The UEFA Nations League 2020/2021 Discussion Thread

[Trofo]

Nations League was introduced to get rid of the friendly matches. That was UEFA's original plan. That's why they started this competition, which is just as unattractive as the friendlies. Hardly anyone knows who the last Nations League winner is and most of them did not understand the strange rules of this competition. This competition is actually doomed to fail and I hope that it will be abolished soon.

I actually like it better than friendlies. Good teams play against other good teams and not against Gibraltar (nothing against them just first team that came to my mind). I prefer seeing my team, Croatia, play against France and Portugal than in some pointless friendly.

Congested schedule is a problem but it was the same even before national league so we can't blame it for everything.

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[Daniel91]

I am actually on few games both to score today. These are friendlies and hopefully there will not be such big emphasis on defense:
Turkey - Croatia - This one I am playing on the back of Croatian national team results, we always manage to score a goal or two and always concede at least one from some stupid set piece
Netherlands - Spain - I am afraid for this one since Netherlands had some very tight games recently but hopefully Spain will make this one pass
Belgium - Switzerland - This is for me the best game tonight. Both teams like to play football and this one could end with some real friendly result like 3:2 maybe

I watched Turkey - Croatia and it was entertaining game, ended 3:3 which was a bit more then even I expected. I believe managers will have a lot to say to their teams, defending was atrocious from both sides today.

Belgium is playing in much weaker composition than usual and I was afraid they will be the team which screws me over but Batshuayi managed to score a nice goal early in second half which is enough for me. Is this the line up just for the friendly or for the Nations league as well? They are missing most of their best players, they are not even on the bench.

I was also very entertained by the Turkey vs Croatia match which ended in a draw. Even though it's only an international friendlies match,
but both teams played serious enough to win the match. It's true that both teams have bad defenses, with this friendly match a lesson for
both teams to improve their defense in the next match.

I agree that the selection of Belgian players in the match against Switzerland is indeed weaker than usual, maybe the line up now is only for
friendly matches. Fortunately, two goals from Michy Batshuayi managed to make Belgium win the match.

Croatia has had very serious problems with its defense for a very long time, since the World Cup in Russia.
If coach Dalic does not solve this problem very quickly, I think that Croatia has no chance to repeat the excellent results from the recent past.
At the moment, I'm very worried about the poor defense, because on Saturday we will have a crucial match against Sweden.

[Harkorede]

France was the upset of the night, and could possibly be the biggest for this international break, exactly my reason of avoiding the friendlies.

France was so bad, and the sad part is that it wasn't even Finland's best starting XI, just players from farmer leagues...But now it's clear, now I understand why Pogba, Ben Yedder, Nzonzi, Sissoko and the rest are subs    and i'm expecting France to lose next Saturday as well, got me a ticket with Portugal to win =P

today's friendly matches will be interesting not at the level of quality of the teams (other than England the rest of the teams are weak), but because they are selections of countries involved in armed or diplomatic conflicts constantly

i'm staying away from those matches. Betting in any of those friendlies will be the same as clicking the "Donate" button in the bookies lol  

Yeah, I couldn't agree more with your points! There's no match I'm interested in for today, I could have settled for the AFCON qualifiers but then there's no way to stream the matches, Algeria and Ghana are two teams I could have been interested in.

[adamvp]

Yeah, Trofo. Uefa Nations League could be sometimes more interesting than  many Euro Qualifiers matches.  Even if there is 2 top european teams in one group they have no big motivation  since there 24 teams will qualify to play in Euro and both are predestined to qualify.

[coinlocket$]

The only good thing about yesterday was Ronaldo scoring goal 746 and he tie with Puskas for the 4th all-time scorer.

He now needs
21 goal to tie with Pele
26 goals to tie with Romario
59 goals to be number 1 in the world.

He can probably do this in the next 2 years in Juventus with the club, in the next nation League and in the next Euro 2020 2021.


