The international break gave these struggling Premier League players time away from club life, but things only got worse with their countries.
Here is those who were better for country than club.
Thomas Strakocha
It seemed like a potential battle for the ages, but David Raya won by a landslide victory. Thomas Strakosha didn’t quit his role as Lazio’s No.1 when his contract expired to warm up the benches at Brentford, but that’s precisely how the move has played out so far.
Strakosha has only featured once for the Bees, keeping a clean sheet in the League Cup second round win over Colchester. He otherwise spent his time watching Raya between the sticks, probably not consoled by the Spaniard being statistically one of the worst goalkeepers in the entire Premier League.
But it should be noted that Strakohsa wasted a potential chance to have his voice heard by Thomas Frank. While Raya was an unused substitute for Spain’s two games, his Brentford understudy started for Albania in a loss to Israel and a 1-1 draw with Iceland. An opportunity to gain the upper hand, at least in terms of momentum, presented itself.
Christian Pulisic
After sinking his boot into the prostrate Thomas Tuchelit was important for Christian Pulisic to draw a line under this situation and push aside the clouds that had formed during his time at Chelsea.
The forward has started just one game for the Blues all season – and even then was substituted after an hour-long win over West Ham. A week or so with the USMNT offered a clean break after Tuchel’s demise, with Graham Potter monitoring the development of his new charges.
The overwhelming feeling watching Pulisic would have been the disappointment. Abstaining from the tasteless 2-0 loss to Japan gave the Chelsea striker a chance to prove his worth against Saudi Arabia and underline the difference between him and not. But a goalless draw further compounded his and the United States’ misery.
“I have a fresh start now and I’m excited to play for the new manager. So really looking forward to it. I just have to prove myself, like everyone else does, and like I’ve done before. he said after the game, a possible lead over his club peers wasted.
Caglar Soyuncu
While the Foxes find no current use for Caglar Soyuncu, Turkey were happy to live up to their name and welcome their captain and centre-half. But when you’re unlucky, it’s important to remember that things can always get worse.
Soyuncu had Turkey’s confidence against Luxembourg and he repaid that confidence by being substituted through injury at half-time with the score at 2-2. Poor grass can’t take a break.
Harry Maguire
Hot on the heels of Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy’s homecoming as Boyzlife, Soyuncu and Harry Maguire are the reunions the world wants to see in 2022.
Leicester’s on-and-off centre-half duo played three games together in the 2018/19 season; the Foxes failed to win either game, drawing with West Ham and losing to Manchester City and Cardiff.
And neither has found international respite from the continuing misery of their club’s existence. Maguire performed well enough against Italy before losing at least two of his senses in the draw with Germany. It was enough for Gareth Southgate to finally turn against him.
Perhaps he could form a support group with Victor Lindelof when he returns to Manchester United. Sweden lost 4-1 to Serbia and drew 1-1 with Slovenia, their captain and centre-half not missing a single minute.
Chris Wood
“I went for a challenge and something popped up in my rib. It hurt to run and to breathe, so I had to pull away.
Even as a medical layman, that honestly doesn’t seem ideal. He should probably have that checked out. That it came half an hour after a goalless draw with Australia, who beat New Zealand 1-0 three days earlier in a game in which captain Wood was pulled off with 20 minutes to play , only makes things a little less worse than not being able to breathe. properly.
Considering Alexander Isak was also released from his duties in Sweden earlier due to a ‘feeling’, Newcastle might not be happy to place their entire attacking burden on Callum Wilson’s shoulders, especially as those hamstrings have only just been treated after a spell.
Tomas Soucek
Amid speculation that David Moyes will “sit down with Tomas Soucek to debating exactly why his form took a nosedive‘, the midfielder showed that everything that affects him for the club is no different with his country.
Soucek captained the Czech Republic in the 4-0 capitulation to Portugal and the 2-1 loss to Switzerland, with compatriot Hammer Vladimir Coufal also playing all 180 minutes.
It’s unclear whether that will ultimately be enough to convince Moyes that it’s worth looking at some of the new signings West Ham have brought in this summer.
It was a pretty awful break for the Hammers’ international stars. Thilo Kehrer couldn’t prevent England from scoring three times. Emerson Palmieri played just one minute of Italy’s two wins. Roberto Mancini complained that ‘there are very few Italian strikers who enjoy regular playing time at club level’, dropping Gianluca Scamacca in the process. Alphonse Areola was the French goalkeeper for the defeat against Denmark. Lucas Paqueta was excellent against Ghana but was substituted at half-time in Brazil’s win over Tunisia.
At least they can all come back to a happy side, 18th.
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