Upshot of the UEFA Nations League: We need Big Sam

Thanks for your mails. What we need from you now is to keep mailing theeditor@football365.com and together we will get through to Saturday.

 

We need a relegation expert!
So I have been reading up about the all new spangly UEFA Nations League trying to understand the rules. And from what I can understand, England are going to get relegated. Aren’t they?

Is it too late to get Big Sam back?
Chris (MUFC)

 

Embrace England’s mediocrity…
Re; Rob, NCFC (Overthinking football since Euro 96)

I take your point, but surely it’s the same for every single top seeded qualifier? Why does France not struggle when it comes to tournaments? Why are the Germans so good? Also at Euro 2016 we were top seed in our group and yet we still struggled against the mighty Russia, Slovakia and Iceland. That should have been our bread and butter by your logic.

As Premier League players, for any level of team, the players should be used to playing as favourites and underdogs.

I think the failure at tournament time is down to two main reasons.

1) Bad planning/coaching in the run up to the tournament – Roy had no clear plan B and we failed to adapt
2) Mentality – there is a massive fear of failure and it paralyses our team.

That and we’re just a bit average now outside of a few stars, and you can see why we don’t set the world alight.

Instead of getting would up by it, we should embrace it! Embrace the mediocrity.
Xander (CFC & England) London

 

Be grateful for Henderson, England fans
I am a Zimbabwean and a die hard Liverpool supporter. My own national team doesn’t even qualify to play the qualifiers to the world cup. As a result, I will add my two pence on the England team.

Personally I feel the main problem with your team is you the England fans. It seems these players can do no good. To be frank, I’m surprised that players like Jordan Henderson even bother to play for you at all.

Why do so many of you feel the need to criticise your own players so much? It is these same players who invariably manage to get you to major tournaments time and again. BE GRATEFUL!!

Managers who know far better than you have continually picked Henderson. He was England U21 captain some years back and was a key component of Liverpool 2013/14 which almost won the league. Rodgers chose him to succeed Gerrard, Klopp has endorsed that choice. Even Southgate has chosen him to captain England at some points. Surely these managers see something in him. Surely he can’t have compromising pictures of all these managers to blackmail them.

Be grateful England supporters!
Dominic, LFC Zimbabwe (Now Hendo better perform vs Man U)

 

A new No. 50?
Along with most readers and to the disdain of Mediawatch, with their despise of numbered lists, I am a fan of the England World Cup Ladder. However, I think it is time for a change to the coveted No 50 place. With the retirement of James Milner, and him basically being a better version of Phil Neville (as a full back, in midfield, goal-scoring, penalty taking and lack of personality), is it time for him to take the place of Mr Reliant But Unavailable?
Sam (Long time reader, first time writer, AFC: Wenger In) London

 

A real shame
Such a pity that Messi fella never delivers in an Argentina jersey.

Such. A. Pity.
John, Ennis

 

Maradona > Messi
Now that I’ve got that out the way, I’d like to say that I’m happy for Messi starting to deliver for his country. When Argentina needed him, he stood up to be counted. But don’t tell me that football owed it to Messi to take him to the World Cup coz that’s just bullshirt. Now what Messi needs to do is to have consistency when playing for his country. If he can repeat Maradona’s feat in ’86 by singlehandedly dragging Argentina kicking and screaming to a victory in the Finals of the World Cup, I’d be forced to revise my opinion concerning who’s greater. Until then, I remain on firmly in Maradona’s camp. And I’d be more than happy to see Messi lifting the Jules Rimet Trophy. When that happens, he might consider seeking a fresh challenge away from Barcelona, hopefully in the English Premiership. And then we’ll all be thrilled to sit back and watch whether he can do it on a cold, windy, and rainy night up in Stoke…
Johniec@m

 

No tears for USA
I suppose I should be devastated that the USA didn’t qualify, but I’m not. The men’s national team has stagnated for some time, and we needed a kick up the backside. Besides, it’s worth it to see Panama get in on a late goal. The best part of such moments is always the commentator’s reaction – starting at 3:26…

Peter G, Pennsylvania, USA (A World Cup without Jozy Altidore?)

 

…In the World Cup qualifiers last night, Mexico needed to score a last-minute free-kick against Honduras for the US to make it through.

Their free-kick hit the wall. Oh the irony…
Gautham (Indianapolis)

 

Iceland World Cup Ladder?
Was going to do an Iceland ladder for the World Cup but had to stop since we don’t have enough people to reach 50…
H (number 50 would have been Gummi Ben) Iceland

 

Czech Republic World Cup Ladder?
1 – 50: not going, due to inelegant clogging. Oh well. Less chance of embarrassment I suppose.
David (Bystrc vs. Sparta Brno had three ultras and a drum) Szmidt, Brno, Czech Rep.

 

Backing inequality
For the record (re Mediawatch), the essence of Matthew Syed’s column was 100% correct. You’re paid what you’re worth regardless of gender, race, background or any other thing you can think of that might make people think you’re being treated unfairly just because you’re not a white male in the middle – upper tier of a fabricated class system.

People who work harder, are more qualified or are just more pleasing to the audience they for (as is the case in football) just get paid more money for what they do.

There are more female nurses than male nurses. Outrage!!!! There are more black grime and R’n’B artists in the charts than there are white – Hard-Wired Inequality!!!! More men work in construction than women – F**k it let’s just stop everything and start again once we’ve distributed everything to everyone in equal measure. Let’s bring our children up to feel guilty if they happen to be better than their classmates in certain subjects or sport.

Can’t we just accept that some people are better at some things than other people, and this is the very thing that allows enhances our existence? If we were all equally as good as each other at everything, we’d all be professional footballers and nothing else would ever get done. This inequality thing has been gathering pace for a while now and it’s making me feel queasy. You get paid what you’re worth – nothing more and nothing less. Let’s stop thinking we deserve things we haven’t earned, shall we?
Sean, CFC, London