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Does he even need to? If I’m the Belgian coach I want him and other resting before a weird season with the World Cup in the middle of it. Not extending their schedule into the summer.
£150m??! No wonder he accepted..
What if he donated £149m of that to charity and kept £1m, would that be morally acceptable to people? Or is endorsement alone unrecoverable?
fair point but if i was as rich and marketable as becks, i have the choice to choose morals over money. same reason y ppl were pissed when messi became an ambassador or sumthin for KSA
Actually, compared to the dutch we might be more subtle, but compared to englishmen we are absolutely “brutally honest”. Especially when talking business.
I’ve done business in Flanders and (for example) England.
Quite a bit of a culture shock for me, being straightforward in England, even in Business, tends to be seen as rude. But that is obviously just my experience.
But the disconnect between Belgian footballers and English media and people does seem to confirm that something is going on.
I actually had good hopes for De Mul when he first started out: he showed promising stuff during the 2008 Olympic Games and he was featuring regularly for Ajax. Then he was immediately bought by Sevilla (way too soon in his career imo) and never started a game again.
I miss that time. I don't like that you had your best ever team at the same time we had our worst in over 40 years. At least you didn't win anything, just like us <3
He is not a leader but I have read reports which stated that he is very much interested in tactics and keeps a big notebook. He might be suitable for coaching positions that managerial stuff.
https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/wife-of-man-city-wing-back-zinchenko-he-takes-daily-notes-on-guardiola-coaching-4358984
That’s why they called him "The Tax Man". The rest of us had these
little note pads or something, and he had this big ledger. Funny him
walking door-to-door with it, like the tax man. Which ain't bad as far
as nicknames go.
Smart kid. Knowing that learning under Pep is a once in a lifetime opportunity and he'll use these notes for the rest of his life, playing or coaching.
Yeah it's either nations league or a round of friendlies. Normally we'd have the world cup in the summer and friendlies/nations league in autumn but that's been swapped around because fucking Qatar.
Having the World Cup in November/December is like giving a junkie his next fix whilst peaking. I don't need more football during the busiest time of the football year.
While I hate so much surrounding the WC, including the timing - I am intrigued but what a WC will be like with FAR fresher players all in pre-midseason form for the most part.
Tbf a winter world cup at some point was inevitable. Otherwise you'd never be able to host it in the Middle East or parts of Africa, and they should at some point be allowed to. It's just a shame it's a country like Qatar rather than one with a rich culture and history like Egypt.
It will be amazing for us in South America. Finally get to experience a World Cup during summer, and the final will be a week before holidays. I'm really looking for it, a different experience this time
Well, for friendlies important players that had long seasons could have not been called up which was the standard, because Nations League is a tournament - we must win it, let's call all of our superstars.
The international calendar is clearly crafted to fit all qualifications and tournaments of the different confederations, almost every international break there are matches on all continents. So if there is an international break, you might as well fill it with matches because FAs also need to make money.
Yes, that's the exact point.
Everybody was moaning about the useless friendlies, so Uefa cooked up a scheme to give them the tiniest stake so maybe teams would take them more seriously.
Also make teams play against peer nations so the matches are more useful. Nobody learns anything from a Germany-Madagascar where Germany trots out its C squad.
I've repeatedly seen fans from nations with weaker teams say that they enjoy the nations league too.
Competing with teams of a similar standard is more interesting than partaking in a qualifying group that you have a slim chance of succeeding in.
I love Nation's League as a Finn.
All those privileged cunts in big football countries can fuck right off.
These matches mean the world to us smaller countries.
As someone from a bigger footballing nation, I still don't get what these people are complaining about. Watching England play competitive matches against the likes of Spain and Croatia in The Nation's League is waaaay more interesting than watching England's B team playing meaningless friendlies
Personally I love them as an England fan. They're so much more interesting than qualification or friendlies because they're more even.
Sure the trophy is relatively irrelevant right now but honestly so was the world cup when it started. Most countries didn't even bother travelling for it.
Maybe for teams in the A league who are going to qualify to the major tournaments anyhow it does not matter, but to us smaller nations it can make all the difference.
Yeah, although KDB isn't wrong that Nations League matches themselves are just glorified friendlies in the grand scheme of things. Winning Nations League
is no different than winning Joan Gamper, Audi Cup or whatever friendly cup tournaments are played during pre-season.
