Mina wraps up international break in Colombia

Mina will have had 3 games in a short space of time and two long flights. A recipe for injury.

To think Wenger wants the World Cup every 2 years – that would mean non-stop qualification games, then the tournament itself, yet Wenger has said he overplayed Jack Wilshire – you couldn't make this nonsense up.

Then next November, because FIFA decided to award the World Cup to Qatar, there will be at least a month to 6 weeks break in the middle of the season. Again bribery and corruption seems to get you everywhere these days. I mean who in their right mind would award the World Cup to a country that has never even qualified for the event?

As for spreading the game, does anybody really believe there will be an upsurge in youngsters playing football in Qatar? They should be looking to build leagues in their own country to help encourage youngsters. Instead, the Arab world seems more intent on buying Premier League teams than promoting football in their own countries.

Probably better than reshaping the side to a 5-3-2 / 3-5-2 variant. I like Gray and Townsend to be as high up the pitch as possible.

Any news on Calvert-Lewin or Richarlison?

As for these International breaks, they do rather get on my tits! If we have to have international football, which I'd happily live without, then let's have the qualifiers consolidated into about a month at the end of the season, same as the tournaments. So, every summer there'd either be qualifying or the tournament finals.

The season could then actually be a bit shorter as all the international breaks would be removed.

Tough game this... but, should Coleman, Richalison and Calvert-Lewin all be fit to play, I think we should edge it.

I also agree with Brian's point (#3) about Qatar, it speaks volumes about the warped priorities of FIFA. The priority should be to promote the game in parts of the world where football is important to the people, such as sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia etc. The Qatar World Cup will be an absolute farce and won't grow the game in any way.

I have long been in favour of a 2-way international restriction. It won't happen now because of the money situation.

My view was that clubs should be allowed to play no more than 5 players not eligible for their home league's national side. In addition national sides could not play more than 5 players based outside their own league. This would have encouraged genuine development of football in countries worldwide as, to hold on to their best talent, the local leagues would need to step up.

It would have been possible in the '70s and '80s. But with so much money now condensed into 4 or 5 leagues in Europe, it could not happen.

Incidentally, I am aware that, in the UK in the '70s and '80s, many of our best sides were full of Scots, Welsh and Irish (North and South) players. I would have included these as foreigners to encourage more competitive leagues around the UK. And also to encourage clubs to spend their resources developing English young talent.

I never understood why the English game had to support the Scottish (etc) national side.

It will be a blow if Mina doesn't play because, if I recall, Antonio will cause big problems.

I appreciate this might be forced, but I'm not a big fan of playing 4 centre-backs. It's all a bit Tony Pulis / Stoke-like, Robert.

I suppose he done it through choice whereas ours will be out of necessity. It can work, especially when you are using young players such as Holgate, Godfrey and Branthwaite who are still learning and more flexible in their positions. Lescott done a decent job for us there for a while.

The 4 centre-half routine is okay as a pragmatic stop-gap. And it's a great opportunity for Branthwaite to have a duel with Antonio and maybe force himself into contention.

ps: Just a joke about Scotland.

Premier League players can travel to red-list nations for internationals if fully vaccinated

A good idea about the qualifying rounds for "lesser" nations.

I don't buy this rumour that Fenerbahçe have been scouting Gbamin and might come in for him in January. I mean where were they watching him? In the treatment room? Another £25M wasted.

You have to add 4 hours to the South American KO times tonight which means some games will be kicking off at 1:30 am or 2 am Friday morning, UK time.

A couple of hours to get the game done, some hours R&R, 8-12 hours flying time depending on departure location, most players would be lucky to be back in the UK even late Friday night.

The question on quarantining for 10 days on arrival back in the UK is an ever-fluid one. Just this week, the UK removed Brazil from the Covid Red List restricted countries, for example.

As for how Mina is playing, he did a good number on Neymar in Sunday's 0-0 draw in Colombia v Brazil. Got under his skin all game, as he did with Bamford at Leeds. At one point, you even had the Brazilian coach Tite enter the playing field to step between them in the ongoing tête-à-tête.

Quite amusing.

These include many we're often linked with, like Corona, Kamara, Zakaria, Romagnoli, Cantwell, Lingard and Boga. Some may move for nominal fees in January. I think it might be the impact of Covid-19 coming home to roost.

I still think midfield is only a priority if we find a real gem or bargain, such as Lingard maybe.

