⚽ UEFA Nations League ⚽ - Discussion Thread

[liasbaa]

England won but, I sure did want them to do that from the first half, lots of hard luck shaped their game on goal scoring today, had some balls on the post and what a season Rogers is having, man has being getting better and better.

We would have seen a tougher game for England assuming that Czech didn't get a red card in the first half and even with the red card England couldn't use that as an advantage to get a goal. Not until, the second half that Tuchel has talked a lot of sense into their heads and gave them the clue on how to overcome Czech defending tactics. However, the results came out as expected for both Spain and England.

You are right, the red card to Czech attacking midfielder Pavel Šulc in the 25th minute of the match made it easier for England to win the match. The Czech team tried to hold the defense with 10 players and denied many goals from the English team. The English team missed many chances but the team should have scored at least 4 goals. With this victory, the English team remained in second place in the group stage competition and Spain is at the top of the table with 6 points.

[Solokan]

Lamine Yamal is improving day by day and showing it to everyone. He scored two goals in today's match and is enjoying a similarly strong run of form with Barcelona. Despite his young age, he has become a magnificent player in my opinion, a world-class one. Croatia is not a weak team, but Spain is incredibly strong as the reigning World Cup champions, they dominate every opponent they face.

Spain must be proud to have a good young player like Yamal and he is always full of confidence when shooting the ball near the goal and uniquely his kicks are always on target. Croatia is not a weak team but yes because Spain is stronger than Croatia, Spain finally won this match. but the Spanish players are all really great and their cooperation is good. but now there are still many matches that Spain will go through and in the next match Barcelona will face the Czech Republic and of course the Czech Republic cannot be underestimated even though today the Czech Republic was defeated by England, who do you think will win in the Spain vs Czech Republic match? in my opinion Spain will win because England also beat the Czech Republic can be defeated by Spain according to my prediction the score of Spain vs Czech Republic 5-1 for Spain's victory

[Uhde]

No one seem to be able to touch Spain, they are playing good football and winning games, the third goal what something out of a text book, Pedri and Lamine Yamal already knows the drill.
Croatia is just not on the same level as Spain and it was obvious today, I think I have watched all the big teams and aside Portugal I don't think there would be any contender strong enough to match Spain and even Portugal doesn't have what it takes to beat them.

i used to enjoy watching Barcelona matches, so i was bummed when the international break hit. turns out there was no need to be, though
apart from Spain playing incredible football, the core of the team is Barcelona once again. it felt just like watching a Barcelona match.

[Smartvirus]

~snipe~

As I said several times I'm not a Lamine Yamal fan because I don't like his attitude but I think you are trying to diminish his abilities and his achievements: he's not there because of the "platforms" or because the "admiration", he is there because he is freaking good at playing football. He potentially is a generational talent. He is only 19 years old and he has already played 35 matches for his national team winning a Euro Cup and a World Cup. It's insane.

The attitude about him would be certainly one thing we share in common, we all see that and we know where it comes from sadly. Same thing we saw with Mbappe when he played for PSG late into his transfer as a free agent.

One thing remains clear though, Yamal is a good player, an exceptional talent no doubt and being able to perform when expected for his team also accounts for the privileges he enjoys.

However, I still stick to the fact that, he’s performance gets more and more better given the platform and free role. Let’s take Manchester United Bruno for example, man plays vertically every role under pitch and his play isn’t restricted by the manager by some set of instructions not to shoot or be too forward and more of those.

Same applies with Yamal, this is what he enjoys with Barcelona and Spain. Such free role and platform builds confidence in a player and for a player of his talent, it’s only natural that they excel.

I heard of a player from the UAE one time, Omar Abdulrahman. This was yet another fantastic player, don’t know much of his performance at a young age but, he’s a player deserving of European football, got offers from Manchester City and that didn’t happen. We can imagine it’s basically for the publicity and promotion of the league, not to sell its best players.

