through as many fixtures as possible now as it's clearly a cash cow for them. The more games = more money. They don't care that the standard could end up dropping, and the players could suffer from fatigue/exhaustion. It's all about the money.
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We're not really playing that many more matches than we used to though.

The Nations League matches have replaced friendlies that would have been happening anyway.

Since the 60s we've tended to play between 10-12 matches a season.
The only time that really differs is when we fail to qualify for a tournament or if we go far in it.

For the two largest numbers of international games in a year we've had in English history:

We played 17 games in 1966 - 2 qualifiers, 9 friendlies and 6 World Cup matches.

We played 19 games in 2021 - 10 qualifiers, 2 friendlies and 7 Euros matches.

2 match difference, but there are many more countries now, so qualifying and tournaments have expanded and there a fewer friendlies.

In 1969, we played 10 friendlies.
In 2019, we played 8 qualifiers and 2 Nations League matches.
 
So the only player we have that plays not only against German sides every week but also plays in Germany and we don’t play him in Germany against erm Germany.

Hmmm yes makes sense.
 
Agree the Nations League is/has been rather boring, to say the least, even if it is supposedly more competitive than your regular national friendlies ... though I am hoping for a good performance from us tonight. It's a proper test given what's ahead at the end of the year, and vs. Germany, it's never a nothing game with us. I would be interested to see how they react to Saturday.

The majority of the squad are probably fatigued from long seasons with their clubs, though so not expecting too much.

I was interested to see that CH4 had been chosen as broadcaster for England games, though I hate to say I think Saturday's coverage was a woeful start

Michael Owen is a dreadful pundit. The dullest man on Earth

Speaking of internationals ... I must say, I think Holland are looking a very, very good side right now under Van Gaal. They're my dark horses for the WC in Qatar :sneaky:
 
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