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Almunia qualifies for English citizenship this summer, which in turn means he could play for England. Pretty certain no one has ever played for England before under these circumstances, would we do it or not?

I reckon Capello should be on the phone to Almunia and offering to help him fill the forms out. James is getting old and won't last much longer and we haven't got a decent 2nd choice keeper so we need Almunia and we need him now. I'd probably make him 1st choice on the spot.

He's 31 though- too old for the long run. probably OK for the next world cup,but thats all.

 I read somewhere that Capello had already asked about Almunia and Arteta, and was told by the FA that although qualified he shouldn't use them.

 

How much effort would he put in if we were to meet Spain. He would get ruined from the press if we lost to them in an important match. Not that that would stop him, im sure.

But would you fancy him in goal against them?

It may be legally correct, but it doesn't feel right that somebody could play for a country just because they've lived there a while.

It was dubious enough with the grand parent ruling (I could have played for Rep of Ireland, England or German if I hadn't been shit. But this is a step to far.

I wouldn't go mental if it happened, but it wouldn't feel right.

Who's the last player to represent England who wasn't born here or elsewhere in the UK? John Barnes is the obvious one I guess, have there been any since.

I forgot Owen Hargreaves didn't I?

Had he even been to England before he got picked?

Most of our Cricket team arent from England. Why not the Football.

Cricket is only played in a handful of countries, all of which were former colonies, thus making citizenship slightly ambiguous in certain cases.  Despite Gibraltar and the best efforts of El Draco, Spain missed out on the chance of being part of the Brittas Empire.

Almunia is no better than James. No thanks.

It annoys me that almunia is being mentioned so much because of 1 good performance on Wednesday, he is a very average keeper

I'm pretty sure I've read Alumnia being linked to England many times over the last year.

But yes, he's average - like most goalkeepers in the top flight.

Interesting that Bob Wilson says he shouldn't be picked for England, given his history.

Wilson was born in England, lived his entire life in England and played his entire career in England. But he had Scottish parents and was happy playing for Scotland when given the chance (only twice as it happens) as England weren't interested in him. Almunia has lived and played in England for 5 years - I'd say that makes Almunia more English than Wilson was Scottish, same applies to Hargreaves.

The real problem is people getting their heads shoved up their arses about having to "be English" to play for England and to "be English" you have to have "English blood". What the fuck is "English blood"? Is it a different colour? Does it have in built qualities that other more inferior types of blood don't?

If he qualifies for England and Capello wants to pick him, then let him pick him. Every other country would (and does) so why shouldn't we?

My opinion is 'meh'.

Don't be so fucking stupid!

That is all!

Cudicini also qualifies. There is no doubt James is a liability but there's not a lot comiing through. the problem is that they're all inconsistent. Almunia is OK but I'd prefer an Englishman. SAying that I prefer Capello to any English manager.

exactly, he's potentially better than whatever is out there fuck it!

the italians have opted to take camorenesi even though he's argentinian etc...we could continue with the moral high ground but i'd rather short term success

No. He's a fucking johnny. End of.

Poor keeper, if he was born in England he still wouldn't be good enough to play for England.

Must admit that I've never thought Almunia was that good. But he's definitely getting better and must be doing something right to be the Arsenal keeper. Plus he's better than the other options and has a good record at saving penalties (this on its own should be enough to get him the job).

I just think it should be judged on ability, rather than us getting on the proverbial English high horse again.

Well in that case, why don't you just scrap all international football competitions?

Obviously I meant the ability of players that qualify to play for England based on the rules, rather than using the extended criteria (English blood, morals, attitude, way of life, etc etc) that some (most) people want to apply.

Plus its fucking hypocritical when we've got an Italian manager with absolutely no ties to England.

No it's not. Capello manages the team. The team play the game. They should be made up of Englishmen. Too many foreigners already wearing the shirt as stands.

You might as well scrap all international football if you go down the route allowing foreigners "who qualify under the rules" to play.

You mean like we did with Owen Hargreaves and John Barnes?

yes, neither should have played.

I think you should just be able to choose.

if a player is eligible to play and improves the team, then they should be used.

Surely that just defeats the purpose of having national teams?

