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Oh Nations League! With these one-sided games, you really are spoiling us
RIP GEORGE
While the competitive value, format and byzantine permutations of the Nations League are understood by so few people that the handful of Uefa blazers who dreamt it up are all forbidden from travelling together on the same plane, all your average joe needs to know is that it is a competition devised to cut down on the number of pointless one-sided international friendly mismatches in which European heavyweights steamroll small mountain-tops or archipelagos in poorly-attended matches that benefit absolute nobody involved. Instead, the Nations League is supposed to pit countries of similar ability against each other, even if England resemble something of a barracuda rubbing fins with the comparative minnows in the pond that is Group B2.
Back-to-back Euro finalists, they are clearly vastly superior to Ireland and Finland, who between them have qualified for just two major tournaments since 2016 and lost to England during the last interlull, while tonight at Wembley they host a Greece side who haven’t been to a major tournament in over a decade. Having learnt the news yesterday of the tragic passing of their England-born international teammate, George Baldock, who had not travelled with his international teammates due to injury, Football Daily can’t even begin to imagine where the heads of Greece’s players will be at, but they will wear black armbands in their fallen comrade’s memory and have requested a pre-match minute’s silence for the former Sheffield United star, which is sure to be impeccably observed. Baldock will also have played with or against many of England’s players, who are likely to be similarly distraught.
In such unimaginably sad circumstances, the outcome of this game could scarcely be less important, but it remains the latest leg of what is widely presumed to be Lee Carsley’s six-part audition for the role of England head coach vacated by Gareth Southgate in July. As he prepares to lead out his country on the occasion of his 82nd cap in the absence of Harry Kane who is confined to a role on the bench due to knack, John Stones was asked if he sees any similarities between the England interim coach and his club boss, Pep.
“In ways, yes, definitely,” he said. “Everyone has got their own unique style and I think there are similarities throughout every manager in what they want. There are a lot of similarities between Lee and Pep in how they see the game and how they want us to play and I think we saw that last month when we played the two games. It’s been great for me with the likenesses of how we play.” The Manchester City and England defender was wise enough not to mention that the main difference between the two coaches is that one of them is currently happy to pick him, while the other is not.
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Join Scott Murray for piping-hot coverage of England 4-0 Greece, with kick-off at 7.45pm BST.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I don’t smoke in front of kids, I don’t give a bad example. But people take pictures of me smoking behind trees, where I can’t even see them. I try to hide it, not show to people. If anyone thinks they can change my personal life, try again, it never worked” – Wojciech Szczesny has, despite coming out of retirement to sign for Barcelona on a short-term deal, definitely entered his DNGAF era.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
“Sorry, I don’t buy the extent of the lachrymose horror at Klopp’s Red Bull move. For eight years he worked for a ‘global brand’, owned by a conglomerate, who overcharge fans for tickets and tried to furlough their staff during the pandemic. Yes, someone occasionally says ‘bootroom’ and waves a picture of Shankly around, does that really make it feel like a people’s club? So it’s a small step up to the caffeine-pushing eejits, if you ask me. And don’t think I’m picking on Liverpool. Every club down to about the mid-Championship seems like a carefully crafted yet hollow veneer wrapped around a commercially-exploitative sh1tshow, including my once beloved Sheffield United” – Jon Millard.
“England-based football romantics may be dismayed to see Klopp joining Red Bull, but those of us living in Germany are much less surprised, having seen him hire out his services to a seemingly endless list of products in recent years. In fact it’s a rare ad break that doesn’t feature his beardy grin trying to flog you something. (I still love him though)“ – Tim Woods.
“Not to speak for all my countrymen, but Americans have known for decades that the fans don’t matter. As far back as 1957 when the New York Giants and Dodgers were relocated to San Francisco and Los Angeles respectively, it became pretty clear to all involved that the purpose of sports is to make money. And it is hard for me to criticize, because in 1984, Bob Irsay moved the totality of the Baltimore Colts under the cover of darkness to my home town of Indianapolis. So all this talk of ‘football romantics’ and ‘traditionalists’ seems a bit naive and simply not grounded in reality. Oh, and I still really like Klopp. So there” – Joe Pearson.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Jon Millard, who lands a copy of The Football Weekly Book. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
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