The country versus club debate has always been an age long topic for discussion in the football community. The major topic for discussion is...
The country versus club debate has always been an age long topic for discussion in the football community. The major topic for discussion is usually the release of players from their clubs.
Historically, players have always been perceived not to show as much commitment to the national team as they do to their clubs.
Various theories have been written as to why this is so, but the prevailing factor has always been the fact that, it’s the clubs that pay the wages.
Playing for your country is seen as a source of pride and honor, but it is with their club sides that they sign professional contracts, thus, are required to produce the goods and be professional at all times.
For this reason, players have always tended to prioritize their club duties and have often tended to perform better for their clubs, but some have actually gone against the grain and ended up putting in more impressive performances for their countries than for their clubs.
A very good example of this is the career trajectory Nicklas Bendtner has embarked on so far. He has consistently struggled to produce consistent performances for his various club sides.
His 9 year stay at Arsenal produced just 24 goals in 108 appearances and included largely unsuccessful loan spells at the likes of Birmingham, Sunderland and Juventus.
His career at Wolfsburg hasn’t kicked off either, he’s has only made 11 appearances all season, mustering just the one goal as Bas Dost has been chosen over him all season.
However, these struggles haven’t reflected while playing for his native Denmark. He’s consistently been the star of the show, recently scoring a hat-trick in a 3-2 win over the USA. He has scored 29 goals in 65 games, almost a goal every other game.
Welbeck struggled to score goals at Manchester United, and is also experiencing a similar lull at Arsenal despite an electrifying start to the season. He however, has a very decent record of 12 goals in 32 caps for the three lions, almost a goal every other game as well.
Other prominent examples include Milan Baros [Czech Republic], Lukas Podolski [Germany] , David Healy [Republic of Ireland], Jozy Altidore [USA], Helder Postiga [Portugal], amongst others.
This could be attributed to differences in tactics, or players playing in environments more suited to their skills and styles.
Some may be due to being played out of position at their clubs, a perfect example being Danny Welbeck who has always been shunted to the wings at both Man United and Arsenal, but always gets the nod upfront while playing for the three lions.
This goes to show that various factors could lead to either a good or bad spell for players, and some of the criticisms leveled against them are probably not fair.
Written By: Seyi
