OK so the real football happens THIS Saturday at the Emirates against Watford. Over 15 players from the Arsenal squad would have represented their nation in one format or another. Whilst this is seen as an honour what affect does it have on the team.
Injuries: With one more round of games to go, so far we have Freddie out and Gallas a doubt. Senderos and Clichy are both currently out after receiving injuries playing for their country and at Newcastle Owen will be out for 12 months playing for England.
Lots of travel: Ok with our cosmopolitan squad they have gone all of the globe and that will make them more tired and prone to injuries/ lack of form.
Different systems: Each national coach will want their own tactics in play for the national game. I have no doubt that there is not a single national team that could get anywhere near Arsenal at their best. European club football is much better than national football. In most cases they will be playing with and against weaker players than they are used to.
Team work: This season has been stop start due to international breaks and our recent run of form coincides with a run of days training together. The team has changed a lot from last year, there are a few new faces as starters in the XI and they need as much time to bed in together as possible. The last two weeks has been a massive distraction for them and the team work, and spirit.
AW cant watch all of them: AW likes to keep an eye on his players, making sure he knows where they are in terms of form and fitness, he will be lacking some key information here.
And so to Watford who are not blessed with internationals and the core of their team would have had 14 days to prepare for the biggest game of their lives, playing against Arsenal and the Emirates.
No wonder AW is so against internationals and he quotes that per year he loses his players 100 days a year to international matches and training camps. All of that time the club are paying the players and not receiving any compensation from the local FA?s. Would this happen in any other sport or business where there is so much money at stake? I don?t think so and something needs to be done about it.
On paper the game against winless Watford at home should be a breeze but a 1 ? 0 victory will be taken by AW as three points are more important than playing attractive football and I am guessing we will not put in a beautiful performance on Saturday.
20 Responses to “100 days a year lost to international games:”
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October 9th, 2006 at 9:59 pm
Hopefully with David Dein’s appointment as G-14 chairman, he can work with UEFA and FIFA to address issues like players release, international calendar and injury liability making it more equitable for clubs. In parallel, the EPL should consider seriously a 2-weeks mid-winter break similar to that in Germany.
October 9th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
I hate International football. It should be scrapped, or there should be a World Cup every 4 or 5 years and nothing else whatsoever, not even friendlies. The demands made on these players are absolutely ridiculous. People are paying more than they've ever paid to watch knackered players performing well below their best - and they usually perform below their best for their country as well, because they're flying across the world to some dipshit place like Andorra or Slovakia - playing against pub teams.
It's all money, money, money. FIFA don't give a rats about their member's health or the state of the game in general - let alone the managers who have to sit there and take it.
I suppose if you're a Watford fan it will even things up somewhat - otherwise Arsenal would probably win 6-0. Although they still might if Watford defend like they did in their last match against Fulham.
October 9th, 2006 at 11:02 pm
It should be banned and particularly on Saturday mornings. ipso facto
October 9th, 2006 at 11:35 pm
I like international football. Its very fun to watch. say Brazil Vs. Holland, Argentina Vs. England, … But its not fun to watch Germany Vs. San Marino …
The groups stages should be minimized … 8-9 teams is just too many games.
It would be fine to see international breaks …but when players like Henry plays 1 game or 2 / wk in the EPL, then 1 CL and then the international break comes adds more games on him. If this break comes in way, they play only Satuarday for example not Satuarday then Wednesday and then Satuarday again with their clubs.
Also the distraction of being called or not … Like Theo is still living the bad and the good of being called to England for the WC. Then RVN is fighting with MV ..all these distractions. Spain loses and Cesce is not 100% focused and distracted with the story of the coach .. Ade hates playing with Togo and all the problems their. I heard so much goes in at the Ivory Cost team …Is it good for defence.
Its a good experience for the players .. but the mental and the psycological probles make it hard …
October 10th, 2006 at 6:30 am
It is hard beacuse there is UEFA, FIFA, the American board, African board etc.
