Nations League

serghei said:
Shame for England that Kane is old. With Bellingham, Gordon, and Kane, all playing attacking positions at the biggest clubs, they could have a hope of dethroning Spain, but soon they will need to replace Kane and it is just not possible for them.

They found a working trio up front too late.
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Kane is fine for at least another couple of years and someone else will likely come along by then. Lankshear (a Spurs player like Kane used to be) looks the most likely at the moment if he keeps on improving. There’s also 18 year old Madjo at Aston Villa that’s an absolute unit and plays like Lukaku.

Failing that there’s always the option to play Jude as a false 9, a role be played so well for Real Madrid in his first season. That also then allows you to play a more creative 10 in the side like Palmer or perhaps even Dowman by the time the Euros comes around in 2028.
 
Yeah things are looking good for England, this is their best shot in a long time at international trophy

But the thing is, other nations are improving too. France got a WC manager now and if they settle the issues in midfield, it could be over for everyone

Don't forget Argentina too, it will take time for them to get used to absence of Messi and they will struggle but there is a lot of talents that can take over

Spain themselves don't look as if they might stop anytime soon because the core players of this side are not anywhere near their prime yet
 
For Euro 2028 it's clear that Spain, France and England are semi-final quality teams.

Might add Portugal to those, post-Liberation they are something else.
 
Spain, France and England are the favourites for the next Euros. Will be an upset if one of them doesn't win it.
 
Catta said:
Spain, France and England are the favourites for the next Euros. Will be an upset if one of them doesn't win it.
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A lot of things can change until then but yeah from this point in time it would be a big surprise if one of them doesn't win

Portugal maybe the most likely alternative if they ditch Ronaldo once and for all
 
I just checked the Iceland squad and the clubs they play for.

Sociedad, Lille, Twente, Genoa, Koln, Venezia, Hannover, Copenhagen, Brentford. Even if some are reserves.

Now Bulgarian players:
Leeds reserves (Iliya Gruev), PAOK, Monza, Zwolle, Lee Man FC (Hong Kong, I'm choking :lol::lol::lol:), Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Cracovia (Poland), Istanbulspor (Turkey 2nd division) and many local Bulgarian clubs.

There's nothing to be unhappy about. The logical demise of Bulgarian football.
 
I have come to accept that football success of your country is influenced primarily by investment in the sport (financially and otherwise) and not talent pool

Because you can find 11 men who play good football in every country. You can find even more. What is the catch? First to make football popular so people are interesed and second to make them believe they can reach the top level through your academies. Then to actually build good academies, build infrastructure and hire competent people

Every country can be good in football. Not every country can win the World Cup because it's also a matter of psychological tension that makes the top nations come on top in the semis/final, and also because those 5-6 countries invest more than anyone else

This is why India and China combined have never produced 1 good footballer, while Netherlands and Croatia are powerhouses with a rich international history

And this is why our countries on the balkans, corrupt and careless, will never reach the absolute top levels despite having huge talent pools. Well except Croatia, that is also an exception in every other sense. Slovenia also got far in last Euros and could have knocked Portugal out

But these are 2 countries that geographically belong to the balkans, yet have a different mentality. And it has been shown in many aspects of life and politics
 
MonteCuler said:
I have come to accept that football success of your country is influenced primarily by investment in the sport (financially and otherwise) and not talent pool

Because you can find 11 men who play good football in every country. You can find even more. What is the catch? First to make football popular so people are interesed and second to make them believe they can reach the top level through your academies. Then to actually build good academies, build infrastructure and hire competent people

Every country can be good in football. Not every country can win the World Cup because it's also a matter of psychological tension that makes the top nations come on top in the semis/final, and also because those 5-6 countries invest more than anyone else

This is why India and China combined have never produced 1 good footballer, while Netherlands and Croatia are powerhouses with a rich international history

And this is why our countries on the balkans, corrupt and careless, will never reach the absolute top levels despite having huge talent pools. Well except Croatia, that is also an exception in every other sense. Slovenia also got far in last Euros and could have knocked Portugal out

But these are 2 countries that geographically belong to the balkans, yet have a different mentality. And it has been shown in many aspects of life and politics
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The true formula is the bigger numbers you have playing in Top 5 leagues of Europe as let's say Bulgaria, the bigger the chance is to create a successful nucleus of a squad. Because those kids came through from the same pool, have known each other since kids.

Bulgaria and Romania cannot do that currently. The players are below average.

Turkey is the worst example of this. The federation relies on kids grown in Western Europe football academies, could barely speak Turkish and they have no chemistry on and off the pitch.
 
Windhook said:
The true formula is the bigger numbers you have playing in Top 5 leagues of Europe as let's say Bulgaria, the bigger the chance is to create a successful nucleus of a squad. Because those kids came through from the same pool, have known each other since kids.

Bulgaria and Romania cannot do that currently. The players are below average.

Turkey is the worst example of this. The federation relies on kids grown in Western Europe football academies, could barely speak Turkish and they have no chemistry on and off the pitch.
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Poland does not follow this formula at all.
Between 2012 till recently they had all positions activily playing in top 5 leagues but won nothing and sucked on the pitch.
Maybe they had a poor coaching or too many egos on the pitch but Denmark, Switzerland or even Sweden had players playing in lower leagues and still seemed more capable.
 
TemporaryFan said:
Poland does not follow this formula at all.
Between 2012 till recently they had all positions activily playing in top 5 leagues but won nothing and sucked on the pitch.
Maybe they had a poor coaching or too many egos on the pitch but Denmark, Switzerland or even Sweden had players playing in lower leagues and still seemed more capable.
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Or aged.
 
MonteCuler said:
I have come to accept that football success of your country is influenced primarily by investment in the sport (financially and otherwise) and not talent pool
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It differs per country.

Many of the african teams have grown stronger because of increased talent pool among the diaspora.

So if you are a quality Moroccan player living in France, you might not choose to pick France because there are many other quality Moroccan/non Moroccan players that can get called up. So now you choose Morocco the same way number of other quality Moroccan players have decided.

Now you have a team with a good base of actual talent and quality and it becomes more attractive for other talented Moroccan players to choose to play there as well.
 
So you guys believe that relying on other countries to develop players for you is a reliable and sustainable way of functioning?

Morocco is a freak accident because their diaspora in Europe is enormous and some of those players have to turn to country of origin as can't get minutes in European nations.

But even they will likely have to start developing some of their own at one point, because the left over talent in European nations is not in their control.

Most other countries, will manage to get at most 2-3 players developed in Europe if that. Morocco built an entire team off that idea.
 
MonteCuler said:
So you guys believe that relying on other countries to develop players for you is a reliable and sustainable way of functioning?

Morocco is a freak accident because their diaspora in Europe is enormous and some of those players have to turn to country of origin as can't get minutes in European nations.

But even they will likely have to start developing some of their own at one point, because the left over talent in European nations is not in their control.

Most other countries, will manage to get at most 2-3 players developed in Europe if that. Morocco built an entire team off that idea.
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It’s not just Morocco.
This world cup Cape Verde, DR Congo, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Curacao
 
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