By CandH’s top blogger Allen Cummings
As a West Ham fan the last thing I would have wanted right now is an international break.
I can’t think of anything worse, as we sit on the cusp of completing our best ever season in the Premier League, to have key players whisked away to far flung lands, while the world is still in the grip of a pandemic that retains a strangle hold on some nations and threatens a fight back in others.
We will all be holding our breath until the likes of Tomas Soucek, Vladimir Coufal, Lukasz Fabianski walk safely back, virus and injury free, into Rush Green plus of course Declan Rice and Jesse Lingard re-join the squad from the England camp.
Naturally I’m pleased for Declan and Jesse that their brilliant form has ben recognised, but I have to question on a wider scale if winning caps for England carries the same kind of honour that it used to.
No disrespect to the likes of San Marino, Albania and other similar lesser-known footballing countries – of which there are many now on the international scene – but do games against opposition like that really compare to the fixtures of old against footballing powers such as Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Italy and Holland – traditionally powerful football nations who fielded teams littered with stars that made those games competitive and worthwhile.
There were far fewer international in years gone by, so winning caps for your country meant far more than it does now. England caps in this day and age appear to be handed out like confetti because much of the opposition is weak and the England manager feels able to ‘experiment’ with players who, when it gets to the important games, usually don’t get a look in.
Gareth Southgate has been England manager since November 2016, and up until his 49th game in charge of Iceland at Wembley in November 2020 he’d selected 87 players for his squads and transferred 84 of those to his team sheets – 75 of those actually getting game time and winning caps, 15 of which had just a single cap, that’s according to England Football Online. The cap makers have clearly been busy.
At the risk of being accused of bias, when I think back to former West Ham players like Billy Bonds, who never won a single cap for the full England side,Frank Lampard Snr who won just two , Alan Devonshire collected just eight while one of the finest footballers ever to play for the Hammers, Johnny Byrne, picked up just 11 England caps, even though he scored eight international goals, between 1961 – 1965.
To see some players these days who are mediocre in comparison, able to win more caps in a single year than those four did in their whole career, illustrates just how international football has devalued in my opinion.
Bobby Moore’s 108 caps came, almost entirely, against opposition at the highest level. There is an argument that today’s modern players who can ‘boast’, if that’s the right word, totals in the twenties and thirties because of the way international football has gone, devalues the achievement of the great man – and others like him.
Did anyone really get excited about the 5-0 victory over San Marino, or the laboured defeat of Albania?
The Home Internationals weren’t to everyone’s liking – but at least they generated some passion amongst the supporters. I’m as patriotic as the next – but international football these days simply leaves me stone cold!
And you could also have mentioned that to win an “international cap” now doesn’t even mean you have to have been born, or raised and educated, in the country you represent. I haven’t been able to take the “England” cricket team seriously for years because of the tendency to pad out it’s numbers with assorted Aussies, Springboks and even an Irish captain for the one day team.
The “England” football team at least contains home grown players, but we can’t forget it has been managed by a Swede and an Italian. Surely if international sport is to mean anything it needs to be completely restructured so that the players who represent a particular country cannot be “transferred” as they are in club football.
Declan Rice has done nothing wrong. But surely the rules which permit him to have played for the Republic of Ireland, irrespective of whether or not the games were “competitive” ones but later to decide he wanted to be English instead, are wrong, and make a mockery of international sport.
Good point well made Geoff!
Not sure if you’ve heard of him because he’s one of the new modern players but West Ham have got a player called mark Noble who much like Bonzo has never been called up. Maybe it’s not as easy as you think for modern players to get to play for England.
As usual Hugh a well written and very accurate article – and I could not agree with you more. International football should have been postponed until the all clear sirens at least in mainland Europe have sounded – especially in countries where the virus seems to be gaining ground. So let us just hope that our International players all return uninjured and free to play again for the Irons. And, yes, Budgie Byrne was one of the best players I have watched – almost as good as Georgie Best!
Don’t forget that “back in the day”, which I can remember, International teams were limited, as was the old First Division, to just one or two substitutes, so there were less international caps available from the bench compared to today.
Well written again Hugh. Proper sentiments in this piece. Thank you for a good read.
COYI
THAT WAS MR CUMMINGS TAFFY
THANK YOU HUGH. WELL DONE MASTER CUMMINGS (PREFER ALLEN!).
PS Why are we shouting?
lol
Thanks Taffy. Much appreciated.
Ps: Just call me Allen lol #coyi
Nor did Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson , who played for West Ham in the 1970’s and was a superb player, ever get a cap at senior level. Only played once at Under-23 level as I recall.