Another unwelcome international break

Another unwelcome international break

Just when things were starting to get interesting in the Premier League, it’s time for another international break.

These breaks are often a time when the old ‘Club versus Country’ row is reignited, but the simple fact of the matter is that pre-major-tournament international football is not that exciting.

Obviously, to an extent, one can understand football fans and non-football fans wanting to get behind their country during the qualification rounds of the World Cup, but why do the breaks have to be so badly timed?

Breaks early in the season and at the end are understandable, but why are they allowed to interrupt proceedings at club level at such a pivotal time?

Most die-hard fans of English Premier League clubs would surely prefer to see their club in action over their country regardless of the situation of the club. And from a personal point of view, International football is only just about bearable during the summer tournaments. And maybe that’s because club football isn’t being interrupted.

It’s hard to imagine England’s tie with Slovakia being anywhere near as entertaining as the upcoming Premier League encounter between Liverpool and Arsenal. In fact, there’s no point even comparing the two.

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger believes that International football has peaked, and that it’s club football that holds the future of the sport in its hands.

“The clubs are the modern world and the national teams are the former world,” said the Arsenal boss. “We are in between both. We want to keep the values of the past and we know we have to move into the next world. The clubs and the countries are symbols of that.”

Thankfully, real football will return next weekend.