Globalisation vs Tradition - The Arsenal case

[jai john]

Apart from becoming the first english team to win at the Santiago Bernabreu in the history of football , Arsenal´s entire team, including the coach, are ineligible to play for England.  In short the entire team was foreign.
I know liverpool played with one english player in their famous team of the 80,s but i cant remember an english team, playing in any domestic or international competition  having not one english player on the team.
What makes it even more strange is that arsenal was always seen as the english of the english ...oh how times have changed.
i could see many Highbury parents now calling their children Thiery, Jose, Cesc and Gilberto ...you knw what is now nice english names !!! The purists must be taking this very hard but what can they do the team is winning for the first time ever.

[Auburn Trini]

Good point... is not only Arsenal.. is straight through the EPL...
That is part of the reason I feel Man Unt. ent dominating the EPL no more..

[Grande]

Apart from becoming the first english team to win at the Santiago Bernabreu in the history of football , Arsenal´s entire team, including the coach, are ineligible to play for England.  In short the entire team was foreign.
I know liverpool played with one english player in their famous team of the 80,s but i cant remember an english team, playing in any domestic or international competition  having not one english player on the team.
What makes it even more strange is that arsenal was always seen as the english of the english ...oh how times have changed.
i could see many Highbury parents now calling their children Thiery, Jose, Cesc and Gilberto ...you knw what is now nice english names !!! The purists must be taking this very hard but what can they do the team is winning for the first time ever.

This is a very interesting post, a good case study using Arsenal as globalization vs tradition. I now realize that the ENTIRE team dat played at Madrid was foreign, ah forget Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole out. 
In truth, the best teams of the world have many international players rounding out the team, and this is a trend I hope continues.

[Observer]

Apart from becoming the first english team to win at the Santiago Bernabreu in the history of football , Arsenal´s entire team, including the coach, are ineligible to play for England.  In short the entire team was foreign.
I know liverpool played with one english player in their famous team of the 80,s but i cant remember an english team, playing in any domestic or international competition  having not one english player on the team.
What makes it even more strange is that arsenal was always seen as the english of the english ...oh how times have changed.
i could see many Highbury parents now calling their children Thiery, Jose, Cesc and Gilberto ...you knw what is now nice english names !!! The purists must be taking this very hard but what can they do the team is winning for the first time ever.

Chelsea a while back the only English player was LaSaux

[Jah Gol]

Apart from becoming the first english team to win at the Santiago Bernabreu in the history of football , Arsenal´s entire team, including the coach, are ineligible to play for England.  In short the entire team was foreign.
I know liverpool played with one english player in their famous team of the 80,s but i cant remember an english team, playing in any domestic or international competition  having not one english player on the team.
What makes it even more strange is that arsenal was always seen as the english of the english ...oh how times have changed.
i could see many Highbury parents now calling their children Thiery, Jose, Cesc and Gilberto ...you knw what is now nice english names !!! The purists must be taking this very hard but what can they do the team is winning for the first time ever.

Chelsea a while back the only English player was LaSaux

Yeah I remeber that. Chelsea was the first team to play a Premier League game without a single Englishman

[daryn]

I know liverpool played with one english player in their famous team of the 80,s but i cant remember an english team, playing in any domestic or international competition  having not one english player on the team.

you sure about that one english player for Liverpool in the 80s?.  I know Beardsley and Barnes had England caps for sure.  I thought the limits on foreign players were pretty strict back in those days (3 non-British at most I think).

[jai john]

I know liverpool played with one english player in their famous team of the 80,s but i cant remember an english team, playing in any domestic or international competition  having not one english player on the team.

you sure about that one english player for Liverpool in the 80s?.  I know Beardsley and Barnes had England caps for sure.  I thought the limits on foreign players were pretty strict back in those days (3 non-British at most I think).

Liverpool got around that by having welsh ,scottish and irish players like Wheelan, Rush, Mc dermott etc

[jai john]

Apart from becoming the first english team to win at the Santiago Bernabreu in the history of football , Arsenal´s entire team, including the coach, are ineligible to play for England.  In short the entire team was foreign.
I know liverpool played with one english player in their famous team of the 80,s but i cant remember an english team, playing in any domestic or international competition  having not one english player on the team.
What makes it even more strange is that arsenal was always seen as the english of the english ...oh how times have changed.
i could see many Highbury parents now calling their children Thiery, Jose, Cesc and Gilberto ...you knw what is now nice english names !!! The purists must be taking this very hard but what can they do the team is winning for the first time ever.

