Scrutiny has surrounded the International Breaks for years, as they always seem to be inconvenient for every club in some principal. Whether it’s because the team has had gained momentum prior to the break halted, or their squad returns with injuries, or the fact they do not have any time to rehabilitate a new signing from the transfer window.
This weekend saw the return of Premier League action after two weeks off due to the international break. And because of the international break, for a few fresh-faced players, it sees them grace the colours of their new club for the first time, even though the transfer window slammed shut back on September 1st.
The international break so early in the season clearly hinders the opportunity for the new players to be able to grow familiar with their new surroundings as well as their new teammates. For instance, Sunderland’s deadline day signing DeAndre Yedlin, though not on International duty himself, was at the club’s training ground, while the rest of Sunderland’s defence was not. Therefore, Yedlin did not have a chance to work with the goalkeeper and centre backs and so he has been unable to fully adapt to his new surroundings.
It would make sense if Steve McClaren was more sympathetic towards the international breaks since he himself is a former manager of his country. In reality, he was recently quoted complaining about the idea, “We want to keep playing, because that’s when I learn. The games are the test”. Thus underpins another flaw in such an early international break: the managers lose time to learn about their new squads and the ability to decide what their best eleven actually is.
Nevertheless, there will never necessarily be a good time for international breaks from a club perspective unless they were actually non-existent. Unfortunately, for clubs, international football is important. With the reputation and stature of the Champions League continuously growing and growing, it is to be argued that European grand competition is starting to overshadow the World Cup in terms of broadcasting the most spectacular. On the other hand, the World Cup brings with it patriotism and passion for not just the traditional football fans but also non-football fans alike.
Unfortunately, although they seem to bring great insignificance, World Cup qualifying games as well as qualifiers for Europe is a necessity for the tournaments to go ahead. The same insignificance can be said about the Champions League group stages too, considering the final standings are always more or less inevitable.
What carries the most insignificance is the international friendlies. They are mainly designed to allow managers the opportunity to trial their players out to work out their best team as well as to experiment with tactics. However, the friendlies only seem to depict Sunday league pub games in relation to the tempo they are generally played at. The matches seem to only be played for the sole chance to get players that one extra cap onto their record.
International matches will never be convenient for the clubs, however, even if only the necessary games are played, clubs might be a bit more compromising.