The risk is that he will passed soon later by Messi, he is 2 years younger   

[EdenHazard]

today's friendly matches will be interesting not at the level of quality of the teams (other than England the rest of the teams are weak), but because they are selections of countries involved in armed or diplomatic conflicts constantly ( russia, Iran, Syria, Iraq, USA, Lebanon ) . I wonder what a friendly match between:

USA - RUSSIA or IRAO - IRAQ would be like?

I am convinced that if these teams played, they would be imagining things like these:

Lol , there's no way these teams meet each other or scheduling a friendly match on purpose,  unless yeah if they get qualified for the world cup and meet at some point at the knockout stage. Nations league for their ownn .. FIFA might have to set this kind competition to gather all the conflicted nations and call it as conflicted natons league lol

Edit : marking my 6000th post 

[BIT-BENDER]

The only good thing about yesterday was Ronaldo scoring goal 746 and he tie with Puskas for the 4th all-time scorer.

He now needs
21 goal to tie with Pele
26 goals to tie with Romario
59 goals to be number 1 in the world.

He can probably do this in the next 2 years in Juventus with the club, in the next nation League and in the next Euro 2020 2021.


The risk is that he will passed soon later by Messi, he is 2 years younger   

Messi is two years younger but could retire from football before c,ronaldo does, take zlatan ibrahimovic some of his juniors has retired from football but he looks fit enough to have a go at another season after this one finishes and its top flight, c,ronaldo has the strength to do so and also messi minus injuries, this two are the greatest and they will have their separate world record that the other person can't break.

[gabbie2010]

The only good thing about yesterday was Ronaldo scoring goal 746 and he tie with Puskas for the 4th all-time scorer.

He now needs
21 goal to tie with Pele
26 goals to tie with Romario
59 goals to be number 1 in the world.

He can probably do this in the next 2 years in Juventus with the club, in the next nation League and in the next Euro 2020 2021.


The risk is that he will passed soon later by Messi, he is 2 years younger   

Messi is two years younger but could retire from football before c,ronaldo does, take zlatan ibrahimovic some of his juniors has retired from football but he looks fit enough to have a go at another season after this one finishes and its top flight, c,ronaldo has the strength to do so and also messi minus injuries, this two are the greatest and they will have their separate world record that the other person can't break.

Its obvious that c.ronaldo will break those records before his retirement from active soccer the dude work rate is superb and goal scoring rate is high, he is likely to attain that milestone ahead of Messi, even despite the fact that age is not on his side, he is firing at all cylinders, an indication that he will still be active I'm many more years to come.
Meanwhile Messi might not the strength to continue  playing active soccer like Ronald its very glaring that its not the usual Messi we use to see in those days in Barcelona.

[slaman29]

today's friendly matches will be interesting not at the level of quality of the teams (other than England the rest of the teams are weak), but because they are selections of countries involved in armed or diplomatic conflicts constantly ( russia, Iran, Syria, Iraq, USA, Lebanon ) . I wonder what a friendly match between:

USA - RUSSIA or IRAO - IRAQ would be like?

I am convinced that if these teams played, they would be imagining things like these:

Lol , there's no way these teams meet each other or scheduling a friendly match on purpose,  unless yeah if they get qualified for the world cup and meet at some point at the knockout stage. Nations league for their ownn .. FIFA might have to set this kind competition to gather all the conflicted nations and call it as conflicted natons league lol

Edit : marking my 6000th post 

USA Russia is nothing compared to Iran Iraq, I think, but I think the craziest games to watch would be like Israel Palestine, or like Turkey Armenia with the war that just happened.

I guess in times like these, FIFA tries to use football as peacebuilding option, as they should. I love rivalries but politics is something completely different and has no place in football (when just used as a rivalry I think).

[swogerino]

The only good thing about yesterday was Ronaldo scoring goal 746 and he tie with Puskas for the 4th all-time scorer.

He now needs
21 goal to tie with Pele
26 goals to tie with Romario
59 goals to be number 1 in the world.

