Players like Bakayo Saka, Raheem Sterling and others pulled out because of injury they claimed. They cannot now play for their respective clubs as it will appear they pulled a "sickie" to avoid any possible injury in playing these international friendlies.
In fact, I would warn any of these individuals they will not be called up again if they do show for their clubs.
Arsenal have a big showdown with Man.City on the weekend with their favourite ref Anthony Taylor in charge. They did not want to risk any strain or knock on one of their most influential players in Saka and may have invented an injury to excuse him from duty.
Manchester City on the other hand released all their stars, and John Stones and Kyle Walker both received injuries that may mean they miss this crucial game.
Southgate should lay the law down and show zero tolerance for players that unpatriotic and flippant about being called up to play for the national team.
On a side note, Fulham's Tim Ream-Raul Jiminez went head-to-head (not literally) as USA beat Mexico 2-0, the sleeping giant starting to show they might be building a noteworthy team.
meh...yawn....
IDK, can't agree with this premise. Friendlies are useless, IMHO, and probably shouldn't be played in the middle of the season/league play. Just an injury waiting to happen. But what do I know, I'm just a dopey FFC fan. And from what I saw recently, some of those friendly matches did draw some pretty big crowds, so, obviously fans love these competitions. But I won't fault a team/player for avoiding participation, especially when there are huge stakes ongoing with league play or other competitions.
Didn't Bassey miss a game during the break due to injury? I wouldn't want him arbitrarily barred from our next game.
I am not particularly interested in international games, especially friendlies. Let the players withdraw if the game doesn't mean much to them.
It would have been good to see Tosin get an England cap. Think he deserved a call up for this camp just gone.
Quote from: General on March 28, 2024, 04:38:22 PMIt would have been good to see Tosin get an England cap. Think he deserved a call up for this camp just gone.
He's miles better than Dunk!
Quote from: Nick Bateman on March 28, 2024, 04:44:33 PMQuote from: General on March 28, 2024, 04:38:22 PMIt would have been good to see Tosin get an England cap. Think he deserved a call up for this camp just gone.
He's miles better than Dunk!
Is he miles better than Dunk on the left side though? Surely he's competing with Konsa rather than Dunk?
Quote from: Bassey the warrior on March 28, 2024, 04:50:44 PMQuote from: Nick Bateman on March 28, 2024, 04:44:33 PMQuote from: General on March 28, 2024, 04:38:22 PMIt would have been good to see Tosin get an England cap. Think he deserved a call up for this camp just gone.
He's miles better than Dunk!
Is he miles better than Dunk on the left side though? Surely he's competing with Konsa rather than Dunk?
Skysports did a focus piece on Tosin and he's one of the best RCBs in the league on current form.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13092821/tosin-adarabioyo-fulham-defender-is-outperforming-englands-centre-backs-so-is-he-an-option-for-euro-2024
Quote from: General on March 28, 2024, 05:49:54 PMQuote from: Bassey the warrior on March 28, 2024, 04:50:44 PMQuote from: Nick Bateman on March 28, 2024, 04:44:33 PMQuote from: General on March 28, 2024, 04:38:22 PMIt would have been good to see Tosin get an England cap. Think he deserved a call up for this camp just gone.
He's miles better than Dunk!
Is he miles better than Dunk on the left side though? Surely he's competing with Konsa rather than Dunk?
Skysports did a focus piece on Tosin and he's one of the best RCBs in the league on current form.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13092821/tosin-adarabioyo-fulham-defender-is-outperforming-englands-centre-backs-so-is-he-an-option-for-euro-2024
Not disagreeing with you.
Problem is the player could have had genuine reasons not playing in internationals ,for instance being about a week away from a full recovery at the time of the international and now recovered and ready for the bench.
I thought the rule was if a player cries off international duty injured, he cannot play the next league game. Unfortunately, it works one way, no benefit to clubs.
We keep being told how many games and how dangerous it is especially for top players playing so many games. Then they grille every second with friendly Internationals. I really don't see the point of them. So personally I am all for player dropping out of these matches and being ready for the clubs and fans who pay their wages.
I appreciate many people love these International matches. But I don't get it.
