First, it was Riccardo Calafiori, and then it was Martin Odegaard. Now it’s Bukayo Saka. That’s three of Arsenal’s starting outfield players who will spend time on the sidelines due to the farce that is international football.
Arsenal hasn’t fielded a full-strength first XI all season long because of injuries our players picked up in exchange for the privilege of putting money in UEFA’s bank account. What an honour (insert sarcasm).
Because let’s be honest, that’s really what this is all about. There is no sporting reason whatsoever to have two international breaks in consecutive months after a summer where both the Copa America and Euros Cup were played. However, there is a strong monetary incentive for UEFA and FIFA (who I prefer to call THIEFA) to stage these meaningless contests and pass them off as legitimate sporting events.
Martin Odegaard will probably be out until November (if not longer) because Norway vs. Slovenia couldn’t wait? Really? Seriously? Was England vs. Greece so important, that an already overworked Bukayo Saka had to be risked? For the UEFA Nations League? A pretend trophy with no historical legacy that absolutely no one cares about winning or ever will? What footballer is going to build their legacy by balling out in the Nations League?
Let’s be honest. The only reason UEFA contrived the Nations League in the first place was to put a silk hat on the pig that the “international friendly” has become. The entire point of international friendlies is obsolete now that everyone in the world can witness top-tier club football via cable and the Internet. UEFA and THIEFA know it. But they can’t fill their coffers if they aren’t holding footballers hostage to their unrestrained greed.
So, we end up with international breaks; the gift that keeps on taking. It’s supposed to be an honor to get called up for your national team, and it is when that call-up is to compete for a World Cup or a Copa America or an African Cup of Nations title. These are legacy events that turn footballers into legends.
But there isn’t a footballer in Europe who is going to enthrall their grandkids with tales of winning the Nations League. There isn’t an under-fire coach of a European national team who is going to save their jobs by winning the Nations League. Whether you’re a coach or a player, if winning the Nations League is the top item on your C.V., you don’t have an international C.V. worth talking about. That’s never going to change.
It’s much more likely that today’s players will look back and marvel at how they survived playing so many worthless games for fake trophies like the Nations League without falling out in a heap.
The great Arsene Wenger once likened international call-ups to someone forcing you to lend them your car, then running it into the ground and leaving it by the roadside….and sticking you with the repair bills and inconvenience of not being able to use your car.
It was an apt analogy, and that was a decade ago. Player workloads have only grown since then. Never mind the fact that Wenger was too kind in his description. No sooner do you get your car (player) back up and running, than the same people who ran it into the ground and offered you no compensation will pop back up and demand you lend them your car again. That’s adding insult to injury.
Players are becoming increasingly vocal about the necessity of reducing their workloads. Yes, they make a lot of money, but that’s really beside the point. The human body’s limits do not expand with the size of a player’s wage packet. If there isn’t serious action taken to reduce player workloads in the near future, a player strike would not come as a surprise.
The best place to start shaving games is international friendlies. Arsenal is set to play Liverpool and they will be without Martin Odegaard. It’s quite likely Bukayo Saka will be missing too. The title was decided by just two points last year, and this year is shaping up to be just as competitive.
The competitive balance of one of the EPL’s most important fixtures will be shifted heavily in Liverpool’s favor because of injuries Arsenal’s two best players, incurred while playing meaningless football games that no one cares about. The Nations League.
Call it whatever you want and it’s still a farce. Piling whipped cream and strawberries on cow puckey won’t make it Belgian Waffles. And that’s exactly what mid-season international breaks are: cow puckey.
E MCC
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I think all clubs should account international football fatigue and injuries to their players when preparing for a season according to their ambition.
Powers that be have already decided and fixtures will probably increase instead of decreasing.
Players and managers cannot do anything about it. They are already making 10 times more money than necessary and any successful resistance against the authority will just make their bank accounts lighter.
It’s what they have chosen. Messi is one year older than me but I look 25 while he looks 50. And I have noticed all proffessional footballers look 45-50 in their 30s. There is much that a body can take. While exercise is essential to good health, too much of it is very harmful to a normal person let alone professional footballers.
When football lost its soul and became all about money I don’t understand how we expected else.
FIFA, UEFA or the FA are not at fault for this. Its us the fans. We are the enabler. We resist with our mouths while at the same time opening our wallets. Why should the authority care? I wouldn’t if I were in their shoes.
Increased ticket price? We pay. Increased TV and streaming subscription? We pay. Increased fixtures? We watch. And the list is endless.
HH is correct, these greedy organisations will rinse you for every penny you have? Because exploitation of our passions and interests empowers these unethical and morally bankrupt bodies.
And unfortunately footballers are not quite intellectually matched with their talents as they seek maximum exposure to social media, sponsorship deals and fandom. You will run your body down, but hey, it’s money right?
Stop paying into a spectacle that insults your intelligence, and watch the return of an even playing field.
A player could simply sign a contract saying they only want to play a certain number of games
Real talk@HH.
Ben White made himself unavailable for England, maybe other players should do the same.
Payers stil think playing or their country or winning the world cup is some great achievement. It isn’t. So few countries can really win a WC that it’s not really much of a tournament.
The powers that be take football fans for mugs. They expect the tribalism that drives them to keep them watching, paying and buying constant kit changes.
Maybe they’re right, dunno. But I stopped watching a while ago. The business types drove me away, same as with F1 and now they are doing the same with rugby.
Business and sport don’t mix. Business always wants to put on a show, sell stuff etc – real people want to see fair competition on a level playing field and it’s not been level for a while now.
* Players still think playing for their country …