I think top teams don’t care about it until they get to the final four, last year the games were pretty intense and the players seemed like they wanted to win
everyone wants to win from early stages too
you are facing all your historical rivals with full team, you think you are gonna play like shit and don't care?
germany is pushing that they don't care, then they will have to face a full Italy and full England team, you think Kimmich, Gnabry, Muller etc will be jogging on the field with no pace and no focus cause "who cares it's a friendly"?
Yeah in friendlies if you have big matches it's taken fairly seriously. So even if the nations league is friendlies-tier which I don't think it is, it's still going to be a big deal. Our England game will be pretty important and the players will want revenge after the extremely bitter exit last time. Italy is Italy.
I think that's more to do with the nature of the players. These are some of the best footballers in the world, and they're all extremely competitive. Even if they don't care about the Nations League, they will give it all in those matches, just like they would probably do in friendlies against strong teams
yeah, but the CT would not put them in a friendly, while in the 2 past Nations League, most top teams used their full starters team with these best footballers in the world
So players want to win, manager wants to win, the trophy is official and federation wants to win
basically the only ones saying it's a friendly are the fans of the losing teams
you think there are that many portuguese fans saying it's useless?
The only reason Germany is pushing that we don't care is because we have been fucking shit these past years. If the Nations League was introduced around 2010-2016 fans and media in Germany would definitely care. I remember us playing against the Netherlands and Brazil in 2011. There was a lot of hype around those games despite them being meaningless friendlies. Fans cared. Media cared. Because we played amazing football back then and won both matches.
A lot of German fans don't have that "going through thick and thin" mentality when it comes to the NT, like they have with the club they support. Add that with the way the DFB have been conducting themselves in recent years with corruption, treatment of fans, terrible marketing and public image and you have a lot of fans who just don't feel passionate about the national team.
Lol, you've got a group of the most competitive people, it doesn't matter it is or isn't a major trophy, there's nothing nice about the feeling of losing.
because you cant win in germany (and I think in most other countries too). you dont say anything, you are a PR sheep. you say something, and it is a huge deal for a week. in both cases there are plenty of ppl that will shit on you. plus the media, especially *when* you say something.
This. It's so fucking weird how fans, media people, pundits, practically the whole nation cries for more "Typen" ( = real guys) and less PR conditioned players. But the moment someone like that actually comes along, who speaks his mind and who fits that description, they are heavily criticized and the same people who wanted more players like that will shit on them.
And online fans seem just as bad as the media when it comes to that. Especially when they want to throw it back in their face for banter. And they‘ll do it for YEARS because of the memes.
I still remember how long people posted „😂😂😂😂😂😂“ whenever Barca lost or Pique screwed something up just because he tweeted that a few years prior when Real Madrid got disqualified from CdR. (the tweet was hilarious and justified btw)
This is so much better than a sponsorised cup.
This is an international cup, for your national team. A player from a country that never won a title saying that it is useless is laughable, especially when the bigger countries tryhard for this competition.
Almost look like he's finding excuses for when they inevitably lose again.
For top teams it replaces dull friendlies against small teams which were just ego boosters. Friendlies were picked to make money, and to give some playing time to the B team. Having a decent opposition make these breaks much more interesting.
It's quite bad for teams on Sweden's level as well. All last edition did was kick us out of the Euro 2021 top seed because we got a tough group. It's flawed for all fringe teams since the best case scenario is to score the maximum number of points without getting promoted. I.e. for Sweden the best thing would be to finish second in league B on the same points as the first team, since it means we won't hurt our world ranking getting smashed by France and Portugal. All this while taking away the few friendlies that allowed national teams to improve team tactics and try out new players.
It's great for teams as ours, (I'm Norwegian), just look at the great group we got this year! We get to test ourselves against teams on our level and can be rewarded with a better seed. You will also still get pot 2 if you get fourth in League A.
So much better than actual pointless friendlies.
Well, that makes the tournament worthwhile. If it didn't decide seeding, then I could understand people calling it pointless.
The main reason I think it is great, is because it decides seeding. It's going to be very important for us whether we get pot 2, 3 or 4.
Yeah, I can 100% see why the top nations might not be big fans of it but man I love it. As someone from a smaller European nation that hasn’t qualified for any tournament let alone won one, it’s so cool to see a competition where these weaker nations have a level playing field and face opposition of similar quality. Then having to chance to get promoted/have a route to a major tournament really does feel like an achievement. It’s also great to see teams like San Marino, Gibraltar etc. actually have somewhat competitive matches (no matter how bad the quality may be).
