Lallana's Left Peg

Agreed. A lot of bitterness in here. He has not produced enough for England but whatever the case 50 goals and the national record holder is a significant achievement. Plenty more to come as well.

I was struggling to get my ahead around the method they used to calculate a players true value and then when I saw they only valued Cech at a few million I just closed the webpage. What a nonsense.

He still has quality (see his ball for the West Brom winner against Stoke for example) but his mobility is starting to disappear and as a consequence his ability to impose himself on a game.

We will definitely disagree! I would suggest that Walcott and Chamberlain have both progressed very well indeed. Chambers we will have to see but it doesn't look good for him at the moment.

From their current squad, the following young players have developed very nicely at Arsenal: Jack Wilshere Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Theo Walcott Aaron Ramsey Héctor Bellerín And the following 'established' players too: Santi Cazorla Laurent Koscielny And in terms of Wenger's history of young players: Patrick Vieira Thierry Henry Cesc Fabregas Nicolas Anelka Kolo Toure Ashley Cole Robin Van Persie Wenger has weaknesses as a Manager, but developing youth players and getting them to fulfil potential is one of his greatest strengths.

Don't think world class youngsters exist that much really. Well, a handful do every generation. So much money in the Premier League that it is far easier to buy ready-made rather than see if a youngster develops in your first team. And even when a club does want to develop their own, the player is soon purchased by a bigger club - occasionally to play, often to stockpile and prevent competitors from signing them. Chelsea do it just as investments with no regard to playing them (I don't blame them - it's an issue with FFP). Premier League is a real issue for the national team. That said, I do like the idea of Sterling and Chamberlain on the wings for England for the next 10 years.

You said it was a silly argument to state it is a short career. Why is it silly in your opinion then?

It's not a silly argument though is it? It's like saying to Usain Bolt: "You're the fastest man on the planet but you really shouldn't be charging events £500k to have you compete - did you know that when you retire you can retrain to be a taxi driver and still have an income?"

There is nothing to stop them getting another job when they retire, if they can change profession. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't earn as much as they can from their chosen profession, does it?

So you don't have an issue with footballers earning the money they do, but you don't like that they justify it by saying it is a short career (even though that is a fact) and their earning potential drastically decreases when they can't play football (which is their profession)?

So just because the average wage of the UK worker is 25k a year, footballers shouldn't try and earn as much money as they can in their career from a skill they have which is in demand? Would you extend that to other millionaires in all guises? All sportsmen and women, all entertainers (actors, singers, musicians). What about our multi-millionaires in business - should they retire and stop making money the moment they are comfortable? Of course not. In fact, should you or I be offered a wage rise and we already have comfortable lives, should we turn it down? The argument is absolute nonsense. It doesn't matter if you already have £10m in the bank, you want more. I take if that if you won the lottery you'd give it all away to those worse off than you?

It is a case of demand and supply. There is a demand to watch football. There is even more demand to watch Premier League football. There are only a very small amount of footballers in the world capable of playing to the standard required. Thus, they get paid a lot. If anyone could be a Premier League footballer then wages would be considerably smaller. But they can't, so the best get paid the best. It's like that in any industry for any role. No-one is arguing who makes a greater contribution to society, but wages have NEVER been reflective of importance to society. Watch what happens to Premier League wages if people all of a sudden stop going to games and stop paying Sky £100 a month to watch it on TV in this country and whatever they're paying around the world. As for footballers having a short career, they do - and why would anyone begrudge them making as much money as they can from their ability?

Who has said this? They couldn't be more wrong if they tried. He is brilliant at it.

There are zero incentives to developing good young players in the Premier League. Until there is an incentive, the emergence of international tournament winning class of players will not happen.

You're mixing up importance of job with ones that society values. As skills go, it is easier to train someone to be a nurse than it is a Premier League footballer. Thus, they are paid accordingly. No-one said this meant a Premier League footballers profession was more important. Until a teams wages to turnover ratio is near 75/80%, the players are probably underpaid. It's the transfer fees that mean the players lose out in my opinion.

How do you define whether or not someone is overpaid? Premier League footballers are underpaid if you look at the revenue they generate...

I haven't studied the accounts either but that is pretty much the assumption I've taken when you look at our spending. Our legacy debt (including substantial back loaded transfer fees for players already at the club, the training ground, and any loans) has been drastically cut whilst we have also spent money on ensuring the squad remains fed and watered - even if we know we buy worse players than those we sold (though the players have potential to go on and be good). It's a big summer next year because: a) the new TV deal kicks in and we must start spending more on wages to keep our better players for longer (or give us a chance to) b) it is the summer the club have targeted for the past two years to make huge strides in commercial revenue (this also helps with the point above as commercial revenue is the king when it comes to FFP and what you can and can't do assuming you aren't selling players for significant amounts each summer) c) it is a summer where the club does not have to worry about debt and can instead make calculated investments in the squad

As ever, remember when making your travel plans after the game that the local police divert you on a 10min walk away from the stadium (and all the transport options) before you are free to make your own way.

I hope they do.

What is it with people putting their first name or nicknames on the back of their shirts - it has absolutely no impact on me whatsoever yet for some reason I find it highly irritating

I think that because of the following: 1. Hasn't started a game for the club yet. 2. Has only had cameo appearances at the tail end of games. 3. Other players selected of ahead of him in his preferred position (and not the natural position of those players selected ahead of him). Considering his frame there may be good period of acclimatisation required to the Premier League (and for him to go on that special 'diet' Ronaldo and Rafael did at Old Trafford), but that doesn't really explain his sporadic use considering the 'need' he reportedly fulfilled via signing. And you are right, I do think he is below Mane, Rodrguez, Tadic, and Long in the pecking order. I also think he is below JWP and Davis as well. I think he is well down the pecking order. And because of that I think Koeman doesn't fancy him much when as a new signing he is below the pecking order of six other first team players. EDIT: If Clasie is going to play as an AM (or rather, the furthest forward of the midfield three behind Pelle) as suggested then we can add him to the list too.

This lad has hardly got a look in yet despite all manner of squad rotation and different formations we've tried. Looks to have quality on the ball but also looks like a kid playing in a mans league physically speaking. Anyone else think Koeman may not fancy him much?

You also need to take into account wages and sign-on fees. Ayew and Gomis are being paid eye watering amounts from Swansea. Gomis received an £8m signing-on fee from Swansea and Ayew is believed to have the same sort of deal.

To be fair Tottenham proposed the move. Their only issue was that we didn't.

He doesn't sound too bothered about missing out on a move to me.