Arteta for England

[mawders]

they are talking about it on talksport right now. Good points being made that just about every other country includes players not born in the country they play for....Germany being a good example - Ozil, Podolski etc

.....if Mikky gets overlooked again for the spain squad, how long before he thinks of england...and would the fans accept him? I'd take Mikky over any other english midfielder.....

 

[Alio]

Think the last time this was brought up, it pretty much ended up as a big fat no!!

I'm with them...

He's too good for England

 

[Muggins]

aaaahhhh.


I really don't know what to make of this.

I suppose, if you were an Englishman who has played in Switzerland (for example) for 5 years+, but couldn't get a whiff of the England squad. Would you join the Swiss national team. Even though your scouse accent is clear as day.....???

Interesting stuff.

 

[pfim]

Ozil was born in Germany.

Owen Hargreaves was born in Canada and I don't remember an uproar about him playing for England...at least not because of where he was born.

 

[ToxtethBlue]

Mesut Özil is German to be fair, and Lukas Podolski grew up in Germany. It's a bit different to Arteta's situation, who has simply lived in England for a few years. I don't think it'd go down too well in English football, granted, Deco did it for Portugal, but he's a Portuguese speaker, and will more than likely have distant Portuguese/Southern European blood. That, for me, is comparable to Hargreaves's situation.

Arteta is a Spaniard with a completely different background to English footballers. He just wouldn't fit in and I could see there being problems. That, and he'd look out of place as a footballer, it wouldn't be fair on the English lads.

 

[mawders]

Mesut Özil is German to be fair, and Lukas Podolski grew up in Germany. It's a bit different to Arteta's situation, who has simply lived in England for a few years. I don't think it'd go down too well in English football, granted, Deco did it for Portugal, but he's a Portuguese speaker, and will more than likely have distant Portuguese/Southern European blood. That, for me, is comparable to Hargreaves's situation.

Arteta is a Spaniard with a completely different background to English footballers. He just wouldn't fit in and I could see there being problems. That, and he'd look out of place as a footballer, it wouldn't be fair on the English lads.

Is that because he is so much better than any of them and would make them all look stupid, especially Gareth Barry

 

[when i score we riot]

I don't think it's got anything to do with fitting into the squad. I mean, who cares about that? The language spoken with the ball is the important part, etc etc. I think the factor throwing this decision to a clear NO is Tets' pride. He's a fookn spaniard, he loves his country, he's got a relationship to his spanish friends, and he's looking to make his skill matter to them, his family, and his heritage. Not a lot of room in the spanish midfield, but still, he's willing to work for it, and he's certainly worth it. Arteta for spain, all the way.

 

[RFUS]

It's about national identity as well. Mikel is a patriotic Spaniard. When he's finished with football, he'll no doubt move back to his homeland. There is no way he would want to play for England.

 

[GhostOfDixie]

they are talking about it on talksport right now. Good points being made that just about every other country includes players not born in the country they play for....Germany being a good example - Ozil, Podolski etc

.....if Mikky gets overlooked again for the spain squad, how long before he thinks of england...and would the fans accept him? I'd take Mikky over any other english midfielder.....

Ha ha, good luck getting a balanced view here mate.

Just around the corner there are stickers on the lamp post - they say "Scouse, Not English" - they don't even want English players to play for England, nevermind Spanish.

 

[Allezfan]

He's spanish, end of the day.

I happen to think that he would improve the english team, and that that would be a good thing, and I think its a shame that a player as good as him has never had an international cap (while Gavin McCann has one and Kevin Kilbane has more than 100). But none of that makes him english and so I wouldn't want him playing for england.

 

[Grarghsies]

Kevin Kilbane deserves every one of his 100 caps. A true servant to Irish football!

 

[TimmyDaBEST]

no just no

 

[ToxtethBlue]

Steven Gerrard's all for it, surprisingly.

 

[Allezfan]

Steven Gerrard's all for it, surprisingly.

I rest my case.

 

[GhostOfDixie]

He's spanish, end of the day.

I happen to think that he would improve the english team, and that that would be a good thing, and I think its a shame that a player as good as him has never had an international cap (while Gavin McCann has one and Kevin Kilbane has more than 100). But none of that makes him english and so I wouldn't want him playing for england.

Exactly. You need to be English to play for England. Otherwise for me it devalues the point of Internationals. You may as well transfer players around to different countries, and then smaller countries who have superstars will end up playing for France - oh they already did didn't they? - Vieria, Desailly, Trezeguet, and so on... They must have been seething over Higuain.