England friendly highlights club vs. country row with Champions League returning
Prior to England’s fixture with Denmark on Wednesday evening, serious questions were asked about the importance of a midweek international friendly sandwiched in between consecutive weekend Premier League fixtures. Having secured a 2-1 win and seen encouraging performances from a number of fringe players, Fabio Capello will point to this to indicate the relative success of the encounter.
This may not be something the majority of Premier League and European clubs will agree with, however. Umberto Gandini, vice-president of the European Club Association, has dismissed the round of friendly fixtures as nonsense due to their proximity to the resumption of the Champions League. No doubt top Premier League clubs will have had their say on how much action their top players saw in a match coming hot-on-the-heels of a busy Christmas period. The replacement of Wayne Rooney, Jack Wilshire and Frank Lampard at half-time is testament to this.
The Manchester derby is the biggest Premier League match this weekend and, also being the earliest, the players involved will have the least time to prepare. This has been a major factor effecting which players represented their countries this week. In the wake of Rio Ferdinand’s injury, Manchester United have been extremely cautious with their central defenders. An agreement was in place with Serbia for Nemanja Vidic to play no part with both Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling withdrawing from their respective international squads. Manchester City also reached an agreement with Bosnia to allow Edin Dzeko to miss out on a gruelling trip to Atlanta to play Mexico, whereas Carlos Tevez was not picked for Argentina. This was initially thought to be in agreement with City, although this claim has now been rebutted by Argentina FA president Julio Grondona.
The fact Javier Hernandez is involved for Mexico and does not arrive back into Manchester until 9am Friday morning before Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off puts in stark contrast the frustration felt by managers. Taking into account the length of flight, the possibility of muscles seizing up during this time and the potential for jetlag it raises the question of whether he will be able to play any part in Saturday’s encounter. Considering what is at stake for both sides, the frustration of his manager is understandable.
It is not just the club managers who are feeling the frustration however. Grondona yesterday confirmed Tevez was left out as punishment for his attitude in missing Argentina’s last friendly with Brazil in Doha. The City man pulled out with injury but went on to score twice against Fulham four days later. This may have been a friendly but being Sergio Batista’s first game in charge following his promotion from caretaker to manager, it should only be right he has his full complement of players.
The right balance clearly needs to be achieved. However, international football currently appears to be losing its credibility while the clubs become even more powerful. Speaking on Monday regarding the 2012 Olympic Games the ECA expressed forceful views that players who represent their countries in the European Championships will not feature in the Olympics. Manchester United chief Executive David Gill is also in favour of only allowing players to participate in one international tournament in a given year. Following the dismal spectacle of last summer’s World Cup the football tournament in London was hoped to bring some excitement back to FIFA’s international stage, but it now appears powerful clubs have put paid to that.
Whether the international game diminishing in favour of club competitions will have a positive effect on football as a sport is an issue which may become even more apparent in the next few years.
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