General Football 17/18: Page 48 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

General Football 17/18

goon

I don't mind having more teams in there, give some smaller countries a chance to be a part of the experience that they will otherwise never have. I don't think it'll have much impact on the quality of the competition, group stages are largely forgettable anyway. It'll essentially be a condensed second qualification round. I understand the tournament won't be extended much if at all timeframe wise which is good.

jones

Don't get the armchair elitism around here either. Yes upsets are part of the game but why have the upset in the qualifiers when you could have it in the tourney instead, why watch Sweden throw Italy out when you could also watch Botswana do it.

QuincyAbeyie

I don't think it's armchair elitism. I'm from Norway and I think 32 teams are enough as well. I'd love to see us in a tournament, but I feel that getting to the world cup is a much smaller achievement if too many teams are involved.

goon

Does anyone really care about the achievement? Surely the joy for smaller nations in particular is in being able to participate?

arsedocmd

Get everyone in the world then.

There has to be a line drawn, a competitive level maintained; it really is about finding the elitest team.

QuincyAbeyie

goon wrote:
Does anyone really care about the achievement? Surely the joy for smaller nations in particular is in being able to participate?

Maybe I'm the only one. I do know that it wouldn't be as big for us if we qualified every time. The joy will be smaller for me both because it will happen more often than we deserve and because we will face less interesting teams.

goon

arsedoc md wrote:
Get everyone in the world then.

There has to be a line drawn, a competitive level maintained; it really is about finding the elitest team.

That would be amazing but it's clearly not feasible. The line is drawn at whatever is manageable logistically. Every team in the world clearly isn't, 48? It's essentially an extra round of matches.

The World Cup isn't some elite competition where the quality of the teams compromises the integrity of the competition. We're not talking about the CL.

jones

It's 16 teams more ffs not the whole world. Currently the so called World Cup has five African and four Asian countries participating rectifying that blatant misrepresentation is definitely one of the better decisions FIFA has made in the last few decades.

arsedocmd

goon wrote:
The World Cup isn't some elite competition where the quality of the teams compromises the integrity of the competition. We're not talking about the CL.

It should be. It has to aspire to be. A pyramid system, get through qualifiers or whatever criteria, prove yourself and then pick the best. The misrepresentation and what not can be corrected on your own times with other measures.

Just have random friendlies every now and then, otherwise. Works out logistically too.

Guess we differ in how we see this competition. If you're talking in current practical terms, I do agree it's devolved into a token tourney with not much prestige so bump it up to 48, 64 who cares. And i'm talking idealistic.

Clrnc

goon wrote:
Does anyone really care about the achievement? Surely the joy for smaller nations in particular is in being able to participate?

We had the same argument for the expanded euros but fair to say the Welsh, Icelandic, Hungarian fans etc really enjoyed the tournament. When it kicks off, they won't care if its 48 teams or not, but whether you are in it or not

jones

Also you can leave even harder at the Dutch when they don't qualify next time with 47 free spots

banduan

Clrnc wrote:
goon wrote:
Does anyone really care about the achievement? Surely the joy for smaller nations in particular is in being able to participate?

We had the same argument for the expanded euros but fair to say the Welsh, Icelandic, Hungarian fans etc really enjoyed the tournament. When it kicks off, they won't care if its 48 teams or not, but whether you are in it or not

But Euros was expanding from a tiny 16 team format where you barely had a tourney.

I'd prefer the WC to remain at 32 for the simple fact that it's the right amount of matches for the right length of time. Everything works out easy, 8 groups, top 2 teams qualify, winners to play runners up.

Rather than disrupt this format, I'd look at better across the board representation, reforming the continental federations (Asia and Africa's make no geographic sense) and qualifiers that are in and of themselves trophy-winning tournaments.

Klaus

Clrnc wrote:
goon wrote:
Does anyone really care about the achievement? Surely the joy for smaller nations in particular is in being able to participate?

We had the same argument for the expanded euros but fair to say the Welsh, Icelandic, Hungarian fans etc really enjoyed the tournament.

Not just them. Iceland and Wales were the two teams I found most entertaining in the Euros by a country mile. I loved Costa Rica the last World Cup too and felt that they got cheated in the quarterfinal against Brazil, who despite their massive talent pool were playing horrible bullshit football.

The trend has been for a while that the smaller national teams bring the fun and the attitude to the summer tournaments while France, Holland, England, and their likes end up disappointing everyone with defensive tactics and football that lacks enthusiasm. I might be in the minority here, but I would absolutely expand the World Cup. I'd make it as big as possible. The smaller teams bring pride and passion, and that's why I watch the World Cup at the end of the day. It certainly isn't to watch Deschamps make a starting eleven worth _£2 billion pass the ball sideways for 90 minutes.

Coombs

Expand it. This current situation is bullshit. Also, draws need to be scrapped entirely. Straight to penalties in the group stages.

jones

banduan wrote:
Clrnc wrote:
We had the same argument for the expanded euros but fair to say the Welsh, Icelandic, Hungarian fans etc really enjoyed the tournament. When it kicks off, they won't care if its 48 teams or not, but whether you are in it or not

But Euros was expanding from a tiny 16 team format where you barely had a tourney.

I'd prefer the WC to remain at 32 for the simple fact that it's the right amount of matches for the right length of time. Everything works out easy, 8 groups, top 2 teams qualify, winners to play runners up.

Rather than disrupt this format, I'd look at better across the board representation, reforming the continental federations (Asia and Africa's make no geographic sense) and qualifiers that are in and of themselves trophy-winning tournaments.

Europe/UEFA has around 50 member countries, FIFA around 200. Would be a complete joke to have the same number of participants in both tournaments.

I'm with Klaus and Coombs. It's the biggest sports event in the world why exclude so many from it. Not like the quality of the game is higher if we're restricting it to top teams Germany France etc haven't looked any good so far.

Tony Montana

After one game they haven't looked good sure.

Neither have Saudi Arabia or Egypt or Nigeria.

jones

And that's enough reason to stick to 32 teams?

Klaus

I think Egypt have looked surprisingly good. They were unlucky that Salah couldn't play in the opener and then they conceded that late goal, but they've tried to make a decent fist of it. They have no reason to be ashamed of their performances so far.

Coombs

Have to encourage teams to go for it. More points up for grabs, more impetus on winning. If we're just adding more shitty group games I'd be disappointed, but I still support expanding because it should feel more like a world cup.

Klaus

I think more group games could be just the thing the WC needs. Just look at Spain tonight - they are actually content with a draw against Iran because they figure they can just win against Morocco in their final game. Why not have more groups and then let fewer teams qualify to the knockout rounds from each one? That would light some fire underneath them.

« Previous Page Next Page »