Why not scrap international friendlys. They dont happen in any other sport. In Rugby League and Union, Cricket, Tennis and even darts internationals mean something. Theres no squad rotation or "Trying different things" in the six nations, or the Tri-nations. Or in a cricket series. And its not like the players dunt get enough game time, they all play in the premiership and most of them get Champions league practice. These games are a total waste of time. Scrap em.
i think its the sparsity of the tournaments that make them more special - scrap friendlies and you have to start creating mini tournaments which would then devalue the major competitions i think. rugby, cricket and tennis are all ****. and darts isn't even a sport.
They should replace them with international leagues Why should all international competition be in the form of knock-out tournaments?
Ok, but no other sport does it. The difference is in other sports the ruling body has full control of the players. In cricket they are contracted to the ECB and they get first pick. The same is true in rugby. The premier league clubs are too powerful for this to happen in football, but the FA want to cash in on the england team and all its doing is creating a game that is meaningless and has served to undermime team spirit, not build it. They should just play the qualifiers for me.
I'd like to see a British and Irish cup England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland. At least then we might win something.
You dont have to create mini tournaments, you would have the qualifiers every year and a major tournament every other, its just the friendlys that would bite the dust.
Yes, if only there were a cup with all the Home Nations... ...ff would definately like to see it brought back because it would give the players a game that actually meant something and got the fans really interested, unlike a friendly, but isn't as important as the World Cup or European Championships.
Not sure you can say they don't happen in other sports. Rugby League, Union and Cricket are littered with games which are nothing more than friendlies but they package them up, call them tests and believe that makes them competitive fixtures. What is there in international competition in cricket aside from the World Cup? What are cricket tours if not glorified friendlies?
