⚽ UEFA Nations League ⚽ - Discussion Thread

[paco92x]

Croatia cannot get a better replacement in the team for Luka Modric, a one time Ballon D'or winner, and the only Croatian player to ever win the Ballon D'or. He deserves the best retirement match to commemorate his good works with the national team, his legacy would forever be remembered.

Though there is still Kovacic and Brozovic in the midfield but they cannot match the influence that Luka Modric has on the pitch.

How coach Bilić is praising him these days, we will see a lot more from Modrić. Unfortunately, as it seems, neither he nor the Croatia squad want him to retire. Brozović has not been active for the country for quite some time, so it's better that he is where he is now, and Kovačić is the kind of player who has played many games for his country, but he has never been very good at it. We hoped that he could carry us after Rakitić and Brozović, but simply, he underperforms every time.

[laspol65]

All of these shouldn't have come to this if Ronaldo had retired immediately he noticed his performance dropped, and less expected the squad to play for him and carry him into the 1000-goal record, Ronaldo should come back on terms of retiring soon and a proper farewell.

Of course, Cristiano Ronaldo should be sent off in a festive atmosphere, where every person and every player is blindly believed in by the fans all over the world. Because there was no player like Cristiano Ronaldo in the Portugal team before him and I doubt there will be one in the future, so I don't understand why he is being neglected like this?
 He has performed with the utmost effort for the country, so he should not be forgotten for a moment for the promise he made and the success of the country. However, I don't like the bad treatment that the Portugal team is treating Ronaldo. Of course, Ronaldo should be sent off with honor, so that the moment of farewell is filled with celebration.

[Oluwa-btc]

Ronaldo cannot end his career like this. Even if there is a bit of an issue between him and his teammates, including the coach, what about the Portugal fans who love the player and would want to see him retire, the way Messi did? I'm not making up a comparison, I'm saying that Ronaldo deserves a celebration for his retirement and not leaving the national team with grudges.

All of these shouldn't have come to this if Ronaldo had retired immediately he noticed his performance dropped, and less expected the squad to play for him and carry him into the 1000-goal record, Ronaldo should come back on terms of retiring soon and a proper farewell.

Cristaino Ronaldo is open towards returning to the national team during the next international duties, and the same time, opened towards whatever punishment he gets from the Portuguese football federation. I read his released  comments and it was obvious that Jorge Jesus screwed Cristaino Ronaldo over and also disrespected him. Brazilian football icon Romario has also said this same words about Jorge Jesus.

Cristaino Ronaldo will most definitely get back into the national team and get the farewell he deserves. But at the moment, he is focused on Al Nassr. He should focus on scoring and achieving his 1000 goals with his club side and not the national team. We can all see that they' have no respect and love for greatness.

[Qhunman]

Of course, Cristiano Ronaldo should be sent off in a festive atmosphere, where every person and every player is blindly believed in by the fans all over the world. Because there was no player like Cristiano Ronaldo in the Portugal team before him and I doubt there will be one in the future, so I don't understand why he is being neglected like this?
 He has performed with the utmost effort for the country, so he should not be forgotten for a moment for the promise he made and the success of the country. However, I don't like the bad treatment that the Portugal team is treating Ronaldo. Of course, Ronaldo should be sent off with honor, so that the moment of farewell is filled with celebration.

Cristiano Ronaldo love to play, and he wanted to play full time, i believe that was the roots of the problem. The coach wasn't supposed to substitute him in any matche unless if he is tired or injured,that was what made Ronaldo furious when he substituted.

The coach didn't kept to his part of the bargain,  I believe the reason why he substituted Ronaldo was to make him angry otherwise I see no reason why Ronaldo should be substituted. There's no player in the Portugal team who is more competent than Ronaldo in football,  so why change Ronaldo when he can do more for the team?   This look like an arrange plan to humilate Ronaldo but that is not fair because Ronaldo has done so much for Portugal to deserve such ill treatments from his coach.

[kizilhare]

I have seen reports suggesting that Montella and the Turkish national team are parting ways; the amount of his severance pay is unclear.
There is talk of Arda Turan taking over as head coach, though it is also speculated that he might be leaving Shakhtar Donetsk.
Furthermore, it is still too early for Arda to become the head coach of the Turkish national team.
Given the multitude of problems currently plaguing Turkish football, taking on the national team role might not be beneficial for his career.