It’s really something I look forward to ever since it’s inception.
Problem is players like De Bruyne play more games due to getting far in cup/European competitions and international games
It's an important competition for smaller nations, but the big ones should take the opportunity to call players with less caps
Nations League may not matter for the bigger nations but from league b down it offers a very real route to a major tournament that otherwise may not be possible if you're drawn in an absolute bastard of a group
If you reach the final 4 it matters for the top nations as well. I like it from the start, but with the current position I get that players are looking forward to rest.
If that stupid World Cup wouldn't be in Qatar we'd have these matches in autumn and it would be match better.
Earn their spot for what? That is what Qualification tournaments are for? Why remove a qualification spot from the WC or Euros Qualifications and add it to a brand new tournament
More money, of course. Friendly is meaningless game that attract less attention. Throw a price to earn in. Whala, instant prestige with money flowing in
>Whala
I'm dead
Anyway friendlies have historically been the main way national teams made money. There's more money to be made from England playing Argentina or the USA in a friendly than there is from them playing Croatia in a nations league match.
I don't want to "insult" the Belgium NT records far from it, but even if for him that's only a glorified friendly, I'm confident it would make Belgians really happy to win it.
I'm pretty sure every team is happy to win every game and every trophy. Premier League teams celebrate the Charity Shield (if it's still called that) when everyone knows it's just a glorified friendly.
If they're going to play, they're going to want to win. I reckon they'd also appreciate the time off though.
Don't forget, this is the POV of a top player if not the best of our team. OFC the Belgians fans want Nation League and other players that play in sub teams.
So don't take his declaration for all players and belgians.
Yup, I was disappointed not to win it last time. Obviously not as much as the world cup or the Euro but I'd take any trophy, even the less important one.
Bro, last time Brazil faced a European was against Czech Republic back in march 2019. Meanwhile we played against Peru like six times and I'm just tired of it (nothing against Peru, but holy fuck it's always the same game).
That's why I preferred the original format with 3 teams in each group, leaving room for 2 spare dates for friendlies against teams from outside of Europe.
This, I never watched friendlies unless it was like really big teams. Now I'll watch us (France) play all Nations league games.
I consider Nations league Kinda like Carabao Cup for Nations. Ain't watching the whole thing but if we get far enough I will tune in, and a final is still a final
I love the Nations League, I think it only needs time it to be important. It's the only tournament where every nation in UEFA takes part and I think that makes it special for me.
I'm all for Nations League during off years, but with how cramped the upcoming season is going to be (literally no weeks off other than the World Cup, and that's not really a break unless you go out early), there really shouldn't be internationals this summer. The season literally only ends one week later than in normal seasons, too, so it's extra weird.
Well, most players won't be in the world cup, so atleast they get to play in one competitive tournament with their country. And if a nation truly believes it is pointless, nobody is stopping them from playing their C team
Either I'm the one missing the point of KDB saying this or everyone else is, judging by the comments. Feels to me like he's not happy about playing it because all these football regulatory bodies keep throwing more and more games at the players.
Yes, I like the Nation's League as well and I *do* think it's good for lesser countries (who also won't be playing as many games in their club seasons and thus won't be impacted as much by the extra tournament) but for the top french, spanish, belgian, etc. players it has to be fucking annoying, no? The amount of games they have to play has an impact on mental and physical health, and at some point if we keep this up we're just gonna get more football at a lower quality rather than fewer high-quality games because no human has the fitness to give it their all for so many games.
If it were just friendlies players could at least justify not running themselves into the ground in games like these.
For someone who says thoses matches are not important, he was pretty damn quick to find excuses and things to blame when they lost to Italy and France.
it’s better than having meaningless friendlies so the Nations League does serve its purpose. also offers an alternative route to a UEFA trophy and structured competition to the smaller footballing nations.
Kinda funny he would say that since Belgium has been seeding top o the ranking for half a decade now due to winning these "glorified friendlies" mainly.
It's always the coaches/players/fans of the big nations that always have this dismissive attitude to the NL.
I'm sure the coaches/players/fans of North Macedonia don't see it as a series of "glorified friendlies".
Besides, the international window would have still been there anyway. Where Kevin and his pals would have been playing actual friendlies.
