Interestingly, most of the fury that is building amongst a number of esteemed Premier League clubs surrounds the impending European Under-21 Championship in Denmark this summer, but there has barely been a mention of this summer’s Copa America, to be held in Argentina. Arsene Wenger’s aversion to allowing Jack Wilshere to join Stuart Pearce’s young side this coming June has been well documented recently, and a number of other managers will be concerned by Pearce’s intentions to take Andy Carroll, Kyle Walker and several other regular first-teamers to the two-week long tournament.
However, South America’s senior equivalent begins on the 1st July and ends on the 24th, just twenty days prior to the start of next season’s Premier League. Seeing as the majority of coaches will want their squads training for at least two weeks prior to the competition, a six-week stay in Argentina awaits players who reach the final. It seems strange seeing that David Luiz, Ramires and Alex (Chelsea), Lucas and Maxi Rodriguez (Liverpool), Rafael, Anderson and Javier Hernandez (Manchester United), Carlos Tevez and Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City), Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham), and Jonas Guttierez (Newcastle) face a commitment to a summer tournament of World Cup proportions following a gruelling League campaign and days before the start of a new one, that Premier League managers are not more worried about the effect of the Copa America.
Sir Alex Ferguson has even more reason to be cautious seeing as Hernandez will likely represent Mexico at the Gold Cup, a three-week tournament in North America which takes place just before the Copa America, which could potentially mean a summer schedule of twelve games in 50 days in at least nine different cities. These arrangements are enough to make any manager wince, but what are the actual consequences of playing in a competitive summer tournament? Are players affected to any great extent the following season based on their exertions for their country during their only months off in a season?
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I decided to investigate following the recent announcement of the PFA Player of Year Award nominees. The original list of 6 players included four who spent their 2010 summers relaxing and enduring a full pre-season with their clubs. Bale, the eventual winner of the individual accolade, ended his 2009/2010 season on a high, and was able to develop his form going in to the current campaign having had a full football-free summer.
Samir Nasri’s performances during the first half of the season made him a shoe-in for at least a nomination, although his form has dipped slightly over the last few months. Being overlooked by Raymond Domenech for France’s finalised World Cup squad came as a shock to most football fans and pundits, and they certainly could have benefitted from his quality in South Africa. Charlie Adam was afforded a few months off after celebrating Blackpool’s promotion to the Premier League, and has been one of the standout performers in the League this season, deserving of his recent recognition. He has maintained a consistently high level of performance this season and been linked with moves to Manchester United, Liverpool and Spurs, and will probably force through a move away from Bloomfield Road this summer. Lastly, Scott Parker was included in Fabio Capello’s provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup, but his eventual abandonment should be retrospectively perceived as a blessing in disguise. Although 2010 was probably Parker’s last chance to feature on football’s grandest stage, he does not share the same disappointing reputation that his national compatriots do, and has played magnificently throughout this season as West Ham’s captain, earning himself a recall to the England squad because he is seen (hopefully) as a more dependable and effective anchor than Gareth Barry.
On the other hand, the likes of Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Robin van Persie and Matthew Upson, amongst others, have all failed to perform to a standard which reflects their abilities following varied ‘success’ at last summer’s tournament. Rooney and Torres began the World Cup nowhere near full fitness, and both have struggled this term to recover from injuries effectively following their international labours. On the continent, Diego Forlan has endured his lowest goal-scoring season since his last at Manchester United in 2004, having been voted by FIFA as the World Cup’s Player of the Tournament. Arjen Robben returned from the tournament with a serious injury that kept him out for the first half of the season and has only featured 10 times for Bayern Munich in their 2010/11 Bundesliga campaign.
There are of course numerous other examples that could argue either side of the coin, and Rafael van der Vaart’s warranted and delayed inclusion to the PFA Player of the Year list is testament to the superb first season he has enjoyed in England after featuring in 5 out of Holland’s seven World Cup matches, including the Final. There is no doubt that players struggle to produce their best form regularly without required rest, and club managers constantly acknowledge this throughout each season by omitting their star players from certain games based on fatigue. Without a winter hiatus in England, Premier League players only experience a short beak in the summer, which is often enough time to recharge before a new campaign. Competitive summer tournaments have proved time and time again to seriously inhibit the quality of the world’s best footballers, and with three major competitions awaiting South America’s finest, and Europe’s youngest, talents this summer, Premier League managers should already be panicking.
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