One can only imagine the shade of purple Fergie and co turned upon the news that not only do they have to wait through the duration of the Euros with baited breath hoping that their players return unsaved, now they have to contend with the prospect of players also playing for ‘team GB’ to boot.
The club v country debate has is always bubbling under the surface, with ill-timed international friendlies and injuries being sustained on international duty – we all remember the injury to Owen and his club at the time Newcastle’s reaction – but expect the issue to rear its ugly head with gusto once more as we head towards the summer.
With the Olympic team now able to consist of players who have participated in the Euro’s, albeit minimally, with England’s record at such tournaments, it is not impossible to envisage our players not only playing in Poland and Ukraine this summer, but also for team GB, further placing strain on their bodies and taking away their down time, something that is vital for them given that most will have played a full season for their clubs and will be going into another one straight away.
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Should players such as Rooney be called up to take part in team GB, they could potentially miss the majority of their club’s pre-season training, and also the Community Shield match, which takes place on the same weekend as the Olympic final. Not only will this anger player’s clubs and their managers – after all it is the clubs who are paying the hundreds of thousands of pounds for the players wages and their medical bills, but it could also potentially cause anger amongst fans who want to see their clubs do well and players performing up to the level they expect.
Should players be fatigued after a summer of international duty and this then impact on their performance for the clubs throughout the coming season, don’t expect this to go unnoticed by the fans – they are the ones spending their money on football tickets, and deserve players to be at the top of their game, not suffering from the effects of playing for ‘team GB,’ having been denied both a rest in the summer and also a full pre-season – or any at all.
A good pre-season is vital to clubs for a variety of reasons, allowing new players to link up and form understandings with current players, getting the players fit after a summer away from the club and conditioning them to prevent injuries. More than a couple of people have remarked on the fact that Barcelona’s pre-season left a little to be desired, and attributing the vast amount of muscular injuries their players have sustained at the beginning of the season to this.