SirBalon

I can't believe I'm having seabass tonight! Although it is wild seabass... Maybe I'll pour some beef dripping all over it!

What is it about a lovely piece of great beef spilling a bit of blood that makes us salivate and drool? I actually feel sorry for vegans and want to befriend them all to give them a hug.

Are you waiting for me to react so as to try and show me they are?

How has this all gone to vegans versus normal people?

Yeah... As far as I'm concerned it's him forcing the issue and observing how far he can take this. Piss the club off so to speak... I don't know what's happening with footballers lately but the whole thing smells rotten.

Je ne sais pas.

What? What? Ey!

They're kids for crying out loud!

Apparently it's the flu. If this is the case it depends if it's incubation or full blown. If it's full blown he could've flown but all the same, if he's got the flu it's understandable to be honest. The curious part is the suggestion that Arsenal FC have sent an independent doctor which tells you something in all of this and the trust the club have in the player at this moment in time.

There were rumours he wanted to go because of all the tax issues he's had over the past couple of years. I only know that what you've read too mate.

Apparently Arsenal FC have sent an independent doctor to Chile due to Alexis Sánchez not returning back to London and training saying that he's ill. This is Alexis' Instagram showing how poorly he is to travel by air to London and his obligations. Maybe he's just waiting for his future to be sorted and doesn't want to go through the ordeal of continuing with something that holds no bearing on his future, who knows...

He's been beyond abhorrent for Barça when he's played. Also the fact he's eternally injured makes puts him into the squatter category.

It's been a good pre-season in terms of results so far. It doesn't really mean all that much in the grand scheme of things but it can only help confidence.

It seems so, but after reading that I used it to find out what's occurred historically on a few other webpages and Valencia seem to have been used as the Joker in the pack quite a number of times.

I knew everything else other than the Valencia detail and that's that I lived in Valencia for 10 years going to m most of their home games Thanks for that... Very interesting detail mate.

Alexis? Sanches is at Bayern, I think you're talking about Sánchez. If it's Alexis then I've spoken about this many times before... He was surplus to requirements and wasn't providing anything extra to what Pedro was. Both players were battling it out for exactly the same position and both were being rotated by various coaches from Guardiola, Tata Martino to Luis Enrique. Alexis was the first victim and then came Pedro who went to Chelsea. Plus Pedro being a La Masia player, he was more loved by the fans. Not that anything untoward ever occurred by the Barça fans toward Alexis... He was very liked in the dressing room and the fans liked him too. But the same as anywhere else, homegrown players have an extra connection with the fans. Put it this way... He never displayed the form he has done with Arsenal. Now whether that's to do with the quality he faced in both leagues or whether it's to do with playing more at Arsenal, I don't know. Right now he's definitely a world class player and one that would fit into almost any team in the world.

I spent two years between Israel, Jordan and Iran mate. Jordanians and Iranians are 90% Persians and not Arabs. I get what you're saying though... There are all types in every culture but that doesn't describe a culture. That's society as a whole! The Arabic language doesn't determine the culture... Arabic has en enveloped the Middle East unfortunately and eaten away at their very foundations as a culture. That's what these things do and I don't want to take it into Islam itself because it's off topic and very complicated. Obviously you know a lot more than me having had your early childhood there, but that doesn't take away from the facts that is that those countries are not Arab. We all know the Arab countries and money is the only thing they have as a tool to mean something in this world. It happens to be the most important tool right now though.

There's the big question mate. La Liga are terrible with this and it depends on various factors as to how important the game is. The more detrimental to anything going on in the top slots, the closer that's determined to what time and what day it exactly gets played. I advise you to download the official La Liga App which os great with this and alerts you on specific games you choose beforehand.

I said that Neymar is better mate. Neymar is in amongst the top three players in the world but for me the next best thing to fill Neymar's position is Paulo Dybala. Nobody else comes close right now that I can think of. Neymar has dug a grave for himself with me because of what's occurred and how it's occurred. But obviously he's the best option and he's already there. But living on the edge with that kind of personality isn't good for the club or the fans. He needs to go! That's the way I am and if Messi done the same, I would feel the same way. Individuals are NOT the club.

