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Wilshere: Januzaj shouldn´t represent England

SoccerNews in English Premier League 9 Oct 2013

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Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere insists foreign-born players should not be allowed to play for the England national team.

Belgian-born Manchester United teenager Adnan Januzaj has re-ignited the eligibility debate in recent days.

The 18-year-old was born and raised in Belgium until the age of 16, but can also play for Albania, Turkey and Serbia through heritage and would be eligible to play for England by 2018 through residency.

Speaking ahead of Friday’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Montenegro, Wilshere urged the Football Association not to follow the same path as the England cricket team, which features several South African-born players.

“For me, if you are English, you are English and you play for England,” Wilshere said.

“The only people who should play for England are English people.

“If you live in England for five years, it doesn’t make you English. You shouldn’t play.

“It doesn’t mean you can play for a country. If I went to Spain and lived there for five years, I am not going to play for Spain.

“We have to remember what we are. We are English and we tackle hard and we are tough on the pitch and we are hard to beat. We have great characters.

“You think of Spain and you think technical football, but you think of England and you think they are brave and they tackle hard and we have to remember that.”

Former England star John Barnes, who was born in Jamaica but played 79 times for England, understandably disagrees with Wilshere’s views.

“In 1983, when I played for England, Jamaica never had a chance of qualifying for the World Cup – they weren’t that interested in football yet,” Barnes said.

“I don’t know about Albania or Kosovo, but it’s a question of if he was French, would he choose England over France?

“But if he decides he (Januzaj) wants to play for England, then I don’t see why not.”

But Wilshere, 21, also believes it’s preferable to have an England-born manager coaching the national team but concedes he is indebted to former England boss Fabio Capello.

“I think it’s better if there is an Englishman, but don’t get me wrong, Capello did a lot for my England career,” he said.

“He gave me my debut and stuck with me from a young age so he was a good manager.”

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  • Ben

    0 0

    I do not believe Wilshere is attacking Januzaj.
    He does have a point in that young English players lose out on opportunities because of foreign players. There are a lot of English 18 year olds out there who won’t get a shot if Januzaj plays for England.
    Personally I favor performance. If you can do it (better), why not?

  • MOHAMED

    0 0

    Do’nt be afraid of loosing your place in the team Jack.You are a good player and should be willing to face competition.YOUR SPACE IN THE english team is safe for now until you face stiffer competition.

  • MOHAMED

    0 0

    Wilshere, you just need to play football and shut up let others do the talking for you.To me you are simply afraid of loosing your place in the team.There is no place for racism in football.Many people support the English team but they are not born in England.You are better than this son.

  • DaSpurs

    0 0

    Sad to hear Wiltshire’s comments, but he’s still a young man, so I would give him time to grow & learn. A question though, assuming I was an Arsenal fan, but from Swaziland…,would it be wrong to support Arsenal & indirectly pay his wages?, as 1. I’m not English? 2. I don’t live in Highbury, England. 3. Arsenal don’t play with grit, but more so with flair (contradictory Wiltshire) 4. So many non-English players, play for Arsenal, so I rest my case….

  • Brad

    0 0

    he doesn’t want a talented player on the same team as him?

    this is one of the problems England has always had. They- stereotypically I might add- think all they need is grit, blood and thunder to win it all.

    But you can’t win with a team of guys who could be called “shift workers”- Rooney, Lampard, and Gerrard aside. You can’t win with a team of artisans either. Gotta have a mixture of both and maybe Januzaj could provide it, he has the skill. . .

  • Kangzz

    0 0

    Wilshire is more absolutely disappointing , hes does come across as extremely racist . very very disgusted by these comments . this is why England will continue to be a big disappointment at internationally level across all the boards . in 2013 honestly Wilshire we would have thought your parents raised you better than that .

  • cj

    0 0

    I am disappointed that wilshire could say such,what makes him more english,because according to him he is england born,that’s quite racist. A food for thought,you should be begging him to play for england because he is exceptional and he is still young,for me its better he plays for belgium as that will make it more easier for him to be recorgnised than when he plays for england

  • dBozz

    0 0

    Is it me…. Or dows wilshere kinda sound racist

    I mean
    Ok ok i understand if you idk
    Have played
    Ur whole carreer for the albanian squad
    Then live 5 years in the UK
    And then wanna play for england

    That would be bull

    But this is just a young boy
    He came here when he was16
    So why not let him play??