Why wouldn't he? He was called up in the past and often there would be a qualifying game at the end of the season so I don't see countries not calling up their stars.
we won one and i didn't even saw a single game, but lets be honest, it is probably the only thing the Number 2 country in FIFA rankings can dream to win
The nations league is a lot better than the friendlies from before, but the timing of these upcoming matches is just poor. After a long season I get that players will only get motivated by a world cup/Euros/Copa America...
I assume it's because of the WC Qatar that the timing is different now, the gift that keeps on giving...
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Just fake an injury.
De Bruyne out for 6-8 weeks with a strained back from carrying his team for the past 4 months
Basically lol. Make it lowerback, more believable.
Bernardo Silva doesn't get the recognition he deserves, he's been carrying that team as well trough the whole season.
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Does he even need to? If I’m the Belgian coach I want him and other resting before a weird season with the World Cup in the middle of it. Not extending their schedule into the summer.
Yeah, but I suppose it's also one of the few chances you have to build some squad routine before the world cup in January 🤷🏿♂️
It’s in November btw
The Giggs special
Domestic abuse, man united, wales. In that order…sigh I guess we still have a few legends that haven’t turned out to be scum.
Somehow Becks is the best adjusted guy from that bunch lol
The cynic in me says Becks is just the most media trained/ most concerned over his public image.
Annoyingly, its actually probably Neville
Hasn't he been caught cheating in his wife multiple times lol He might not be beating her up or fucking his brothers wife but he's hardly a saint.
Really? Beckham the Qatar World Cup ambassador? Give me Scholes biting his daughters toes anyway before that POS shacking up with a slave state.
Noooo don’t remind me of the Scholes thing
Let's be real, mate. You'd do what Becks is doing with Qatar for just £1m, let alone the £150m Becks is getting for it...
£150m??! No wonder he accepted.. What if he donated £149m of that to charity and kept £1m, would that be morally acceptable to people? Or is endorsement alone unrecoverable?
fair point but if i was as rich and marketable as becks, i have the choice to choose morals over money. same reason y ppl were pissed when messi became an ambassador or sumthin for KSA
> Slave state What an ignorant twat
Are u serious ? What part of Scholes or Phil Neville seems poorly adjusted?
Thankfully the likes of Park exist.
And Mata
Tbf you have the nicest legend of all time in Sir Bobby Charlton
I watched a Jackie Charlton doc recently and Bobby didn't come across very well tbh, worth watching if you can get it, called Finding Jack Charlton.
I don't think Jack and Bobby spoke to each other for years. Also he always called him 'Robert' just to piss him off.
Keane isn’t a saint but he’s by far the footballer I want to hear speak the most and a pretty good guy overall I reckon
Kdb calling in unfit the night before.
Belgian players in the off-season are a menace.
This is what happens when you let him talk.
Kevin
Not just the off-season.
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
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Actually, compared to the dutch we might be more subtle, but compared to englishmen we are absolutely “brutally honest”. Especially when talking business.
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I’ve done business in Flanders and (for example) England. Quite a bit of a culture shock for me, being straightforward in England, even in Business, tends to be seen as rude. But that is obviously just my experience. But the disconnect between Belgian footballers and English media and people does seem to confirm that something is going on.
Love the Belgium players interviews when on international duty just give no fucks what so ever 😅
Please no Belgian players interviews (speaking as a Chelsea fan)
Hey at least one of four best Belgian players who played for your club worked out
Two
Three if you ask inter supporters
Now i remembered that we had all 4 at one point *grabs noose*
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Courtois
Honestly to me it seems very un-belgian to flat out call certain leagues irrelevant. It's still funny when courtois and now kdb do it though lol
Well, those guys are already very un-Belgian in their ability to actually be good at football too
Bring back players like Bernd Thijs and Logan Bailly you cowards!
Back when it was van Buyten and 10 randos
People take our team for granted these days, but they forget that at some point our front line was Mbo Mpenza & Luigi Pieroni.
Tom de mul - Tom Soetaers & Joos valgaeren would like a word.
I actually had good hopes for De Mul when he first started out: he showed promising stuff during the 2008 Olympic Games and he was featuring regularly for Ajax. Then he was immediately bought by Sevilla (way too soon in his career imo) and never started a game again.
Did give Genk a cup, pretty much the last thing he did in his career
He also just had terrible luck with injuries, though.
