Awesome and so True.
Rafa Benitez is one of the best examples of how the relationship between top foreign managers and English football has benefited everyone. We've learned from their tactical ability and professionalism, they have become enthused with our passion for football.
Rafa has brought many good things to Liverpool but he would be the first to accept England has also been a very good home, allowing him to earn great money to work in the most exciting league in the world.
That is why his attitude towards Steven Gerrard playing for the international team has begun to alarm me. He seems to be making comments that can only disrupt Steve McClaren ahead of two absolutely vital qualification games.
I know the pressure managers at big clubs are under — I was in charge of Barcelona, arguably the biggest — but when you work in England, like Rafa does, you also have a duty to help the national team when you can.
When Gerrard fractured his toe last month, he played for Liverpool a few days later against Chelsea and then pulled out of England's friendly versus Germany.
It was a clear case of putting club before country.
To be fair, it was only a friendly, so I am sure McClaren gritted his teeth and got on with it, while Gerrard said his withdrawal was to help him play for England in the games that matter, against Israel and Russia. Now Rafa is suggesting maybe Gerrard should only play in one of the qualifying games rather than both and is warning England to be careful.
Why is he making such a statement? Surely it is up to the England doctors, in conjunction with McClaren, to decide.
All Rafa is doing is putting his player — who I am sure is desperate to play for his country — under more pressure.
If Steve's foot isn't up to two games in five days, it is partly Rafa's responsibility anyway — after all, he selected Steve in the Liverpool team just a few days after the original injury because it suited the club. If it is OK for Gerrard to have an injection to play in a big match for Liverpool, why shouldn't it be OK for him to do the same for England?
Given the horrific injury list McClaren faces anyway: no David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville, Aaron Lennon, Dean Ashton and possibly Frank Lampard, it is all the more important that those who can play, should play.No longer can England boast one of the largest squads in the world.
There will always be club-versus-country conflicts because there will be differing interests at stake. But what is happening now is taking it a step farther, because a club manager is intimating one of his star players should miss a key qualification game, not just a friendly.
If this continues, international football will become a second-class citizen in this country and that is very short-sighted.
I am speaking not just as a former England manager, but as a fan of the game.
The Premier League relies on a good England team for its own long-term health.
England might not have won a major trophy since 1966, but we always qualify for the finals of major tournaments and produce nail-biting matches — too many of which we lose on penalties, of course! If we don't qualify for Euro 2008, it will have a major detrimental effect not just for the Football Association and the England team, but for Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and other clubs, too.
Players like John Terry,Wayne Rooney and, yes, Gerrard will be desperately unhappy to watch the other big nations play in a major tournament while they are on holidays.
They will be embarrassed to see Sweden out there, for example, and not England.How can that happen with our history and our league?
We have to come to a decision in this country: do we want a successful England team which challenges for the major trophies?
If the answer is no, we will drop out of contention for winning anything and the new Wembley will be a huge white elephant. If the answer is yes, and I hope it is, we need co-operation from the club managers without quibbling. That is why Rafa should be doing what he can to encourage Gerrard to play, not rush him into games for Liverpool and then claim he might not be 100 per cent for England.
The obvious weakness in McClaren's squad named on Friday is up front. Last week, I asked if it was time to leave out Michael Owen. I'm sure if his rivals were in form and scoring goals, it would be a distinct possibility.
The trouble is that hardly any of our top strikers are playing, let alone scoring.
Of the five forwards picked by McClaren, Owen, Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch have not been first-choice strikers this season, while another — Alan Smith — is being played in midfield. The only striker who is a regular No 9 for his club is Andy Johnson and, unfortunately, his form at Everton has been hot and cold.
While we have a surplus of quality centre-halves and some cover in midfield, the lack of strength in depth up front is a big worry, even against sides like Israel and Russia that we would normally beat.
In the first game particularly, I think it's important to play as many attacking players as possible for goal options. Ideally, I would like to see Gerrard and Lampard both in the side because they are capable of scoring at any time.
It was a surprise for me that Jermaine Jenas was left out of the original squad because he has been in good form for Spurs. If Lampard doesn't make it, maybe Jenas can be called up because he can at least thread his way from midfield into the opposition penalty area better than Owen Hargreaves or Michael Carrick.
Because we have problems up front,we need players in the team who are capable of scoring goals, and Gerrard comes highly into that category. He could even play as a second striker.
This is a major test for Steve McClaren, there is no doubt about it. He has enough injury problems without the best of our club managers adding to his