    He cant play bccs he doesnt tackle hard and doesnt have tbe englih spirit or whatever? What kind of racist thought are those!

    Spanish is spanish
    And english is english?
    So if my parents are spanish
    But im born and raised in england
    Does that mean im tacticaly good? Or. A thougj tackler
    ?
    So does that make pepe( the portugees one)
    An english person? His tacklea shure look ” though” to me
    ._.

    + doesnt that make english players sound like some sort of cavemanb type
    If the only thing theycan do is try hard and tackle? And if their not able to play tacticaly?

    Wel
    Ofcourse
    He didnt mean that to litteraly

    But
    Stil
    Ppl…. It just doesnt sound right to me what hes saying!

    Wilshere

    Just go play footbal.. Or stay injured on the bench like most of the time

    And leave these matters to grownups

    This is something YOU shoudnt be talking about

  • Rick

    0 0

    He should play for serbia
    And then kick englands asses
    In the world
    Cup .3.

  • Rick

    0 0

    He should play for serbia
    And then kick englands asses
    In the world
    Cup .3.

  • dBozz

    0 0

    Is it me…. Or dows wilshere kinda sound racist

    I mean
    Ok ok i understand if you idk
    Have played
    Ur whole carreer for the albanian squad
    Then live 5 years in the UK
    And then wanna play for england

    That would be bull

    But this is just a young boy
    He came here when he was16
    So why not let him play??

    He cant play bccs he doesnt tackle hard and doesnt have tbe englih spirit or whatever? What kind of racist thought are those!

    Spanish is spanish
    And english is english?
    So if my parents are spanish
    But im born and raised in england
    Does that mean im tacticaly good? Or. A thougj tackler
    ?
    So does that make pepe( the portugees one)
    An english person? His tacklea shure look ” though” to me
    ._.

    + doesnt that make english players sound like some sort of cavemanb type
    If the only thing theycan do is try hard and tackle? And if their not able to play tacticaly?

    Wel
    Ofcourse
    He didnt mean that to litteraly

    But
    Stil
    Ppl…. It just doesnt sound right to me what hes saying!

    Wilshere

    Just go play footbal.. Or stay injured on the bench like most of the time

    And leave these matters to grownups

    This is something YOU shoudnt be talking about

  • cj

    0 0

    I am disappointed that wilshire could say such,what makes him more english,because according to him he is england born,that’s quite racist. A food for thought,you should be begging him to play for england because he is exceptional and he is still young,for me its better he plays for belgium as that will make it more easier for him to be recorgnised than when he plays for england

  • Kangzz

    0 0

    Wilshire is more absolutely disappointing , hes does come across as extremely racist . very very disgusted by these comments . this is why England will continue to be a big disappointment at internationally level across all the boards . in 2013 honestly Wilshire we would have thought your parents raised you better than that .

  • Brad

    0 0

    he doesn’t want a talented player on the same team as him?

    this is one of the problems England has always had. They- stereotypically I might add- think all they need is grit, blood and thunder to win it all.

    But you can’t win with a team of guys who could be called “shift workers”- Rooney, Lampard, and Gerrard aside. You can’t win with a team of artisans either. Gotta have a mixture of both and maybe Januzaj could provide it, he has the skill. . .

  • DaSpurs

    0 0

    Sad to hear Wiltshire’s comments, but he’s still a young man, so I would give him time to grow & learn. A question though, assuming I was an Arsenal fan, but from Swaziland…,would it be wrong to support Arsenal & indirectly pay his wages?, as 1. I’m not English? 2. I don’t live in Highbury, England. 3. Arsenal don’t play with grit, but more so with flair (contradictory Wiltshire) 4. So many non-English players, play for Arsenal, so I rest my case….

  • MOHAMED

    0 0

    Wilshere, you just need to play football and shut up let others do the talking for you.To me you are simply afraid of loosing your place in the team.There is no place for racism in football.Many people support the English team but they are not born in England.You are better than this son.

  • MOHAMED

    0 0

    Do’nt be afraid of loosing your place in the team Jack.You are a good player and should be willing to face competition.YOUR SPACE IN THE english team is safe for now until you face stiffer competition.

  • Ben

    0 0

    I do not believe Wilshere is attacking Januzaj.
    He does have a point in that young English players lose out on opportunities because of foreign players. There are a lot of English 18 year olds out there who won’t get a shot if Januzaj plays for England.
    Personally I favor performance. If you can do it (better), why not?

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