6 | Nathan Ake - 2024/25

[Middedon]

It might come as a surprise to you, but people take great pride in representing their country.

It proves to them that they are the best (or one of the best) available.

Players say this again and again and it’s clear that many players feel the national team is of greater importance than their club side yet we still act as if 1) this is impossible and 2) they are the victim when it comes to injuries they sustain with the national team. Players play too many games for sure, but I don’t think many players would willing opt out of national play. No one is forcing them to play now. I think the English POV on representing the national team is very different than the rest of the world.

 

[AshtonBlueMooner]

Feel for the lad. Caught between a rock and a hard place, wanting to play for his country but would clearly have been thinking about coming back to us with minutes under his belt and ready to play given the amount of games we’ve got coming up.
I’m sure he’ll knuckle down and come back as soon as physically possible and in the meantime we just hope and pray no more injuries.
It won’t happen but we could do with Kev, Kyle and John all hanging up their International boots as soon as possible. I would add many more of our players but it’s highly unlikely any of the others would, whereas Kyle’s age and the injury setbacks Kev and John have had lend themselves to extending their playing days by retiring from the International game.

 

[Gabriel]

yes i know that…

i think pep said something about how players love playing for their countries but they should only do it if fit and not injured. it’s not an exact quote but it was something like that and he said it recently. not match fit is not the same as injured and ake was training all the time, that’s why i asked about his alleged injury.

I agree. There is a world of difference between players training regularly and being fit and players being match sharp. For me, they certainly should not be asked to start in successive international matches when they are so undercooked. I’d like to think that our club, indeed all clubs, communicate with national coaches to raise concerns, but I’m not sure they do. By way of comparison, Koeman played Zirkzee against Bosnia but then rotated Brobbey to play against Germany, and he should have done the same with Ake, a player he already knows well enough and a player he also knows has an injury record.

 

[Middedon]

Feel for the lad. Caught between a rock and a hard place, wanting to play for his country but would clearly have been thinking about coming back to us with minutes under his belt and ready to play given the amount of games we’ve got coming up.
I’m sure he’ll knuckle down and come back as soon as physically possible and in the meantime we just hope and pray no more injuries.
It won’t happen but we could do with Kev, Kyle and John all hanging up their International boots as soon as possible. I would add many more of our players but it’s highly unlikely any of the others would, whereas Kyle’s age and the injury setbacks Kev and John have had lend themselves to extending their playing days by retiring from the International game.

Part of me feels like there should be an age limit on international duty. But it would be unfair to the smaller nations. Heck, Modric was still at his peak after 30! (And still contributes to both teams)

 

[vanchi]

I agree. There is a world of difference between players training regularly and being fit and players being match sharp. For me, they certainly should not be asked to start in successive international matches when they are so undercooked. I’d like to think that our club, indeed all clubs, communicate with national coaches to raise concerns, but I’m not sure they do. By way of comparison, Koeman played Zirkzee against Bosnia but then rotated Brobbey to play against Germany, and he should have done the same with Ake, a player he already knows well enough and a player he also knows has an injury record.

we don’t know what happens in such situations, maybe ake was happy to play to gain mach fitness, maybe koeman is an asshole.

nations league gets a lot of shit here but the countries actually take it seriously, even the big ones. it can also influence qualifying for the world cup.

 

[vanchi]

Part of me feels like there should be an age limit on international duty. But it would be unfair to the smaller nations. Heck, Modric was still at his peak after 30! (And still contributes to both teams)

every player can decide to retire from the national team. ivan rakitić did it for example.

players love playing for their countries, many english people or international fans can’t seem to understand that concept.

why is kdb still playing for belgium, he wasn’t forced to do it.

modrić was man of the match on sunday, insanely good performance, he was everywhere and scored the winning goal 2 hours and 4 minutes before his 39th birthday.

stones and walker didn’t retire. pep always says how much the players love playing for their countries, it is what it is, incessant moaning on bm won’t change it.

