England Manager Roy Hodgson Needs to Stand Up to Liverpool and the Clubs

It is international week, and so of course another tiresome club v country argument spills out on to the back pages and airwaves. 

This time it is between Liverpool and England, and the treatment of both Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling.

At the moment it appears to be an argument Liverpool are easily winning.

The Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers had complained about how his striker Sturridge had picked up an injury while training with England last month, which meant he didn’t even report for international duty for these recent games against San Marino and Estonia.

The Football Association’s medical team visited Liverpool to test Sturridge at the end of September, and agreed at that moment he wasn’t fit, but it was nearly two weeks before England’s final game against Estonia, ample time to recover, but under pressure from Liverpool they decided not to pursue the issue.

Rui Vieira/Associated Press

Liverpool were now in control, and it could be argued they showed this again with the limited time Raheem Sterling spent on the pitch for England during these last two games.

Sterling was substituted at half-time against San Marino last Thursday, and after complaining about tiredness, started on the bench against Estonia before being brought on for just the final 26 minutes on Sunday.

There is no evidence Liverpool had any influence over this, but it is certainly convenient for them that Sterling was used so sparingly.

You can portray this in two ways; either England manager Roy Hodgson is listening to his players and taking care of them, or that these players and by extension their clubs are now picking when and how much they play to the detriment of both Hodgson’s own authority and the fortunes of the England side.

Whatever your view, Liverpool will not have been displeased that Sterling didn’t complete either of England’s Euro 2016 qualifiers, and he will be obviously fresher for the club’s trip to Queens Park Rangers at the weekend.

You can’t blame Liverpool, they are playing the same game as every other Premier League side with a large roster of international players.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Football has long been run by naked self-interest, everyone looks after themselves, no one is interested in looking at the game as a whole.

The clubs invest a lot of time and effort in to their players, they are their assets, and naturally they want to protect them, but they also fail to see the wider benefits of them playing regular international football.

Maybe Hodgson is being smart, playing the long game, knowing he can get past San Marino and Estonia without excessive use of Sterling and Sturridge, and he would rather save his energy for more important fights in the future.

The danger is by giving so much control to the clubs, in this instance Liverpool, he will make it harder for himself in the coming months and years.

Roy Hodgson’s job is to do his best for England, and whether the national team stands or falls, it is essential it is on the basis of his decisions, which are made without any pressure from the clubs.

England should be managed solely by Hodgson, and not by remote control by Brendan Rodgers or any other Premier League manager.