Pressing Issues

• Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Declan Rice, Levi Colwill and Aaron Ramsdale withdrawing from the England squad has sparked outrage over players’ lack of pride over playing for England – but these players arguably deserve a break from relentless fixtures.
• 3 solutions as to how international football can become something genuinely worth watching.

Outrage Over Dropouts: Is It Justified?

The Sun’s Charlie Wyatt claimed that players’ withdrawal from international duty is an “absolute shambles”.

From one perspective, you can see where he’s coming from. It should always be considered an honour to put on an England shirt and represent the country. It is a privilege and should be treated as such.

That said, the fact of the matter is that representing England over a two week international break presents more risk than reward for international players. Picking up an injury can have hugely detrimental effects on the progress of their club teams – Martin Odegaard’s recent Norway knock has slightly derailed Arsenal’s title hopes.

Over the past year, the trend of players ‘falling ill’ or ‘picking up a knock’ with convenient timing around a break has raised eyebrows over the spectacle of international football, and particularly the Nations League, which was meant to be UEFA’s way of giving significance to games that would otherwise be friendlies.

It is now commonplace for players to withdraw, with club fixture schedules as they are, and the lack of importance placed upon friendlies or Nations League games. Players rarely get a break in the modern game, and dropping out from international duty serves as a convenient means for a week off.

Fortunately, this is the last international break until March, so it will be a few months until this discussion is raised again.

3 Ways To Fix International Football

The issue is, the discussion will inevitably be raised again – and will continue to until there is a change in scheduling.

There are myriad ways to approach this: scrap international breaks (which raises a host of other issues), timetable extended international breaks with more fixtures, with an aim of there being less interference over the course of the whole season. Lastly, working in more pauses during each season, in an effort to ensure players maintain fitness levels that allows them to play for their country and club.

Stopping International Breaks

Stopping international breaks completely would certainly snuff out the issue at its cause – players wouldn’t drop out from the squad, because there wouldn’t be a squad in the first place. Instead, there could be an ‘international camp’ at the end of each season – a 3-4 week period where international teams are together to train and play fixtures.

This extended period would probably prove more productive for coaches and players alike, as working with one group for a longer time frame would create a consistency. As a result, it would probably be more interesting for fans, as narratives around who’s in good international form, tactical choices, and various other narratives would pop up as relevant topics of conversation.

The downside of this would be that the lack of frequency between international meetings would likely see a breakdown of chemistry between players, tactical tweaks being forgotten, and a lack of fixtures for international football fans to watch for most of the year. Whether the pros outweigh the cons is subjective – but it does seem excessive to only meet once per year as an international team.

Extended International Breaks

In 11 weeks of Premier League football, there have been 3 week-long international breaks.

It feels like every time the season reaches a ‘flow’ of interesting narratives or discussion points, they are disturbed by a week away from club football.

If say, there has been one 3 week-long break over the same 14 week period, in theory both club and international football would gain more sustained relevance.

Of course, a 3 week break during the Premier League season would feel slightly bizarre, but it would without doubt increase eyes and interest for international football.

Less International Breaks, More Football Breaks

Modern football is relentless. For players, pundits and fans, there is barely a day that goes by without football being a prominent topic of conversation. As a result, when the international break rolls around, many people treat it as a week off, and pay limited attention to their national team.

So what if we were to give players, pundits and fans the occasional week off? A weekend of no football, simply a time for players to rest and recover from their otherwise relentless schedule. As football fans, this might seem slightly insane – but if it reduces the number of injuries top players sustain, and allows every international break to host the world’s elite, would it be worth it?