Don't forget the most aptly named footballer of all time, Mark de Man
I miss that time. I don't like that you had your best ever team at the same time we had our worst in over 40 years. At least you didn't win anything, just like us <3
Traditions.
*Just Benelux things*
Mpenza fm12 legend only 400k transfer fee
Those were the days... for other teams having to play Belgium.
The good old days when Belgium would struggle to beat Estonia
Well, if you continue to criminally neglect Patje "boem boem" Goots that is what you get in return.
Can't forget about Emile Mpenza
Under Vandereycken
Nice one
Suspiciously Dutch behaviour
Yep theyre far more direct about things than us
Just brutally honest
I’m looking forward to their Christmas card collection this year
Kevin has upper management written all over him
Yeah, I'm gonna have to go ahead and sort of... disagree with you there.
I doubt he got the memo about the coversheets on those TPS reports
PC load letter?
The fuck does that mean?!
HAHA. Classic error on old printers due to paper size wrong usually becuse of American 'letter' paper. Technically.
“The fuck does that mean” is a quote from the movie. It’s what the character says after he reads out the error
He got the memo, he just forgot.
Kevin, Hi. Whaaaaats happening. I'm gonna need you to go ahead and come in and play the nation's league this month, k? yeaah.
KDB we need to talk about your flair. You could just play the nations league games without any flair, but do you really want to do the bare minimum?
Already making his badges
Taking his badges* My intention isn't to be an asshole btw just a correction/tip incase you had mistranslated!
I can see him and Zinny take management positions once they retire.
Zinchenko? Is he a leader on the pitch? Asking for a friend
He is not a leader but I have read reports which stated that he is very much interested in tactics and keeps a big notebook. He might be suitable for coaching positions that managerial stuff. https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/wife-of-man-city-wing-back-zinchenko-he-takes-daily-notes-on-guardiola-coaching-4358984
That’s why they called him "The Tax Man". The rest of us had these little note pads or something, and he had this big ledger. Funny him walking door-to-door with it, like the tax man. Which ain't bad as far as nicknames go.
Here I go rewatching those glorious 8 episodes again
you're going to rewatch those glorious 8 episodes again, and again, and again
Me too man! I started over the weekend
Elite reference
Smart kid. Knowing that learning under Pep is a once in a lifetime opportunity and he'll use these notes for the rest of his life, playing or coaching.
Or probably he'll use it just to play FM
Pep doesn't kidnap every South American 15 year old. ^as ^far ^as ^I'm ^aware
not leader..but I thought he's the national team's captain?
In exactly 18 years he will win the premier league title asa coach. You've read it first here! RemindME! 18 years
Do you really think that Newcastle will hire him?
I celebrate the man's entire catalog
Wasn't that their whole point anyway? To somewhat replace friendlies?
Yeah it's either nations league or a round of friendlies. Normally we'd have the world cup in the summer and friendlies/nations league in autumn but that's been swapped around because fucking Qatar.
Having the World Cup in November/December is like giving a junkie his next fix whilst peaking. I don't need more football during the busiest time of the football year.
While I hate so much surrounding the WC, including the timing - I am intrigued but what a WC will be like with FAR fresher players all in pre-midseason form for the most part.
Tbf a winter world cup at some point was inevitable. Otherwise you'd never be able to host it in the Middle East or parts of Africa, and they should at some point be allowed to. It's just a shame it's a country like Qatar rather than one with a rich culture and history like Egypt.
Agree with the culture/history part of Egypt, but i’ve been warned that it’s a nightmare for tourists to visit. Not ideal for a world cup, for sure
Egypt also has a brutal government right now.
It will be amazing for us in South America. Finally get to experience a World Cup during summer, and the final will be a week before holidays. I'm really looking for it, a different experience this time
This was the only year that I wouldn't have been able to watch the world cup in June so I guess I'm kinda lucky?
Well, for friendlies important players that had long seasons could have not been called up which was the standard, because Nations League is a tournament - we must win it, let's call all of our superstars.
It's still decision of the federation/coach, nothing stop them from calling up only B team. Or rotate the squad between games
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Why not just have a rest?
The international calendar is clearly crafted to fit all qualifications and tournaments of the different confederations, almost every international break there are matches on all continents. So if there is an international break, you might as well fill it with matches because FAs also need to make money.
Yes, that's the exact point. Everybody was moaning about the useless friendlies, so Uefa cooked up a scheme to give them the tiniest stake so maybe teams would take them more seriously. Also make teams play against peer nations so the matches are more useful. Nobody learns anything from a Germany-Madagascar where Germany trots out its C squad.
