Why are they destroying good football for 2 fucking weeks just to squeeze in shite boring and useless international football?
Just as the prem was on an upward roll they decide to destroy any rythm and show us Germany beating Luxenbourg 11-0 and what not.
International football should be banned imo. No one cares, club football is where the magic happens !
I dunno about banned, but it could certainly be planned better, I never understood the point of having fixtures so early into the League season, especially when we just had a World Cup recently.
Maybe the start of October would be better.
I hate friendlies especially, who the fuck cares about about fucking england vs san marino in the middle of a hectic schedule much less for your team members coming back injured fucking hate them, they are not needed at all. What is the actual point of these friendly matches exactly? Practice? The players are professionals i dont know what to say about players having to practice their football for their country when they are playing throughout the season anyway.
There is no other way to have it.
Having one every September October and November then you get a good break before the March one works well.
Shouldn’t have friendlies, simply just have the qualifiers there is enough qualifiers without the need for friendly matches.
Well that’s why they’ve introduced this Nations League thing to replace friendlies. They’re still technically friendlies but there is a prize at the end of it, so they’re hoping It’ll create more interest.
Plus, it means you don’t get uneven games like San Marino v France. You play teams of your level, like we have Croatia and Spain.
And it’s more money… skysports seem to have exclusive rights over here, so I won’t be watching. I refuse to pay their ridiculous prices. I get some via my Vodafone subscription, but not Sky Football, only the PL and other channels. They can kiss my arse. I’d watch it if it were on a channel I already have, but I’m so not paying for it.
I always hate the September break the most. Club Football finally back, only to be taken away from us again!
4 weeks of fantastic entertaining Premier League and then BAM back to reality with empty stadions, pointless friendlies (nations league), shite football and loads and loads of injuries !
Keep the qualifiers outside the domestic leauges please ! No more 14 days of waiting for football to come back in the middle of the season
Its shit and everyone hates the international breaks but where else can they get played?
I’m also off to Scotland vs Portugal in the October international break so that one won’t bother me in the slightest hah
Yeah international breaks don’t really bother me either. It’s not like they’re replacing the Premier League or anything – there will still be the same number of games, people!
Like Bli1k said, the September one is the worst because PL football has only just come back. But in general, I think it’s nice to have a break, it means I get to have a bit of a life every now and then 
It’s really shit. Especially when even players make up excuses to miss them. Hopefully this Nations League actually makes me care again.
Should be just during the week, nothing more. Two week-rest is too much.
When England play a friendly they rarely sell out, yet most top PL games are sold out.
That tells you all you need to know about international friendlies.
It’s just a money making exercise for FIFA.
Did this thread work?
Do they not exist anymore?
Hmm, maybe a petition could do the trick?
How are FIFA making money here? Genuine question.
I have no more interest in this than I do the Checkatrade Trophy, but you have to admit they have improved the format for those who do care about international teams
They make most from the World Cup but they also make plenty from advertising and sponsorship, as well as ticket sales.
There is also a lot of corruption at the top level, like we saw with Blatter and Platini, and I’m sure elsewhere as well.
So the more matches played, even friendlies, the more money there is to be made.
I doubt that pointless friendly matches, where limitless substitutes are used, are done to keep PL supporters happy but I would imagine the bank balances of all involved at the top of FIFA are increased.
From friendlies organised by national FAs? How?
The national FA organisations are all linked to FIFA.
It’s in their interest to promote international football, especially as it no longer holds the interest and prestige it used to.
International friendlies are invariably boring and not well attended, and even the top players make excuses not to go.
So apart from revenue and the opportunity to promote international football, of which FIFA is one of the main recipients, I can’t really see any other reason to have them.
So you don’t mean that FIFA are getting a percentage of the money the FAs are making from friendlies, just that the International game gets exposure and therefore thats good for FIFA?
I’m really not sure even that is true in all honestly given the general perception of international friendlies out there.
FIFA make their money off World Cups. I don’t think that would be less true if friendlies didn’t exist.
FIFA hauled in $4.8 billion in revenue from the 2014 World Cup, turning a $2.6 billion profit for the association. Broadcast revenue topped $2.43 billion, while sponsorships and ticket sales brought in $1.6 billion and $527 million, respectively.
The 2018 World Cup is expected to rake in about $6 billion in revenue for FIFA, up 25 percent from 2014. With as many as 3.2 billion people expected to watch the tournament, broadcast revenue is expected to rise to $3 billion.