Club vs. Country? - There’s only one winner!

Another set of internationals means yet another two-week break in Premier League action. Isn't it about time something was changed in the International set-up?

International Breaks – I hate them.

As the press get over-excited about England playing the might of Montenegro or Scotland travelling to face those footballing-giants Liechtenstein, for me, it hardly merits a look. Instead, I will spend this international break counting down the days until Liverpool are back in Premier League action.

Don’t get me wrong, international football can be exciting. A summer consisting of a World Cup or European Championship, 4 weeks of continuous football, is my idea of a dream. I turn into a kid again as I fill in the wallcharts and collect the Panini stickers (all for the benefit of my 3-year old son by the way!), whilst I watch the likes of Switzerland and Algeria do battle. Even some of the qualifier’s provide a bit of entertainment, with Germany 1-5 England a pretty memorable watch. The problem for me is that international football pales into insignificance when the domestic season is in full-flow. To me, it is nothing more than a hindrance.

Following the Reds’ 2-0 derby win over Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday, Melwood should be buzzing, with the players preparing for the next game. Instead, it will be virtually empty this week as our international players jet-off all over the world to turn out for their respective countries. The momentum built up from victory over our Merseyside rivals should have seen us go into the next match full of confidence. Instead, the break has ruined that. By the time we play Manchester United a week on Saturday, the players will be in a different mindset. The same thing happened last month. An impressive 3-1 home win against Bolton was followed by a two-week break. By the time the players returned for training, the buzz from the Bolton performance had long gone and we went on to lose at Stoke and again at Spurs the week after.

Mid-season internationals are also accompanied by the fear of star players getting injured whilst on international duty. Numerous times over the past few years, the likes of Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Daniel Agger have returned injured, unable to play the next game for the Reds. In September, Charlie Adam had to pull out of Scotland’s second of two international games with injury. He recovered in time to play at Stoke, but his performance fell below his normal high standard, with the general feeling that he wasn’t 100% fully fit. Thankfully, common sense has prevailed this week, with the recovering Gerrard left out of England’s squad for the trip to Montenegro. However, with a squad full of internationals, Kenny Dalglish and his backroom staff will be hoping and praying that all the rest return fit and healthy. This is a concern which is shared by a host of the top managers, with the likes of “Sir” Alex Ferguson renowned for pulling his players out of international squads when they have no more than a cough.

As well as injury, fatigue is also a downside to internationals. With so many games on the domestic calendar, calls are often heard proclaiming that players play too many games and face burn-out. With Luis Suarez and the other South Americans heading halfway across the world to play one, maybe two games, the likelihood is that the players will return jet-lagged and with little time to fully prepare for the following weekend.

Of course, there are counter-arguments to the international break. For the likes of Bolton, who are rooted to the foot of the Premier League after shipping another 5 at home, this time to Chelsea, a two-week break will allow them to regroup and hopefully return to Premier League action stronger. For some players, an international appearance will help boost confidence, whilst for someone like our big Geordie striker Andy Carroll, after netting against Everton, a good international showing will push his morale even higher.

For me though, we can’t go on with this stop-start domestic season. In an ideal world, I would make a couple of changes to the set-up of International football. Firstly, with each group containing 5 or 6 teams, I feel there are too many qualifying games where top sides are pitted against minnows. The likes of Faroe Islands, Andorra, Luxembourg, San Marino are well-known whipping boys of the international scene, so why not have a pre-qualifying tournament for these teams, therefore reducing the number of teams and matches in the qualifying campaign. Secondly, and linked with my first suggestion, a month at the end of the season could be used to play all the qualifying games in one go. With the international breaks removed from mid-season, domestic campaigns could finish no later than End of April, meaning the majority of May could be set aside to play international football.

Until any changes are made though, we will have to put up with the international breaks. Let’s hope these two weeks go quickly and all of our players are back fit and chomping at the bit next week as we return to Premier League action. Bring on yer Manchester United!