What I saw of Gbamin preseason was promising if he ever gets some game time, and we still have Gomes and Davies as cover. Anthony Gordon too seems to have trained on this year.

We are light up front. It may be time to use the U23s when Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison aren't available. How else will we know if we need to splash the cash should we be allowed to?

The trouble is, Newcastle are going to be looking in this market I expect, to quickly strengthen their crap squad without straying beyond FFP etc.

I think we'll get Maitland-Niles in January (or maybe Patterson) because the departure of Rodriguez gives us some freedom to spend. Possibly Van de Beek on loan (but again Newcastle are linked).

Those were the two who wanted to come in summer and remain pissed off at being retained but stuck on the bench.

Doubt there'll be much more activity than that.

Robert, I think you are right about January. Maitland-Niles is a strong possibility for right-back, Lingard too may give us more attacking options. Also, Longstaff may come in. All coming to the end of their contracts, so we could get players in very shrewdly again and still keep our powder dry for summer.

24 years old and in his absolute prime. What a horror. All the best to the young man.

@Derek Knox; how is the collection coming along? Have we hit the £1k mark and if not how much do you need?

Yeah, he was great a couple of seasons ago, then his form dipped, I don't know if it was as this awful illness took hold but that's just terrible news to hear about anyone but shocking for such a young, fit and healthy guy. I wish him all the best. He seems to be handling it very stoically -- publicly at least. John Hartson was a little older when he fought through it, so hopefully his countryman can do the same. I am sure everyone will be rooting for the guy and so they should.

Are you joking mate!? If bigger nations don't play the likes of Andora, Lichtenstein, Gibraltar, etc how on earth is everyone's darling Ronaldo going to break all sorts of records lol!?

I was reading that the Falkland Islands were blocked from having a national team because Argentina blocked them from Comnebol which in turn made them ineligible for FIFA. More surprising is that the Isle of Man don't have a team. Much bigger population than San Marino, Andorra, Gibraltar or The Faroes. And they won in 2000 a British Isles tournament with their entirely amateur side up against semi-pros from Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

I've only watched rugby since I've been here. The Argentinian Pumas have improved massively in a few short years since joining our equivalent of the Four Nations – originally All Blacks, Wallabies & South Africa competed.

I agree with others who say the minnows should have earlier qualifying rounds to all these international tournaments. They may even then be able to include the likes of the Isle of Man. Only the eventual winners should then play the bigger nations.

There are very few big upsets in international football, unlike the FA Cup etc.

You stated: "My view was that clubs should be allowed to play no more than 5 players not eligible for their home league's national side. In addition, national sides could not play more than 5 players based outside their own league. This would have encouraged genuine development of football in countries worldwide as, to hold on to their best talent, the local leagues would need to step up."

I don't think this would have the desired effect. Local leagues cannot "step up" magically. They won't have the money to hold on to their top players. So the good players would simply not play internationally, or try and qualify for their country of residence. In Rugby this is exactly what happens, lots of top players simply giving up international careers when countries chose to pick local league players only – and it wasn't very successful and countries like Wales and Australia have had to back off these rules.

Also, the incentive for the local leagues to "step up" generally would actually be reduced as their sheltering from international competition would mean they didn't have to work so hard to keep their players. This may mean more local players will stay local, but there would be less economic incentive to improve playing conditions or pay.

You could also argue that restricting players from playing abroad will restrict their personal development and therefore weaken their international team. It would also reduce the transfer of knowledge and experience from the more developed leagues to the smaller nations. It would have the opposite of the intended effect.

As you say, it wouldn't work now. The only reason it could have "worked" in the '70s was because these rules would not have had any effect as this was how the world worked anyway back then.

Nation states are a purely artificial construct. I think we pay far too much attention to them or which people they "own"...

People are people. Just saying.

I'm not really advocating for the Isle of Man, I was more making a point about Andorra etc. Paul has a good point on Argentina in rugby, but conversely you could highlight Italy's failure to improve in the Northern hemisphere.

Personally I think the real issue is that we have a handful of no-hoper teams but not enough to have a sub standard playoff so they try to fill it out with other “crap” teams but this is where it gets complicated. Iceland population 300,000 have proven to be better than say Belarus population 10 million.

Cyprus are generally crap, occasionally finish above Greece who seem to be either decent or the worst. So what's the cut-off point for no hopers? Population? Recent form? On the latter, the tiny Faroes often out-perform legitimate nation states, eg, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan.

