Should we limit the number of teams in Euro Qualifiers

By having a pre-qualifying round for the minnows. Lets face it teams like Andorra and San Marino are there just for the sake of being there. Nobody expects them to actually qualify.

Why not limit the Qualifiers to 35 teams. Have only the top 25 teams in Automatically and have a second qualification round, from which 10 teams emerge.

that way each game will be interesting rather than the stupidity that is going on. Crouch and Defoe are suddenly touted as great strikers after a brace against Andorra.

Wenger and Waddle do make a lot of sense in this issue.

And UEFA will not be the first association to have a pre-qualifiers. North and Central America has something on similar lines for their world cup qualifiers. So you dont have Virgin Islands vs. Mexico kind of farce.

i thought about this yesterday and possibly, it could easily be done for both WC and EC during the summer months at the same time as the mani finals tournaments, although i think there is an argument that they could benefit from playing better opposition so there´d need to be a concession that each nation would commit to playing a lesser nation prior to these qualificatyion/WC & EC finals tournaments to appease them.

Yes, we have to limit it!!!!!!

But, only when EVERY small country can get a promotion to a higher league...

ricardojol wrote:Yes, we have to limit it!!!!!!

But, only when EVERY small country can get a promotion to a higher league...

surely there is a case for keeping luxembourg in after the weekend though ricardo

the smaller countries have 0 chance of qualifying.. i have never watched a match as ridiculous as england andorra on saturday in all of football... non league teams in the FA cup would have thrashed andorra... it is surely easy to implement and easy to carry out

Well, if you watched the game last sat... you'd better say "It is better to put Holland in the B-category along with Andorra, Luxembourg, Faroer and San Marino..."

I think Otto would be pleased as well with such a result!

Offtopic a bit, but are aby_gooner and agooner the same people? Im p!ssing confused

2 Italy
4 France
5 England
6 Netherlands
7 Spain
8 Portugal
9 Germany
10 Czech Republic
13 Switzerland
15 Ukraine
17 Denmark
20 Sweden
21 Croatia
26 Romania
28 Turkey
30 Poland
32 Greece
33 Russia
33 Serbia
36 Bulgaria
38 Republic of Ireland
40 Scotland
42 Bosnia-Herzegovina
43 Slovakia
49 Norway

51 Israel
55 Belgium
56 Wales
57 Austria
58 Slovenia
62 Albania
65 Lithuania
67 Finland
67 FYR Macedonia
69 Belarus
72 Northern Ireland
73 Moldova
78 Latvia
78 Estonia
80 Hungary
84 Georgia
90 Cyprus
104 Armenia
106 Iceland
106 Azerbaijan
122 Malta
124 Liechtenstein
132 Andorra
141 Kazakhstan
169 Faroe Islands
191 San Marino
195 Luxembourg


based on world rankings those at the top would be the automatic top 25, with those below having to pre-qualify, it´d fairly straight forward based on approx 14 teams ultimately qualifying so groups of 5 for the main groups meaning only 8 qualifiers each all with some point

The Real White Pele wrote:Offtopic a bit, but are aby_gooner and agooner the same people? Im p!ssing confused

Nope we sure are different though support the same team

The-Frank-Tavern wrote:i thought about this yesterday and possibly, it could easily be done for both WC and EC during the summer months at the same time as the mani finals tournaments, although i think there is an argument that they could benefit from playing better opposition so there´d need to be a concession that each nation would commit to playing a lesser nation prior to these qualificatyion/WC & EC finals tournaments to appease them.

I doubt whether teams like Andorra, Lichtenstein, Faroe Islands are ever going to improve, Even if they play the top teams every month. They just dont have the numbers.

And it is not fair for the overplayed professionals to be playing a bunch of part-timers because all nations are equally represented.

Well an inadvertant side-effect is that likes of Crouch and Defoe are considered world beaters on the strength of their brace against Andorra.

We have 52 nations affiliated to UEFA. Let the WC and Euro qualifiers be restricted to 35-40 based on the number of spots available.

