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With all this take lately regarding Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer and how he may - and now may not - be considering coming out of international retirement for England, I can't help but look at the Geordie's recent form during this season and the last, seeing Newcastle shoot back-up towards the top of the table, and and wonder if it really is all down to Alan Shearer, now that he can give the Magpies 100% and his 'all'... He may have played a big-part in helping Blackburn Rovers to their one-and-only Premiership Title several years ago, and he may have helped his country in the past, on a number of occasions; also, but when compared with his scoring-record for this 2002-03 campaign, along with the top-mark perormances he's been putting in all-season-long, you can't ignore the fact that since he quit his international days, things have got even-better for him, at club-level.
For Alan Shearer alone, one of many players who were once failing to live-up to expectations on the wrong-side-of-30, things seem to have gone better than anyone could've ever expected for him, after going against our wishes and leaving his national side, once-and-for-all. Just think of how well this could benefit so-many-other players at the highest-levels today; who are now in a position identical to the one Shearer himself was once in...
If more of today's top-class footballers from all around the globe were to realise that international football was only getting in their way of what few remaining few years they have left in their careers, with their clubs, then I'm sure that by leaving the international scene - just like Shearer did - then they too would benefit from it, also -- no matter how hard a descision to make it may be, after so-many years in the game.
Quitting footballer all-together is something no footballer likes to dream of - even the money-grabbers - no matter how old, or young, they may be.
I can think of a number of today's biggest-names, who are getting-on-a-bit, that would surely benefit from acting in this way...
David Seaman is one of the first names that comes to my mind - especially if he and his manager, Arséne Wenger, still believe that at 39 (pushing-40) is still the right man for the job between-the-sticks, at Highbury, for the Gunners. Arsenal seem to have done very-well this season, with Seman protecting the backline, and it can even be said that he's played one of the biggest parts in keeping Arsenal's "Treble-hopes" alive. But what if he falls awkwardly after leaping to intercept one deep, swung-in corner, and - "crunch!" - there goes his career, and both Arsenal and England's No.1. In their late-30s, all athletes - especially footballers - are more prone to career-threatening injuries than ever-before, as they know and can 'feel' that physically, they won't be able to take this much strain for too-much-longer. But we've all seen Seaman play, and Arsenal fans - especially - know what "Big Dave" means to them. They'd hate to see him leave suddenly, especially early, before his time. So, is playing all those extra international games against the likes of Brazil, France and Argentina, really worth it when his club have the Premiership, FA Cup, and Champions' League to think about?? And it's not like too-many England fans are backing him, at 39, for the regular No.1 spot, anyway (except the Gunners)...
During his days at Filbert Street with Leicester City, Emile Heskey was the man that couldn't-stop-scoring - and you could almost say he "single-handedly" lead the Foxes to League Cup-glory, Premiership-survival, and a few 'upsets' envolving big-name clubs, on one-or-two occasions, domestically. It was this kind of form that earnt him the £11m move to Liverpool that we all knew was going to happen sooner-or-later; aswell as an England Cap he'd been dying-for, for years. But although he has scored his fair-share of important and 'vital' goals for the Reds during the last few seasons, it's fair to say that he hasn't looked like the same old Emile "Bruno" Heskey he once was with Leicester - especially at international level!
Sure, he still has his physical strength, but even in his mid-20s, it seems that something's getting in the way for him to start scoring again - and I doubt it's that "bite-sized" Michael Owen... And althought he may too have got a few goals for his country, under Sven-Goran Eriksson, he just doesn't seemed to have progressed into the 'world-class striker' we were all expecting him to be, watching him perform at Filbert Street.
Sure, it may seem a little too-early for it, but I think big "Bruno" should consider taking some 'time-away' from international duty, to focus fully on regaining that goal-scoring touch, so he can once-again be one of the Premiership's most-feared strikers, before it's all-too-late. Maybe retiring alltogether is a step too-far-ahead, but I just don't see how his below-average performances for England are helping him - or his teams.
Teddy Sheringham's another "over-35" who I think should consider 'calling it a day' on international football. He isn't getting any younger, even if he can still "hack-it" with the increasing pace of Premiership football, today. But the truth is, he just isn't scoring goals like he used to...
