People are dropping out of the England squad like flies. It’s supposed to be an honour to play for your country. I bet they miraculously recover for their next club game - and for the Russia tournament.
Though I understand why many people will see this as cynical behaviour, it should also be understood that players are constantly picking up niggling injuries, where if you were about to play a cup final you'd take the risk &/or play through the pain, but otherwise (ideally) you'd take a rare opportunity to recover during a busy season - all of the players that have withdrawn would've played in much lower profile games than these also. ...That said, perhaps the extent to which players are pulling out is a bit OTT - probably in no small part to pressure from their clubs who pay their wages. If someone like O'Dowda or Diedhiou got seriously injured after playing in a friendly whilst carrying a niggly injury, none of us would be happy...
Friendlies are a waste of everyone’s time. Never liked them even hated playing them when I actually used to play the game
friendlies give an opportunity to try other peeps and formations of different players.. bearing in mind most teams have players from 8 or clubs!
