UEFA, Good Idea?

Ken.

http://www.joe.ie/football/football-news/uefas-plan-to-scrap-international-friendlies-and-replace-them-with-league-format/

International friendlies are a pack like liquorice allsorts; a mixed bag. For every decent game, like Ireland’s 2-0 win over Italy a few years back, there are loads of duds, like the recent 0-0 draw with Wales.
We’re not the only ones a little disenchanted with the international friendly, and it seems Uefa have a plan, and a pretty interesting one, to try and solve it.
Instead of playing games that genuinely don’t matter around the World Cup and European Championship qualifiers, Uefa are thinking of launching a nine-division international league, covering all 54 nations, from 2018.


The plan would be to split the 54 members of Uefa into nine groups based on ranking (see below for the full list) and that the games would be played around the qualifiers from 2018. A geographical set of divisions was also proposed.


First division: Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy, England, Portugal
Second division: Russia, Greece, Croatia, Sweden, France, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Third division: Ukraine, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Hungary, Czech Republic
Fourth division: Ireland, Serbia, Norway, Slovakia, Turkey, Israel
Fifth division: Slovenia, Austria, Romania, Montenegro, Poland, Finland
Sixth division: Scotland, Armenia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus
Seventh division: Wales, Northern Ireland, Albania, Iceland, Lithuania, Macedonia
Eighth division: Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Kazakhstan
Ninth division: Liechtenstein, Faroe Islands, Malta, Andorra, San Marino, Gibraltar


I think this would be a good idea.

LeBash

ken wrote: »

http://www.joe.ie/football/football-news/uefas-plan-to-scrap-international-friendlies-and-replace-them-with-league-format/

International friendlies are a pack like liquorice allsorts; a mixed bag. For every decent game, like Ireland’s 2-0 win over Italy a few years back, there are loads of duds, like the recent 0-0 draw with Wales.
We’re not the only ones a little disenchanted with the international friendly, and it seems Uefa have a plan, and a pretty interesting one, to try and solve it.
Instead of playing games that genuinely don’t matter around the World Cup and European Championship qualifiers, Uefa are thinking of launching a nine-division international league, covering all 54 nations, from 2018.


The plan would be to split the 54 members of Uefa into nine groups based on ranking (see below for the full list) and that the games would be played around the qualifiers from 2018. A geographical set of divisions was also proposed.


First division: Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy, England, Portugal
Second division: Russia, Greece, Croatia, Sweden, France, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Third division: Ukraine, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Hungary, Czech Republic
Fourth division: Ireland, Serbia, Norway, Slovakia, Turkey, Israel
Fifth division: Slovenia, Austria, Romania, Montenegro, Poland, Finland
Sixth division: Scotland, Armenia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus
Seventh division: Wales, Northern Ireland, Albania, Iceland, Lithuania, Macedonia
Eighth division: Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Kazakhstan
Ninth division: Liechtenstein, Faroe Islands, Malta, Andorra, San Marino, Gibraltar


I think this would be a good idea.

Sounds good and i like the idea but if there is something at stake every game when would new players get a look in?

As poor as friendlies are, they are useful to mangers. I think it will lead to more teams sticking to rigid formations and ways of playing rather than experimenting with new systems and players.

Seaneh

So, er, this might sound stupid, but how exactly do qualifications work?

The top however many teams qualify?

Or is this different than Qualifiers?

Ken.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057058341
There is a thread already on this. Apologies for that.

Mars Bar

I think we're okay to lock this so.