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I'm sure there's been a sharp increase in the number of Spurs supporters over the last few years.

I can't believe I typed that

In Redknapp's post-match interview he said (on Balotelli's stamp) "he kicked the boy in the head. He does that quite often." Or something like that. Verging on libellous, regardless of whether it was a deliberate stamp.

Yeah, I read the name and assumed it would be generic rubbish. Will definitely give the demo a try now, though.

Once it took two weeks for a lynch write-up!

Ox off? Poor move. Shoulda been Walcott.

Yeah, madness. Think Chamberlain's been MOM so far.

I wasn't being serious, I actually underestimated how big the CFL is if that wasn't obvious - apologies.

Why does Mertesacker look like he's about to cry?

The CFL is too dominant.

He can't buy vdv or Bale for that money.

Spurs did...

And Liverpool bought Carroll for £35m so this is a pretty good deal.

So, Walcott.

He's fast.

What else is he meant to be able to do that makes him so highly rated?

But what about that one time where he got a hat-trick for England?

But what about the other 20 or 30 England games he's played where he's done fuck all? Or that he's had about 5 decent games for Arsenal ever?

Given that he is the same age as Gareth Bale, started at the same club, cost more and plays in a similar position, he's not even close to the same level.

To be fair though even the Southampton coaches said that Bale was the better player back then, he's proceeded to show that. It's weird that Wenger will be so frugal on players then spend stupid money on someone like Oxlade-Chamberlain, is he REALLY worth more than Rafa and Bale?

He can't buy vdv or Bale for that money. Even looking at Walcott and his failure to live up to expectations, he's still a £10m player (at least.) Oxlade-Chamberlain has the potential to be an absolutely fantastic player and even though his fee is a gamble (as it would be for any youngster) the Walcott model shows that the club likely won't lose large amounts on him.

Personally I think he's going to be an incredible player and the fee is completely reasonable.

So he just went over rather than anything malicious?

Also, I fail to see how Man Utd are "cursed", Ferdinand has been injury prone for years and beyond that you just have Vidic and now Jones out, unless I'm forgetting someone. I'd hardly call 3 injuries (one to an injury prone player) a curse, a bit unfortunate, yeah.

Oh and Walcott, wank.

Every single outfield United player has been injured at least once this season.

Then the arguments are wrong. You are assuming a lot about what I said that is not there.

And please..keep it respectful. If you don't have anything good to say, then don't. LEts NOT let this turn into every other death thread on EWB where it becomes a flame war

Family and friends aren't reading. If discussion is constructive and doesn't involve flaming then it doesn't have to be "good."

Other replays seem to show Webb saw the incident so if he had then there's nothing the FA can do is there?

He doesn't see it clearly, I'd say. He's turning as the incident happens and at full speed I can see that he'd think it was accidental. I mean, some people on here were saying that until after the match, never mind having to make a split second decision when you've only half seen it.

Totally agree. Even if he were staring right at it I could understand if he thought it was accidental. It's only after seeing multiple slow-mo replays that it looks like an un-natural way to fall.

I'm trying to sleep on the couch FFS

"We respectfully request that you take this approach."

That's pretty inappropriate, I think. Elected officials shouldn't be pressuring people to avoid doing something that's perfectly legal.

Even inside the transfer window? Or has he played for two clubs already?

I might do it with my next character, who will either be a mage named Tim or an arcane trickster type.

My mage is called Kevin.

LOOK AT THIS.

LOOK AT IT.

This is absolutely sincere. I love it:

Statistics was never my strong point, but I think what we should use is the Poisson distribution.

Howson only had 6 months left on his contract, didn't he? Getting a couple of million quid for him isn't bad business at all if that's all accurate.

She's in the same position (in terms of her playstyle) as Andy Murray - she lacks a big weapon. Playing high percentage tennis can be extremely effective, but when it comes to the biggest possible moments - set points, break points down, key moments in GS finals - the best players are the ones who have a massive forehand or serve and the ability to execute under pressure.

When they play against opponents who aren't as consistent but have the potential to crunch winners, unless they can establish clear dominance they're reliant on their opponent to fail on the big points.

This is an article from The Sun. It's pretty good:

IT is official: Leon Britton is Europe's most accurate midfielder — better even than Barcelona maestro Xavi.

Swansea's very own Great Britton — nicknamed 'Little' because he is just 5ft 5in tall — is the most accurate passer in Europe's five top Leagues.

Opta stats show midfield wizard Britton has a 93.3 per cent pass success rate which betters Spain superstar Xavi.

And numbers also prove Swansea's three-man midfield of Britton, Joe Allen and Kemy Agustien clearly hold their own against Barca's illustrious trio of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets.

The Swans' stirring 3-2 win over Arsenal on Sunday vindicated the attacking philosophy of boss Brendan Rodgers — whose side lie 10th in their debut season in the Premier League.

Rodgers said: "It is all about managing pressure and how you do that. I like to coach the team to manage pressure with the ball."

Swansea's triumph blew a huge hole in the myth Arsene Wenger's Gunners are England's pass masters.

And largely thanks to their midfield machine, the newly-promoted Welsh side are the seventh-best passers among Europe's top leagues — better than Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal.

Only Manchester City and Chelsea move it around more accurately, but that still makes Rodgers' Swans third-best in the Premier League.

Britton, 29, is not the only Swansea star in Europe's elite, side-kick Allen, 21, also made the top 10 of most accurate passers.

And to think only a couple of seasons ago Britton & Co were down in League One!

Nathan Dyer, who left Arsenal's left-back Ignasi Miquel chasing shadows on Sunday, heaped praise on Britton.

He said: "We've got a lot of hungry boys. Everybody used to watch the Premier League on Match of the Day.

"A lot of players like Leon and Garry Monk have been in the third division. To come up and play in the Premier League is a massive achievement for this city and for the boys."

Britton is the only player this season to complete a match with an 100 per cent success in passing — in the 3-0 win over Bolton back in October.

Only nine players have completed a match without misplacing a single pass in the last six years. But the other eight are ALL defenders who normally pass alongside each other.

London-born Britton is the only creative player in Premier League history to register a perfect game. No wonder Swansea outclassed and outpassed Arsenal.

Dyer, 29, added: "It's a massive win. We're new in the Premier League, making massive strides, so it was amazing to test ourselves against one of the top teams with the way Arsenal play and move the ball.

"We've got the same philosophy. It was football against football on Sunday."

Dyer's goalscoring heroics surely caught the watchful eye of England boss Fabio Capello on Sunday night.

He added: "Yeah, I heard he was coming down and obviously all of the boys played really well so I'm sure he enjoyed the game."

But what of an England call-up? Dyer said: "I'm just working as hard as I can, trying to improve as much as I can, and hopefully one day that day will come."

Defeat at the Liberty Stadium for Arsenal followed a 2-1 reverse at Fulham.

And if the Gunners are beaten by Manchester United at the Emirates on Sunday, it will be the first time they have lost three league games in a row since April 2007. But England ace Theo Walcott insists the mood among the players is still good.

And they are desperate not to be part of the first Arsenal team to finish below bitter rivals Spurs for 17 years.

Walcott, 22, insisted: "The atmosphere in the dressing room is unbelievable. We have some great leaders.

"Thomas Vermaelen, Per Mertesacker and Aaron Ramsey have all captained their countries. You ask any player here and they'll tell you it's the best it's been for a long time."

I got HD a couple of days ago and this has been the perfect introduction.

Nadal looked to be steamrolling Haas, but after getting to 5-1 we're back to 5-4 Nadal (though he'll now serve for the first set.)

Cut them now!