Club versus country will always be a spirited debate. Fans will differ over which is more important, players will weigh up their loyalty between the flag and the funding, managers will wonder if recognition for their stars on the global stage is worth risking injury for.
But as an illustration of the huge divide at the top of our national game, nothing serves better than the war of words over the condition of Ledley King’s fitness.
Called up one day, sent home the next – the dispute over whether King’s battered, bruised and in places, non-existent cartilage should be prioritised for club or country came to a head this week, with both parties at odds over who is the priority nowadays.
Capello, in the midst of a World Cup campaign, wished to call on one of the best centre halves in the country, a decision he is fully entitled to. And what he was saying by calling up King was that the priorities of Spurs – and thus every other club – must be secondary to that.
To Capello, country has to be the pinnacle of everything. The Italian believes that the future of the game in this country would benefit far more from England succeeding in South Africa than Spurs staying in the top division. And few could disagree with him.
But it is hard to not have a bit of sympathy with Harry Redknapp here. Since he arrived at Tottenham, Redknapp has done something that his predecessors were unable to achieve; he has extracted a significant number of games from his best player. And King’s eighteen appearances this season (under Ramos he managed four) have been focal to Tottenham pulling away from the relegation mire.
The injuries that grip King’s career are why his call-up to the England squad on Sunday came as such a shock to the Tottenham hierarchy and to Harry’s credit, King’s controversial arrival at the England training camp did have a recipe for disaster.
The club boss pointed out that, such was the stopper’s chronic knee condition, that heavy training and an international appearance would render him a write-off for Spurs’ upcoming and quite vital league matches.
Spurs informed Capello’s camp that King could only play once every six days at a push and that would be without him doing any full training in between. What use would that be at the world cup, where games come at a rate of one every four days?
But as Harry spat, Capello contemplated. England boss, Capello, it seems, did not call King up lightly, and certainly had no intention of throwing him in for a week of punishing training a match action that would see his knee troubles flare up.
“The England management have spoken to Tottenham Hotspur FC and explained that they will take no risks at all with Ledley King,” said an FA spokesman.
“They fully understand the player’s injury situation but they wanted to have a close look at him in the team environment as Ledley has not previously been part of a Fabio Capello squad.”
Horror of horrors, the FA were true to their word. On Tuesday morning, Capello and his staff met with King, and also Tottenham medical staff, who were on hand to monitor the situation. King, publicly keen to continue his international career – but not at any cost – would be the richer for the experience.
That it didn’t work out was perhaps inevitable but by no means pointless. And for once we saw a mature and constructive agreement between all parties.
The FA, not normally an organisation praised for transparency, said, “Ledley King has returned to Spurs Lodge to continue his rehabilitation over the course of the international break, following discussions and assessments overnight by medical staff of both the club and the England national team.”
Why Redknapp appears so smug about his apparent ‘victory’ is perhaps a little foolish. But while ‘Arry’ may be the victor in the ‘Battle of King’s Knee’, Capello managed to maintain an important principle, one that he adopted earlier in the season with both Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
It is the one that establishes him as the final arbiter of choice. In the past, England managers have been hopelessly subservient to club bosses. Can you imagine Steve McClaren insisting Rio Ferdinand attend an England medical if Fergie had told him the player was crocked? It just wouldn't have happened.
By demonstrating his muscle, Capello sends a message not just to the club managers, but to the England dressing room, a message that says he is in total control, that he has more authority than anyone else, that he is not to be pushed around or taken lightly.
On such subtle psychological margins does success hang. This week's apparently petty spat over King's knee was further evidence, if any be required that - for the first time since Euro '96 - England appear to have a proper manager in place.