I've been to two games there. One was against Barcelona in the mid 90s and one against Deportivo which ended 1-1 and stopped a tremendous winning streak Deportivo were on. Obviously that was in the old San Mamés which was known as the Cathedral of Football in Spain. The new San Mamés is still amazing I've heard (not been there yet) and the atmosphere in Bilbao is always one of the best along with Atlético Madrid's. I'd definitely go to that above all others mate if you can. Plus the food in Bilbao or San Sebastián close by is the best in Spain.

Neymar is a better individual but Dybala is more bedded into the European football life and he hasn't got the issues Neymar has. That for starters... But they play in similar positions in the field and he is the next best thing plus he can add more of an all round team connection and not so individualistic which stunts Barcelona's style of play as it stops the passing and moving. They both provide different things even though they both play in similar positions. On the midfield situation... That's something they have to sort out with or without Neymar. Neymar's presence if he were to stay (hypothetically speaking) wouldn't mean that Barça suddenly have no midfield issues. The problem is that unless Verratti comes, there is no solution this summer because the only other answer said no at the start of the summer which was Thiago Alcántara possibly returning. He doesn't want anything to do with the present board and I don't blame him.

There it is. One of the marks of a great club is that no player is bigger than the club. The monent an individual becomes as big as a club is the moment the club no longer maintains any substantial significance in the world of football.

I get that and on its own is a good reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. But when all these shenanigans started he posted a social media comment supporting his dad and an opportune moment to demonstrate his undying love for him. Not that no son shouldn't do the same... Just that the timing was a message to others. Look mate... I don't enjoy thieves, or low lifes that try and extort their way to holding money. I wish him the best and he can go on his way to that substandard league that is Ligue1. He can cook barbecues with his Brazilian friends every weekend till his heart is content. I'm a football fan and what they do on their day off has no consequence to my sympathies. That's their job, a privileged job! Earning a hell of a lot of money for doing something many PAY to do in many walks of life. Does someone want me to beg the guy to stay? Naaaah... A tomar por o cu!

First of all mate, no player should be kept at a club against his wishes. That part is fundamental and the most important factor for me. Secondly, no fan should want a player at his club if he doesn't want to be there. Thirdly, Barça existed and dominated before Neymar was even a professional footballer and they'll do the same again. I get where you're going on the fact he exists now and has been at the club for 4 years. But for a long time many thought he was overrated and simply a play actor diving around... Something I never felt although I get it. Finally... He's an important player. Not just in the sense of the fact he's one of the most talented players of his generation anywhere in the world, but also because he is a figurehead in the world of football. He earns the club he's at a hell of a lot of money and that's important these days not only because of the money but because of the profile and selling the club's name abroad. The LFP (La Liga) itself will be hoping this doesn't happen. Barcelona will survive because that's the nature of the game and the fact Barça are a club off their own making and rooted in everything that is the sport historically. PSG are making their own history and have to purchase their destiny which I understand. They couldn't have a more perfect owner in an Arab for this though because money to them is the object that coaxes infidels into selling their souls. I would expect that last bit for you or maybe someone else is a step too far or borderline. I know these people... I deal with these people over three or four times five days a week... So anyone that has an opinion, it better be based on something they really know about and not on what they read on internet. He HAS to go! There are players out there that will do as well if not better for the team than Neymar. If Neymar stays... The even though I would be unhappy about it, I'll keep hush! I'll do it because he has the capability to provide for the team with the others. But the sooner someone like him goes, the better. I don't subscribe to their holy trinity... "Selecão, Deus e dinheiro". One thing doesn't go with the other as much as they'd like it to be that way.

Indeed... Each day that passes I want ti to be over. Infact I want him to go! His performance was great and everything I know and expect from him. He was out to prove a point and HE himself knows his teammates helped him achieve exactly what he wanted. It's all upto him now or maybe his father. As for what I want... I don't like that type of individual and anyone already earning perverse wages has no sympathy with me in any walk of life. They're as low as a thief and more so someone that hasn't paid their taxes like himself and his father. But then again maybe his father is to blame for all of that too.