34 min “Here’s my point as clearly as I can make it – success against internationals secures a player against failure,” says Hubert O’Hearn. “If a midfielder has had good, solid matches against a De Bruyne, Fabinho, or pick your favourite, he then has a base layer of confidence so that if he does have a rough match in future he can fall back on the belief that it was just a rough match, and not his true level. And look at Theo Walcott. Any time we see his name, our first thought is, ‘Oh right, the player Sven called up too soon.’ How many Jack Wilsheres have been tossed out the window after being cast as ‘the next Gazza?’ What marks a great international isn’t how he fits into a winner – that’s easy – it’s how he bounces back from losing and becomes a winner. A failing performance too early in a player’s career makes that harder.”