It is every youngster’s dream to play for their country, to wear the national colours with pride and represent the nation in sporting battle, so why has the England football team become an inconvenience, an after-thought, an unwanted distraction which has sadly become a source of embarrassment rather than pride.
Has the Premier League become so important and the riches of the Champions League so enchanting that international football is nothing more than a disruption in an already crowded season?
A friend of mine once said that he couldn’t care less if England won or lost as long as Newcastle United were doing well. I suspect it is a sentiment that is shared by many other football fans, particularly in the Premier League.
It has been argued in the past that the majority of those who avidly follow the fortunes of the national team hail from small town clubs who will never compete for the club game’s major prizes. This may well be the case.
If I had to choose between seeing Leyton Orient in the Premiership or seeing England win the World Cup, I’d probably say England and the World Cup. Not that I wouldn’t love to see Orient beating Newcastle at St James’s Park or dishing out a thrashing to Sunderland at Brisbane Road, but because for me, the World Cup is football’s ultimate prize and it would be an achievement the whole country could celebrate. It would be an unofficial Bank Holiday, but without the needless trip to Whitley Bay!
I’m not a chest-thumping patriot, I don’t fly a St George’s flag from my bedroom window, I don’t have any bulldog tattoos on my arms, I don’t have any tacky china plates with a picture of Diana and Charles’ wedding and I didn’t cry when the Queen’s Mum popped her clogs. In fact, I don’t even know the words to the national anthem, but I am incredibly passionate about watching England play football.
I think a lot of people share that passion, but there is also a growing sense the clubs are more important, that the Premier League is where the excitement is and that the Champions League is where the best players are. In some ways that argument carriers some weight given the strength of some of the squads in the Champions League, but there is still nothing quite like the excitement of a major international tournament for me.
There is still outrage when the national team performs badly and results are poor, but I have some sympathy for Steve McClaren (wow did I just say that) when he operates in an environment where tired and mentally drained players turn up for international duty to go through the motions because they are more worried about a Champions League group game the following week, or that vital trip to Wigan!
And then you have the clubs who surreptitiously (or in some cases blatantly) exert pressure on their players to put club before country. They have a case considering the vast sums of money they pay their pampered (and often over-rated) stars, but that should not get in the way of the dream every player must have had when they used to kick the ball around the park as a kid - playing for England. Not everything is about money, or at least it shouldn’t be.
Take Steven Gerrard’s situation this week. I make no secret of the fact that, for me, Gerrard is the best player in the country, a player who not only thrills with what he can do with a football at his feet, but who also inspires those around him simply with his presence. He is a leader of men in character and content, it’s just a shame he plays for Liverpool, a team I dislike more than most.
Anyway, Liverpool’s manager Rafael Benitez has insisted Gerrard should not play against Israel because he will need a painkilling injection to do so because of a broken toe, which comes with risks. He is naturally looking out for Liverpool’s interests, but he asked Gerrard to play against Chelsea last month with exactly the same sort of injection and he didn’t worry too much about the risks then!
Gerrard has sensibly kept his own counsel on the matter, but those who know the scouser know he is fiercely proud of playing for his country and that he is desperate to play at the weekend. Benitez, though, is exerting enough direct and indirect pressure to make the player feel as though he is letting his club down if he does so. That isn’t right, the decision should be the player’s, not the manager’s when it comes to something like this.
For what it’s worth, I reckon Gerrard will play for England because he knows how important the games are for his country. I admire him for that and, if he picks up an injury and misses a few games for Liverpool, even better! Only jesting, honest!
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