Rafael Benitez vs. Fabio Cappello: Who Should Have Last Say on Friendlies?

Despite picking up a minor groin injury for Liverpool against Bolton at the weekend, Fabio Cappello still insisted that Steven Gerrard must travel to the England camp in Watford so that he can be assessed by the FA medical staff.

Even though Gerrard is employed and paid by Liverpool Football Club, under current FIFA rulings, Cappello is within his rights to summon the player and examine the injury for himself before ruling him out of action.

After the national team medics examined Gerrard’s injury on Sunday, they confirmed the Liverpool medical departments conclusion that he does have a tear in the Adductor Magnus muscle in his right leg, meaning he can travel back to the north-east and miss out on the friendly with Germany on Wednesday night.

Although the demand from Cappello to see Gerrard for himself will not help the relationship with Rafael Benitez, the Spaniard will be happy to see his captain returning to Liverpool to hopefully recuperate in time to help the club maintain their best ever start to a Premier League season.

Club vs. Country

Club and national managers have been at loggerheads for a great many years over their star players and Fabio Cappello was said to be annoyed earlier in the season when Liverpool scheduled surgery for Gerrard during an international break so that he would not miss too much of the club's domestic season.

It is a difficult situation for both parties involved especially when you consider the amount of games that top sides play during a season and losing your club captain as well as one of your best performers at any time of the season will be considered a major blow.

But then you have to imagine how hard it is for the national manager to achieve a successful chemistry between his players when they spend most of their time playing with different team mates and under different tactical responsibilities.

For some teams lower down the league who have very few players playing for their country, international breaks can sometimes be a welcome relief to regain fitness levels. But for the club managers who have several players at once away on international duty, it is a worrying time wondering if their star players will return uninjured.

The Last Word

When a club employs a player, trains them and has their own medical staff assessing them, people will quite rightly state that the club manager should have the last say as to whether a player should leave for a friendly international game.

Others will claim that the club manager and the player themselves have a duty to play for their national team, but that sort of attitude can be likened to the conscription act during the First World War—you had no choice as to whether you wanted to fight for your country or not.

With suitable breaks of two weeks set in place for international qualifying games at different points of the season, it is perfectly acceptable to allow players to play for their chosen countries without having too much of an impact on a domestic season—after all, a player is just as likely as picking up an injury during club training as he is playing for his country.

But to sandwich an international friendly in to a midweek fixture between two important premiership games, possibly followed by midweek European commitments for the club, it could quite easily be seen as a good enough reason for club managers to have the last word and refuse to allow their employees to leave.

Liverpool's community leader, Barney Corkhill has written an article with a different point of view on the subject. Dont forget to have a look at The Great Debate: Club vs. Countryand leave your comments.