[Somto9Light]

It's hard to stay on top of the whole Ronaldo Vs Jorge Jesus situation, but if I understand correctly, Ronaldo admitted he overreacted and that he deserves a punishment, despite feeling like Jorge Jesus broke his promise. It's good that he's able to self-reflect and is not stubborn.
This probably means we will see Ronaldo playing for Portugal again. It could be his last "farewell" game, or he might stay with the team for the duration of the UEFA Nations League. If he decides not to retire just yet, he will have to accept being a bench player more and more often.

Meanwhile, Lionel Messi, considered by some to be Ronaldo's biggest rival in football, officially retired from international football yesterday, after Argentina scored a 3-0 friendly win against Benin in Buenos Aires.

A player cannot be bigger than the club, Ronaldo must acknowledge that fact because no matter any agreement that is reached between a player and a coach, it doesn't mean that it can't be broken. In the match that got Ronaldo angered after Jorge Jesus didn't play him, his team were literally performing well and they just needed to maintain that energy since there was no threat from the opponent yet. We should understand that there is a way a coach can make substitution and the match will go sour, maybe Jorge was avoiding such scenario. I'm not saying that Ronaldo would have made a bad player if Jorge had brought him in as a substitute. Since he has admitted his flaws and open to continue with the national team, he should be welcome because he has also impacted in the growth of the team.

Lionel Messi is retired from international duty, that's how to leave a team when the ovation is still loud. He has achieved everything in football, as such it was a fulfilled retirement for the Argentine. He gave 2 assists and scored a penalty in his final match against Benin. That's a good way to hang boot.

[knowngunman]

I have seen reports suggesting that Montella and the Turkish national team are parting ways; the amount of his severance pay is unclear.
There is talk of Arda Turan taking over as head coach, though it is also speculated that he might be leaving Shakhtar Donetsk.
Furthermore, it is still too early for Arda to become the head coach of the Turkish national team.
Given the multitude of problems currently plaguing Turkish football, taking on the national team role might not be beneficial for his career.

Will parting way with Montella solve their problem? I really don't think so. I know he has tactical mistakes and sometimes his players selection feel off but that's a usual mistakes that coaches normally have. I don't think this idea is a good development. Not every problem the team is suffering from that changing the coach would solve. Some problems require extensive study to find a long lasting solution instead of being in haste to free the coach from his job. National job is not for someone who is suppose to be learning, it's for highly experienced people and Arda is not yet in that category.

[Lida93]

Croatia cannot get a better replacement in the team for Luka Modric, a one time Ballon D'or winner, and the only Croatian player to ever win the Ballon D'or. He deserves the best retirement match to commemorate his good works with the national team, his legacy would forever be remembered.

Though there is still Kovacic and Brozovic in the midfield but they cannot match the influence that Luka Modric has on the pitch.

How coach Bilić is praising him these days, we will see a lot more from Modrić. Unfortunately, as it seems, neither he nor the Croatia squad want him to retire. Brozović has not been active for the country for quite some time, so it's better that he is where he is now, and Kovačić is the kind of player who has played many games for his country, but he has never been very good at it. We hoped that he could carry us after Rakitić and Brozović, but simply, he underperforms every time.

Maybe sometime in the future the Croatian national team may find a perfect replacement for captain Luka Modric, I hope they do but for now there isn't any midfielder, past or present that comes close to the class of the former Real Madrid man, his impact for his national team and club is very enormous and I don't think the likes of Ivan Rakitic, Kovacic and Brozovic could fill that vacuum. When then he finally retires it would take Croatia a long time to find a perfect replacement for the midfield role.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Ronaldo cannot end his career like this. Even if there is a bit of an issue between him and his teammates, including the coach, what about the Portugal fans who love the player and would want to see him retire, the way Messi did? I'm not making up a comparison, I'm saying that Ronaldo deserves a celebration for his retirement and not leaving the national team with grudges.

All of these shouldn't have come to this if Ronaldo had retired immediately he noticed his performance dropped, and less expected the squad to play for him and carry him into the 1000 goal record, Ronaldo should come back on terms of retiring soon and a proper farewell.