You've seen what he can do on the wrong-side-of-30 - just look at the Treble-winning season with Man United, when he took the Premiership by-storm, and showed the Michael Owen's and Nicloas Anelka's HOW to score-goals! And he's been doing that for years with Tottenham (...well, he "had"....). With a lack of goal-scoring, and some dissapointing performances at White Hart Lane, Mr.Eriksson is hardly gonna see him as the ideal man to partner Michael Owen for England, with talents like James Beattie, Jermaine Defoe, and several youngsters coming through who are doing a better job than ol' Teddy - at the same level (if not some better...)!
If he truly loves Spurs as much as it seems (which I'm sure he does), then I honestly think he should consider ending his international future, which would only get in his way of not-only prolonging his club-football career, but to also help him focus on his job with the club - and to score goals.
Perhaps even Ryan Giggs, the "Welsh Wizard" who appears to have a 'broken-wand' this season, would find himself back-on-track with 'United if he quit international football with Wales? He may be one of the greatest talents Welsh football still has to offer after Mark Hughes, and he may have worked-wonders for them, as Captain, against the likes of Italy, in the past. But he isn't really getting any younger, and it seems to me like he needs to ignore all-else and focus on getting back to his "wing-running"-ways, as one of the world's deadliest left-wingers. Let's be honest - he hasn't been 'himself' this season, and it looks like he needs to work on that, first.
He'd be a great-loss to Wales if he did quit, though - even with the likes of Simon Davies and Craig Bellamy in the team. And that is why I think he should take some time-away, without actually 'retiring' - just like Emile Heskey.
I don't think we 'United fans could put-up with a "sluggish" Ryan Giggs for much longer, and nor would any foreign club still show the same kind of interest.
You only have to look at someone like Chris Sutton - the £10m-man that couldn't score for Chelsea - to see how not playing for your country, but for your club, ONLY, can help to bring-out-the-best in each-and-every player. Sutton may have lost his place after to refusing to play for Glenn Hoddle's England B-team, but when he signed for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, it looked like he'd lost a lot-more from his days at Ewood Park, with Premiership-winners Blackburn. And after only one-season, with just TWO-goals, he was cast-away, to Celtic, north-of-the-border. But since signing for Martin O'Neill's side, and linking-up with Henrik Larsson, he has since regained his "natural" goal-scoring touch, and defied his critics who've said he would never be the same, again. And he's even been linked with another England call-up, here-and-there, also.
What about West Ham's Paulo DiCanio? He has so-far never once played for the Italian side, in all-his-years as a proffesional football, with all those clubs from around Europe. And look at him today, only a few years from 40... The man who single-handedly carries "The 'ammers" through every-match, making every-last-attack count, treating each game at Upton Park, like it is his last.
He may be international football "material", but I can only think that playing regularly for a 'giant', like Italy, would only get in his way of saving West Ham United. So it's worked well for him, avoiding international football, alltogether.
I also only expect to see Roy Keane improve, as time goes by, after recently announcing he has no intention of returning to the Irish side, after that World Cup bust-up with former-boss Mick McCarthy, last-Summer. Now he has only his United career to focus on - only the shin-bone of Arsenal's Patrick Vieira to lunge-into, and not Gaizika Mendieta.
So, while Alan Shearer will certainly be getting my vote for `Player of the Season`, time-away from international football, or international retirement alltogether, is something that I think should be considered by many players who just aren't performing at club-level, today. It would make Premiership football even-better!
For Alan Shearer alone, one of many players who were once failing to live-up to expectations on the wrong-side-of-30, things seem to have gone better than anyone could've ever expected for him, after going against our wishes and leaving his national side, once-and-for-all. Just think of how well this could benefit so-many-other players at the highest-levels today; who are now in a position identical to the one Shearer himself was once in...
If more of today's top-class footballers from all around the globe were to realise that international football was only getting in their way of what few remaining few years they have left in their careers, with their clubs, then I'm sure that by leaving the international scene - just like Shearer did - then they too would benefit from it, also -- no matter how hard a descision to make it may be, after so-many years in the game.
Quitting footballer all-together is something no footballer likes to dream of - even the money-grabbers - no matter how old, or young, they may be.
I can think of a number of today's biggest-names, who are getting-on-a-bit, that would surely benefit from acting in this way...
