International friendlies... a waste of time??

[jarv]

Reading the call off list does make me think, why bother with these meaningless games??

On the plus side, hope Stockdale gets a game and Aaron Hughes is sooooo important to Fulham he should be kept in wraps every week between games. In a way, glad he withdrew.

England, what can you say. Any international team that has to pick the donkey, carltonCole up front says it all. He wil come in to replace crouch I read, who can't get a game at spuds. Not good news. Question is here, why is Crouch injured? He isn't playing very often.  Maybe that's why. Gerrard withdrawn again and so on.

It just isn't the same today. Watching international matches used to be the icing on the cake.

[ImperialWhite]

I enjoying watching football matches, and they don't necessarily have to be a Fulham game. I always look forward to England games. It's just a pity that this game clashes with France v Brazil and Germany v Italy, which could also be interesting.

That said, the England match I've enjoyed the most recently was England v Hungary, where I saw Zamora and Gera play in international shirts. I might see England v Ghana for a similar reason - to see Stockdale and Pantsil playing for their country.

edit: That said, I do agree that there is a feeling that these friendly games are a bit pointless, especially when managers make too many substitutions, which ruins the flow. Perhaps if they were rebranded as 'tests' or something like that?

[LBNo11]

...I agree that it is a waste of time because the importance of the premiership devalues such games in light of possible injuries.

The premiership stars will either pull out for a mysterious injury that will be healed before the next important prem. match, or be given a cameo role.

It is a glorified training match, but 'they' still want to charge fans £40 + to go and watch, and that is just plain wrong...

[finnster01]

Very hard to argue with that Mr LB

[timmyg]

Midweek international friendlies, or scrimmages, are like Friday's before a three day weekend: everyone is just going through the motions, caring more about when the game (or day) ends than performing any actual work.

[Lighthouse]

For good or bad the fact is that we just don't look in Nationality in the same proud way we used to. The days of looking at Sportsmen representing their Countries as something special has long gone. We now look on Friendly games as pointless wastes of time. They tell you nothing about anything and as LB says, risks injury. Yes it is fun because a Fulham player is in the squad. But that's where it ends. Pointless and a waste of time.

[TonyGilroy]

There was a time when League matches were played at the same time as internationals and clubs were proud when their players were picked.

These days internationals whether competitive or friendlies are absolutely secondary for clubs, players and supporters and if we don't care why should the players.

I'll watch internationals sometimes if Fulham players are involved but not otherwise.

I'd actually be quite happy if the entire international schedule were scrapped or perhaps limited to lower league players who would genuinely appreciate the honour.

[LBNo11]

There was a time when League matches were played at the same time as internationals and clubs were proud when their players were picked.

These days internationals whether competitive or friendlies are absolutely secondary for clubs, players and supporters and if we don't care why should the players.

I'll watch internationals sometimes if Fulham players are involved but not otherwise.

I'd actually be quite happy if the entire international schedule were scrapped or perhaps limited to lower league players who would genuinely appreciate the honour.

...in a nutshell Tony, absolutely agree, I particularly like the proposal in the last paragraph...

[FatFreddysCat]

Not just friendlies but i now find all International football a waste of time. it's been a long time since the likes of Butcher and Pearce used to have you pumping with pride to be English. Still at least we have Terry to look up to now  :035:

[finnster01]

Agree Mr Freddy, you don't see this anymore

[YankeeJim]

Clearly, you've never watched a USA-Mexico "friendly".

[Jimbobob]

Clearly, you've never watched a USA-Mexico "friendly".

:drums:
So true!!!
We are always the AWAY team whether we play in the USA or Mexico!!!  :dead horse: :handbags: :dead horse: :handbags:

[ImperialWhite]

Watching or not, I suspect that this is a good match to exploit over enthusiastic English punters:

• Denmark haven't lost a single match in their last 6 at home
• And in these 6 they've beaten USA, Senegal and drew 2-2 with Germany
• England on the otherhand, have only won 3 of their last 6 away, losing 2 drawing 1
• Also consider that Gerrard's out, and many other England players have had fatiguing schedules recently (Chelsea-Liverpool on Sunday, defeat of United Saturday

BetFair are offering an England win at 2.36 (~40% chance of a win). Possibly a bit stingy even now, but by Wednesday afternoon/evening I expect these odds to shorten even further. At this point I'd suggest:

• Either, laying the England win,
• or, betting on a draw, even the current 3.45 seems good value,
• or, betting on Denmark to win with an Asian handicap (so if it's a draw you lose nothing)

[HatterDon]

I think the point of these internationals without a league break is to blood fringe players. I'd certainly use the upcoming England match to blood Stockdale. Bob Bradley, the USA coach, has used these internationals to determime the 18-23 positions on his squads for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and World Cup. He puts a lot of Scandinavian-based pros and MLS youngsters out there.

So let Gerrard and Dempsey stay out of the squads -- there's plenty of work they need to do for their clubs -- but bring on the kids. If any of them stand out, they'll be there to put pressure on the oldies. If I were an England supporter -- and they're still my #2 team -- I'd be watching this match to see who can replace the increasingly useless and immobile John Terry.

[sipwell]

For Belgium, international friendlies are one way of showing we still exist as a nation. I would prefer that to continue a little longer

(Even though, ironically, it was a Walloon who cost us 3 points against Germany. He however made up for that by scoring twice in the next game :D)

[sipwell]

Going to bump this one to add something I thought of yesterday.

I think the English on this board underestimate the off-field importance of international friendlies. For non-English players, who are away from home when they play in the Prem, it is an opportunity to meet their families again, to see their friends and to live for a short time-span in their own country. Moreover, it is a moment where you meet all the players you grew up with again (and who have become friends). You could see it when the Belgian squad prepared for their friendly against Finland: old friends torn apart because they play for different clubs in different countries have a time to chat, to talk about their issues on a face to face basis. Many said as much: they were happy to be amongst their old friends again, sharing experiences and frustrations...

I  hence think that international friendlies do make sense. You can just turn the question around: wouldn't you like it if you were working in another country, that you could come home again once in a while to meet up with your old pals?

[jarv]

Mr. Sipwell, couple of good points. First, to meet up with old friends....that's called a "holiday"  :005:

Your comment about Belgium is fair. I feel the same about Scotland, a team in the wilderness. I did manage to get the N Ireland v Scotland game on the computer. I only knew 2 of the Irish lads, healy and baird. How can this be an international? (Back to the original question).  OK, Scotland did well this time, but even the commentators were saying that the game was ruined by 5 or 6 substitutions.

Surely a seasoned football manager can see what a player can do for his club and at training camp. What is to be gained by watching him play for 15 minutes?

Finally, the international calendar needs to be curtailed. Several ways of doing this but that is another post. :dead horse: