‘To be honest…’ – Sheffield Wednesday boss ‘proud’ after Owls get international recognition

It’s the liveliest international break for the Owls in years as six players from in and around the Wednesday first team head out on international duty, and it would have been seven had it not been for Ian Poveda’s unfortunate injury at the weekend against Ipswich Town.

Iké Ugbo is heading Stateside to face Trinidad and Tobago with Canada, Di’Shon Bernard’s Jamaica face the United States of America in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals, and Joey Phuthi will join up with Zimbabwe for the first time as they take part in a Four Nations Tournament in Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, at youth level James Beadle, Bailey Cadamarteri and Pierce Charles have been called up by England and Northern Ireland for games taking place in Europe and Africa.

“I like it,” Rohl said of his team’s plethora of call-ups. “As a manager, of course, on one side you're happy and on the other you think 'Oh, maybe they can stay here for recovery and training'. But I am used to this from Munich, sometimes there was only one player in the training squad in the international break and 25 in the national teams! We can handle this, next week is special, we will find a good balance in making our players ready for the final games. From November until now is a long, long time with a lot of games. It is good to have some time for rest and individual stuff. I am very proud of the players who have improved so much that the national teams have called them up.

“Everybody wants to show up and go to the tournament. I know this from my time with the German national team that players want to play for their country. If the tournament comes closer and closer then everybody wants to be in. It is difficult, but in March you have players wanting to show up for the national team, but it is also a busy time for the club. This is the challenge for the players and for the manager because now we come to the final weeks. We have to be ready in both directions.”

Some might think that the Owls boss would see it as somewhat of a distraction for his players, but he’s just happy that there is a chance coming up for the majority of his side to get a breather.

“To be honest, at this point of the season you can’t make too many steps forward during the international break,” he went on to tell The Star. “When you look back I think the international break in November was very helpful, we really took steps forward and worked really hard - now in March we need freshness for the last games, and that means recovery for the mind as well.

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“It’s been heavy for my players because I demand a lot, and we in games we have to keep trying to do it again and again. There hasn’t been one game where we can say ‘if we lose it’s ok’, we always want to take something. So I think next week is helpful for fresh legs and fresh minds.”