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| Clubs and countries need to start working together... Blind, Carrick & David de Gea all forced to miss Saturday game at Arsenal |
If Daley Blind, Michael Carrick and David de Gea are all forced to miss Saturday’s Premier League game at Arsenal through injury then Manchester United should be allowed to request the game is postponed.
Having any player injured on international duty is unfortunate – as Liverpool will testify. But to have three of their starting XI all crocked while on European Championship qualifying duty in the past few days has been spectacularly unlucky.
If you think this is ridiculous, imagine if it happens to your club. Now you can see the logic, right? Stop hating United, and think about this as a ruling that could benefit football, and would possibly help all clubs.
Blind (knee ligaments), Carrick (groin) and De Gea (finger) have all picked up injuries away from Manchester United, and yet it’s Old Trafford boss Louis van Gaal who has to pick up the pieces.
So it’s about time the clubs who suffer were given some sort of compensation, other than a token financial gesture.
There is a problem establishing a rule: how do you decide how many players must be injured before a club can request a postponement?
For me, three seems reasonable; as long as they’re all regular first-team players. Squads should be big enough to cope with one, even two injuries. But three players coming back from international games crocked creates a situation that’s much harder to work with.
And let’s face it, if a trio of regular first-team players are out through no fault of the club’s making, what kind of spectacle will it be? The Premier League is brilliant for many reasons but one of the main ones is the competitive spirit from top to bottom – Stoke can go to the champions and win while Southampton and West Ham can find themselves in the top four and newly-promoted Leicester can put five past Manchester United.
A United second-string side, with three injuries dumped on them by international football, away to Arsenal, is potentially lambs to the slaughter, and in simple terms it’s unfair. There is no logical reason that says Arsenal should benefit.
One question that arises from this idea: how many games can be postponed by the club that suffers? In my opinion, just one. That should be long enough for any club to work with the remaining players in the squad and get their act together.
There is another aspect to this. Last month I interviewed Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill and asked him how he felt about the Everton pair Seamus Coleman and James McCarthy missing the game in Germany, and then playing for their club a few days later.
The issue has cropped up again with Ireland assistant Roy Keane saying Roberto Martinez didn’t play for his country, so he doesn’t understand the situation from the point of view of an international manager. Keane says it’s a relief when he sees Coleman and McCarthy turn up for the national side.
Martinez protecting his players is understandable. But the pressure of the situation might be eased – and Martinez more likely to be flexible - if a way of helping clubs AFTER the international break is put in place, if they’re unlucky enough to suffer injuries.
It’s an unlikely scenario but imagine Wayne Rooney, Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw are all injured in Glasgow on Tuesday night. That would make a total of six Manchester United players injured on international duty. It’s a situation that needs addressing – most clubs would agree with that.
Clubs and countries can work together and this is one way to help improve the relationship between them.
Having any player injured on international duty is unfortunate – as Liverpool will testify. But to have three of their starting XI all crocked while on European Championship qualifying duty in the past few days has been spectacularly unlucky.
If you think this is ridiculous, imagine if it happens to your club. Now you can see the logic, right? Stop hating United, and think about this as a ruling that could benefit football, and would possibly help all clubs.
Blind (knee ligaments), Carrick (groin) and De Gea (finger) have all picked up injuries away from Manchester United, and yet it’s Old Trafford boss Louis van Gaal who has to pick up the pieces.
So it’s about time the clubs who suffer were given some sort of compensation, other than a token financial gesture.
There is a problem establishing a rule: how do you decide how many players must be injured before a club can request a postponement?
For me, three seems reasonable; as long as they’re all regular first-team players. Squads should be big enough to cope with one, even two injuries. But three players coming back from international games crocked creates a situation that’s much harder to work with.
And let’s face it, if a trio of regular first-team players are out through no fault of the club’s making, what kind of spectacle will it be? The Premier League is brilliant for many reasons but one of the main ones is the competitive spirit from top to bottom – Stoke can go to the champions and win while Southampton and West Ham can find themselves in the top four and newly-promoted Leicester can put five past Manchester United.
A United second-string side, with three injuries dumped on them by international football, away to Arsenal, is potentially lambs to the slaughter, and in simple terms it’s unfair. There is no logical reason that says Arsenal should benefit.
One question that arises from this idea: how many games can be postponed by the club that suffers? In my opinion, just one. That should be long enough for any club to work with the remaining players in the squad and get their act together.
There is another aspect to this. Last month I interviewed Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill and asked him how he felt about the Everton pair Seamus Coleman and James McCarthy missing the game in Germany, and then playing for their club a few days later.
The issue has cropped up again with Ireland assistant Roy Keane saying Roberto Martinez didn’t play for his country, so he doesn’t understand the situation from the point of view of an international manager. Keane says it’s a relief when he sees Coleman and McCarthy turn up for the national side.
Martinez protecting his players is understandable. But the pressure of the situation might be eased – and Martinez more likely to be flexible - if a way of helping clubs AFTER the international break is put in place, if they’re unlucky enough to suffer injuries.
It’s an unlikely scenario but imagine Wayne Rooney, Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw are all injured in Glasgow on Tuesday night. That would make a total of six Manchester United players injured on international duty. It’s a situation that needs addressing – most clubs would agree with that.
Clubs and countries can work together and this is one way to help improve the relationship between them.
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