Arsenal is one of the few teams in the premiership that doesn't consist solely of bought talent. It has a solid foundation with own players such as Walcott, Ramsey, etc. Our problem seems to be that we don't actually buy enough. There should be some sort of wage-ceiling in the premier league, as well as a change to the transfer rules cause as of right now, those with the most money win. Teams like Man C are ridiculous.
Exactly. A wage-ceiling would go a long way toward reestablishing some kind of equilibrium in the system. I understand that the working life of a professional athlete is considerably shorter than an office worker, but I don't understand why that is sufficient reason (and that is always the excuse that people fall back on, when challenged) to ensure that they never have to lift a finger to work after they retire.
This is a short - but interesting article on the topic:
http://footballspeak.com/post/2012/05/05/Top-20-Highest-Paid-Players.aspxWhat fascinates me is doing the conversion (using one of my favorite websites,
http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/ ) of the wages from earlier decades.
A player earning £12 per week/£624 annually in 1947 would have an equivalent cost of living value in 2010 of £366 per week - or £19032 per year.
Average pay in 1947 (according to the Financial Times) was £416.41 annually (£8 per week) - an equivalent of £12,800 in 2010.
In 1947, with the wage cap in place, football players were still making more than the average wage . . . but not like today.