A friendly with Brazil or Argentina is being scheduled for the long awaited opening of Wembley. An event to bring together a nation. Or so it should be. How often though does the promised product not live up to its expectations? The last thing the England team needs in the wake of so many unsettling performances is for the game to become another lacklustre affair. For a friendly match much hangs in the balance. Will England be worthy enough to have such an expensive home?
Freindlies are used as a way to test players, the team and the manager. Teams can test new players, new tactics, new formations with nothing at stake but pride.
Friendly by definition means to be ‘amicable’, ‘neighbourly’, ‘intimate’ or even ‘chummy’. Yet the nature of football is far from this. So how then have they survived this far?
Friendlies are dotted throughout the season, posing a chance for a youngster to shine and break through into the squad. Owen, Beckham, Lampard, have all gone through the process. 90 minutes to change a career. Yet these 90 minutes can have a far crueller idea. It can bring to the public’s attention teams weaknesses, put doubt into the minds of players looking to play a qualifier weeks later. Not so “friendly” after all.
There are no such things as ‘chums’ in football. Living in a capitalist environment games cannot be seen as a mere way to test a team. Games are inevitably played to bring in money and raise its profile in a potential foreign market.
From the look of England’s last friendlies the fans are going to be demanding their money back. Safer to spend the cash on a take away and watch England falter from the comfort of your home. Save yourself the trouble of a cold wintry night. With ticket prices averaging at £30, an international friendly can bring in over £4 million. The crowds may well be witnessing a mediocre match, with few superstars but still the corporates cash in.
Friendlies have also come under fire from clubs. Alex Ferguson loves a long rant about international duties. A congested season, reaching breaking point for the exhausted players is made larger due to friendlies. Many of the England players play for clubs fighting for the title or towing the relegation line. A friendly against a romote country on a below par pitch is not at all appealing to the celebrity life todays footballers lead.
A battle rages between club and country. Next season friendlies are being cut down form 20 to 18. The premiership bullies Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mouriniho are sitting pretty, sniggering, while Steve McClaren whimpers in the corner about needing more time.
Would it be unfair to claim friendlies are just clogging up a season though? International football cannot function without friendlies. To the manager it is vital. Only given a handful of games a year to prove himself unlike club managers who play week in week out. Teams cannot be expected to jump into competitions without the team being given valuable time to be meshed together to create a match winning team.
Former England left-back Stuart Pearce says: "People say friendlies don't matter but they do, I've got a host of caps at home and probably fifty per cent of them are from friendly matches and they counted for me. I fully expect that they should count for the rest of the England players as well."
Following a disappointing performance against Australia in 2003 the FA’s executive director, David Davies said: "it is not sufficient to only think about England in May and June, and somehow believe magically we can win major tournaments in that way.
Friendlies are supposed to give a sweet taste of what’s to come; a World Cup winning team perhaps brewing. A way to create morale within the team, and get the nation excited. Yet when many of the players are missing the lesson becomes questionable, a flawed experiment. Like making cakes without the flour the end product is going to be not quite right; actually pretty bland.
Friendlies can unite the nation, either in disbelief at the poor quality of their country’s performance (no reference to England intended) or in awe of the players’ determination. With England it’s like Russian roulette.
Many an England friendly has become a tedious foray. Supporters so used to a draw and a below par performance. Big name players conspicuously missing, multiple substitutions cutting down the playing time, and a tired display of players constantly having to contend with new formations and the player next to them being substituted. Surely this is the work of great con artistry. The nation pays extortionate prices to be foiled and then palmed off with excuses.
England’s last friendly against Spain ended miserably with the team being booed by their supporters. The appetite is still strong for England friendlies though, the game attracted a 60,000 crowd and 8 million watched on TV. Yet the boos poured upon the team at the end of the game are now echoing around despondently. England manager, McClaren says: "I want the flexibility to be able to control when we have friendlies. The key thing for me is getting more time with the players.
With such disappointing displays in friendlies of late England have come under heavy criticism. The nation has become disheartened by the players’ lack of form and firendlies have only highlighted this fact. Could it be that they will become their downfall?
Arsene Wenger said recently: “National football is boring, you have to accept that. Club football has moved forward and national football has gone backwards.” It seems international football has a battle on its hands.
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