jamiemaher85

It was an odd deal but considering Guardiola hated Eto and that feeling was recipricated by Eto you can see why they wanted to do a deal. Inter where reluctant to sell Zlatan as he'd been their leading man and Serie A top scorer during his tenure there. I'm not saying it's a shit deal as both teams did well out of it. The money was silly, but the money is silly in all transfer now. The £24m plus Ireland for Milner is exally as silly just on a different plane of quality and money involved.

Very good post. It's a really interesting subject. I for one wouldn't want to see it happen but i'm not going to vehemantly argue against anyone that would like to see it happen. A large and reasoned debate is needed on this subject and it needs to be regulated better than it currently is.

Eto career stats:- 451 Games 220 Goals/ 32 assists Zlatan career stats:- 390 Games- 180 Goals/ 87 assists There really isn't that much between them. Eto'o can be just as lazy and troublesome as Zlatan. Both are talented. Both score lots of goals.

Ha. That's about as succinct as you can get really. Good point well made though!

BBC showed a documntary which touched upon the large fee's being paid to his son for scouting and agency work. It was all a bit dodgeym basically Jason Ferguson broke FIFA rules in the signing of one player. SAF didn't like this being exposed and refused to speak to the again. I'm with Louis on this. He doesn't have the right to pick and choose. If BBC pay huge amounts to cover the football they should have access to the manager of the biggest team in the country.

Team I would put out;- Howard Coleman Jags Duffy Baines Gueye Rodwell Arteta Fellani Pienaar Beckford Mixture of youth and experience.

In fairness Zlatan scored more goals and got more assists than Eto did last year and has done so every season for the last 5 years bad one year.

Here's another article i've done for Those Feet, this time on Arteta and International football;- Is Michael Arthur The Man TO Save England? Fabio Capello was in attendance at Goodison Park this weekend to apparently take a look at one player who could be the answer to England's midfield creative problem. Michael Arthur, Everton's star creative midfielder, has long been over-looked by his country despite a long run of strong form for his club. The School Of Science faithful have long questioned why this star man has not been given his chance on the International stage but now thanks to a mini-media campaign the boy from Bootle is ready to make the step-up and answer his countries call. Surely his skilful feet, his eye for a pass and his expertise in deadball situations should have seen his inclusion in our failing national set-up a long time ago. Poor old Mike. Wait a minute. That's not right is it? The man in question is of course actually the little Spaniard Mikel Arteta whom after spending eight years residency in England now qualifies to play for England because of British residency laws. There has been a lot of clamour from some of the press pack for his inclusion in upcoming England squad, and if we are going on terms of ability alone then he would surely be a shoo-in for inclusion in England's squad. But this is not a question of ability, this is a question of nationality and a question of the cheapening nature of the international game. Questions you have to ask yourself though are, at 28 years old does Arteta, and if he was called up for England would be thirty years old by the time the next tournament came around. We are calling for youth to be given a chance yet on the other hand asking for foreigners to be re-nationalised even though they can't add any must need longevity into the team. We need to look to the future and not just go for quick fixes . The FA are criticised enough for the appointment of a host of foreign manager and coaches for the national team, how is it then right to do the same with the playing staff? You also have to question exactly how Arteta would be deployed into the current England set-up. England continue with a 442, and despite this formation becoming less and less effective in the current model of the game we still clamour for the big man/little man strike force combo up front. Arteta works best in a five man midfield and if he was to succeed then this is what will have to deployed to ensure that he is not totally ineffective. He doesn't have the strength to anchor a midfield on his own but in the same sense he doesn't have the continuing forward drive to lead a midfield in the attacking sense. Don't get me wrong here though I love Mikel Arteta, I think he is a brilliant player and have loved almost every moment of his five year tenure at Everton. He is about half a yards pace and a split seconds thought process away from being a truly world class player. He is however Spanish. He was born in San Sebastian and has no British lineage in his family. The possibility of him wearing the Three Lions makes me feel very uneasy, despite that fact that he is the type of player that England could do with as an option. One argument that is bandied around a lot in favour of the repatriation of foreigners to play for England is the current Germany squad. It's very much a case of "Well they're doing it so why shouldn't we..." Mesut Özil is one that's heavily cited at the moment. "He's one of them dirty Turk's innit blah blah blah....". Now for me the comparison between Özil playing for Germany and Arteta playing for England does not hold at all. The facts about Arteta are simple, he has no ties to England at all other than the fact that between the ages of 24 and 28 he has lived here. That's it. Mesut Özil on the other hand was born in Gelsenkirchen, West Germany and has lived there his entire life. He has also represented Germany at U17, U19 and U21 level. (It's worth noting here that Arteta has done the same at youth level but for Spain) Now if someone is born, bred and raised in a country does that not hold some weight into what they're nationality is? Perhaps I'm just an old traditionalist but for me that would mean he was German, you know, after spending his entire life there and all. It's also worth noting that Germany does have a long tradition of Turkish families living there. After World War 2 and the destruction of much of Germany they drafted in huge waves of Turkish immigrants to help rebuild the country, in particular the railroads, and thus continuing a long tradition of Turks living in Germany which can be dated back to the Ottoman Empire, this long heritage was cemented when in 1974 the Unification of Families Law was passed. In Germany there are currently almost 1 million citizens of Turkish lineage. The question then is when does one become German and when does one stop being a Turk? The change of mentality in fans, and also residents of this country is interesting. England has a huge multi-cultural base and we are now creating a new heritage of being a slight melting pot of nationalities, of colours, or creeds and religions. This should not however mean that we just start picking and choosing players of any nationality because they have simply played in a league that is already too littered with foreign talent. We state that young English players are not getting a look in at Premier League, and increasingly Championship, clubs because of the influx of cheaper and more highly skilled foreign footballers so how can we then support the inclusion of foreign footballers in our national team? It's ludicrous. Perhaps the changing nature of the teams people support is making it easier for them to distance themselves in such situation. Many fans now choose teams on terms of success and fashionableness, not in terms of locality or family-ties. The fact is that many fans have little connection with the clubs they "support" or the importance that these clubs have within their communities. There is also a heightening cases of people claiming that "They don't support England". For me this isn't something you can, or should, choose. If you're English then you follow England, that should be the nature of a national team, not just jumping ship when they don't do well or if you don't particularly like the current batch of prima-donna players. Football should be about sticking with teams through thick and thin. Unfortunately it isn't like that anymore. At the end of the day this whole affair is one huge grey area that has been allowed to get out of hand by lax laws and a strange belief that some players deserve to perform on the international stage even if it's not for there own country. My personal opinion is that the rules should be simple. You play football for the team of your national birth. The slight exceptions should be parentage, not grand-parentage, or the fact that perhaps your next-door neighbour once had a German Sheppard that you once played with therefore you are not eligible to play for Germany. Money has seen the cheapening of success in domestic football and for a short while International football was seen as a bastion of slight hope, something undiminished by the huge influx of money and foreign talent. Let's not let the case of repatriating nationalities destroy the integrity and honesty of this side of the game. The problem is spreading and is close to getting well out of hand. International caps should be earned, it should be a thing of pride. Hey should not be given out because we think someone is deserving of one, they should not be handed out like effort medals at a school sports day. The issue should be addressed by FIFA before it's too late. I can't see this happening though, and the continual use of foreign talent in national teams will keep escalating. This should not mean we should jump on the band-wagon though. It's hard enough to find pride in the national team as it is. By Jamie Maher

