The UEFA Nations League 2020/2021 Discussion Thread

[muratsink]

Many players don't feel like playing these matches at all. Of course we see that they give interviews and that they say that they are looking forward to it and that they want to win, but that is simply a moral obligation to the fatherland. Kevin de Bruyne was recently one of the few players to come out publicly saying that he had no appetite for these conference leg matches at all. Now it can be a preparation for the World Cup, but that is a coincidence.

This competition was created with the aim of ending friendly games. Therefore, it is normal for many players to take these games less seriously. As the competition is still very recent, it still doesn't generate much motivation. But with three or four more years of competition, I believe that mentality will change a bit.

UEFA and its member associations want a greater sense of sportsmanship in national team-level football, with growing opinions from associations, coaches.players and supporters that friendly matches do not provide proper competition for the national team," so many countries do not take this tournament seriously so it is natural that star-studded teams can lose to relatively weak countries, maybe there are only a few countries that take this tournament seriously, such as Portugal and the Netherlands, who played like that. amazing in the UEFA Nations League

[joker_josue]

If it was up to the teams they could have just went with any game at any time against anyone they want and that would work for them, but since it's now all decided, they are facing teams that UEFA tells them and they play on the dates that UEFA tells them, which is limiting.

But it doesn't take the League of Nations for that to happen. This has always been the case, all matches of the national teams are carried out according to the FIFA calendar and continental associations. Even friendly matches are held on dates defined by FIFA, in this case what differs is the choice of opponent that is made by UEFA. It should be noted that all over the world national teams played games, friendly or not, on the same days as the Nations League games.

[nullama]

~snip~
This competition was created with the aim of ending friendly games. Therefore, it is normal for many players to take these games less seriously. As the competition is still very recent, it still doesn't generate much motivation. But with three or four more years of competition, I believe that mentality will change a bit.

I don't think the whole purpose is to completely eliminate friendly games, but to instead provide a more organized structure to all the friendlies that can happen in Europe, where there are many, many great teams.

Friendly matches on top of the Nations League will continue to happen, just not as frequently as before. In a way, this makes friendly matches a bit more interesting, because there are less of them. The Nations League is basically a lower tier tournament compared to the World Cup for example, but it's nice to have so many different teams playing with each other all the time.

[mv1986]

Many players don't feel like playing these matches at all. Of course we see that they give interviews and that they say that they are looking forward to it and that they want to win, but that is simply a moral obligation to the fatherland. Kevin de Bruyne was recently one of the few players to come out publicly saying that he had no appetite for these conference leg matches at all. Now it can be a preparation for the World Cup, but that is a coincidence.

This competition was created with the aim of ending friendly games. Therefore, it is normal for many players to take these games less seriously. As the competition is still very recent, it still doesn't generate much motivation. But with three or four more years of competition, I believe that mentality will change a bit.

There are a couple of factors at play here: the audience is also getting tired of seeing Germany vs. Italy every couple of months. Years ago that was a highlight every soccer fan was looking forward to, but these days it is not the same anymore. The consequence? Well, as a player I can imagine that it makes a difference if you know there are tens of millions sitting in front of the TV instead of just a hand full of people compared to what it is during the European Championship and World Championship. The competition itself is just not very attractive. It still has this character of being more friendly than seriously competitive. It is because people know in the back of their head that that was actually the reason why the competition was created, as you already mentioned.

[Zackgeno96]

Matches in this league mean absolutely nothing. Recently, for example, the Netherlands won 4-1 against Belgium. Do you really think it will be the same at the World Cup? That game could also have ended in 1-8. At the World Cup you see a completely different team. As mentioned before, many players but also coaches consider these matches as practice matches. The only thing is that it counts for the FIFA ranking, in which points can be earned. Those matches are played when the competition is already over, nobody wants that of course. And the risk of injury is also quite high because of that.

[muratsink]

Matches in this league mean absolutely nothing. Recently, for example, the Netherlands won 4-1 against Belgium. Do you really think it will be the same at the World Cup? That game could also have ended in 1-8. At the World Cup you see a completely different team. As mentioned before, many players but also coaches consider these matches as practice matches. The only thing is that it counts for the FIFA ranking, in which points can be earned. Those matches are played when the competition is already over, nobody wants that of course. And the risk of injury is also quite high because of that.