The American qualifying for thr world cup is over three years, but Europe is 2 years.
the Euro championships are a joke. There should be two leagues, one for the main teams, playing perhaps 4 or 5 in a group and the lesser teams, Ex Soviet block should be in a second one.
Some internationals are good, and improve the players but if you can remove four games a season, the players may then have an extra 20 plus days with their clubs.
October 10th, 2006 at 9:21 am
International breaks when we’re doing well are annoying. In general, they’re a mixed bag. If your country is playing well, It’s almost worth it to watch them. If they’re not, the games are worthless.
And the players love them. They feel a large sense of pride playing for their country. They dream of it, and get to play with their heroes. And we all like them when the summer comes around and there’s no football. Let’s face it, they’re going nowhere.
But I agree that the teams should be minimized. Right now what you have, I’m fairly certain, are coaches trying to convince players to feign injury so as not to be called up. Ledley King has dropped out of England’s tie against Croatia, and Gallas may or may not be playing depending on where you’re reading your stories so that may be a case of Wenger trying to influence someone to undermine Domenech. Conspiracy theories aside, the clubs that pay the wages of these players are getting hurt and international managers with their jobs on the line don’t care. Its part of football, and the FA need to step in and make things easier on both sides.
The good news is, a few weeks back rumors were circulating that Sendy and Clichy would be ready to play against Watford. If you ask me, we catch a break anyway drawing the winless side, but even an out-of-form pair such as those would help. I know Clichy got a reseve team run, and I’m pretty sure Djourou is healthy, so we’re probably covered. Kolo, who scored a free kick from 25 yards out in his last international game - a friendly I think ? should be good to go, too.
Regardless, we’ve got enough quality to get the three points on Saturday even if a few reliable producers have to sit out a portion of the game, and for guys like RvP and Rosicky, more games seem to help rather than hurt at this stage. And both can score goals, as we all know.
As for my personal feelings towards internationals, like I said, they’re better than a day without football. And in the case of the U.S., I love them. Or I should say, will again if we can get Klinesman on board.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
International football is destroying club football. And the quality of the major tournaments is at an all time low. The quality at the last World Cup was pathetic - with not one decent team in the entire competition. Players are exhausted and need a summer break, not a tournament every other year.
I don’t watch any friendlies or qualifying games, although occasionally I might glimpse some goal highlights by accident.
The whole principle of International football is wrong anyway, it’s based on nothing but nationalism for the vast majority of idiotic, no-life fans who think that supporting their country is something important. Such misguided pride is the bane of humankind.
The World Cup should be celebrated for the diversity of cultures and styles - not used as a stick to beat eachother with, my country is better than yours etc. And all these stupid national anthems, the pomp and ceremony is beyond childish.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:06 pm
oh come on….whats this extended international bashing round for?
i think its a bit greedy to us to be talking about this … no?
we are NOT the only club in the world. and EUROPE is not the only continent were football is played!
yes, CL football is more entertaining …but PLEASE more that three quarters of footballers dont play in europe. YET football is the number one sport in the ENTIRE world not just in europe. so i think its quite greedy to call for international football to be scrapped. so what will people in vietnam have? or senegal? or mali? or korea? or peru?
club football is a BUSINESS/ENTERTAINMENT. international football is a SPORT.
football is a world game!
yes, i can agree to a small cut in international football…but GUESS WHAT…if there is a cut, the clubs will take jumbo tour trips around the world to land more dough!
and one thing is for sure! u can NOT ask national FAs to pay the wages…sorry…this might work for england, france and western countries, but it wont work for african, latin american and asian countries. so its unworkable.
maybe FIFA can work out an international insurance policy - to partly compensate if players are injured for more than 3 months. maybe something in this form.
football is a working class WORLD GAME. the favorite sport of the WORLD. i am sorry but certainly international football CAN NOT be scrapped.
it deserves to exist!