Very good!

They're only half brothers. Jerome is of German parentage, Kevin Prince is not. And it was Ghana that Kevin Prince played for just to confirm.

Easy choice. Distin. Solid in defence, always looked to play the ball out of defence rather than just hoof it, which Jags did all game.

I like the look of him. Good hold-up play and good close control. He did a really good job of getting the ball under control in and around the box, the problem being that barely anyone was running onto these or supporting him up the attacking end of the field. He'll do a good job for us, he will need to adjust to the league but in the same sense the rest of the team will have to get used to what he brings and how to help him be as effective as possible. I'm encouraged so far though.

I'm superstitous. Been in the same seat for last five years. One game that I didn't get to sit in my seat because of a problem with my season ticket at the start of the season was last years opener to Arsenal. I'm a superstitious old sod and don't like being away from my seat! Sad I know but each to their own....

If Nev is out I pray for Coleman to start. I don't mind Hibbo as much as some and think that last season he put in some cracking performances, however, this is a game against a lesser team and Coleman really should be tested in something like this.

The wealth of talent that Travelling Willbury's had was stunning. I always felt that Jeff Lyne has never really been given the respect he deserves. Stunning songwriter and composer. The only one of the Wilburys that I never liked, and still dont, is Tom Petty. Just never "got" him.

Funny isn't it. Unfortunatly Koralov's injury has given Lescott time. I fully believe that if it wasn't for the injuries to both Koralov and Bridge that he'd have been out on his arse.

Good idea. A few clubs have done this now, Blackburn have set one up i believe. Will take awhile to catch on but a good idea if it can catch on. Got my season ticket elsewhere in the stadium though so not really an option for me.

It's like Sophies Choice, just much much harder.

Got to agree with this. He started to impress me last season and you could see the improvement creeping into his game. The good thing is that he has all the technical attributes that he needs, its just the mental aspect of the game and if he works hard then this will improve. I don't want to sell or loan him out, this is a huge season for him. Possibly last chance saloon but I have a feeling that he's going to kick on this year.

Partial Cunt sounds like the name of some heavy metal band.

Oh christ how could i miss out Neil as well. But what to choose? Harvest? After The Gold Rush? the possibilities are close to endless.....

I can't fail to hide my excitement about tomorrow. Attended a few of the pre-season games but this is where it really starts. Can't wait! I'd go for; Howard Neville Jags Johnny Baines Bily Felli Rodders Artea Pienaar Beckford I rate Saha but I think that starting someone else ahead of him should give him a kick up the arse. Not convinced that Yak is going to deliver again yet and would like to see Beckford given his chance as I have high(ish) hopes for him. 3-0. Beckford x 2 and Bily

Has anyone seen this yet? It's amazing. It's a Justin Beiber song (Whom i detest with a passion) but slowed down by 800%, it now sounds like a Sigur Ros track. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpO-HT10UKo Don't be put off by the fact that it's Justin Beiber. It's unrecognizable that it's him.

I'd buy Elia. Quality player and apparently available for £15m. Oh god, we could go so far with just the smallest amount of investment.

He's turned in a few good performances pre-season, but it's true that he was arse after he signed the new contract, but that did coincide with getting injured and i'm not sure if he's been in top condition for awhile now. Hopefully he'll start getting back up to speed soon.