Of Two Minds
By: Abby | March 25th, 2008On the one hand, I like international football. I know it’s unfashionable these days compared to the leagues, but I like the way it’s sort of random. I like that I learn about European geography- such as where San Marino is and why it exists. It lets me see some of of my favorite players play with other favorite players that they may not normally. And it gives me an excuse to like certain players who play for clubs I don’t particularly like- an excuse to cheer for Philipp Lahm, for example, is always welcome.
And it’s a sentimental thing for me. My first memories of watching football (besides, of course, my childhood games, which don’t actually count) are the 2002 World Cup, staying up to watch the games with my little brother live from Korea and Japan- at the time I was supporting England as it produced all my favorite musicians, while my brother liked Sweden because of Peter Forsberg. A lot of my best memories revolve around international football, rather than club football. It makes me think of summer and fun and a lot less stress. And I’m really looking forwards to the Euros (go Germany!).
On the other hand, these friendlies? Can go to hell. Seriously. Is there anything more pointless and stupid than a friendly at the business end of the season? It sends the players off on long trips, exhausts them in midweek, and runs a high risk of getting injured. Especially with Arsenal- we have a bad track record with this. And I hate such a high percentage of the international managers that Arsenal has to deal with. Flamini or God forbid Clichy (we don’t have a backup for Flamini really, but we really don’t have one for Clichy) getting injured for the sake of something pointless for Domenech. Or Cesc getting injured at the behest of that racist Aragones? For a game that doesn’t mean anything?
So really, this is absolutely stupid. I know they have to play together a bit before the Euros, but this is not the time to do it in. Grrr.
Come back safe, boys.
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Category: Internationals
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Comments
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I sympathize, but international football isn’t only important when it’s convenient to the clubs. If the teams only got together for qualifying and tournament matches, the quality of international football as a whole wold suffer. Friendlies are not meaningless. Tirade over. Good luck to your boys not getting themselves beat up. Country fans like myself hate to see players get injured on international duty, because it just makes club fans hate friendlies more.
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United States
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Abby, I understand that some people complain about “international frendiles”, but I for one don’t think they’re a bad thing.
For instance, you mention the injuries that Arsenal players might suffer. Well, to be honest, so do all the teams that send players on international duty. And the “better” the club, the more players they have on international duty, and more chances of having an injured player. So Manchester, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are level on that charge. You say that Flamini and Clichy might be injured. But what if Vidic, Ferdinand, Terry and Makélélé get injured? If Arsenal go on to win the title, will you take the same stance?
As Ian mentioned, International frendlies are also what make the teams good for the World Cup, Euro and so forth. Much more than the qualifiers. Capello’s game against Switzerland might be completely anecdotical, but it allowed him to try a certain number of players in real match situation. Something he might not have done if he “needed” the win… Bentley, Jenas, Barry, Upson, Brown, Young… England’s squad was pretty much a novelty. And it paid off, but it could have failed. If Capello had taken charge just before the game against Croatia… Would he have done any better? Perhaps. But it’s unlikely. So friendlies are crucial to preparing major international tournaments… Where some players shine.
Because that’s the third point. Since the ACN, Stéphane Mbia (a Rennes player) has been on the tabs of a lot of big clubs (Arsenal sometimes appears in the list). Yet, before the ACN, he wasn’t any worse a player. He was just as good. But nobody noticed him, because he “only” plays for Rennes. He was started in a friendly against Benin, and his good performance lead Pfistler to take him to the ACN. Where he showed the world how good he was. If Mbia signs for Arsenal, will you still bash “useless friendlies” that reveal players that scouts overlook?
I think that there are few enough international games each season to not get bothered by them. Over the last 3 years, England played 37 games. That’s including the World Cup. On average, once a month. And in fact, it’s more like two games over a 7-8 day period every 70 days, and then a summer tournament with 7-8 games over 2 months… The leagues know when the international breaks are well before fixing the schedule. Why don’t leagues even try to take them into account? Start the league a week or two earlier, finish a week later, leave a two-week break if the ACN is in the middle of the season, and leave a break before and after international fixture dates… It’s just like with the Champions League, and all the “big 4″ discovering that they’ve got terrible schedules, between the “Grand Slam” sunday, a Liverpool-Arsenal game between the quarter-finals (also against Liverpool), Man U vs Chelsea and Arsenal at the same time as the semi-finals… Honestly, the planning isn’t very well thought out. All “big 4″ teams are going to suffer a lot because of a congestion of “major” fixtures. And to blame the international friendlies as though they are the plague is just a joke.
Posted from
France -
I’m not blaming “international friendlies” as a whole. I’m just saying these ones are poorly timed. Which they are. None of the leagues have a clear-cut title winner, it’s at a very crucial point of the season when exhaustion and potential for injures are high. I say *these* friendlies- these ones. Just the ones today. Which is what I meant. Normally I don’t mind- I like international weeks normally- but I don’t like the timing of this one.
Posted from
United States
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