Internationals.

[kenzie115]

I think they should make the qualifiers into a mini-tournament, keeping the league format, so for Euro 2012 they play all 10 games in the summer of 2011, the tournament lasts just over a month and there's no need for international weeks.

People will argue that players come back more tired after world cup or euro competition years and so playing a qualifying tournament would mean they come back tired every year, but without international weeks you'd cut 5 weeks off the length of the season so wouldn't need to start till September so players wouldn't have to report back for training till August, still giving them a month off. This would also apply to world cup and euro competition years.

So not only does this remove the problem of international weekends but it removes the additional problem of fatigue after a tournament summer.

Alternatively, play the mini-tournament in a neutral location and only play each team once, thus meaning a shorter tournament, and more rest. The FA's wouldn't like it but I don't care.

What's the point of World Cup, EURO etc... if something pretty similar would be played to qualify for those main tournaments...

Well, you can wish and dream but I'm afraid something like that is never going to happen

These September and October fixtures are bad though, it's hard to keep good form when these breaks are coming each 3-4 weeks

The main tournaments would include all the teams that qualified from the mini-tournaments, I'd say most people would say there's a difference between a tournament in a league format between England, Montenegro, Wales, Switzerland and Bulgaria and the world cup which includes a group stage then knockout rounds leading to the final in which teams such as Argentina, Brazil, Spain and the Netherlands compete.

 

[NorthamptonBlue]

Make the likes of Faroe and Lichtenstein play qualifiers like the FA cup. The top players only have to play important games then.

 

[MSP]

Alternatively, play the mini-tournament in a neutral location and only play each team once, thus meaning a shorter tournament, and more rest. The FA's wouldn't like it but I don't care.

What's the point of World Cup, EURO etc... if something pretty similar would be played to qualify for those main tournaments...

Well, you can wish and dream but I'm afraid something like that is never going to happen

These September and October fixtures are bad though, it's hard to keep good form when these breaks are coming each 3-4 weeks

The main tournaments would include all the teams that qualified from the mini-tournaments, I'd say most people would say there's a difference between a tournament in a league format between England, Montenegro, Wales, Switzerland and Bulgaria and the world cup which includes a group stage then knockout rounds leading to the final in which teams such as Argentina, Brazil, Spain and the Netherlands compete.

Of course it's different in that way but what makes World CUps and EURO special is not only that best teams that qualified are playing there but because it's a tournament played on some specific country once in a while... that's what makes those tournaments a real spectacles...

Playing qualifying tournaments that would differ from main types only by quality of teams would kill a big percent of that spectacle and it just won't happen never in our lives... UEFA and FIFA are rating national federations much more than teams and they won't ever let teams to dictate this

 

[blue b4 the moon]

I think they should make the qualifiers into a mini-tournament, keeping the league format, so for Euro 2012 they play all 10 games in the summer of 2011, the tournament lasts just over a month and there's no need for international weeks.

People will argue that players come back more tired after world cup or euro competition years and so playing a qualifying tournament would mean they come back tired every year, but without international weeks you'd cut 5 weeks off the length of the season so wouldn't need to start till September so players wouldn't have to report back for training till August, still giving them a month off. This would also apply to world cup and euro competition years.

So not only does this remove the problem of international weekends but it removes the additional problem of fatigue after a tournament summer.

I like this.

What I'd also suggest is teams ranked below whatever figure 50 or 60 in the world play each other in knockouts,it's happened in the past and probably does now in Africa etc.


I'm all in favour of little teams getting a fair chance but you could probably drop the bottom 2 teams in each group and not effect the final placings but save 'game time'.

 

[mancjim78]

I like this.

What I'd also suggest is teams ranked below whatever figure 50 or 60 in the world play each other in knockouts,it's happened in the past and probably does now in Africa etc.


I'm all in favour of little teams getting a fair chance but you could probably drop the bottom 2 teams in each group and not effect the final placings but save 'game time'.[/quote]
i agree the small teams could play their own mini euro comp at the same as the main one to see who qualify for the start of the next tornament

 

[Challenger1978]

Very weird. ;-)

Playing (or not) for England clearly matters to City players - particularly to Micah at the moment - and I think that it is sad when City fans say they couldn't care less.

I'm getting to the point I don't care about England any more. That's coming from someone that used to be mad on International football and couldn't wait for the world cup to start every 4 years. In fact if you would of asked me a couple of years ago England to win the world cup or city to win something. I would of unselfishly I think picked England winning the world cup as it would of meant something to the entire country instead of just us city fans.

There has been though a series of events over the last 20 years that are cumulatively putting me of watching England. For starters there's been a sea of change in the culture of the England players and the way they are. 20 years ago we blamed the drinking culture and the England team being to nice (not cheating and kicking the ball out of play for injured players) for us being unsuccessfully. Role on 20 years we have a national team full of bland (no characters) dirty cheating fuck face wankers. Worst of all we're still bleeding shit and couldn't win the special needs world cup never mind the real thing. Turn back the clock i say let the players go on the piss let them run around with plastic tits on there chest and bras on there head if they want. They might of been a bunch of drunken loony bastards 20 years ago but they were genuine people that cared a real team of characters. Not the bland bunch of corporate dick heads we have now that couldn't give a fuck and only care about the money from image rights.

Then there's the David Beckham saga (I fucking hate him). After his sending of in the 1998 world cup he should of never been allowed near the England team again. I wouldn't of been arsed if it was a sending of for a reckless challenge but the manner of him getting sent of was a disgrace and he literally cost us a good chance at the world cup. Add on to that all the shit with the little cunts broken foot and the should we shouldn't we take him to the world cup crap. That man for a large part of his England carer was only in the England team to sell bloody shirts because of his celebrity status and that cost us badly. Now Beckham has gone we have his corporate replacement, Roll on David Beckham MK II aka the Granny shagger Wayne Rooney. I don't even have to type anything out just read the stuff about Beckham again but add on to that he is a nasty little **** to boot.

I'm saying it again but THEN you have the whole bleeding Fat Frank and Gerrard bullshit. We've pissed about that long trying to get them to work together instead of just picking one. There carers are nearly over now and it never worked we should of just picked one of them (Gerard IMO) and got on with it. Instead of picking both of them and one them always ending up anonymous in a game. Again both of them being played wasn't about the team it was about selling England shirts first.

Also now we also have that bastard Crappello in charge of the England team. That 2 weeks before the world cup demands a new contract or he is packing it in. He's a useless bastard of the highest order we should of sacked him and stuck Stewart Pearce in charge its not like he could of done any worse.

To top it all of though we've recently seen how blatantly corrupt FIFA are. If the top of the game is so bleeding corrupt what about all the dodgy decisions that go on. Are they really mistakes or is money changing hands or are refs taking orders from the top to fuck teams over. What's going on now in international football is a disgrace. We can't pull out of FIFA i know there's no way to do that but i really wish it was on the cards as there just a bunch of bent bastards.