The UEFA Nations League 2020/2021 Discussion Thread

[Juggy777]

Italy 2-1 Belgium
In the second half, both teams compete, but it is Italy that prevails and they take third place. The trouble with Belgium is not the lack of high-quality players, but the absence of a winning mentality. It may differ, but there is no winning mentality in the Belgian team. Congratulations to Jorgi and his teammates. Poor Belgium. The world number one should drop. Belgium may now step down and hand over the top position to Italy.

I don't fully agree, Belgium has some world class players (Lukaku, De Bruyne, Hazard) and I do think they have a winning mentaly, but the biggest problem they have is the defense. Ever since Kompany has left the team, their defense is by far their weakest point.
It might be time to change from coach, Martinez has done a great job but have not been able to bring back one important trophee...

Names don't play football as is the case with Belgium, they need to go back to the drawing board and try to pin point their weaknesses because they have such a good squad to compete with anyone. Martinez is the reason Belgium never won anything with this generation of quality players, this crop of players should've won a silverware.  He has never handled a side with more stars like this in his whole career. His last managerial experience was in Everton and he never won anything with them. This is a similar case in Manchester United too. Having big mass with a poor manager. They will regret the time they wasted wit this coach

I totally agree with you’ll because if a club or a country wants to win anything then they need a coach who can cultivate that winning mentality, and it’s apparently clear that Martinez is not the right person to coach Belgium. Also he’s favourites to replace Koeman, hence I feel that one way or another he’ll be removed from Belgium’s head coach position.

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[Minor Miner]

^ That is true, coaches need to be qualified enough to manage star players. One example I can give is Luis Enrique managing Spain. Before him, Spain was a tier-2 team, but we all know that he is a great coach, and look what he has done to the team. They even played the finals recently and their playstyle has changed so much, good change to be specific. And if you have players like Hazard, De Bruyne, Lukaku, Courtois in your squad and you are not winning, the coach is sure to be blamed, maybe Belgium needs to look for a new coaching position.

[CryptocurencyKing]

^ That is true, coaches need to be qualified enough to manage star players. One example I can give is Luis Enrique managing Spain. Before him, Spain was a tier-2 team, but we all know that he is a great coach, and look what he has done to the team. They even played the finals recently and their playstyle has changed so much, good change to be specific. And if you have players like Hazard, De Bruyne, Lukaku, Courtois in your squad and you are not winning, the coach is sure to be blamed, maybe Belgium needs to look for a new coaching position.

Belgium remain the only side to top the FIFA rankings without claiming a major trophy. They have maintained that status as the No 1 side in the world for more than three years now without showing or demonstrating their apparent superiority with silverware. I don't think Belgium deserve to be top. They are suppose to be under Brazil, France, Italy and Spain. These country sides are better than them. Anyway I don't know how they calculate the rankings, but all these 4 teams can easily beat Belgium in any major competition. Belgium is just too overrated.

[coinlocket$]

Quite annoying both the formula of the tournament and the timing.

For sure players will be not happy to play in June with 30 °C. Usually, they are already on vacation at that time.

The greediness of FIFA/UEFA is limitless.

[KTChampions]

Quite annoying both the formula of the tournament and the timing.

For sure players will be not happy to play in June with 30 °C. Usually, they are already on vacation at that time.

The greediness of FIFA/UEFA is limitless.

Have you heard that crazy Infantino proposes to hold the World Cup every two years? I wanted to create a separate thread about this, but I doubt how many people will be interested in this discussion.
If this change happens then I don't know when the players will have a rest. Most likely, this will lead to the opposite effect - competitions at the national team level will depreciate and clubs will be very reluctant to let players go to them.

[snipie]

Have you heard that crazy Infantino proposes to hold the World Cup every two years? I wanted to create a separate thread about this, but I doubt how many people will be interested in this discussion.
If this change happens then I don't know when the players will have a rest. Most likely, this will lead to the opposite effect - competitions at the national team level will depreciate and clubs will be very reluctant to let players go to them.

