I don't get that though. Why does it matter so much to play in the national team? Why is that 4 week excursion (at best) more important and valuable and worthwhile than a whole season where you earn top dollar, where you play week in week out against good opposition, where you have your stable place in the team (which few players do in the national team) etc?
Don't get me wrong, it's worthwhile. But this theory being presented here, and what transpires sometimes from the comments certain players make during a season, why would the World Cup or Euro be so much more valuable than Serie A+CL? And I'm not talking just about this season when our team kinda stinks, I'm talking about any season.
Why would DP, say, be so desperate every time to be in the squad, when we know that from tournament to tournament he plays a lesser role, considering that even at his best he was never given a full chance to play a whole tournament as a starter?