 

[Gabriel]

we don’t know what happens in such situations, maybe ake was happy to play to gain mach fitness, maybe koeman is an asshole.

nations league gets a lot of shit here but the countries actually take it seriously, even the big ones. it can also influence qualifying for the world cup.

I’m uninterested in international football, only in player welfare. I cannot imagine that we as a club, or indeed any top club for that matter, would start a player in successive matches when they haven’t played for so long, and I’d like to think that we send our players with relevant information for national coaches to consider when making their selections.

By my calculations, this is now the third time that Ake has picked up injuries when he’s left us to go on international duty.

 

[vanchi]

I’m uninterested in international football, only in player welfare. I cannot imagine that we as a club, or indeed any top club for that matter, would start a player in successive matches when they haven’t played for so long, and I’d like to think that we send our players with relevant information for national coaches to consider when making their selections.

By my calculations, this is now the third time that Ake has picked up injuries when he’s left us to go on international duty.

yeah everyone here is uninterested in international football. anyway, i was asking about some posters claiming ake went there already injured. which is different to “just” not being match fit.

would i start him in two consecutive games when he hasn’t played since the euros? of course not.

 

[Middedon]

every player can decide to retire from the national team. ivan rakitić did it for example.

players love playing for their countries, many english people or international fans can’t seem to understand that concept.

I 100% agree with you - I mentioned as such a few posts back. English people seem to have a very different view of international play. And the player is always the victim and the intl team is always at fault.

But I do think most players start having a harder time with those extra games after 30. Modric is clearly a freak of nature. And it’s been a joy to watch him.

 

[jimharri]

I 100% agree with you - I mentioned as such a few posts back. English people seem to have a very different view of international play. And the player is always the victim and the intl team is always at fault.

But I do think most players start having a harder time with those extra games after 30. Modric is clearly a freak of nature. And it’s been a joy to watch him.

Can you please explain to me why we as a club have to suffer for something that happened while he was on international duty? The clubs develop the players, fine tune them into the players they become. And it's the clubs who pay the players. Rather well. In my opinion, the clubs should be able to to refuse to allow the players to go on international duty. I wouldn't give a toss if none of our players were selected for international duty. Domestic football is more important to me. And, I'm guessing, quite a few on here.

 

[johnny crossan]

Can you please explain to me why we as a club have to suffer for something that happened while he was on international duty? The clubs develop the players, fine tune them into the players they become. And it's the clubs who pay the players. Rather well. In my opinion, the clubs should be able to to refuse to allow the players to go on international duty. I wouldn't give a toss if none of our players were selected for international duty. Domestic football is more important to me. And, I'm guessing, quite a few on here.

It's to do with the players' love of country - something a few on here seem not to recognise as a suitable feeling.

 

[jimharri]

It's to do with the players' love of country - something a few on here seem not to recognise as a suitable feeling.

I get that, 100%. They should, however, try to remember that them playing for England, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, whoever is of no benefit to City on the pitch. We're now without a valuable squad member for x weeks/months. Anyway; I'm not going to argue all night with you. You won't change my mind, and I won't change yours. So be it.

 

[vanchi]

I 100% agree with you - I mentioned as such a few posts back. English people seem to have a very different view of international play. And the player is always the victim and the intl team is always at fault.

But I do think most players start having a harder time with those extra games after 30. Modric is clearly a freak of nature. And it’s been a joy to watch him.

and yet i saw some posts about people being proud of rico lewis starting for england. eh, people.

i saw a headline, apparently ben white doesn’t want to play for england, so his previous refusal wasn’t about southgate. i guess this will make him a national hero now!

 

[Stiff Little Wingers]

I get that, 100%. They should, however, try to remember that them playing for England, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, whoever is of no benefit to City on the pitch. We're now without a valuable squad member for x weeks/months. Anyway; I'm not going to argue all night with you. You won't change my mind, and I won't change yours. So be it.