Anyway, he didn’t get as much visibility as players in Europe enjoys today else, many would have heard of him. That’s what I’m saying when I refer to the platform and free role. Your play time isn’t in despite, how you play on the pitch isn’t dictated and you’re promoted on some of the biggest screen there is, club, national team and league.

[Nheer]

After defeating England in their first match, Spain has now defeated Croatia in their second match. In my opinion, the Spanish players really enjoyed the match. Spain managed to score four goals against Croatia, while Croatia unfortunately only managed to score one goal against Spain, ultimately winning the match 4-1

Lamine Yamal performed well in this match, scoring two goals against Spain and providing one assist. Nico and Pubill also performed very well in this match, also scoring one goal against Croatia. It's no wonder Spain can win the World Cup because their teamwork and attack are very good. I think there's great potential for Spain to win the Nations League. What do you think?

Spain has been impressive in their matches even though they managed to face two strong teams already they still managed to win and that has already shown how good they are and how well they will perform in this tournament. It was a strong scoreline for them and to be honest I never expected less from them against Croatia. I thought Croatia would be more of a strong challenge but the were no match for Spain.

Spain look more stronger than other team at the moment but that doesn't guarantee victory. They won the world cup and they are capable of winning the Nations league but there are still strong teams too and the competition will get more serious when it's get to the knock out stages.

[Lucius]

I don't think Croatia played a good game.
Okay, we all agree here that Spain, the current world and European champions, are currently the best team in the world and "a class above the rest", but England showed a few days ago that a team can play against Spain and have a chance to win, with the right approach, strategy, aggression on the pitch, etc.
It seems to me that the Croatian players were too impressed with Spain, not aggressive enough on the pitch and too slow, and Livakovic probably played the worst game ever for Croatia.
He simply had to react better to the first goal of the Spaniards, which set the game in motion.

Croatia played badly, but it can't be any other way when the philosophy behind the entire line-up and game is completely wrong. Do you see now why Misic is not material for the national team and why Dalic did not call him? Bilic is doing the same as he did before, doing favors for some people and putting players who don't deserve to play in the national team in the international showcase.

Livakovic is the least to blame here, the entire defense played criminally poorly.

For Croatia, the game against England will be a "match of truth" and Spain continues its incredible unbeaten streak, currently 40 games without defeat, which is a world record.
I predict that Spain will continue to win trophies in the next 4-8 years and be the main favorite in all competitions in which they participate. Yamal is already fantastic and on his way to being the 'new Messi' and maybe even better.

There is no match of truth here, because the goal is to be third in the group, which has almost been achieved with the victory against the Czech Republic. The match against England in an empty stadium will not show anything we haven't seen before, and in the best case, Croatia can hope for a draw.

Bilic is a loser who has no idea about football, everyone who claims otherwise is either completely ignorant or benefits from the fact that he is the coach.

[Rruchi man]

He is a great talent that has a good PR, the media markets him well enough and has made him the most important player for Spain. Two goals today and assist; he is improving his claim on the Ballon D'Or.

His claim you say, FIFA knows better than to hand that to him. It would seem like removing the lid from what everyone has being suspecting since, grooming of another Messi by handing him the Ballon D’or. I feel their are more qualified players on that list and hey, let’s not spoil the kid.

I can give you one name that should have made that list but is not there, and then another player who I see as deserving, if not for the award majorly, but for the nomination and recognition. First is Olise, who is not just deserving of the recognition but also deserving of the award based on his contributions and consistency for the club and country. Then the second name who should have made the list for recognition is Raphinha.

England won but, I sure did want them to do that from the first half, lots of hard luck shaped their game on goal scoring today, had some balls on the post and what a season Rogers is having, man has being getting better and better.

I watch him, and it hurts me each time remembering he was very close to joining Arsenal—such a steal for Chelsea!

[Daniel91]

I don't think Croatia played a good game.
Okay, we all agree here that Spain, the current world and European champions, are currently the best team in the world and "a class above the rest", but England showed a few days ago that a team can play against Spain and have a chance to win, with the right approach, strategy, aggression on the pitch, etc.
It seems to me that the Croatian players were too impressed with Spain, not aggressive enough on the pitch and too slow, and Livakovic probably played the worst game ever for Croatia.
He simply had to react better to the first goal of the Spaniards, which set the game in motion.

