The World Cup should not be robbed off great players
With David Beckham out of the World Cup and Rooney's injury causing concern for both United and England, the debate continues on what can be done for these players to avoid injuries? Well nothing I suppose because this is life and this is football, but something can be done during the World Cup year. We could minimize the chances of injuries during the World Cup year. For too long the world has seen World Cups that is impotent...yes not important, but impotent.
The last World Cup for many which had perhaps some quality was the 1998 World Cup. Well how about introducing a deadline for the World Cup year? A deadline that says all those players selected for the World Cup should stop playing from Mid-March or April for their clubs. I know some people might think I am bonkers and clubs should ask for compensation. Let us not forget that there was a time when clubs were allowed to not release players for international duty until FIFA made it a law and though this rule at first seems drastic, it might actually help the clubs and the game overall.
This would not seem such a bad idea as it only happens during the World Cup year, so I am going to act like FIFA for a while. The rule will also stipulate that from 1st January of that year until the deadline clubs can exercise if they want to send players for international friendly matches or not. Which means the national team managers at the mercy of the clubs, but this would actualy bring about a civilised role between the FAs and the clubs and a room for dialogue. During this period until the deadline, doors will open for less experience players to represent the country and give a good "try out" for some wild card places (for the World Cup) as the clubs would not mind releasing second choices or also rans that compete for places with the World Cup or first choice players.
Even if the players are not released at all and the national team managers do not have a chance for any friendly matches, the national team managers can have the full squad and can do whatever they want in mid-March or April (depending on when FIFA will implement the ruling), he can train and have friendly matches as much as he wants. This would mean the teams will have better bonding and tactical understanding and not to mention freshness. What about the Champions league final or other cup finals, where the clubs would would want their best players? Simple, those involved in domestic cup competitions or international ones should be released to play for the club and besides the players might even be more fresher for the clubs too. We could actually see a better World Cup or better club competition with more quality, although I also think that there might be less upsets, but it is small price to pay for quality, how about it FIFA?
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