Thankfully the debate has subsided somewhat in recent years. Perhaps that is due to the apathy towards the team or a lack of quality players being available, making the public immune from passing comment when the average joe is missing from the side.

Maybe that means there is some optimism about the team now the debate is back.

There was ‘outrage’ when Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph withdrew from England’s squad for matches against Germany and Brazil. There was a little less outrage over social media with the news that Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson would be missing, although the trio of injured Tottenham players Dele Alli, Harry Winks and Harry Kane was considered a larger blow.

The news was considered a major blow to England manager Gareth Southgate’s preparations for the World Cup, as the international friendlies against Germany and Brazil were considered the acid tests for his squad leading up the next year’s tournament.

After all, the marquee friendlies have proved the ideal preparation for England teams leading their startling recent successes at European Championships and World Cups…

Southgate, thankfully, described suggestions that there was a club versus country row as “nonsense”.

While he would probably have preferred to have the likes of Sterling, Alli and Kane available, with the trio expected to form a key part of his summer plans, their absence has allowed the England manager to throw in a number of young players in to a risk-free scenario over the two games. While it is pretty clear that injured players will be available for their clubs next fixtures, could a week off actually do them good in the long-run.

After all the many of the same voices in the club against country debate can previously have been found labelling the lack of a winter break as the reason for England’s failures. Kane, who will be England’s go to guy at next summer’s tournament, was viewed by many to have been exhausted during their dismal displays at Euro 2016.

There are numerous examples where rest has proved vital, not only in helping to prevent injury, but ultimately preserving athletes and teams’ skillset deep into major events. Why else do sporting organisations have sport scientists and medical teams focused on helping their athletes to peak at the right moment.

With regard the football, the 2002 World Cup could be viewed as a clear example. With the tournament in Japan and South Korea taking place from May to June in a bid to avoid the rainy season, the recovery time was effectively halved from those taking part in the European football season.

While the holders France were one of many tournament favourites to crash out early on, Brazil had the stamina, as well as the skill to win. Their fitness coach was quoted a couple of years ago as highlighting their carefully thought out training strategy as being a key to their success.

Throughout 2017, the virtues of rest have been made clear in tennis. With the ATP World Tour Finals beginning today, the top two in the world rankings are Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. The golden oldies, as it were.

While the pair have endured their fair share of injuries throughout the last couple of years, they have adapted their schedules according and have reaped the rewards.

Federer has proved selective in his choice of events, even opting to miss the French Open to boost his chances of success at Wimbledon. He then went on to win a record eighth men’s singles title at the tournament.

By comparison, Britain’s Andy Murray and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic appear to have paid the price, to an extent, for their exerts over the past couple of years. While Federer participated in 12 major events throughout the 2017, Murray clocked up 17 last year. It included several doubles ties in Davis Cup and the Olympic Games.

He even managed to win five straight tournaments, starting from his participating at the China Open last October, through to the ATP World Tour Finals the following month.

While the Briton helped cement his legacy in the sport by taking the world number one spot for the first time, it appears likely the schedule played a part in his injury worries this year. Similarly, Djokovic’s pursuit of the calendar Grand Slam, left the Serbia star achieving great success, before looking a rather jaded force.

The number of injuries among the top players has prompted a number of former players to ponder whether the gruelling schedule might need to change in future.

A lot was made earlier this year in the sport of cycling, when Britain’s Chris Froome was viewed as being under-cooked and under-raced prior to the Tour de France. Those assertions were quietly forgotten when the plan for the Team Sky rider to achieve a rare Tour and Vuelta a Espana double turned into fruition.

World Rugby found themselves criticised during the 2015 World Cup in England regarding the amount of rest times for teams. There were a number of complaints that smaller nations had found themselves at a disadvantage compared to the sports superpowers.

The organisation claimed to have taken the feedback on board for the 2019 event, stating that the match schedule for the tournament in Japan has been arranged to optimise rest days for tier two teams ahead of tier one fixtures. It is hoped this would enhancing their preparation and hopefully increasing the competitiveness of ties, with the major nations having the quicker turnarounds.

“We have worked hard to deliver a match schedule that improves on the Rugby World Cup 2015 model, delivering a more balanced spread of matches across the four weeks of pool matches and greater rest periods for the emerging rugby nations ahead of matches against the top-ranked teams,” World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper said when launching the schedule last week. “These are the foundations that will assist the world’s top players to perform to their best in Japan.”

Still, some felt that World Rugby had not gone far enough, with some teams having just a four-day turnaround from one match to another. Perhaps we should put money on a major nation complaining when they suffer an unexpected exit in two years’ time.

It seems clear to me that the best performing nations at next year’s World Cup will be the best prepared, both tactically and physically, following a long season.

Therefore, it would seem wise to allow some of England’s best players as much rest as possible, rather than bleating about potential club against country rows.