Zatman Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 4 minutes ago, theboyangel said: I know it’s laughable but at least with the nations league both have a chance of a win against similar opponents instead of getting pumped by a more established footballing nation I dont think either have ever won a competitive match so hopefully one of them can break the duck. I expect Gibraltar to beat them, they are a bit more competitive Watched a video a few months back of a travel blogger on Youtube and he was in San Marino for a qualifying game. Was really weird scenario that you wouldnt tell its the same tournament that England amd Germany compete in 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 Macedonia have an interesting generation coming through to senior now, wouldnt be surprised if they were the next Iceland. Probably missing a centre forward and Pandev even played today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 He's not wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 But Marcus Allback is better than Zlatan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 FWIW Sebastian Larsson has always been a shit player. Stole a career Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Just now, Zatman said: FWIW Sebastian Larsson has always been a shit player. Stole a career He's right up there with the best in the world when it comes to complaining about everything to the ref. Almost Barcelona level. He's actually been useful for Sweden in the last few years but our current manager is the archetype for the oldschool Swedish better safe than sorry type of manager. Barring injuries we will start the first game in the Euro's next summer with a 36 y.o Andreas Granqvist as captain and CB (guy makes Lescott look nimble) 34 y.o Mikael Lustig at RB, 36 y.o Sebastian Larsson in midfield and 34 y.o Marcus Berg in attack. All because they "know the system" and work hard. We have better options in all those positions but it doesn't matter. Always been this way in Sweden, the Zlatan situation back in 2001-2002 was extra bizarre but nothing new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 (edited) Seems to be a Northern countries thing with players playing international football into late 30s. Always seems a random veteran playing. Zhirkov got an assist for Russia the other night and Litmanen is probably on standby for a Finnish cap. When Mellberg played in tournaments he was often partnered by a random defender each time in his 30s who never really were top level players. Edited September 6, 2020 by Zatman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 (edited) 15 minutes ago, Zatman said: Seems to be a Northern countries thing with players playing international football into late 30s. Always seems a random veteran playing. Zhirkov got an assist for Russia the other night and Litmanen is probably on standby for a Finnish cap. When Mellberg played in tournaments he was often partnered by a random defender each time in his 30s who never really were top level players. Yeah, to a degree I get it when it comes to Sweden because our biggest strenght is always teamwork and having a system that makes the group stronger than the sum of the individual parts. This was especially true under Tommy Söderberg and Lars Lagerbäck (Erik Hamrén was a total fraud who pretty much just put 11 people of the pitch and hoped Zlatan would save him) as they had a big folder with instructions that must have been a chore to learn. But it's not like Zlatan, Kulusevski, (Isak) Pär Zetterberg and so on are lazy players. They worked their socks off. Lagerbäck who is with Norway now has been rather slow at introducing Haaland into the team and has opted for Sörloth and King instead. Not wrong but I imagine a lot of other managers would have thrown him in asap. It's like they have to earn their place by being 10 times better than the older players, and then they still have to serve their time on the bench to "know their place" and not get too big too fast or something. I fully get why so many young players opts for Kosovo, Bosnia, Finland, Iran and Montenegro instead of Sweden. Thank god Zlatan and Kulusevski didn't. Edited September 6, 2020 by sne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Zlatan weighing in, saying it's a joke and that the wrong people in the wrong positions are stifling Swedish football. Again he's not wrong. Young players, especially with foreign background have to work 10 times harder to get a chance and even then they have to force their way in. And it's the same with the youth teams and with women football sadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 3 hours ago, Zatman said: Has a look around ready to kick off, realises everyone else is wearing one... backs down. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Granqvist is still playing bloody hell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ml1dch Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Well, that's pretty gorgeous. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted September 6, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted September 6, 2020 On 05/09/2020 at 14:25, theboyangel said: I know it’s laughable but at least with the nations league both have a chance of a win against similar opponents instead of getting pumped by a more established footballing nation It's the best thing about the Nations League imho. Genuine competitive football for those nations with an actual chance of winning. Nobody benefits from San Marino getting drawn in qualifying groups with Holland and Germany and getting battered 10-0 every game 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 Norn Iron taking a bad beating at home, wouldnt have happened under O'Neill especially vs a similar level team like Norway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 Sörloth and Håland is a pretty terrifying striker duo. Size and power and both brimming with confidence. Apparently he's on his way to RB Leipzig but the transfer situation is a bit odd since Trabzonspor has an obligation to buy in his loan contract from Crystal Palace but can't really afford him atm. We could do worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 On 06/09/2020 at 22:30, Stevo985 said: It's the best thing about the Nations League imho. Genuine competitive football for those nations with an actual chance of winning. Nobody benefits from San Marino getting drawn in qualifying groups with Holland and Germany and getting battered 10-0 every game That still happens with the actual main draw for euros/world cup though so you're back to square one. Ideally you'd have a world cup qualifying group of 5-6 weak nations but Uefa would never do that as would mean more big nations would miss out on the finals. Think I read Nations league is providing just two play off teams for the world cup so it's pretty meaningless and they'll probably change the rules again if a big nation finishes bottom like Germany did last time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 3 hours ago, sne said: Sörloth and Håland is a pretty terrifying striker duo. Size and power and both brimming with confidence. Apparently he's on his way to RB Leipzig but the transfer situation is a bit odd since Trabzonspor has an obligation to buy in his loan contract from Crystal Palace but can't really afford him atm. We could do worse. Been an incredible turnaround for him, did he even score a goal for Crystal Palace? Saw him in a few games and he looked out of his depth at prem level. Norway really should be making the euros. They didn't even have Odegaard in midfield tonight. Lars Largerback really is a fantastic international coach. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 (edited) Sweden with a much more interesting line up tonight against Portugal. Kulusevski and Alexander Isak both starting as is Emil Kraft and Ludwig Augustinsson. Victor Nilsson-Lindelöf not even on the bench thou so maybe that handshake after the game with now infected M'bappé is behind it. No doubt we'll get trounced by a fit again Ronaldo and the new generation But Long term this is closer to how we should line up. Edited September 8, 2020 by sne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 18 hours ago, VillaChris said: Been an incredible turnaround for him, did he even score a goal for Crystal Palace? Saw him in a few games and he looked out of his depth at prem level. Norway really should be making the euros. They didn't even have Odegaard in midfield tonight. Lars Largerback really is a fantastic international coach. To be fair to him. It's never easy to play as a striker under Roy Hodgson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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