I don't know how people think in some countries, but a person like CR7 should fight to not retire. What, that he can't even move anymore? Not at all. His training makes him look good, he still plays good football, he's an example for children, and he's a hero for Portugal. That's what they should see.

Look, there's something curious, but when I hear "Portugal," the first thing I think of is CR7. When I hear "Argentina," the first thing I think of is Messi, because they're icons of their countries. And I say something like, "It's a shame that CR7 is from Portugal and not from my country." I'm sure that in my country, if he were 70 years old, they'd still want him on the national team. And it's not because the national team is bad, but because we've always had a lot of respect for people like that.

And don't doubt it, he will reach 1000 goals.

[Lillominato89]

Well, I’ve waited four matches to give my first thoughts on Roberto Mancini’s Italy.
We’ve picked up 7 points out of a possible 12, which is obviously a good result. But if we take a closer look at the situation, it’s not quite as rosy as it seems.
Six out of seven points came from victories against Turkey, whilst one point came from the draw against France and the defeat against Belgium – to me, this is a terrible result. Although we drew against the strongest side, we played a dreadful match against Belgium, who are our direct rivals for second place.
As things stand, I don’t think the Azzurri have achieved a great result – unless we beat Belgium, but I reckon that’ll be very tough.

[MAAManda]

Well, I’ve waited four matches to give my first thoughts on Roberto Mancini’s Italy.
We’ve picked up 7 points out of a possible 12, which is obviously a good result. But if we take a closer look at the situation, it’s not quite as rosy as it seems.
Six out of seven points came from victories against Turkey, whilst one point came from the draw against France and the defeat against Belgium – to me, this is a terrible result. Although we drew against the strongest side, we played a dreadful match against Belgium, who are our direct rivals for second place.
As things stand, I don’t think the Azzurri have achieved a great result – unless we beat Belgium, but I reckon that’ll be very tough.

It was indeed strange to draw against the strongest team in the group & then lose by such an embarrassing score against Belgium. IMO, Italy was fortunate to play the match against Turkey early on, as it allowed them to approach subsequent matches with clear motivation. Being second in the table doesn't really make them safe, things could go bad when they lose again to Belgium.

It makes me wonder, can Italy win the second match when they lost the first one, even with the home advantage?

[ArabBTC]

Cristiano Ronaldo love to play, and he wanted to play full time, i believe that was the roots of the problem. The coach wasn't supposed to substitute him in any matche unless if he is tired or injured,that was what made Ronaldo furious when he substituted.

The coach didn't kept to his part of the bargain,  I believe the reason why he substituted Ronaldo was to make him angry otherwise I see no reason why Ronaldo should be substituted. There's no player in the Portugal team who is more competent than Ronaldo in football,  so why change Ronaldo when he can do more for the team?   This look like an arrange plan to humilate Ronaldo but that is not fair because Ronaldo has done so much for Portugal to deserve such ill treatments from his coach.

It actually sounds funny when fans make certain statements, how can you say that the coach wasn’t supposed to substitute Ronaldo except he is tired or injured? haven’t you seen on field decisions or dressing room decisions whereby a coach didn’t plan a particular substitution but has to do it because of the tempo of the match or line up of their opponents? Is their any player that is bigger than substitution? What kind of agreement will Ronaldo have with a coach that will make him believe that he won’t be substituted.

Well Ronaldo is an exceptional player that i must affirm but he has serious attitude problems, the fact he is an exceptional player doesn’t give him the right to go against coaches decisions, what legacy is he giving to the upcoming players that look up to him, if someone like him can leave a team just because he wasn’t featured in a match then it is bad, this isn’t the first time he is displaying such attitude and it’s really not nice, he should learn a thing or two from Messi, despite the fact that Messi has won everything in football yet Messi can never act this way, with this display from Ronaldo i doubt his teammates will even genuinely celebrate him for all his efforts this past years, we have even had incidents in the past where Ronaldo tried to cancel a goal his teammate scored, so you see it is not today this his lifestyle started, i just hope he controls his emotions because a lot of younger folks looks up to him.