It's a tricky thing. And, as I say, in 2016, Iceland would have been “no hopers” but they pipped the mighty Netherlands and then beat England. So meritocracy? Or super league type “usually good get a free pass?” It's a tough one. Worse still is the issue, Armenia, Moldova etc are legitimate independent nations whereas Scotland? Wales? Not so much.

David Ellis, probably not directly linked to your point, but you made me think of eligibility. Remember Jack Charlton's (RIP Sir), Ireland team that was broadly composed of players from various parts of England and London?!!

The more difficult thing is where you draw the line. As you say, lesser nations' fortunes ebb and flow. But real minnows like San Marino and Andorra have been consistently terrible and will remain so because of catchment area for the national side. At a guess, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Faroes and maybe Malta or Luxembourg would make up the numbers.

So it makes sense just to let about 5 or so of these have a mini tournament to find the best crap team in Europe. All the others (Cyprus, Montenegro, Moldova, Azerbaijan etc) tend to be worthwhile opposition with at least one notable player, capable of pulling off the odd shock win (especially at home).

It's also worth pondering how the likes of Jack Grealish and even more so Declan Rice, who grew up in the Irish community, played Gaelic football, and represented Ireland at various underage levels, had their heads turned by agents, clubs and commercial pressures to identify as English.

There are two sides to that coin. A couple of Jack's squad might have had tenuous enough links initially but, if you interrogated the likes of Jason McAteer or Andy Townsend on their Irishness now, you'd get a pretty definite answer.

The 15-a-side game toughened Jack up. But he said he went to underage camps for both nations and happened to enjoy the Irish one more. I've no issue with a young lad realising in his teens he feels English rather than Irish.

I'm a total British Isles mongrel!! English (Liverpool) by birth, but I technically would have qualified for Northern Ireland and Scotland had I been good enough!

Another random one, and I don't know if I've mentioned this on here before, but small claim to fame. My Belfast born grandfather on my mother's side and David Moyes's grandfather were brothers. His grandfather left Northern Ireland for Scotland, mine opted for Liverpool and the Upper Bullens.

I just stick to being British and Everton. It's easier for me!

Raphinha came on for his debut last week at half-time away to bottom team Venezuela with unbeaten leaders Brazil struggling and losing 1-0. He had a hand in all 3 goals as Brazil rallied to win 3-1.

In the 0-0 draw away to Colombia on Sunday, again he entered the fray at half-time and was the standout player, almost scoring and creating great opportunities.

Last night v Uruguay on home territory in Manaus, Raphinha started and again dazzled, scoring twice in a 4-1 rout. It could have been a lot more.

Little known in Brazil, Raphinha had everyone gushing about his performances.

Astonishingly, last night was his first ever professional game of football on Brazilian soil.

It was the first time in over two years (since the Copa America final in July 2019) that Brazil performed at home in front of match-attending spectators.

And Uruguay – a regional super power alongside Brazil and Argentina – have not beaten Brazil in 20 years. They look a tired and old team right now and are struggling to qualify for Qatar.

Born in Dendermonde, Belgium. Grew up in London, England and played for Wales. Could have played for any of the home nations actually. Bit of a joke really but it gives some players an opportunity to play international football.

The world we are seeing now with mixed parentage could see families with brothers and sisters playing against each other. I actually think this happened recently in the Euros.

I can't see Richarlison signing a new contract with us so I find myself wanting a big-money move for him in January or in the summer. The way it is these days, more and more players are looking to get their free / big money move elsewhere.

Richarlison moving on seems like good timing for him and the club; we'd miss him but think what we could do with the money (no not piss it up the wall!!!) – by that, I mean for Benitez and Brands to get the right people in.

I don't want to appear ungrateful for all Richarlison has done, he has been a good servant to the club and gives his all; somehow, the timing just seems right and he has never been shy about wanting the big move one day. Perhaps PSG will go for Raphina instead, Liverpool said to be sniffing around him as well.

I hope he realises how much Everton have done him favours in letting him play for Brazil in the past, and still paying for it if he doesn't play on Sunday.

I think if we did a straight swap with Leeds for Raphinha, we'd be getting the best part of the deal.

I stumbled on the live TV showing of the Columbia v Ecuador game. Yerry Mina had a goal disallowed [in the 110th minute!!] for handball. Disgraceful, he must be the only human being who has a hand attached to the back of his knee!

On the subject of families and countries; The Van der Merwe brothers in Rugby Union [one South Africa, one Scotland] and the Yashvilli brothers; one for Georgia, one for France.

