Task 2 - Team B: Hero (PM), Bam, Marky, Fluxy

With UEFA imposing a new nations league amongst other stuff they have decided that the European championships need an overhaul. You have been in charge of overseeing the changes to the competition. Good Luck with the task

Lord Odnan

You guys trading tractor boy for me makes a broken Mkhi in exchange for Sanchez seem like a great deal

I'm gonna sit back and wait for Hero. Not impressed by the lack of support in Task 1.

Hero, if you fancy setting things up, today is the best day for me to contribute before Tuesday.

If he isn't around today, we should probably have a think anyway

Basics;

55 countries, with the aim being to whittle them down to 24 for the European Championships. Initial one looking at Euro 2020 but we should also look beyond that I'd say.

Unless we wanted to change the number of Euro finalists?

(Something Hero as Team Captain should oversee IMO)

Everything we need to know about the current Nations League plan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018%E2%80%9319_UEFA_Nations_League

Yeah I think the key to this is how to differentiate it from the Nations League twaddle

That will already have the "bigger" countries playing each other more often, so isn't necessarily the answer

Firstly apologies to Marky in regards to Task 1, got a fair bit on at work currently as got a presentation to the board next week to finish off.
In regards to this task it seems quite a broad brush of hands up in the air and who has a clue what to do, UEFA certainly don’t.
Initially I’d see what research has already been done into public opinion, what nations themselves have put forward and would be happy with and what other continents do that works? Happy though to hear everyone else’s thoughts.

What about pre-qualifiers? It's often talked about whenever Germany put 8 past San Marino.

My initial thought is that there should a qualifier for qualifiers round with the crapola teams.

1. Location (fixed, bidding, multiple etc)
2. Format (group stage, knockout, league etc)
3. Timings (over a month in the summer, every 4 years etc)
4. Qualifying (& prequalifying)
5. Number of teams (24/30/36)

I don't have an issue with the Nations League as an idea. We could go with something similar, just bigger groups/leagues.

Over the qualification season there's 10 matches, and at least 6 friendlies, so I don't see why we couldn't divide the countries into Leagues of 16/16/16/7.

League A - Top European sides ranked 1-16 on Fifa rankings (I don't like Fifa rankings but they're arguably the best starting point we have)
League B - 17-32 on Fifa rankings
League C - 33-48 on Fifa rankings
League D - 49-55 + new countries that seem to get formed all the time

Have a Football League structure, instead of 10 qualifiers and 6 friendlies, just have 15 competitive games over the 2 year qualification period (8 at home, 7 away, decided by luck of the draw)

Everyone in League A would qualify for Euro 2020, but the league placings would determine the Group seedings.
Top 8 in League B would also qualify for Euro 2020.
Bottom 3 in League A drop to League B for the next campaign
Top 3 in League B go up to League A for the next campaign

Bottom 3 in League B drop to League C
Top 3 in League C go up to League B
Bottom 3 in League C go down to League D
Top 3 in League D go up to League C

It means those in Leagues C and D have no chance of qualification, but they arguably never did anyway, and this way it gives them incentives to develop over time.

Say for example Catalonia become their own country, they'd enter in League D knowing they wouldn't be a part of Euro 2020 or Euro 2024, but they could progress into League B in that time and have a chance at entering Euro 2028 if they were good enough.

With fewer sides in League D, they'd play each other home and away.

Any other suggestions?

My issue with this is as you say it makes it hard for Pots C & D to compete, hypothetically a team in Pot D could enter a golden generation, it'd be 8 years from the point of that generation before they could then compete at the Euros.

Is the FIFA rankings only at the point of the initial set up and then ignored afterwards? As otherwise the moving up and down of leagues is null and void.

Hero wrote:My issue with this is as you say it makes it hard for Pots C & D to compete, hypothetically a team in Pot D could enter a golden generation, it'd be 8 years from the point of that generation before they could then compete at the Euros.

Is the FIFA rankings only at the point of the initial set up and then ignored afterwards? As otherwise the moving up and down of leagues is null and void.

The Pot D would be the likes of San Marino, Gibraltar etc so they wouldn't really be competing anyway. But it would give them a long term target.

Yes, Fifa rankings would only be used at the initial set up then disregarded.

Based on the current Fifa rankings for European sides, it would be;

League A
Germany
Portugal
Belgium
Spain
Poland
Switzerland
France
Denmark
Italy
Croatia
England
Sweden
Wales
Iceland
Netherlands
Northern Ireland

League B
Slovakia
Austria
Republic of Ireland
Scotland
Ukraine
Serbia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Romania
Turkey
Bulgaria
Montenegro
Greece
Czech Republic
Hungary
Norway
Albania

League C
Russia
Slovenia
Finland
Macedonia
Luxembourg
Estonia
Armenia
Cyprus
Belarus
Faroe Islands
Israel
Georgia
Azerbaijan
Latvia
Kazakhstan
Andorra

League D
Lithuania
Moldova
Kosovo
Liechtenstein
Malta
San Marino
Gibraltar
[any new nations]

Maybe for the first time (Euro 2020) you would give League C the three places from the bottom of League A (so that there's still the fear of a big nation not making it)

Top 13 of League A, Top 8 of League B, Top 3 of League C = 24 competing sides

I see the benefits of making sure all the big teams are in the Euros, but that does take away from the minnows vs giants angle that can be so exciting

Marky's proposal limiting it to 13 of league A would work for me, although I might take 1 more place off league A and give it to C

If we're assuming 24 teams, are we thinking 6 groups of 4 or 4 groups of 6?

4 groups of 6 - top 2 qualify - 5 group games, QF, SF, Final - 8 games
6 groups of 4 - top 2 plus 4 best 3rd place teams? - 3 group games, second round, QF, SF, Final - 7 games

The extra group game might mean more cohesiveness between the teams and a better quality of football if we're keeping the standard of the teams high

I also think location should be 1 country, or at most a joint bid between two smaller countries

What about 8 groups of 3? Then last 16 knockouts.

8 teams would only play 2 games though, kind of takes away from the experience

True but then there'd be an extra knockout round

Marky do you want to take the helm on this, I've got my presentation at work tomorrow and I'm to Austria on Thursday so haven't really got the time to dedicate to it really.

I've not got the time. Off work today, only "online" at work when I cover the receptionists lunch break Tuesday and Wednesday

What's going to happen then? Do we just write up/copy and paste what we've discussed?

Morning gents, just a heads-up that I will leave the process, I cannot commit the time right now to be any benefit. 

Best of luck

If we're going with my league idea, what would happen with World Cup qualification?

Would we do the league every Euro qualification? Or would we continue the same process in World Cup qualification but with fewer places up for grabs?

I'll have some time this afternoon

I'll have from 12-1pm today

But it's basically the two of us Bam!

Okay then...

I'm just gonna post what we have otherwise we'll have nothing.