Just saw your last post. Agreed, largely. I think Ferguson spends his money more wisely than Mancini and Abramovich. He still spends a tonne of money though.

Arsenal as well in '04. All English teams are spending crazy money at the moment compared to most leagues and in all honesty, outside of the top 6 the quality is not that great considering the sums involved. When crap like Robbie Savage and Titus Bramble are multi millionaires despite being very very average players you know something ain't right. The debts some of the lower EPL teams have is frightening. What you'll find though is that the English national team are in for a long period of decline. Why spend time developing young English talent through youth academies when you can buy foreign talent from abroad who are first team ready?

What you are now finding is that a lot of decent young English players are in the Championship. Some make it and get sold on for big fees to EPL teams but other prospects will end up remaining at Championship standard due to the standards of teams they are playing against.

I think you'll find that there are one or two teams at the top of most European leagues that spend like crazy. Anzhi, Zenit, Dynamo Kiev, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Malaga, Bayern Munich, Juventus, AC, Inter, PSG and Galatasaray are teams from off the top of my head that I'm guessing spend more than Spurs or Arsenal. But your point is valid, the finances of football are screwed up and it makes the product less appealing (in my mind) than the likes of the NFL, NRL, Super XV in terms of being an interesting league to follow.

The Dutch and Portuguese leagues are exceptions, I think.

As for the English talent, I'm not convinced that the influx of foreigners is entirely to blame for British teams being pony of late. The attitude to sport in schools is utterly lamentable, pathetic even. I'm planning to be back in New Zealand by the time my eldest son is at an age to play sports (should he want to) and a large part of that is that provision for sports over here is a joke.

Arsenal have a good foundation for the future with their "British Core", as they're calling it. The trick now is to not sell the best players they've got. Also, I don't really think Wenger's gonna stay past the end of his contract, at least not in the manager's position.

One only really needs to look at PSG if you want an example of quantity not equalling quality. They've been buying like crazy and even though they're league leaders, it's pretty obvious that there's little to no chemistry between the players on the field for them.

I still think they are soft at the back and need an enforcer in midfield i.e a Viera. Wanyama would be perfect for you guys.

City have the exact same problem. It's a bunch of mercenaries banded together for the money. Chelsea had the same issue under Ranieri and it was only until Mourinho came that he built a proper team and had the personality to get those players playing for him. Chelsea now have the same issues again though with managers signing players who are only there for the money. Torres for example looks completely disinterested.

Glasgow, you're new here so you can be forgiven, but take our advise - try not to engage Gatehawk in conversation much.

You're welcome.

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PSG have no chemistry? arent they in the final 16 of the Champs League? And thats without Lucas Moura playing.... ridiculous statement.

Anyways... can begrudgingly admit to Ferguson's endurance as a manager.... but again I cant support any argument that suggests United are being somehow held back financially. You can post a spreadsheet on here if you want, but as it stands the Red Devils are running out the likes of De Gae, Rooney, RvP, Young, Evra, Kagawa etc at a very high pay each week. Seems hypocritical to suggest they need more money. Do they spend as much as City and Chelsea? No, but noone does outside of PSGs recent splurge and Madrids spree to catch Barca. Ferguson has spent better than his counterparts, which suggests his survival. I see Rodgers trying something similar to Wenger and Ferguson over the next couple windows at Liverpool, but with one significant (20 million plus) purchase coming in.

I dont like that we assume players who take high paydays to play at big clubs are "mercenaries" in one post, but suggest that Champs League is a major motivator in another. Which is it? are they mercenaries or motivated to play in the highest competition? Is RvP a mercenary? Fabregas? Moura/Modric/Ronaldo? Professional athletes should be given the chance to seek out new opportunities. Some seem to only condemn when its an easy fit, and overlook when it doesnt suit their argument.

City players, for example, are not mercenaries in my mind. They want that big game. City and Chelsea just have brought the right balance of talent in. Not on the players as much as they manager and DOC. But thats another post all together.

All the talk about money in futbol and especially the EPL makes me even more proud to be an Athletic Bilbao supporter. Even then, the crazy $ game is starting to effect us as well, what with Bayern Munich agreeing to pay the 45$ million buyout clause on Javi Martinez and Fernando Llorente refusing to sign for 4 million a year. I won't say that futbol is ruined because of this but when you couple it with the corruption, match fixing, it's obvious the game needs a makeover.

That said, I'll always be proud of the way Athletic handles their business and goes with NOTHING but homegrown players. Gotta love it.

AUPA ATHLETIC!!!

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Talkin Seahawks All Day, All Night @ my blog Seafense! http://seafense.blogspot.com/

I'm just going from what I've heard, and it's mostly involving them when playing in Ligue 1.

You should talk, you telling him to not talk with me, and yet you're normally the first to reply to my posts.

I'm always just trying to troll you, but he seemed to be genuinely trying to converse with you. Even you know that's a bad idea.

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So who is getting relegated? I'd love to see Wigan go down but they always seem to avoid it by the skin of their teeth.

I think: QPR, Reading and either Norwich/Villa.

As long as he doesn't start an argument where no one can win, let him do what he wants

Who else thinks Spurs this season rely as much on Bale as Arsenal did last year with RvP? Because to me, it seems like Spurs would be in a cluster**** of trouble without him.

Well unless Sunderland makes some kind of change, I can't see them even challenging Szczesny's net anymore in this game, they're finding it difficult just to get the ball out of their half.

This just in. QPR well & truly suck. Can the PL just go ahead and relegate them now to avoid wasting people's time the rest of the season?

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You are absolutely entitled to state your opinion whenever you wish, and I am absolutely entitled to point out the stupidity of that opinion with the same frequency.

Yeah, I almost jinxed Arsenal with that comment, didn't I?

Mancini out.

Unbelievable.

This is one of the worst PL years in my memory, United are going to win because they're slightly less mediocre than everyone else, and because RVP hasn't gotten injured.

Jammie bastards.

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