Itchen_block4

Probably true, but he is capable of turning draws into wins with a bit of magic or a burst of pace. His contribution could be the difference between mid-table and promotion. Having 2 really good widemen really stretches the opposition too.

The club are investing heavily in youth development and scouting to get the best value for money. I presume that type of expenditure won't be penalised under the new rules? Even if it was, I doubt it's comparable to what some teams are spending on wages and signings. Cortese needs to manage carefully to keep the Liebherrs on board, so I should imagine fiscal stability is part of his plans. I can't see him or Adkins throwing silly money around in an effort to gamble on promtion before measures come in.

Cork plays as a box to box player for Burnley I believe. Most assists come from wide areas, set plays or forwards moving the ball on. Its not that often a central midfielder has an opportunity to get a direct, open play assist. It's silly to expect that many goals from them either and 3 is obviously better than none. Our top 5 scorers this season are all strikers or wingers and I'd be willing to bet that our asssists table looks much the same.

Chamberlain played on his weaker left side in that one and without Lallana playing. Fabio was on the other side and he's less likely to skin peoplle if his instinct is to cut inside. He's not the main ideas man. If he is, he hasn't developed it yet. Lots of really good wingers aren't. present him an opportunity and he'll deliver, but he can't create it on his own.

2-0 up and cruising isn't the time to take risks. Can't write him off from 45 minutes out of position in a friendly!

4 seasons of experience on loan in the Championship and being the standout player in his team for most of it. Aged 21 and costing £750k sounds pretty good to me. If you can shed light on who else is youthful, proven, what we want/need and value for money, maybe you should be cheif scout. I think Burnley used him as a box to box midfielder, but his versatility could come in useful when we play different types of opposition or to cover injuries Where did you hear Morgan might be off?

Were they better than the shower of sh!te on Saturday?

Walcott was a shining light in a team full of **** and Chamberlain has been a shining light in a team full of shining lights, so its easy to lose perspective of how good they were in relation to eachother at 16/17. We don't know how good Chamberlain is against the best because he hasn't had the chance yet. He'll be playing against better players next year and that will give us some idea. Chamberlain hasn't been corrupted by a supposedly top manager trying to turn him into something he's not, so I do think he's potentially better than Walcott currently is. Out of the top managers in England (ones with a secure job), only Ferguson really knows his way around wingers. I don't know enough about the records of Saggy or Dalglish with wingers to make an informed judgement.

A category 1 academy certainly does cost a fair bit, but its well worth it if it brings good players through. We just need to make sure we don't end up like Chelsea whose best products play for someone else and then leave for a fraction of what they're actually worth. We're in a better position to actually use our products and we will get a decent fee if we are forced to sell them.

With a name like Harlee, I think she should go on top In all seriousness though, has anyone actually actually seen enough of these young players to make their own informed judgement? Do they even open the gates to the public for youth games? We know that Shaw, Ward-Prowse, Sinclair, Stephens and Hoskins are supposedly quite good, but can anyone divulge any further information? Anyone here like watching kids?

Walcott was always a striker, not a winger. He gets goals and assists because he's a very good player, but playing wide when crossing and decision making aren't his strong points he's not going to look the most comfortable. Arsenal are supposedly a club that can break the convention of automatically putting quick, skillful and slightly lightweight players on the wing. I'm surprised they didn't notice him for what he was during his time in the reserves, especially having paid more for him than most of their youngsters. Chamberlain is definately a winger, so no problems there. Although getting promoted from League 1 will be more memorable and more significant to him than anything that happens in Arsenal reserves. No-one watches reserve games and no-one really cares either. It's not representative of what football is.

From a team perspective, I'm not too worried. We could replace him adequately with a couple of new signings. I guess his presence distracts the vultures from other talented players. From the perspective of wanting the best for him, I think he'd be better off playing competitive, Championship football in front of 25,000 than playing reserve football in front of a mish-mash of staff, wags and scouts. He's already come through that process with flying colours! I want to see him test himself against better and more experienced players. If he proves himself to the sizeable number of Championship followers, he'll be prepared to take on the big time this time next season. He's not the most influential (not yet anyway) but that doesn't detract from him being a very gifted player and far more naturally suited to his position than Walcott. He's got a great positional sense as well as his obvious skill and athleticism. I'd really like him to stay, at least until January. It's more of a sentimental thing really, I want to see him develop as a footballer and have a successful and dignified career.