*Official* English Football Season 2016-17

[BoyBrumby]

Biggest problem I see is having three group games instead of six vastly increases the chances of all the teams in the pool ending up with exactly the same records. A trio of 1-1 draws isn't even that unlikely.

And then we're into arbitrary deciders like coefficients or even drawing of lots.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Going to love watching the collusion. It's inevitable.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Biggest problem I see is having three group games instead of six vastly increases the chances of all the teams in the pool ending up with exactly the same records. A trio of 1-1 draws isn't even that unlikely.

And then we're into arbitrary deciders like coefficients or even drawing of lots.

Aren't they going with penalty shootouts and doing away with draws entirely? Or is that not confirmed?

 

[GIMH]

I certainly heard they were going to use the Checkatrade Trophy's approach of 1 point for a draw but with pens after 90 and a second point to the winner of the shootout

Given the checkatrade has been an unqualified success, I can't see any flaws in this

Doesn't do away the possibility of identical records anyway. One win each is highly feasible. Same way you can easy have a three or four way tie in groups of four - but the smaller number of games presumably makes this more likely (no idea if that's statistically valid mind you)

 

[sledger]

Ergh, yet another thing that lowers my enthusiasm for the sport.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

New Zealand are guaranteed qualification until the end of time now, which is sort of interesting I guess.

 

[Uppercut]

The ****ed-up format is much worse than the expansion. So many situations where a draw is decent for both teams and opportunities for collusion. Then straight into one-off knock-outs, a format that's resulted in dull games for as long as I can remember. I think it might even have been better if they'd just gone to 64 teams.

 

[GIMH]

So hang on - we go from 48 to a R32 knockout stage?

I presumed a second group stage.

Bloody hell. The group stage is the best bit of the WC. I assumed this silly three team round robin was going to be an annoying precursor to it.

 

[BoyBrumby]

The ****ed-up format is much worse than the expansion. So many situations where a draw is decent for both teams and opportunities for collusion. Then straight into one-off knock-outs, a format that's resulted in dull games for as long as I can remember. I think it might even have been better if they'd just gone to 64 teams.

Hadn't even throught of that. Always going to be the possibility of an Austria/West Germany 82-styley carve up; there's no physical way the last two group games can be played simultaneously as one team plays in both.

 

[sledger]

The change will also likely mean a reduction in the number of nations which will be able to host the damn thing too. It's not just a question of the stadia either, but of the need to build 48 world class training facilities etc...

 

[Uppercut]

Supposedly the 2026 one will probably be shared by Canada, the US and Mexico. Decent enough solution I guess.

 

[Cabinet96]

Thought BT's cricket stuff was OK - reckon Vaughan and Swann are good in the "summing up" stuff. Or are they sorting out some commentary teams as well?

They'll do comms for the Ashes and just punditry for other Australian series/big bash.

 

[Furball]

The World Cup is a pile of shite anyway.

 

[Cabinet96]

Best thing about the expansion is there's only three extra European places so Scotland still won't make it.

 

[Ausage]

New Zealand are guaranteed qualification until the end of time now, which is sort of interesting I guess.

Unless we decide we don't want to be part of Asia anymore

To make a more serious point, qualification became far less thrilling once our road became easier. 2006 was one of the most incredible sporting moments I've ever experienced, nothing since then has come close.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Supposedly the 2026 one will probably be shared by Canada, the US and Mexico. Decent enough solution I guess.

One way to make the US host, make the tournament so big no one else can do it. They'll be playing on astroturf, though?

(It'll probably be the only year MLS respects the international break, too! Or maybe they just cancel the whole season.)

 

[sledger]

The travel times between games if the thing is hosted actoss Canada, the US and Mexico could be horrific. For players and fans.

 

[Dan]

I don't have as big an aversion to expansion as everyone else (the logistics part though...yeah, fair call), but FMD 16 of 3 is awful. Couldn't they have done it some other way?

 

[Magrat Garlick]

I don't have as big an aversion to expansion as everyone else (the logistics part though...yeah, fair call), but FMD 16 of 3 is awful. Couldn't they have done it some other way?

They had some other proposals on the table (full knockout with 16 byes; or two 40-team formats, 10 groups of four with a weird best runners-up format; 8 groups of five), but they all had equally big and obvious drawbacks.

 

[GIMH]

Should have just gone all the way to 64