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Evening.
We are of course in the midst of an international break and while it's nice to spend two full weeks atop the table with no chance of moving from there, it's also really, really dull. I'm spending hours upon hours refreshing Arsenal themed news feeds in the hope that a story from a reputable source will pop up and I can spend a few minutes legitimately not doing the other things I'm meant to be doing. But no. All I get are pieces about a fake Dennis Bergkamp twitter account and GMS claiming that letting Gervinho go was a major error. Sigh.
The fuss of the week again centres around Jack Wilshere. Last time it was smoking and now people are crying to their mums because Jack said that the only people playing for England...wait for it...should be English. And I seem to be alone in agreeing with the comments he made.
Now before anyone comes out and proclaims that both myself and Wilshere are racists of the highest order, let's just look at what he actually said
And to be fair, I think he's got a point (about the five years rule, not white people). He never said that players like the already capped pair Wilfried Zaha and Raheem Sterling, who emigrated to this country at ages four and five respectively, shouldn't be allowed to play for the state they grew up in. In fact he endorsed Zaha and athletes with similar stories such as Mo Farah (who is, for the record, my favourite guy out of all guys). Zaha and Sterling both came here with no choice at young ages, learned their trade from our coaches, played for the England youth teams and have made the step up. Jack clearly has no problem with these blokes and neither should anyone.
The issue clearly surrounds that guy from United, Januzaj. I'll skip over the ridiculous levels of hype surrounding him and the fact that by the time he's eligible, he may have become another player whose development is stunted by unnecessary pressure from a young age. In five years this chap could turn out for England. This is clearly different from a Zaha or a Sterling. This is someone who moved to England at the age of 16 not because his family were fleeing a warzone or wanted a better life for their next generation but because he was a skinny kid who could kick a ball well. Much of his development was behind him too and now he's at an age when he might want to be playing international football, he's still not an English citizen.
This to me is clearly a loophole. The Belgian FA would have a right to feel miffed if a player they had put time and effort in to improving were to jump ship and represent England. But they wouldn't get a penny for their sorrow. Manchester United wanted him to play for their first team in future, so they had to pay. Yet England, a nation to which he has no affiliation, blood relatives or otherwise, want the same thing but for free. It's ludicrous.
It seems there are two options:
Besides that nonsense, this week has been another uneventful one. Gunners on international duty mainly had a good time. Bendtner, Ozil and Giroud scored five goals in three games between them, the highlight being a sumptuous lob from the Frenchman. There are a few more games to come and if we avoid adding to our injury list we can start to look forward to our game with Norwich next weekend. Those who have seen Breaking Bad will understand me when I say that our treatment room must look like the waiting area outside Saul Goodman's office; an uncomfortable medley of men in neck braces and casts, cramped like a tin of sardines and waiting to see the guy who will make it better.
Anyway. I hope something happens soon so I don't have to write about non-stories like this time.
For now.
We are of course in the midst of an international break and while it's nice to spend two full weeks atop the table with no chance of moving from there, it's also really, really dull. I'm spending hours upon hours refreshing Arsenal themed news feeds in the hope that a story from a reputable source will pop up and I can spend a few minutes legitimately not doing the other things I'm meant to be doing. But no. All I get are pieces about a fake Dennis Bergkamp twitter account and GMS claiming that letting Gervinho go was a major error. Sigh.
The fuss of the week again centres around Jack Wilshere. Last time it was smoking and now people are crying to their mums because Jack said that the only people playing for England...wait for it...should be English. And I seem to be alone in agreeing with the comments he made.
Now before anyone comes out and proclaims that both myself and Wilshere are racists of the highest order, let's just look at what he actually said
"The only people who should play for England are English people. If I went to Spain and lived there for five years, I'm not going to play for Spain."I'm sorry to have to state the obvious, but all he has done here is state the obvious. To play for England, you have to be English. That's a given. The only issue that can possibly be discussed is what makes someone English, or any other nationality for that matter. Technically, you could play for a nation if you had lived there for five years after your eighteenth birthday. All Jack was saying is that he didn't really agree with the rule that states that. It's not like he's come out and said 'The only people who should play for England are white people'. Although you wouldn't know it from the hoo-hah this week.
And to be fair, I think he's got a point (about the five years rule, not white people). He never said that players like the already capped pair Wilfried Zaha and Raheem Sterling, who emigrated to this country at ages four and five respectively, shouldn't be allowed to play for the state they grew up in. In fact he endorsed Zaha and athletes with similar stories such as Mo Farah (who is, for the record, my favourite guy out of all guys). Zaha and Sterling both came here with no choice at young ages, learned their trade from our coaches, played for the England youth teams and have made the step up. Jack clearly has no problem with these blokes and neither should anyone.
The issue clearly surrounds that guy from United, Januzaj. I'll skip over the ridiculous levels of hype surrounding him and the fact that by the time he's eligible, he may have become another player whose development is stunted by unnecessary pressure from a young age. In five years this chap could turn out for England. This is clearly different from a Zaha or a Sterling. This is someone who moved to England at the age of 16 not because his family were fleeing a warzone or wanted a better life for their next generation but because he was a skinny kid who could kick a ball well. Much of his development was behind him too and now he's at an age when he might want to be playing international football, he's still not an English citizen.
This to me is clearly a loophole. The Belgian FA would have a right to feel miffed if a player they had put time and effort in to improving were to jump ship and represent England. But they wouldn't get a penny for their sorrow. Manchester United wanted him to play for their first team in future, so they had to pay. Yet England, a nation to which he has no affiliation, blood relatives or otherwise, want the same thing but for free. It's ludicrous.
It seems there are two options:
- FIFA introduce legislation so nations pay each other in compensation for time spent training players. For example, England would pay Belgium a fee agreed by a tribunal in order for Januzaj to play for them.
- FIFA abolish the 'five year after eighteen rule'. They decide an age by which you must be eligible for a nation by. For example if a player was not nationalised by age 21, they could not play for any other countries than those they were eligible for at that time.
Besides that nonsense, this week has been another uneventful one. Gunners on international duty mainly had a good time. Bendtner, Ozil and Giroud scored five goals in three games between them, the highlight being a sumptuous lob from the Frenchman. There are a few more games to come and if we avoid adding to our injury list we can start to look forward to our game with Norwich next weekend. Those who have seen Breaking Bad will understand me when I say that our treatment room must look like the waiting area outside Saul Goodman's office; an uncomfortable medley of men in neck braces and casts, cramped like a tin of sardines and waiting to see the guy who will make it better.
Anyway. I hope something happens soon so I don't have to write about non-stories like this time.
For now.
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