[hardtobeat]

Anybody else excited not with the up and coming England games

The players and the clubs it would seem as just the 8 pulled out the England squad as well as the likes of Odegaard who has to continue ‘ rehab’ despite playing 90 mins the weekend !

[GrumpyBaggie]

I think it would be better all round if there were less international breaks but the breaks were combined into one or two larger break. Not just because there would be fewer interruptions to the regular football season but in terms of international football, that would be more tournament like and would give coaches a more prolonged time to work with the squads.

I would have just one international break per year - starting in May and continuing up to whatever tourament is going that summer.  If clubs have leaue matches scheduled in May then release of players should be voluntary.
Then we could actually get back to enjoying league football from September to April every weekend, and might even enjoy watching  cricket, or even taking the kids to the beach in summer.

[Dan]

The September, October, November schedule has existed for decades at this point, i'm not sure why people every single year seem to think the international break is increasing. There actually used to be more international breaks. Up to about a decade ago there used to be an August game also, and previously February and April had games. The international game has already been consolidated, though two of the Autumn breaks will be merged going forward. At any rate the reason the club game extends later in the season for premier league clubs nowadays is due to increases in European games, not international games.

England are also not the only team to play international games. Most these "solutions" are always very England-centric. May isn't the end of the season for many leagues around the world, and strangely enough every country has an international team.

[Albionic]

The September, October, November schedule has existed for decades at this point, i'm not sure why people every single year seem to think the international break is increasing. There actually used to be more international breaks. Up to about a decade ago there used to be an August game also, and previously February and April had games. The international game has already been consolidated, though two of the Autumn breaks will be merged going forward. At any rate the reason the club game extends later in the season for premier league clubs nowadays is due to increases in European games, not international games.

England are also not the only team to play international games. Most these "solutions" are always very England-centric. May isn't the end of the season for many leagues around the world, and strangely enough every country has an international team.

Sorry I have to disagree with your opening sentence, I would be amazed if that was true.

[MarkW]

Sorry I have to disagree with your opening sentence, I would be amazed if that was true.

Well 20 years ago was 2004, and we definitely had three international breaks:

https://www.worldfootball.net/teams/england-team/2004/3/

We had four World Cup Qualifiers plus two friends Vs Ukraine and Spain.

Go back to 1994 and we apparently played USA, Romania and Nigeria

https://www.worldfootball.net/teams/england-team/1994/3/

1984 and it was GDR, Finland and Turkey

https://www.worldfootball.net/teams/england-team/1984/3/

[Dan]

Sorry I have to disagree with your opening sentence, I would be amazed if that was true.

You can't disagree with facts. You can check yourself if you want. The last time England didn't play in all of Setepmber, October, and November was 2001 (which was still an international break, England just didn't play). And before that you have to go back till 1981.

I don't really understand the collective amnesia over international football. The only thing that has really changes is the number of windows have reduced over the years in favour of 2 games a window, and less overall breaks. Bobby Moore wasn't getting 108 caps for England in 11 years by internationals barely being played....

The only games in the schedule that have actually consistently increased over the years have been continental club football. Non-European premier league clubs play less games than anytime since pre-world war 2. Championship and lower schedule hasn't changed in many years.

[SmethDan]

Meanwhile (if Wiki is to be believed) for what it's worth Harry Kane has 101 caps in nine years. I'd be genuinely amazed if the Nations League qualifying fixtures and tournament haven't added more fixtures to the international calendar. Ed: and that's before taking into account the expansion of both the World Cup and Euros.

[Albionic]

Well 20 years ago was 2004, and we definitely had three international breaks:

https://www.worldfootball.net/teams/england-team/2004/3/

We had four World Cup Qualifiers plus two friends Vs Ukraine and Spain.

Go back to 1994 and we apparently played USA, Romania and Nigeria

https://www.worldfootball.net/teams/england-team/1994/3/

1984 and it was GDR, Finland and Turkey

https://www.worldfootball.net/teams/england-team/1984/3/

Did we have league shut downs for 3 weeks in those given dates though?  Nowadays we play 2 games in a week usually and then clubs have to manage the consequences.

For the record (sept/oct / nov each year)  from http://englandfootballonline.com/MatchRsl/MatchRsl2020.html

2004,  4 w/c quali, 1 friendly     (5 total)
1994  3 one off freindlies           (3 total)
1984, 1 freindly 2 W/C qualifiers (3 total)

Now skip forward
2020  6 nations league, 2 freindlies (8 total)
2021  6 nations league, 1 friendly   (7 total)
2022  7 world cup prelim                (7 total)
2023  2 nations league / 3 world cup  (5 total)

I repeat the frequency of international within the early season period has increased. FACT

[Dan]

As said repeatedly, they consolidated the games so they play less windows overall and more games in those breaks. The number of games has not changed, in a non tournament year England play a maximum amount of 10 games. The schedule ended up out of whack because of Covid meaning they missed windows they caught back up between 2020-2022 coupled with the World Cup.

