Not sure which Final 4 you watched but the one I saw was very disappointing. When compared to the quality of play in the group games, especially in League A, the semis and finals were quite the anticlimax. My expectations were very low and still it was a huge letdown. @Paul Calixte
It's nowhere near as draining as the World Cup, or EUROs for that matter, though. I feel teams need to be given more time to properly prepare.
I prefer to go back to friendlies. It’s a meaningless trophy and who suffers are those fringe national players that need more play time to break into the national team setup since there’s now false importance thrust onto these games.
That's it right there - I have no idea why UEFA scheduled the Champions League Final and the NL Final Four so close to each other.
For the most part it was entertaining to me as a true neutral without any dog in the fight. I think it will only get more entertaining as the years go by. I do not want them to get rid of friendlies all together though so hope they keep the Group stage at three teams.
If there are direct flights (unlike Baku) - sure, why not? Perhaps hold it in 30K or 40K grounds initially. The other thing that bothers me somewhat is the time gap between group stage and final four. Perhaps stage the final four in March at hosts with warmer climate? (to keep it attractive for travel)
I like it for UEFA.............any time u can get competitive matches I think it's better than Friendlies. Not so much for CONCACAF. I really have no need seeing the USA play more games vs Canada and Cuba
About 10K seats went unsold in the first edition's final ... ... in which the hosts themselves played ... against Holland, who usually have one of the largest away crowds ... in a warm-weather country, a holiday destination ... during an extended (Pentecost) weekend That's really poor for such a final. It was pretty quiet too. Despite their team not playing England fans were even outsinging the others in the stadium. Might still struggle to fill 30K or 40K grounds if the Final 4 is held in a country that doesn't compete in the thing. The NL group games were very attractive yet not as broadly watched as I had hoped. I like it very much but I must admit the NL still has a ways to go to gain popularity. To compare, the final at the Rio2016 Olympics drew a much larger crowd. Most likely had better viewership numbers as well. Let's first see if the NL can measure up to the Olympics, basically a youth trny. @Nico Limmat
@Nico Limmat wouldn't it be better if Final 4 (or maybe later Final 8) teams could hold a training camp first? In March there's no time to prepare. I guess for the first edition UEFA wanted to make use of the extended weekend and there are other tournaments starting later, including the U21 EUROs. Imho it's better to cluster a few of the international breaks together because quality suffers in the stop-start situation we're faced with now. Ideally the Final 4 would be played immediately after the group stage, make it a full-fledged tournament and draw more eyeballs to it.
I think a lot of that had to do with Brasil never having won a Gold medal in their history and their team finally getting over the hump. But I see where you are coming from and there is room for improvement. As the years go by I think the quality will only get better and the popularity will only rise. But maybe a "home team" hosting the Final 4 may have to happen again until that day arrives.
I was in Spain on the Thursday evening and wanted to watch the England v Netherlands match. Asked in a bar if they could show it. After much searching, through seemingly hundreds of channels they couldn't find it. A bit of googling later we eventually found that no Spanish station was showing it. The match was on TV in Mexico, Argentina and other Spanish speaking countries but not Spain. Although we could see that the final would be shown. We phoned around and a Belgian bar was showing it so we went there. England weren't very good and nor were the Netherlands. However, if you're launching a new tournament try and get it on TV in as many countries as possible. You want the maximum viewing figures possible. It was on Sky Sports in the UK too, which greatly diminishes the number who will watch it. This is short-term thinking from UEFA. So too is scheduling it so soon after the European Cup final. A bigger break would have increased the interest and possibly helped the quality of the football. I still think it is a tournament with a great deal of potential.
I wonder how the Belgian establishment in Spain got a feed to the match. Did they do some sort of Digital Stream?
Yes, I think it was a legit stream of Belgian TV. Quality was fine. It was good beer and food. Nice guy that owned the bar too. I would have thought that with Dutch and English ex-pats as well as tourists there must have been plenty of demand for the match in Spain. Uefa must have just over-priced the rights.
The entire UEFA nations league and Euro qualifying has not been available in Canada this past year. I have had to watch online streams, they definately are over pricing the rights. Money is going to ruin this game.
Fair point about the final attendance but it was the inaugural tournament after all. I think 2021 will already see an improvement in fan travel. I generally favor longer (but fewer) international breaks. Also for qualifiers. Let's start having windows with three matches. Less travel for the players (especially those that need to leave Europe) and should promote a higher level of play.
Nah, Soldier Field would not have sold it out. East Coast Stadiums like New England or New York would have sold out given the time to sell tickets from the Group Stage to the Semis.
Quick question for the Kill the Nations League crowd: What did you enjoy more, France and Germany having a go at each other last year, or dropping 12 on their overwhelmed opponents this afternoon?
The Nations League wasn't just designed to get rid of friendlies, but (through its tiered system) give us more high-level matches between the top sides in Europe. For instance, I don't see how any football fan in England would look at the past year and go, "You know, I'd rather we not have played against Spain and Croatia. I'd rather go back to the kickarounds with the US and beating up on Montenegro."
And having to play 120 minutes on Thursday, then the final on Sunday didn’t help matters. Not sure what can be done about the scheduling though, unless and until the FIFA breaks are made longer. Maybe have both semis on the Wednesday would be better(?). Or move it to the September FIFA break, since I would guess the main issue is players not playing for 3 weeks before the NL semis. And probably alot more than 3 weeks for the previous meaningful games.
Generally well received by England fans. Many were negative before the league phase started but few are now. If nothing else at least we've won another penalty shoot out! The games are competitive and that is much better than most friendlies. Disappointed we didn't play well enough to win it, especially as it will be harder to win if the popularity takes off. I can see them expanding the finals phase in future. 8 teams, either straight knock out or two groups of 4. I'd prefer straight knock out. If you think every team needs at least 2 matches then you can have first round losers play each other for league places. Imperfect but an element of competition.