Gerrard’s England ‘hobby’
Posted on | August 11, 2009 | 7 Comments
It’s hard to say it, not knowing the man personally, but from a distance the whole thing now looks so indefensible that to stay silent would be to allow myself to made an ass of.
Welcome to the worst-kept secret in English football – Steven Gerrard is really not too bothered about playing for England, thank you very much.
His pre-game withdrawal from the national side through injury is now so predictable the rising and setting of the sun seems alarming by comparison.
Wednesday’s tie with Holland in Amerstam is a friendly. But it is not meaningless.
England are on the cusp of qualifying for the Word Cup next year but will need a fist-class performance against Croatia at Wembley next month to seal it.
First XI need games before World Cup
If the team are to have any chance of winning or bettering their depressing quarter-final-only record they must have their best players available for every game between now and next summer.
Consistency is the key to winning the greatest prize in sport – if your starting eleven only turn out together a couple of times a year the result is a disjointed waste of time when it really matters.
Liverpool fans, starved of Premier League triumph for 20 years, rightly see 2009-2010 as a key season – perhaps their best chance to clinch the title yet – and to do that they will need Gerrard to stay fit.
Gerrard and the club are acutely aware of how vital he is to the side – hence the insulting charade, almost a ritual indeed, when England gear up for a game mid-season.
If Gerrard and his club don’t want him to play – that’s fine, regrettable perhaps, but fine.
But please don’t treat the national set-up as a ‘when it suits us’ arrangement. If you only want to play when it suits Liverpool, Steven, then forget England and do what Jamie Carragher did – chuck in international football for good.
Booty calls only from Stevie G
Sticking around is a bit like saving a doting girl’s phone number for late-night booty calls only. And if you’re an England fan who still puts country before club, of which there are still many, it feels like a slap in the face. Particularly if you’ve paid for a ticket and travel ahead of a match.
Playing for England is a privilege, not a right or a hobby to be indulged when a player and his club please. There are thousands of players who would get the chance to represent their country in a Wednesday night friendly. I for one would give my right arm, or at least a couple of fingers, for five minutes on a pitch representing England.
Gerrard is not the only offender, but his withdrawals hurt the side more than most.
Maybe he is carrying a slight knock – but we can point to so many prior occurrences the underlying motives are pretty obvious.
And maybe he does care about England, a fair bit, but clearly not as much most fans do and that’s why these ridiculous pre-match stand-ups have to stop – even if it means dropping him from the side.
So come on Fabio – put Gerrard and the rest of us out of our misery and stop picking him altogether. Someone has to put this joke of a relationship to rest so we can both move on. Sniff.
Chris Breese
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7 Responses to “Gerrard’s England ‘hobby’”
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August 11th, 2009 @ 7:06 pm
As a Liverpool fan I welcome his withdrawal.
I think the bigger issue here us that why do the FA continue to arrange Friendlies at ridiculous times of the year – especially a few days after the first game of the season.
August 11th, 2009 @ 10:19 pm
It does seem odd fixture timing to say the least – but you can bet the FA’s reply would be something along the lines of ‘there was nowhere else to fit it in’, which is probably true given the ludicrous amount of fixtures clubs like Liverpool have to fulfil in a season.
Surely there’s an argument now for ditching the league cup, for example? The fixture pile-up has to be eased if international matches like this are to survive.
August 12th, 2009 @ 10:14 am
It’s always club before country for me I’m afraid.
August 13th, 2009 @ 12:19 am
[...] Does Steven Gerrard care about England? (Pitch Passion) [...]
August 13th, 2009 @ 2:29 pm
Hi,
I don’t think that the case is a don’t care case.
Gerrard does adore playing and winning trophies with England, but, Gerrard is a bit unlucky player when it comes to cases like this.
Come on, he missed World Cup 2002 because of an injury.
And what about last season ? How many games Liverpool drew ? Why ? Because Gerrard was injured! He is just unlucky ! He is a true captain, a true hero, a true LEGEND !
By the way, I am a huge huge huge England fan !!!
August 19th, 2009 @ 9:10 am
Gerrard reported for duty and was assessed as unfit by the England team medical team.
How that qualifies as disinterest to the National Team is beyond me…
August 20th, 2009 @ 9:12 am
Funny, though, how he was perfectly fit to play 90 minutes against Tottenham less than three days later. Are you telling me he could not have at least played a half against Holland? Come off it.
It just doesn’t look good does it?