Croatia played badly, but it can't be any other way when the philosophy behind the entire line-up and game is completely wrong. Do you see now why Misic is not material for the national team and why Dalic did not call him? Bilic is doing the same as he did before, doing favors for some people and putting players who don't deserve to play in the national team in the international showcase.

Livakovic is the least to blame here, the entire defense played criminally poorly.

For Croatia, the game against England will be a "match of truth" and Spain continues its incredible unbeaten streak, currently 40 games without defeat, which is a world record.
I predict that Spain will continue to win trophies in the next 4-8 years and be the main favorite in all competitions in which they participate. Yamal is already fantastic and on his way to being the 'new Messi' and maybe even better.

There is no match of truth here, because the goal is to be third in the group, which has almost been achieved with the victory against the Czech Republic. The match against England in an empty stadium will not show anything we haven't seen before, and in the best case, Croatia can hope for a draw.

Bilic is a loser who has no idea about football, everyone who claims otherwise is either completely ignorant or benefits from the fact that he is the coach.

I think it is too early—after just two matches—to draw long-term conclusions about the kind of coach Bilić will be or whether he will achieve good results with the Croatian national team.
Right now, Spain is a class above every national team in the world, not just Croatia.
After all, didn't Dalić also lose 6–0 to Spain in the very first competitive match following the 2018 final?
Did that immediately make him a bad coach?
As for Mišić, it isn't easy playing one's first match for the national team, especially against a side as strong as Spain.
Let's give him a bit more time and a chance against weaker teams to see how much he can contribute to the squad.
The fact is that, following Brozović's departure, we lack a proper replacement for that position; Mišić should be given a chance—at least for this qualifying cycle—to test his capabilities.
England is a level below Spain, so the match between Croatia and England will likely provide a better indication of the Croatian team's current quality relative to the world's best nacional teams.

[Bitcoin_people]

The performance of the Spanish team is really amazing, they have maintained their game since the World Cup and are still playing great. The performance of the Spanish team in the Nations League is also very strong, they are maintaining their strength in every match and winning. Spain's great fever against Croatia, they won by a margin of 4-1 goals and they are at the top of the points table in the group stage. If the Spanish team can maintain their consistency, then they will definitely be the favorites to win this Nations League. If they continue to play like the performance of Spain against Croatia, then they will definitely be the champions. And I can expect a lot from the performance of the Spanish team and their style of play compared to all the other teams, and there are quite good players in the team. The way the Spanish team keeps pushing themselves, if they can continue like this, the next matches will definitely be easy for them.

[Pi-network314159]

England won but, I sure did want them to do that from the first half, lots of hard luck shaped their game on goal scoring today, had some balls on the post and what a season Rogers is having, man has being getting better and better.

We would have seen a tougher game for England assuming that Czech didn't get a red card in the first half and even with the red card England couldn't use that as an advantage to get a goal. Not until, the second half that Tuchel has talked a lot of sense into their heads and gave them the clue on how to overcome Czech defending tactics. However, the results came out as expected for both Spain and England.

I think even if they were 11v11, England would have won. Red cards ruins matches but in this case Czech Republic would not have been a serious team to stop England from winning. It might even be the reduced number that made England not to be that serious in the match. Missed plenty chances unlike England for a team that they could boss around from defence to midfield to attack. They should have been more than this if they were all complete in my opinion. Some coaches after getting the advantage feels relaxed because that extra man creates an extra space, but the players relaxed.

[katanic97]

No one seem to be able to touch Spain, they are playing good football and winning games, the third goal what something out of a text book, Pedri and Lamine Yamal already knows the drill.
Croatia is just not on the same level as Spain and it was obvious today, I think I have watched all the big teams and aside Portugal I don't think there would be any contender strong enough to match Spain and even Portugal doesn't have what it takes to beat them.