Everything that happens in matches between nations cannot be used as a benchmark for one country to be able to show an impressive performance again when they start the 4th annual event, even though some teams appear so impressive in matches between leagues of nations such as Portugal, the Netherlands and also Poland. we can't guarantee whether they can repeat their success in the world cup next November, considering this is only a friendly tournament so not all countries play optimally

[nullama]

Matches in this league mean absolutely nothing. Recently, for example, the Netherlands won 4-1 against Belgium. Do you really think it will be the same at the World Cup? That game could also have ended in 1-8. At the World Cup you see a completely different team. As mentioned before, many players but also coaches consider these matches as practice matches. The only thing is that it counts for the FIFA ranking, in which points can be earned. Those matches are played when the competition is already over, nobody wants that of course. And the risk of injury is also quite high because of that.

They don't mean absolutely nothing, it's still a humiliating defeat though. It just doesn't mean the same as if it was in the World Cup.

I would say a Nations League match is worth about 5% of a World Cup match in terms of what it means in the minds of the players and the public in general.

[bct_ail]

Matches in this league mean absolutely nothing. Recently, for example, the Netherlands won 4-1 against Belgium. Do you really think it will be the same at the World Cup? That game could also have ended in 1-8. At the World Cup you see a completely different team. As mentioned before, many players but also coaches consider these matches as practice matches. The only thing is that it counts for the FIFA ranking, in which points can be earned. Those matches are played when the competition is already over, nobody wants that of course. And the risk of injury is also quite high because of that.

They don't mean absolutely nothing, it's still a humiliating defeat though. It just doesn't mean the same as if it was in the World Cup.

I would say a Nations League match is worth about 5% of a World Cup match in terms of what it means in the minds of the players and the public in general.

Of course this cannot be compared. At the World Cup for example, you have a completely different atmosphere. The players are together in their camp for the whole time. The fans have a completely different attitude at the World Cup than when the national teams playing at home.

[Jody.Drummer]

Matches in this league mean absolutely nothing. Recently, for example, the Netherlands won 4-1 against Belgium. Do you really think it will be the same at the World Cup? That game could also have ended in 1-8. At the World Cup you see a completely different team. As mentioned before, many players but also coaches consider these matches as practice matches. The only thing is that it counts for the FIFA ranking, in which points can be earned. Those matches are played when the competition is already over, nobody wants that of course. And the risk of injury is also quite high because of that.

They don't mean absolutely nothing, it's still a humiliating defeat though. It just doesn't mean the same as if it was in the World Cup.

I would say a Nations League match is worth about 5% of a World Cup match in terms of what it means in the minds of the players and the public in general.

Agree with what you said, due to the fact that not many serious teams are here because they obviously want to measure how their preparation starts from tactics and everything related to performance they are also clearly good observers for other teams and the league of nations is depending on the strategy whether they want to show their original performance or just to test because in this case many teams are not serious and even just do a few player rotations to test players.

[muratsink]

Many players don't feel like playing these matches at all. Of course we see that they give interviews and that they say that they are looking forward to it and that they want to win, but that is simply a moral obligation to the fatherland. Kevin de Bruyne was recently one of the few players to come out publicly saying that he had no appetite for these conference leg matches at all. Now it can be a preparation for the World Cup, but that is a coincidence.

This competition was created with the aim of ending friendly games. Therefore, it is normal for many players to take these games less seriously. As the competition is still very recent, it still doesn't generate much motivation. But with three or four more years of competition, I believe that mentality will change a bit.

although UEFA has made this tournament as competitive as possible, many countries consider the UEFA Nations League event not so serious, so it is only natural that many great countries have to fall from several dark horse teams, even though there are trophies up for grabs for the end of the season but many countries don't want to take this competition more seriously like the EURO or the World Cup, maybe we really hope that in the next 2-3 years the UEFA Nations League will become a more serious competition for European teams to participate in.

