I dislike international breaks for two particular reasons. Firstly, there isn`t any club games to talk about so most of the time the stories in the news are transfer related when it comes to the team, and secondly, you are constantly concerned about who might get injured whilst away with their national team.
On the first point, you get random stories like the £25m that Norwich will demand for James Maddison. Personally, I like the midfielder, he`s definitely got a bright future ahead of him, but with the likes of Dele, Eriksen and Lamela, we are not exactly short of attacking midfield players are we? The logic behind the Mirror story is thus: Tottenham like young English talent so we must be interested in him.
I can kind of identify with a journalist scrambling around for things to write about when there is little to say, but when you write such claims, you would think they would at least try to flesh out such a story with a bit more detail. It is a tabloid after all so perhaps I`m expecting too much.
In this day and age with supporters so hungry for content for the club, either in print or on the internet, even the most bizarre links get an air of credibility with even respected local newspapers and broadsheets taking up the rumour mill as part of their daily coverage. I don`t have a problem with it usually, but I do think it can get very cynical at times with page views the only interest rather than focusing on genuine stories.
I`m sure with a London derby just around the corner such reports will dissolve into the background for a while until the summer. With the Chelsea game on Sunday afternoon we at least have an extra day`s rest so that players can recover from the exploits for their countries.
With the last round of friendlies tonight, I`m just hoping that everyone gets through unscathed ahead of the crucial game. Like many, I`m already thinking about how the two sides will line up, but I think I should leave those thoughts until the international break is firmly out of the way! Is Maddison a genuine target? Let me know in the poll.
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