He can probably do this in the next 2 years in Juventus with the club, in the next nation League and in the next Euro 2020 2021.


The risk is that he will passed soon later by Messi, he is 2 years younger   

Messi is two years younger but could retire from football before c,ronaldo does, take zlatan ibrahimovic some of his juniors has retired from football but he looks fit enough to have a go at another season after this one finishes and its top flight, c,ronaldo has the strength to do so and also messi minus injuries, this two are the greatest and they will have their separate world record that the other person can't break.

Its obvious that c.ronaldo will break those records before his retirement from active soccer the dude work rate is superb and goal scoring rate is high, he is likely to attain that milestone ahead of Messi, even despite the fact that age is not on his side, he is firing at all cylinders, an indication that he will still be active I'm many more years to come.
Meanwhile Messi might not the strength to continue  playing active soccer like Ronald its very glaring that its not the usual Messi we use to see in those days in Barcelona.

Cristiano is in top physical form considering his age in which many other players have quit playing.I think that based on this performance he will soon be number one in the world.About Messi I would not worry much that he will pass Ronaldo as he is not scoring like he used to with Barcelona nowadays.

[dre1982]

Yeah, Trofo. Uefa Nations League could be sometimes more interesting than  many Euro Qualifiers matches.  Even if there is 2 top european teams in one group they have no big motivation  since there 24 teams will qualify to play in Euro and both are predestined to qualify.

I like the idea of the Nations League but the motivation is the same as most Qualifiers. Most games are too boring the watch. For the lower poules its more interesting then the higher poules.

Maybe the have to give the finalist directly tickets to the EC. Maybe that will motivate them more.

[tyz]

Yeah, Trofo. Uefa Nations League could be sometimes more interesting than  many Euro Qualifiers matches.  Even if there is 2 top european teams in one group they have no big motivation  since there 24 teams will qualify to play in Euro and both are predestined to qualify.

I like the idea of the Nations League but the motivation is the same as most Qualifiers. Most games are too boring the watch. For the lower poules its more interesting then the higher poules.

These games were boring even before Corona and the audience numbers were already lower than usual. With Corona, such games have completely lost their attractiveness. The only advantage I see is when you bet on those matches. The Nations League creates a lot of unbalanced pairings that can be bet on with simple strategies and with high stakes and low risk (but also low profit).

[dre1982]

Yeah, Trofo. Uefa Nations League could be sometimes more interesting than  many Euro Qualifiers matches.  Even if there is 2 top european teams in one group they have no big motivation  since there 24 teams will qualify to play in Euro and both are predestined to qualify.

I like the idea of the Nations League but the motivation is the same as most Qualifiers. Most games are too boring the watch. For the lower poules its more interesting then the higher poules.

These games were boring even before Corona and the audience numbers were already lower than usual. With Corona, such games have completely lost their attractiveness. The only advantage I see is when you bet on those matches. The Nations League creates a lot of unbalanced pairings that can be bet on with simple strategies and with high stakes and low risk (but also low profit).

Now we see matches where they play 'audience' sounds during the game. Those sounds are louder then the real audience will be at those matches.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

These games were boring even before Corona and the audience numbers were already lower than usual. With Corona, such games have completely lost their attractiveness. The only advantage I see is when you bet on those matches. The Nations League creates a lot of unbalanced pairings that can be bet on with simple strategies and with high stakes and low risk (but also low profit).

I hate the international break, it’s utterly pointless. I can accept that there are world cup & euro’s qualifiers. The Nations League is a total waste of time & resources. It should have been cancelled until covid is under control worldwide. Loads of players are getting injured due to too many games & not enough recovery time.

[ufaiz50]

These games were boring even before Corona and the audience numbers were already lower than usual. With Corona, such games have completely lost their attractiveness. The only advantage I see is when you bet on those matches. The Nations League creates a lot of unbalanced pairings that can be bet on with simple strategies and with high stakes and low risk (but also low profit).

