Toepoke Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 (edited) You're being generous. They haven't been to a major finals for 57 years, and that was the only one. They did win their group for Euro 76, but in those days the quarter finals were played on a home and away basis and they lost out there to Yugoslavia. I'm sure it's right, but can somebody explain to me the arithmetic that got Wales into Pot 1. Consistency really. Our great run of results under McLeish almost got us into Pot 1 for the WC2010 draw... Edited June 15, 2015 by Toepoke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morrison1982 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 (edited) Playing hardly any friendlies has helped Wales. Their points average (i.e. number of ranking points earned per game) is now well above 1,000 (ours is just under 800). Even if you played Germany in a friendly and beat them, the maximum number of points you would earn from that friendly is 600. If you lose you get nothing, even if you lose narrowly to a great team. So basically the right strategy for friendlies is not to play any at all. Wales haven't played any since last June (2-0 defeat v Holland) and only four in the last two seasons. In that time, we've played 8 - twice v England, USA, Norway, Poland, Nigeria, Northern Ireland and Qatar. As it happens our results in those games have been very good, apart from the two losses v England (4W 2D 2L), yet even those results will have dragged down our rating. I see Ireland and Northern Ireland recently played a closed doors game and allowing unlimited substitutions. Apparently Wales were thinking of playing Northern Ireland in warm-up for their Belgium game, but decided to scrap it because they knew it would damage their rating even if they won. Everyone knows that FIFA's system is rotten and open to manipulation. Hopefully this new system UEFA are bringing in will put an end to this by creating centrally scheduled fixtures for every team. Edited June 15, 2015 by morrison1982 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamntg Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 (edited) That kind of explains it. I suppose the Nations Cup or whatever it's called might put an end to this kind of nonsense. Edited June 15, 2015 by adamntg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Do UEFA still use the old system for the Euros based on points gained in recent qualifiers?... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tartanpar Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 Do UEFA still use the old system for the Euros based on points gained in recent qualifiers?... Yes it is only FIFA who use the world rankings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonny78 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 it's a farce. maybe the Faroe's will one day be a pot 1 team Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 And lets not forget Wales did comfortably finish above us in the last campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1ANDYP Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Why are gibraltar not in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 They have not been passed as a FIFA member yet. Probably Blatter hasn't received his fat cheque yet - thats a joke folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASTA Mick Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Playing hardly any friendlies has helped Wales. Their points average (i.e. number of ranking points earned per game) is now well above 1,000 (ours is just under 800). Even if you played Germany in a friendly and beat them, the maximum number of points you would earn from that friendly is 600. If you lose you get nothing, even if you lose narrowly to a great team. So basically the right strategy for friendlies is not to play any at all. Wales haven't played any since last June (2-0 defeat v Holland) and only four in the last two seasons. In that time, we've played 8 - twice v England, USA, Norway, Poland, Nigeria, Northern Ireland and Qatar. As it happens our results in those games have been very good, apart from the two losses v England (4W 2D 2L), yet even those results will have dragged down our rating. I see Ireland and Northern Ireland recently played a closed doors game and allowing unlimited substitutions. Apparently Wales were thinking of playing Northern Ireland in warm-up for their Belgium game, but decided to scrap it because they knew it would damage their rating even if they won. Everyone knows that FIFA's system is rotten and open to manipulation. Hopefully this new system UEFA are bringing in will put an end to this by creating centrally scheduled fixtures for every team. Good post. Wales learnt a hard lesson by dropping down to pot 6 because they organised friendlies that harmed them. They have put plans in place to make the rankings work for them. The SFA could learn from them. Having said that, Wales have still had to win games to get where they are and it's been a good run of games for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_B81 Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 We could end up in a scenario where we get Spain and France or Wales and Iceland from Pots One and Two respectively!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jagtag Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 And lets not forget Wales did comfortably finish above us in the last campaign. No they didn't, we finished above them despite losing both games with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 No they didn't, we finished above them despite losing both games with them. Jeez...my memory. Just shows then....cut out the friendlies then. Seems the way to rise up the rankings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe545 Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Jeez...my memory. Just shows then....cut out the friendlies then. Seems the way to rise up the rankings. That is true to an extent. Poland are playing Greece tonight in a friendly and by virtue of that Poland will drop from pot 2 to pot 3. They are currently on 827 points which gives them the last position in pot 2 but even if they win, they will drop points and have 818. Bosnia will leapfrog them into that last place as they have 819 points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donaldo87 Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Dunno if it has been said or not already but I read that if we hadnt played England we would be in pot 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe545 Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 If Romania had beaten Northern Ireland then they would be ranked 2nd in Europe. They did that by only playing one friendly (beating Denmark) and by winning against Northern Ireland (first match), Greece and Finland. That's mental. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tartanpar Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 Dunno if it has been said or not already but I read that if we hadnt played England we would be in pot 2. If we hadn't played England & Qatar we would have been in pot 2. Also if we had beaten England we would also have made it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamntg Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 If we hadn't played England & Qatar we would have been in pot 2. Also if we had beaten England we would also have made it. We still have to develop a football team though, rankings or not. Somebody must point out that to FIFA that rewarding teams for not playing matches is lunacy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TartanDave Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Had a look at predicted pots there. Wouldn't fancy Turkey out of pot 4 one bit. Not really that much between pot 2 and 3 in terms of quality with the exception of France and Italy/cROATIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
girvanTA Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Massive well done to Iceland. For a country with just over 320,000 population. They are certainly showing us up about coaching youths and player development Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Everyone knows that FIFA's system is rotten and open to manipulation. Hopefully this new system UEFA are bringing in will put an end to this by creating centrally scheduled fixtures for every team. BTW, what is this new UEFA system?... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASTA Mick Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 BTW, what is this new UEFA system?... It's a league system with promotion and relegation over a year or two. Details still to be finalised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Oh aye right enough, forgot about that. Yes it'll make it tougher to pochle fixtures prior to a World Cup draw. UEFA's seeding system remains the best though, averaging actual points won in qualifying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tartanpar Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 (edited) We still have to develop a football team though, rankings or not. Somebody must point out that to FIFA that rewarding teams for not playing matches is lunacy?The problem is sometimes it is beneficial to play friendly games because they work out an average points over the year.For example if you play 5 qualifiers and lose them all your average is zero. So if you play a friendly and win then your average goes up. On the other hand if you win 5 qualifiers your average points will be very high so by playing a friendly and winning it likely to bring your average down. So it would be better not to play. Edited June 16, 2015 by tartanpar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamntg Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 The problem is sometimes it is beneficial to play friendly games because they work out an average points over the year. For example if you play 5 qualifiers and lose them all your average is zero. So if you play a friendly and win then your average goes up. On the other hand if you win 5 qualifiers your average points will be very high so by playing a friendly and winning it likely to bring your average down. So it would be better not to play. Lunacy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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