The timing of the international break has been criticised by many of the Premier League’s most respected club managers.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill have been openly critical about the concept of international friendlies as a whole, not just the timing of them.
Meanwhile Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez will have been fuming over the English Football Association’s decision to force Steven Gerrard into a 400 mile round trip so England medics could assess the extent of the midfielder’s groin injury themselves, only to come to the same decision as Liverpool.
Manchester United and England midfielder Michael Carrick, after the withdrawal through injuries of Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Wes Brown, Gary Neville and Owen Hargreaves, is the only Red Devil representative in the England camp; he believes that friendlies are an essential part of the international calendar.
Ferguson: Arsenal Can Contend… In Europe
Gerrard Not Sure If Penalty Was Right
Heinze Pans Fergie’s ‘Fiction’
Tevez Will Join Madrid - Marca
PSV Fail With Bid For Chelsea’s Alex
Vieira Misses Arsenal & United Rivalry