Friendly call-ups infuriate Houllier

As England continue their preparations for their first outing since the World Cup, spare a thought for the club managers who will be biting their fingernails come Saturday afternoon at Villa Park.

The season is less than a month old yet already the injury list is mounting and the England side that takes on the Euro 2004 hosts, Portugal, looks like being conspicuous by the absence of several regular starters, with David Beckham at the top of that list.

For Gérard Houllier, it will be a nerve-racking weekend. The Liverpool manager has supplied four members of the England squad, let alone countless other players on competitive duty for their respective countries yet is still struggling to come to grips with why he should be forced to release so many key internationals so early in the new campaign.

Houllier spent yesterday at the headquarters of Uefa, European football's governing body, as a member of the élite coaches forum that meets annually on the banks of Lake Geneva. Once again, the old chestnut of club versus country occupied the Frenchman's thinking.

"Many of the top coaches seem to deplore the fact that too many friendlies are burdening the players," said Houllier. "Even the players themselves don't seem to enjoy these games any more. It's really hard for them to have the right motivation, especially when they have to play important Premier League games and Champions' League games."

Houllier is also uncomfortable with Uefa's decision to scrap the second phase of the Champions' League next season, replacing it with a straight knock-out format as a result of declining television audiences. It may be good for the fans to see fewer meaningless games in half-empty stadiums but Houllier would prefer to keep the status quo.

"I really enjoy the second phase because that's when everything comes to the crunch and I do regret we won't have that any more, but of course I understand Uefa had to do something."

Instead of reducing Champions' League games, Houllier suggests getting rid of the Confederations Cup and the Club World Championship, two competitions set up by Fifa to try and wrest football's power base away from Europe which have both proved expensive white elephants.

"The best players are in Europe wherever they might actually come from," he said. "Why do we want to play against South American teams when the Champions' League stands alone?"

One man's meat is another man's poison, of course. While Houllier was bemoaning the slimming down of the Champions' League, Alex Ferguson was quick to applaud Uefa's controversial changes. The Manchester United manager had to decline an invitation to attend yesterday's high-level discussions because of his team's match with Middlesbrough the previous evening but he made it clear in correspondence to Uefa that he was in favour of the new system, citing the fact that 17 games to win the tournament was far too many.

Ferguson was also one of a number of coaches, including Bayern Munich's Ottmar Hitzfeld, who proposed allowing an additional substitute during extra time in European games, and having nine instead of seven players on the bench.

"The game is getting quicker all the time," said Hitzfeld. "A fourth player would allow you both to change tactics and compensate for injury."