INTERNATIONAL BREAK CAN RUIN YOUR SEASON

INTERNATIONAL breaks can cause more problems than you think.

At Liverpool 30 players went away, leaving a small handful.

I had that experience before I was named in England squads and it’s hard to raise yourself, particularly if the first-team manager hands the sessions over to other coaches.

It’s a mental fight when you turn up to training and there’s virtually nobody around, you do feel left out.

I’m hoping Daniel Sturridge is coping because he needs to stay sharp and fit because he may be needed in the next two games, against Hudderfield and Cardiff, so he needs to put any England disappointment behind him.

The other difficulty is for players who travel the world and don’t play.

International training sessions don’t tend to be as full-on as at club level — the managers don’t want to be the cause of injuries — so you find yourself spending a lot of time resting and eating hotel food.

If you sit on the bench during the games you can find yourself struggling to keep your sharpness.

Gareth Southgate tried to address the problem by using every outfield player during England’s last doubleheader in September.

Cedric Soares at Southampton has travelled to face Croatia, Italy and Poland this season and not seen a minute’s action.

Before the last international break, Soares had helped Saints keep a clean sheet in a good win at Palace. They’ve not won a game or kept a clean sheet since.

Travel is probably the biggest bugbear for Premier managers.

When Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino is working out his plans for next Saturday’s derby at West Ham, he’ll have to factor in that Victor Wanyama has gone to Ethiopia and Kenya, Davinson Sanchez to America with Colombia and Lucas Moura played for Brazil in Saudi Arabia.