I don't think creating a topic about this will be relevant since it is all suggestions that will be discussed later. They just shoot it out loud to see the reactions of clubs and players.. World Cup is interesting after all, 4 years are quite long but 2 are short, better to go for 3 years imo and rethink about the schedule of many competitions especially useless ones (Nations League for example)..

[AndySt]

^ That is true, coaches need to be qualified enough to manage star players. One example I can give is Luis Enrique managing Spain. Before him, Spain was a tier-2 team, but we all know that he is a great coach, and look what he has done to the team. They even played the finals recently and their playstyle has changed so much, good change to be specific. And if you have players like Hazard, De Bruyne, Lukaku, Courtois in your squad and you are not winning, the coach is sure to be blamed, maybe Belgium needs to look for a new coaching position.

Belgium remain the only side to top the FIFA rankings without claiming a major trophy. They have maintained that status as the No 1 side in the world for more than three years now without showing or demonstrating their apparent superiority with silverware. I don't think Belgium deserve to be top. They are suppose to be under Brazil, France, Italy and Spain. These country sides are better than them. Anyway I don't know how they calculate the rankings, but all these 4 teams can easily beat Belgium in any major competition. Belgium is just too overrated.

This may include the costs of the cup system, when everything depends on one match and the team cannot psychologically tune in and give its maximum in one game, it may also speak about the strength of the head coach, who cannot achieve this from the team, because in the current conditions the head coach must be a good psychologist and motivator. There are also questions about the scoring system in the rating system itself, with which teams the games were held, but for this purpose competitions are held between teams, where these teams identify the strongest in a face-to-face fight. In theory, the League of Nations itself should not have put pressure on the Belgian national team due to its lower status than the World and European Championships, but unfortunately Belgium failed to win the title here.

[KTChampions]

Have you heard that crazy Infantino proposes to hold the World Cup every two years? I wanted to create a separate thread about this, but I doubt how many people will be interested in this discussion.
If this change happens then I don't know when the players will have a rest. Most likely, this will lead to the opposite effect - competitions at the national team level will depreciate and clubs will be very reluctant to let players go to them.

I don't think creating a topic about this will be relevant since it is all suggestions that will be discussed later. They just shoot it out loud to see the reactions of clubs and players.. World Cup is interesting after all, 4 years are quite long but 2 are short, better to go for 3 years imo and rethink about the schedule of many competitions especially useless ones (Nations League for example)..

When these changes take place, it will be too late to discuss anything. Do you know that the 2026 World Cup will be held in a changed format and instead of the traditional number of teams there will be as many as 48? This is a freaking madness that breaks historical ties and devalues players' and teams achievements. I think that all this leads to the devaluation of such tournaments.

[CryptocurencyKing]

~snipe~

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I totally agree with you’ll because if a club or a country wants to win anything then they need a coach who can cultivate that winning mentality, and it’s apparently clear that Martinez is not the right person to coach Belgium. Also he’s favourites to replace Koeman, hence I feel that one way or another he’ll be removed from Belgium’s head coach position.

It's quite obvious that this group of Belgian players are not the so called Golden generation because they've failed to collect any silverware. And its sad but that is football sometimes. It happened to Netherlands, England and Portugal. This game will kill us emotionally while messing up the players mentally. The only problem Belgium have is their defense. No doubt, they have creative and talented midfielders and quality and hardworking strikers but  the problems of a creaky and leaky defense that wilted under the pressure of a French surge in the second half will be of equal concern. Their defenders are old and weak. People realize that this golden generation of Belgium is running out of time to show how good they are.

