England absentees highlight club v country conflict
Reuters - Wednesday 19 November 2008, 08:03
(tweaks headline)
By Martyn Herman
LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - There are few more evocative
fixtures in world football than Germany against England yet the
build-up to Wednesday's friendly in Berlin has been rendered
almost meaningless by a high-profile list of absentees.
England are without virtually their entire first 11 for the
clash in the Olympic Stadium, meaning the build-up has been
overshadowed by the rumbling club versus country debate.
Only four players from England's established "big four"
teams will be on international duty on Wednesday after injuries
and niggles left manager Fabio Capello with no alternative but
to experiment with his squad players.
His hopes of at least starting with a near full-strength
side have been wrecked by the unavailability through injury of
Manchester United duo Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand as well as
Chelsea's Ashley Cole and Joe Cole.
While they did not play for their clubs at the weekend, the
news that Liverpool's Steven Gerrard and Chelsea's Frank
Lampard, England's first-choice midfielders, are out with minor
knocks picked up on Saturday gave more ammunition to the critics
who suggest top English players, and particularly their club
managers, regard international friendlies as an unwanted
distraction.
Gerrard was summoned with his sicknote to England's training
base so his injury could be assessed by Capello's medical staff,
this despite Liverpool having already said he was out for seven
to 10 days with a muscle injury.
An FA spokesman said on Monday that Gerrard and Lampard were
"gutted" at not being available but their respective club
managers will not be losing any sleep, especially if they are
back on the pitch, as expected, next weekend.
There has long been resistance by some English club managers
to African players jetting off mid-season to play for their
countries. The Gerrard incident now suggests a distrust of some
club manager's intentions by the Football Association.
TOUGHER STANCE
It also shows that Capello will take a tougher stance than
his predecessors Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren when it
comes to dealing with the likes of Liverpool's Rafael Benitez,
Manchester United's Alex Fergsuon and Arsenal's Arsene Wenger.
Capello knows how much a call-up for Italy means to players
in Serie A and he will expect the same passion among England's
players, whatever the pressures from their club.
Serie A club managers are careful not to say anything
against the Azzurri for fear of not looking patriotic.
However, they have criticised other national coaches for
taking players away, most recently when Inter Milan coach Jose
Mourinho had a public spat with France's doctors over their
treatment of Patrick Vieira.
While in charge of Chelsea, Mourinho famously said his
midfielder Claude Makelele was being treated like a slave by
France manager Raymond Domenech.
In Germany, there has never been any suspicion of top
players being made unavailable for friendly internationals,
although there have been clashes over foreign players such as
Diego, who defied orders from Werder Bremen to join up with
Brazil's Olympic squad in Beijing.
The club versus country dilemma has become more intense in
England since the Premier League came into existence in 1992.
With hundreds of millions of pounds pumped into the Premier
League's club since then, transfer budgets have bulged and even
the clubs struggling near the bottom now boast squads full of
internationals from around the world.
Managers are paid big bucks to satisfy the new breed of
billionaire club owners with silverware. No wonder they wince
every time an international week comes around.
There have been plenty of examples of club managers taking a
dim view of their players representing their countries.
In 2004 Freddie Kanoute, then at Tottenham Hotspur, had his
commitment questioned by then manager David Pleat because he
wanted to represent Mali at the African Nations Cup.
More recently, Everton became embroiled in a row with the
South African FA and FIFA after being ordered to release
midfielder Steven Pienaar for international duty at the African
Nations instead of playing in a League Cup semi-final.
While, Capello is unlikely to find himself in a similar
situation, his no-nonsense approach could lead to further
tension between himself and club managers.
(Editing by Justin Palmer)
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