Foreign Blue action

By Chris Kirwan
March 26 2003

It’s another weekend without a game for Everton, but plenty of Blues will be plying their trade on the international scene. David Moyes is certain to have a few nervous glances at his television screen while monitoring his players in action.

Blues on international duty this week are:

-Wayne Rooney and Richard Wright – England vs Liechtenstein & Turkey
-Scot Gemmill and Gary Naysmith – Scotland vs Iceland & Lithuania
-Mark Pembridge– Wales vs Azerbaijan & Serbia and Montenegro
-Thomas Gravesen – Denmark vs Romania & Bosnia
-Lee Carsley – Republic of Ireland vs Georgia & Albania
-Joseph Yobo – Nigeria vs Malawi

There has been a lot in the papers recently about ‘the clubs’ taking a disliking to international football. But in all honesty international football doesn’t too adverse an effect for Everton. Everton don’t suffer from the same number of call-ups as Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester United, and for young players like Rooney, Wright and Yobo it provides the opportunity to develop their talent. While Arsenal may be left with Bergkamp and Cygan training with the youth team, the nucleus of Everton’s team is still at Bellefield.

Of course Moyes will be worried that his player’s may return with a niggle or two, and he will no doubt be upset that young Wayne isn’t under his watchful eye, but there isn’t as much at stake for the Blues as there is with other clubs. While no club likes their players to get injured while not under their control, the likes of Gemmill, Carsley and Naysmith are not quite as vital to the Everton side as a Vieira, Dyer, or Ferdinand is to their respective clubs.

The international scene is also a crucial part of the evolution of Rooney and Yobo into players for the future for the Blues. It will do them good to see new training methods, to train with a higher quality of player, and to pick up on the professionalism of their peers. What we don’t need is them to listen to how “great” their international colleagues’ clubs are, the only way is down from Everton. It will also be a good week’s work for Richard Wright. Wright is a keeper who depends heavily on being confident, and to earn a recall to the national side will hopefully continue his development (as long as he avoids David James’ advice).

The involvement of most of Everton’s representatives this coming week is also likely to be limited. Rooney and Wright will be doing very little on the pitch, Carsley is unlikely to feature greatly, and Gemmill hasn’t been a mainstay of Bertie Vogts’ side. The only players likely to have a full workout are Pembridge and Gravesen, both of whom are pivotal players in their respective international sides.

But any manager likes to have his players under his jurisdiction, no matter how much they are involved elsewhere. I doubt Moyes will be trying too hard to encourage Weir and Ferguson to return to the international scene. So while Moyes may have a slightly more relaxed weekend than Messrs Ferguson, Wenger, and Robson, he will still be watching BBC1 hoping that Rooney stays seated on the bench.