da brwin： This November’s international break has seen the ‘club vs country’ debate reignite old flames, but did it ever really go away?
da betcris： The injuries to Arsenal and Chile forward Alexis Sanchez and Everton and Republic of Ireland midfielder James McCarthy, are just two more cases of the ongoing fight that engulfs football every time the domestic season temporarily stops.
With Sanchez, the Chilean was said to have sustained a hamstring injury prior to Chile’s match against Colombia on 10th November.
Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, responded to the news by issuing a warning, of sorts, to the Chilean national team. He spoke to beIN Sports saying that they should avoid making “any suicidal decision” to avoid aggravating the injury.
Regarding McCarthy, Republic of Ireland assistant coach, Roy Keane, unleashed a typically blunt outburst. The former Manchester United man said: “I always felt the Everton players were going to turn up on crutches or crawling in the hotel door.”
Football once again finds itself dealing with a bickering slogfest.
Managers at both club and national levels find themselves fighting for control of players. After all, control tends to produce success, just ask Sir Alex Ferguson.
Fans want it too. They follow their clubs week-in, week-out. It isn’t unfair to see many of them prioritising issues that will be beneficial to how they their club plays next Saturday.
But what the debate ignores time and time again is the desires and opinions of the footballers at the heart of it all.
There has been doubt about whether footballers really care about the importance of internationals. In an age that has seen footballers’ wages skyrocket, as well as the eye watering £8.3billion broadcast deal for the Premier League, it’s fair to argue that club footballs holds a huge monopoly within the sport.
But what is the reality of the situation? Jack Wilshere has in the past been quoted as saying: “I will never say no to my country.” More recently Ander Herrera, who got his first call up to the Spanish national team, showed a contemporary insight in to what international football means to the modern day player.
Speaking to Sid Lowe in the Guardian, he said: ““I knew sooner or later the chance would come. I worked for this: every day as if it was the last.”
Regarding swapping his shirt if he does indeed get his first cap, Herrera added: “If I play, the shirt is for keeping.”
Herrera is not alone. Patrice Evra and Paul Pogba’s ‘serenading’ of the French football jersey to Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” showed a lighter, humorous, but equally as important side to the value players place in international football.
Ultimately, footballers want to play football; they build their lives out of this simple game. They want to do everything in their power to limit their time sat on the side-lines, and at every level that is presented to them.
Representing both club and country is quite evidently still of great importance to the modern footballer, but the reasons why are too often lost in the monotonous politics that engulfs football every time internationals come back around.
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