Pointless Friendly?

[Jantje]

With the news that 9 players have withdrawn from the England squad for the game against Holland, is there any point in arranging friendlies any more? It will be interesting to see how many of the 9 are suddenly fit again on Saturday & playing for their clubs. Apart from Micah Richards, McClaren hasn't picked anyone that he hasn't seen before at this level so what can he learn from this fixture

[Kop Kred]

With the news that 9 players have withdrawn from the England squad for the game against Holland, is there any point in arranging friendlies any more? It will be interesting to see how many of the 9 are suddenly fit again on Saturday & playing for their clubs. Apart from Micah Richards, McClaren hasn't picked anyone that he hasn't seen before at this level so what can he learn from this fixture

Don't know what he'll learn... but he'll probably get a lesson.

[B_i_N]

A lot of these players feel that they are regulars and are not putting at risk their place in the national squad and are therefore pulling out. If they weren't so confident they would all be meeting up. I reckon that many of the clubs are also putting a lot of pressure on them to withdraw. A full strength England and Holland always has the recipe for a good game. However due to the crowding of games in the domestic league these friendly internationals which take place at important times during the domestic season are never going to be a success.

[Johnny Yen]

With the news that 9 players have withdrawn from the England squad for the game against Holland, is there any point in arranging friendlies any more? It will be interesting to see how many of the 9 are suddenly fit again on Saturday & playing for their clubs. Apart from Micah Richards, McClaren hasn't picked anyone that he hasn't seen before at this level so what can he learn from this fixture

All we'll learn is that McClaren is a poor manager and we'll lose tomorrow 3:0