Hey all, just some brief news today and then some Arsenal-biased opinion (as always) to read if you'd like. First off the news. You'll know by now that Adebayor, that tall bloke who thinks he's Henry, the guy that got stretchered off against the Spuds last month, has apparently 'recovered' and is in the Togolese squad to play Saturday.Now, when I first heard the news he was travelling with them, I thought it odd, but fine as long as he didn't play. After all, the man hasn't even returned for Arsenal yet and now he's supposed to be magically fit for his country? Well yesterday the quote came out that he will be playing Saturday, and I just couldn't believe it. But here's what Arsene Wenger said to ATVO:
''Adebayor has gone away with Togo. Will he play or not? He will have tests.
For us, he was ready to play. Ideally it is good for us and for him to have a game.
''There is no problem. I had a meeting with their manager and we
knew he would be ready for this weekend, whether it was for us or for Togo.''
So apparently Arsenal were planning his return anyway, and this match will be a sort of warm up for Man City the coming weekend. Well, it doesn't matter to me if he plays then, as long as he doesn't get himself injured again.
And that seems to be a common theme of international weeks. It's not as if you haven't heard this rant before in some form, but as Arsene Wenger once said, international teams are like your brother who takes your new Aston Martin out for a drive, brings it back crumpled and wrecked, and then expects you to fix it back up so he can drive it again next time it tickles his fancy
Honestly I don't see the point of a break at this point in the season anyway. Why interrupt the rhythm and energy of the club teams at perhaps the most vital and nerve wracking time of the season (as it draws to a close) just so you can play a couple of meaningless qualifying matches, or worse, the odd friendly? They have no huge relevance to whether a national team will win any honours, they won't dramatically increase your FIFA World Ranking (which seems to matter to national organisations for some reason) and all it will do is disrupt the players' mentality.
When they return they won't be more rested. I fear our players will instead have broken their concentration, broken the rhythm that we had built up over the past few months, and will not be focused on and as fit as they need to be to challenge for the major honours that we are still in the running for. And that's if they come back at all, presuming of course they're not injured whilst playing for their beloved national sides.
So here's my idea. Why don't we get rid of the needless international friendlies and shorten World Cup qualification to the summer months only? Instead of entering all these ridiculous tournaments alongside the World Cup (such as the EUROs, the Copa America, and so forth) let's make the major tournaments of the summer World Cup qualification. I mean, I love the World Cup, I think it's a brilliant tournament steeped in tradition. But can't we do without the long, drawn out, and quite unnecessary multi-year qualification process? I think we can.
Let's rid ourselves of all international competitions besides the World Cup, including the much-hated African Nations' Cup, and stick to World Cup qualification. No more international breaks and no more interrupting club teams during their season. Because after all, club football is so much more entertaining than international football. I'd pick watching Arsenal over England any day. There is simply no comparison. And even my adopted Spanish national team (adopted because they play some good football) would take the backseat to Arsenal. Wouldn't it for you?
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I just hope it disrupts our opponents' rhythm as well. Better still, get crocked. :)
ReplyDeleteWe all hate the international breaks but they are necessary. Although our players personally are merely playing friendlies, other countries still have qualifications this weekend so our current system is the fairest in relevance to club football. It's just simply better to have a community-wide break. Furthermore, it is also a chance for players to play with their national team and get a feel of the game the expect when the WC or Euros roll around. I think it's a bit much to ask a team of 11 players from 11 different clubs to come together one day and play watchable football. We know it takes time to gel and this is unfortunately the only way to do so. I sincerely hope though that in the future there can be legal agreements between clubs and countries stipulating how long a player can play in a friendly. For example a legally binding agreement between Arsenal and Togo to play Adebayor for only 60 minutes. This is alot of excess paperwork and administration, but it sure beats having a player on the sidelines.
ReplyDeletewhenever international week comes along it always seems to be 'the wrong point of the season to have an international break'.if your plan of scrapping 'meaningless' qualifiers was put into place,how would u decide who plays in the world cup??? oh,and thanks for deciding on behalf of all world football that all international tournaments should be scrapped except for the world cup.
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