Arteta For England?

[MikeO]

I know there's an old thread about this somewhere but he's now actually saying he'd, "...consider it very seriously."

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/everton/8934261.stm

[Kohen]

Wow.

[MikeO]

Lawrenson (the well known Irishman) & Hansen sniff at the idea on MOTD, saying it's just wrong.

 

Of course it is; but we have an Italian manager, South Africans playing for our cricket team (rugby also I think), we had a Canadian as our number one tennis player for years, the Turkish football team is made up almost entirely of Germans, Mo Farrah (Somalian) won us two gold medals at the European athletics....and those are just off the top of my head.

 

I don't think it'll ever happen, but they're one arrogant self righteous pair of twats <_< .

[Ian C]

Your cricket team stole Eoin Morgan from us as well ye bastards. </bitter>

[MikeO]

Your cricket team stole Eoin Morgan from us as well ye bastards. </bitter>

You need to let go of that Ian....it's eating you up .

[Noddy]

Are you sure he's eligible?

 

Here's an interesting post on foot.ie about Arteta: Link

[Noddy]

I don't think it'll ever happen, but they're one arrogant self righteous pair of twats <_< .

Well said!

[Romey 1878]

The German National side is full of 'foreigners' too.

[Steve_E]

The German National side is full of 'foreigners' too.

 

I can only think of Cacau who got a naturalisation like Arteta would. Players like Tasci and Özil were all born in Germany. You can compare that to players of Carribean descent like Ashley Cole and Ashley Young playing for England. Others like Khedira and Boateng even have a German parent. Klose and Podolski moved to Germany when they were children and have so-called Aussiedler-status.

[Kohen]

Boetang?

[Romey 1878]

Boetang?

 

 

Jerome. The new Man City signing.

[Matt]

wouldnt be right but i would welcome it! Even if he did say yes though, Capello wouldnt play him...

[Louis]

He's eligible per FIFA rules according to media reports.. he wasn't this time last year but rules may been changed to remove the age limit. Despite being eligible in FIFA eyes, he is not eligible because of a gentleman's agreement between Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England FAs.

 

The most famous example is some parts of Scotland's media wanted to call up Nacho Novo and it was agreed they couldn't because it would go against the agreement.

 

http://news.bbc.co.u...als/7702704.stm

[MikeO]

What in the World's the point of having a "gentleman's agreement" (not worth the paper it's not written on....ask Gosling ) with three countries who are not, and are never likely to be, our rivals. Agreement with Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Germany etc etc would make sense but that's just stupid.

[Ian C]

It's because of the special nature of British citizenship, Mike. Mikel now qualifies for 'British' citizenship as there is no 'English' nationality legally, therefore if he's eligible for England he is also eligible for Wales, Scotland and N.I. Hence the gentleman's agreement to avoid any confusion.

[MikeO]

It's because of the special nature of British citizenship, Mike. Mikel now qualifies for 'British' citizenship as there is no 'English' nationality legally, therefore if he's eligible for England he is also eligible for Wales, Scotland and N.I. Hence the gentleman's agreement to avoid any confusion.

So he has the choice, who would find that confusing ?

[Louis]

It's to for example prevent uncapped players playing in Scotland for five years and playing internationally for Northern Ireland .

[MikeO]

It's to for example prevent uncapped players playing in Scotland for five years and playing internationally for Northern Ireland .

I don't see why that should be a problem.....if it's the rule for the rest of the world why do we feel it neccessary to penalise ourselves because of our unique position?

[Kohen]

Jerome. The new Man City signing.

 

I know who he is, I meant, he played for Germany as a 'foreigner'

[Steve_E]

I know who he is, I meant, he played for Germany as a 'foreigner'

 

As I said, he has a German parent. And was born there. He did not get a naturalisation.

[rubecula]

And yet his brother didn't play for Germany in the world cup. (Kevin Prince Boateng) he chose to play for an African nation... can't remember which one off the top of my head.

[Kohen]

Was it not Ghana?

[rubecula]

It may well have been. I can't remember just now to be honest.

[jamiemaher85]

And yet his brother didn't play for Germany in the world cup. (Kevin Prince Boateng) he chose to play for an African nation... can't remember which one off the top of my head.

They're only half brothers. Jerome is of German parentage, Kevin Prince is not.

 

And it was Ghana that Kevin Prince played for just to confirm.

[rubecula]

OK Jamie, thanks for that. I didn't know they were half brothers I thought they were full blood brothers.

 

KPB the half blood Prince?????

[jamiemaher85]

OK Jamie, thanks for that. I didn't know they were half brothers I thought they were full blood brothers.

 

KPB the half blood Prince?????

Very good!

[jamiemaher85]

Here's another article i've done for Those Feet, this time on Arteta and International football;-

 

 

Is Michael Arthur The Man TO Save England?

 

Fabio Capello was in attendance at Goodison Park this weekend to apparently take a look at one player who could be the answer to England's midfield creative problem. Michael Arthur, Everton's star creative midfielder, has long been over-looked by his country despite a long run of strong form for his club. The School Of Science faithful have long questioned why this star man has not been given his chance on the International stage but now thanks to a mini-media campaign the boy from Bootle is ready to make the step-up and answer his countries call. Surely his skilful feet, his eye for a pass and his expertise in deadball situations should have seen his inclusion in our failing national set-up a long time ago. Poor old Mike.

 

Wait a minute. That's not right is it?