[Samlucky O]

Well, I’ve waited four matches to give my first thoughts on Roberto Mancini’s Italy.
We’ve picked up 7 points out of a possible 12, which is obviously a good result. But if we take a closer look at the situation, it’s not quite as rosy as it seems.
Six out of seven points came from victories against Turkey, whilst one point came from the draw against France and the defeat against Belgium – to me, this is a terrible result. Although we drew against the strongest side, we played a dreadful match against Belgium, who are our direct rivals for second place.
As things stand, I don’t think the Azzurri have achieved a great result – unless we beat Belgium, but I reckon that’ll be very tough.

This Italy team drawing against France that has quality players in all areas of the field is duty bound to be proud of. If we consider has Italy and France has been in recent years, Italy is no match for France on the field. I agree on Belgium part, but in the same vain Belgium almost won France who's a tougher opponent but for the intervention of he substitute players who came to turn the match late on the game. Italy has to play again against France and Belgium, hopefully Turkey might put up a fight at home against Belgium and Italy gets to win Belgium in the second match to remain in second position. Italy has work to do if they are to continue in the competition

[IceLincoln]

Croatia cannot get a better replacement in the team for Luka Modric, a one time Ballon D'or winner, and the only Croatian player to ever win the Ballon D'or. He deserves the best retirement match to commemorate his good works with the national team, his legacy would forever be remembered.

Though there is still Kovacic and Brozovic in the midfield but they cannot match the influence that Luka Modric has on the pitch.

How coach Bilić is praising him these days, we will see a lot more from Modrić. Unfortunately, as it seems, neither he nor the Croatia squad want him to retire. Brozović has not been active for the country for quite some time, so it's better that he is where he is now, and Kovačić is the kind of player who has played many games for his country, but he has never been very good at it. We hoped that he could carry us after Rakitić and Brozović, but simply, he underperforms every time.

Maybe sometime in the future the Croatian national team may find a perfect replacement for captain Luka Modric, I hope they do but for now there isn't any midfielder, past or present that comes close to the class of the former Real Madrid man, his impact for his national team and club is very enormous and I don't think the likes of Ivan Rakitic, Kovacic and Brozovic could fill that vacuum. When then he finally retires it would take Croatia a long time to find a perfect replacement for the midfield role.

Yeah Luka Modric will be missed as the gap he and Toni Kroos left at Real Madrid is still left open. He’s had a good run with the National team and some of the teammates you listed out are also aged; I mean Ivan Perisic is 37, Rakitic have since left the squad, Brozovic is 33, Mateo Kovacic is 32,… so basically all the good players they have are all aged and this I think is what’s affecting the team and not just playing style.
Hopefully the next generation will have something in stock for them, they need a good scout.

[tiCeR]

...

Normally, you win some and lose some, that’s how the game goes and today, today wasn’t that day that France gets to lose.

Speaking of him being exceptional and why he couldn’t get 3 points in the Italy game, maybe we would have to look at what he did differently in today’s game.
In the game against Italy, France took the lead but couldn’t keep it.
In today’s game against Belgium, Belgium had the lead and France had to come take it.

What Zidane did differently was, not having Cherki, Cunha, Olise and Doue in the starting line up for Belgium as opposed to what he did for the Italy game. These are the very players he brought in as substitutes and they were all that was needed to make the difference for France and Zidane.

That obviously made the difference. You know what's crazy? He literally brought more than half a billion dollars into the game.

I just don't know whether Zidane is really an exceptional coach because no matter how we look at it, I think it is harder to mess up with France than it is to do well. He could do whatever he wants, he essentially can't make mistakes... It was the same when he had his first time as a coach for Real Madrid. I would like to see these coaches manage an average team, or a team that could potentially get relegated. It's just hard to tell how much the coach actually contributed when they manage teams like France or a club like Barcelona or PSG.

[Roseline492]

Turkish was just unlucky to be in that group in yhe Nations league because thwre is no way they are winning Belgium, France or Italy, so it's not a total loss.

There is know group that could have been easy for them on the league one they are because all those other groups are also as tough as there group, or was it in group 3 that has almost all the strongest country they could have been better off?, so actually right from beginning they never had any confidence on the league one because is not more than four countries they are better than and non of them is on there group, they have lost to all the countries against them and is still certain they would loss to them again on the second time as they have already started with Italy and Belgium is next.

