Goonersworld

Still is a B-Tech Euros. It's another European Championships in all but name.

I'm just glad he scored his penalty.

theHotHead wrote:Its still a tournament that teams are taking very seriously so don't knock it. Much better than meaningless friendlies.

Too much international football, IMO
I get the reasoning to limit friendlies, but when people are talking about too much football, and world cups and Euros becoming more boring by the tournament, I think there should be less international games and make it more exclusive.
Overkill at the moment.
Not many really care that much about the Nations League.

theHotHead wrote:Its still a tournament that teams are taking very seriously so don't knock it. Much better than meaningless friendlies.

Yup. Just had to see the reaction of the Spanish players to see how much it meant. And when you have the best player of all time celebrating like that taking his minnow country to victory, who are we to say it doesn't matter?

As the pundits, this matters in every country. Apart from England. And that's why they fail. They weren't even in the top group. Most importantly as you say, far better than friendlies

Too many competitions,too many injuries.
Give the players at least 2-3 months to recover.

Ach wrote:I'm just glad he scored his penalty.

I wonder why he was the first since he is not a regular penalty taker.

He's kind of the forgotten man in discussions for next season. He's clearly taken seriously by the Spain set up, and Arteta rates him. Should he be considered a starter, or as cover for Rice? Or maybe as cover for Odegaard?

UFGN wrote:He's kind of the forgotten man in discussions for next season. He's clearly taken seriously by the Spain set up, and Arteta rates him. Should he be considered a starter, or as cover for Rice? Or maybe as cover for Odegaard?

If and it's a if we get Zubamendi midfield will be Zubamendi Rice and Odegaard Merino will be a fill in player for a couple possitions as he is in the Spanish set up

He did well enough after a poor start to the season. I like him, seems solid enough and one of the few signings not on insane wages currently. I'd like to see him rotating with Rice the #6 role. Rice has played way too much the past 2 seasons, starting almost every game. He was only rested against Forest and Liverpool last season.

Rice is 24/25 best player. Without him our level drops, just like the absence of a few others. So, frequent rotation is out of question, if he's fit

ag6789 wrote:Rice is 24/25 best player. Without him our level drops, just like the absence of a few others. So, frequent rotation is out of question, if he's fit

That's a strategy that will leave us potless again. There are 6-8 teams in the league Rice doesn't have to start against. We have been down this road already with Saka, Odegaard and Gabriel. If the second string doesn't get chances, they can't be relied upon when the first choice gets injured.

ag6789 wrote:Rice is 24/25 best player. Without him our level drops, just like the absence of a few others. So, frequent rotation is out of question, if he's fit

Didn't Merino, Zubimendi and Odergaard play together in Sociedad? If they did then our midfield will be solid enough even when Rice and Partey are rested.

People seem to have forgotten, Merino was meh in midfield but did ok as a CF. Nothing currently suggests he will be good in midfield again and we need a better CF.

With a full pre season he may hit the ground running in midfield, we don't have time for him to find his feet there

In a proper squad he doesn’t start at CF or midfield. And he’s costs a pretty penny. He’s like Havertz. A poor hire that we now have to fit in and be pleased with minor performances.

He plays for Spain, one of the best in business. So he must have had qualities. Difficult to imagine how things might pan out in PL beforehand.
Example Darwin Nunez, DiMaria and many others.
Hopefully he'll be more productive in his 2nd season in PL. ( Actually, maybe 3rd. He played for another PL side earlier, I think).