The Warm-Up: We’re not saying the state of German football is funny, but…
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Updated 20/11/2018 at 10:21 GMT
Plus the European Super League definitely isn't going to happen, more to blame Brexit for and a brace of goonish misses
Germany's forward Timo Werner reacts during the UEFA Nations League football match between Germany and the Netherlands on November 19, 2018 in Gelsenkirchen.
Image credit: Getty Images
TUESDAY’S BIG STORIES
Further indignity piles upon the Germans
We’re not trying to be jingoistic here, and we wouldn’t want to indulge in excessive schadenfreude, but really if the sight of Germany’s hubris mounting higher and higher and them being condemned to relegation in the Nations League doesn’t warm your heart, then perhaps international football isn’t for you.
After said relegation, it all looked like Joachim Loew’s side might end the year on a high of sorts, 2-0 up thanks to goals from Timo Werner and Leroy Sane, but with six minutes remaining Quincy Promes and then Virgil van Dijk – with a finish the finest striker would appreciate – equalised, meaning the Dutch finish top of the group and advance to the Nations League finals jamboree, while Germany, already relegated, finished their campaign without a win.
To cap off a horrendous year in which they humiliated themselves at the World Cup and failed in this first Nations League nicely, should Poland avoid defeat against Portugal on Tuesday, then Germany will no longer be in the top ten seeds for the Euro 2020 qualifying draw, either.
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Netherlands' players celebrate with the fans after the UEFA Nations League football match Germany v the Netherlands in Gelsenkirchen on November 19, 2018
Image credit: Getty Images
“You could feel that the series of negative results were weighing on the young team’s mind,” said Germany team manager, Oliver Bierhoff after the game. “We could have done with a positive experience to gain a bit of confidence.”
The Dutch, on the other hand – well, they’re flying. “The team showed character. We kept going,” coach Ronald Koeman said. “I didn’t think we played well.” Well enough, though, to face one of England, Portugal or Switzerland in the finals next summer.
Super League won’t happen, says Uefa head…so that’s that then
Relax everyone. The European Super League, the behemoth that will kick the last bit of enjoyment from football for anyone who doesn’t support a megateam, and anyone who does for that matter, is not going to happen. The president of Uefa says. So that’s that then. Problem solved. Right?
“The Super League will not happen. It is in a way a fiction now or a dream,” Aleksander Ceferin told the BBC. “We have some ideas. All I can say is that any Super League is out of the question. Participation stays. And everybody will have an opportunity to compete in every European competition.
“It will be our duty to safeguard the great heritages of European football but on the other side I think we are very well aware that we have to safeguard markets, we have to think about upcoming markets.
“We have to think about Poland. We have to think about [countries like] Turkey, we have to think about Russia. Fans can rest assured that if we put our hands to making a new product it’s because we want to make sure that fans across Europe engage.”
All of which is very nice, but do we believe him? Perhaps ‘believe’ is the wrong word…but do we really think he’s going to stop those clubs if they want to break away?
Brexit makes a mess of yet another thing
The Warm-Up has no official political leanings. We wouldn’t like to try influencing your opinion either way on some of the bigger political issues of the day. We won’t tell you what to think.
All we’ll say is, Brexit seems to be throwing up an awful lot of problems, big and small. In the wider context of it all, this is the latter, but the Daily Telegraph reports that when Britain leaves the EU, young players from these isles will not be allowed to move abroad before the age of 18.
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Jadon Sancho hofft auf zweiten Einsatz im Nationaltrikot
Image credit: SID
That would have meant, for example, that Jadon Sancho couldn’t have moved to Borussia Dortmund and flourished as he has. The England winger would have been obliged to sit in Manchester City’s reserves and snatch the odd 20-minute cameo here are there.
The paper reports;
Under current Fifa rules, it is forbidden for players under 18 to be sold to overseas clubs. The only exceptions are for players aged 16 and 17, who are allowed to move within countries in the European Economic Area. Telegraph Sport understands that the future eligibility of British players abroad is currently a matter of serious concern for bodies such as the Football Association and Professional Footballers’ Association.
Again, we’re not political. All we’ll say is…life was much simpler before all of this came along.
IN OTHER NEWS
Oh mate. OH MATE! The story does have a happy ending for our slapstick hero though: his Lesotho side beat Tanzania 1-0 in their AFCON qualifier, although no thanks to Tumelo Khutlang.
HAT TIP
You wait years for any sort of talent, then two great ones come along at once. That’s the feeling among Dutch fans now, and among the scouts of clubs such as Barcelona and Manchester City who have become regulars in Ajax’s Johan Cruijff Arena. Matthijs de Ligt, Ajax’s central defender, looked a man among boys even when facing Manchester United in the 2017 Europa League final aged 17. Now, at 19, he’s Ajax’s captain and an automatic choice for Netherlands. His teammate Frenkie de Jong, 21, recently lit up his first international as a starter, away against France, by repeatedly dribbling past Antoine Griezmann in midfield.
Believe the hype about the latest Dutch talent to emerge. So says Simon Kuper on ESPN.
RETRO CORNER
On this day in 2004, the great Socrates played his first game for…Garforth Town.
COMING UP
Some remaining NATIONS LEAGUE games to keep you ticking over. Care for some Scotland v Israel? Portugal v Poland perhaps? If you’re feeling adventurous, may we recommend the Sweden v Russia…?
Tomorrow’s Warm-Up will be brought to you by the ever glamorous Alex Chick.
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