The football season is three weeks old tomorrow. That is right, tomorrow it will be three weeks since we opened with a surprise 2-1 win at Old Trafford that marked what turned out to be the first of our four successive wins at the start of the season.
It always seems mad to me therefore that the season runs for two weeks and then takes a two week break so that we can play the first round of internationals that are now spread over a period of time almost seemingly so that Sky Sports can show as many live games as possible. Ok, that may not be strictly true but the change in international matches this year has been arranged by UEFA to accommodate TV coverage of the games.
Maybe it is the old football romantic in me but I started watching football at a time when league matches kicked off at 3pm on a Saturday, there were three European competitions (UEFA Cup, Cup Winners Cup and European Cup) and internationals were played on a Wednesday night. And there was no week off to give the players time to prepare. Hell, it was even a time when the Champions League (or European Cup as it was then) was for Champions not sides that finished fourth and many points off the top spot as has been the case in the past.
I know football has changed a lot in the past 20 years or so since the growth of the Premier League but I still cannot get to grips or enjoy an international break especially one so early in the season. We have just got to grips with playing football again and now we have to sit back and wait two weeks to see the team in action again all the time worrying about the players that we pay handsomely every week who can be on all corners of the globe sometimes representing their country.
Ki Sung-Yeung and Wilfried Bony are a long haul flight away and will be until the middle of next week when they return which won't help their fitness and whilst this is part of being in the top flight it has to be frustrating especially for Garry Monk who must sit and worry about his players fitness all the time whilst they are away with their country.
Of course we have players closer to home - Ashley Williams for example is playing with Gareth Bale (sorry, that is me being flippant but watch the coverage of the Wales training camp at the moment and it is all about Bale) whilst Fernandez was given some handy game time by Argentina as he scored against World Champions Germany in midweek.
International football I have to say has not floated by boat for many years. My interest in it disappeared at a similar time to when for many players playing for their country became an inconvenience rather than something that they aspired to and I suspect that indifference probably drives part of the reason why I hate an international break. Ryan Giggs is often criticised as someone who never took playing for his country seriously and he isn't the only one but until this changes I cannot see a massive upturn in a demand for watching international football in Wales for example. Yes there would be increased interest if qualification for a major tournament looked likely but it would be a short term increase rather than a long term benefit?
Personally - and I don't suspect I am alone here - I would rather spend tomorrow afternoon watching the Swans against someone in the Premier League than Wales against anyone in an international. Many will say that makes me a non proud Welshman (that is the polite version) but I disagree, it just means for me that international football holds about as much interest to me as it does for many of the players who will pull on their country's shirts over the next few days.
8 more days until the Premier League is back. Now that excites me!