David Seaman is one of the first names that comes to my mind - especially if he and his manager, Arséne Wenger, still believe that at 39 (pushing-40) is still the right man for the job between-the-sticks, at Highbury, for the Gunners. Arsenal seem to have done very-well this season, with Seman protecting the backline, and it can even be said that he's played one of the biggest parts in keeping Arsenal's "Treble-hopes" alive. But what if he falls awkwardly after leaping to intercept one deep, swung-in corner, and - "crunch!" - there goes his career, and both Arsenal and England's No.1. In their late-30s, all athletes - especially footballers - are more prone to career-threatening injuries than ever-before, as they know and can 'feel' that physically, they won't be able to take this much strain for too-much-longer. But we've all seen Seaman play, and Arsenal fans - especially - know what "Big Dave" means to them. They'd hate to see him leave suddenly, especially early, before his time. So, is playing all those extra international games against the likes of Brazil, France and Argentina, really worth it when his club have the Premiership, FA Cup, and Champions' League to think about?? And it's not like too-many England fans are backing him, at 39, for the regular No.1 spot, anyway (except the Gunners)...
During his days at Filbert Street with Leicester City, Emile Heskey was the man that couldn't-stop-scoring - and you could almost say he "single-handedly" lead the Foxes to League Cup-glory, Premiership-survival, and a few 'upsets' envolving big-name clubs, on one-or-two occasions, domestically. It was this kind of form that earnt him the £11m move to Liverpool that we all knew was going to happen sooner-or-later; aswell as an England Cap he'd been dying-for, for years. But although he has scored his fair-share of important and 'vital' goals for the Reds during the last few seasons, it's fair to say that he hasn't looked like the same old Emile "Bruno" Heskey he once was with Leicester - especially at international level!
Sure, he still has his physical strength, but even in his mid-20s, it seems that something's getting in the way for him to start scoring again - and I doubt it's that "bite-sized" Michael Owen... And althought he may too have got a few goals for his country, under Sven-Goran Eriksson, he just doesn't seemed to have progressed into the 'world-class striker' we were all expecting him to be, watching him perform at Filbert Street.
Sure, it may seem a little too-early for it, but I think big "Bruno" should consider taking some 'time-away' from international duty, to focus fully on regaining that goal-scoring touch, so he can once-again be one of the Premiership's most-feared strikers, before it's all-too-late. Maybe retiring alltogether is a step too-far-ahead, but I just don't see how his below-average performances for England are helping him - or his teams.
Teddy Sheringham's another "over-35" who I think should consider 'calling it a day' on international football. He isn't getting any younger, even if he can still "hack-it" with the increasing pace of Premiership football, today. But the truth is, he just isn't scoring goals like he used to...
You've seen what he can do on the wrong-side-of-30 - just look at the Treble-winning season with Man United, when he took the Premiership by-storm, and showed the Michael Owen's and Nicloas Anelka's HOW to score-goals! And he's been doing that for years with Tottenham (...well, he "had"....). With a lack of goal-scoring, and some dissapointing performances at White Hart Lane, Mr.Eriksson is hardly gonna see him as the ideal man to partner Michael Owen for England, with talents like James Beattie, Jermaine Defoe, and several youngsters coming through who are doing a better job than ol' Teddy - at the same level (if not some better...)!
If he truly loves Spurs as much as it seems (which I'm sure he does), then I honestly think he should consider ending his international future, which would only get in his way of not-only prolonging his club-football career, but to also help him focus on his job with the club - and to score goals.
Perhaps even Ryan Giggs, the "Welsh Wizard" who appears to have a 'broken-wand' this season, would find himself back-on-track with 'United if he quit international football with Wales? He may be one of the greatest talents Welsh football still has to offer after Mark Hughes, and he may have worked-wonders for them, as Captain, against the likes of Italy, in the past. But he isn't really getting any younger, and it seems to me like he needs to ignore all-else and focus on getting back to his "wing-running"-ways, as one of the world's deadliest left-wingers. Let's be honest - he hasn't been 'himself' this season, and it looks like he needs to work on that, first.
He'd be a great-loss to Wales if he did quit, though - even with the likes of Simon Davies and Craig Bellamy in the team. And that is why I think he should take some time-away, without actually 'retiring' - just like Emile Heskey.
I don't think we 'United fans could put-up with a "sluggish" Ryan Giggs for much longer, and nor would any foreign club still show the same kind of interest.