[Minor Miner]

-snip

Belgium remain the only side to top the FIFA rankings without claiming a major trophy. They have maintained that status as the No 1 side in the world for more than three years now without showing or demonstrating their apparent superiority with silverware. I don't think Belgium deserve to be top. They are suppose to be under Brazil, France, Italy and Spain. These country sides are better than them. Anyway I don't know how they calculate the rankings, but all these 4 teams can easily beat Belgium in any major competition. Belgium is just too overrated.

This may include the costs of the cup system, when everything depends on one match and the team cannot psychologically tune in and give its maximum in one game, it may also speak about the strength of the head coach, who cannot achieve this from the team, because in the current conditions the head coach must be a good psychologist and motivator. There are also questions about the scoring system in the rating system itself, with which teams the games were held, but for this purpose competitions are held between teams, where these teams identify the strongest in a face-to-face fight. In theory, the League of Nations itself should not have put pressure on the Belgian national team due to its lower status than the World and European Championships, but unfortunately Belgium failed to win the title here.

I wouldn't say that Belgium is overrated, but I don't know what it is that is not working for them. Just imagine if a team consists of both the Hazard brothers, KDB, Lukaku, Mertens, Witsel, Courtois and they are not winning anything that is surprising. They are winning the group stage matches but are choking on the knockout ones. As you said, a coach needs to be a good motivator and I agree with that. Martinez has been a coach for Belgium long enough be he has failed to bring any title, let alone reaching any finals. So it is high time that they changed the coach.

[cryptofrka]

It is really not surprising that Belgium is not winning anything. They do have some top tier players and are overall a really good team, but quality-wise there are a lot of teams that have squads as good as Belgium and a few of them that have even better squads - like France for example.

Belgium has 2 huge problems - full backs and squad depth. They have great 6-7 players, decent 2-3, but the dropoff in quality after that is huge. A lot of other teams do not have such issues so I would not say that Belgium is underachieving.

[laurenB7742]

Belgium remain the only side to top the FIFA rankings without claiming a major trophy. They have maintained that status as the No 1 side in the world for more than three years now without showing or demonstrating their apparent superiority with silverware. I don't think Belgium deserve to be top. They are suppose to be under Brazil, France, Italy and Spain. These country sides are better than them. Anyway I don't know how they calculate the rankings, but all these 4 teams can easily beat Belgium in any major competition. Belgium is just too overrated.

I don't know what the problem is for them, they seem to choke in important knockout matches and this has been the case for several years. We know that teams like Brazil or France are known as big game teams who tend to perform in high-pressure matches but that doesn't seem to be a thing for Belgium. Even though they have world-class players, they are unable to perform in important matches. I strongly feel that a coaching change might be a good decision for the board.

[KTChampions]

UEFA referees’ chief: Offside law wording can be improved in wake of Mbappe goal

“Anthony Taylor made a correct decision based on the existing law and its official interpretation“ the Italian said.
“The player (Garcia) deliberately intervened to play the ball and the opponent (Mbappe) was not interfering with play.
“However this case shows us that the current interpretation of the law appears to be in conflict with the spirit of the law itself, which is to prevent any player from taking advantage from their offside position.
“UEFA’s stance is that there are ways to improve the wording to bring it into line with the aim of the offside law and of the spirit of the game.”
Rosetti said he had already been in touch with colleagues at world governing body FIFA and the game’s lawmaking body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to discuss solutions at the latter’s forthcoming technical advisory panel meeting.

In fact, this is an admission that the goal was scored in error. It is a pity that UEFA and FIFA officials pay attention to such things only after serious scandals that occur at the highest level (if this happened at the group stage, then everyone would not care as before). I hope they will quickly revise this rule, plus check other points for relevance - it's stupid to wait for the next accident and then take action. They must act in advance.

[bullrun2024bro]

Let's update this thread again. It's been a while! The schedule of the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League is out. The Nations League season will run from June 2nd 2022 to June 18th, 2023.



Source: https://twitter.com/iMiaSanMia/status/1471126318481907717


In addition to that, the draw for the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League group stage will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, at 18:00 CET.

