Neglectful FA cost Chelsea dear during latest pointless England excursion

How many international breaks have there been this season already? It seems like time and again the Premiership season has been disturbed by a string of international fixtures this year, many of which have been friendlies. The latest England jolly to Doha for a friendly with Brazil may have cost Chelsea a high price.

Reports this morning suggest that an injury suffered by Frank Lampard while on international duty, who flew home from the England training camp yesterday, may be worse than first thought. The prognosis is that he could be out for a few weeks at best, or until Christmas at worst.

It is frustrating that the injury has come about as a result of an arguably needless friendly. I’m sure most Chelsea fans would agree – according to research, over 80% of British football fans feel a stronger sense of allegiance to the team they support than they do for the national side. This particular friendly is further made redundant by the paucity of regular first team players making the trip. Perhaps more frustrating however, are reports that the FA flew the England squad all the way to Doha in economy class-style seats – that’s a seven hour flight - which contributed to Lampard’s eventual injury.

It would be very easy for some to have limited sympathy for the 22 millionaires having to fly economy. But the reality is that these are athletes finely tuned by their clubs to perform at the top of the game. Players like Lampard will run maybe seven miles in each game – at the season’s peak perhaps three times a week. And it’s not like running seven miles on the street: football combines the need for both endurance and explosive power, in addition to other physical rigours such as turning and tackling.

To mistreat and neglect such athletes after their clubs have made such considerable investment in them is outrageous. After all, those players when on England duty are essentially on loan with the goodwill of the owning clubs. It’s therefore unsurprising that Chelsea are reportedly livid at Lampard’s injury, and are preparing a compensation claim of just under £1m.

I’m livid too. When players get injured on international duty (like Essien last season), should football fans who have paid for tickets be compensated by the national associations? After all, we don’t get to see the players we paid to watch. Of course I’m not being serious, but the real point is the FA shouldn’t be so carefree with their scheduling of fixtures and their treatment of players: when injuries occur it impacts players, clubs and fans.

There has been much paper talk in recent weeks – particularly from Rafa Benitez and Liverpool – about how injuries affect club’s fortunes. Liverpool have had a number of injuries which have exposed the lack of depth in their squad. Having more luck than in recent years, it feels like Chelsea have had a relatively clean bill of health so far this season, although the papers have neglected to report that Deco, Alex, Ashley Cole, Zhirkov and Joe Cole have all had extended spells on the sidelines.

Lampard’s injury comes at a time when Chelsea are starting to make a real impact in the Premier League, and now a minor injury crisis is growing at Stamford Bridge with likely to sit out with him until Christmas and Bosingwa probably out for considerably longer. There is no sign of Zhirkov making an imminent return.

The depth of Chelsea’s squad is about to be tested – especially with crunch away games against Man City and Arsenal just around the corner. I fancy the squad will hold up far better than Liverpool’s however: provided Terry doesn’t get injured in Doha too, of course…

You might also be interested to read:

• Another international break? English fans don’t care about the national team

Comments

[Rob]

"the papers have neglected to report that Deco, Alex, Ashley Cole, Zhirkov and Joe Cole have all had extended spells on the sidelines."

No, they haven't. In fact, quite a lot has been made of Joe Cole's return from long-term injury, the fact that Zhirkov hasn't yet started a league game, Alex signing a new contract and getting back to full fitness, and Ashley Cole's recent broken leg.

On the other hand, I agree about the international "break", but it's kind of easy to say that when it looks like we've lost our most important midfielder for at least a month. Reports also now coming out that Terry's picked up an injury too.

[Russell Saunders]

Hi Rob - thanks very much for your post! You're right, they have mentioned it. I suppose what I was getting at there was the idea that, whilst much has been made of the injury crises at Liverpool, Chelsea's relatively high number of injuries haven't had the same scrutiny (probably because we've still be winning games).

I disagree with the international breaks not just because of potential injury - there are a whole host of reasons why for me they're frustrating...

[JoshH]

Terry may be injured...

http://tinyurl.com/y8ubyl4

Time for the subs to step it up!

[Ben]

I enjoy reading your blog and find your post-match analysis insightful, however I have to disagree with you on this occasion. Don't get me wrong: I'm devastated Lampard's going to be sidelined for the next few weeks. But these international friendlys are essential in the run-up to a World Cup. More importantly, the first time in 20 years we've had a decent chance of winning a World Cup!

If we (Chelsea) are successful in the compensation appeal, what sort of precedent will this set for international games in the future? Will we see England's best players not selected just in case they're injured on international duty? To me, this is frighteningly dangerous to our national side.

This is a very short-sighted, selfish post for many, many reasons. Let's not forget, fans of the clubs whose players are selected to play for England are, without doubt, in the minority when it comes to the overall England 'fan' base. And if you have a shred of knowledge about our economy, you should be well aware of the £1bn boost qualification will serve up. We're playing this friendly because we have a deal relating back to the opening of the new Wembley. And this should be kept in mind, too.

As a top 4 team we need stop further distancing ourselves from the rest of the Football League. We were sh*t once with no England internationals. Now I love nothing more than seeing 3/4 of our boys pulling on an England shirt.

[Russell Saunders]

Hi Ben – thanks very much for your very well argued comment.

The fundamental part of your argument I think is an excellent point: fans of the top clubs – me included – are often a little naïve when it comes to thinking about what fans of lower league clubs want from the game. Sometimes it’s all too easy to forget that there’s a wealth of fans across the country watching non Premier League clubs, and I’m very guilty of that.

But I do take issue with a few of your other points.

My argument isn’t that international football shouldn’t exist: it’s about to what extent it should ‘take over’, how many friendlies there should be and how players are treated when they’re involved. I would argue that the right balance hasn’t be found. I guess however that, as someone less keen on international football than some others, I would say that. It probably works both ways to an extent, but it should be remembered that England football can only exist because of the top clubs.

It’s not a strong point, but…I do have a shred of knowledge about the economy! But the £1bn that’s referred to is about qualification. We have qualified – it’s done and dusted. More generally, I would argue that removing 2-3 friendly games from the year wouldn’t have a significant financial impact and, crucially, shouldn’t have such a detrimental effect on the team that to the extent that it would jeopardise qualification for an international tournament.

And if we’re having to send players for international duty (and risk injury) because of the FA’s deals around the hideously over-priced Wembley – that’s a big problem for me. It is neither my fault, nor Chelsea’s, that the building of that stadium was so badly managed.

This fixture is totally unnecessary, a colossal waste of time. And why the hell is it being played in Doha? Any ideas people? Also totally unnecessary – I can’t remember how many Brazilian or English players ply their trade out there…

I love an international tournament – I do. But club will always come first for me, I’m afraid – as it does for most fans across the country. All I ask is for the balance to be redressed, and for players to be treated with the care and consideration they should be.