Arsene Wenger must view friendlies as more than necessary evil

Matt Hughes

Anyone who was in the St Albans area this lunchtime may have felt a major tremor when Arsene Wenger was asked at his weekly press conference for reaction to Theo Walcott’s dislocated shoulder. The Arsenal manager just about managed to avoid going off the Richter Scale.

Wenger has long been an outspoken critic of friendly internationals, particularly those held at the end of the year when there is a three-month gap to the next group of competitive fixtures, with Walcott’s injury likely to further fuel his hostility.

While the 19-year-old is likely to have fully recovered by the time England resume their World Cup qualifying campaign against Ukraine next April it is conceivable that by the time he returns for Arsenal in three months’ time his club could be out of the Barclays Premier League title race, the Champions League and struggling to qualify for next season’s competition. No wonder Wenger is a little more than slightly peeved.

Wenger’s frustration is understandable but his oft-quoted solution – that national associations should compensate clubs when their players pick up injuries on international duty – would be the death knell of international football, leaving only the larger countries able to compete. The Frenchman may view international football as an unwanted inconvenience but he is on his own in this regard, a point forcibly made by the 8000 England fans who travelled to Berlin for last night’s match and the millions more who tuned in on television. ITV and Setanta have paid £425 million for the right to televise England matches for the next four years, suggesting that somebody must be interested.

If he is honest with himself Wenger may also reflect that the situation could be far worse, with the balance of power heavily loaded in favour of the Barclays Premier League clubs. Partly as a result of their failure to qualify for the European Championship England played just 10 matches this year, six fewer than Spain and four fewer than Brazil and Argentina, many of whose leading players took time out from their clubs to compete in the Olympics.

In comparison with other sports too, the Premier League clubs are in a position of enviable strength, with the national team held up as the pinnacle in most other areas. The Rugby Football Union’s dominance is such that Bath and Leicester, the two top clubs in the Guinness Premiership, were forced to face each other last Saturday afternoon at the same time as England were playing Australia in an international at Twickenham, while in cricket the power is in the process of shifting from the England and Wales Cricket Board to the players themselves, with the England team threatening to refuse to sign their central contracts if they are refused permission to go and play in the Indian Premier League.

Perhaps the only other professional sport in which the clubs exert the dominance of football is rugby league and look at the state that has got itself in, with reluctance to take the international game seriously leading to a hopelessly flat and one-sided World Cup. England played just two friendly matches all year before flying out to Australia last month, with just poor preparation playing a crucial part in their humiliation.

If international football is not to go the same way then the likes of Wenger must view friendly matches as more than a necessary evil.

Comments

[kartikeya]

"...that national associations should compensate clubs when their players pick up injuries on international duty – would be the death..." - national associations already do that via their insurers. Check your facts please. maybe you should compensate your employers with part of your salary.

[Ian]

Wenger is a whiner extraordinaire but I'm with him on this one. Meaningless internationals right before the key Nov. and Dec. period don't make sense. Yes, club comes first for me -by a country mile.

[Terje T2]

Matt Hughes, as most other English commentators live in their own little world. How many English players (playing for the national team) do Arsenal have? How many non-English players representing their country do Arsenal have? It's not all about England.

[DM]

I disagree with idea of compensation whether insured or otherwise. How many clubs benefit from a player's showing for their international team either with a transfer fee or player development, clubs are temporary nationality is in the blood (well most of the time!).

[Stroller]

'Wenger on his own in this regard ..'. You must be joking. I find very few fans who really enthuse about international friendlies. Many of those who travelled to Germany did so mainly to gain ticket credits for the World Cup.

[SDurnin]

Who are you THOM JAMES? What have you done?

[Jeff]

What exactly did Wenger say about Walcott's injury that you're taking issue with?

[Thom James]

Telling Wenger to stop moaning is like telling water to be less wet

[mike]

I'm with Wenger. An international friendly at this time of year is ridiculous. Just because there are fans willing to travel to the match or watch it on TV doesn't mean Wenger's point is incorrect. Wouldn't these same fans still watch the match in the spring?