You might as well just select one of Liverpool/Arsenal/ManU/Chelsea etc to represent "England" in the next world cup.

But where's the cut off point? If somebody moves to England at the age of 1, should they qualify to play for England? Are they any more English than say a 30-year old who moved to England at the age of 17?

We've already got a reasonable cut off point. Why don't we stick to that?

john barnes isn't english.owen hargreaves ditto.
the rules are there and as long s as they aint broken then they should be used

What's the cut off point again?

Is it a blood test to prove its content is at least 25% English?

Knowing at least 4 words of the first verse of the national anthem and being able to identify the queen on banknotes and coins.

no need for Almunia if P Smith can consistantly perform aswell as he did today

The cutt off point is the fact that your mum and dad are proper English, no half casts, "naturalised" or owt else. Anything beyond that (acccording to the "official" rules") is a fucking insult.

nah i'd much rather win and if almunia and arteta are thought to be better than what we've got then i'm all for it

there's germans born in poland and raised there that play for poland, scousers who are irish, jamaicans who are english...i don't think there's much moral high ground for saying "ah but we've only got englanders..erm possibly to our disadvantage...do we get a goal headstart?"

We should only select players who can hum God Save the Queen while sipping tea using their pinky finger correctly. Actually I kind of agree with what Batch said, no more keen on a foreign keeper than a foreign manager, but neither's going to have me writing letters in green ink to the Daily Mail. Oh, and Batch I don't think being shit disqualifies you from playing for Ireland

No. They're simply NOT English. End of story.

perhaps, but they'd still be eligible for the England football team

Like the rules for MP's expenses, they may be doing nothing wrong. In which case, it's the rules that need changing.

So Terry Butcher should not have played for England then.

rules which we've not capitalised on where as others who are more success than us have. i think you're looking at it from a more nationalistic stance than a england might win a bit if we utilise the rules as others

eg- senna for spain, he's brazilian but as he was never called up by brazil and was in spain for long enough

Like I said, defeats the whole point of international football.

the point of football is to win?

Without cheating

If they're eligible it's not cheating.

the rules define what's cheating, it's not cheating.

i have an awful "he thinks your french alan" moment coming on

Aren't you just agreeing with my point?

i am andy, apologies if you say that as a dig at you. it was to back you up

I was just confusing myself, not too tricky.

shut it wiggins

There again, whilst I'm all in favour of Almunia playing for us I'd go fucking ape shit if they even thought about allowing a French or German to play for us. You have to draw the line somewhere.

think we'll pass on Almunia after the Ronaldo free kick

not being good enough is the issue, not his citizenship issues.

if it were cassilas i'd be well up for it

Been keeping an eye on this story with interest. Obviously being Scottish, we are jsut as bad as picking people who just about qualify under the FIFA rules. Only thing is FIFA rules are a joke. Players like Eduardo, Olisidibe, and Alex, are not Croatian, Polish or Japanese. The best answer we have come up with among Scotland fans, is that players should state (and register with FIFA) what nationality they are upon signing their first professional contract. Only problem is FIFA will never let it happen while countries like Germany, France, Spain and Italy can use the current rules to their advantage.

To be fair it was a cracking free kick. Not many keepers would've stopped it.

It was a good free kick, but Almunia should have got it.

Did you hear that twat jens lehman defend him by trying to explain how new technology makes the ball go faster the further it travels?

What a dick.

Andy Townsend talks a lot of crap, but i fully agreed when he said he'd have probably saved it himself... was a poor bit of 'keeping.

Looked like he reacted too late, possibly due to his view being blocked, and then misjudged the speed it was going at. Wouldn't have been so bad if the ball was moving but it looked like it went pretty straight, so no excuse for not saving it.

Yes Jens, I am sure the new balls defy the laws of physics. twat

What Ronaldo's shot do differently is not slow down as quickly as other peoples shots.  You've got to admit it is rather unique and I don't remember seeing somene recently manage to shoot the way he does from long range.  Hi technique, which may just be luck of his style, manages to get next to zero spin on the ball which is what causes the ball to slow quicker normally.  I'd imagine that makes life difficult for a keeper as the ball is travelling differently.

Having said all that, last nights was very saveable.

It's called a toe punt, I invented it in the 80s.