The Premiership's loss is the African Cup of Nations' gain

Football Food For Thought / Alsy / 03 January 2008 / Leave a Comment

Morgan in the Driving Seat - Allsy looks at which Premiership players will be missed as they head off to the African Cup of Nations

As the hectic festive season draws to a close Harry Redknapp, Avram Grant and David Moyes will feel aggrieved that Santa failed to deliver the present they wanted most - the postponement of the African Cup of Nations.

The rumblings of discontent have been growing over recent months and the end result is another club-versus-country spat with some Premiership managers questioning why the tournament (running from January 20th-Febuary 10th in Ghana) doesn't take place in Europe's post-season summer.

Is it fair that these highly paid players should leave the Premiership clubs that pay their wages? 'No' if you agree with Redknapp and friends. Portsmouth will lose five players (Diop, Kanu, Utaka, Muntari and Lauren) and assistant manager, Joe Jordan, summed up the managerial mood when speaking to BBC Sport recently.

"From our point of view a switch to a summer date would suit us," he said. "It would benefit a lot of clubs with African players and give the players and coaches more time to prepare."

Portsmouth and Chelsea will be hardest hit when the tournament begins but Everton, Arsenal and Newcastle will also lose key players. Arsenal will lose Toure and Eboue while Chelsea wave goodbye to Mikel, Drogba, Kalou and Essien. This quartet could easily fetch over £50m in the transfer window so, unsurprisingly, Chelsea also favour a summer switch.

"I think everybody wants the African Cup of Nations to be scheduled to suit the European calendar," said Avram Grant. "When they started the competition there were not so many players playing in Europe.

"So we need to think about this because it's not good for the players or the clubs. It would be better in the summer but I cannot change it."

Increasingly this opinion is emanating from a few African Premiership players like Diouf and Muntari but why should the Confederation of African Football switch the tournament to the summer to please European clubs?

A summer switch was considered but the idea is repeatedly rejected because the African weather is notoriously turbulent at that time of year. The January-February dates suit the African nations well but that means nothing in the global football market.
English players want to represent their country above all else so why should African players be any different? Why must African players put club before country when Gerrard, Owen and Terry do not?

Ultimately money counts - that's the reason why the best footballers flock to Europe and that's why many of the best end up in the Premiership. It's also the reason why a summer date (along with holding the tournament every four years) is likely to be implemented over the next few years.

Forget what Adam Smith implied, the global market takes no moral stance so the spending power of Europe's elite clubs is likely to hold sway in the long term despite the fact that both Chelsea and Arsenal's reserve sides are overflowing with expensive talent.

More eyes than ever will view the sixteen nations in the tournament via television - ironically many will be Premiership teams scouting new talent. So which country will win? Holders Egypt [14] has won the tournament a record five times but isn't given much chance of retaining their title in West Africa. They're certainly good enough to back if they progress through the group stage but most eyes will be looking to the host nation for success.

Even if they were not hosts it's likely that Ghana [4.7] would be favourites to win the tournament. Claude LeRoy's Black Stars will face plenty of domestic expectation but if the midfield (featuring Appiah, Essien and Muntari) performs well anything is possible.

Ivory Coast [5.3] relies on Drogba more than Chelsea but with the striker struggling for fitness I don't expect them to win. I always respect firepower so I'd back the Super Eagles to win the tournament. Nigeria [7.6] can't be ignored with Kanu, Yakubu, Utaka and Martins at their disposal but what do you think?