Should England have picked Arteta?

[ElanJo]

Hargreaves was born in Canada and lived in Germany (but never in the UK) when he started to play for the English national team; a point that no-one has mentioned- is this really any different?

Hargreaves could have played for Germany, England, Canada or Wales. Unfortunately, he chose England and not any of the other teams. He is shit.

Is he fuck shit. He's always injured but he's a quality player.

 

[wayne71]

A fully fit Hargreaves is a very good player.

 

[ballymunblue]

here is a list of foreigners who played for england

Australia

* Tony Dorigo

[edit] Belgium

* William Bryant - born 1899

[edit] Canada

* Owen Hargreaves
* Edward Hagarty Parry

[edit] Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)

* Leroy Lita (U21)
* Fabrice Muamba (U21)

[edit] French Guiana

* Cyrille Regis

[edit] Guernsey

* Matthew Le Tissier

[edit] India

* Claude Ashton
* Alfred Goodwyn
* Elphinstone Jackson
* William Kenyon-Slaney
* William Lindsay
* James F. M. Prinsep
* Alf Quantrill

[edit] Jamaica

* John Barnes
* Luther Blissett
* Bob Hazell (U21)
* Zavon Hines (U21)

[edit] Jersey

* Graeme Le Saux

[edit] Mauritius

* Herbert Rawson

[edit] Nigeria

* Shola Ameobi (U21)
* Nedum Onuoha (U21)
* John Salako

[edit] Scotland

* Thomas Burn (UK team at 1912 Olympics)
* Dominic Matteo (U21)

[edit] Sierra Leone

* Chris Bart-Williams (U21)

[edit] Singapore

* Terry Butcher
* Nigel Callaghan (U21)

[edit] South Africa

* Gordon Hodgson
* Craig Johnston (U21, called up but never played for senior team) - Australian national born in Johannesburg
* Frank Osborne
* Reg Osborne
* Bill Perry
* William Rawson
* Brian Stein
* Andrew Surman (U21)
* Colin Viljoen

[edit] Trinidad and Tobago

* Jlloyd Samuel (U21)

[edit] Wales

* Rob Jones

 

[Barcon]

Hargreaves could have played for Germany, England, Canada or Wales. Unfortunately, he chose England and not any of the other teams. He is shit.

Is he fuck shit. He's always injured but he's a quality player.

Is he fuck a quality player. He's shit, and he's always injured.

 

[city bairn]

The French and Germans have been "cheating" this way for years.

 

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't have thought that Arteta has any interest in playing for England as he's already represented Spain at under 17/18 and under 21 levels ....... they appear to be his choice , as he's a Spaniard.

But there's no doubting that he's very much a class act , and he wouldn't look out of place in their full international side ....... or at least as back up in their squad.

 

[Anonymous]

No because it makes a mockery of the international game but if England want to have any chance of winning anything they need to start doing it.

 

[sam221985]

I wouldn't have thought that Arteta has any interest in playing for England as he's already represented Spain at under 17/18 and under 21 levels ....... they appear to be his choice , as he's a Spaniard.

But there's no doubting that he's very much a class act , and he wouldn't look out of place in their full international side ....... or at least as back up in their squad.

He must know he isn't going to represent Spain at senior level now. He hasn't had a sniff of an international cap at that level even in the form of his career, and he's 28. It's the best midfield in the world at the end of the day.

Also he wouldn't have been eligible for England (or maybe even been here) when he played at under-17-21 levels for Spain so it's not like he had the choice.

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

A fully fit Hargreaves is a very good player.

Like saying 'When I've got me Kinky feet on, I'm a good player!'

 

[Dubai Blue]

here is a list of foreigners who played for england

Australia

* Tony Dorigo

[edit] Belgium

* William Bryant - born 1899

[edit] Canada

* Owen Hargreaves
* Edward Hagarty Parry

[edit] Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)

* Leroy Lita (U21)
* Fabrice Muamba (U21)

[edit] French Guiana

* Cyrille Regis

[edit] Guernsey

* Matthew Le Tissier

[edit] India

* Claude Ashton
* Alfred Goodwyn
* Elphinstone Jackson
* William Kenyon-Slaney
* William Lindsay
* James F. M. Prinsep
* Alf Quantrill

[edit] Jamaica

* John Barnes
* Luther Blissett
* Bob Hazell (U21)
* Zavon Hines (U21)

[edit] Jersey

* Graeme Le Saux

[edit] Mauritius

* Herbert Rawson

[edit] Nigeria

* Shola Ameobi (U21)
* Nedum Onuoha (U21)
* John Salako

[edit] Scotland

* Thomas Burn (UK team at 1912 Olympics)
* Dominic Matteo (U21)

[edit] Sierra Leone

* Chris Bart-Williams (U21)

[edit] Singapore

* Terry Butcher
* Nigel Callaghan (U21)

[edit] South Africa

* Gordon Hodgson
* Craig Johnston (U21, called up but never played for senior team) - Australian national born in Johannesburg
* Frank Osborne
* Reg Osborne
* Bill Perry
* William Rawson
* Brian Stein
* Andrew Surman (U21)
* Colin Viljoen

[edit] Trinidad and Tobago

* Jlloyd Samuel (U21)

[edit] Wales

* Rob Jones

To be fair, there's a big difference between the Arteta situation and the majority of the players listed above.

Arteta, I'm sure, considers himself 100% Spanish and only qualifies for England on the basis that he has spent 5 years in the country as an economic migrant.

That's a lot different to players born abroad to at least one English parent and to players born abroad but who then grew up in England. Your birthplace is often a quirk of fate, it's the national identity you feel that truly matters. Moving to a foreign country as a professional at the age of 23 because the money is good and spending 5 years working there has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on this 'national identity'.

But, if Arteta himself declared that he'd be up for it, the team needed him, and the manager wanted him, then I'd be fine with it. It's well within the rules and every other country in the world is at it. There's no point disadvantaging ourselves by insisting on some sort of misguided, self-imposed moral standpoint.

I just don't believe his situation can in any way be compared to the likes of Terry Butcher and John Barnes, as they're not even remotely similar.