The draw for the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League group stage will take place tomorrow at 18:00 CET. These are the 4 pots of League A ahead of the draw [uefa]

Source: https://twitter.com/iMiaSanMia/status/1471125983000416260

I am curious to see what the groups will look like tomorrow. There are some interesting combinations possible. We'll know more tomorrow evening at 18:00.

[Red Pie]

The draws were drawn in the nations league.  Turkey, Lithuania, Faroe Islands and Luxembourg will be competing in Group 1 of League C.  Of course, the favorite of this group will be Turkey.  Last year, in the last match of the B league, Turkey fell to the C league as the last.  It looks like they're going out again this year.

[cygan]

now all the groups in the respective leagues in the 2022/23 uefa nations league have been drawn:

league a


league b


league c


league d

[LTU_btc]

Poor Hungary, what they're doing in League A? . Italy, Germany and England in same group looks serious.
Group 1 have favorite France, other teams is similar level. Group 2 looks ballanced, maybe excpet Czech Republic. Group 4 is most ballanced.
League B
Group 1 no obvious favorite, only Armenia looks weak. Group 2 - Russia is very lucky about draw. Group 3 and 4 looks impossible to predict.
League C
Group 1 Easy stuff for Turkey. Group 2 looks ballanced. Group 3 Slovakia is slightly better than remaining teams. Group 4 with 3 similar level teams and what Gibraltar is doing there.
League C.
Well, this stuff is just for hardcore football fans .

[Phoenix Anka]

Again, it was a death group for Hungary.  They were also in a very difficult group in Euro 2020.  Now they are in the same group as Italy, Germany, England.  Hungarians are really unlucky in drawing lots.

[Juggy777]

Poor Hungary, what they're doing in League A? . Italy, Germany and England in same group looks serious.
Group 1 have favorite France, other teams is similar level. Group 2 looks ballanced, maybe excpet Czech Republic. Group 4 is most ballanced.
League B
Group 1 no obvious favorite, only Armenia looks weak. Group 2 - Russia is very lucky about draw. Group 3 and 4 looks impossible to predict.
League C
Group 1 Easy stuff for Turkey. Group 2 looks ballanced. Group 3 Slovakia is slightly better than remaining teams. Group 4 with 3 similar level teams and what Gibraltar is doing there.
League C.
Well, this stuff is just for hardcore football fans .

Again, it was a death group for Hungary.  They were also in a very difficult group in Euro 2020.  Now they are in the same group as Italy, Germany, England.  Hungarians are really unlucky in drawing lots.

@LTU_btc I feel sad for Hungary but I also see an opportunity to wager against them in all the matches, because I feel they’ll lose all the matches. Furthermore I’m favouring England to top the group, and I know Germany and Italy are pretty strong teams but yet my money is on England to top the group what are you’ll thoughts.

[OcTradism]

now all the groups in the respective leagues in the 2022/23 uefa nations league have been drawn:

What the hell's going on here? We will have Italy, Germany and England in a same group, I can't believe it.

Italy have some decrease in their form after winning Euro 2020 but their problems mainly come from their ability to score goals is no longer good. They can still control ball, create opportunities but score less goals and they lost points because of this.

It is problems from their strikers and their system still operate well enough. I know Italy don't have so many good strikers after Totti, Del Piero, Inzaghi, Vieri retired. Now they only have Immobile, Berradi and Belotti. None of them are world class strikers.

@LTU_btc I feel sad for Hungary but I also see an opportunity to wager against them in all the matches, because I feel they’ll lose all the matches. Furthermore I’m favouring England to top the group, and I know Germany and Italy are pretty strong teams but yet my money is on England to top the group what are you’ll thoughts.

England seems to be a team with less problems at the moment in this group but it won't start soon. When it starts, Italy and Germany might be in totally different conditions that make them more difficult to be beaten by England. Three teams have almost same quality and their form in a specific match will be key to decide results.