[joker_josue]

although UEFA has made this tournament as competitive as possible, many countries consider the UEFA Nations League event not so serious, so it is only natural that many great countries have to fall from several dark horse teams, even though there are trophies up for grabs for the end of the season but many countries don't want to take this competition more seriously like the EURO or the World Cup, maybe we really hope that in the next 2-3 years the UEFA Nations League will become a more serious competition for European teams to participate in.

I also think that's what will happen, in a few years the competition will become more relevant.
Even because apparently, they want to extend the competition to countries outside Europe - hence the name. But first they want to understand the impact this has on fans and national teams.

[laurenB7742]

Matches in this league mean absolutely nothing. Recently, for example, the Netherlands won 4-1 against Belgium. Do you really think it will be the same at the World Cup? That game could also have ended in 1-8. At the World Cup you see a completely different team. As mentioned before, many players but also coaches consider these matches as practice matches. The only thing is that it counts for the FIFA ranking, in which points can be earned. Those matches are played when the competition is already over, nobody wants that of course. And the risk of injury is also quite high because of that.

They don't mean absolutely nothing, it's still a humiliating defeat though. It just doesn't mean the same as if it was in the World Cup.
I would say a Nations League match is worth about 5% of a World Cup match in terms of what it means in the minds of the players and the public in general.

Agree with what you said, due to the fact that not many serious teams are here because they obviously want to measure how their preparation starts from tactics and everything related to performance they are also clearly good observers for other teams and the league of nations is depending on the strategy whether they want to show their original performance or just to test because in this case many teams are not serious and even just do a few player rotations to test players.

It is true that no one actually cares about this League. It doesn't have any importance to even a lot of the players that are playing in the league. and that's because they also know very well that this does not matter if you win or lose unless it is very humiliating. It is just basically giving the regular players some amount of playtime and watching which tactics are going to work better with which team composition. other than that no one actually cares about what is going on here in this League.

[Alanaz]

although UEFA has made this tournament as competitive as possible, many countries consider the UEFA Nations League event not so serious, so it is only natural that many great countries have to fall from several dark horse teams, even though there are trophies up for grabs for the end of the season but many countries don't want to take this competition more seriously like the EURO or the World Cup, maybe we really hope that in the next 2-3 years the UEFA Nations League will become a more serious competition for European teams to participate in.

This was quite normal as there wasn't anything to be very proud of as a result of that. but indeed it may be more interesting for the next few years but there has to be something to be proud of like the world cup or the euro so that the participating teams can be more intent on competing in the league of nations.

[joker_josue]

This was quite normal as there wasn't anything to be very proud of as a result of that. but indeed it may be more interesting for the next few years but there has to be something to be proud of like the world cup or the euro so that the participating teams can be more intent on competing in the league of nations.

At this time, for the winner it guarantees that at least it participates in the Euro access playoff.
And since the competition is official, victories and ties count towards the FIFA ranking. And this ranking is useful to get more funding and also to be better positioned in the draws (in the first pots).

[Juggy777]

although UEFA has made this tournament as competitive as possible, many countries consider the UEFA Nations League event not so serious, so it is only natural that many great countries have to fall from several dark horse teams, even though there are trophies up for grabs for the end of the season but many countries don't want to take this competition more seriously like the EURO or the World Cup, maybe we really hope that in the next 2-3 years the UEFA Nations League will become a more serious competition for European teams to participate in.

This was quite normal as there wasn't anything to be very proud of as a result of that. but indeed it may be more interesting for the next few years but there has to be something to be proud of like the world cup or the euro so that the participating teams can be more intent on competing in the league of nations.

At this time, for the winner it guarantees that at least it participates in the Euro access playoff.
And since the competition is official, victories and ties count towards the FIFA ranking. And this ranking is useful to get more funding and also to be better positioned in the draws (in the first pots).

I think that the player’s were exhausted due to the pandemic and the long season they had, but in coming year’s I too feel that we should see better performances from them. Furthermore I feel that coaches were using these matches to experiment for the World Cup, and that’s why most of the favourite teams underperformed, but if they use tried and tested methods then this tournament will become competitive too.