The qualifiers are an opportunity for the 'bigger' teams to try out formations and get comfortable playing together. Without these there'd probably be more need for international friendlies (which we all hate).

I have to say though, that the fixture congestion is getting ridiculous.

The-Frank-Tavern wrote:2 Italy
4 France
5 England
6 Netherlands
7 Spain
8 Portugal
9 Germany
10 Czech Republic
13 Switzerland
15 Ukraine
17 Denmark
20 Sweden
21 Croatia
26 Romania
28 Turkey
30 Poland
32 Greece
33 Russia
33 Serbia
36 Bulgaria
38 Republic of Ireland
40 Scotland
42 Bosnia-Herzegovina
43 Slovakia
49 Norway

51 Israel
55 Belgium
56 Wales
57 Austria
58 Slovenia
62 Albania
65 Lithuania
67 Finland
67 FYR Macedonia
69 Belarus
72 Northern Ireland
73 Moldova
78 Latvia
78 Estonia
80 Hungary
84 Georgia
90 Cyprus
104 Armenia
106 Iceland
106 Azerbaijan
122 Malta
124 Liechtenstein
132 Andorra
141 Kazakhstan
169 Faroe Islands
191 San Marino
195 Luxembourg


based on world rankings those at the top would be the automatic top 25, with those below having to pre-qualify, it´d fairly straight forward based on approx 14 teams ultimately qualifying so groups of 5 for the main groups meaning only 8 qualifiers each all with some point

That's a good start, Frank. Though many people have been advocating this for years.

The ones who are good enough to quailify from the lower pool should get in the upper pool. Same for the teams in the upper pool who can't hold their own. And besides what good is the FIFA ranking then for? Iceland (and posibbly Georgia) excluding, from the 90th fIFA ranking and lower, they are excruciating to play against. For f*cking what?

However, I guess FIFA wants to keep it this way for the money, and the teams have a chance to gel competitively. Lesser games could be a problem for the latter in all honesty. The Kazachstan'd of Europe get a chance to see "superstars" on their pitch, and somehow this is supposed to raise their game. I disagree.
Their game will be raised when they need to win against opponents in their own bracket, not Brazil or Italy. When they promote to the next level they'l have a winning mentality already.

Normally the the group #1s qualify automatically, and then there's a second round between the #2s. I suggest that the the four (or two) best qualifyers of the " lower" poule be randomly drawn against the #2s in the second (& final) qualification round. Sounds fair enough right?
If their good enough to qualify regularly, they're supposed to defeat their thougher opponents in the second round anyhow. And when was the last time a country from the lower bracket qualified straight-away? Can't recall... If a country form the lower bracket did qualif before, they did it in the second round as well... So what gives!? Seems ideal to me this set-up.

Its all about seprating the wheat from the chaff.

Latvia qualified for the last EC(04), and they were spectacular IMO. They, for example, qualified and proved themselves well in the EC - whilst allocated in the group of Death alongside Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic. Yet they proved to be a handful for every opponent and had an exciting and effective countergame. They even drew Germany! and kept them from going to the second round!

Roger_Hunt wrote:The qualifiers are an opportunity for the 'bigger' teams to try out formations and get comfortable playing together. Without these there'd probably be more need for international friendlies (which we all hate).

I have to say though, that the fixture congestion is getting ridiculous.

Given a choice between watching an England vs. Ghana friendly against an England vs Andorra so called competitive game, I would blindly prefer the former.

What use is experimenting when it is tested on a lowly team. Crouch and Defoe were great against Andorra. Does that automatically mean they will excel when they face the likes of Italy and France. Not really. If teams want to gel, let them play friendlies against teams with similar strengths.

aby_gooner wrote:

The Real White Pele wrote:Offtopic a bit, but are aby_gooner and agooner the same people? Im p!ssing confused

Nope we sure are different though support the same team

Cheers for clearing that up. Would comment on the topic, but the Frankster and DD have answered it as spot on as is possible. So sorry for the off-topic question, but does "Aby" mean we are blessed in the presence of a female football fan's opinion?