TTFD – Has UEFA Nations League improved international break

If not now for international friendlies, then when? There’s no time more suitable than in between games. If there was a better time slot, I’m pretty sure they’d use it by now.

It would surely have been difficult to make international breaks any worse! Across Europe we are forced to watch either a meaningless friendly, where top stars find any excuse to get out of playing, or the drudgery of qualifying campaigns. There’s no joy in putting 3 or more goals past sides with a FIFA rank over 100, and more often than not, they only come with a plan of putting 10 men behind the ball and limiting the goal difference. It can’t be much fun for the losing sides either as they spend 90 minutes chasing shadows.

The Nations League has tried to put that right at both ends of the spectrum. Finally the bigger teams get to test their mettle against similar teams, while the smaller teams actually get a chance to play some football. England have been given a chance to prove themselves against bigger sides, and they took that chance in Seville, while Kosovo and Gibraltar have both recorded 2 wins!

The small groups also bring meaning to every match, as one slip up could mean you drop down a league. We’ve never seen an international tournament with promotion and relegation before, so it will be fascinating to see the effect this will have on teams in the long-term. UEFA have also linked the performances to the seedings for Euro 2020, so strong performances will guarantee an easier route to the tournament.

International football (outside of major tournaments) will always be less enjoyable than club football as the teams only see each other on a semi-regular basis and, as an England fan, there is always the inevitable cycle and hope and despair. However, at least the Nations League has injected some much-needed competition into the long 2 weeks without club football.