I meant it differently, before the match  i thought Croatia could match them but it turned out that Spain is a much better team at the moment. Yamal is in consistently good form, i have a feeling that he can play even two matches in a row. I don't see a better national team than Spain at the moment, maybe France can match them, but we already saw how that ended at the WC

[ASloveapg]

After defeating England in their first match, Spain has now defeated Croatia in their second match. In my opinion, the Spanish players really enjoyed the match. Spain managed to score four goals against Croatia, while Croatia unfortunately only managed to score one goal against Spain, ultimately winning the match 4-1

Lamine Yamal performed well in this match, scoring two goals against Spain and providing one assist. Nico and Pubill also performed very well in this match, also scoring one goal against Croatia. It's no wonder Spain can win the World Cup because their teamwork and attack are very good. I think there's great potential for Spain to win the Nations League. What do you think?

Spain has been impressive in their matches even though they managed to face two strong teams already they still managed to win and that has already shown how good they are and how well they will perform in this tournament. It was a strong scoreline for them and to be honest I never expected less from them against Croatia. I thought Croatia would be more of a strong challenge but the were no match for Spain.

Spain look more stronger than other team at the moment but that doesn't guarantee victory. They won the world cup and they are capable of winning the Nations league but there are still strong teams too and the competition will get more serious when it's get to the knock out stages.

Spain is doing great in the group stage, they have beaten strong teams like England and Croatia, now their next opponent Czechia is also expected to win, but in the next match they will face Croatia again, and that match will be on Croatia's home field, and in that match I expect a strong competition from Croatia, because in this match they lost very badly 4-1, and besides, they were significantly weaker in all aspects. But yes, Croatia does not have the strength to beat Spain, since Spain is currently the world champion, but in the end the main thing is that a team is not always undefeated. Most people now consider Spain as the strongest team to win the Nations League, but we should not forget France also, they have performed unexpectedly in the World Cup this time, but I expect them to play with all their might in the Nations League under their new manager Zinedine Zidane and be aiming for the title.

[Lucius]

I think it is too early—after just two matches—to draw long-term conclusions about the kind of coach Bilić will be or whether he will achieve good results with the Croatian national team.
Right now, Spain is a class above every national team in the world, not just Croatia.

Maybe some people need 22 games to understand reality - for me, 6 years was more than enough when he was first in the same position. Croatia needs a new reformer who will have the courage to make the right moves, not someone who will wander around for years, take the money and say it simply didn't work out.

Spain is a class in itself, but that doesn't justify the game Croatia presented.

After all, didn't Dalić also lose 6–0 to Spain in the very first competitive match following the 2018 final?
Did that immediately make him a bad coach?

You're making comparisons where there's no point in making them - you're forgetting that that match was played not long after the World Cup final we played in.

As for Mišić, it isn't easy playing one's first match for the national team, especially against a side as strong as Spain.
Let's give him a bit more time and a chance against weaker teams to see how much he can contribute to the squad.
The fact is that, following Brozović's departure, we lack a proper replacement for that position; Mišić should be given a chance—at least for this qualifying cycle—to test his capabilities.

Misic doesn't have the quality to play for the national team, it was evident in every touch with the ball - if he had the quality he would have been playing for a foreign club a long time ago.

England is a level below Spain, so the match between Croatia and England will likely provide a better indication of the Croatian team's current quality relative to the world's best nacional teams.

The same England that beat us 4-2 a few months ago? Do you think we're better now than we were then?

[Jostern]

No one seem to be able to touch Spain, they are playing good football and winning games, the third goal what something out of a text book, Pedri and Lamine Yamal already knows the drill.
Croatia is just not on the same level as Spain and it was obvious today, I think I have watched all the big teams and aside Portugal I don't think there would be any contender strong enough to match Spain and even Portugal doesn't have what it takes to beat them.

i used to enjoy watching Barcelona matches, so i was bummed when the international break hit. turns out there was no need to be, though
apart from Spain playing incredible football, the core of the team is Barcelona once again. it felt just like watching a Barcelona match.