You only have to look at someone like Chris Sutton - the £10m-man that couldn't score for Chelsea - to see how not playing for your country, but for your club, ONLY, can help to bring-out-the-best in each-and-every player. Sutton may have lost his place after to refusing to play for Glenn Hoddle's England B-team, but when he signed for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, it looked like he'd lost a lot-more from his days at Ewood Park, with Premiership-winners Blackburn. And after only one-season, with just TWO-goals, he was cast-away, to Celtic, north-of-the-border. But since signing for Martin O'Neill's side, and linking-up with Henrik Larsson, he has since regained his "natural" goal-scoring touch, and defied his critics who've said he would never be the same, again. And he's even been linked with another England call-up, here-and-there, also.
What about West Ham's Paulo DiCanio? He has so-far never once played for the Italian side, in all-his-years as a proffesional football, with all those clubs from around Europe. And look at him today, only a few years from 40... The man who single-handedly carries "The 'ammers" through every-match, making every-last-attack count, treating each game at Upton Park, like it is his last.
He may be international football "material", but I can only think that playing regularly for a 'giant', like Italy, would only get in his way of saving West Ham United. So it's worked well for him, avoiding international football, alltogether.
I also only expect to see Roy Keane improve, as time goes by, after recently announcing he has no intention of returning to the Irish side, after that World Cup bust-up with former-boss Mick McCarthy, last-Summer. Now he has only his United career to focus on - only the shin-bone of Arsenal's Patrick Vieira to lunge-into, and not Gaizika Mendieta.
So, while Alan Shearer will certainly be getting my vote for `Player of the Season`, time-away from international football, or international retirement alltogether, is something that I think should be considered by many players who just aren't performing at club-level, today. It would make Premiership football even-better!
Was reading that Larsson has come out of International Retirement to play against Hungary.
Full story at:
http://www.football365.com/ All_News/Scottish_News/story_60906.shtml
Remove space after football365.
Full story at:
http://www.football365.com/ All_News/Scottish_News/story_60906.shtml
Remove space after football365.
I don't think sutton is good enough, scoring goals in scotland is pretty easy, I think really we need to get fowler back into the fold, and work on Defoe, carlton cole and Rooney (who im not a big fan of) to put more of a future in our game.
although they have been loyal servants to there country i'll be glad to see Keown, sheringham and Seaman out of the squad as they are too old and sheringham and keown have been fairly substandard for about two years now. Seaman just needs replacing as he will not be good enough in portugal 2004. Robinson needs to replace seaman. Terry and woodgate should have keown and southgate's places (when southgate gets to old).
Oh and well done on your other game win. I presume it was you i saw in NGC magazine!
although they have been loyal servants to there country i'll be glad to see Keown, sheringham and Seaman out of the squad as they are too old and sheringham and keown have been fairly substandard for about two years now. Seaman just needs replacing as he will not be good enough in portugal 2004. Robinson needs to replace seaman. Terry and woodgate should have keown and southgate's places (when southgate gets to old).
Oh and well done on your other game win. I presume it was you i saw in NGC magazine!
With all this take lately regarding Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer and how he may - and now may not - be considering coming out of international retirement for England, I can't help but look at the Geordie's recent form during this season and the last, seeing Newcastle shoot back-up towards the top of the table, and and wonder if it really is all down to Alan Shearer, now that he can give the Magpies 100% and his 'all'... He may have played a big-part in helping Blackburn Rovers to their one-and-only Premiership Title several years ago, and he may have helped his country in the past, on a number of occasions; also, but when compared with his scoring-record for this 2002-03 campaign, along with the top-mark perormances he's been putting in all-season-long, you can't ignore the fact that since he quit his international days, things have got even-better for him, at club-level.
For Alan Shearer alone, one of many players who were once failing to live-up to expectations on the wrong-side-of-30, things seem to have gone better than anyone could've ever expected for him, after going against our wishes and leaving his national side, once-and-for-all. Just think of how well this could benefit so-many-other players at the highest-levels today; who are now in a position identical to the one Shearer himself was once in...
If more of today's top-class footballers from all around the globe were to realise that international football was only getting in their way of what few remaining few years they have left in their careers, with their clubs, then I'm sure that by leaving the international scene - just like Shearer did - then they too would benefit from it, also -- no matter how hard a descision to make it may be, after so-many years in the game.
Quitting footballer all-together is something no footballer likes to dream of - even the money-grabbers - no matter how old, or young, they may be.
I can think of a number of today's biggest-names, who are getting-on-a-bit, that would surely benefit from acting in this way...
