In an ideal world we put out 11 players of purebred anglosaxon stock traceable back to King Alfred.
In reality I take the best players most likely to hold their nerve, not let mickey mouse goals in and win a competition. Same with the cricket team although I do find that hilarious having Kevin Pieterson trying to tone down his accent to sound more English because he somehow qualified
Raheem Sterling has said a million times he sees himself as English and respects his Jamaican heritage. Fine with me, he has always been a class act for England and could easily have stuck two fingers up to Southgate and the team when the press, mostly the daily mail, were after him.
A real test is to look at the recruitment demographics of the UK military. I imagine people who gain citizenship having been born elsewhere are less likely to be British/English then and run the risk of getting shot in the face and the numbers do reflect that. The military has always had strong recruitment from the commonwealth however less so from the ex pats of nations like Bulgaria, Romania, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Syria.
Thats probably too deep for now. In the meantime I'd take a centre forward who spoke only Spanish playing for England if they are any good and somehow qualify.
So where does everyone stand with players like Sterling who was born in Jamaica to Jamaican parents but moved here at a kid and played for England
He should not play for England, he is not English.
He moved to England when he was very young (I think way before school age), that's a strong connection to the country, no reason why he should not have played for England.
So where does everyone stand with players like Sterling who was born in Jamaica to Jamaican parents but moved here at a kid and played for England
He should not play for England, he is not English.
He moved to England when he was very young (I think way before school age), that's a strong connection to the country, no reason why he should not have played for England.
And assuming he is now a British citizen he can play for England
Although I think the general question is ignorant, if the question is asked differently (and not racist) it is something that I do think about.
First of all, I look at what international football has become. It should be a competition based around who was raised in your country and/or someone with a strong bloodline linked to that country. The way nations decide who is eligible, you could argue has hindered a lot of nations and only worked in favour of the already powerhouse nations. Is just being born somewhere enough to represent a Nation? Of course I am going to say yes, as myself for example has 0 family ties to this country. I am made up of mainly Irish heritage and then rest is a scatter of Welsh and Scottish. I am however quite a proud English man and love this/my country.
If we look at Germany for an example though, one of their greatest goalscorers ever, and players imo, Klose was a huge player for them. He opted for Germany and the rest is history. Klose only joined Germany when he was 8 years old and of course worked his way through the system. Poland missed out on an astonishing striker and a chance at their nation winning silverware potentially.
You look at the France team and it has strong African roots. African football is poor as it is and they suffer immensely with funding. Any top player with African heritage will always opt for a Nation like England, France, Holland etc as they immediately become more marketable, and it progresses their club career, but at what cost?
Imagine if countries like Ireland, Ghana, Nigeria, Morocco etc had more of their ancestral players playing for their nation, it would help their country massively on a football scale and wouldn't hold them back. As things stand, counties like Ireland, Ghana etc are at the mercy of top European players not making the cut at top National teams, and then opting for their other nationality.
Pele was quoted as saying an African team would win the world cup before 2000, and people pretty much mocked his prediction. When you consider though, the talent that has deep roots to that country, an African nation probably could have won the world cup by now.
You should get yourself an Irish passport, if you haven’t already?
Someone moves to this country as a young child, grows up here and learns their football (or cricket or other sports) here, he's English. If he had moved here aged 16 it would have been different.
Similarly, the likes of Andrew Strauss playing cricket for England is a no brainer, as he came over aged 6, whereas players like KP and Jonathan Trott, or indeed the likes of Jofra Archer, came over as adults, so it's less clear cut whether they should be playing for England, even if the rules say they can.
Just as a sidenote of curiousity on this subject and I think a first in football history: France finished the match yesterday evening with 11 black players. Meanwhile as I predicted earlier in this thread, the National Front swept to a clear victory in the elections the same day.
Comments
In reality I take the best players most likely to hold their nerve, not let mickey mouse goals in and win a competition. Same with the cricket team although I do find that hilarious having Kevin Pieterson trying to tone down his accent to sound more English because he somehow qualified
Raheem Sterling has said a million times he sees himself as English and respects his Jamaican heritage. Fine with me, he has always been a class act for England and could easily have stuck two fingers up to Southgate and the team when the press, mostly the daily mail, were after him.
A real test is to look at the recruitment demographics of the UK military. I imagine people who gain citizenship having been born elsewhere are less likely to be British/English then and run the risk of getting shot in the face and the numbers do reflect that. The military has always had strong recruitment from the commonwealth however less so from the ex pats of nations like Bulgaria, Romania, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Syria.
Thats probably too deep for now. In the meantime I'd take a centre forward who spoke only Spanish playing for England if they are any good and somehow qualify.
Expat mate, expat 😔
I've only ever known you as Stu?
Similarly, the likes of Andrew Strauss playing cricket for England is a no brainer, as he came over aged 6, whereas players like KP and Jonathan Trott, or indeed the likes of Jofra Archer, came over as adults, so it's less clear cut whether they should be playing for England, even if the rules say they can.
France finished the match yesterday evening with 11 black players.
Meanwhile as I predicted earlier in this thread, the National Front swept to a clear victory in the elections the same day.