AFTER a tough season, I am usually quite pleased to see our players retire to the beaches (hey, they did in league games from the middle of March anyway!) and put their feet up for a few weeks. Recharge the batteries, clear the head, and get ready for the travails of August. Early August, in our case. Very early August in fact.
Of course, this summer being a tournament summer I expect most of our players to have their pre-season interrupted. This is why I grumble a lot about international football.
I enjoy watching it (unless it’s two remarkably dull teams, or all of the bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz in South Africa 2010 World Cup which was hideous to watch) but I am always being gnawed away at by my club conscience.
“You should want *insert player’s country* to get knocked out ASAP.”
“You should want *insert player* to get subbed ASAP.”
There’s no devil and angel alternating advice on my shoulders, its club and country. And country has the quietest voice, seats in the top tier of the Nou Camp when it comes to getting my attention. Liverpool is my number one love and that’s all there is to it, when it comes to football anyway.
So, with this in mind, my club conscience wants my players out of the tournament and on a beach at the earliest possible opportunity.
But not this time. Not with England players anyway. I might cringe whilst Luis Suarez is playing games against deadbeat South American nations a thousand metres above sea level, but I want Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Martin Kelly to all have long and prosperous tournaments this summer.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not because it will necessarily benefit England. These three young lads are squad players. It’s because I think their presence at an international tournament will benefit themselves and more importantly for me, Liverpool.
Jordan Henderson has experience of an international tournament. He was an integral part of England’s recent escapades in Euro U21 Championships in and 2011. Henderson skippered the class of 2011 only for two late goals from the Czech Republic to turn the result upside down and send England’s juniors home early. Martin Kelly was eligible for selection on both occasions but missed the tournament in 2011 and 2009 due to injury.
Henderson has the experience but has endured a tough season at Liverpool, especially when deployed out of position on the right, which he frequently was for whatever reasons.
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There’s been a lot of furore about Kelly’s call up which has been, for me, grossly unfair. That should be the FA/Rio Ferdinand/Roy Hodgson’s problem and not young Kelly’s. However, he has a good temperament and I am hopeful he barely knows of all this nonsense about his selection over Ferdinand and Richards. If he does, he needs to use the flak to motivate him. This is a massive month for Kelly. Day in and day out he is training with seasoned internationals and Champions League winners, players who have played under some of the greatest coaches in the world (and Phil Scolari.) This is great for Kelly. The same goes for Henderson.
For big Andy Carroll, it’s a big chance to take the significant momentum he had gathered at the end of the season into an international tournament, keep his form up and continue to improve. Unfortunately it doesn’t look as though he’s going to be Hodgson’s first choice, he didn’t appear against France at all. Until Jughead returns for the last game, Welbeck appears to have the baton for now. Carroll may feature in the coming two games from the start, who knows but knowing Hodgson’s cautious nature it will likely be just the one up front and the United man appears to have that position. Henderson was brought on for 15 minutes or so against France to replace a tiring Scott Parker. I expect he will play the most minutes of the three lads I’m talking about. Especially because there are plenty of doubts about Parker’s fitness.
Whatever happens and however minutes they play, it’s a fantastic experience for them to go and play in an international tournament. They play with quality players every week at Liverpool, but they will become familiar with other routines and tactics and general approach to playing in big games.
Let’s just hope they don’t listen to Hodgson too much, eh?
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