Here are five players who had stinking international breaks and will be looking forward to the resumption of the Premier League. Clearly, players for struggling clubs hardly fit the bill here; you can’t say Jordan Pickford will be looking forward to playing for Everton again.
William Saliba
Saliba’s slip against Belgium means he is a fraud being carried by Arsenal’s defence-heavy system. That’s how these things work. It doesn’t matter if you make zero notable mistakes in two years if you have one in a UEFA Nations League match.
It took Saliba a while to become a regular starter for France, with Didier Deschamps publicly reluctant to pick the Arsenal defender ahead of Ibrahima Konate. Another incredible season at club level saw him start at this summer’s European Championship and the 23-year-old is still a starter after France’s semi-final run.
He played the full 90 against Italy and Belgium in September and was given the start against Israel last week. France earned a comfortable 4-1 victory before a trip to Belgium, which did not go well for Saliba.
The former Marseille loanee wiped out Lois Openda to concede a 20th-minute penalty. Saliba was unlucky, slipping and obviously not intending to obliterate the Belgium frontman’s legs. Still, rival fans on social media were loving it, because it is not very often they get the chance to slate the Arsenal man.
Accidental or not, it was a moment Saliba will want to forget. Luckily for him, Youri Tielemans missed the penalty and France still won.
The centre-half also had an error leading to a shot and a yellow card for his foul on Openda, which made an already disappointing evening look even worse.
Back to Arsenal he goes. He will not be exposed for the fraud he is at club level with David Raya, Gabriel Magalhaes and Declan Rice protecting him.
Cole Palmer
Cole “Chippy Chips” Palmer was a shadow of himself during the international break. That take-the-game-by-the-scruff-of-the-neck attitude at Chelsea was nowhere to be seen as the games against Greece and Finland passed him by. Against the former, it was more a case of being in an untested system and unusual position while lacking a finishing touch, but he was bitterly disappointing against the Fins.
Another blistering start to the season filled fans with high hopes heading into the international break with Bukayo Saka’s spot on the right flank seemingly there for the taking. As if we needed another reminder that the Arsenal winger is one of the first names on the England teamsheet.
His poor performances for his country will not slow Palmer down when he returns to Premier League action. Chelsea are at Liverpool on Sunday and the 22-year-old will probably end up being the best player on the park, because that’s what he does in a Chelsea shirt.
Palmer is a player many feel new England head coach Thomas Tuchel should build around, suffering from the same discourse as Phil Foden. It will be easy to outshine Foden in an England shirt; a goal in the final of Euro 2024 – his ninth senior cap – has pretty much done that already. Usurping Saka is a different story and not something that will happen any time soon, no matter how fiercely Chelsea fans will try to convince you it should.
Virgil van Dijk
Saliba and Van Dijk have many similarities as players, but they get the same treatment on social media. Whenever Van Dijk makes a mistake – which is hardly ever – you will know all about it.
The perception of Van Dijk in the Netherlands is a lot different than in England, with criticism frequently coming in from Dutch legends like Marco van Basten. He is the captain of his country but he has failed to convince so many, which feels bizarre considering how monumental he has been in Liverpool’s success.
Van Dijk’s international break has not helped his reputation. He was sent home, for crying out loud! Sent home because he was suspended for the Netherlands’ match against Germany and sticking around would have been pretty pointless. But he was still told to return to his club. There is some drama in there. Has The Sun picked up on this yet?
Van Dijk’s red card against Hungary didn’t hurt Ronald Koeman’s side in the end. He was sent off when 1-0 down and four minutes later it was 1-1. Make of that what you will.
Getting out of the Dutch spotlight and back where he is truly loved will benefit Van Dijk and the extra rest will benefit Liverpool.
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Diogo Jota
Sticking with a Liverpool player, Jota struggled for Portugal in their Nations League matches against Poland and Scotland. Portugal won 3-1 when he didn’t start and drew 0-0 when he did.
The 27-year-old did very little off the bench against Poland, losing possession five times, losing three of seven duels, only making eight passes and recording zero shots on goal. Against Scotland at Hampden Park, Cristiano Ronaldo threw his toys out the pram in fantastic fashion as Jota had a stinker.
A yellow card from two fouls, only five passes this time, five of seven duels lost and possession conceded five times are some miserable statistics. At least he recorded a shot on target this time.
Jota has been OK for Liverpool this season and scored the only goal in their most recent match at Crystal Palace. More of that will do Arne Slot nicely.
👉 READ MORE: A prediction for every Premier League club before the next international break
Wout Faes
Saying Faes is looking forward to leaving Belgium duty with Jeremy Doku and Leandro Trossard for Leicester duty with Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp is slightly hypocritical considering what we said in the intro, but here we are.
Faes, like Saliba, conceded a penalty in Belgium’s loss against France but was punished thanks to Randal Kolo Muani’s successful finish from the spot. Sure, the French attack consisted of Kolo Muani, Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola, but it would be a compliment to say that Faes was crap against them.
Not to worry, Wout, Leicester are on the up after beating Bournemouth in their last game. Southampton away is a kind fixture to return to. It’s a must-win for both and we fancy Faes’ Foxes to do the business.
