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Because this season he's been shite in Allardyce's 4-3-3, 4-4-2 and KK's 4-4-2. This is evidence from THIS season, not something like 5 years ago when he still had his legs. Personally, the only on-field attribute that Owen possesses that is above-average (or better) is his movement and ability to keep possession. Otherwise, the aspects of his game that we paid 17m for, the aspects that critics lauded him for and the aspects that made him so lethal years ago have pretty much all but disappeared/become useless - his pace, his movement around the box and his 'clinical' finishing. His movement's still there, no doubt, but how often, as a team, do we get him into the box in a 4-4-2? From 15+ games this season, I'd say not enough to warrant playing him up there when he had someone more dynamic like Martins on the bench. Presumably those will be the neutrals and analysts that hardly watch our games then, am I right? He's not our 'best' player. He's our big draw, the big name, the captain etc. but not our best player. I really don't know who our best player is btw, since we've had a few different MotMs in our recent wins. Shows how well we're playing as a team and how this nonsense about Owen scoring = us changing our fortunes is true. Martins. I don't remember if a poll has been constructed here asking this question but I'd say that Martins is one player whom, if missing, would force us to play another style. He's the key in the 4-3-3 because he stretches defences, opens up the space in the middle for our midfield and for Owen to drop in, enables us to play a counter-attacking game (who else has pace in the team atm?), can do things with the ball that most of our players can't and he's shown that he's got a goals in him as well.

I think what Keegan means by team player is not only for Zoggy to stop being selfish and actually pass the ball, but more that he needs to track back and seriously develop his game defensively as well as that's the only way he's going to get into the midfield 3 atm.

Theo's run Owen's goal against the Argies Henry's goal against Liverpool at Highbury (4-2, he got a hat-trick iirc) Shevchenko's goal against Juve (1-0 victory ages ago) Gerrard against West Ham in the last minute Letchkov against the Germans in '94 Lots more actually - it's why I love football so much

Oh man Luca Toni you crazy motherfucker. I feel bad for the keeper, the second goal was especially costly because it came out of nowhere and gave Bayern a massive lift with something like 4 minutes remaining. Getafe were actually pretty awesome last night, played 'carpet' football, movement was quite superb all round and most of their players were excellent on the ball. Looked like a really capable team.

Ribery scores with 1 minute left. My god, Getafe were oh so nearly there. 1-1 and probably heading into extra-time now.

Owen's only good in the 4-3-3, and actually, that's not even conclusive considering we've only played that formation for 4 games at the tail end of a season. Not trying to demean our performances so far but we've played two not-so-good teams at home and a Tottenham team playing quite a few players out of position. Hardly signs that we can challenge for the top 6/8 next season. But anyway, my point is that Owen does not deserve to be paid £100k/week. He's not our best player, not the most important player in our current formation and I think is easily replaceable with someone who'll be more versatile and thus more valuable on the whole. Just consider that if Owen plays, we have to play with a 4-3-3 or else his usefulness is reduced to the sum total of fuck all. Is that the kind of trait that a so-called 'best' player should have? Should we be locked into someone who's only effective in one position and one formation? Is that someone really worth paying £100k/week to? Bear in mind that players like Rooney, Ronaldo and Fabregas reportedly earns less or similar to this. And of course, his atrocious injury record hasn't even been mentioned. Throughout his entire career, he has picked up little niggling injuries, and has yet to score 20 league goals in a season EVER. There's no evidence to support the claim that he's 'over' it. Frankly, I'd rather we sell him in the summer because his value might be at the highest it'll ever be right now, someone will be willing to pay money for his so-called 'lethal' finishing, and at least KK won't have to be locked into playing one formation all season because our captain is shit in every other one.

Jesus, Braulio takes the ball around Kahn and has an empty goal but slips! Would have been 2-0 and almost game over for Bayern.

Getafe 1-0 up against Bayern, 10 minutes into the second half. But, Getafe are down to 10 men and Bayern are totally dominating. 2-1 on aggregate to Getafe with about half an hour remaining.

I said this after they beat Marseilles 4-0 (I think). Liverpool are the favourites for it imo.

Aren't they moving to a new stadium? That, combined with the prospect of European football next season will do much to help their revenue. Plus, they've spent quite a bit of money this year and thus won't spend as much next year, and with the tv deal kicking in, they'll be alright imo.

I'm of this view here. Good post, Jon.

If Owen was to leave, I don't think there'll be another club on the face of the Earth that'll offer him close to £100k/week.

I actually think forcing him to learn the Arsenal way of playing will benefit him much more in the long run than just letting him roam free in another team in the Premiership. Making him learn how to pass and move, improve his first touch (which I've noticed has gotten better), improve his general teamplay and also learning to play another position will help him in the future imo. The least it'll do is protect him from ending up as a one-dimensional player who'll be found out at European and international level, which I think he really started off as and is currently still reverting to at times. I think he has a big future and Wenger knows what he's doing. He's still only 18 btw so he's got a lot of years to develop his game and fulfill the massive potential that he undoubtedly has. Edit: Just imagine he is able, in time, to master the one/two touch game that Arsenal use, and then is able to improve his finishing - he'll be fucking awesome. He already has most of the basics down but now he needs to improve his football IQ to become a real star. that is a very good point but the point still stands that, sooner or later, he is going to need to play in a team that utilises his strengths more. it might be good long-term to improve his first touch, close control and movement but he also needs to hone his dribbling ability and the way he exploits space. i'd suggest he'd do both at a club like Man Utd but at Arsenal the latter might be neglected and he might never have the technical prowess to master the former, leaving him a bit unbalanced as a player. still remains to be seen what Wenger's Arsenal will look like in, say, 4 years time, as he keeps on adapting the team. for instance, i reckon Walcott would've thrived in the Overmars, Anelka, Wright etc side which was all about searing pace on the counter. Touche. I do hope he ends up as an awesome player because he genuinely seems like a nice lad and hasn't been distracted by the hype/money.

