Is it just me or is the quality of international football pretty dire right now?

S

Sharpshooter

Midfield
Is it just me or is the quality of international football pretty dire right now?

I know England are on the rise, and all credit to Southgate, England will be a real threat for Euro 2020 for sure, but what "World Class" international sides are there in the world right now? France obviously, but they're hardly invincible.

Spain and Germany are both flopped in the last WC and going through a transition phase, Italy have never been the side they were since 2006, didn't even qualify for the WC, Portugal after an ageing Ronaldo are rank average. The state of South American football is pretty poor with Brazil (hardly the greatest Brazilian side in recent times) being the best of the lot. African sides had a poor showing at the WC.

What's happened to the Czech Republic? England just strolled into a 5-0 against them like there were a pub team, unthinkable 10 years ago. England are good, but they're making very easy work of these qualifiers at the moment, almost too easy.

Some will say this is simply nostalgia, but I do think the traditional big international nations have had better teams in previous era's.
 
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Spain and Germany are in transition which helps us.
Italy are shite like you said.
France are a threat
, Brazil always will be, but not as they once we're,
Argentina always fail to deliver these days.
Belgium are getting better,
I also think the Dutch are with some great.players coming through for them.
Portugal have got a mixed team, some really good talent then shite at the same time.

Have I just repeated what you have said?
 
International is some way below Premier League and, especially, Champions League level. The idea that winning the World Cup is a greater achievement than a Champions League seems preposterous now.

If you are snookered by having the misfortune to be born in a crap country, or during a weak era for you country, I do not see why it should be held against a player.

Sharpshooter said:
Is it just me or is the quality of international football pretty dire right now?

I know England are on the rise, and all credit to Southgate, England will be a real threat for Euro 2020 for sure, but what "World Class" international sides are there in the world right now? France obviously, but they're hardly invincible.

Spain and Germany are both flopped in the last WC and going through a transition phase, Italy have never been the side they were since 2006, didn't even qualify for the WC, Portugal after an ageing Ronaldo are rank average. The state of South American football is pretty poor with Brazil (hardly the greatest Brazilian side in recent times) being the best of the lot. African sides had a poor showing at the WC.

What's happened to the Czech Republic? England just strolled into a 5-0 against them like there were a pub team, unthinkable 10 years ago. England are good, but they're making very easy work of these qualifiers at the moment, almost too easy.

Some will say this is simply nostalgia, but I do think the traditional big international nations have had better teams in previous era's.
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I really don’t think players care about playing for their country any more. If anything, they see it as a useful way to boost their sponsorship value.
 
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MrBraithwaite said:
International is some way below Premier League and, especially, Champions League level. The idea that winning the World Cup is a greater achievement than a Champions League seems preposterous now.

If you are snookered by having the misfortune to be born in a crap country, or during a weak era for you country, I do not see why it should be held against a player.


I really don’t think players care about playing for their country any more. If anything, they see it as a useful way to boost their sponsorship value.
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Strange you said that mate. My view at the moment is that the current lads playing for England are the first in a long time that actually care. I think that a lot of that is down to Southgate and his selection policy:cool:
 
manamamackem said:
Strange you said that mate. My view at the moment is that the current lads playing for England are the first in a long time that actually care. I think that a lot of that is down to Southgate and his selection policy:cool:
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I was talking more in general. The good morale of the team got them far at the World Cup (as well as a good draw). But the lack of true quality showed in the end.
 
International football is ducking mince , utter pish , credit to the England for 2 fine wins but as I’m no English it doesn’t mean much to me

My own country is a fuvkin shambles run by idiots both in government and the football association , the players are guff , we have one decent player , Robertson , the rest are overrated pish

Most people I know don’t watch internationals anymore , even the World Cup lost its sparkle as it’s too many games with some really weak nations (how bad is mine when we can’t get there for over 20 years ??)

As for fifa , just ruin everything they touch now
 
cluffy said:
Fckin hell man :rolleyes:
England finally start playing decent football and now the standard is supposedly "dire" :lol:
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I did give credit to England's recent run of form, and I think they are one of the favourites for Euro 2020. Are they are a world class outfit overall? Probably not, but Southgate's getting the best out of them, and the fact there's no real outstanding teams at the moment, gives them a great shot to win it all next year.
 
My Boy Harry said:
It could be that football is simply levelling out. The gap between the once giants and the once minnows gets smaller every year as Nigerians say go abroad and play for top teams. Nigeria gets better and closes the gap.
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Nigeria were ranked 5th in the world in 1994, the highest placing ever acheived by an African nation. They're now 46th so you can hardly say they've got better.
 
MrBraithwaite said:
The idea that winning the World Cup is a greater achievement than a Champions League seems preposterous now.
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I don't know if that's true, the quality is not what it once was sure, but the difference in international football is that you don't get to pick and choose who you play for, so its more of a challenge.

Club football, especially at the top level, is all about who has the most money, who's being backed the richest sugar daddy, assemble super teams, crush all competition.

Most of the league leaders in the top European league's are 10+ points clear, PSG are 20 points clear, Barca 10 points, Juventus 15 points clear, Celtic 10 points clear. Man City won it by 19 points last year.

Real Madrid and Barca have won the past 5 CL's, because they've got Messi and Ronaldo the two best players in the world, and have surrounded them with most of the other top 15-20 players in the world.

Its interesting to note that both Messi and Ronaldo's international goalscoring ratio's aren't as good as their clubs. I guess not having superteams built around them makes it more of a challenge.
 
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I think we are improving in bounds, rather than other teams being considerably worse.

We have top young players trying as hard as they would for their club side, with a manager that backs them and gives them confidence. Are the likes of Barclay, Henderson and Rice as good as Lampard, Gerrard and Scholes? Not a chance, but they run their balls off and do the job they are given. They are also very good at keeping possession. This gives the attacking players who also defend from the front a licence to attack without fear.
 
Portugal have some amazing youngsters coming through, Jota and Joao Felix from Benfica especially. 18 and 19 years old they’re phenomenal. Bernardo Silva is only early 24
 
There are more countries due to the break up of many ethnicities establishing their own identity. Smaller countries with a restricted choice of players hiring foreign coaches.
Managers should be from the nation, not foreign mercenaries.
 

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