October 10th, 2006 at 4:16 pm
I agree with DannyT (I’m no poet and I know it).
Internationals are just a machination of nationalism gone amok. My country is better than your country! Which is patently stupid because we all know my country is just better than your country, even if we win or loose and every country is better than the USA which is just a given. Got your ire up yet. See what I mean. See what I mean!
If internationals were so bleeding great then why watch club football at all. We’ll dare say we all know the answer to that one. I’m a Dutch fan but if I had a choice to watch Holland play Liechtenstein or Arsenal play Chelsea or Spurs, you’d know were I’d be and it isn’t in Orange it’s in red and white.
This whole internationalism is just getting crazy and it is ruining club football with the fatigue and number of games. I personally don’t like it and I don’t give a rats arse if Latvia beats Moldova or America.
If it doesn’t have a cannon on the jersey, I just think it’s a big money grab by UEFA and FIFA trying to beat the Olympics because their sport is better than…..
Let’s just leave it to the forum of The Olympics like basketball and baseball instead all of these damn tournaments and no club soccer. Phooey.
October 10th, 2006 at 9:18 pm
I am mostly a fan of internationals. If you were to list the most famous matches of all time, I think most of them would be internationals. But I could do with much less of Germany 13-San Morino 0. I never knew there were 52 countries in Europe, or more correctly political intenties. For qualifiers, maybe the San Morinos and Andorras of the world should have a play-in and then Franca, England, etc. join in. Something not unlike the FA cup.
I am not a fan of Sepp Blatter, but sometimes I think it would be a good idea to go to an 18 team league. That would be 4 fewer premiership games a year. Now, I am sure that Sepp would want to fill that up with more international tournaments, but I think the players could use the rest.
October 10th, 2006 at 9:19 pm
One more comment. Was that Theo Walcott or Thierry Henry playing for the England U21s. Great goals!!
October 11th, 2006 at 4:31 am
I dont think international games should be scrapped far from it, but there are qualifying touranments for all continents, and then friendlies.
I still think the local FA should contribute to the clubs wage bills even if this comes from UEFA and FIFA. The African and Asian players playing in Europe will give UEFA an income, so this should go back to the clubs.
The real point of this article is that 100 days, over 25% of a year is lost to international games and training sessions, that are funded by the clubs paying these players their salary.
That is not on.
There needs to be a compromise, 50 days for example. In Asia and Africa, the players wont play so many internationals so why should it happen in Europe?
Reducing the main leagues in Europe will help as well and it could mean the star players will be fresher for the big international tournaments and club football as you could reduce 10 games a year, 4 in club football and 6 international games, by reducing the size of the groups in Europe.
October 11th, 2006 at 4:36 am
Great movement, great pace, great finsishes.
I hope he starts a game soon, but I would guess he will be unleashed next in the Carling Cup.
October 11th, 2006 at 4:38 am
OK, lets be honest you could say Arsenal V Wigan is not as great as say Brazil v France.
But if you were to compare Brazil v France against say Arsenal v Barca who would you go with?
I am saying the Arsenal game would be better, more exciting and skillful that the other international game.
October 11th, 2006 at 4:51 am
How would you feel if Holland were playing Germany, France or even Brazil.
They would be great games and so the international competition still has a place in the calendar.
However it cant hold onto 25% of the year. That is unfair to club football.
The amount of games needs to be reduced, by between 4 and 6 games a year, to keep the players fitter, and enable better football to be played and seen in big games be it international or club.
October 11th, 2006 at 8:05 am
International football is ruining club football? Not for the Readings, Watfords and Sheffield Uniteds, it isn’t. Not to mention a host of low and mid-table teams. If anything, it threatens to install parity.
Its too much and needs to be cut back. Luckily, Wenger’s picking up a host of South American players who won’t be involved in the Euros. Don’t be surprised if they all come from Africa and Brazil in the next five years. Then of course, there’s the ANC…but that’s a way’s off yet.
