Should players put club before country?

Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge is one of the plethora of players to have withdrawn from the current England squad

As a child most little boys growing up playing football dream of playing for their team and eventually their country.

They sit and watch the big international tournaments on television, or some are lucky enough to attend games at World Cup’s or at other major championships.

Even at an early age the sense of patriotism can be very strong and the dream is to one day pull on the shirt of their national team.

Pride

Playing for your country was once a real honour and players showed pride in the fact that they were selected to play for their country. Their first call-up to the national side was one of the best moments of their career, or even life for some.

It seems that pride no longer exists for some modern day players, as they put their personal agenda’s ahead of their country. Maybe players do not have the same attachment to their national teams because some countries seem to have lost their individual identities.

Withdrawals

Players are now paid ridiculous amounts of money to play football these days and most seem to prioritise their club duties ahead of playing for their country.

The England squad is a good example when it comes to withdrawals. In the past players have even asked not to be included in Three Lions squads, which quite frankly to me should regarded as treason. Maybe not, but players should show more passion for their national teams.

The current England squad have lost Liverpool pair Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana, along with Southampton keeper Fraser Forster, West Brom keeper Ben Foster, Manchester United’s Luke Shaw and now Tottenham full-back Danny Rose for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania and friendly against Italy.

Luckily enough the Three Lions have decent cover in the squad to replace these players. Some have very real injuries. Forster for example will miss the rest of the season after picking up an injury during the Saints 2-0 win over Burnley.

Foster also picked-up a season ending injury in West Brom’s 1-0 victory over Stoke at the weekend and had to be replaced.

Sturridge is believed to have picked-up an injury in Liverpool’s 2-1 home defeat by Manchester United on Sunday at Anfield. Teammate Lallana has withdrawn from the squad with an apparent injury.

Tottenham star Danny Rose is the latest player to withdraw from the squad. The question is would the likes of Rose, Sturridge and Lallana be so keen to withdraw from the squad if there was a big international tournament round the corner?  Would they play for their clubs with their current injury problems?

I would not like to claim that these players are not injured, but it seems to be a growing trend of players withdrawing from their national team squad at the drop of a hat.

Clubs

When the players return to their clubs you can virtually guarantee that they will be fit for action and probably be playing in next weekend’s games. It would be unfair just to point the finger at English players though, because it happens throughout the game.

The players clubs are quite within their rights to protect their big money investments and the culture within the English game means that some fans are more likely to want their players to remain fit and fresh for their club team.

Players themselves often seem to put their clubs first because they are the ones who provide them with their luxury lifestyles and player’s careers are relatively short. Some modern players tend to prioritise games and their national teams suffer for it.

The idea of club vs. country has been a long running battle, but patriotism often led fans to be glad that players from their club were representing their country. It seems in England at least that patriotism has been diluted in recent years through various factors.

Old-fashioned

Maybe in England patriotism and the pride of playing for the national side is an old-fashioned idea. However, for me anybody who is judged good enough to play for the England national team should play, whether the game is a friendly or a vital game.

It is sad that some players withdraw from national team duty without much thought, but apparently club football is far more important than the honour of representing their countries.

Should players put club before country?