Gerard Houllier has bemoaned the 'burden' of international friendlies.
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Houllier: Has had run-ins with some international managers.
(CliveBrunskill/Allsport) |
Liverpool provide four players for England's friendly against Portugal
at Villa Park on Saturday, while most of the rest of Houllier's squad are
involved in European qualifiers.
Houllier, speaking after UEFA's Elite Coaches Forum in Nyon, Switzerland, made
clear his feelings towards such games.
He said: 'I and some of the top coaches deplore the fact that too many
friendlies are a burden for some of the players, and the players do not seem to
enjoy them any more.
'It's difficult for a player to go into a friendly when he has to play an
important Premier League game and a Champions League game in the following two
weeks.'
Houllier, himself a former France coach, insists relations with Eriksson have
been good, though not always with the coaches of other countries.
He added: 'Maybe we need to have more communication between the national
coaches and the club coaches. I think it has worked well in England and I wish
it had worked better with some other national coaches.
'If it is an official game, it is all right but if it is a friendly I would
like the national team managers to take into account they are going to play a
lot of games.'
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