2018 UEFA Nations League

[Evilo]

I think out of pride they'd rather be in Pot A, if only because of media at home.
Doesn't mean they gave their all. Players would risk injury in a WC game. They wouldn't for a NL game. It's really that simple. Just like in a friendly.

Look, I have no idea why this discussion is somehow controversial. It's great for those 4 teams to reach the Final 4. Holland is rebuilding with young players I think it was a great way for them to gain confidence and show their worth. Switzerland has tried to open up things and it's a great result for him. England can build on a successful WC and Southgate is doing some great work. Portugal has shown they could win without Ronaldo and are probably more of a team without him (not necessarily his fault BTW).
This is great for those 4 teams. They deserve what they get because they tried hard for those friendlies.

Does that make this competition more than just friendlies? Not to me. Not to Croatia (by their own words). Not to France, Spain, Germany and plenty of others.
If all teams had tried hard, YES I have a hard time thinking the final 4 would be those who indeed qualified. Call it arrogance if you like, I see it as pure objectivity.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

The Nations League is worth a bit more than friendlies, but not a whole lot more. If it was considered even close to a real tournament in importance, Löw would quite probably be out of a job now.

I think Germany and France were in different positions going into it. The German team came into it under pressure and with an air of negativity surrounding it. I dont think they did poorly because they totally did not care, I think they cared about it as much as they would have cared about qualifiers. They did poorly because at the moment it's not a real team and it's questionable if Jogi is capable of reshaping it into one.

France are a different matter altogether, of course. They are World Cup holders and have little to prove..so their interest level is going to be 'flexible' when it comes to something like this.

 

[Ceremony]

Israel getting absolutely relt

Delicious

 

[Riellyfan04]

Kosovo so far in this has been amazing!

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Israel getting absolutely relt

Delicious

Lol it's 2-1.

Granted, the last 25 minutes Scotland were well on top.

 

[HajdukSplit]

Kosovo so far in this has been amazing!

They are better than your typical Pot 6 side due to the players committing to them but I'd like to see how they do against better opposition, as in the WCQ they were hammered at times by Croatia, Ukraine, Turkey (though they have definitely improved since then and even in the games against Croatia they were dangerous in attack)

 

[Riellyfan04]

They are better than your typical Pot 6 side due to the players committing to them but I'd like to see how they do against better opposition, as in the WCQ they were hammered at times by Croatia, Ukraine, Turkey (though they have definitely improved since then and even in the games against Croatia they were dangerous in attack)

Oh for sure. When you think about it! They just got approved couple years ago! Im from kosovo and honestly shocked how good theyve been. If only Shaqiri,xhaka came and played for us! Woulda been awesome.but our group now are very young so im confident they will grow together nicely.

 

[HajdukSplit]

Not looking good for Germany's seeding status for the Euro qualifying draw; Poland equalize and up a man, they only need a draw to jump above Germany

 

[Ceremony]

James Forrest will be on banknotes in an independent Scotland.

 

[vippe]

Marcus Berg finally managed to score on the National team after a million games long drought. Well deserved.

Hopefully Sweden has this in the bag now, best game from the team in a very long time.

 

[ScottishCanuck]

Easy

 

[HajdukSplit]

So the first edition of the Nations League is over

LEAGUE A
Final Four: Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, England
Safe: France, Belgium, Italy, Spain
Relegated to B: Germany, Iceland, Poland, Croatia

LEAGUE B
Promoted to A: Ukraine, Sweden, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denmark
Safe: Czech Republic, Russia, Austria, Wales
Relegated to C: Slovakia, Turkey, Northern Ireland, Rep of Ireland

LEAGUE C
Promoted to B: Scotland, Finland, Norway, Serbia
Safe: Israel, Albania, Hungary, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Montenegro
Relegated to D: Estonia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Lithuania

LEAGUE D
Promoted to C: Georgia, Belarus, Kosovo, Macedonia

So the big news is Germany's relegation and because of their poor performances they have fallen to Pot 2 in the Euro 2020 draw. Another notable relegation but way at the bottom is Slovenia, a team who have qualified for three major tournaments since independence but will now play in the lowest league. All league winners are guaranteed at least a playoff spot for Euro 2020 should they not qualify through the traditional route

 

[joe89]

Sweden, although experimenting a bit, was awful for four games after the World Cup. The two games this break however was pretty much back to normal when it mattered. Today was very good against a bleak Russian team that was out for 0-0 and had little to offer when they needed a goal. Strong comeback to win the group.

Other than getting promoted, a little extra bonus to see Germany falling down to our seeding group. Sooner or later they will get their shit together. Not that we should have any troubles qualifying for a 24 team tournament.

 

[robertmac43]

Hoping the Scots can go on a run, International football has just been dead too long there.

 

[koyvoo]

Germany has fallen to pot 2 for seeding. If they didn’t take this league at least somewhat seriously knowing full well the ramifications for such a poor display, they’re run by morons. Lucky for the Euro being a pot 2 draw isn’t as bad a draw for the Euro as it would be for the World Cup.

But still, if they were stupid enough to not care about possibly dropping in seeding, they deserve to have it backfire on them and miss the next major tournament.

 

[ecemleafs]

James Forrest will be on banknotes in an independent Scotland.

Quite possibly the best player in the world right now.

 

[Corto]

Love Lovren talks all this smack and becomes a turnsile vs. England.

Lovren had a very good game, very little of whatever was wrong with Croatia's game could or should be attributed to him.

We're basically playing without a LB (offensively and defensively), and once Vrsaljko is out (which is every 2nd game it seems), we're in the same problem on the right side.
We have bodies there, but defensively these improvised-fullbacks gravitate towards the middle (as usually we use natural CBs there), and offensively they're a complete non-factor.

It's an entirely different game with at least the right side having a world-class fullback there in Vrsaljko, him playing out of the back, knowing when to push forward, overlapping, and being one of the best defensive fullbacks around... As opposed to Jedvaj or someone else standing in.

That, and our set piece defending has been abysmal - even in the World Cup.

...

Anyway, Lovren's not to blame for anything, had a good match.
I do think he should shut his mouth on the interwebz though.

 

[Tomas W]

Going to be interesting to see whom Sweden will play in the qualifiers. Sweden should have a good chance to reach the Championships.

 

[Tomas W]

So Germany didnt care about the NL?When are they planning to care about national fotball again?

 

[member 305909]

I'm not sure if I have got this right but I understand that that next summer there will be the finals of all four leagues and the winners will get a spot in the euro 2020 alongside the 20 teams which come from the qualifiers. If any of the league-winners would have qualified from the usual route as well the next best team in the league who didn't qualify will do so.

It is perfectly possible that any of the teams England, Switzerland, Holland and Portugal could win the NL but fail to get into the top two of their qualifying group.

The thing which puzzles me is that don't the euro-qualifiers last until the end of 2019? Therefore for those teams which have won their leagues the qualifiers become meaningless?

 

[HajdukSplit]

Thought it was today with the Euro 2020 draw but its tomorrow (the draw for Final Four). Open draw with the four winners of League A (POR, ENG, SUI, NED) with the Portuguese as hosts. For some reason there is a 3rd place match as well

 

[Tuggy]

 

[Bon Esprit]

So Germany didnt care about the NL?When are they planning to care about national fotball again?

No, Germans don't care and they even pay attention. Löw and DfB did and they failed.

 

[koyvoo]

Tomorrow-
Portugal v Switzerland

Thursday-
England v Holland

 

[koyvoo]

Ronaldo puts Portugal up 1-0 in the 26th on a free kick.

Both teams finding plenty of space going forward while neither teams defence look good.