WHY SAY ANYTHING?

The Nation’s League appears to have been afforded a reasonable reception by the football-hungry populace of Britain. Don’t get us wrong, given the choice between Premier League and this international excuse for a competition, 99.9% would plump for the Premier League although, taking into consideration the standard of the domestic leagues in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, it is difficult to assume that the same could be said in those countries.

In fairness, Wales had a decent start in beating the Republic of Ireland but then came undone when they met Denmark, a proper team.

However, a small and remote European footballing outpost did manage a win when Scotland beat Albania 2-0.

England are already in danger of relegation from their group having committed the cardinal sin of losing at home, this time to Spain. They have already proven that they can’t beat Croatia on neutral ground so will have little or no chance in Croatia. Their hopes will lie in taking maximum points off Switzerland and then doing what England teams over the years have become accustomed to and that is hoping that other results go their way.

In other news, Portugal didn’t really prove that they can cope without Cristiano Ronaldo when they beat a hopeless Italian team 1-0 in Lisbon. Despite making nine changes to the team which drew 1-1 at home with Poland, Roberto Mancini still failed to come up with a winning formula or even, in this case, a drawing one.

The Guardian did a reasonable round-up of all the Nation’s League games so, for the ones we have missed, have a read of their report.

So, other than the fact that nobody understands how the Nation’s League actually works, it seems to have got off to a decent start. We have yet to hear anybody say, “I can’t wait for the next international break so I can cheer my nation on in that exciting new competition!”, but it may happen, who knows?

How much would your favourite player cost today…..?

Have you ever wondered? Well, wonder no more. Our friends over at TotallyMoney have put together an index which, using the most complicated of calculations and taking into account all transfers since the Premier League began in 1992, will tell you how much, for example, a club would have to pay for Roy Keane today.

Take a look at it here.

https://www.totallymoney.com/content/transfer-index/

So now, when your friend in the pub says, “Imagine what it would cost to buy Didier Drogba in today’s market”, you can actually tell him/her.

And finally…..

Gawpy Gareth rested *Harry Kane from the Nation’s League match against Switzerland. At least, that is his spin on it. He has decided to take it upon himself to rest players who are in danger of burnout, rather than leave it to their clubs who, obviously, can’t be trusted to do the right thing.

Since the beginning of last season Kane has started 61 games which, if he completed them all, would mean he had played 91.5 hours of football, which is 3.8 days. That is in slightly more than one year.

What must also be taken into account is the amount of travelling involved in top-flight football nowadays. Stepping from the first-class carriage of a train into the first-class section of an aeroplane, sometimes without even a weeks break between, can be nothing short of lung-busting.

Tired? Those miners slaving on the old coal-face for eight or nine hours a day, five and a half days a week, don’t realise how good they have it. What with the excitement of a possible landslide to trap them underground right through to any number of debilitating and often fatal diseases, they never had it so good. They would never complain of fatigue because their job isn’t tiring, not like football.

Not for them all this stuff involving jetting around the world, with no expense spared on comfort, in order to spend 90 minutes or so just getting tired.

Who’d be a footballer, eh?

*Kane actually came on halfway through the second half of England’s game against Switzerland proving that, when you are really Superman, then tiredness is not an issue.