Newcastle United midfielder Emre Belozoglu has been missing from Newcastle’s line-up since last April and yet has been named in Turkey’s squad for Wednesday’s friendly with Romania.
We all know that players are most susceptible to injury when they are returning from an injury, so why on earth is Emre willing to play for Turkey as his first game back?
The very last thing we want is for Emre to aggravate his ankle on international duty.
Emre – hasn’t played for Newcastle since April yet playing for Turkey tomorrow
Emre has not featured for Newcastle this season due to the problem, but is now expected to play some part in the match tomorrow. Allardyce is rightly concerned that Emre may come back with another injury.
The Newcastle manager cannot prevent Emre linking up with Turkey and is hoping Emre will not suffer a setback and he told the Newcastle Evening Chronicle yesterday:
“Emre will probably go away with Turkey – there’s nothing we can do about it,”
“Emre hasn’t played a game for us yet, so that’s a worry.
“There’s more chance of him getting injured than anyone else.
“He tells me that he’ll only have half an hour or 45 minutes, so I hope that’s the case and when he gets back, we’ll get him up to speed.”
We know players like to represent their county but we also know of the dangers when their willingness to play is not consistent with their fitness. That had tragic results for Newcastle United with Michael Owen last year, as we all know.
Players should remember who pays their wages and while we don’t want to be too harsh here – Newcastle pay Emre to play here not to play for Turkey as the priority.
Comments very welcome.
13 comments so far
Hadji
Aug 21, 2007 at 10:12 AM
Comment #1I hope that nothing bad is gonna happen to Emre,cause Turkey is playing very agresive football.Add the agresivness of the Romanian football,its like putting fuel in a fire.
Graham
Aug 21, 2007 at 10:12 AM
Comment #2We also pay Michael Owens wages but we seem happy to let him play for England. No-one seems too bothered about Owen playing some part on Wednesday night so why round on one and not the other?
Both countries are involved in friendly matches and surely it should help build both players fitness levels if they play some part in these games. Injuries can happen at anytime, and where i would rather see newcastle win a orner than England the world cup – we need to get our players back to full fitness asap
George
Aug 21, 2007 at 10:12 AM
Comment #3I am not surprised at this Ed as only several days ago Sam Allerdyce quoted the following about Michael Owen, ” The England game has come at a good time for MO and will give him valuable match practise and fitness”.
Sam actually said this before MO had come on to start or take part in any game for NUFC this season, so when it comes to Emre i can understand it. However i do not know about you, but i certainly think that neither MO or Emre or any other player for that matter, should go on international duty before they have proven their fitness for their clubs first.
As you pointed out, we pay the wages so we get them first, not the other way round. Especially after the MO affair last year. So like you Ed i think this is wrong, but i feel Sam may have made a rod for his own back here. Only hopes he remembers what he said and does not complain if they get injured when away.
Graham
Aug 21, 2007 at 10:13 AM
Comment #4Hadji – England are playing Germany for gods sake – do you think that is gonna be a kick about?
evil dick
Aug 21, 2007 at 10:54 AM
Comment #5I’m sick of managers whinging about players on international duty. The whole club Vs country thing gets on my nerves. Let him play, get his fitness up.
If we didn’t pay players when they were injured that would help, it’s not like they need the cash.
Lamesley Mag
Aug 21, 2007 at 11:08 AM
Comment #6The sooner footballer salaries are linked with payment when playing and on performance, the better.
Newcastle have paid out far to much in salaries to mis-fits like Luque, Marcelino, etc….
Salaries need to be performance related and we may see a big improvement from the players!
SAM
Aug 21, 2007 at 11:17 AM
Comment #7When a player comes back from injury it takes many matches before he recovers his form. I think BSA is happy if these players can get competivie match practice before he throws them back in to the first team.
Of course the player needs to be fit enough before they go off on international duty.
Dingo
Aug 21, 2007 at 3:38 PM
Comment #8@ Graham……. Owen is way ahead of Emre in fitness terms.. hes has played a few closed door matches and a bit of pre season as well as been training regular……. This is Emre’s first game back.. hes only been in full training for 1-2 weeks….. thats why people are up in worried about him playing and not Owen. Micheal needs games under his belt to get his sharpness back…. Emre needs to look after his ankle for a good month yet.
Its not as simple as saying ‘you can train now, therefore you can play’ as Sam says there is a science to it mate!!
iluvnufc
Aug 21, 2007 at 5:27 PM
Comment #9I agree with Graham…what is good for the goose is good for the gander. In other words if it’s ok for Owen to play for England then it should be ok for Emre to join up with the Turkish squad
Hadji
Aug 21, 2007 at 5:48 PM
Comment #10Ou yeah,then don’t be suprised if they bring Emre in pieces.Owen is much more fitter than Emre and I’m sure that Owen wont start the game from the begining.He’ll play the last 20 minutes only.Ohh god,i miss that day when England played against my country Macedonia.I miss that goal from the corner kick from Sakiri.Poor Seaman.
Hadji
Aug 21, 2007 at 5:51 PM
Comment #11And Graham,i know you’re concerned about Owen,but don’t forget that this topic is about Emre.When they post about Owen,then we’ll talk.
fred
Aug 22, 2007 at 2:50 PM
Comment #12Great point Graham. Emre will always be at risk. If he plays around 30 minutes it will be just right. He could have played in a game for NU reserve team but instead he plays for his country. That’s no big deal.
If he can play that’s because he’s got the green light to do so.
Let not mix up worries and bad calls.
fred
Aug 22, 2007 at 2:51 PM
Comment #13Come on Hajdi, your last line wasn’t close of an argument.