Reece James will not play for England’s U21 squad after returning to Chelsea with a minor injury and amid fitness concerns. Michy Batshuayi may not play for Belgium’s squad this break either, because Roberto Martinez.
Chelsea’s cursed run of international breaks continued as Reece James suffered another setback in his return to full fitness and his progression to the Blues’ regular squad. James and loanee Trevoh Chalobah both left England’s U21 squad on Thursday, with James picking up a minor injury that should only sideline him from training for about a week.
Meanwhile, Roberto Martinez took his Belgian squad once more into the realm of caricature as he started ex-Blues Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois and Romelu Lukaku along with a gaggle of Premier League and Serie A stars against San Marino. Martinez did not make his first substitutions – a double sub – until the 63′, up 6-0. And even then, nor with his final sub in the 76′, could Michy Batshuayi find his way into some playing time. Martinez tapped Christian Benteke to replace Lukaku instead of Batshuayi.
These two episodes drive home some of the silliness with serious consequences of the international breaks.
Martinez risked some of the world’s and some of his own best players for a game that Belgium’s U21’s could have won convincingly. If only Euro qualifiers had a Leasing.com (RIP Checkatrade Cauldron) style format where top tier teams could field a youth squad against lower ranked countries’ senior teams.
Martinez, of all people, should know the risks inherent in international breaks, as Eden Hazard broke his ankle in a freak non-contact training accident with Belgium in 2017. His top players receive little benefit from playing against San Marino.
Meanwhile, he has players like Michy Batshuayi who need any minutes they can get. Frank Lampard has a good reason for keeping Michy Batshuayi on the bench at Chelsea: Tammy Abraham is in unstoppable, undroppable form. Martinez has no such reason to keep Batshuayi out or Romelu Lukaku in, other than his weird obsession with always playing his best XI.
While nothing befell any of Martinez’s players other than more stagnation and frustration for Batshuayi, Reece James proved the point.
In his two games for Chelsea this season James has shown his potential, but by the last third of his appearances his fitness shortcomings became apparent. Late in the games against Grimsby Town and Lille he looked to be running against a stiff wind, or through molasses, or whatever other visual analogy you’d like to use. There’s nothing wrong with this: it’s to be expected and is completely natural, and it’s why Frank Lampard used him against those opponents and pulled him out for a personnel and tactical change against Lille.
Given the severity of the injury and where he is in his recovery, James probably would have benefited more from individualized training that progresses his return-to-play process rather than squad level training with the England U21’s. James needs fitness preparation in the context of continued recovery and late-stage rehab work. His injury with the England squad underscores that he is not ready for the full slate of demands.
We like to talk about luck and football gods, but more often than not, the issue is far too human. James probably should have been left behind for this international break. His situation is far too similar to N’Golo Kante’s and Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s last spring.
Michy Batshuayi, on the other hand, is eventually going to be at risk of injury for lack of match sharpness when he ultimately does make his way into a Chelsea or Belgium start. At the very least, his first prolonged appearance or two for club or country will entail him finding his feet after so long on the bench. He is in the sort of situation that could easily be ameliorated with a start against FIFA’s 210th-ranked team.
Club and national team managers seem to be having more dialogue over player management and availability than before. Ryan Giggs expressed concerns about Ethan Ampadu’s minimal playing time on loan at RB Leipzig. Didier Deschamps and Frank Lampard discussed N’Golo Kante’s fitness and involvement, with the former making a few asides along the way.
Obviously, neither manager is going to think the other is more important, but that sort of zero-sum turf war can obscure who is important: the players. If a player is injured on international duty, both managers and teams lose him. The impact will be felt more by the club, especially at this point in the club season and the Euro qualifying cycle, but that misses the point.
The two sets of managers need better cooperation, which means leaving some players behind at the club for recovery and playing others more frequently with the national team for match sharpness that will benefit both club and country.
Reece James and Michy Batshuayi are at opposite ends of the scale, but both are sharing in the ridiculousness of these international breaks.