This is a very interesting post, a good case study using Arsenal as globalization vs tradition. I now realize that the ENTIRE team dat played at Madrid was foreign, ah forget Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole out. 
In truth, the best teams of the world have many international players rounding out the team, and this is a trend I hope continues.

It also makes a lot of clubs more powerful than many countries in terms of roster. I know plans are afoot to put some kind of limitation on clubs because when this happens the WC may lose prestigue over competitions like the Champions league.
Barcelona for example can combine 5 brazilians with argentinians, dutch and spanish players. Neither Span, argentina nor Brazil can do that in International competitions.
FIFA has its work cut out to keep its premier competition just that in light of certain freedoms now enshrined as a result of globalisation.

[Touches]

Another interesting Arsenal fact is that at one point in time they could have fielded a Totally Black EPL team.

Also goes to show how times and things changing.

[jai john]

Another interesting Arsenal fact is that at one point in time they could have fielded a Totally Black EPL team.

Also goes to show how times and things changing.

Someone pointed that out to me just this morning when i was telling him how difficult it was for john Barnes in the old days. There is a story of barnes flicking up a banana peel thrown by a spectator. You had to be strong when even your own fans for club and country were against you.
Times are really changing from the days of the bermudan who played in england( cant remember his name and too lazy to check) to today when most teams in the EPL could field at least 5 black players.
the thing is we have to be ready to face the claims that teams are being weakend because they have too many black players Just you wait and see !

[Grande]

Apart from becoming the first english team to win at the Santiago Bernabreu in the history of football , Arsenal´s entire team, including the coach, are ineligible to play for England.  In short the entire team was foreign.
I know liverpool played with one english player in their famous team of the 80,s but i cant remember an english team, playing in any domestic or international competition  having not one english player on the team.
What makes it even more strange is that arsenal was always seen as the english of the english ...oh how times have changed.
i could see many Highbury parents now calling their children Thiery, Jose, Cesc and Gilberto ...you knw what is now nice english names !!! The purists must be taking this very hard but what can they do the team is winning for the first time ever.

This is a very interesting post, a good case study using Arsenal as globalization vs tradition. I now realize that the ENTIRE team dat played at Madrid was foreign, ah forget Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole out. 
In truth, the best teams of the world have many international players rounding out the team, and this is a trend I hope continues.

It also makes a lot of clubs more powerful than many countries in terms of roster. I know plans are afoot to put some kind of limitation on clubs because when this happens the WC may lose prestigue over competitions like the Champions league.
Barcelona for example can combine 5 brazilians with argentinians, dutch and spanish players. Neither Span, argentina nor Brazil can do that in International competitions.
FIFA has its work cut out to keep its premier competition just that in light of certain freedoms now enshrined as a result of globalisation.

I know some people who prefer Champions League and domestic leagues to the WC b/c of this reason but I still think that no matter how diverse clubs get in terms of players, the World Cup will always be most prestigious. There's no rule in any domestic clubs that puts a limit on foreign players, which is a good thing, ah hope that nothing stops this. A football team with players from all over, like say Barca, or Chelsea, Arsenal or Inter is a good example of the world coming together through sport, that if unique talents from different places could merge together into something great, then that in itself is truly good.

[Blue]

Arsenal have the most diverse (UK) fan base of any EPL team, so for them to field a completely non-British team is not as much of a suprise as it would be for, say, West Ham. Their fans are alot less xenophobic

Similarly, up in Scotland, Celtic, who have strong Irish ties, have fielded teams with no Scots on many occasions - no fuss. It is a much bigger deal when Rangers do the same thing.

Ironic though that in the Arsenal-Real Madrid game, Real Madrid had 2 Englishmen in their starting lineup.

[pioneertrini]

yeh a few teams have done it,  i tink the rule was 3 non EU players on the pitch, and a certain amount for the squad, thats y man u wanted yorke to get a british passport bak in the day, so i hear. also barnes even tho he played for england he wasnt english, maybe thats wat he means. he was half jamaican half trini. tink he was born in ja tho.