Seems like you’re a fan of Barcelona, considering the way you’re raining praises on Barcelona, I will tell you that Spain is a very different team entirely from Barcelona and I think De La Fuente is a better manager compared to Hansi Flick, the same Hansi Flick coached the German National Team and was sacked after they failed to qualify from the group stages of the World Cup in 2022, well Barcelona is playing a good football no doubts but Barcelona are different from the Spain National team; I will agree that majority of the Spanish National Team Players are Barcelona players which is why you think this way, I feel both teams have different style of football, probably because Spain and Barcelona are winning now makes you excited as a Spanish and Barcelona Fans.

[Somto9Light]

No one (it seems) disputes that Yamal is good. The problem is that the hype surrounding him far exceeds the level of his actual output. Two seasons ago, everyone was sick to death of that "he's only 17" slogan - back when Barcelona threw Rafinha (who was clearly better that season) under the bus and hyped up Yamal for the Ballon d'Or. Intrusive advertising is annoying even when the product is good  As for titles, no matter how you look at it, football is a team sport, it is impossible to deny that some players have an incredible advantage over others simply because of the team they play for. Take Ronaldo Nazário, for instance - he was incredibly talented, even genius, but we all remember the team (national) he played for, it would be hard to claim that he single-handedly carried his team and that nothing would have happened without him.

I don't really think that Raphinha was thrown under the bus in order for Yamal to have more visibility. If you say this, what will you also say during the time of Lionel Messi when Xavi, Iniesta and Luiz Suarez were practically performing a masterclass but Lionel Messi took all the glory. What you should know is that, in every team, one player gets more visibility than the others and if you watch the style of play of both Lamine Yamal and Raphinha you will know that Yamal is more creative while Raphinha does the finishing better. Yamal being preferred as a potential Ballon d'Or candidate never came through hype, it came as a result of his exceptional performance at a younger age. You're right that a player cannot single-handedly carry his team but you can't argue the fact that those kind of players spices things up whenever they are playing.

[X-ray]

At this point, it's time time for Turkey to sack Montella, then bring someone better than him. Enough to see his excuse about his team recorded so many shoots, but they never scored due to how unlucky they are and he always repeat it anytime during his post interview. Their narrow score lost to the France still acceptable, but 4-1 lost against Italy who didn't qualify for last world cup and didn't have proper team is unacceptable.

I'm wondering why he still in a charge of Turkey's national team even after he got a disastrous world cup, which is really amazed me. Does he have special relationship with turkey's government? If he's still in charge, i believe turkey is nothing in the next euro. The decline happened to the club is beyond my expectation.

As for Italy, it's a good ride to trash turkey, but france must be their a real test. I saw some confidence from their gameplay against Turkey., Esposito and Sebastiano have so much potential. I see them as golden players that can help them leave from their curse. These guys must be enough to become their attackers as long as they can be utilized well.

it seems playing with double strikers sound good for them.

[Oluwa-btc]

No one seem to be able to touch Spain, they are playing good football and winning games, the third goal what something out of a text book, Pedri and Lamine Yamal already knows the drill.
Croatia is just not on the same level as Spain and it was obvious today, I think I have watched all the big teams and aside Portugal I don't think there would be any contender strong enough to match Spain and even Portugal doesn't have what it takes to beat them.

Maybe they should just hand over the Ballon d'Or to Lamine Yamal already. He's an amazing lad to watch, ain't it? It is thank you to Xavi Hernandez who gave him his first debut.
They have shown enough reason why they're world Champions. It is not even about Croatia, it's just about Spain. They have a system and players who help them make the standards higher and much more quality. Saw the standing ovation for Luka Modric when he came on, I'm also finally agreeing that they're no longer in that form that took them to the FIFA World Cup finals against France in the the year 2018. They will have to get some reshuffling done. That combination was perfect. Apart from them Pau Curbasi organising the back line was entertaining to watch.

[Ahli38]

England won but, I sure did want them to do that from the first half, lots of hard luck shaped their game on goal scoring today, had some balls on the post and what a season Rogers is having, man has being getting better and better.