David Seaman is one of the first names that comes to my mind - especially if he and his manager, Arséne Wenger, still believe that at 39 (pushing-40) is still the right man for the job between-the-sticks, at Highbury, for the Gunners. Arsenal seem to have done very-well this season, with Seman protecting the backline, and it can even be said that he's played one of the biggest parts in keeping Arsenal's "Treble-hopes" alive. But what if he falls awkwardly after leaping to intercept one deep, swung-in corner, and - "crunch!" - there goes his career, and both Arsenal and England's No.1. In their late-30s, all athletes - especially footballers - are more prone to career-threatening injuries than ever-before, as they know and can 'feel' that physically, they won't be able to take this much strain for too-much-longer. But we've all seen Seaman play, and Arsenal fans - especially - know what "Big Dave" means to them. They'd hate to see him leave suddenly, especially early, before his time. So, is playing all those extra international games against the likes of Brazil, France and Argentina, really worth it when his club have the Premiership, FA Cup, and Champions' League to think about?? And it's not like too-many England fans are backing him, at 39, for the regular No.1 spot, anyway (except the Gunners)...
During his days at Filbert Street with Leicester City, Emile Heskey was the man that couldn't-stop-scoring - and you could almost say he "single-handedly" lead the Foxes to League Cup-glory, Premiership-survival, and a few 'upsets' envolving big-name clubs, on one-or-two occasions, domestically. It was this kind of form that earnt him the £11m move to Liverpool that we all knew was going to happen sooner-or-later; aswell as an England Cap he'd been dying-for, for years. But although he has scored his fair-share of important and 'vital' goals for the Reds during the last few seasons, it's fair to say that he hasn't looked like the same old Emile "Bruno" Heskey he once was with Leicester - especially at international level!
Sure, he still has his physical strength, but even in his mid-20s, it seems that something's getting in the way for him to start scoring again - and I doubt it's that "bite-sized" Michael Owen... And althought he may too have got a few goals for his country, under Sven-Goran Eriksson, he just doesn't seemed to have progressed into the 'world-class striker' we were all expecting him to be, watching him perform at Filbert Street.
Sure, it may seem a little too-early for it, but I think big "Bruno" should consider taking some 'time-away' from international duty, to focus fully on regaining that goal-scoring touch, so he can once-again be one of the Premiership's most-feared strikers, before it's all-too-late. Maybe retiring alltogether is a step too-far-ahead, but I just don't see how his below-average performances for England are helping him - or his teams.
Teddy Sheringham's another "over-35" who I think should consider 'calling it a day' on international football. He isn't getting any younger, even if he can still "hack-it" with the increasing pace of Premiership football, today. But the truth is, he just isn't scoring goals like he used to...
You've seen what he can do on the wrong-side-of-30 - just look at the Treble-winning season with Man United, when he took the Premiership by-storm, and showed the Michael Owen's and Nicloas Anelka's HOW to score-goals! And he's been doing that for years with Tottenham (...well, he "had"....). With a lack of goal-scoring, and some dissapointing performances at White Hart Lane, Mr.Eriksson is hardly gonna see him as the ideal man to partner Michael Owen for England, with talents like James Beattie, Jermaine Defoe, and several youngsters coming through who are doing a better job than ol' Teddy - at the same level (if not some better...)!
If he truly loves Spurs as much as it seems (which I'm sure he does), then I honestly think he should consider ending his international future, which would only get in his way of not-only prolonging his club-football career, but to also help him focus on his job with the club - and to score goals.
Perhaps even Ryan Giggs, the "Welsh Wizard" who appears to have a 'broken-wand' this season, would find himself back-on-track with 'United if he quit international football with Wales? He may be one of the greatest talents Welsh football still has to offer after Mark Hughes, and he may have worked-wonders for them, as Captain, against the likes of Italy, in the past. But he isn't really getting any younger, and it seems to me like he needs to ignore all-else and focus on getting back to his "wing-running"-ways, as one of the world's deadliest left-wingers. Let's be honest - he hasn't been 'himself' this season, and it looks like he needs to work on that, first.
He'd be a great-loss to Wales if he did quit, though - even with the likes of Simon Davies and Craig Bellamy in the team. And that is why I think he should take some time-away, without actually 'retiring' - just like Emile Heskey.
I don't think we 'United fans could put-up with a "sluggish" Ryan Giggs for much longer, and nor would any foreign club still show the same kind of interest.
