Archive for tag: Newcastle players on international duty.

International breaks – A help or a hindrance?

September 6th, 2010 | 79 Comments |

It's international break time!
It's international break time!
One thing struck me over the weekend, and it is something we all know. That is that when Newcastle aren’t playing it leaves a massive hole in our weekend.

The reason for Newcastle not playing over the weekend? International breaks. Are they a good or a bad thing though?

From the outset they look like a really good thing, especially for a club in the position that we are in at the moment.

Unfortunately we don’t have that many international players at the moment, and that means that when every international break rolls around the vast majority of our squad can kick back, relax, and most importantly, wrap themselves up in cotton wool at our own training ground away from any nasty injuries, like what happened to Michael Dawson on Friday for example.

There is another advantage to international breaks though, particularly this one. This break came straight after the transfer window closed, which has unfortunately meant that we are yet to see anything of our two newest recruits, Hatem Ben Arfa and Cheick Tiote. (more…)