Is Club rivalry killing Country honours?

Yes. Clubs make England lose.
There you go said it. Read it and take in that one word.
The rivalry in England goes deeper than any other league. It is more inbred with the fans and more spirited across a larger number of teams than any other Country on Earth.
I know, I know there is Barca and Real with the most famous of all rivalries. The Milan derby, Glasgow derby, Brazil, Germany, France all have their major rivalries but none have as many as we do in the Premier League.
So what is the main derby in England? North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham has the most history but then there are another 4 or 5 teams in London playing derbies with a hatful of history to bring emotions to the fore. But until only the past season or two the N.London derby wasn't the most important game to Arsenal as they went head to head with Manchester.United vying for supremacy year after year. The Manchester derby now takes a larger slice of the pie as the Billionaires bank account transforms City. Then there is the South Coast derbies and the North-East between not only Sunderland and Newcastle but Middlesborough also. What about Birmingham and Villa? Chelsea and Spurs. Chelsea and West Ham?
The list goes on and on until you only find a match without hate between Wigan and Manchester United. Oh wait, thats a derby as well.
Each and every game with its history, hate, love, passion, disasters. And thats just the fans? I don't think so sonny Jim!
And herein lies the problem, the so called mystery at why English players can't reproduce their dazzling goalscoring form from Club to Country. For far too long we have heard ignorant presenters lauding over who is or isn't World Class. Who is or isn't going to win the league beacuse of their Rooney or Lampard or Gerrard? Who cares? What we really want is England, champions of the World.
But it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen for a long while. Unless. And here comes the but. In two parts. The main players move abroad and experience different cultures, ways to play, managerial styles, fans, the lot. Secondly is to pick a whole new batch of players. Players that don't know each other so much. Players that don't hate each other so much.
And there it is. The rivalry between these players boils over every week. The red cards, crunching tackles, baiting of each other and oppostion fans. The need for 3points and the support from the foreign superstars.
The Premier Leagues English talent put together to form a squad to win a World cup has one major problem. They don't like each other.
They really don't like each other.
As time goes on we hear more and more about the rift in the squad between who shoud or shouldn't be captain. Who speaks up and who doesn't. Who hangs out together and who stays alone. The players never look happy and its because they don't like each other.
So Man up. Get on your bike and get abroad for a couple of years. No more crunching tackles on Cashley or Rooney. Follow Becks. Be a stranger and become a champion.