English players Dual Nationality thread

On Akpom, I think there's a good possibility that he's still undecided and isn't a done deal. He wasn't named in the papers with all those other It's possible that was just a no obligations training session that he participated in because he's still undecided. He hasn't been selected in a squad recently firstly due to injuries, secondly due to bad form/lack of game time and thirdly due to the emergence of younger better prospects. Lookman is reportedly unsure as well and hasn't been excluded, for one example, there's no need for conspiracy theories.

 

I misread your post as excluding unsure players not excluding players who decided to switch on the quiet

Woodrow and Akpom both got loans at the end of January. Woodrow's has resulted in 4 goals in 9 games and Akpom's in 0 goals in 6 substitute appearances. If both made themselves available, and ignoring other options, I'm not hugely surprised by which one got themselves a call up.

 

To be honest, I think Akpom is lost now and not because he's maybe undecided but since this has all come out it's quite clear that Southgate & the FA won't try and fight for the player while Nigeria will make him feel wanted and valued. I honestly can't quite believe ( well actually I can ) that the FA still has attitude since we live in such a multicultural society. In my family alone I have a son that could play for England, Sweden or Denmark and niece and nephew that could chose England or Netherlands and I know that it's tough for them who to chose and it isn't cut and dry or as easy as Southgate and the FA seems to think it is. So if we have the attitude of leave it to them, they should come to us and the other Countries are doing all they can to persuade them it's quite easy to see who will win. It's easy for people who don't have any Dual Nationality to come to the conclusion that you have to be 100% committed to England and England alone when not been influenced by two or even three different cultures growing up. The FA need to wise up and fast otherwise we are going to lose many guys I fear if they don't change their ways and views in this imo.

 

I suspect that there might be a bit of miscommunication here. Southgate would have to be exceptionally dim to think that a dual-national would ever identify as 100% English and English alone - even the ones who only ever considered playing for England - and whatever you may think of Southgate, he's clearly not dim. What he might have been saying is that players who have that decision to make need to make it themselves and then stand behind it with 100% conviction/passion/whatever you want to call it, because he can't or doesn't want to make use of a player who's not fully invested in their choice of national team.

Sterling, for instance, must still think of himself as Jamaican on some level, as well as English. That doesn't mean that he is any less than 100% passionate about playing for England. Sturridge is on record saying that playing for England is the pinnacle for him. Doesn't mean that he has no relationship with his Jamaican roots, just that he made a choice and he backs it without reservation.

If that is what Southgate means, then obviously he could have expressed it better. But, you know... it still wouldn't have stopped people from misunderstanding and papers from twisting his words, as evidenced once again by Zaha's agent "responding" to straw-man claims that Southgate never came close to making.

 

I agree 100%. The FA can't be this stupid and think anybody will accept England whole-heartlidly or they have to be 100% supportive of England.

 

Really starting to regret missing out on Zaha!! He'll kick on from this point of his career

 

Yeah I think so too, don't think the FA or managers involved during his period available for England will ever admit they made a mess of his non selection.

 

I can't really remember a time when he deserved to get picked but didn't.

 

I can't recall the exact times but I do remember a few squads being announced and thought he was unlucky not to have been picked but players like Lingard and Walcott were despite being out of form.

 

I agree. I guess it's just a case of developing at the right time or wrong time in our case.

 

I think how Southgate dealt with him when he was the U21 manager was the final nail in the coffin. That's usually the dealbreaker for these guys, it's not the senior call up but the way they're treated in the underage groups.

Southgate wanted him before Christmas, but he'd already made his mind up. Too little, too late really. Even just a bit more media conversation about him being an England player pre-Euros and post might have swung him. He's been brilliant this season though, good on him.

 

I'd have thought Zaha's biggest gripe would have been with Man U. Ferguson paid, what was then thought to be a lot (£15m) at that stage, but then immediately left. The new manager, though, didn't seem at all keen on him, and didn't give him much of a chance. The view that kept being put out at the club was that Zaha was too quiet and overawed by it all. Didn't seem to fit in with the gang or style of play, as a team member. Players often talk about needing to be "loved" to be able to perform at their best, seems he needed more than most, but perhaps didn't get much.

And then, as for England, they seemed to think he wasn't giving enough to the cause (either).

 

I know I just shouldn't even check these Nigerian websites as they just annoy the hell out of me but here you go. If there is any facts that Lookman is going to switch after the U21 Championships then there is surely no point in us taking him there? Anyway surely must be a load of wishful thinking on there part!

http://owngoalnigeria.com/2017/03/2...tionals-on-the-verge-of-switching-to-nigeria/

 

Lol, yes I get wound up to by the stories that come out of the tabloids in Nigeria. They have stated players switching in the past, which turned out to be false (FAKE NEWS). They seem to do it, to let the eligible players know they have a different option.

 

Hope that's true. In fairness to the Nigerian site, I wouldn't be surprised if there's some truth in some of the less high-profile players being linked, but I couldn't help but notice that for the two biggest names, they were offering fairly tenuous hopes to Nigerian fans in stating that some bloke at the Nigerian FA reckoned that Lookman would switch, and that Abraham's Dad is friendly with Pinnick. No claims of anything coming from the players themselves or their agents. It looks to me like an attempt to spice up what would otherwise have been a fairly boring article about Millwall reserves.

 

he's not even a member of the u21s anyway.

Whether Everton let the u20s take him and Calvert-Lewin to Korea is a bigger question. They'd probably have to miss at least the last two league games.

 

https://www.google.se/amp/www.footb...orward-close-agreeing-team-switch-report/amp/

Not sure if there is any truth to this article as can't see any quotes.

 

That story is also in The Times: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/fa-unhappy-with-clarke-over-moyes-comments-xgzskdpbf

and the Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-4395954/Sports-stars-stand-country.html

So I guess there must be something in it.

 

None of the stories have sources or quotes, but if it's in the Daily Mail then I think it's there's some truth there.

 

Don't think he's eligible, home nation agreement we have in place. Same thing happened with adnan januzaj

 

What's the agreement between home Nations?

No doubt it's an agreement to benefit them rather than us as seems to be the way these days.