On the 'birther' controversy in America [that Obama wasn't born in the USA]. He was, but his opponent John McCain was not. He was born in Panama [albeit on a US Navy base].

As for the Isle of Man; they have just beaten Cyprus and Estonia at cricket and are hoping to enter the World Cup. Would GB lose Mark Cavendish and his wonderful semi-Scouse accent?

Finally and bizarrely, as Nicholas Joseph Patrick Dominic Ryan, I would NOT qualify to play for Ireland, but I WOULD qualify for Finland, through my paternal grandmother!

On Richarlison, I'd give the lad credit for keeping his head down and giving everything for club and country. He just seems to love being on a football pitch even if his facial expression doesn't always convey that. I don't expect him to remain at Everton for the long-term but the regret will be we didn't invest wisely enough to have him surrounded by better players. In the right team is would be and is going to be some player.

Podolskis partner Klose was also Polish born but it gets more complicated as he was ethnically German going back to when there was no Poland just Prussia with a mix of Poles and Germans so he never saw himself as Polish though they tried to pick him

The earliest case I can recall of a player inheriting(?) an international cap was full-back John Hewie of Charlton Athletic. He was born in Pretoria, South Africa, to Scottish parents in 1927, and featured in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, while I was featuring in Cyprus serving Queen and country.

I'm not saying that he was the first player to play for the country of his parents, but that he was the first person I can recall. Perhaps a little research would prove otherwise.

A bit like Flanders in Belgium. They're pretty much Dutch whilst the Walloons are French. Never really seen the point in Belgium myself.

I digress.

Nicholas, my youngest sister was born in a Belgium military hospital in central Germany, but was British from birth. As John Senior alludes to, it's not where you're born, it's where you belong and where you view home to be.

For me, I have no international football affiliation as there is no UK team. My background and serving under the Union Flag mean that I am British rather than English. Even if Nicola is going to try and take that away from me and as much as my godfather (rest his soul) and his Dublin born father would tell me off for that!!!

I was camping a few years ago in the south-west of West Australia. My kids don't speak Portuguese but they use simple words like bom dia (good morning) etc so I was happy they were trying. However, in the caravan next to us there were two little typical blonde blue-eyed Australian kids and they were chatting away in Mandarin. Turns out their mum and dad were both working in China where they met and the kids were born there.

Glad I got talking to the dad because he was a fellow blue (because of Tim Cahill).

Talking of Tim Cahill, what an amazing family he has with lots of family members involved with different sports in various countries. He even played for Western Samoa as a youngster.

John Senior, most important, are you out and about on Sunday for the West Ham game?

Margaret River area is where we go generally. Michael Palin actually said in one of his travel books that it is one of the nicest places on the planet and I couldn't agree more. A bit wet down there last week so we headed north instead to Kalbarri which is another lovely area.

Back on the football. I have just watched the highlights of Colombia v Ecuador and have to say how bad the discipline of both teams was. The ref could easily have sent half of both teams off. South American football is notorious for this I think.

That's made me think. Without looking has any player represented different countries at senior level?

I don't think it's ever been allowed. I suppose you might get a former East or West German who represented a unified Germany, which technically would mean 2 different countries??

I'm pretty sure there was a Yugoslavian international in the 80s who got some kind of dispensation and played for France. When I was in high school studying French I used to read L'Equipe so I knew a lot about the French league back then. I can't remember the guy's name. I thought maybe Safet Susic but I just checked and it wasn't.

To your point on East/West Germany, we also had other Yugoslavs and Czhechoslovakians, and Soviets playing for two countries post Berlin Wall. Not sure in about football but I know in cricket/rugby lots of South Africans played for other countries before or after the embargo. That's my response with out looking. Now, I decided to look and apparently Di Stefano is among those who played for multiple countries.

Alfredo Di Stefano played for a couple of national teams from memory. Argentina and Spain.

You're right. In fact he also played for the Commonwealth of Independent States, the sort of hybrid team that played for a bit post-USSR pre-fully independent countries. So he has caps from three "nations" none of which are called Ukraine -- his actual country, lol!

Kieran, not that he played for Bosnia as far as I know, but isn't Jelavic technically Bosnian (border / politically), but represented Croatia?

Yeah he was. Also Darko Pancev and Hristo Stoochkov are Macedonian. That would have been some firepower if North Macedonia had a team in the 90s.