Football Corner

Is it just me or does anyone else hate international breaks? I have heard several managers including Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez labelling international breaks "nightmares". Maybe it's because I'm and Ireland fan and were not very good but I feel a lot of other people don't like the breaks. The league started back in August and already there has been two international breaks which in my view is a shame for the league.

Although there is no getting away from the fact that the breaks are necessary, I feel they disrupt the flow of the European leagues and I don't like it. I might also be saying this because I am a Man City fan and we are going through a really good run at the moment but I feel this break has come at the wrong time for Sven's men.

Rafa Benitez has been quoted as saying: "Is it a nightmare? Yes it is a bit. In the last international break we were top of the league, now we are saying maybe the break is good for us. "But we cannot train with the players, we cannot control what they are doing, we just have to cross our fingers and wait.

"It's difficult when you have a lot of players away. You cannot control them, then you have important games and maybe you will have problems. "We cannot do much. The players left behind trained with the reserves and they played head-tennis."

I agree with the views of Bentiez that the breaks are a nightmare but can anything be done to lessen the effects of the breaks. Of course some times the breaks come at the right times for clubs. Just look at Middlesbrough who have been on a rotting run and this break may give them the time to regroup and get back on track for the season, but the previous international break came at the wrong time for them because they were in a rich vain of form and then it was totally disrupted.