You only have to look at someone like Chris Sutton - the £10m-man that couldn't score for Chelsea - to see how not playing for your country, but for your club, ONLY, can help to bring-out-the-best in each-and-every player. Sutton may have lost his place after to refusing to play for Glenn Hoddle's England B-team, but when he signed for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, it looked like he'd lost a lot-more from his days at Ewood Park, with Premiership-winners Blackburn. And after only one-season, with just TWO-goals, he was cast-away, to Celtic, north-of-the-border. But since signing for Martin O'Neill's side, and linking-up with Henrik Larsson, he has since regained his "natural" goal-scoring touch, and defied his critics who've said he would never be the same, again. And he's even been linked with another England call-up, here-and-there, also.
What about West Ham's Paulo DiCanio? He has so-far never once played for the Italian side, in all-his-years as a proffesional football, with all those clubs from around Europe. And look at him today, only a few years from 40... The man who single-handedly carries "The 'ammers" through every-match, making every-last-attack count, treating each game at Upton Park, like it is his last.
He may be international football "material", but I can only think that playing regularly for a 'giant', like Italy, would only get in his way of saving West Ham United. So it's worked well for him, avoiding international football, alltogether.
I also only expect to see Roy Keane improve, as time goes by, after recently announcing he has no intention of returning to the Irish side, after that World Cup bust-up with former-boss Mick McCarthy, last-Summer. Now he has only his United career to focus on - only the shin-bone of Arsenal's Patrick Vieira to lunge-into, and not Gaizika Mendieta.
So, while Alan Shearer will certainly be getting my vote for `Player of the Season`, time-away from international football, or international retirement alltogether, is something that I think should be considered by many players who just aren't performing at club-level, today. It would make Premiership football even-better!
For Alan Shearer alone, one of many players who were once failing to live-up to expectations on the wrong-side-of-30, things seem to have gone better than anyone could've ever expected for him, after going against our wishes and leaving his national side, once-and-for-all. Just think of how well this could benefit so-many-other players at the highest-levels today; who are now in a position identical to the one Shearer himself was once in...
If more of today's top-class footballers from all around the globe were to realise that international football was only getting in their way of what few remaining few years they have left in their careers, with their clubs, then I'm sure that by leaving the international scene - just like Shearer did - then they too would benefit from it, also -- no matter how hard a descision to make it may be, after so-many years in the game.
Quitting footballer all-together is something no footballer likes to dream of - even the money-grabbers - no matter how old, or young, they may be.
I can think of a number of today's biggest-names, who are getting-on-a-bit, that would surely benefit from acting in this way...
David Seaman is one of the first names that comes to my mind - especially if he and his manager, Arséne Wenger, still believe that at 39 (pushing-40) is still the right man for the job between-the-sticks, at Highbury, for the Gunners. Arsenal seem to have done very-well this season, with Seman protecting the backline, and it can even be said that he's played one of the biggest parts in keeping Arsenal's "Treble-hopes" alive. But what if he falls awkwardly after leaping to intercept one deep, swung-in corner, and - "crunch!" - there goes his career, and both Arsenal and England's No.1. In their late-30s, all athletes - especially footballers - are more prone to career-threatening injuries than ever-before, as they know and can 'feel' that physically, they won't be able to take this much strain for too-much-longer. But we've all seen Seaman play, and Arsenal fans - especially - know what "Big Dave" means to them. They'd hate to see him leave suddenly, especially early, before his time. So, is playing all those extra international games against the likes of Brazil, France and Argentina, really worth it when his club have the Premiership, FA Cup, and Champions' League to think about?? And it's not like too-many England fans are backing him, at 39, for the regular No.1 spot, anyway (except the Gunners)...
During his days at Filbert Street with Leicester City, Emile Heskey was the man that couldn't-stop-scoring - and you could almost say he "single-handedly" lead the Foxes to League Cup-glory, Premiership-survival, and a few 'upsets' envolving big-name clubs, on one-or-two occasions, domestically. It was this kind of form that earnt him the £11m move to Liverpool that we all knew was going to happen sooner-or-later; aswell as an England Cap he'd been dying-for, for years. But although he has scored his fair-share of important and 'vital' goals for the Reds during the last few seasons, it's fair to say that he hasn't looked like the same old Emile "Bruno" Heskey he once was with Leicester - especially at international level!
