(springfieldbrewingco.com
So, how long is long enough between an international fixture and a domestic one. Not long enough according to Liverpool skipper, Rafael Benitez. ESPN is reporting that Benitez is calling for an overhaul on the way the fixture system is arranged in England in respect to domestic and international duties.
Most players get back to England on Thursdays and you can work them a bit that evening and then a little light training on Saturday but apart from that, it's go time. It's easy to understand the Spaniards argument, but that's what you get for having a team full of superstars.These guys are going to get called for international duty and it's your job as a manager to develop a team that can work around the shortcomings of a tired first team.
I see two outcomes here. The first is a fairly simple one. You have a reserve team for a reason. Use them. That's what you are paying them for, not to kick around with the first team on practice days. You never know, you might find the next Drogba or Rooney in your B squad. That's the purpose of scouting and the youth academies. If you are only going to use them when someone on the team gets hurt, you might as well not staff an eleven man reserve.
The second option, and the more drastic of the two, is to tell the players to hush. They knew what they were signing on for when they accepted a role in the Premiership and when they accepted a role on their national team. It wasn't going to be easy. And I am sure that most of these players aren't having to deal with this on a regular basis. There is a reason why qualifiers and group stages are spread out the way they are. To follow Benitez's logic, we should space out the Champions league qualifiers as well.
When it comes down to it, footie is one of the most endurance based sports in the world. Running around for ninety minutes straight can't be a fun thing but if they players aren't complaining, then the skippers should hush. It isn't their fault that the internationals and major competitions get scheduled the way they do. So, Beitez's claim is pretty much groundless.
Making other news in the Premiership, things are not looking good for Roy Keane and Sunderland. The former Manchester United star is facing more problems with his club that is sitting in the seventeenth place in the table right now. Keane has reported that apart from his team captain, he has lost two key wingers; one to a back fracture and the other to a knee injury.
It's hard to imagine how a team will come back from a blow like this. Keane's side is nearly decimated and it's likely that a relegation will come for Sunderland, who won the Championship title this past year.
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