We would have seen a tougher game for England assuming that Czech didn't get a red card in the first half and even with the red card England couldn't use that as an advantage to get a goal. Not until, the second half that Tuchel has talked a lot of sense into their heads and gave them the clue on how to overcome Czech defending tactics. However, the results came out as expected for both Spain and England.

You are right, the red card to Czech attacking midfielder Pavel Šulc in the 25th minute of the match made it easier for England to win the match. The Czech team tried to hold the defense with 10 players and denied many goals from the English team. The English team missed many chances but the team should have scored at least 4 goals. With this victory, the English team remained in second place in the group stage competition and Spain is at the top of the table with 6 points.

We actually could see England’s dominance early in the first half or even before Pavel Sulc was sent off with a red card for a foul on Anderson. And we can see that around the 15th minute England managed to penetrate the Czech Republic’s defense with a series of very threatening shots. The Czech national team truly looked helpless in that match as they were outplayed in terms of ball possession by the English national team which held 75% in the first half. And in the second half the Czech national team was only able to defend, where it made the English team appear to dominate with the shots they fired. I personally believe that the English national team truly capitalized on the Czech team’s weakness after they lost one of their players. And they left many fans of the opposing team disappointed in this match. On the other hand England has 3 points the same as Croatia. But England’s advantage in goal difference allowed the English national team to secure second place in the group.

[KTChampions]

No one (it seems) disputes that Yamal is good. The problem is that the hype surrounding him far exceeds the level of his actual output. Two seasons ago, everyone was sick to death of that "he's only 17" slogan - back when Barcelona threw Rafinha (who was clearly better that season) under the bus and hyped up Yamal for the Ballon d'Or. Intrusive advertising is annoying even when the product is good  As for titles, no matter how you look at it, football is a team sport, it is impossible to deny that some players have an incredible advantage over others simply because of the team they play for. Take Ronaldo Nazário, for instance - he was incredibly talented, even genius, but we all remember the team (national) he played for, it would be hard to claim that he single-handedly carried his team and that nothing would have happened without him.

I don't really think that Raphinha was thrown under the bus in order for Yamal to have more visibility. If you say this, what will you also say during the time of Lionel Messi when Xavi, Iniesta and Luiz Suarez were practically performing a masterclass but Lionel Messi took all the glory. What you should know is that, in every team, one player gets more visibility than the others and if you watch the style of play of both Lamine Yamal and Raphinha you will know that Yamal is more creative while Raphinha does the finishing better. Yamal being preferred as a potential Ballon d'Or candidate never came through hype, it came as a result of his exceptional performance at a younger age. You're right that a player cannot single-handedly carry his team but you can't argue the fact that those kind of players spices things up whenever they are playing.

It’s rather strange that, while discussing one scheme, you bring up a similar one as an argument for why such a thing couldn't happen  
I've already written about this 100 times, but I can repeat: Xavi, Iniesta and company won two European Championships and a World Cup in a row from 2008 to 2012. An incredible, legendary achievement. Messi was a complete failure at the 2010 World Cup and was extremely mediocre at the Mickey Mouse tournament (Copa América) in 2011.
Guess who won the award for that period? Yes, you're right: Xavi, Iniesta and company have zero awards, and Messi has 4  
The Barcelona sect is good at PR, incredibly good, but it generates some unnatural results that are disgusting.

[yudi09]

As for Italy, it's a good ride to trash turkey, but france must be their a real test. I saw some confidence from their gameplay against Turkey., Esposito and Sebastiano have so much potential. I see them as golden players that can help them leave from their curse. These guys must be enough to become their attackers as long as they can be utilized well.

As I remarked after Italy won their second Group 1 match against Turkey, the new foundation Mancini has laid has begun to set, making it ready for a structure to be built upon it. Turkey is not a weak team, but they have not been formidable in the UEFA Nations League; thus, Italy's victory was hardly a shock—the only notable aspect was the margin of the win.
The real test for Italy begins with their third match, an away game against France.
Italy will face a French side that seems to simply refuse to lose.