I'd like to think that football as a whole will end up with a more incentive-based pay structure. So for someone like Owen, if we're creative enough, we could pay him a base salary of £30k, then he gets £30k/week if he completes 40 appearances in a season, gets an extra £15k if we finish in the top half, extra £15k if we finish top 6 etc. etc. and hopefully if we have a fantastic season, we'll be justified in paying him £120k/week or whatever the bonuses add up to. If an incentive-laden pay-structure like this is ever fully implemented, it'd be a win-win for both the player and the club as he can obviously maximise his income and the club can minimize their risk.

True, but start paying bottom half wages and you'll end up with bottom half players. Big money is one of things that keeps the club able to attract better players than our league finishes should merit. That said, Owen is a good player and I want us to keep him, but I wouldn't be paying much more than he's already on. I can't see why he'd want more money anyway. How can you spend all that? I'm not advocating that we start paying 'bottom half wages' but what we're paying atm is actually top 4 wages and Owen ain't a top 4 player imo. Similarly, if Duff's earning £70k, then that's about double what he's been worth for us as well. I understand the fact that we bought these players with high expectations and didn't necessarily buy the player that we currently have on our hands now which is why with Owen, he needs to accept lower, more acceptable terms or there'd be no good reason to keep him on. I reckon his value for us might be peaking so if we can get something near £10m for him, I'd let him go in an instant.

I actually think forcing him to learn the Arsenal way of playing will benefit him much more in the long run than just letting him roam free in another team in the Premiership. Making him learn how to pass and move, improve his first touch (which I've noticed has gotten better), improve his general teamplay and also learning to play another position will help him in the future imo. The least it'll do is protect him from ending up as a one-dimensional player who'll be found out at European and international level, which I think he really started off as and is currently still reverting to at times. I think he has a big future and Wenger knows what he's doing. He's still only 18 btw so he's got a lot of years to develop his game and fulfill the massive potential that he undoubtedly has. Edit: Just imagine he is able, in time, to master the one/two touch game that Arsenal use, and then is able to improve his finishing - he'll be fucking awesome. He already has most of the basics down but now he needs to improve his football IQ to become a real star.

No one in a team in the bottom half is worth more than £50k or so imo.

Bojan subbed off, white hankies out. He's been Barca's best player today but dos Santos is now on.

Expect to see Golden Glory on here later crying He's been doing that a lot lately

He's not worth £100k/week so unless he's willing to take a salary cut/Mort makes sure his salary doesn't impact prospective signings' salaries, he can fuck off.

I still think Walcott has a future as a striker but obviously not while Arsenal continue to play with the formation they do atm. Maybe he'll have to move sooner rather than later but that run yesterday showed he's got something really special in him.

I think you could say that the UK has acquired the wrong muslims . Seriously though, it is maybe a valid point. France have had Zidane, Ribery, Anelka playing for them recently who were muslims ( could have had Kanoute). Something like that could have inspired young muslims to get into football in France. Which muslim players have played for England? I don' think there has ever been one and like you say, it is due to culture; not all muslims are the same and most stick very closely to their culture. That's actually a good point. Even though the aforementioned players are ethnic minorities, they did form the backbone to the successful France teams in the latter part of the 90s. I read an article a while back about their impacts and how it hasn't really helped with all the racial tension in France but the hope is that the three new stars (Benzema, Ben Arfa and Nasri) will be able to help some more. Quite interesting that these highly rates French youngsters come from deprived Muslim (I think) backgrounds.

The most interesting thing is that they're all really different types of players. Aguero's quick, but he's by no means a 'clinical' striker in the way that Bojan is. He likes to get more involved in the overall game and contributes more whereas Pato might have the finishing and dribbling ability but lacks the general awareness that someone like Bojan has. But of course, Bojan himself, like I said, seems to have a game which is quite similar to that of a young Michael Owen so he's always on the last defender but not heavily involved in the build up.

Aguero's got 12 goals in La Liga this season and has been heavily involved in Atletico's play so far. It's taken him time to settle in (according to him his best match was only a couple of weeks ago against Barca) but he's on fire now. Will be a great player as well.

Which one? Is it the one about his mom and dad washing elephants? Yep, except it is only his dad that washes elephants. Apparently, his mum is just a whore. Undoubtedly, if it was not for her 'whoring' she would also be washing elephants. Which one is more offensive? You decide? That's the one I'm talking about. I remember it being chanted by four old drunken Geordies when I was at the Emirates for our Premiership game. No one else seemed to join in, presumably because we were shit and the chant is a bit bad taste. I think it's just that (bad taste) but it's got quite a bit of a rhyme going on