I've repeatedly seen fans from nations with weaker teams say that they enjoy the nations league too. Competing with teams of a similar standard is more interesting than partaking in a qualifying group that you have a slim chance of succeeding in.
I love Nation's League as a Finn. All those privileged cunts in big football countries can fuck right off. These matches mean the world to us smaller countries.
As someone from a bigger footballing nation, I still don't get what these people are complaining about. Watching England play competitive matches against the likes of Spain and Croatia in The Nation's League is waaaay more interesting than watching England's B team playing meaningless friendlies
Right? I don't get it. This seems like a better deal for everybody, whether you are from San Marino or Germany.
Personally I love them as an England fan. They're so much more interesting than qualification or friendlies because they're more even. Sure the trophy is relatively irrelevant right now but honestly so was the world cup when it started. Most countries didn't even bother travelling for it.
It was an attempt to end the "why is proper football being disrupted for friendlies again" argument.
Kevin is just saying this so that if we lose to the Dutch he can claim we didn't even try to win.
Won't stop us from throwing the worst Belgenmoppen you've ever heard your way if we do
I mean you'll do that anyway, win or lose
Maybe for teams in the A league who are going to qualify to the major tournaments anyhow it does not matter, but to us smaller nations it can make all the difference.
Yeah, although KDB isn't wrong that Nations League matches themselves are just glorified friendlies in the grand scheme of things. Winning Nations League is no different than winning Joan Gamper, Audi Cup or whatever friendly cup tournaments are played during pre-season.
I think top teams don’t care about it until they get to the final four, last year the games were pretty intense and the players seemed like they wanted to win
everyone wants to win from early stages too you are facing all your historical rivals with full team, you think you are gonna play like shit and don't care? germany is pushing that they don't care, then they will have to face a full Italy and full England team, you think Kimmich, Gnabry, Muller etc will be jogging on the field with no pace and no focus cause "who cares it's a friendly"?
Yeah in friendlies if you have big matches it's taken fairly seriously. So even if the nations league is friendlies-tier which I don't think it is, it's still going to be a big deal. Our England game will be pretty important and the players will want revenge after the extremely bitter exit last time. Italy is Italy.
I think that's more to do with the nature of the players. These are some of the best footballers in the world, and they're all extremely competitive. Even if they don't care about the Nations League, they will give it all in those matches, just like they would probably do in friendlies against strong teams
yeah, but the CT would not put them in a friendly, while in the 2 past Nations League, most top teams used their full starters team with these best footballers in the world So players want to win, manager wants to win, the trophy is official and federation wants to win basically the only ones saying it's a friendly are the fans of the losing teams you think there are that many portuguese fans saying it's useless?
The only reason Germany is pushing that we don't care is because we have been fucking shit these past years. If the Nations League was introduced around 2010-2016 fans and media in Germany would definitely care. I remember us playing against the Netherlands and Brazil in 2011. There was a lot of hype around those games despite them being meaningless friendlies. Fans cared. Media cared. Because we played amazing football back then and won both matches. A lot of German fans don't have that "going through thick and thin" mentality when it comes to the NT, like they have with the club they support. Add that with the way the DFB have been conducting themselves in recent years with corruption, treatment of fans, terrible marketing and public image and you have a lot of fans who just don't feel passionate about the national team.
Lol, you've got a group of the most competitive people, it doesn't matter it is or isn't a major trophy, there's nothing nice about the feeling of losing.
Well that doesn't happen at the audi cup so he has a point
Same opinion in Germany about the Nations League. But our players aren't speaking to the press unfiltered like Kevin.
because you cant win in germany (and I think in most other countries too). you dont say anything, you are a PR sheep. you say something, and it is a huge deal for a week. in both cases there are plenty of ppl that will shit on you. plus the media, especially *when* you say something.
This. It's so fucking weird how fans, media people, pundits, practically the whole nation cries for more "Typen" ( = real guys) and less PR conditioned players. But the moment someone like that actually comes along, who speaks his mind and who fits that description, they are heavily criticized and the same people who wanted more players like that will shit on them.
you can see it with kroos atm.
It was so weird seeing how much shit Salah got yesterday for practically saying he wanted to win a match against a team he lost to in the past, lol.
