The scourge of the Premier League season is once again upon us. International Break is quite possibly the bane of all our existences, but it continues to turn up like a bad penny. The least we can do is try to understand our hatred of this cursed event so read on, to check out the top seven reasons we all hate the International Break.
We Care More About Our Clubs- Perhaps this makes us bad people or at the very least unpatriotic, but I truly believe that the majority of fans care more about their favorite club than their country. A clear piece of evidence is that you certainly see more Messi Barcelona jerseys than Argentinian ones. The same can be said for most players when it comes to their kit sales and after all, fans put their money with their mouths are.
Some of the Match-ups are Simply Dreadful- I realize that England is riled up as a nation for Estonia today and Russia is on pins and needles for their Moldova match-up but a lot of these games like fire power. Occasionally we’re blessed with a fun performance in an obscure match as we were yesterday with Northern Ireland and Germany, but on the whole we get weird games played in lackluster atmospheres. If FIFA want us to care more about international football, they could start by giving us more appealing games to watch on a regular basis.
National Teams Cause us Player Rooting Conflict-
Suddenly, on International Break you are instructed to pull wholeheartedly for individual players that you despise the rest of the year. An English Tottenham fan isn’t going to suddenly love Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere just because he is playing for England. Your most hated individual players are still disgusting no matter what kit they don.
Injuries are Terrifying- Sadly, because our clubs are more important to us we watch the international matches while holding our breath to make sure our team’s players don’t get injured. I can only imagine the horror for City fans as Aguero went down yesterday and I know as a Tottenham fan, it’s only a matter of time before Harry Kane picks up a knock for England and we’re left without a striker.
We Have No Clue What’s at Stake- Part of the problem is that there are just too many international games. We’ve diluted the quality of games as well as the stakes. No one can know what’s really on the line for Somalia in their fixture versus Niger tomorrow morning. If there were less games and a more clear performance structure, perhaps fans would take more interest.
The Players Don’t Take it Seriously Enough- If fans are ever going to truly embrace international football during off World Cup years then the players must do the same. Wayne Rooney isn’t going to play against Estonia because of an ankle injury, but I have to believe that if this were the World Cup against Italy he’d find a way to become fit.
There Are Too Many International Breaks- Seriously, didn’t we just have one of these? The International Break might seem more important and bearable if there were only one. Perhaps the Premier League could have some sort of alternate competition in the space. Maybe a highly publicized U21 tournament could help keep our interest while promoting the League’s rising stars.
I’m sure there are more reasons what we should, and do, hate International Break. If you think I left something out let me know in the comments below!
