'Union Jack' One Wilf Copping
10-09-2013, 06:03 PM
Jack should shut up - no one wants to hear the average footballer's opinion on anything other than how many goals they're going to put past Spurs/Chelsea/United.
The more quotes I see though, the more there seems some UKIP (at best) subtext to some of his opinions.
He's still young, but he could drop these kind of comments: "We are English. We tackle hard, are tough on the pitch and are hard to beat. We have great characters. You think of Spain and you think technical but you think of England and you think they are brave and they tackle hard. We have to remember that."
The only comment here today that resonated with me was from Jorge:
Pöpe Jörge wrote on Wed, 09 October 2013 12:24
If anything, this whole thing just serves to highlight how stupid the idea of nationalities are in this modern age of fluid populations.
This is the crux of the matter. Nationality as a concept nowadays is increasingly meaningless and Jack's opinions reflect a different attitude. This is sport, not war, and if a player is eligible or able within the rules to play then that's the end of it...
Anyone's opinions one way or another is irrelevant. If the rules say someone can play, that's it.
In the past, footballing nationalities were much more fluid - even though the world had recently been at war over national boundaries. There was little fuss over di Stéfano playing for Argentina, Colombia AND Spain (!) or Puskás for Hungary and Spain or even a few Wales players that also played for England.
FIFA later tidied up these anomalies, but this is a game, not some dubious test of national or racial purity... Jack should just worry about playing consistently and duck these kind of questions.
The more quotes I see though, the more there seems some UKIP (at best) subtext to some of his opinions.
He's still young, but he could drop these kind of comments: "We are English. We tackle hard, are tough on the pitch and are hard to beat. We have great characters. You think of Spain and you think technical but you think of England and you think they are brave and they tackle hard. We have to remember that."
The only comment here today that resonated with me was from Jorge:
Pöpe Jörge wrote on Wed, 09 October 2013 12:24
If anything, this whole thing just serves to highlight how stupid the idea of nationalities are in this modern age of fluid populations.
This is the crux of the matter. Nationality as a concept nowadays is increasingly meaningless and Jack's opinions reflect a different attitude. This is sport, not war, and if a player is eligible or able within the rules to play then that's the end of it...
Anyone's opinions one way or another is irrelevant. If the rules say someone can play, that's it.
In the past, footballing nationalities were much more fluid - even though the world had recently been at war over national boundaries. There was little fuss over di Stéfano playing for Argentina, Colombia AND Spain (!) or Puskás for Hungary and Spain or even a few Wales players that also played for England.
FIFA later tidied up these anomalies, but this is a game, not some dubious test of national or racial purity... Jack should just worry about playing consistently and duck these kind of questions.