Nationalism is a childish, growth stunting concept, I will agree. Us v. Them on that level, when not appreciated in the right context, is a dangerous mindset. Its a shame, because its never just a game anymore.
October 11th, 2006 at 8:47 am
At the very least friendlies should be completely eradictaed and qualifying groups slashed to a maximum of 4 or 5 teams. What’s the point of a friendly? No-one ever gives 100% anyway so anyway new tactical formations or players you try out will never come close to replicating what will happen in a real qualifying or competition match.
The players should get time time off to meet up with the coach to train and perfect tactics, but forget friendlies etc.
The nationalism issue will never change in my lifetime, quite simply because the vast majority of people who attend these games are thick and “love their country”. Whatever the hell that means.
October 11th, 2006 at 10:38 am
International matches are necessary. But something has to be done for the current tournament qualifying system.
When i started watching football, there were around 30 plus European football member nations, now they are over 50. Plus the introduction of Champions League, FIFA and UEFA have to realize that they cannot adopt the same qualifying system like it used to be, or sooner or later it would only burn the players out and lead to more and more top players retired from their national teams prematurely.
At the moment, FIFA, UEFA and all the national FAs just give me an impression they are trying to squeeze out as much as they could from the players. More international fixtures means more $$$.
Yet footballers are only human. It’s impossible for them to play so many games each years and expect to have a long career. Why Michael Owen is always injuried these days? Michael broke into the scene at the age of 18, at such a young ages he’s playing a massive load of matches for his club and country, it’s inevitable for his body to break down somewhere down the road. I fear he may never be able to shake of his injury bug. And he’s only 26.
The same concern i m having for Cesc Fabregas. He’s only 19 and already played over 100 matches for Arsenal. Now he’s starting to win a starting spot for Spain as well. How long can he keep playing without rest?
At the end of the day, if more and more players burned out prematurely because the massive load of fixtures, all those football associations cannot push aside their share of responsibility.
October 12th, 2006 at 1:08 am
Yesterday, I saw India vs Japan in an AFC 2007 (equivalent to Euro 2008) qualifier. Skill and talent wise, this comes nowhere close to the EPL or Euro games. On paper, it was a clear mismatch. But the Indians fought bravely and lost 0-3. But for two goalkeeping errors, it could have been a lot closer. I think international games have a charm of their own. I am not in favour of scrapping them.
I do agree that there are too many games. But both clubs and countries have a part to play in it. If Germany vs San Marino is boring, so is Watford vs Sheffield Utd. If 100 days of internationals are too much, so is 38 league games + 6 FA Cup games (with additional replays) + 6 Carling Cup games + 13 CL games. I think both need to compromise.
I would say that the league should be reduced to 18 teams and something must be done about the Carling Cup. I know that it gives great experience to our youngsters, but that isn’t it’s intention. Who cares when Leicester City or Boro win apart from their own fans? It did win McLaren a England job but look how he is faring.
When ManU and Chelsea won, did their fans bother? I lost interest when AW played all the seniors (including Henry) last year.
The internationals must also be reduced. The friendlies should be scrapped. Qualifying must be made two tier. And games must be played on Sat and Tue (like AW said) so that clubs get more time when players return.
About compensation while playing for the country, it’s a complex issue. I don’t see any player refusing to play for the country depsite being paid by his club. It is a source of pride for them. One solution could be for clubs not to pay players when on international duty (a few $$ less for these stars will not hurt). But lesser countries might struggle. For injuries, the country can take over the insurance while on international duty. These are just my thoughts. As I said, it’s a very complex issue.
October 12th, 2006 at 8:03 am
Completely agree. Friendlies should be used for U21’s or reserves or something or eradicated altogether. And the groups should be shrunk.
Nationalism is as another form of pack/jock mentality, and is rampant among the mong. An excuse to pretend “we’re” the best.