My first real appreciation of the possible impact of the UEFA Nations League came earlier this year, when talking to defender Atli Gregersen on a visit to the Faroe Islands. 

He was optimistic that the format could potentially offer an opportunity to qualify for Euro 2020. Interesting.

Having subsequently taken an interest in their efforts, I can report that they face something of an uphill battle as they need to overturn a four point gap to Kosovo in the final two games of their League D Group C campaign.

While the league and group scenario sounds totally daft, the actual format does seem to make sense and has added some more bite and competitiveness to international football. This is true just as much for the smaller nations as the top teams.

Starting at the lower levels, you can immediately see the concept is an interesting one when you note that Georgia, Luxembourg, Kosovo and Macedonia are top of their groups. As it stands those four teams could potentially play-off for a place at Euro 2020.

There are positive and negative aspects to this. The last European Championships, I would suggest, featured a diluting of the quality of teams having increased the number of participants from 16 to 24. The qualification of a "smaller nation" could potentially add to this.

However, I would argue that it is far better for them to have qualified by winning a process such as their Nations League group and a subsequent play-off, rather than sneaking through as a third-place finisher in a qualifying group before winning a play-off.

People have often decried the seemingly pointless international matches which see a major nation like France or Spain simply turn up and hit six or seven goals past a smaller team. This only encourages a smaller nation to adopt negative tactics, but the opportunity the Nations League provides allows them to play competitive matches against teams at their level and must help embolden them to attack and change their focus.

It will be fascinating to see whether this could accelerate the development of the smaller nations when the mainstream Euro 2020 qualification begins. 

While the smaller nations will surely still be dependent on more defensive tactics, could they be slightly more ambitious and have the confidence to cause more illustrious names problems? 

Enhancing the opportunities for players to play attacking football must surely enhance their opportunities to develop.

The favourable aspect of this could certainly be diminished in future, if the introduction of these leagues proves to be the start of a process to make the smaller nations have to go through "pre-qualifying" to compete in the actual qualification phase for future European Championships.

At this stage, if you go through the leagues there seems for almost every team something to play for. Teams in the "middling leagues" will surely view the competition as a major opportunity to have a back-up chance of reaching Euro 2020 in the event they fail to achieve a place in the normal qualification process, which begins next year.

The Nations League has also provided a regular opportunity to see competitive fixtures between several top teams, rather than humdrum friendlies, which are played at a subdued pace and damaged by a stream of substitutions.

English fans, who are largely anti-international football until a major tournament comes around, certainly bought into the Nations League a lot more when their entertaining match with Spain yielded a 3-2 victory. The tie had far more bite to it than had it been a mere friendly match. This is perhaps best highlighted by the crunching tackle on Sergio Ramos by England's Eric Dier.

It has also provided a far greater chance to continue the "narrative" of international football. For instance, England's post-World Cup progress has been far easier to assess due to the competitive matches. On the other side of the coin, Germany's World Cup hangover has continued to be felt. Meaningless friendlies would have not offered much insight into how countries are attempting to rebuild.

There are some genuine criticisms of the Nations League that carry some weight. Previous friendlies would have offered the potential for top players to enjoy some much needed rest, with managers having the opportunity to leave them out of fixtures in favour of fresh, young blood. Complaints about tiredness and a lack of opportunities to experiment are areas that do seem concerning.

It is possible, though, that the development opportunities for younger players could be enhanced by the competitive fixtures. There is surely more merit in seeing how they get on in a competitive environment, rather than being one of a raft of changes in a disjointed and drab friendly.

While the top divisions also currently have the lure of high profile matches, one wonders whether the top teams who get relegated would immediately come straight back up in the next Nations League. Rather than seeing a rotating cast, it seems possible the same teams will keep going up and down.

The early impressions suggest the tournament has a place on the calendar, which is reflected by CONCACAF having introduced their own version. 

The format looks set to provide teams that would not have previously qualified for the Gold Cup the opportunity to do so.

It seems possible that the Asian Football Confederation could follow suit and introduce their own version, while FIFA have previously been rumoured to be assessing a possible Global Nations League.

There appears to be benefits for international football in having the Nations League format, but I wonder whether some of the negative aspects will come to the fore in future editions of the event.