⚽ UEFA Nations League ⚽ - Discussion Thread

[Italian Panic]

The Nations League has kicked off, and with it the spectacle of international football. In this first round, which coincides with the long break in the domestic leagues, we've seen:

• Italy make a fool of themselves as usual,
• Germany play well in their first match and much less well in their second,
• Portugal play brilliantly without Cristiano Ronaldo, finding their team identity,
• Greece pull off a stunning victory on German soil,
• Spain and England play out a draw.

What do you think?

[naturelover]

The Nations League has kicked off, and with it the spectacle of international football. In this first round, which coincides with the long break in the domestic leagues, we've seen:

• Italy make a fool of themselves as usual,
• Germany play well in their first match and much less well in their second,
• Portugal play brilliantly without Cristiano Ronaldo, finding their team identity,
• Greece pull off a stunning victory on German soil,
• Spain and England play out a draw.

What do you think?

In the match against Italy on September 28, almost all the teams wasted their energy and players were tired because none of them scored. Some almost scored but hit the post so the match ended in a draw.   

Then in the match against Germany, the match also ended in a draw but they both had only one point.

[Italian Panic]

No way, my dear, I'm starting to dislike this new competition. Perhaps the international friendlies were better – there was a bit of romance in watching smaller teams take on strong national sides and seeing teams try out new tactics without too much pressure. Let's not forget that Roberto Carlos's legendary free-kick goal against France came in a friendly; otherwise, he'd never have attempted it.

[naturelover]

No way, my dear, I'm starting to dislike this new competition. Perhaps the international friendlies were better – there was a bit of romance in watching smaller teams take on strong national sides and seeing teams try out new tactics without too much pressure. Let's not forget that Roberto Carlos's legendary free-kick goal against France came in a friendly; otherwise, he'd never have attempted it.

Roberto Carlos is so good, think about it, by kicking the ball so hard, the ball spun curved, not straight at the goal keeper, and honestly speaking, it wasn't easy for him to do it.

After what Roberto Carlos did, I don't think anyone has ever done it in the era we have now, has anyone been able to imitate what he did?

[Ale88]

• Italy make a fool of themselves as usual,

I think you're being too harsh against Italy: it was the first match with the new (old) manager, there were a lot of new players, you style of play, and the match against Belgium was basically ruined by a single mistake made by a 20-year-old player during his international debut. The other results have been absolutely great because I'm sure everybody was expecting France to score at least 3-4 goals.

[naturelover]

• Italy make a fool of themselves as usual,

I think you're being too harsh against Italy: it was the first match with the new (old) manager, there were a lot of new players, you style of play, and the match against Belgium was basically ruined by a single mistake made by a 20-year-old player during his international debut. The other results have been absolutely great because I'm sure everybody was expecting France to score at least 3-4 goals.

Maybe he was just frustrated only that's why he said that, it could be like that. Maybe he didn't see the performance he expected from the Italian team, I'm just not sure if that's really the case.

But anyway, the event remain good to watch, it's just that the team I expected didn't give a good result in the end, but its fine the next time they will fight again they will win I guess.

[Ale88]

Maybe he was just frustrated only that's why he said that, it could be like that. Maybe he didn't see the performance he expected from the Italian team, I'm just not sure if that's really the case.

Look, I'm Italian too, of course for all of us it's annoying that we missed 3 World Cup qualifications in a row but we also have to be realistic: in the past years we were playing with a lot of mediocre players leaving out some very promising youngster; now Mancini is calling all these young guys and we can see that the team is changing and improving.
Of course we still have a long way to go but we have some very promising players. We can actually be confident for the future.

And we'll also see what happens with the Tresoldi situation: in my opinion at the end he'll choose Germany but if for whatever reason he chooses Italy... Well, Esposito + Tresoldi would be a very interesting attack.