Arsenal suffer Walcott blow as Club v Country issue rises again

The dislocated shoulder suffered by Arsenal’s Theo Walcott whilst with England for their friendly in Germany raises a couple of issues.

Firstly, it questions the logic of playing the game at all. Ironically it was Arsene Wenger who spoke out about the International game earlier this week saying, “It is particularly not welcome at the moment because it is at a period where you want your players to recover a little bit. I don’t see what you gain from this friendly because there is no game. You can explain a friendly to prepare for an official match but after this there is no international game for four months.”

Secondly, it really heightens the issue of club v country. From the England squad for this game Manchester United have Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney missing, Chelsea have Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Joe Cole missing and Liverpool have Steve Gerrard missing. How many of those players would have been fit if this was a world cup qualifier in Germany?

The injury to Theo Walcott is a perfect example as to why clubs are reluctant to release their players for international friendlies. It is likely that at a time when Arsenal are struggling for form they will be without their starlet for at least four Premier League games.

We will get to the stage where none of the top clubs are prepared to release any of their players unless matters are addressed between the FA and the clubs. This needs to be done sooner rather than later.