'Arry gives opinion on Almunia 4 England debate

[nightgoat]

Almunia only wants to play for England because he's not good enough to play for Spain... If you're not good enough to play for your own country, tough shit, you can't just go and find another one...

 

[SpurSince57]

Ok, lets look at Senna and Eduardo, both are Brazilians, both players could not get into their national sides, so they take advantage of the residency rules. Both players have become excellent players for Spain and Croatia. Almunia would be a very handy understudy to David James.

Pietersen was primarily an off spinner, his batting came on in county cricket. His reasons for choosing England were based on the South African quota system. However at the time he was nowhere near the South African team and saw England as his best chance of playing international cricket. He followed a long line of fine English players that came from South Africa, the likes of Robin Smith, Allan Lamb and Tony Greig. This is all going a bit off-topic but England is an island of immigrants and this dates back centuries, that's what makes the place so damn great and diverse. The hostility on the Almunia issue is really unnecessary, and comes across as ignorant Daily Mail-esque bile.

Yes indeed, and if a player is born here, as Harry said, it's not an issue. If a player wishes to represent his parents' country rather than the one he was born in, it's not an issue either. If it's simply a matter of residency, then no, absolutely not—I don't believe Eduardo should be allowed to represent Croatia.

It was the Daily Mail, remember, that campaigned for Zola Budd to be permitted to represent Britain in athletics, on very tenuous grounds.

 

[Supersonic]

To be honest, a few years back when Cudicini looked like he was in the same situation, ie a foreign goalie who couldnt get into his nations first team but could qualify for England through residency, I was all for him being given a go.

Ive decided that the basic difference is that English or not, Almunia is fucking average. If we sign up one or two really good 'foreign' players on residency rules, it really wouldnt bother me that much.

But an overrated, average, retarded looking gooner in goal for us when he wouldnt be in Spains C team? No fucking way

 

[Michey]

Harry's dead right. No way.

There's a surprise - not :rofl:

I'm amazed that people thinks like this 2009. It's frightening. Older guys are often a lost cause but to put it in a paper.....but younger minds, there's no words really.


You didn't seem to say no to John Barnes back in the day, pathetic!

 

[nightgoat]

There's a surprise - not :rofl:

I'm amazed that people thinks like this 2009. It's frightening. Older guys are often a lost cause but to put it in a paper.....but younger minds, there's no words really.


You didn't seem to say no to John Barnes back in the day, pathetic!

There's nothing xenophobic about not wanting a Spaniard to play for the England team... :roll:

 

[donny1013]

There's a surprise - not :rofl:

I'm amazed that people thinks like this 2009. It's frightening. Older guys are often a lost cause but to put it in a paper.....but younger minds, there's no words really.


You didn't seem to say no to John Barnes back in the day, pathetic!

SS57 says in his first sentence if the player is born here then there is no problem, the UK is a very diverse country nowadays meaning many players have different family backgrounds. A lot of players at Spurs for instance have Jamaican heritage but they have been raised in this country. John Barnes was born in Jamaica but he grew up in the UK and has a British passport. Almunia has been here for 5 years, is not better than Casillas, Reina, Valdes or Diego Lopez so he should play for England? I don't think so.

 

[Partizan]

SS57 says in his first sentence if the player is born here then there is no problem, the UK is a very diverse country nowadays meaning many players have different family backgrounds. A lot of players at Spurs for instance have Jamaican heritage but they have been raised in this country. John Barnes was born in Jamaica but he grew up in the UK and has a British passport. Almunia has been here for 5 years, is not better than Casillas, Reina, Valdes or Diego Lopez so he should play for England? I don't think so.

IMO, this point is irrelevant.

 

[Marty]

SS57 says in his first sentence if the player is born here then there is no problem, the UK is a very diverse country nowadays meaning many players have different family backgrounds. A lot of players at Spurs for instance have Jamaican heritage but they have been raised in this country. John Barnes was born in Jamaica but he grew up in the UK and has a British passport. Almunia has been here for 5 years, is not better than Casillas, Reina, Valdes or Diego Lopez so he should play for England? I don't think so.

Whether or not he's better than a bunch of Spanish keepers has nothing to do with anything. Otherwise good post.


He's not born in England, has no English heritage, and had no connection to the country whatsoever before he started working here five years ago. He should NOT play for the national side. If he had had some sort of English heritage or any sort of connection to the country other than just playing football in it then it would be ok.

 

[donny1013]

Whether or not he's better than a bunch of Spanish keepers has nothing to do with anything. Otherwise good post.


He's not born in England, has no English heritage, and had no connection to the country whatsoever before he started working here five years ago. He should NOT play for the national side. If he had had some sort of English heritage or any sort of connection to the country other than just playing football in it then it would be ok.

My point by saying that though is if he was as good as them he would be happily playing for the country of his birth, Spain, but he isn't so he then thinks i can play for England because the law says so. I just don't think that is right at all.

 

[Michey]

If it is a refugee, is it different then...?

 

[donny1013]

If it is a refugee, is it different then...?

Are you referring to Zlatan? Again he grew up in Sweden. He didn't just sign for Malmo, play for them for 5 years and decide right i'll play for Sweden.

 

[Michey]

Are you referring to Zlatan? Again he grew up in Sweden. He didn't just sign for Malmo, play for them for 5 years and decide right i'll play for Sweden.

Eek

What's with peoples obsession with Zlatan? As a Swede i'm quite aware that he was born in Sweden. :up:

I was thinking more about people that has to run from war zones etc. People that has to abandon their homes and go to other countries. Can they apply for citizenship and play for England?

 

[donny1013]

Chill out, I just thought that is who you meant when talking about refugees as it was my thinking that his parents were. Not sure about the rules and regs on refugees here, hasn't been any examples in recent times

 

[SpurSince57]

There's a surprise - not :rofl:

I'm amazed that people thinks like this 2009. It's frightening. Older guys are often a lost cause but to put it in a paper.....but younger minds, there's no words really.


You didn't seem to say no to John Barnes back in the day, pathetic!

Barnes came to England as a schoolkid, not as a fully-fledged professional footballer—but I acknowledge that it's all too easy to miss minor distinctions such as this. And as a foreigner you can be forgiven for being unaware of the fact that if his parents were born prior to 1962, when Jamaica gained independence (and one must assume they were, since Barnes himself was born in 1963), they were in law regarded as British subjects, if not British citizens. Therefore, Barnes was perfectly entitled to represent England or Jamaica.

If you need any further elucidation, I'll be only too happy too happy to oblige.