African Cup of Nations to shake up leagues
As 2014 approaches the winter months, January is just around the corner and one of the biggest disruptions in the football calendar is set to take place once again.
The qualifying stages of the African Cup of Nations are now taking place, with the tournament set to kick off in January 2015. The tournament is one of the rare international events which disturbs the domestic football calendar in Britain, but nonetheless it has football managers worrying every year as they lose some of their best players to African national teams.
Over in the Football League Championship, one of this season's most quivering managers is Middlesbrough's Aitor Karanka. The team, currently in fifth place with the same amount of points as promotion favourites Norwich, will lose some of their key players when the events begin.
Though only one team – hosting 11 Morocco – has been confirmed as participants in next year's tournament, there is little doubt that previous high flyers Nigeria, Egypt and Ivory Coast will be taking part.
For Karanka, the potential qualification of Ghana could mean the loss of 26-year-old Albert Adomah, while an even greater loss would be Kenneth Omeruo, who took part in 2013 when Nigeria clinched the African Cup of Nations title.
But the Championship is not the only league that will miss some of its key players. Manchester City is particularly notable as one of the heavy hitters which will suffer when January rolls around.
Doubtless Ivory Coast will be qualifying in the 2015 African Cup of Nations, meaning that last season's Premier League winners will have to say goodbye to one of their star midfielders, Yaya Toure. While losing one player may not sound too devastating in itself, we only have to look back on history to see how the team fare without the Ivorian star.
In 2012, City lost three league games in Toure's absence, giving their arch rivals Manchester United the means to take the Premier League title.
History has certainly proven that the African Cup of Nations can have a devastating effect on British football leagues. Prior to his switch to Chelsea, Demba Ba left Newcastle United in tatters last year when he left in January to play for Senegal. On the Chelsea side, meanwhile, it was also notable when Didier Drogba flew east to play for national team Ivory Coast.
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While the tournament may only last a few weeks, it's already proven just how brutal it can be on today's English teams, reminding managers like Manuel Pellegrini that we should not underestimate the power of the African side.
