Arsenal ALWAYS have problems with International friendlies

Arsenal are a huge club. This would mean that the players we have are regularly selected to play for their respective countries, and we all know there is usually a full round of friendlies after just a few games into the new season. This is often an extremely sensitive issue for many managers. To allow their players to take the risk of injuries or to hold them back and prevent them from representing their nations is often the huge dilemma for many big club managers. What makes this even worst is that international football are often filled with passion and drive. This means players would give it their all for their nations and the injury risk becomes sky high as a result.

Arsenal are a team that is always a victim from international friendlies. From Van Persie in the past to Walcott and many others presently, Arsenal seem extremely unlucky when it comes to this. So much so that Arsene had to had a talk with Roy Hogdson regarding the issue of Jack Wilshere. What makes it harder is that the players actually want to play for their nations as we all know almost all great players have great moments for their countries. This means many of our superstars building their footballing legacy would want to represent their nation.

So, the question is do we let them go or do we hold them back like Sir Alex did to Giggs and Scholes?

My take is that we do not hold them back for friendlies. However, we must remember the fact that friendlies are essentially pointless unlike the tournaments qualifications. Thus, as much as we allow our players to go for them, we should limit it as well. One in two seems reasonable to me.

What do you guys think?