His argument, that he doesn't check passports before picking players is reasonable enough, and anyway, is it a problem for gooners? After all, we did win 5-1, and I personally felt pretty good about that.

And surely it's not that big a deal is it? After all, if Campbell and Cole had been fit they would have played. Maybe Hoyte would have also, if he hadn't been injured as well. And Pennant maybe - if he hadn't been on loan to Birmingham.
No, overall I was pleased with the result and the game and the goals.

But hold on a minute. What's going to happen if, and when, UEFA manages to bring their latest proposal into action. The one that would limit the number of locally-trained players in a squad. With the current squad, we would be in trouble.

As we all probably already know, this idea would mean that by the 2006/7 season, every team playing in the Champions' League (and I would like to think that that is exactly what we'll be doing!), would need to have firstly a squad limited to 25 players. Of those players, two would have to have been trained by the club's own academy and two trained by clubs in the same association i.e. the English FA for us.

The numbers would then increase by one each season up to a four and four scenario.

The reasons they give for this are to increase competition, to stop bigger clubs having all the glory and hoarding players, and there are also hints that it would help club finances and provide more cohesion for national teams.

Several thoughts spring to mind.

Firstly, Italian teams are going to love it 'cos they already have large numbers of home-grown players in their teams, as do other major European leagues. In England, ManUre and Chelski would probably be both hit because of the size of their relative squads, but they may be in a better position to satisfy the home-trained requirement.

But what about the most important English side - ours? Based on our recent showings including our recent game against Crystal Palace, we would have a hard time having a squad that would satisfy the requirements unless we had injured players on the bench. We would be buggered. And that would be even more the case if the English FA then decided to make the same changes for domestic games. Unlikely that ours will do that any time soon - but there could be pressure to do so.

But nevertheless, I have to admit that I am in favour of this idea.

I have watched games (and that whipping by ManUre a few years ago springs to mind), where Arsenal players have not given the kind of conviction that an English game of this importance needs. I'm not saying that it's because they're foreign. However, I never saw Parlour, for example, give anything less than 100% against our big rivals. He may not have always been very good, but he did give everything and I would like to see a bit more of that same heartfelt conviction.

But, you might say, that's not true at the moment, is it? Even though we lost 4-2 at home recently, the players gave a lot. You'd be right. I have no complaints there and I certainly didn't hear any "johnny foreigner doesn't care" jibes - and rightly so. Henry and Bergkamp are marvellous and they are clearly Arsenal through and through. Vieira has started having good games again, which I hope means that he is seeing a longer term future at Arsenal than he might have when Real Madrid were knocking on the door. Edu - well he's giving a lot even though he's lost his heart to Valencia.

However, I'm going to come clean. Arsenal is my main team, but I also support England. And you know, I like it when there are Arsenal players playing for my national side. I liked it when Seaman was in goal, Adams and Keown in central defence. I am glad that Campbell and Cole are still in there and I'll be very happy if Stuart Taylor is given the chance that Gooners I speak to think he deserves in our goal, and then gets selected for England.

But there's a problem. Arsene's homegrown selections haven't, generally, been as good as his excursions into the French countryside. Yes, we got Sol. But we also had that Fox in the Box for a while. An expensive injury he was. And Richard Wright, Wright, Wright. That didn't go too well either. And what's happening to all those local lads that keep on going on loan before disappearing for good...?

I'm not saying that we should play rubbish just to satisfy a little bit of dodgy nationalism. No, I think that big teams like Arsenal owe a small but significant debt to the country in which they play and from where they derive the majority of their support. I don't think that it should be necessary to legislate to include home-trained talent - I think we should be doing it anyway. And more successfully!

For these reasons I support this initiative by UEFA. I hope that teams like ours are able to rise above seeing the current obvious limitations that would entail and instead look to a different future - that will hopefully include more future England players in red and white at Ashburton Grove. "

Richard adds...
" And of course, now you can read on BBC Sport how Merse has got in on the act...I suppose as an ex-Gooner that didn't want to leave, he's got a point!