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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

Which one? Is it the one about his mom and dad washing elephants?

Btw, I've seen Walcott's run about 6 times and I everytime I see it, it gets better. Absolutely magnificent breathtaking jaw-dropping run. Considering the circumstances, his age, the way the game was going, how many minutes were left, the layoff etc., that was fucking awesome. But still, he's not on that level Yet.

Bojan reminds me of a young Michael Owen when he makes those runs of his' in the box. And I think that's a really good thing btw. Pato's quite selfish from what I've seen so if he cannot become more of a team player I don't think he'll fulfill his potential, whilst Bojan will become a world-class striker because of his attitude and of course his top-notch movement and finishing.

Rubbish. Kuyt is shite. He's a striker who can't score ffs. He works hard and can sometimes contribute to the overall game that Liverpool plays but what a waste of £10m for them, eh?

When has he ever been given a significant run in the first team (before last season)? And last season he was arguably one of our best players even though it was his first year in the Premiership and he played in a team which was really shit as well. I think he has a lot more to offer, and has got many attributes that KK will be able to exploit. He's still really young as well so to pass judgment on him now would be very hasty.

I mentioned him earlier this season but now there's much more chance of us snapping him up. He's a quick nifty little attacking midfielder who when on form, can absolutely rip a team to shreds. Pablo Aimar, still pretty young and now playing for relegation-threatened Zaragoza, would be a cheap-ish signing and would undoubtedly make a difference in our team. I'd really like to see us go for him considering Zaragoza will suffer a lot from relegation and even if they stay up, will lose money from not getting European football.

Arsenal have actually been desperately unlucky in the past few weeks. Starting from the Birmingham game, you could pinpoint a moment in nearly every game of theirs in which the ref has fucked them over. Starting from the non-penalty that Birmingham got, the wrong-ruled-offside goal that Adebayor scored against Boro through to the two crucial penalty decisions against Liverpool, they've been fucked over majorly.