 

The man in question is of course actually the little Spaniard Mikel Arteta whom after spending eight years residency in England now qualifies to play for England because of British residency laws. There has been a lot of clamour from some of the press pack for his inclusion in upcoming England squad, and if we are going on terms of ability alone then he would surely be a shoo-in for inclusion in England's squad. But this is not a question of ability, this is a question of nationality and a question of the cheapening nature of the international game.

 

Questions you have to ask yourself though are, at 28 years old does Arteta, and if he was called up for England would be thirty years old by the time the next tournament came around. We are calling for youth to be given a chance yet on the other hand asking for foreigners to be re-nationalised even though they can't add any must need longevity into the team. We need to look to the future and not just go for quick fixes . The FA are criticised enough for the appointment of a host of foreign manager and coaches for the national team, how is it then right to do the same with the playing staff?

 

 

You also have to question exactly how Arteta would be deployed into the current England set-up. England continue with a 442, and despite this formation becoming less and less effective in the current model of the game we still clamour for the big man/little man strike force combo up front. Arteta works best in a five man midfield and if he was to succeed then this is what will have to deployed to ensure that he is not totally ineffective. He doesn't have the strength to anchor a midfield on his own but in the same sense he doesn't have the continuing forward drive to lead a midfield in the attacking sense. Don't get me wrong here though I love Mikel Arteta, I think he is a brilliant player and have loved almost every moment of his five year tenure at Everton. He is about half a yards pace and a split seconds thought process away from being a truly world class player. He is however Spanish. He was born in San Sebastian and has no British lineage in his family. The possibility of him wearing the Three Lions makes me feel very uneasy, despite that fact that he is the type of player that England could do with as an option.

 

 

One argument that is bandied around a lot in favour of the repatriation of foreigners to play for England is the current Germany squad. It's very much a case of "Well they're doing it so why shouldn't we..." Mesut Özil is one that's heavily cited at the moment. "He's one of them dirty Turk's innit blah blah blah....". Now for me the comparison between Özil playing for Germany and Arteta playing for England does not hold at all. The facts about Arteta are simple, he has no ties to England at all other than the fact that between the ages of 24 and 28 he has lived here. That's it. Mesut Özil on the other hand was born in Gelsenkirchen, West Germany and has lived there his entire life. He has also represented Germany at U17, U19 and U21 level. (It's worth noting here that Arteta has done the same at youth level but for Spain) Now if someone is born, bred and raised in a country does that not hold some weight into what they're nationality is? Perhaps I'm just an old traditionalist but for me that would mean he was German, you know, after spending his entire life there and all. It's also worth noting that Germany does have a long tradition of Turkish families living there. After World War 2 and the destruction of much of Germany they drafted in huge waves of Turkish immigrants to help rebuild the country, in particular the railroads, and thus continuing a long tradition of Turks living in Germany which can be dated back to the Ottoman Empire, this long heritage was cemented when in 1974 the Unification of Families Law was passed. In Germany there are currently almost 1 million citizens of Turkish lineage. The question then is when does one become German and when does one stop being a Turk?

 

 

The change of mentality in fans, and also residents of this country is interesting. England has a huge multi-cultural base and we are now creating a new heritage of being a slight melting pot of nationalities, of colours, or creeds and religions. This should not however mean that we just start picking and choosing players of any nationality because they have simply played in a league that is already too littered with foreign talent. We state that young English players are not getting a look in at Premier League, and increasingly Championship, clubs because of the influx of cheaper and more highly skilled foreign footballers so how can we then support the inclusion of foreign footballers in our national team? It's ludicrous. Perhaps the changing nature of the teams people support is making it easier for them to distance themselves in such situation. Many fans now choose teams on terms of success and fashionableness, not in terms of locality or family-ties. The fact is that many fans have little connection with the clubs they "support" or the importance that these clubs have within their communities. There is also a heightening cases of people claiming that "They don't support England". For me this isn't something you can, or should, choose. If you're English then you follow England, that should be the nature of a national team, not just jumping ship when they don't do well or if you don't particularly like the current batch of prima-donna players. Football should be about sticking with teams through thick and thin. Unfortunately it isn't like that anymore.

 

 

At the end of the day this whole affair is one huge grey area that has been allowed to get out of hand by lax laws and a strange belief that some players deserve to perform on the international stage even if it's not for there own country. My personal opinion is that the rules should be simple. You play football for the team of your national birth. The slight exceptions should be parentage, not grand-parentage, or the fact that perhaps your next-door neighbour once had a German Sheppard that you once played with therefore you are not eligible to play for Germany. Money has seen the cheapening of success in domestic football and for a short while International football was seen as a bastion of slight hope, something undiminished by the huge influx of money and foreign talent. Let's not let the case of repatriating nationalities destroy the integrity and honesty of this side of the game. The problem is spreading and is close to getting well out of hand. International caps should be earned, it should be a thing of pride. Hey should not be given out because we think someone is deserving of one, they should not be handed out like effort medals at a school sports day. The issue should be addressed by FIFA before it's too late. I can't see this happening though, and the continual use of foreign talent in national teams will keep escalating. This should not mean we should jump on the band-wagon though. It's hard enough to find pride in the national team as it is.

 

 

By Jamie Maher

[rubecula]

Excellent article Jamie

[Everton_Worshiper]

Here's an article that I wrote for ToffeeTalk:

 

"Arteta shouldn't play for England, he's Spanish."

 

(No offence Jamie, just in a funny mood )

[marcopaulo]

i'm not sure how i feel about it..i'd probably lean towards him not playing for england because i don't regard living in a country for a few years in your mid 20's being english..on the other hand if laws are there to take advantage of and others do it shouldn't we?