Martin O'Neill has strongly criticised the Football Association for organising Wednesday's international friendly against Germany, with the Aston Villa manager describing the fixture as "pointless". O'Neill insisted he would not change his opinion if the Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor is called up to the senior squad, as he expressed his concerns that players are at the risk of "burn-out" because of the "relentless" demands of the football calendar.
Although Fabio Capello has signalled his intention to use the match as an opportunity to experiment, O'Neill believes there is no logical reason for a friendly international taking place almost five months before England return to competitive action. "I think it's pointless," he said. "We will be interrupting Cup finals next for friendly games. And I wouldn't accept it was a really good idea simply because Gabi or Ashley [Young] might get a call-up.
"I can understand an international manager's viewpoint but there has got to be some sort of recognition for the players not getting a break at all. The timing of this one - there is not another [England] game for some time. I'm looking at it from a selfish, club-manager view point and I don't see the point in this international. I don't know what it is leading up to. It's not as if there is a game around the corner. There is such a thing as a meaningless friendly."
Despite his frustrations, O'Neill expressed his confidence that Agbonlahor would have no problem adapting to international football if he is given an opportunity against Germany. O'Neill has been hugely impressed with Agbonlahor's improvement since he took control at Villa Park a little over two years ago and believes that the 22-year-old should take ìnspiration from Theo Walcott's progress with England. He does hope, however, that Capello takes a long-term approach with the forward.
"Things can happen in the course of the game [but] what I wouldn't want is final judgements made on a player in one particular game or after one half of a game," said the Villa manager. "That's when the pressure might build up and you would feel that you have to really impress. But, by the same token, I still don't want to get away from the point that, if you get time on the field use it to impress. Every minute is priceless."
O'Neill, meanwhile, has revealed that Randy Lerner is not worried about the possibility of Gareth Barry invoking Fifa's Article 17 rule and buying out the final year of his contract in the summer. "If someone wants to use the Webster ruling, I don't think that the chairman here is overly concerned about losing the money if we had the services of a top quality player for this extra year.
