With a spate of withdrawals from the England squad in the days leading up to tonight's friendly against Germany in Berlin the usual debate about the validity of such matches has resurfaced again.
Naturally club managers do not want their best players to travel, play and risk injury in what to them is a meaningless game during a critical part of the season with Premier League and UEFA Cup/Champions League matches coming thick and fast.
Conversely from England coach Fabio Capello's point of view it is an essential exercise in preparation for next springs World Cup qualifiers, giving him a chance to experiment with tactics and personnel.
Whilst i would like to think that no English player would willingly give up the opportunity to represent his country, i do wonder how much pressure is put onto them by their respective club managers to withdraw from international friendly squads.
It will be interesting to see how many of the missing players names miraculously appear on the team sheet for their clubs Premier League fixtures this weekend, or am i just being cynical?
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