As international breaks go, the ones in October and November are perhaps the least popular among fans, players and clubs.
There’s endless withdrawals and questions about whether players are really injured or simply taking it as an opportunity to get a week or so off.
Some countries have committed to calling players up anyway, to double-check any injuries their clubs claim they have. It doesn’t appear that Belgium are taking this route with Aston Villa and Youri Tielemans.
The midfielder this week spoke about being at a high point in his football career, and he put that partly down to Unai Emery. He’s not in the Belgium squad for the upcoming break, with a ‘small pain’ given as the reason, but Emery has said he hopes the midfielder is fit to face Liverpool at 8pm this evening.
Johan Boskamp, who spent much of his career in Belgium, has been speaking to Het Belang van Limburg, and was asked about Tielemans pulling out.
The pundit replied: “We better get used to it. I stick to it: the Nations League, those are glorified practice matches. You can also notice that with the players. It appeals to them less than qualifying matches for a European Championship or World Cup. After New Year, I expect that everyone will want to be there for the start of the qualifying campaign for the World Cup in 2026.”
