West Brom boss Roy Hodgson is unhappy with Mexico for calling up Carlos Vela and barely playing him.
Baggies boss unhappy with Mexico over Vela call-up
West Brom manager Roy Hodgson is unhappy with Mexico for calling up Carlos Vela and barely playing him in their two recent friendlies.
The on-loan Arsenal man made the exhausting 12,000-mile round trip to face the likes of Paraguay and Venezuela, but the 22-year-old did not play a major role in either game.
West Brom are fighting for their Premier League lives and Hodgson is unhappy that Vela could return to The Hawthorns and not be ready to play.
The Baggies host Liverpool on Saturday and Hodgson believes the club have been hindered by Mexico's insistence to include Vela as he was powerless to prevent him leaving.
Disastrous
"I think it is disastrous to have players go away for friendly matches for the length of time it takes to go to Mexico," he told the
Birmingham Mail.
"I'm not confident Carlos will come back in the right physical condition.
"I believe he has not played much for Mexico so I think from his personal viewpoint, as a West Brom player, this has been nothing but negative.
"I can't see anything positive about him being away for such a long period of time - but I can't stop him going."
Hodgson does not expect much sympathy from the Mexican FA, insisting they do not care about the Baggies' Premier League plight.
He said: "They make sympathetic noises but then immediately forget you have phoned because they are not interested.
"They're interested in Mexico. They don't care about West Brom and couldn't care less whether we stay up or go down."
