England

Tony Pulis: 'I would get rid of international friendly games'

By Simon Sinclair, Reporter | 11 November 2014

Former Crystal Palace boss Tony Pulis admits that he would get rid of international friendly games and instead have a training camp for the England squad.

Former Crystal Palace boss Tony Pulis has revealed that he would scrap international friendly matches and replace them with a training camp for the England squad.

Pulis believes that the friendly games provide no value to Roy Hodgson or his players, and feels that they are used for monetary gain for the Football Association.

The 56-year-old is adamant that training camps would breed familiarity between the Three Lions' players and decrease the number of injuries sustained during international breaks.

Pulis told Fanbookz.com: "I've always been forthright in my criticism of the international friendly programme and believe England in particular have used them with one eye on financial gain rather than the benefits for the management, the players and the team.

"I'd replace friendly matches with training camps. It is a programme that would allow international managers to have their players together instead of playing games.

"Take, for example, the traditional double-header slot this month each year. From 2015, that would be replaced with a seven-day training camp for the top 30 players. Then every month from December to April, I'd get the four associations to speak to the Premier League and the TV companies and ask they rearrange their schedule for the national teams' benefit."

England face Scotland in their friendly clash next week after playing Slovenia in their Euro 2016 qualifying match.