International football is absoluely shocking.

So right.
Just what is the point when portugal end up playing azerbaijan more often than spain?
There are about 50 nations under uefa.
Europe sends 14 teams to the world cup
The 16 lowest ranked teams according to FIFA rankings have to play off to reach the group qualifying stage.
Leaving 14 groups of 3 teams
Each team plays home and away for a total of  4 matches each.
You could get thru the whole boring qualifying process during a summer with no tournament.
Schedule a few friendlies during midweeks with no european club football by all means but please end this awful series of international breaks in the autumn.

And they want more teams at the tournaments - to prolong the dross.

Qualification rounds for the World Cup and Euros should be just for the top 16 or 24 teams in Europe.   

They should let the minnows (San Marino, Andorra, Gibraltar, Scotland etc) have their own little tournament if they wish.

Or give them a pre-qualification qualification ! Allow them to compete with each other and the top 4 teams get into the qualification proper. It cannot go on like this - it's appalling.

but realistically its about the club game now, the domestic stuff and a season of Euro midweek comps, which doesn't shut down the domestic programme. Players play for the wage now, any talk of patriotism and pride in the national jersey is sound byte at best.

Southgate using Henderson and Dier regardless of who we play - 20/30 years of England managers that produce pathetic football- can't win, can't entertain but can lose to minnows and also rans - it's all dross.

On top of all that I needed a 2nd goal in the Norway game and got it on 93.05 mins (3 mins injury time)- chalked off by a lino that called it correctly then lost his nerve and gave an incorrect offside call after several more touches and then a shot !

The club game is just as shocking. The whole lot is boring.

Really poor stuff over last few days, the latarps above said 14/50 go from europe, maybe let the top 10 in uefa automatic place and let the minnows fight out the other 4, could keep the big leagues running without international break....

More and more players only have a tenuous connection to the country they play for.  They're not going to have the appropriate level of passion determination.

Oct 8, 2017 -- 9:59PM, bankit wrote:

Really poor stuff over last few days, the latarps above said 14/50 go from europe, maybe let the top 10 in uefa automatic place and let the minnows fight out the other 4, could keep the big leagues running without international break....

You could never let teams in automatically because the rankings are a joke. And you can easily manipulate the rankings by either not playing friendlies or playing very weak teams in friendlies so you always win them.

What should be done is the process be shorter. Must be a way to eliminate the European teams down to say 28 teams, then have like 7 groups of 4 where the top 2 qualify. Anything to make the process quicker basically.

Not a lot of goals!

34 mins...9x 0-0s

wales v ireland is a cracker

Standard of defending far superior to what you see in the leagues it is true

It's okay you can get back to moaning about the standard of the EPL this weekend.

wales game would be an insult to a div 2 game,shocking though long throw tactic went out with tranmere

impressive defending -there were no goals in the first 5 hours - Licht and Kosovo eventually buckled

5 hours of play that is

Kosovo gradually  becoming a useful side - soon be time to start watching them for a few 'upsets'

whales out

Oct 9, 2017 -- 2:53AM, n88uk wrote:

Oct  8, 2017 --  9:59PM, bankit wrote:Really poor stuff over last few days, the latarps above said 14/50 go from europe, maybe let the top 10 in uefa automatic place and let the minnows fight out the other 4, could keep the big leagues running without international break....You could never let teams in automatically because the rankings are a joke. And you can easily manipulate the rankings by either not playing friendlies or playing very weak teams in friendlies so you always win them.What should be done is the process be shorter. Must be a way to eliminate the European teams down to say 28 teams, then have like 7 groups of 4 where the top 2 qualify. Anything to make the process quicker basically.

What about a summer qualifying event the year before, could do it in a fortnight groups of 4 top 2 qualify

bear in mind though you wouldn't have any more EPL games to take the empty time  - the season can only be 38 games

You could lose some of the midweek full cards you get through the season

UEFA Nations League should draw things out more next year.

Personally I love international football. No buying your way to success with rich sugar daddies. Just pure football with teams playing for pride rather than a paycheck. Look at what qualifying for the World Cup has meant to nations like Iceland & Egypt in recent days. Beautiful scenes. But I can understand fans of the British home nations sides becoming disillusioned as the quality is poor compared to the plastic Premier League teams many of them support. Particularly the facebook generation.

fisheye does have a point

ANY OLDIES LIKE ME REMEMBER THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS BEEN PLAYED THROUGHT THE SEASON WITH A HOME AND AWAY SEMI FINAL

Well said fisheye. The pride element is particularly true for the likes of San Marino - players who in some cases will be taking unpaid time off work to represent their country. Why should they make these sacrificies then be denied the chance to play against the best sides in Europe? The good thing about international football is that it is inclusive; the whole pre-qualification argument simply strikes of elitism.

Was it really 1976 when Czechloslovakia beat the Germans with that  chipped penalty

Pride is all well and good, I'm all for it - it's just the football that's sh!te.

Agree with fisheye. And I think 90% of PL games are shíte to watch as well. Passing it sideways or a complete mismatch is not entertaining to watch for me

I also agree with fisheye.
Any international football is better than the Premier League.
There is pride and passion, even if a team is totally outclassed (like Wales )

What kind of punter worth his salt moans about games involving the likes of San Marino and Gibraltar and Andorra?
From the latest round of fixtures, scorelines of 0-8, 0-6, 0-4 and 0-5, none of which were a surprise, and you mugs don't know how to profit from that?

JC  - it's having the bank roll to be able to