[muratsink]

If it was up to the teams they could have just went with any game at any time against anyone they want and that would work for them, but since it's now all decided, they are facing teams that UEFA tells them and they play on the dates that UEFA tells them, which is limiting.

But it doesn't take the League of Nations for that to happen. This has always been the case, all matches of the national teams are carried out according to the FIFA calendar and continental associations. Even friendly matches are held on dates defined by FIFA, in this case what differs is the choice of opponent that is made by UEFA. It should be noted that all over the world national teams played games, friendly or not, on the same days as the Nations League games.

from all aspects of the match and the match schedule itself has not changed where UEFA is setting a match schedule in accordance with the FIFA calendar where there is no domestic competition in several European leagues only FIFA changes the format and tournaments to be more competitive than last season's matches, a move that taken by UEFA is very good by making some matches more interesting so that it is no longer entitled friendly match but rather a tournament held in general even though the UEFA Nations League tournament is not as prestigious as the world cup matches or other competitions

[fzkto]

although UEFA has made this tournament as competitive as possible, many countries consider the UEFA Nations League event not so serious, so it is only natural that many great countries have to fall from several dark horse teams, even though there are trophies up for grabs for the end of the season but many countries don't want to take this competition more seriously like the EURO or the World Cup, maybe we really hope that in the next 2-3 years the UEFA Nations League will become a more serious competition for European teams to participate in.

I also think that's what will happen, in a few years the competition will become more relevant.
Even because apparently, they want to extend the competition to countries outside Europe - hence the name. But first they want to understand the impact this has on fans and national teams.

The impact so far proves to be zero. Because all the teams understand that the Nations League was invented instead of the usual friendly matches. That's why everyone treats these matches as friendly matches, where the coaches have the opportunity to experiment. I think the situation with these competitions will not change, because every two years there are more serious competitions.

[joker_josue]

The impact so far proves to be zero. Because all the teams understand that the Nations League was invented instead of the usual friendly matches. That's why everyone treats these matches as friendly matches, where the coaches have the opportunity to experiment. I think the situation with these competitions will not change, because every two years there are more serious competitions.

But in a way, this is also in UEFA's interest, as it could make smaller teams able to increase their level of competitiveness.
That is, for France, Portugal, Germany, Italy, it may not be of much interest. But for smaller teams, it could be a good opportunity.

[hahay]

The impact so far proves to be zero. Because all the teams understand that the Nations League was invented instead of the usual friendly matches. That's why everyone treats these matches as friendly matches, where the coaches have the opportunity to experiment. I think the situation with these competitions will not change, because every two years there are more serious competitions.

But in a way, this is also in UEFA's interest, as it could make smaller teams able to increase their level of competitiveness.
That is, for France, Portugal, Germany, Italy, it may not be of much interest. But for smaller teams, it could be a good opportunity.

When this tournament is used as a place to try strategies for big teams, then at least they can still play with good results. Because trying several strategies doesn't have to mean they always fail because the opponent is a weaker team, even though it's good for mediocre teams but that doesn't mean they can win easily. But yes, there is nothing more that can be done because everything has happened, I just find it difficult to accept the results obtained in this National League because as a big team of course they have several advantages even though they are trying a strategy at least they can still survive better because they have a squad with better quality.

[dezoel]

When this tournament is used as a place to try strategies for big teams, then at least they can still play with good results. Because trying several strategies doesn't have to mean they always fail because the opponent is a weaker team, even though it's good for mediocre teams but that doesn't mean they can win easily. But yes, there is nothing more that can be done because everything has happened, I just find it difficult to accept the results obtained in this National League because as a big team of course they have several advantages even though they are trying a strategy at least they can still survive better because they have a squad with better quality.

Of course they could end up winning, there is no guarantee that it will be a loss, it just means that it is not going to be that easy to win when you are playing with some players who are not your regular starters, with a system that you are trying brand new.

Just like everyone else said, this is just a friendly thing, and it's going to be quite difficult to predict what the big nations would do. Sure the opponents are weak, but usually the huge nations do not face with teams like sri lanka neither, maybe a few games like that, but some tough opponents as well. Hence why the results are almost always unknown, and whoever finds a good strategy, they may win.