Really interesting article in Sports Illustrated
here from Sid Lowe on Jonas Ramalho signing for Athletic and their history of recruiting only Basque players:
In essence, the policy has largely hung on the simple notion of all players being Basque, from one of the seven historic Basque provinces -- the three that make up the modern Basque Country, Navarra (disputed by some), and the French Basque provinces, known as Iparralde (the "northern zone" in Euskera). Only one French player has signed for directly for Athletic's first team. That was Bixente Lizarazu and although there was no question over his Basque status (just look at his name), the decision was still a controversial one.
The problem is: what counts as Basque? Who does? Is it about birthplace?
[..]
Much has changed, but that does not explain this latest, most striking, debut. Jonas Ramalho fits both criteria: nationality and footballing formation. At any point in history he would have been eligible to play for Athletic Bilbao. Ramalho's passport is Spanish. His father Tomas is from Angola, his mother Natalia is Basque and he was born in Baracaldo, Vizcaya. He was raised in Leiona, just outside Bilbao, spending his entire life in the Basque Country. And he joined Athletic at the age of 10. His debut on Sunday should not have made a huge impact. But being black, it did.
On something of a tangent, I'm a United fan and I reckon that, bad though we were last Thursday, Athletic were by far one of the best sides to come to Old Trafford in recent years, based on that one performance.
It's been odd finding our club in the Europa League for the first time, and I think a lot of fans (myself included) haven't really known how to feel about it. Before we kicked a ball in the competition I was gutted to be out of the running for the European Cup, but really intrigued by the prospect of getting a chance to play against a host of European clubs we'd otherwise not get a chance to meet. That enthusiasm has been pretty effectively tempered by the string of godawful performances we've put in so far against Ajax and Athletic.
There has been a real nervousness about the prospect that City might beat us to the league title for the first time in a very, very long time. Recognition of that challenge had led to a certain kind of resignation when it comes to Europe. I think most United fans would be delighted to win the Europa League, but if there's even a slight chance that it might drain the team to the extent that City got the edge in the league, I'd take getting dumped out of Europe in a second.
I hope that the psychological boost of going top of the table at the weekend might carry through to a decent performance tomorrow night and we can do what needs to be done against Athletic. To be honest though, the problems we've had all season in Europe probably largely remain, and I'm just not sure the players want it badly enough to go away from home and win by two goals. Tomorrow night fans and players alike will both have one eye on going to Molineux on Sunday, and so I'd imagine we'll get exactly what we deserve in Bilbao.
I'll stop whining now cos it must be quite annoying to people whose clubs have got real problems like relegation battles or bankruptcy...