Ironically the reason they consolidated window is because people complained there were too many breaks so they reduced it to 4, soon to be 3 with more games. This is all easily checkavle information. You can see in years where England did no play 6 autumn games they also played in months like August, December, February or april…

[timdon]

It's all explained here, for those interested.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c5yr2l1jj9wo

[hardtobeat]

Whatever the ins and outs of the fixture list England produced one of their better performances in a while last night without several of the supposed leading lights & with the media darling that is Kane on the bench !

[SmethDan]

Meanwhile reports are coming through that Greek riot police decided to reorganise orderly queues at the turnstiles with batons, riot shields and tear gas. My lad does the England away days. Not last night though thankfully as he was at work.

[WBAinDEVON]

best england performance in years, even the kamikaze pickford had a decent game

[Albionic]

It's all explained here, for those interested.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c5yr2l1jj9wo

Thanks for that Timdon. Its a succinct rebuttal of my "Facts".

So in short,  things haven't changed for decades, its circumstances (Pandemic, Winter world cups, advent of Nations League) which have made recent autumns "busier," its good to read that the plan is to consolidate the breaks somewhat.

[baggies_24]

I thought England were very impressive against a good Greece team who have a decent home record. Thought we looked far more like a coherent team to the one that played in the summer.

I think a few of those that dropped out to injury might be ruing that decision when it comes to future squads as I have every faith Tuchel will have also picked up on the fact that England’s big name players (Foden, Kane, Bellingham, Saka, Rice) have issues when they all start in the same team as each other.

[NJS]

I thought England were very impressive against a good Greece team who have a decent home record. Thought we looked far more like a coherent team to the one that played in the summer.

I think a few of those that dropped out to injury might be ruing that decision when it comes to future squads as I have every faith Tuchel will have also picked up on the fact that England’s big name players (Foden, Kane, Bellingham, Saka, Rice) have issues when they all start in the same team as each other.

Any reason why Palmer is missing and Bellingham (who did turn out) is included?

Some of these "Galacticos" only seem to able to operate when surrounded by their foreign counterparts.  This performance seems to justify producing a team with a contingent of players who have been coached together from the Under-19s onwards. 

[hardtobeat]

Palmer was a doubt prior to Chelsea’s last game  due to the Martinez tackle but still managed the 90mins I think .
Simple way to stop the ducking and diving over internationals is if they just pull out prior to the squad getting together they have to miss the next club game .

[johnny Cash]

Palmer was a doubt prior to Chelsea’s last game  due to the Martinez tackle but still managed the 90mins I think .
Simple way to stop the ducking and diving over internationals is if they just pull out prior to the squad getting together they have to miss the next club game .

Don't agree with this. As frustrating as it is, whether people want to play international football or not is completely up to them and shouldnt effect their availability for their club. That doesn't mean they should be free from consequences though and whether the international manager should continues to pick them or not is another question. 

[SmethDan]

Emailed the FA this morning to inform them I am no longer available for selection. It was a relief really as I'd been meaning to do it for some time but just hadn't got round to it. Damn procrastination. Oh well it's done now so that's one less thing they've got to worry about.

[GrumpyBaggie]

Don't agree with this. As frustrating as it is, whether people want to play international football or not is completely up to them and shouldnt effect their availability for their club. 

Totally agree with this, I just wish more people would think more about their current clubs than possible benefits to their own careers

[baggies_24]

Any reason why Palmer is missing and Bellingham (who did turn out) is included?

Some of these "Galacticos" only seem to able to operate when surrounded by their foreign counterparts.  This performance seems to justify producing a team with a contingent of players who have been coached together from the Under-19s onwards. 

I was more making reference to those players as they started most of the Euro’s & looked very unbalanced & clearly hadn’t figured out how to play with each other. I think it just goes to show we are going to have to leave some star names on the bench & start an Anthony Gordon or Curtis Jones over a Phil Foden, Cole Palmer etc.  to make the side more balanced than the one that played the majority of the Euro’s.

[NJS]

Can't disagree  with that.

[WBAinDEVON]

its coming home

[Baggies]

FIFA world cup qualfication pots confirmed and the good news is that England have been seeded as a Pot A team thanks to world ranking.

Some very good pot 2 teams to avoid - Norway, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Turkey, Czech Rep, even the lesser lights like Greece and Sweden look tricky. Still expect we will get top spot though now weve avoided facing a top nation, as was speculated at one stage had it been all based on the nations league.

[Baggies]

World Cup qualification draw today. No groups of death, all look fairly even, other than the group Austria are heading up, which looks a bit straightforward for either them or Romania.

England have a so so group, Serbia the only tough test, Albania the other who could cause issues but who should be straightforward enough during a mid season qualifier. Latvia and Andorra the whipping boys.