Don’t blame Ferdinand blame the structure of football

Insideworldfootball

The Rio Ferdinand saga has once again raised the hoary old question of club versus country, always a potent question in international football, particularly the English game. Over the years this has generated much heat, except in the case of Ferdinand this old story has taken a very modern, and it must be said, fascinating twist.

In the classic battles between club and country the story often went as follows. A player would be called up to play for England. The weekend before the match, and remember in those days we did not have double headers and internationals were played midweek, often Wednesday, the player after playing in his club match on a Saturday would report injured and pull out. He was supposed to have suffered some tweak to some part of his body, usually a hitherto unknown muscle, and the club would inform the FA that he could not play.