Comments on: New Yellow Card Rule & No More “Groups Of Death”

By: Adrian

Adrian — Fri, 23 May 2008 02:04:13 +0000

Sporel: That is nonsense. Hosting an EC is a fairly big financial investment. If only one country is allowed to host the event, it will eventually only the the four big European leagues (England, Italy, Spain, Germany) plus maybe France, who can afford to host a cup. That would be boring – and a repetitive home advantage.
As for the seeding, if they want to have seeding, then it’s normal that the host(s) and the defending champion get a spot. Either they keep it this way…or get rid of the seeding altogether. Just constantly protecting the big teams is wrong. And as free bet points out: there will always be tough groups, especially in the EC.
And as for Switzerland being ranked 48th in the world…that is only because they couldn’t play any A-games over the last 2 years, as they didn’t have to qualify. I believe Switzerland was ranked 12th after the World Cup.

By: Soccer Fever Disease By Choice

Soccer Fever Disease By Choice — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:41:00 +0000

The yellow card should not be abandoned from the quarter finals to the finals in any tournament. If a player disrespects or ignores the rules of the game he should be punished. Now divers, loud mouths and dangerous takles will be part of the game.

By: set

set — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:29:41 +0000

I also like the Yellow card decision.
One the one hand, if they carried the yellow card count for the whole competition, wouldn’t there be some abuse with “fake” yellow cards just to miss a not-so-difficult game? For example some big teams could do that to purge their yellow cards during the quarter finals. Only a luxury big teams could afford, boohoo!
On the other hand, the current system puts to much stress on the semi-final.. Players are scared by the yellow card and don’t play at their full potential. Of course it’s their fault for having a yellow card in the first place, but it’s hard for defensive players to avoid being late on a tackle and take one.

By: set

set — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:14:14 +0000

Friendly games shouldn’t count because they’re friendly.. They’re used to test players, try different tactics.. You can’t say the level of play a team produces during a friendly game is representative of their true level.
Furthermore, coaches should be able to chose their friendly games without taking the UEFA coefficient into consideration.
I don’t think it’s a question of favoring the big teams here.

Having one very strong group in any competition is not necessarily a good thing for small teams, considering there’s small teams in that group that will have a lower chance to pass than same-level teams in other groups. Randomness like that doesn’t seem fair to me.

By: Sporel

Sporel — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:01:00 +0000

I am not sure the issue is eliminating groups of death, but rather eliminating stupidity like friendly games determining seeding.

Secondly, I agree with the comment above that two hosts in the tournament is a farce. This is a small tournament and opening two spots takes away somebody else’s spot. I think EC should be hosted by a single country in principle.

And the fact that the hosts are seeded! This is probably one of the most absurd things in soccer tournaments. As a result we ended up with a stronger pot 2 than pot 1 for this year’s cup.

On the yellow cards, I think you can make arguments both ways. But it needs to be consistent. I’d say either get rid of yellow card suspensions alltogether or carry them throughout. I’d personally prefer the latter but the key is not making any game more important than others. You can’t get into the final without getting out of the group.

By: Shazback

Shazback — Wed, 21 May 2008 09:14:45 +0000

And whilst he’s making sure the big countries get easier draws in the Euro, Michel Platini is shouting out that the Champions’ League format is unfair because it favors big teams in the group stage, since the best 8 clubs can’t play against each other, nor can clubs of the same country (he wanted to make it obligatory that after the group stage clubs of the same country would face off…), and that two far weaker clubs are sure to be in the group…

Sounds like Mr Platini needs to choose. Either he wants “little” clubs and countries to have a better chance of succeding, in which case taking friendlies into account is a good thing (after all, friendlies are only 2-3 games a year, so they’re not going to make a major impact of FIFA Rankings), or he wants the “big” ones to have a more direct route to the final, meaning that groups of death must be avoided, player punishment mecanisms must be avoided (well, yes, because if a “big” country loses its best player on a third yellow card, it’s a handicap for the “big” country)…

By: Laurie

Laurie — Wed, 21 May 2008 04:04:38 +0000

One of the big problems of this draw was that neither of the co-hosts was a strong team. Switzerland ranks 48th and Austria ranks 101st. When you toss those two teams into the top pot with the defending champ, who is also not one of the top four teams, you’re going to get skewed results in a tournament with only sixteen teams. With two weak co-hosts, there’s still the fairly strong possibility of a Group O’Death.

The friendly thing is a step in the right direction, but it won’t entirely keep this from happening again.

By: free bet

free bet — Wed, 21 May 2008 02:14:57 +0000

i dont think they will be able to completely eliminate tough groups in the future…its just not possible

By: Ian Rose

Ian Rose — Wed, 21 May 2008 01:50:40 +0000

There’s no way to win a Euro without proving yourself. But tournaments worldwide are staged by drawing from seeded pools, with the strongest in a pool together. Smaller teams, like Greece and Turkey can still get through, but they have to do the job in the group stage. Actually, for some mid-tier teams, this would be better. In a more classic seeded tournament, Romania would never have to face France, Italy and Holland in their three group stage matches. THAT’s unfair.

By: Adrian

Adrian — Wed, 21 May 2008 01:25:39 +0000

I completely disagree with Platini and you. Neither of these decisions are good for football.
When I started reading about the ‘Yellow Card’ issue, I expected UEFA to not clean the slates at all anymore…and was surprised to see that they decided for the complete opposite. The fact that it will be virtually impossible to be suspended for a game due to yellow cards will make the game meaner and harder. I don’t mind the hardness bit…but you’ll see a lot more tactical fouls, a lot more diving, a lot more arguing, etc. That’s not what we should strive for in the game. If somebody is so unfair that he manages to pick up multiple cards in 4 games, he should be rightfully suspended for a game.
As for the ‘groups of death’. This is the EC, to win it, you’ll have to get past the densest quality of teams possible. If you can’t deal with the heat, you don’t deserve to win it. The only thing that rigging the groups would achieve is to make it more difficult for smaller teams to progress. That is an unfair advantage for the ‘big’ teams. You shouldn’t be considered big JUST because you are Italy or Germany or France. You have to prove yourself every cup again – if need be against three strong teams in the group phase. (Also, remember: the teams are already put in groups according to their strength at the draw. So that disadvantage already exists.) If we keep favoring the big teams we a) end up with the same winners forever and b) will eventually allow the big teams direct access to the cup. Big nono. Football is a competitive sport and it doesn’t matter whom you’re up against: you have to find a solution to get past them.