It’s not so much club v country in my view but more about stupid and ridiculous scheduling

 

[Middedon]

Can you please explain to me why we as a club have to suffer for something that happened while he was on international duty? The clubs develop the players, fine tune them into the players they become. And it's the clubs who pay the players. Rather well. In my opinion, the clubs should be able to to refuse to allow the players to go on international duty. I wouldn't give a toss if none of our players were selected for international duty. Domestic football is more important to me. And, I'm guessing, quite a few on here.

Your feelings make sense to me, they’re just different than mine. I just think those of us who come to football through other means have different feelings. I’m a new fan and the World Cup brought me to football - so I always have a soft spot for it. I know that’s not the norm on this forum.

Some will roll their eyes at this example and it’s not exactly the same but it’s somewhat analogous. my kids play baseball on two teams in the US. One a private team with excellent coaching and a high level of skill. One is a town all star team with a more varied level of skill and parent coaches. Their joy and the importance they place on the town team is second to none. It’s like returning home when they get to play on the town team - the people they grew up, the pride they feel in being picked to play for their town in state tournaments.

Unfortunately we have a couple injury prone players that are valuable assets for their national teams. It sucks. But I don’t think it’s an international team issue, it’s too many games for both club and country.

 

[jimharri]

It’s not so much club v country in my view but more about stupid and ridiculous scheduling

I'll narrow it down even further; greed.

 

[jimharri]

Your feelings make sense to me, they’re just different than mine. I just think those of us who come to football through other means have different feelings. I’m a new fan and the World Cup brought me to football - so I always have a soft spot for it. I know that’s not the norm on this forum.

Some will roll their eyes at this example and it’s not exactly the same but it’s somewhat analogous. my kids play baseball on two teams in the US. One a private team with excellent coaching and a high level of skill. One is a town all star team with a more varied level of skill and parent coaches. Their joy and the importance they place on the town team is second to none. It’s like returning home when they get to play on the town team - the people they grew up, the pride they feel in being picked to play for their town in state tournaments.

Unfortunately we have a couple injury prone players that are valuable assets for their national teams. It sucks. But I don’t think it’s an international team issue, it’s too many games for both club and country.

Please don't think I'm having a go, because I'm not. But you're from America, and I'm guessing that the culture of club football isn't as strong stateside as it would be in Europe. Your perspective would be from a national team's viewpoint. Which is fine. I have no problem with that.

 

[alexmcity]

We can cope without Ake for several months, hope he's back in December. If we need more defenders, we can buy in January.

Guys who can play at LB: Gvardiol, Akanji, Rico, Wilson-Esbrand.

And at CB: Dias, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol. If we lack players, even Walker and Rodri can play there. 2 injuries to CBs and we may have to rely on Walker or Rodri to feature at CB in some games.

 

[Silvatoure21]

Players love their country. Big fuckin whoop. They are paid millions to play for City. How much is their country paying them??? If I was txiki or Pep I’d say, guys, you can play the qualifier matches, no problem. But I will absolutely not allow you to play in friendlies or some stupid fuckkng nations league. You got under 23 players, use them for those games. We are two years from the WC. These games are 100% unnecessary and a product of greed. Nobody watches these dumb ass games and the only thing we seem to get out of it is injured players. Hell Pep allowed Alvarez to play in the Olympics and what did we get in return, a transfer demand. We get to play Arsenal without their top player, which I am not complaining about, but he should have never had to risk Injury in the first place. If it isn’t clear, I hate fucking international breaks.

 

[Silvatoure21]

Please don't think I'm having a go, because I'm not. But you're from America, and I'm guessing that the culture of club football isn't as strong stateside as it would be in Europe. Your perspective would be from a national team's viewpoint. Which is fine. I have no problem with that.

I am from America too, but I fucking hate international bullshit games. Euro was a snooze, copa America was a snooze, the next wc will be a snooze. The quality of the games sucks because by the time the meaningful games are played, players are exhausted from playing real football for the last 10 months