Sure, he still has his physical strength, but even in his mid-20s, it seems that something's getting in the way for him to start scoring again - and I doubt it's that "bite-sized" Michael Owen... And althought he may too have got a few goals for his country, under Sven-Goran Eriksson, he just doesn't seemed to have progressed into the 'world-class striker' we were all expecting him to be, watching him perform at Filbert Street.
Sure, it may seem a little too-early for it, but I think big "Bruno" should consider taking some 'time-away' from international duty, to focus fully on regaining that goal-scoring touch, so he can once-again be one of the Premiership's most-feared strikers, before it's all-too-late. Maybe retiring alltogether is a step too-far-ahead, but I just don't see how his below-average performances for England are helping him - or his teams.
Teddy Sheringham's another "over-35" who I think should consider 'calling it a day' on international football. He isn't getting any younger, even if he can still "hack-it" with the increasing pace of Premiership football, today. But the truth is, he just isn't scoring goals like he used to...
You've seen what he can do on the wrong-side-of-30 - just look at the Treble-winning season with Man United, when he took the Premiership by-storm, and showed the Michael Owen's and Nicloas Anelka's HOW to score-goals! And he's been doing that for years with Tottenham (...well, he "had"....). With a lack of goal-scoring, and some dissapointing performances at White Hart Lane, Mr.Eriksson is hardly gonna see him as the ideal man to partner Michael Owen for England, with talents like James Beattie, Jermaine Defoe, and several youngsters coming through who are doing a better job than ol' Teddy - at the same level (if not some better...)!
If he truly loves Spurs as much as it seems (which I'm sure he does), then I honestly think he should consider ending his international future, which would only get in his way of not-only prolonging his club-football career, but to also help him focus on his job with the club - and to score goals.
Perhaps even Ryan Giggs, the "Welsh Wizard" who appears to have a 'broken-wand' this season, would find himself back-on-track with 'United if he quit international football with Wales? He may be one of the greatest talents Welsh football still has to offer after Mark Hughes, and he may have worked-wonders for them, as Captain, against the likes of Italy, in the past. But he isn't really getting any younger, and it seems to me like he needs to ignore all-else and focus on getting back to his "wing-running"-ways, as one of the world's deadliest left-wingers. Let's be honest - he hasn't been 'himself' this season, and it looks like he needs to work on that, first.
He'd be a great-loss to Wales if he did quit, though - even with the likes of Simon Davies and Craig Bellamy in the team. And that is why I think he should take some time-away, without actually 'retiring' - just like Emile Heskey.
I don't think we 'United fans could put-up with a "sluggish" Ryan Giggs for much longer, and nor would any foreign club still show the same kind of interest.
You only have to look at someone like Chris Sutton - the £10m-man that couldn't score for Chelsea - to see how not playing for your country, but for your club, ONLY, can help to bring-out-the-best in each-and-every player. Sutton may have lost his place after to refusing to play for Glenn Hoddle's England B-team, but when he signed for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, it looked like he'd lost a lot-more from his days at Ewood Park, with Premiership-winners Blackburn. And after only one-season, with just TWO-goals, he was cast-away, to Celtic, north-of-the-border. But since signing for Martin O'Neill's side, and linking-up with Henrik Larsson, he has since regained his "natural" goal-scoring touch, and defied his critics who've said he would never be the same, again. And he's even been linked with another England call-up, here-and-there, also.
What about West Ham's Paulo DiCanio? He has so-far never once played for the Italian side, in all-his-years as a proffesional football, with all those clubs from around Europe. And look at him today, only a few years from 40... The man who single-handedly carries "The 'ammers" through every-match, making every-last-attack count, treating each game at Upton Park, like it is his last.
He may be international football "material", but I can only think that playing regularly for a 'giant', like Italy, would only get in his way of saving West Ham United. So it's worked well for him, avoiding international football, alltogether.
I also only expect to see Roy Keane improve, as time goes by, after recently announcing he has no intention of returning to the Irish side, after that World Cup bust-up with former-boss Mick McCarthy, last-Summer. Now he has only his United career to focus on - only the shin-bone of Arsenal's Patrick Vieira to lunge-into, and not Gaizika Mendieta.
So, while Alan Shearer will certainly be getting my vote for `Player of the Season`, time-away from international football, or international retirement alltogether, is something that I think should be considered by many players who just aren't performing at club-level, today. It would make Premiership football even-better!