I hate the international break, it’s utterly pointless. I can accept that there are world cup & euro’s qualifiers. The Nations League is a total waste of time & resources. It should have been cancelled until covid is under control worldwide. Loads of players are getting injured due to too many games & not enough recovery time.

I also think that nations league is complete nonsense. Nobody really benefits from that. And now in these times, players have to play many more matches anyway. In England they already play way too much. And then you also have to travel for a Nations League match, which is about nothing. If you are good enough you will qualify for a tournament anyway. That Nations League is not necessary at all. Players have to travel unnecessarily and can suffer injuries from too little rut.

[TopT3ns]

I also think that nations league is complete nonsense. Nobody really benefits from that. And now in these times, players have to play many more matches anyway. In England they already play way too much. And then you also have to travel for a Nations League match, which is about nothing. If you are good enough you will qualify for a tournament anyway. That Nations League is not necessary at all. Players have to travel unnecessarily and can suffer injuries from too little rut.

I think every country can have its own league, they hold matches between leagues of course with matches to judge that the team from the league is good or not because if there is no match then you will never know, so this is very important and really valuable more, from here we can get to know the great coach who is behind the great team from the inter-league matches.

[acquafredda]

These games were boring even before Corona and the audience numbers were already lower than usual. With Corona, such games have completely lost their attractiveness. The only advantage I see is when you bet on those matches. The Nations League creates a lot of unbalanced pairings that can be bet on with simple strategies and with high stakes and low risk (but also low profit).

I hate the international break, it’s utterly pointless. I can accept that there are world cup & euro’s qualifiers. The Nations League is a total waste of time & resources. It should have been cancelled until covid is under control worldwide. Loads of players are getting injured due to too many games & not enough recovery time.

There are far too many international leagues and games: these guys are not robots, they need time to rest to better perform and to avoid getting injured. I also think that the Nation League could have been cancelled due to covid-19 because it is an unnecessary risk to have all that people moving here and there to play these games.

[sana54210]

I don't know what to expect between this many league games. There are injured players, there are sick players, there are booked players, there are plays with high fatigue after all that many league games and not a decent break. Everything seems possible with these games, and since you do not end up playing with your national team as much as your regular team there are usually chemistry issues as well, so what ends up with is a great team who should be easy favorites end up losing or drawing with teams that are much worse than them.

So, I will just pass these games and wait for league games to come back, it is much easier to gamble on them, these national games are too much risky for me. You will see tomorrow that we will have a ton of very shocking results.

[Smartvirus]

Nigeria played one of the worst game ever today. It was a tough one though, but the come back was just not expected. After scoring 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th goal simultaneously, they had the favour returned in the same exact dose from Sierra Leone How reckless can a team be to allow this sort of come back, not even replying a single goal. The Nigerian team were just lucky not to have lost as the game ended in a Nigeria 4-4 Sierra Leone draw. Sierra Leone did a good job in not loosing faith after the first half scoreline as they pushed really hard in the second half to have that victory.

[hahay]

Nigeria played one of the worst game ever today. It was a tough one though, but the come back was just not expected. After scoring 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th goal simultaneously, they had the favour returned in the same exact dose from Sierra Leone How reckless can a team be to allow this sort of come back, not even replying a single goal. The Nigerian team were just lucky not to have lost as the game ended in a Nigeria 4-4 Sierra Leone draw. Sierra Leone did a good job in not loosing faith after the first half scoreline as they pushed really hard in the second half to have that victory.

Yeah that's really bad, or maybe there's something suspicious? Because the ball possession in the first and second half was still won by Nigeria. But indeed, there were changes in the second half, at least Sierra Leone was more aggressive and could take advantage of opportunities well, as Sierra Leone won the goal attempts and shots on goal in the second half. Sierra Leone has not performed well before and in this match against the leaders of the table, Sierra Leone made a surprise or maybe Nigeria underestimated the opposing team because they had a big lead in the first half.