[jai john]

There are some good points raised by the comments and one we could also consider is the role of football in globalisation. Globalisation  is not just about trade  but about bringing down barrirers, being tolerant to other people´s cultuires etc. One gets to fully appreciate cultural differences when the teams are more diverse in terms of nationality.
A POOR EXample, as no example of racism is good, was illustrated today when players from both barcelona and zaragoza begged EToo to stay on the field and not give in to racist taunts. Fortunately he did. the game died as a spectacle thereafter but the important fact was the stance by players on both teams to racist chants against a player.
There are some other ills which the wonerful game of football might be able to address. The selection of Asian players, caribbean players etc is a good step by big league clubs. It is not only to be seen as broadening Their fan base but also of welcoming talent in all forms from all parts of the world. maybe FIFA should use this window of opportunity that is the world cup to try what politicians have failed to do and try to bring peace and tolerance...well for one month at least.

[jai john]

i also want to add that T&T marketing department would be well advised to focus on our country as one with people from varied races and cultures living, not in a large country where you could separate, but in the smallest country to ever qualify for the WC.

[Grande]

There are some good points raised by the comments and one we could also consider is the role of football in globalisation. Globalisation  is not just about trade  but about bringing down barrirers, being tolerant to other people´s cultuires etc. One gets to fully appreciate cultural differences when the teams are more diverse in terms of nationality.
A POOR EXample, as no example of racism is good, was illustrated today when players from both barcelona and zaragoza begged EToo to stay on the field and not give in to racist taunts. Fortunately he did. the game died as a spectacle thereafter but the important fact was the stance by players on both teams to racist chants against a player.
There are some other ills which the wonerful game of football might be able to address. The selection of Asian players, caribbean players etc is a good step by big league clubs. It is not only to be seen as broadening Their fan base but also of welcoming talent in all forms from all parts of the world. maybe FIFA should use this window of opportunity that is the world cup to try what politicians have failed to do and try to bring peace and tolerance...well for one month at least.

this is well said, jai john, I don't know how else better to put it. For me the most significant aspect of globalization is the potential differering cultures have to experience and accept one another, and see the capability they could have to merge as a collective unit, e.g. yes, through a football team. I think this phenomenon is increasingly occurring as the world is evolving, and hopefully the tragedy of racism ceases more and more. Sometimes I wonder if the racists in the matches really mean what they say or if it is just a pathetic reason to rile up the opposition. In any case, I am happy to see players from all over the world converging as a team, and racists, if they can't be shot, should face a Roberto Carlos free-kick head on.

[jai john]

There are some good points raised by the comments and one we could also consider is the role of football in globalisation. Globalisation  is not just about trade  but about bringing down barrirers, being tolerant to other people´s cultuires etc. One gets to fully appreciate cultural differences when the teams are more diverse in terms of nationality.
A POOR EXample, as no example of racism is good, was illustrated today when players from both barcelona and zaragoza begged EToo to stay on the field and not give in to racist taunts. Fortunately he did. the game died as a spectacle thereafter but the important fact was the stance by players on both teams to racist chants against a player.
There are some other ills which the wonerful game of football might be able to address. The selection of Asian players, caribbean players etc is a good step by big league clubs. It is not only to be seen as broadening Their fan base but also of welcoming talent in all forms from all parts of the world. maybe FIFA should use this window of opportunity that is the world cup to try what politicians have failed to do and try to bring peace and tolerance...well for one month at least.

this is well said, jai john, I don't know how else better to put it. For me the most significant aspect of globalization is the potential differering cultures have to experience and accept one another, and see the capability they could have to merge as a collective unit, e.g. yes, through a football team. I think this phenomenon is increasingly occurring as the world is evolving, and hopefully the tragedy of racism ceases more and more. Sometimes I wonder if the racists in the matches really mean what they say or if it is just a pathetic reason to rile up the opposition. In any case, I am happy to see players from all over the world converging as a team, and racists, if they can't be shot, should face a Roberto Carlos free-kick head on.

you would think that other teams would learn from the brazil experience ! Players like Pele, carlos alberto, Jaizinho , Josimar etc. have played with Rivelino, socrates, francisco marinho etc. they are the 5 time world champs !
What would they have been without this mix of the various races ? Could anyone imagine what football would have been today without Pele, garrincha, Ronaldinho etc.
I was very pleased to see Ewerton and Alvaro two black players on Zaragoza standing up against racism from their own fans. Maybe being brazilian helps as they would never accept that sort of thing at home so it is easy to say NO, no matter where you play.
I expect Arsenal to send a strong message when they play in England as well with teir mix of French and african black players and white Dutch coach.
Our Soca warriors must also not be forgotten for their stance in blanking the racist coach Atkinson. Are we perhaps not realising that we have also made our mark to stamp out racism ? Our PR people dont have to wait for football results we have already scored !