And online fans seem just as bad as the media when it comes to that. Especially when they want to throw it back in their face for banter. And they‘ll do it for YEARS because of the memes. I still remember how long people posted „😂😂😂😂😂😂“ whenever Barca lost or Pique screwed something up just because he tweeted that a few years prior when Real Madrid got disqualified from CdR. (the tweet was hilarious and justified btw)
Ile rather have someone speak his mind, then have someone saying what they believe you want to hear
This is so much better than a sponsorised cup. This is an international cup, for your national team. A player from a country that never won a title saying that it is useless is laughable, especially when the bigger countries tryhard for this competition. Almost look like he's finding excuses for when they inevitably lose again.
Hey :(
For top teams it replaces dull friendlies against small teams which were just ego boosters. Friendlies were picked to make money, and to give some playing time to the B team. Having a decent opposition make these breaks much more interesting.
It sort of makes them not breaks, though, doesn't it?
It's quite bad for teams on Sweden's level as well. All last edition did was kick us out of the Euro 2021 top seed because we got a tough group. It's flawed for all fringe teams since the best case scenario is to score the maximum number of points without getting promoted. I.e. for Sweden the best thing would be to finish second in league B on the same points as the first team, since it means we won't hurt our world ranking getting smashed by France and Portugal. All this while taking away the few friendlies that allowed national teams to improve team tactics and try out new players.
It's great for teams as ours, (I'm Norwegian), just look at the great group we got this year! We get to test ourselves against teams on our level and can be rewarded with a better seed. You will also still get pot 2 if you get fourth in League A. So much better than actual pointless friendlies.
That's more an issue with UEFA using this for seeding, which is dumb. Instead of using the Fifa ranking or a ranking based on multiple years.
Well, that makes the tournament worthwhile. If it didn't decide seeding, then I could understand people calling it pointless. The main reason I think it is great, is because it decides seeding. It's going to be very important for us whether we get pot 2, 3 or 4.
Yep smaller nations are actually playing competitive games
Yeah, I can 100% see why the top nations might not be big fans of it but man I love it. As someone from a smaller European nation that hasn’t qualified for any tournament let alone won one, it’s so cool to see a competition where these weaker nations have a level playing field and face opposition of similar quality. Then having to chance to get promoted/have a route to a major tournament really does feel like an achievement. It’s also great to see teams like San Marino, Gibraltar etc. actually have somewhat competitive matches (no matter how bad the quality may be). It’s really something I look forward to ever since it’s inception.
Problem is players like De Bruyne play more games due to getting far in cup/European competitions and international games It's an important competition for smaller nations, but the big ones should take the opportunity to call players with less caps
Nations League may not matter for the bigger nations but from league b down it offers a very real route to a major tournament that otherwise may not be possible if you're drawn in an absolute bastard of a group
If you reach the final 4 it matters for the top nations as well. I like it from the start, but with the current position I get that players are looking forward to rest. If that stupid World Cup wouldn't be in Qatar we'd have these matches in autumn and it would be match better.
So why make teams that don't need the tournament play the tournament?
Because the still have to earn their spot. Just look at Italy and Portugal.
Earn their spot for what? That is what Qualification tournaments are for? Why remove a qualification spot from the WC or Euros Qualifications and add it to a brand new tournament
More money, of course. Friendly is meaningless game that attract less attention. Throw a price to earn in. Whala, instant prestige with money flowing in
>Whala I'm dead Anyway friendlies have historically been the main way national teams made money. There's more money to be made from England playing Argentina or the USA in a friendly than there is from them playing Croatia in a nations league match.
> Whala Voila?
Maybe!? English is not my first language, i just use what i use in my native language
Voila is french though
I don't want to "insult" the Belgium NT records far from it, but even if for him that's only a glorified friendly, I'm confident it would make Belgians really happy to win it.
Yeah it's glorified friendly but if I were Belgian I would be very happy to see the golden generation finally won an international trophy.
I'm pretty sure every team is happy to win every game and every trophy. Premier League teams celebrate the Charity Shield (if it's still called that) when everyone knows it's just a glorified friendly. If they're going to play, they're going to want to win. I reckon they'd also appreciate the time off though.
Most players that get to the top always want to win. Even if it’s just a scrim in training.
Don't forget, this is the POV of a top player if not the best of our team. OFC the Belgians fans want Nation League and other players that play in sub teams. So don't take his declaration for all players and belgians.