[Jaycoinz]

Well, I’ve waited four matches to give my first thoughts on Roberto Mancini’s Italy.
We’ve picked up 7 points out of a possible 12, which is obviously a good result. But if we take a closer look at the situation, it’s not quite as rosy as it seems.
Six out of seven points came from victories against Turkey, whilst one point came from the draw against France and the defeat against Belgium – to me, this is a terrible result. Although we drew against the strongest side, we played a dreadful match against Belgium, who are our direct rivals for second place.
As things stand, I don’t think the Azzurri have achieved a great result – unless we beat Belgium, but I reckon that’ll be very tough.

Honestly I expected way less from them but the results I saw from them this international break was good especially from what I expected, the reason for keeping the Italian team low is because of the huge decline in there domestic league, especially when they perform in Europe, except Inter Milan it feels like the rest of the teams are struggling and they are only standing on the back of there already built dynasty and it doesn't help in the development of the players

[mv1986]

~

Honestly I expected way less from them but the results I saw from them this international break was good especially from what I expected, the reason for keeping the Italian team low is because of the huge decline in there domestic league, especially when they perform in Europe, except Inter Milan it feels like the rest of the teams are struggling and they are only standing on the back of there already built dynasty and it doesn't help in the development of the players

The decline of their domestic league is certainly one reason, but there is more to that. Look at the French team and I don't think Ligue 1 is any better than the Serie A. The difference is that France has new talents coming almost nonstop. I don't know whether they are just lucky, because as far as I know France isn't really known for great academies for young players or anything. Germany is going through hard times for the same reason, there are just not many great German players right now. It is probably more of a serious structural problem that will take a lot of time to be solved.

[LGD2Business]

Well, I’ve waited four matches to give my first thoughts on Roberto Mancini’s Italy.
We’ve picked up 7 points out of a possible 12, which is obviously a good result. But if we take a closer look at the situation, it’s not quite as rosy as it seems.
Six out of seven points came from victories against Turkey, whilst one point came from the draw against France and the defeat against Belgium – to me, this is a terrible result. Although we drew against the strongest side, we played a dreadful match against Belgium, who are our direct rivals for second place.
As things stand, I don’t think the Azzurri have achieved a great result – unless we beat Belgium, but I reckon that’ll be very tough.

I think Italy did quite well overall in these 4 matches. Don't underestimate Belgium, they're a very good team. It was clear that Türkiye would finish last in this group. Italy is fighting for second place with Belgium. Despite the home loss against Belgium, earning 1 point away against France was important. If Italy avoids a loss to Belgium in second game, they could still finish 2nd in the group. I watched both of Italy's matches against Türkiye (naturally ) and they played pretty good in both games. Scamacca and Esposito are very effective players especially. There's no reason for Italians to lose hope.

[Sandra_hakeem]

~

Honestly I expected way less from them but the results I saw from them this international break was good especially from what I expected, the reason for keeping the Italian team low is because of the huge decline in there domestic league, especially when they perform in Europe, except Inter Milan it feels like the rest of the teams are struggling and they are only standing on the back of there already built dynasty and it doesn't help in the development of the players

The decline of their domestic league is certainly one reason, but there is more to that. Look at the French team and I don't think Ligue 1 is any better than the Serie A. The difference is that France has new talents coming almost nonstop. I don't know whether they are just lucky, because as far as I know France isn't really known for great academies for young players or anything. Germany is going through hard times for the same reason, there are just not many great German players right now. It is probably more of a serious structural problem that will take a lot of time to be solved.

For the Italian teams, it's probably because they operate with significantly lower budgets and can't entrust their faith in young players as compared to other teams in Europe and that's a big drawback for them. To this day, not saying this to talk down any player and whatnot but why did Milan choose to sign Luka and they even made a contract extension for him? Yeah, they took advantage of the free transfer on a player that barely had any glory left in him.

As for France, why should that even be a debate if they're lucky or not? We're witnessing the product of hard work and sheer determination on display and luck has nothing to do with that. Fwiw, most key players in the France national team don't play in the league 1.