England to win UGLY is not for me

[Nick Bateman]

It has been recently suggested by eminent luminaries as Gus Poyet and the diminutive Jack Wilshere that England should play "ugly" to win matches.  I would hate to see us go down that path; the same tactic is already ruining the Premier League with the blatant diving affecting one's genuine appreciation.

I would rather England lost, fair and square, as we did in Euro '96, when we deserved to win the tournament, when Stuart Pearce was wrongly sent off by a jealous referee, and the Germans were allowed to kick Gazza without censure.  But that England is still one of my fondest memories of any national team.

I do not like England to be associated with 'cheating' and seeing Wilshere hit the deck every time he was challenged was disconcerting in line with what he said.  Instead he should have taken a leaf out of Ross Barkley's application and impressed with footballing skills as Barkley did.

Seeing Jamaican-national Raheem Sterling attempting to "halve" the influencial Valencia was frankly, a disgrace!  He was rightly dismissed and had it happened in a proper World Cup game he would have let the side and his newly adopted country down.

England should never be so desperate to be victorious that we compromise our values: let our senior players be a positive example of how to play football to our future young stars.

[jelmo]

I agree... It was a disgrace that Hangeland was fired via email after years of loyal service.

[cmg]

Damned 'Jamaican-national' chappies letting the side down. Wouldn't happen with a 'real' Englishman - er....apart from Mullery, Ball, Cherry, Wilkins, Beckham (twice), Scholes, Ince (or was that Kieran Gibbs?), Batty, Smith, Rooney (twice), Green and the current captain.

[Nick Bateman]

I did mention Wilshere who last time I looked was English.  I made the point about Sterling's nationality as this is another method of trying to win at all costs by allowing foreign players to play for our country. 

No matter how talented Sterling may be, we should only have those who genuinely qualify to play for England.  We touted Januzai very recently and as Wilshere rightly pointed out, it was a bad idea (he now has opted for Belgium).

[Nick Bateman]

What is wrong with wanting genuine Englishmen to play for England??  We are not Lithuania in footballing stature!  England gave the game to the world; we do not require cynical exercises to steal players from other nations depriving proper home-grown English from earning their caps.

Would you be happy if Hodgson decided to play Manuel Almunia instead of our Stockdale??  I should hope ruddy not!

[BigbadBillyMcKinley]

Rooney - irish.
Walcott - Half Jamaican
Ashley Cole - Barbadian dad.
John Barnes - Jamaican

Shall I go on?

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[Nick Bateman]

Rooney born Croxteth, Liverpool
Walcott born Stanmore, London
Ashley Cole born Stepney, London

But don't let the facts get in the way of your argument.

[ffctom_b]

do you use the same argument then with the England Cricket team before our shambles last winter, or tennis players, or even Lennox Lewis who represented Canada in Olympics but was British when he won World Title!

It happens across all Sports, if someone is qualified to represent England, and they are good enough, then let them play, other countries do it, Spain being a case in point!

[dgnffc]

New Zealand rugby wouldn't be the same without the islanders!

[Max Headroom]

Well, Argentina haven't selected Tevez

[BigbadBillyMcKinley]

Rooney born Croxteth, Liverpool
Walcott born Stanmore, London
Ashley Cole born Stepney, London

But don't let the facts get in the way of your argument.

John Barnes - Born in Jamaica
Owen Hargreaves - Born in Canada
Terry Butcher - Born in Singapore.
Would you not have any of them in the national side?
Not John Barnes, no rap. Remember that.

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[Nick Bateman]

I'll answer your question after you answer mine earlier.

Would you be happy if Hodgson decided to play Manuel Almunia instead of our Stockdale??  I know my answer, what is yours Bad Bill??

[grandad]

With Rooney in the side there is no option but to play ugly. Can´t he play in a Ronaldo mask?

[Burt]

I did mention Wilshere who last time I looked was English.  I made the point about Sterling's nationality as this is another method of trying to win at all costs by allowing foreign players to play for our country. 

No matter how talented Sterling may be, we should only have those who genuinely qualify to play for England.  We touted Januzai very recently and as Wilshere rightly pointed out, it was a bad idea (he now has opted for Belgium).

You really are a fool arent you.

I won't point out any particular point I find, franky embarrassing on your part, because its all poo.

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Feel free to disagree with someone else but without the abuse please...

[BigbadBillyMcKinley]

I'll answer your question after you answer mine earlier.

Would you be happy if Hodgson decided to play Manuel Almunia instead of our Stockdale??  I know my answer, what is yours Bad Bill??

If he was a better keeper, why not?

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[premFlem]

What is wrong with wanting genuine Englishmen to play for England??  We are not Lithuania in footballing stature!  England gave the game to the world; we do not require cynical exercises to steal players from other nations depriving proper home-grown English from earning their caps.

Would you be happy if Hodgson decided to play Manuel Almunia instead of our Stockdale??  I should hope ruddy not!

sterling has lived here since he was five and has only played here so England thankfully was his obvious choice.

[Reznor]

Play ugly or attractive we won't be winning anything. The English players are hyped up by Sky/ITV, the BBC and our media. It is in their interest to do this and it seems the majority of fans swallow it. In reality we have a team of very average players that will be found out pretty quickly when they face any half decent team. In world football media our footballers are not seen as anything special at all. That's why you hardly see any interest in our players from the top teams around Europe. We will be lucky to get through the group stage and that will probably be our lot.

[Nick Bateman]

With Rooney in the side there is no option but to play ugly. Can´t he play in a Ronaldo mask?

Good one Grandad!!  :plus one: 0001.jpeg

[Nick Bateman]

Play ugly or attractive we won't be winning anything. The English players are hyped up by Sky/ITV, the BBC and our media. It is in their interest to do this and it seems the majority of fans swallow it. In reality we have a team of very average players that will be found out pretty quickly when they face any half decent team. In world football media our footballers are not seen as anything special at all. That's why you hardly see any interest in our players from the top teams around Europe. We will be lucky to get through the group stage and that will probably be our lot.

I tend to agree with all of that!  It's a pretty bad England because the players have put their clubs first!

[premFlem]

Hodgson took an average bunch of Swiss players to the quarter finals of the world cup and an average bunch of Fulham players to a European Final, so who knows.