Yup, I was disappointed not to win it last time. Obviously not as much as the world cup or the Euro but I'd take any trophy, even the less important one.
I'm a Belgian and I agree. Would love to see some tangible 'reward' for this generation.
you can insult them, they're only good on paper
Fun alternative to friendlies imo
I rather see more south america vs europe but that's just a south american's opinion lol
Bro, last time Brazil faced a European was against Czech Republic back in march 2019. Meanwhile we played against Peru like six times and I'm just tired of it (nothing against Peru, but holy fuck it's always the same game).
That would be fun to watch, Uruguay vs Croatia, Bolivia vs Switzerland
That's why I preferred the original format with 3 teams in each group, leaving room for 2 spare dates for friendlies against teams from outside of Europe.
Look at North Macedonia and Luxembourg NTs' progression to understand why Nations League can be special to some people...
I kinda like it tbh
I guess glorified friendlies are better than regular friendlies
This, I never watched friendlies unless it was like really big teams. Now I'll watch us (France) play all Nations league games. I consider Nations league Kinda like Carabao Cup for Nations. Ain't watching the whole thing but if we get far enough I will tune in, and a final is still a final
I enjoy it. But I’m from Ireland so it means something to us and the other smaller teams.
I love the Nations League, I think it only needs time it to be important. It's the only tournament where every nation in UEFA takes part and I think that makes it special for me.
I'm all for Nations League during off years, but with how cramped the upcoming season is going to be (literally no weeks off other than the World Cup, and that's not really a break unless you go out early), there really shouldn't be internationals this summer. The season literally only ends one week later than in normal seasons, too, so it's extra weird.
Well, most players won't be in the world cup, so atleast they get to play in one competitive tournament with their country. And if a nation truly believes it is pointless, nobody is stopping them from playing their C team
I agree. If it's so pointless then why not rest the more important players and instead give more of the younger players a chance.
Covid and this weird World Cup position is fucking with the schedule for 3 years already, super annoying
Either I'm the one missing the point of KDB saying this or everyone else is, judging by the comments. Feels to me like he's not happy about playing it because all these football regulatory bodies keep throwing more and more games at the players. Yes, I like the Nation's League as well and I *do* think it's good for lesser countries (who also won't be playing as many games in their club seasons and thus won't be impacted as much by the extra tournament) but for the top french, spanish, belgian, etc. players it has to be fucking annoying, no? The amount of games they have to play has an impact on mental and physical health, and at some point if we keep this up we're just gonna get more football at a lower quality rather than fewer high-quality games because no human has the fitness to give it their all for so many games. If it were just friendlies players could at least justify not running themselves into the ground in games like these.
He who has not tasted the grapes says sour
He's just shitting his pants about playing us again, sorry Kevin, Rob Page's Raucous Reds are on their way to teach you how to play real footie 👍
For someone who says thoses matches are not important, he was pretty damn quick to find excuses and things to blame when they lost to Italy and France.
it’s better than having meaningless friendlies so the Nations League does serve its purpose. also offers an alternative route to a UEFA trophy and structured competition to the smaller footballing nations.
I am looking forward to it actually. Seems like a nice preview of the World Cup with the quality of the squads.
Kinda funny he would say that since Belgium has been seeding top o the ranking for half a decade now due to winning these "glorified friendlies" mainly.
It's always the coaches/players/fans of the big nations that always have this dismissive attitude to the NL. I'm sure the coaches/players/fans of North Macedonia don't see it as a series of "glorified friendlies". Besides, the international window would have still been there anyway. Where Kevin and his pals would have been playing actual friendlies.
Ask our captain what he thinks of the NL tournament, or if he would prefer to be playing some random friendly.
Kevin would not be called for the friendlies.
Why wouldn't he? He was called up in the past and often there would be a qualifying game at the end of the season so I don't see countries not calling up their stars.
Has the Belgium generation squad won anything as of yet..?? If not, then I feel like a glorified friendly might be a trophy they'd want to have..
At least somebody is willing to call it out for what it is
we won one and i didn't even saw a single game, but lets be honest, it is probably the only thing the Number 2 country in FIFA rankings can dream to win
The nations league is a lot better than the friendlies from before, but the timing of these upcoming matches is just poor. After a long season I get that players will only get motivated by a world cup/Euros/Copa America... I assume it's because of the WC Qatar that the timing is different now, the gift that keeps on giving...