lawro in lfc defence shock horror
IT’S no wonder players are going round saying losing with England never hurts as much as it does with their own club, writes Mark Lawrenson.
You'd probably feel the same if you'd been messed about as much as Jamie Carragher has by his country. But the fact that he should have won many more caps and was hardly ever played in his best position is just the tip of the iceberg in the club v country debate.
Most people I spoke to in the press room in Barcelona for the Andorra v England game on Saturday were pretty much of the same opinion. Good on Jamie for being so honest about it.
If push comes to shove most people would rather their club do well. If their country does well on the back of it, then fine, but it's no surprise there is increasing disillusionment where England is concerned. Carragher's Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard expressed it too with his complaints that he has only been played in his favourite central midfield role five times in 68 appearances.
That stat surprises me, I must admit, but accurate or not, it raises a serious point about how some players don't feel as loved by their country as they do with their clubs.
They don't tend to be the focal point when they get on the international stage and they find it hard to raise their game in the same way.
It's all very well complaining that Gerrard isn't the same player for England that he is with Liverpool but that's because he's not played in his best position. Play him 10 times in central midfield in succession and then you will see the same player.
And people can bleat on as much as they want about how when you're representing your country that should be motivation alone. But there are games in the Champions League that are more testing and more intense than many internationals now, especially in the qualifiers. So the club v country dynamic has changed completely.
Let's face it, Andorra away is not the highest level John Terry or anyone else will be playing at this month, let alone this season.
And as for atmosphere – Anfield on a European night or Belarus away on a wet Wednesday anybody?
Another myth that needs destroying is that this problem is a new thing, a symptom of the way club football has created footballers so wealthy they don't care about their countries any more.
The situation isn't like that. It's just a case of finding a compromise and a balance and that's the way it always has been.
Ireland once had a trip to Brazil, but me, Jim Beglin and Ronnie Whelan were told by Liverpool that they would rather we didn't go so we could rest. To them it sounded like a jolly so we pulled out to make our club the priority.
It was an unwritten rule but it's always gone on.
You'd probably feel the same if you'd been messed about as much as Jamie Carragher has by his country. But the fact that he should have won many more caps and was hardly ever played in his best position is just the tip of the iceberg in the club v country debate.
Most people I spoke to in the press room in Barcelona for the Andorra v England game on Saturday were pretty much of the same opinion. Good on Jamie for being so honest about it.
If push comes to shove most people would rather their club do well. If their country does well on the back of it, then fine, but it's no surprise there is increasing disillusionment where England is concerned. Carragher's Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard expressed it too with his complaints that he has only been played in his favourite central midfield role five times in 68 appearances.
That stat surprises me, I must admit, but accurate or not, it raises a serious point about how some players don't feel as loved by their country as they do with their clubs.
They don't tend to be the focal point when they get on the international stage and they find it hard to raise their game in the same way.
It's all very well complaining that Gerrard isn't the same player for England that he is with Liverpool but that's because he's not played in his best position. Play him 10 times in central midfield in succession and then you will see the same player.
And people can bleat on as much as they want about how when you're representing your country that should be motivation alone. But there are games in the Champions League that are more testing and more intense than many internationals now, especially in the qualifiers. So the club v country dynamic has changed completely.
Let's face it, Andorra away is not the highest level John Terry or anyone else will be playing at this month, let alone this season.
And as for atmosphere – Anfield on a European night or Belarus away on a wet Wednesday anybody?
Another myth that needs destroying is that this problem is a new thing, a symptom of the way club football has created footballers so wealthy they don't care about their countries any more.
The situation isn't like that. It's just a case of finding a compromise and a balance and that's the way it always has been.
Ireland once had a trip to Brazil, but me, Jim Beglin and Ronnie Whelan were told by Liverpool that they would rather we didn't go so we could rest. To them it sounded like a jolly so we pulled out to make our club the priority.
It was an unwritten rule but it's always gone on.
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