Has club football killed international football ?

[W11Nchenko]

A lot of international teams have sub-standard managers as top class managers want to be managing everyday and normally(With the exception of Southgate) the money is always better in club football

an exception worth noting.

£5m a year to get england to draw with slovenia while the guy who beat portugal with georgia is on £170k. you'd think the 'city-vs-luton-squad-cost-calculator' obsessed media would be vaguely interested in drawing this sort of comparison.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

I've lost the excitement of watching England games whereas years ago I loved the internationals and the tournaments.
And I think it is because city are fuckin amazing and we have a fantastic team and win things that everything else comes not even a close second.

I was actually that bored the other night watching them that I made a brew and went and sat in the garden, It literally bored me to tears. Watching city and watching this pile of tripe isn't even the same ball game, it's not even the same ball park.

The first tournament where I've thought nah can't be arsed. Maybe if city wasn't the force they was I'd maybe be more invested in England and feel the buzz but the build up I felt as flat as a witches tit.

Spot on. The standard of football we've seen from City the last few seasons is so far above the usual standard of the England team.

I've long said that the vast majority of football fans who follow England are those who support teams that don't win things, or that don't watch the world's top players live every week. Look at the flags at England games and they'll be from places like Grimsby, Carlisle, Crewe, etc.

 

[Legacyfan1986]

I think Fifa and Uefa killed international football with the extended tournaments, new tournaments and excessive amount of qualifying games. Three international breaks in the first four months of the regular season is a pisstake. I think the players are getting more and more nonchalant about it too, as there's so fucking many games nowadays.

 

[SilverFox2]

Spot on. The standard of football we've seen from City the last few seasons is so far above the usual standard of the England team.

I've long said that the vast majority of football fans who follow England are those who support teams that don't win things, or that don't watch the world's top players live every week. Look at the flags at England games and they'll be from places like Grimsby, Carlisle, Crewe, etc.

Unfortunately say City players must adapt their natural game to accommodate all styles of all other players selected.
They cannot rely on other team players who play differently so I think play it safe.
Mr Southgate knows this and dumbs down to safety first.

 

[Lowtower]

Social media and fan bias doesn't help the cause either

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

Not sure myself. The fans out there are really enjoying watching England, its a mass event with £1000's of pounds paid to go watch it. I think that will always be the case. Its about having the best talent in the world all at one event at the same time. I think its more than being about the quality. (And remember these internations are of high quality to a lot more than us big club fans).

And for the players themselves, they love it, they put less effort into their club football (avoiding injuries etc leading up to international tournaments) because of it. It means a lot to the players themselves. Its a world stage.

It will be interesting to see if the world club cup takes over from the international tournaments though. Something has to give I think.

 

[Stephen230]

Might offend someone if you put a st George's flag on a car

I’ve never met or even heard about a single person who’s ever been offended by the sight of an England flag on a car.

I’ve heard of plenty who are offended at the prospect of it though.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

I've never followed England abroad, so I just don't know. But aren't quite a few people out there for the fun of a two-week piss-up in another country — a holiday with their mates basically — a bit like a stag-do with a bit of football thrown in?
I know this. City were great in 1968, (and ’69, and ’70, and so on) and I still followed England with great passion. Good God, I got into football in the first place because of England and ’66! Home internationals, the Euros, World Cups, couldn't get enough of them. I was absolutely devastated that day in 1970 when England went out to West Germany. And devastated every time England failed to even qualify (and there, were, sadly, several of those). I cared very much about England winning and preferably playing good football doing it until some time in the nineties.
Even the winning I can do without (because after decades, you get used to it). It is a long, long time, though, since I saw an England team excite me over a whole tournament. Given who's in the team (and yes, that includes people like Bellingham and Kane), I had high hopes for this one…

 

[Bill Walker]

I’ve never met or even heard about a single person who’s ever been offended by the sight of an England flag on a car.

There was someone on here calling them c---s just last week .

 

[Bill Walker]

Honestly I feel a bit sorry for Southgate. Brits are saying he's got all these massively talented players and he's useless, he hasn't really, a lot of them are bang average. Maybe 3 or 4 world class.