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Athletic Bilbao


Shake n Bake

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They have a squad of players all with Basque heritage, so can only select from a small amount of players compared to the how many excellent players there are in Spain and the rest of the world. Despite this they are competeing in the top league of Spanish football against teams who have spent millions, and are in the semi finals of the Europa league.

It's a huge shame there aren't more teams like bilbao. Having teams like them in England would improve the national side immensly I imagine, but then again sky wouldn't allow it.

If Derby were like bilbao and had a transfer policy similar to there's would you he happy with it or would you be pushing for the club to change the policy to allow foriegn players?

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I dont know but isnt the Basque region pretty big? Im sure a side could do the same for example only signed players from the London area. Dont the catalan region have a team that plays friendly matches but is full of barca players

Its not as big as Catalonia and the population is a lot lower. But they have to compete with the likes of barce for signing these players, if they miss out they can't go grab some foreign lad.

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The point is with Athletic is that they are the club of the Basque region. The Basque isn't comparible to Derbyshire. It's more comparible to Wales.

Imagine if Wales was only interested in football and its only team was Cardiff City...I bet they could produce a pretty decent team then. The Athletic shirt really means something to those players, it's almost like pulling on a national shirt.

To put things in to perspective, Uruguay has a population of just over 3 million. They got the sem-finals of the last World Cup and have even won it outwright in the past. That's with a population under half the size of London.

We talk about the individuals of football a lot but it really is a team game, and it can show you how far you can go with a group of players who share the same values.

They aren't unique.. In fact they copied off Chivas who only produce players from Jalisco, Guadalajara..

How can they copy a club which was founded after them?

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My mother was a Basque, got rest her soul, and I have a lot of cousins in Getxo, (Nothern Basque region)

in truth its more like the Yorkshire s old cricket philsophy, 'yer can play if tha's born in yorkshire....lad'.

I think Athletic v ManU was one of the best games I have watched in a couple of years. Two different approaches to the game. Manu had the physical strength and speed, Athletic with some of the most delightful passing play I've witnessed in a long time, 'ticky tocky' perfection.

It demonstrated that there is another way to play the game, I would love to see derby play with some of that artistry, the beautiful game played beautifully.

Would love to see a 'Derbyshire' form of the game start to appear with our Academy, a unique approach within the English academy system, exquisite skills and a passport to the Premiership. Now if we could just get someone with some 'basque' vision in the management team ..................................

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They can sign players who have grown up in the Basque region, but not necessarily born there, such as Amorebieta who's Venezuelan I think.

Think Venezuela was his second nation ans he gave up on playing for Spain tbh.

Surprised they aren't doing better in la liga, they seem quality when you watch then play.

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