Robbie Slater says Tim Cahill needs to be playing at Melbourne City or he should find a new club

TIM Cahill doesn’t have to play every week to be on that plane to Russia - there’s already a seat reserved for him on it.

Robbie Slater says Tim Cahill needs to get his situation with Melbourne City sorted out soon.

TIM Cahill doesn’t have to play every week to be on that plane to Russia - there’s already a seat reserved for him on it.

If it wasn’t for his efforts we wouldn’t have qualified and, as sentimental as it sounds, going to his fourth World Cup is just something Cahill deserves.

But therein lies the problem for Melbourne City coach Warren Joyce; he’s got the national treasure in his team.

Reports on Friday suggested Cahill’s relationship with Joyce has broken down and they’re not speaking to each other.

We don’t know definitively what’s going on behind the scenes, but Cahill still needs to be playing and if he and Joyce can’t sort out this rift, then he does need to move.

It’s a tough job for Joyce and he’s made some valid points.

So much of the focus for Cahill has been on the Socceroos and with the travel involved, he has hardly been around.

Robbie Slater says Tim Cahill needs to get his situation with Melbourne City sorted out soon.

A lot of managers just write off that period and say, see you when you’re back.

That brings us to the familiar club versus country debate. Managers don’t like national teams — that’s the simple reality.

It’s great for the country and great for the players when they’re playing, but club managers don’t like national teams, especially national teams that go into double playoffs at the start of the season.

Because we didn’t qualify directly, the whole start of the season has been a mess in club-land for Cahill. And you only need to look to the other side of the city to see what the playoffs have done to Melbourne Victory who, as this column is being written, are last on the A-League ladder.

How happy do you think Kevin Muscat is that the Socceroos didn’t qualify directly?

Never mind Aston Villa, who would have been very concerned watching Mile Jedinak become Australia’s national hero against Honduras when he’s barely played for his club this season.

I remember I left Southampton for the national team with a hamstring injury and did it again on national team duty and Harry Redknapp didn’t talk to me for a month.

That was a long time ago, but the same issue still stands.

Now that the qualifiers are over and we’re going to the World Cup, maybe things will settle down.

The best case scenario for Cahill and Melbourne City is that they sort out whatever problems there may be.

Players get frustrated and managers get frustrated — there are two sides to every story.

But the last thing City fans and all Australian football fans would want is for Cahill to leave the country again.

Originally published as Robbie Slater says Tim Cahill needs to be playing at Melbourne City or he should find a new club